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August 2007 - Issue 224

108
A New Beat From A Dead Heart
Deathwish
Street: 06.26
108 = Burn + Cro-Mags + old-school good Earth Crisis
This band scares me. 108’s brand of East Coast hardcore is the most intense and impassioned music of all time. The band has reformed after a 10-year break to show all metal and hardcore bands how it’s done. I have never heard of these guys before this album and I had no idea I was missing out on one of the best hardcore bands of all time. I wish people still made music like this. It makes me wish that Snapcase was still alive and kicking. Apparently guitar player Vic Dicara was in Zach de la Rocha’s first band, Inside Out. Dicara plus bassist Trivikrama dasa are practicing Hindus, while singer Robert Fish/Rasaraja Dasa is a practicing straightedge, vegetarian and also practices Gaudiya Vaisnavism. New drummer Tom Hogan I guess just beats the down on his drums. These guys have strong convictions and it shows in their music. I really want to see these guys live but I’m worried that the show would be way too insane and the crowd would beat me up. 108 are as hardcore as it gets. Start listening to this band. –Jon Robertson

The Agonist
Once Only Imagined
Century Media Records
Street: 08.14
The Agonist = Arch Enemy + Lacuna Coil + Evanescence
Doesn’t Century Media already have Arch Enemy and Lacuna Coil? Are they yet again attempting to smear my face in the contrasting metal “ying” to the female “yang” as if I were a naughty puppy? Century Media, why have you forsaken me? Early in my metal years, I faithfully purchased albums on your fine label, gradually expanding for the girth that you had to offer. Musically, this album certainly has some merits, but there’s no possible way that The Agonist’s “dominating, beautiful, edgy female” (as they market her in their press release) can possibly pull the vocal stunts from this record off in a live setting. Switching from the shrieking to clean singing is one thing, but to overlap them is absolutely insulting to me as an avid music listener. I also find it laughable that vocalist Alissa White was interviewed as “one of the hottest chicks in metal” by Revolver Magazine, yet somehow the band tries to convince me that their artistic integrity remains firmly intact with “vegan roots” and “strong political stands.” This is simply unacceptable, and I’m calling bullshit on both Century Media and The Agonist. Before we know it, her bandmates will all be wearing the same drab costume, and Alissa’s outfit will have her standing out like the unique snowflake she is. This album is perfect for the idealistic 15-year-old mall-walker in your life. –Conor Dow

Airiel
The Battle of Sealand
Highwheel
Street: 08.14
Airiel = Mew + M83 + Brain Jonestown Massacre
The introduction to The Battle of Sealand, aptly titled “Introduction,” is crazy epic and gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it. It sounds like the beginning of a dream. I totally started picturing myself taking some hazy adventure riding a white dog-dragon named Falkor and hanging with some dudes by the names of Bastain and Atreyu, just like in the Neverending Story. Right as I began getting excited about my new adventure, some stranger popped in singing in a fake British accent and the music changed into My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. Which I guess is cool but I was really looking forward to my dream-pop adventure through the land known as Fantasia. Throughout the album, Airiel kept teasing my desire for a mystical adventure like on track four, “Sugar Crystals;” then they let the epic soundscape creep back only to once again send me crashing down into a more positive-sounding Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The Battle of Sealand is good but slightly inconsistent. The highlight of the album, “Stay,” once again catapults me back into Fantasia and I imagine myself having just defeated The Nothing and triumphant and beautiful, returning back to reality. They save the secret song 12 minutes into track 11 while the credits role. Airiel needs to concentrate on developing their dreamy, washed-out sound. It’s all about being epic. They should think about scoring the soundtrack to the next Neverending Story sequel. –Jon Robertson

Alina Simone
Placelessness
Polk Records
Street: 08.21
Alina Simone = Neko Case + Cat Power + PJ Harvey
Aside from the Ukranian-born singer’s histrionic wait-until-I’m-out-of-breath-to-sing-so-that-I-can-sound-like-I’m-about-to-pass-out-and-hit-every-warbly-off-key-register-as-my-brain-and-lungs-fight-for-existence, Placelessness aint half bad. The major theme—yes, you guessed it—is displacement and a modern idealization of being a refugee, always running. Although, what is this sad lady running from? Herself? Simone does, however, sound sincere, and the minimal guitar work that accompanies her dark yodeling is pleaseant, but I’m both bewildered and bothered that Simone never actually passes out. –Spanther

The American Black Lung
Sudden Departure of Vultures
Uprising
Street: 7.10
The American Black Lung = The Suicide File + Black Flag + MC5
Although Sudden Departure of Vultures is more of an extended EP than a full-length album, it still packs a wallop. The American Black Lung is not much more than a sum of its influential parts, but they make the important leap of making those styles uniquely their own. The vocals are sung/screamed in a brash hardcore style (Black Flag, Bullet Theory) and the music is laid down by a band steeped in not only the hardcore bands of the past, but good old-fashioned rock n’ roll. Eclecticism and variety are what makes the American Black Lung stand out—on “Pair of Cufflinks,” instead of resorting to standard hardcore breakdown guidelines, guitarists Johnny Detroit and Easy E instead mix it up with guitar lines ripped straight from classic Zeppelin. What remains to be seen for the ABL is whether the concoction of styles is a mere gimmick set for posturing, or a true respect and desire to redefine the role of classic rock in hardcore. –Peter Fryer

Angels of Light
We Are Him
Young God Records
Street: 08.28
Angels of Light = Lou Reed + Wooden Wand + post-apocalyptic Bob Dylan
The newest Angels of Light finds ex-Swans man and Young God Records founder Michael Gira collaborating again with fellow labelmates Akron/Family (and a slew of others) to create another album of dystopian doom-folk. Much like Swans, repetition plays a major role, though here the drone, dissonance and jagged edges are culled from the smoky haze of the Appalachians. Country, folk ballads, backwoods blues and inbred power-pop are all represented here, but saturated in that creepy Gira baritone and permeated throughout with a sense of well-orchestrated dread. Which, really, is what makes all of Gira’s music so dang good. This album is no exception. So take a listen if you just can’t get enough of that old-timey, goth-rock goodness. –Brian Roller

Arks
The International
Highwheel
Street: 08.14
Arks = Bloc Party + Interpol
Arks are making the same noifse as every other artsy post-punk band. The International sounds like it could be the new Dirty Pretty Things album. It has all your trademark qualities: deep spoken vocals, spacious guitar lines, cut-up basslines and disco drums. Imagine mixing up the first three U2 albums and combining them into one; that’s what The International sounds like, bland post-punk. The album has few interesting spots. Track nine, “Silver,” begins with serious distorted feedback and prodding drum lines that made me think that the band was about to mix up the tempo and change into a little darker atmosphere, but towards the end of the song, they use the same tricks that they have used throughout the whole album. Track 12, “Stator/Asymptote,” includes a cool drum line that alters the existing pace; however, once again they go back to the same formula. All 14 tracks blend into each other. Arks don’t have anything special going on. –Jon Robertson

Bad Religion
New Maps of Hell
Epitaph
Street: 07.10
Bad Religion = Bad Religon
Bust out those dictionaries, Bad Religion’s back with a new batch of songs about how much the world around us sucks! These elder-statesmen of punk put out a couple of spotty records back in the late ’90s, but ever since they reunited with founding guitarist Brett Gurewitz and Epitaph, they’ve regained their righteous anger and unrelenting energy. New Maps of Hell starts off with a clunker (“52 Seconds”), but soon enough, the band launches into their signature formula of a three-guitar attack, furious drumming and plenty of vocal harmonies to bring it all home. The first half of the album is packed with anthemic tunes like “Requiem of Dissent” and “New Dark Ages,” but smack-dab in the middle comes the slower-paced and radio-ready “Honest Goodbye,” which hurts the flow of the record and makes the second half weaker by comparison. Still, there’s a lot to like about New Maps of Hell, and it’s easily the most brutal of the band’s album since the early ’90s. Bad Religon have always been a beacon of intelligence in the sometimes stupid world of punk rock, and New Maps of Hell proves that you’re never too old to be angry at the world. –Ricky Vigil

Beowulf
Westminster and 5th
I Scream Records
Street: 04.24
Beowulf = everything that makes my skin crawl
God has no place in any type of rock music. EVER! Try to name one good Christian rock band … they don’t exist. This album annoyed me long before I realized Beowulf were Jesus freaks. The songs were too long, the singer’s voice too nasal-ly and the songwriting boring. Only when I read over the lyrics did I realize that nearly every damn song had a reference to being saved. I like my thrash-metal blood-soaked, violent and godless. All the shit about heaven, love and “hearing the word” should be saved for church. God-metal is just as shitty as skating for Jesus. I don’t even think the Son of Man would give this a thumbs-up. –Jeanette Moses

Black End Future
Suicidal Heaven
Maniacal Productions
Street: 07.04
Black End Future = Vital Remains + Nile + (new) Carcass + At the Gates
Well, this is an interesting, heavy, fast, thrashy metal album from a band straight out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. There’s a lot of the “same old, same old” feeling here, but with a very decent DIY direction to it. This appeals greatly to me because metal should be determined in all facets, and the music is by no means terrible. ClichОd, perhaps, but where’s the fun in metal if it can’t sometimes obviously draw from great influences? There’s some good use of samples and acoustic guitar in some of the songs, and although some of the instrumentation might be a tad sloppy at times, the ambition more than makes up for it. Though some won’t be raving about this, I can only imagine Black End Future’s live show is pretty insane, especially thanks to living in Albuquerque. Good stuff, dudes. –Conor Dow

Canvas Solaris
Cortical Tectonics
Sensory
Street: 06.05
Canvas Solaris = Don Caballero + Cynic +Dillinger Escape Plan
The instrumental power trio known as Canvas Solaris is at it again. The begging track “Berserker Hypothesis” on their fourth release, Cortical Tectonics, jumps right off with more riffs than I thought were possible to fit into one song. Canvas Solaris is another extreme math/tech-metal band. The only thing that separates them from the rest of these types of bands is the fact that they have no singer. It’s all instrumental, folks. Which gives guitar-player Nathan Sapp, bass-player Ben Simpkins and drummer Hunter Ginn more room to play even more technical rhythms and as many notes as possible. The problem with the majority of these tracks is that they try to fit in so many whacked-out time signatures and arpeggios into one song that they don’t spend time building on one idea. The listener doesn’t have time to truly appreciate all the thought and technicality they put into each of the six songs on the album. I would like to hear them stick to fewer riffs and build on them, which would add more energy and power to songs overall. –Jon Robertson

Chris Caffery
Pins and Needles
Locomotive Records
Street: 06.05
Chris Caffery = Savatage + progressive Motley Crue
Here’s my chance to admit it: I’ve successfully avoided checking out Chris Caffery’s solo project for several years now. After listening to this a few times, I can honestly say that I don’t feel like I was missing out on much. From thrash to gothic metal, there are all sorts of elements worked into these songs, but something about it just doesn’t click for me. Maybe it’s just the ever-looming reminder that these styles have been beaten to death more and more as time goes on. The song structures are solid, the guitar-playing skillfully performed high above the wannabes, and there’s almost a full hour of not exactly terrible music here, but this just isn’t something I’d quickly put on to drown out the rest of the world. While I’m definitely all about respecting my metal elders, I feel like this is something your stepdad would enjoy more than I do. –Conor Dow

Christy & Emily
Gueen’s Head
The Social Registry
Street: 08.07
Christy & Emily = Velvet Underground + Francoise Hardy + The Durutti Column
Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t your typical mom-and-daughter conservative pop routine (although the album picture doesn’t help this supposition, either). Actually, scratch that. Who cares if they’re mom and daughter, Gueen’s Head is hot! And I mean hot like lava; bubbling, candescent, Hawaiian lava that flows and molds wherever it goes. Christy plays VU-stylized low-fi guitar while Emily, “a world renowned avant garde pianist,” tickles the shit out of those ivories, and the combination, with one of them singing like a bird with a blue belly, is both relaxing and enticing. The Gueen’s Head is not dead. –Spanther

Chuck Ragan
Feast or Famine
SideOneDummy
Street: 08.07
Chuck Ragan = Rumbleseat + Johnny Cash + Tim Barry
Sometimes a band splitting up can lead to good things. Almost immediately after Chuck Ragan’s old band, Hot Water Music, broke up, his bandmates resurfaced as The Draft and built upon HWM’s increasingly rock-oriented sound. It took Chuck a little bit longer to reemerge on the musical landscape, but when he finally did, and as a solo folk artist no less, it was worth the wait. Feast or Famine is packed with songs with timeless themes (love, war, family), but the lyrical simplicity and Ragan’s gruff, powerful voice really set it apart. He’s no longer screaming at the top of his lungs as he was in HWM, but the same passion and fire can be heard as he sings about his mother on “Geraldine” and lashes out against those who hold others down on “For Broken Ears.” There’s also a stellar version of the Rumbleseat (Chuck’s original folk outlet) classic “California Burritos,” complete with a raging fiddle and explosive percussion. As a musician, Chuck Ragan no longer needs the buzzing guitars and pounding drums of Hot Water Music. He’s doing just fine with his voice and his words. –Ricky Vigil

Concentrick
Aluminum Lake
Drag City
Street: 08.07
Cocnetrick = Pelican + Explosions in the Sky + Mogwai + Aphex Twin
Tim Green (guitar player for The Fucking Champs and formerly of Nation of Ulysses and Earthless), the sole full-time member of Concentrick, has been piecing together his third album for the past seven years. This time around he uses a little less electronics and a little more organic instrumentation. The beginning track, “Waterfall,” sounds like a loungey outtake from the Aphex Twin catalogue, while the second track, “Aluminum Lake,” has a slowcore-type feel similar to Low. The third track, “White Bear,” is really where the album kicks in, breaking it out proper with some instrumental metal. This album is all over the place with flavor. The nine songs on this album touch on almost every genre of music, and every track has a different set of emotions and musical feel to it. I have to give it to ol’ Mr. Green for being able to make such diverse and intelligent music. The songs on the album show that he put thought into every note and progression. It’s perfect for just relaxing or taking a drive. This is the kind of music that makes you think. Strong work, Tim Green, strong work. –Jon Robertson

Daddy Yankee
El Cartel: The Big Boss
El Cartel Records
Street: 06.07
Daddy Yankee = Lil Jon + Ricky Martin
Regardless of whether or not you’ve been south of Tijuana recently, odds are you’ve heard the hybridized and distinctly Latin genre of music known as Reggaeton. The rising star of this music, which combines elements of reggae, hip-hop, salsa, and other traditional Latin genres, parallels that of its poster boy, the Puerto Rican playboy who hoodwinked listeners worldwide with the less-than-subtle sexual innuendo of his Luny Tunes produced hit, “Gasolina.” 2007 finds this Scarface hopeful posing on his new album as a self-styled boss of his own musical empire in the legacy of the Columbian drug cartel. A slew of auditory debauchery ensues amongst a myriad of celebrity cameos, from the avatar of guest appearances, Akon, to the only Canadian worthy of the term “hood rich” (Scott Storch). Tracks not overproduced and containing some smidgen of authenticity (“Corazona Divina”) are drowned out in a cavalcade of self-glorification and hypersexualization, making this album irksome for one seeking more substance in their musical tastes. To be fair, this record is at the very least preferable to some alternatives when one is impelled to make the decision between Krunk and Reggaeton by a perreo-dancing mami at the club. –Makena Walsh

Darkest Hour
Deliver Us
Victory Records
Street: 07.10
Darkest Hour = At the Gates + As I Lay Dying + In Flames
I've been a fan of Darkest Hour since their inception. I think every band has their highlight record—in Darkest Hour's case, it is their amazing Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation record. That said, I think Deliver Us will be the band’s most successful comercial album, appealing to fans of the As I Lay Dying generation. It sort of makes me sad to see a band loose their intensity and mellow out. The reasons for this change could be many and I'm not going to shout “sell-out” just yet. I've got to give the band some credit for choosing one of my personal heroes, Devin Townsend, to produce the new album, and the band definitely didn't slack in their guitar-playing on Deliver Us; it is diverse, talent-filled and ultimately, fun to listen to. When the band is playing fast and intricately, I love this album, but when they slow things down and add a bit of watered-down melody with some pretty damn stupid clean vocals, I mostly get pissed and wish they had stuck with their more ferocious style. Maybe this new progression will grow on me in time, but for now, it sounds a little forced, like they're trying to reach the audience of metal fans that can't handle extremity in large doses. –Bryer Wharton

Destroyer Destroyer
Littered With Arrows
Goodfellow Records
Street: 07.17
Destroyer Destroyer = Isis + Early Daughters + horror movie screams + Bloodhasbeenshed
Remember that really creepy scene in Event Horizon where they play that video where everyone is tearing each other to shreds? Destroyer Destroyer would be a well-suited soundtrack to that video. Littered with Arrows is a creepy, eerie, difficult listen. Destroyer Destroyer is unlistenable in a good way. Atonal guitar lines are mixed with off-beat drumming and screams straight from the latest slasher flick—rarely is there respite. When said respite arrives, it is in the vein of early Isis; slow, dragging and still gloomy as all hell. A few notes of melodic harmony are sprinkled frugally throughout the album, coaxing your ears into comfortable territory before ravaging them all over again. The production quality is good; each instrument is discernable and the mess of notes and screams aren’t due to muddy recording. Distinct instruments are making the chaos emanating from the speakers. It’s hard to make out sometimes if this is complex, or just a bunch of guys that didn’t want to learn how to read music and instead ostensibly made a bunch of noise. Regardless, for those looking for a challenging record, this should fit the bill. –Peter Fryer

Drawn and Quartered
Merciless Hammer of Lucifer
Moribund Cult
Street: 06.26
Drawn and Quartered = Immolation + Morbid Angel
"Demolish, annhilate, massacre, depopulate" is the message Drawn and Quartered is sending with their song "A Final Solution;" how negative can you get? But hey, it's death metal. It seems like time passes quickly; it wasn't long ago that I reviewed Drawn and Quartered's Hail Infernal Darkness album and remember it being pretty mediocre. Damned if the Seattle-bred guys didn’t step up; Merciless Hammer of Lufcifer is beyond mediocre. The leadwork is much more inspired than the band’s previous efforts; now I'm drawn into the evil, dischordant harmonies, the true highlight of this new offering to the death-metal gods. My only complaint is that the drumming seems sort of nonexistent in intensity; the blastbeats seem to repeat themselves far too often. But alas, I'm not going to let that detract from the experience of hearing a band progress to a new level that goes above the average fare. The band has six albums, not including their demo material. I've only heard their last effort, but from what I've heard, the album is so much better, diverse, atmospheric and hate-filled than the last album. It makes me curious and wonder if Hail Infernal Darkness was just a fluke and the other albums are as worthwhile as this; oh well, more albums to aquire. Snatch this record up quick—the first pressing contains a bonus disc that contains the out-of-print Crusaders of Blasphemy demo as well as some other unreleased goodies. –Bryer Wharton

The Eat
It’s Not the Eat, It’s the Humidity
Alternative Tentacles
Street: 07.24
The Eat = The Pointed Sticks + The Ramones + Fear
Let us all take a moment to thank Jello Biafra and the crew at Alternative Tentacles for re-releasing great albums that barely saw the light of day and are now way too rare to track down. This two-disc release is a collection of all of the band’s early and rare 7”s, a cassette-only album; and all the other songs that were left on the cutting-room floor. The second disc is all live material spanning from 1980 to 1996. The Eat’s infectious pop collides with the more raw sound of 80s hardcore and seems to have a dash of jazz fusion, too. The mixture creates something interesting and irresistible. This album is a gem. I’m stoked that someone took the time to dig these tracks up and create this release. –Jeanette Moses

Fall of the Leafe
Aerolithe
Firebox
Street: 08.20
Fall of the Leafe = Dragonforce + cheesey Finnish action
There is nothing original at all about Fall of the Leafe. They play the same brand of power post grunge rock that you have heard from the likes of Creed. On this the bands ninth release the re-hash every rock clichО. They sound like a crappy Utah local band. The one song with any originality is track 10 “Look Into Me”; this song has one cool riff that soon disappears 30 seconds into the track. It’s amazing to me that this band has a record deal. The main problem with this band is the singer Tuomas Touminen. His deep unstable crooning and occasional death metal scream is one of the main reasons their music sounds so tired. I have heard this voice in one form or another for the past 10 years. The band doesn’t even seem like they are trying to mix things up; the majority of the songs have the exact same structure. Save your time and money. Don’t punish your ears unless you’re into cookie-cutter grunge with untrained vocals. –Jon Robertson

The Fall Of Troy
Manipulator
Equal Vision
Street: 05.01
Fall Of Troy = Coheed And Cambria + Mars Volta + Horse The Band + Weezer + Led Zeppelin + Faith No More + Otis Redding
Fall Of Troy’s third release, Manipulator, is all over the place. They go through about seven different genres all in one song. From emo to sceramo to psychedelic to blues to math metal to 70s rock and rhythm and blues. They must have split personalities or something. This album is a huge improvement from their previous effort, DoppelgКnger. It’s impressive that there are only three band members to make all this crazy influenced noise. With all their genre-bending, it’s easy to get worn out on The Fall Of Troy’s sound. It would be nice if they would include a couple songs that just stuck to one fit and feel. Guitarist/vocalist Tomas Erak, bassist/vocalist Tim Ward and drummer Andrew Forsman are definitely proficient and unconventional musicians. I think as they get older and wiser, they might focus their amazing abilities into more tight, concise songs that won’t be so exhausting on the ears and brain. This band is on their way to being really great. –Jon Robertson

Go it Alone
Histories
Rivalry Records
Street: 05.15
Go it Alone = Blue Monday + Sinking Ships + ominous overtones
Melodic hardcore is slowly becoming as bloated and overdone as metalcore, so for a band to stand out, it requires a little something extra. Go it Alone is bringing that something extra with their second full-length release. Last year’s split with Blue Monday was lackluster (the Go it Alone tracks at least) and so it’s nice to see that they’ve picked up where they left off on The Only Blood Between Us. The pacing of Histories is probably one of the most crucial components to its success. Solid interludes serve as a great shift in tempo and style between many of the tracks. They sound like the Dead Man soundtrack played by a hardcore band. When the songs get going, they are standard Go it Alone melodic-hardcore fare, but since they opted for some darker chord structures and tones to their guitars, it adds the depth lacking in so many of their contemporaries. Histories is certainly not the most revolutionary hardcore record, but Go it Alone is more content with embellishing on their past than rewriting it. –Peter Fryer

Godless Rising
Battle Lords
Moribund Cult
Street: 07.17
Godless Rising = Vital Remains + Deicide + Morbid Angel
Death-fucking-metal, god I love this stuff with a passion. Rhode Island's Godless Rising have unleashed Battle Lords, their Moribund Cult debut and follow-up to their Pathos Productions’ Rising Hatred. The band features half of the original Vital Remains lineup that spawned the cult Let Us Pray album. Battle Lords takes that same wholely satanic death-metal experience and re-vamps it in production, technicality and brutality. I'm a sucker for well-produced death metal, and the production’s not too crisp and clean to be considered sell-out worthy while remaining beefy enough to satisfy death-metal palates from fans of the more known bands to the cult underground pioneers. Opener "Heathens Rage" just comes right out and kicks your ass with well-enunciated death-metal vocals that contain range that many death-metal vocalists lack. The album’s eight tracks are all worthy of Satan's praise, brimming with hellfire solos, crainium-bursting drum attacks and guttural screaming that would make the mighty Glen Benton or George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher run in fear. The true highlight here is the record’s title track, "Battle Lords," opening with sounds of machine-gun fire, artillery blasts and tank wheels grinding, conjuring up images of a bloody battle—modern or old, gun or sword, whatever your taste may be. Regardless, it makes me want to grab some sort of weapon and punish something with unbridled aggression. Why me and other fans thirst for this sort of sonic destruction may be hard to explain, but it is surely delivered by Godless Rising in a most ferocious way. –Bryer Wharton

Hacavitz
Katun
Moribund Cult
Street: 06.26
Hacavitz = Incantation + Impiety + Ravager
There is a reason Moribund Cult is becoming one of my favorite extreme metal labels and Mexico's Hacavitz is one of those reasons. Where they excelled with their debut full-length, Venganza, in 2006, they bring their vision of hatred, darkness and utmost evil full circle with Katun. Despite flurried lineup and name changes throughout the years, the group manages to prevail under the direction of vocalist/guitarist Antimo Buonnano and drummer Oscar Garcia. Raw is the key word here; the guitars are grit-filled and muddy, enveloping death/black-metal fiends into an atmosphere that many bands struggle to aspire to reach. Add haunting flute passages and some truly scary-sounding vocals with lyrical content inspired from Aztec lore and things just get more diverse and a whole lot more sinister. Picture some human sacrifices to their utmost bloody potential while Hacavitz rages on. Break out some Dos Equis (because it has to be dark) and prepare yourself for some truly evil cult death/black metal ruin. –Bryer Wharton

Hannah Fury
Through the Gash
Mellow Trumatic
Street: 08.07
Hannah Fury = Chandeen + Mandalay
At times recalling a slightly more sinister Julee Cruise and her collaborations with Angelo Badalamenti, Hannah Fury’s releases have aptly been called “spooky,” “creepy” and “disturbed.” While many of those adjectives could be placed upon Through the Gash, Fury’s compositions are also beautiful, hypnotic and far more substantial than a string of Halloween attributes. Fury’s voice haunts like the ghost of Kate Bush above the orchestrated undercurrent of piano, acoustic guitar and atmospheric synths that float away in a heavy dose of reverb while the occasional drum machine keeps time. I can only imagine what she could do with a cover of “Wuthering Heights.” Grim and highly recommended. –ryan michael painter

The Hedrons
Measured Records
One More Won’t Kill Us
Street: 02.07
The Hedrons = Avril Lavigne + Braveheart
This all-girl Scottish quartet is a delightful substitute for a non-electronically influenced, slightly harder version of The Sounds. Lying somewhere between lewdness and decency, control and lack thereof, between Ozzy Osbourne and The Dixie Chicks, The Hedrons are punk enough to maintain your bad boy (or in this case, girl) image, but nice enough to bring home to mom. The lead guitar of Rosie is playfully exuberant but respectful, never straying too far from Gill’s rudely cooperating bass lines. Tippi’s lead Joan Jett siren song renders her Scottish lilt almost imperceptible while singing short and catchy hooks, making The Hedrons the best export from Scotland since the Loch Ness Monster. –Makena Walsh

The Howling Hex
XI
Drag City
Street 08.07
The Howling Hex = Pussy Galore + Royal Trux + a little heavy on horns
The Howling Hex is the latest project by Neil Hagerty, formerly of Royal Trux and Pussy Galore (the latter a “swamp punk” band with John Spencer). This latest release expands on the swampy flavor of his past projects and serves up a healthy chunk of rock n’ roll. Improvisation also seems to play a large part, as much of the disc sounds fresh, raw and even a little misguided—as if it were recorded without really having been explored. These songs, though primitive, exude some serious rock spirit. But that really only describes one side of the music. There is also some spoken word, some almost jazzy saxophone parts and lots of percussion (congas, cowbells, etc.). Some of it is very listenable, with the stripped-down drums and a multi-vocalist approach to singing, creating a very solid rock sound. But it’s not all like that. The spoken word is completely out of place, and the saxophone figures far too heavily into a few songs. At its best, it is a mix of Foghat and Saccharine Trust—’70s rock with a trace of avant garde. At its worst, it sounds like a bad horn player auditioning for a poorly rehearsed Rocket from the Crypt. And though some of the songs are quite good, I’m still having a really hard time recommending this one to anyone. –James Bennett Illogicist
The Insight Eye
Willowtip
Street: 07.10
Illogicist = Necrophagist + Death + Atheist
Drawing influences from the mighty Cynic, Death and Atheist as well as the more relative newcomer Necrophagist, Illogicist play technical metal at its finest. Keeping in step with the German Necrophagist, Illogicist guitar work is extensive and utterly mind-blowing at the very least. There is so much going on with The Insight Eye that if you only listen to it once, you will miss three-fourths of the record’s intense capacity for true metal greatness. Up-and-coming indie-metal label Willowtip did well to snatch up these Italian virtuosos. With some death-metal albums, attention is lost very early on while listening to the record, but Illogicist strive to go above and beyond to peak their audience's interest until the very last chord is blasted. Apparently, The Insight Eye is the group’s follow-up to their Subjected debut, which this rabid technical metal fan is going to promptly dig up. While already achieving glory some bands could never accomplish in two albums, one can't help but think of the future potential of Illogicist, which, simply put, is limitless. The ante has just been upped for technical metal and death metal in general. –Bryer Wharton

Juan Pablo Torres – Algo Nuevo
Arturo Sandoval & His Group – Self-Titled
Omara Portuondo – Duets
Bebo Valdes – Featuring the Legendary Vocalists
Juan Pablo Torres – Romantic Cuba
Malanga Music
Street: 04.23
The Buena Vista Social Club has done much to bring Cuban music into the radar of many casual world-music fans. Following in the proud tradition exposed by Ry Cooder and company, Malanga Music is re-releasing some important, smooth and relevant Cuban music to a broader audience. The five CDs in this review range from the soulful crooning and wailing from the likes of Omara Portuondo and Bebo Valdes to the crazy, almost unsightly early-to-mid-70s Chick Corea trombone of Juan Pablo Torres to Arturo Sandoval’s trad-jazz Cuban fusion. While the CDs are all pretty amazing (even the bad electro-fusion jazz albums of Juan Pablo Torres are sparked with Cuban love that make them sincere and genuine), the scope of the music moves way beyond that of the territory Buena Vista Social Club occupied. Juan Pablo Torres was the first to use electric instrumentation in Cuban music and Bebo Valdes is the Cuban Frank Sinatra (while Omara Portuondo is a wide-ranging Ella Fitzgerald of Havana). While most of these CDs are highly influenced by jazz (Sandoval played with Duke Ellington, among other jazz favorites), there is enough Cuban roots in these songs to give a distinct, spicy flavor that will invigorate and cure the summertime heat. –Erik Lopez

The Ladybug Transistor
Can’t Wait Another Day
Merge Records
Street: 06.07
The Ladybug Transistor = Frankie Avalon + Phantom Planet
The Ladybug Transistor sounds like the music your decisively un-cool parents listened to, manhandled through a Death Cab for Cutie paradigm. Songs which may at first seem passably suitable are promptly ruined by a cheesy saxophone or trumpet solo evocative of some late-night show-band’s intro music, the preamble to a skit of an album that hovers just above hilarity. Gary Olson’s singing sounds like a pre-pubescent Frank Sinatra stuck in the wrong century, his baritone somehow proving more annoying than my broken swamp-cooler. This is the sort of indie-pop effort worthy of parody by Seth MacFarlane as a Family Guy cover. Five years from now, when you’re buying your groceries or riding in an elevator, you will suddenly hear the Muzak of The Ladybug Transistor lurking in the background like some generic ghost whose easy-listening style is designed to quell individual thought and propel your consumerism. –Makena Walsh

Low In The Sky
We Are All Counting On You, William
Abandon Building Records
Street: 08.01
Low In The Sky = Explosions In The Sky + Mono + Cale Parks
Busy as a beehive. But not so busy you get dizzy in the hizzy. If hip-hop and IDM are the queen bees, then ambient micro-management is king. The honey doesn’t ebb and flow; it careens and crescendos. But for those not savvy to the honey comb, this three-piece from that dirty city, Akron, Ohio, are as good at making instrumental cinematic music as any. You can’t help but dream imagery when listening. I just happen to think of bees with knees. –Spanther

Manias/Sale Sangre
…And Blood Soaked the World
Maniacal Productions
Street: Summer.07
Manias/Sale Sangre = Incantation + Brujeria + Skinless
I don't have much to go on when it came to background on this truly indie-metal band. From what I do know, they are from New Mexico and released three albums in a six-month period, according to an exchange of myspace messages. The band sings in both Spanish and English and have a varied vocal attack, from deep, guttural growls to high-pitched screams. For being independent, the production value may be raw, but it is also clear, thick and heavy. There is a lot of groove to the record; they certianly don't have a hard time coming up with some brutally heavy riffs. I could seriously listen to this album all day based on its diveristy alone; every song is different and punishing in its own special way. Coming from a scene I know little about, I give Manias a huge amount of respect, and hope for the best that they might find a larger label garnering more support to expose their metal talent to the masses of extreme metal fans. In any way, I'm definitely on the hunt to pick up these overachievers’ other records and see if they are as supremely killer as ...And Blood Soaked the World. –Bryer Wharton

Maserati
Inventions For The New Season
Temporary Residence
Street: 06.19
Maserati=GSYBE + Explosions In The Sky – any musical peak or flourish
When looking for particulars in describing the sound of the Atlanta quartet Maserati it becomes hard to pull anything original out of the their post-rock mess. Inventions For The New Season is the third attempt at your typical instrumental crescendo/decrescendo compilation that frustratingly tries to apply punk rock’s speed and volume as mood control. It’s not so much Maserati’s fascination with noise that leaves tracks like “Inventions” and “Show Me the Season” weightless and ineffective. Rather it’s Coley Dennis and Matt Cherry’s inability to progress out of a limited range of guitar cords. What ensues is an album that sounds more like that stupid little fly bouncing repetitively off the inside of your pinto’s windshield as you chug slowly towards work. Inventions For the New Season is lost in its inability to expand outside the space it has created for itself, becoming a useless addition to the troves of rocky post-instrumental music. –Miles Ridling

Minus The Bear
Planet of Ice
Suicide Squeeze
Street: 08.21
Minus The Bear = Elbow + The Police +These Arms Are Snakes
Right from the beginning, Minus The Bear puts you in a captivating chokehold and makes you admit that Jim Morrison is the king. The opening track, “Buying Luck,” jumps right out and lets you know that Minus the Bear plans on pimp-smacking you for a full 48 minutes. Their brand of syncopated, intricate songs is enough to boggle the mind. I swear these guys are telepathically interlinked with each other. It amazes me that that guitar-player Dave Knudson (formerly of Botch) and guitarist/vocalist Jake Snider’s (formerly of Sharks Keep Moving and State Road 522) fingers don’t fall off. These two guitarists interweave in/out of each other’s playing like a pair of Siamese twins. This is by far their most solid release; I didn’t think they would be able to top the six amazing tracks that composed They Make Beer Commercials Like This, but they most definitely have. The shining point of the album is track four, “White Mystery,” a song about some drunken sexcapade worthy of Jeff Buckley’s song, “Everybody Here Wants You,” off Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk. The new addition of keyboard player Alex Rose is just as good as former member Matt Bayles, who is still on board for production duties. This album is amazing! –Jon Robertson

Municipal Waste
The Art of Partying
Earache
Street: 07.31
Municipal Waste = D.R.I + Anthrax + Suicidal Tendencies
I actually found out about Municipal Waste during an interview with Anthrax’s Scott Ian, who recommended picking up the band’s Hazardous Mutation album, which I promptly did and loved it. I even went so far as to scour eBay for the band’s first record, Waste em’ All. So what can fans and newcomers alike expect from the new album? Well, plenty more visceral, shredding, fast songs that end quickly and leave no room to wait for the next onslaught. The band takes this speed and truly raw brutality and actually makes it fun. There are no anti-religion songs or sappy relationship dribble on any of the album’s 15 cuts. Instead, you have songs like “Beer Pressure,” “Attention Deficit Destroyer” and “Lunch Hall Food Brawl.” The greatest quality that Municipal Waste possesses is their uncanny ability to sound like they came straight out of the 80s thrash movement, when in fact, they haven’t been around all that long. With production help coming from Zeuss, the record stays clear and maintains a good volume level without sacrificing the live aesthetic that the band’s other records made so prevalent. If your parties are usually drunken puke fests filled with long-haired metal-savvy-looking folks be sure to add The Art of Partying to your beer-induced musical tastes, or just blast this sucker in your car and get looks from granny as you headbang and scream along. Regardless, this record is required listening for 2007. –Bryer Wharton

Napalm Death
Punishment in Capitals
Armoury Records
Street: 06.12
Napalm Death = the Godfathers of grind
I’ve actually had the DVD of this 2003 concert for quite awhile and gotten much enjoyment out of it. Apparently, the CD version has been available on an import-only basis, so now it is being released in the states officially. The band is sort of notorious for having a revolving-door lineup in their early years; as with the newer incarnations, the one constant is vocalist Barney Greenway, who has been with the band for quite awhile. This live disc features the lineup of Greenway as well as Mitch Harris, Shane Embry, Danny Herera and the deceased Jesse Pintado. The hour-long disc packed full with 27 songs, is in true Napalm Death form; fast, unrelenting and superbly skillfull. Though the record lacks a live feeling, there is little to no crowd noise and minimal interaction from Greenway. If you weren’t actually told that this is a live album, you would just think it’s a greatest hits record, oddly without any post-2003 material and a step below in production value. Somehow the mixing got messed up with the CD because the DVD sounds a lot better. It is nice, though, to have this available to own easily and get the live Napalm experience, lacking as the record may be in the qualities that a live album usually has. However, for the most part, the live material updates the band’s older songs’ sound to fit the current style of the band. Let’s just say you have to love Napalm Death to love this live offering, but then again, who doesn't love Napalm Death? –Bryer Wharton

No Age
Weirdo Rippers
Fat-Cat Records
Street: 08.28
No Age = Crass + Bad Brains + Boredoms
Is it already that time of the decade for another round of post-punk? Maybe this time it should be called post-post punk? Either way, No Age doesn’t seem to care. As 66.6% of the former LA punk band Wives, they are well prepared to reinvent punk music. The songs are very disjointed and somewhat atmospheric, but have just enough punk memory to keep any purveyor of lo-fi music interested and nostaligic. It sounds really good to my electronically overloaded ears. There are not many electronics involved here, just a bundle of lo-fi drums, guitar feedback and group shouts/chants. Punk is definitely not dead in No Age land. –Art Glassett

ORESKABAND
Self-titled
Self-released
Street: 08.07
ORESKABAND = Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra + POTSHOT + Any random 3rd-Wave Ska Band
So the other night I went out and bought myself a big bag of peanut-butter M&Ms. When I ripped the bag open and popped a few of those bad boys in my mouth, they were nothing short of delicious. In fact, those peanut-butter M&Ms were so damn delicious that I couldn’t stop eating them, and before I knew it, I was left with an empty bag, a stomachache and a horrible feeling of shame. That’s exactly what it feels like listening to this album. ORESKABAND is a sugary-sweet ska-rock band comprised of six teenage Japanese girls, and though their high-energy, hyperactive music is fun for a little while, listening to the whole album will only end in pain. There’s a certain novelty in hearing a girl screaming in Japanese over blaring horns and up-stroke guitars, but the novelty is lost after only a few songs. Plus, ORESKABAND’s cover of the ska standard, “Monkey Man,” is pretty bland. Hyperactive Japanese ska-rock can be good in small doses, but too much of the stuff could kill you. –Ricky Vigil

Pelican
City of Echoes
Hydra Head
Street: 06.07
Pelican = Pelican but with shorter songs and more variety
City of Echoes, the third release from Pelican, is the album I have been waiting for them to write since the band began. They finally have added enough dynamics and structural variety to make them a band that is crazy awesome. Pelican is the kind of instrumental band that writes actual songs, not arpeggiated solos and shred fests like many other instrumental bands do, just because they feel that they need to cover up the void of not having a singer. Pelican writes real music with structures that accentuate the art of writing songs. The most notable and important change is that the rhythm section of drummer Larry Herweg and bass-player Bryan Herweg have finally come into their own rhythmically. They switch the beat and tempo up much more than on their previous two releases, Australasia and The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. This allows the dual guitar-attack of Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec to bust out the moves they need to. City of Echoes evokes more of a variety of sound, from death-speed metal attacks to inspiring, open soundscapes. Pelican is truly a triumphant band the third time around. (08.18 Urban Lounge)–Jon Robertson

The Politik
The Politik
Milan Records
Street: 07.07
The Politik = Quasimoto (beats) + Otis Redding
The Politik is classified under the umbrella of neo or futuresoul. Most of the album features the voice of BРmbП SРguП over the mediocre production of Mark de Clive-Lowe. With the intention of pushing the boundaries of soul music, unfortunately, this album fails to engender the powerful emotions the fusion of rhythm and blues and gospel music should, leaving the listener dissatisfied somewhere between People Under the Stairs and Sam Cooke. SРguП’s voice is good enough to listen to, but its layering over de Clive-Lowe’s artificial instrumentation confines it to a droll landscape of polite piano and hokey electronic ambience. The attempt at innovation is to be applauded, but the resulting puddle of newfangled-ness is beyond redemption, even with help from emcee Bahamdia. –Makena Walsh

Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris
Interscope
Street: 06.12
Queens of the Stone Age = Monster Magnet + Butthole Surfers + Fu Manchu + Melvins
The new Queens of the Stone Age album is streamlined. The tracks on Era Vulgaris are tighter and more focused then their previous album, Lullabies to Paralyze. But while they are tighter and more focused, they are also catchier. The second track, “Sick, Sick, Sick,” is the closest music has ever gotten to stoner-metal dance-pop. The whole album is catchy. It’s dirty-dark and has a bouncing beat to it. All the songs on this keep getting stuck in my head. The only complaint I have is the sound of the drums—lo-fi and cheap. Which I guess is OK because it goes with the feel of the songs. But I can’t help wondering how much more engaging the album would be if the drums kept the cheap sound and were brought up in the mix and given a little bit more boom, similar to the drum sound that was featured on Primus’s Brown Album or on QOTSA’s third album, Songs for the Deaf. It would also be nice if Dave Grohl, who drummed on Songs for the Deaf would leave the Foo Fighters since they’re lame now and become QOTSA’s full-time drummer. But, as the wise Mick Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want.” –Jon Robertson

Reel Big Fish
Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free
Rock Ridge Music
Street: 07.10
Reel Big Fish = They Might Be Giants + Bowling For Soup + Horns + Crap
A brief history of ska: Ska originated in Jamaica in the early 1960s. It was a fusion of traditional Jamaican music and American R&B and soul. Eventually, it gave way to rocksteady and reggae, but some punk kids in England got a hold of it in the late ’70s and reinvigorated the genre. Then some goofy white kids in America got a hold of it and everything mostly went to crap. Reel Big Fish were some of those goofy white kids. While bands like Big D & the Kids Table and The Mad Caddies have proven that it is entirely possible to grow up and make a mature ska-punk album, Reel Big Fish’s Monkeys for Nothin’ proves that they have absolutely no interest in making quality music. Juvenile lyrics pollute “Another F.U. Song” and “Everybody’s Drunk!” while “Party Down” is just trying too damn hard to be fun and goofy. On the latter track, the band’s blaring horns give way to brief interludes of disco, hip-hop and death metal in what I can only guess is an attempt to get a few laughs. Reel Big Fish, please do all of us fans of real ska music a favor: Just stop it. (The Great Saltair: 08.06) –Ricky Vigil

Revolution Mother
Glory Bound
Cement Shoes Records
Street: 06.26
Revolution Mother = Zeke + Motorhead + Turbonegro
Revolution Mother is definitely on their way up in the rock and metal world. The band’s frontman, Mike V, is a pro skater and the band has earned themselves a slot on this year’s Warped Tour, a welcome stylistic difference from much of the screamo whiny crap that the tour is touting. The band is playing on a stage adjacent to the ramp that Mike V will be skating on, all according to the band’s bio. The band, strangely rooted in hardcore, now follows a more straightforward rock approach and is fun as hell to listen to, from the very opening, fast, love-life opening track, "Come On." Glory Bound definitely fits its title, holding an aesthetic that embraces living life to its fullest and demanding attention for listeners to rock out. The grooves are plentiful, gutiar solos heart-pounding and ballads filled with worthwhile lyrical content. This record is just what rock should be—pure fun and proudly bearing influences that obviously paved the way for a band showcasing an older style with a new twist that fans of older rock and more modern bands can both appreciate. If you went to this year’s Warped Tour, I sure as hell hope you actually saw these guys, because the fact that they rock the hell out on CD means their live shows must be intense. –Bryer Wharton

Ruiner
Prepare to be Let Down
Bridge 9 Records
Street: 06.26
Ruiner = American Nightmare + With Honor
This review could come out of the gate with something like “prepare to be let down indeed,” but it won’t. Mainly because there’s no let-down on Ruiner’s first full-length and their first release for a slightly rejuvenated Bridge 9 (which has become a staple of mediocre hardcore in the last few years). At first, Prepare to be Let Down doesn’t seem as urgent as their first EP, What Could Possibly Go Right, but that can quickly be attributed to the increased production quality. The most compelling thing about Ruiner is just that: they are compelling. At various points throughout the album, Ruiner sounds like they’re about to fall apart, both musically and emotionally—and I’m not talking about any emo boys here. Honesty is their trade and it shows. The drums play so furiously fast at points that I’m surprised the rest of the band can keep up, and vocalist Rob Sullivan isn’t afraid to lay himself bare to the world. The real treat of Ruiner is that they throw in little original snippets here and there that make them really stand out. A unique guitar line or an oddly placed scream are their trademark. This album has honest lyrics and honest music, plain and simple. This is one of my top hardcore releases of ’07 so far, and Ruiner set a pretty damn high bar. –Peter Fryer

S.S.S.
Self-titled
Earache Records
Street: 07.31
S.S.S.= D.R.I. + Municipal Waste + Slayer
S.S.S. (Short Sharp Shock) are resurrecting thrash from the early 80s. Their songs are all relatively short, with most clocking in at about a minute and a half. The guitars are relentless and the drums play at breakneck speed. It’s easy to tell that they’ve been heavily influence by D.R.I., but on longer tracks like “Monster,” their metal influences shine through. My favorite tracks were “New Dogs” and “Damaged Goods,” both of which were short, sweet and heavy as fuck. This release is a brutal one and every song makes the perfect anthem to rip shit up. –Jeanette Moses

Scorched Earth
Devils in Iron
Conqueror Records
Street: 05.23
Scorched Earth = Satyricon + Phazm + a touch of Kreator and other thrash greats
I like to think it was pure luck that this album got to me; from what I can tell, the band has no publicist and not much label support. So it shows a lot of professionalism on the band’s part that they are trying to get the word out to as many media outlets as possible. Couple this DIY ethic with a great record and you have a satisfied reviewer. I had heard of the band prior to this record just by word of mouth, mostly about the Washington State metal scene, but never actually had the chance to hear the band. Scorched Earth does it all, my friends—black, death, thrash, doom; there is something for everyone's taste of ravishing, harsh and tormented-sounding metal. The true talent of this mixture of styles comes from the fact that the styles are selective of certain songs, for example, "Scorched Earth Armageddon" is a mid-paced black-metal delight; then add "Gargoyle’s Eye," which is pure thrashy goodness; then there is "Gormenghast," wich is slow, thick, ultra-doom. Devils in Iron was originally recorded in 2005, but for some reason it didn't get released until this year; the good news is that, according to the band’s bio, they are looking to record another record by the end of this year. The band originally started as a one-man project from Terry McCorriston called Nazgul and evolved from that to Scorched Earth, releasing two prior albums, Thy Kingdom Crushed, which is now out of print and Gods, Kings and Conquerors. Scorched Earth are true US underground and should be sought out by any person that calls themselves a metal fan. –Bryer Wharton

Secrets of the Moon
Antithesis
The Anja Offensive
Street: 04.18
Secrets of the Moon = Lurker of Chalice + Shining
Secrets of the Moon are one of those bands who hold artistic integrity to the highest importance when releasing their work. Yes, they write black metal, but they are by no means Darkthrone-influenced corpse-painted kids that are responsible for making the genre laughable to those who don’t “get it.” In fact, Secrets of the Moon flex so much musical muscle that it’s unfair to classify them as black metal at all. The booklet recommends “headphones and darkness,” and I complied. What I found was that this album can take the listener on a well-designed, magical journey, but what it demands from those who hear is to put just as much thought into listening. There are no compromises with this release, and thus, there should be zero compromise when someone who appreciates this genre hears this album. This is absolutely exceptional and completely terrifying. Just the way I like it. –Conor Dow

Stone Sour
Come What(ever) May
Roadrunner Records
Street: 06.26
Stone Sour = a mellow version of Slipknot + Sevendust + Only Living Witness
Going into listening to this blantantly nu-metal album and thinking I would hate it, I was actually surprised to hear something with heart and undeniable catchiness. The record which is an obvious re-release of the band’s follow-up to their widely recieved self-titled debut album sports six unreleased tracks and a DVD containing all of the music videos from the Come What(ever) May album as well as a full live show filmed in Russia. I honestly don't see fair-weather fans re-purchasing the album, but the faithful and collectors will pick this up. For the people that don't know but should, Stone Sour is another project of Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor as well as Slipknot guitarist James Root. The band reiterates that Stone Sour is not a side project and show it by doing full-blown tours for their albums and most likely having fans that are totally separate from each other. I may think that Taylor is a cocky bastard, but I can't deny that there is something worthwhile in Stone Sour. Highlights in the bonus tracks include an acoustic cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," and the truly interesting and honest spoken-word piece, "Frozen." So it is with hesitation (being a self-proclaimed nu-metal hater) that I say I honestly enjoyed listening to this re-release. For me, it was the first time hearing the album, so I'll call it a guilty pleasure. And for fans of the band, the bonus material contained on the re-release is worth picking up, even if it is just to have the full live-show DVD, because as far as I know, you can't pick it up on its own. –Bryer Wharton

Tulsa Drone
Songs From a Mean Season
The Prepetual Motion Machine / Dry County
Street: 07.10
Tulsa Drone = Grails + Red Sparowes + Hum
Tulsa Drone is just too bad. They are one of the most satisfying bands that have come out in a long time. Their first album, No Wake, was an amazing mix of the right amount of traditional rock elements and worldly instrumentation to keep the music fresh and original. Tulsa Drone follows in the footsteps of the first album with their second release, Songs From a Mean Season. The band still stays within their earlier sound but have found ways to expand on the textures of their music by adding more slide guitar, dulcimer and harmonica. This music paints adventures and landscapes in your mind. The 10 tracks on the album move just enough to keep your attention but aren’t rushed, so all the sounds and feel of each song can be absorbed. The highlight of the album is track three, “We’ll Take Oregon Hill,” with high-pitched slide guitar and meandering tempo. Tulsa Drones music will kidnap your mind and drive it across the country. –Jon Robertson

Ulrich Snauss
Goodbye
Domino Records
Street: 07.10
Ulrich Snauss = XXXXXX
The words ambient, shoegaze, dream pop, and trance all come to mind with this album. Images I think of: big fat swirling cumulonimbus clouds with bursts of angry purple lightning bolts; meteor showers over moonlit firefly-ed fields; and whatever revelations look like. Unfortunately, I also clearly see the lime-green luna moth from some sleep aid commercial, of which many of these songs would work so well as a soundtrack to. That’s not to say that there isn’t some great music here. Many start slowly but ultimately grow into something rewarding. Ethereal sythns hum with foggy guitars and build as angelic voices meld with industrial drums, and eventually, sparklingly transform into thickly layered, hypnotic electroscapes that break into outer space. Others however, never manage to gain the necessary altitude, instead burning out to hover boringly in some kind of new-age troposphere. Still, overall its a good album. Perfect for meditating, or a long, loney drive through some magnificent open space … just make sure you’ve had plenty of sleep. –Brian Roller

You Say Party! We Say Die!
Lose All Time
Paper Bag Records
Street: 08.14
You Say Party! We Say Die! = Pretty Girls Make Graves + Monsters Are Waiting
In an age where music just doesn't care how much you move your body, it’s always a nice reprieve when an album like this comes floating along: Like a steamy clusterfuck of dance-your-ass-off punk rock mixed with pleasing female vocals, this album reeks of the intense energy found at the best of YSP!WSD! Shows. Throw some slow piano solos into the mix, and you've got yourself an impressive little album that will have your stereo shouting “DESTROY!” for weeks to come. –Ross Solomon