Also known as the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal" (NWAHM), metalcore is a genre that has sort of taken hold of a lot of modern metal acts, especially about 10 years ago. The bands in particular that I want to focus on are who I call the new "Big Four". They're also sometimes known as the Massachusetts metal scene. I'm sure you can probably guess the bands I'm talking about now, but if you can't, I'm referring to Shadows Fall, All That Remains, Unearth, and Killswitch engage.
I don't exactly know what I plan to accomplish with this other than to draw attention to these bands (as if they need it). Maybe I'll just explain my history with these bands. I know these bands get a lot of flack for being mallcore, sellouts, emo, whatever, but honestly, if you think that, you're either a moron or a metal elitist (and likely a virgin), and you therefore don't matter.
The first band I really got into of the four was Unearth through their music video of The Great Dividers. Since then, they have remained my favorite of the four and I own all of their albums. Basically one of the greatest things to happen to metal in the last 10 years, easily. Ken Susi is the reason I play an Ibanez guitar. What else to say about them? They're super intense, aggressive metal. They define metal. They may not be YOUR definition of metal, but they encompass all that is metal.
After Unearth, I quickly found my way to Shadows Fall. They were the first of the big four whose album I owned. It was The War Within and I got it for Christmas. Since then, I've gotten all of their albums excluding their first one with Phil seeing as they rerecorded it with Brian Fair and called it something else. That works for me. They're always been a favorite of mine and, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), the only one I've seen live. I missed out on Unearth just back in December with Hatebreed and Cannibal Corpse.
Killswitch Engage is an interesting one. For the longest time, the only song I knew was Rose of Sharyn, and I wasn't a big fan of it. It wasn't until years later that I heard My Curse. I learned the song and that was the end of it until I heard The Arms of Sorrow not long after. It was at this point when I realized that they really had something to them and maybe I should stop hating them for no reason. So I picked up their album, As Daylight Dies, and later, The End of Heartache. They pretty much jumped to the top of my most played for a couple months at this point. And their new album? Basically jizztastic. It's everything they were doing before, but on this album, they do it better. That's all there is to it. There's no filler (or the filler is really fucking good).
All That Remains is an easy one to explain. I honestly don't really like them. I don't hate them, but I just can't really get into them. Who knows why? Maybe I need to sit down and give them more of a chance, but as it stands, they just don't do much for me.
One band who I've yet to listen to is Overcast, which is a combination of the guys from Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall and was an earlier project before the various members took off with their respective bands. Another couple bands are Seemless and Aftershock who similarly were composed of members of the big four, but were far less popular than Overcast (who recently got back together in 2008, I've heard). Hopefully I can listen to those other bands and I can write some reviews of their albums.
That's all for this. It wasn't a rant or a review or really even worthwhile, but here it is all the same.
-Tyler
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
From The Vault Review #1: Beginnings by Memento (2003)
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Let me start off by saying that I got this CD on a whim from Amazon.com, I didn't listen to any of the full songs or anything. I was bored one night and I was looking up random bands and I thought the cover, thought it was cool, and ordered the CD for just one cent.I decided to read reviews of this album before it shipped to my house. Basically the reviews described this band as solid alternative metal band so I decided to give Memento a chance.
Another excellent decision on my part, this CD is amazing. At first however, I wasn't too impressed. I listened to the first song, "Nothing Sacred" and wasn't really into it too much. I just thought, "Hm, this is just like the reviews said. Solid alternative metal." Once that song finished, I began listening to the next track, "Saviour". I really started to notice that Memento was more than just a typical alternative metal outfit. This song blew me away with Justin (lead singer) 's diverse vocals and Jason 'Space' Smith's amazing guitar work. The rhythm section fits in nicely too. After being impressed by that song, I started to listen to the third song on the album, the title track "Beginnings". This song basically an extremely powerful and emotional acoustic ballad. This song was definitely not what I was expecting from the band. Justin's vocals really shine here. This song is just moving, plain and simple.
The songs after that continue to get better yet remain diverse at the time. From the crunchy sounding 4th track, "Shell" to the heavy and rocking "Abyss". Both were solid tracks and just straight up rockers. Same goes for "Below". Then, Memento defied my expectations again. Just when I thought they couldn't sound any more different than other bands, we get the one-two punch songs of "Reflections" and "Blister". The band really experiments in this song, adding female guest vocals at the end as well as string sections. Like the title track, this song is powerful as well as emotional.
"Coming" and "Stare" follow next, and they both just punch you in the face with their heaviness. Once the opening riff kicks in for "Coming" I just want to start headbanging. "Stare" is another rocker, but it has a great, radio friendly chorus. In my opinion, it would have made a great single. The final song, "Figure 8" is a fantastic way to close the album.
Sadly, Memento split up in 2004 due to personal issues before they could ever record another full length album. Justin, Space and Leighton "Lats" Kearns (the bassist) did reform briefly as a band called Nine Times Bodyweight but this project didn't last either. Space is still active as a studio guitarist, he played guitar and e-bow on the track "Waste" on post-grunge/hard rock band Seether's 2007 album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces while Lats resurfaced in the band Monster in the Machine. Justin is currently working as an actor in his native Australia.
Anyway back to the review, this album is diverse and has something for everyone. It has extremely enjoyable heavy songs, amazing emotional acoustic moments, and great/unique songwriting. Each member of the band is a pro at their respective instrument as well. Anyone can appreciate this album, from the casual rock fan, the open minded metal head or anyone who enjoys good music in general can find something to like in "Beginnings". Do yourself a favor and buy this as soon as possible!
-Joe
Monday, February 8, 2010
Taylor Swift at the Grammys
Alright, so this post may not be the best in quality. Honestly, I'm only writing this right now because I need a post up so I can properly modify the template for this blog. But, this is a recent event, so I think it's something worth mentioning.
First things first: Taylor Swift is a sopping bag of fail. She cannot sing and she sucks at guitar. She's a worse singer than me, and that's saying a lot. As for her guitar playing skills, knowing basic chords does not make you a songwriter. As with most modern country artists, you won't find too many chords in her songs that can't be found in a beginner's lesson book. Her only fans are 14 girls and boys. Because only girls that young would possibly consider what she does talent, and because only boys that young think she's hot and want to fuck her. Same reasons Miley Cyrus has fans, actually. And if you're thinking to yourself, "I'm older than 14 and I like Taylor Swift," then perhaps you should rethink the music you like. Because you're wrong.
As for her performance at the Grammys...wow. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
She starts off the performance on her own with instrumentals. A good ear can tell she's sharp in this, but if you can't, wait for her backing singer to start singing (she puts her to shame, and she's a BACKING singer). You can clearly hear the pitch issues here.
Then...Stevie Nicks comes out. This is basically where Taylor decides it's okay to piss all over music. I heard that Stevie Nicks said she counted at least 32 wrong notes (not sure if it's true or not, but hey, Taylor Swift sucks, so let's assume it is). Personally, I think that's an understatement. There were times she got so sharp, I actually spasmed while trying to type. It basically had the same effect as if you kicked a dog right next to me.
I've heard people say, "she's young," or, "she's not perfect," or, "she was nervous." While all of those might be true (especially number 2), what is also true is that she is a PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN. That means she gets paid to perform. She doesn't get paid to be nervous, or to not be perfect. If she can't perform right, then why should she get paid to do it? The sad fact is that that excrement spewing bitch still gets paid to fuck up because her fans are too young and/or stupid to care about musical integrity. They like a pretty voice and superficial lyrics.
Also, before you start saying, "She has platinum albums and Grammys," as if that's any sort of counter-argument, think about what you're saying. You are telling me with that that you apparently judge the quality of music based on its REWARDS and NOT its MERITS. In other words, you think music is good because its popular, and not necessarily because its actually good. And if that's the case, your opinion is null and you have no credibility.
-Tyler
First things first: Taylor Swift is a sopping bag of fail. She cannot sing and she sucks at guitar. She's a worse singer than me, and that's saying a lot. As for her guitar playing skills, knowing basic chords does not make you a songwriter. As with most modern country artists, you won't find too many chords in her songs that can't be found in a beginner's lesson book. Her only fans are 14 girls and boys. Because only girls that young would possibly consider what she does talent, and because only boys that young think she's hot and want to fuck her. Same reasons Miley Cyrus has fans, actually. And if you're thinking to yourself, "I'm older than 14 and I like Taylor Swift," then perhaps you should rethink the music you like. Because you're wrong.
As for her performance at the Grammys...wow. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
She starts off the performance on her own with instrumentals. A good ear can tell she's sharp in this, but if you can't, wait for her backing singer to start singing (she puts her to shame, and she's a BACKING singer). You can clearly hear the pitch issues here.
Then...Stevie Nicks comes out. This is basically where Taylor decides it's okay to piss all over music. I heard that Stevie Nicks said she counted at least 32 wrong notes (not sure if it's true or not, but hey, Taylor Swift sucks, so let's assume it is). Personally, I think that's an understatement. There were times she got so sharp, I actually spasmed while trying to type. It basically had the same effect as if you kicked a dog right next to me.
I've heard people say, "she's young," or, "she's not perfect," or, "she was nervous." While all of those might be true (especially number 2), what is also true is that she is a PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN. That means she gets paid to perform. She doesn't get paid to be nervous, or to not be perfect. If she can't perform right, then why should she get paid to do it? The sad fact is that that excrement spewing bitch still gets paid to fuck up because her fans are too young and/or stupid to care about musical integrity. They like a pretty voice and superficial lyrics.
Also, before you start saying, "She has platinum albums and Grammys," as if that's any sort of counter-argument, think about what you're saying. You are telling me with that that you apparently judge the quality of music based on its REWARDS and NOT its MERITS. In other words, you think music is good because its popular, and not necessarily because its actually good. And if that's the case, your opinion is null and you have no credibility.
-Tyler
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