Band: Vendetta

Album: Feed The Extermination

Label: Massacre Records

Release Date: 12.12.2011

Genre: Thrash Metal

Thrash Metal is a genre which has turned into a shadow of its former self, this album highlights why. The riffs are solid, but lack excitement that the “Big 4″ of Thrash brought in the 1980′s. The music is what I call “Listenable”, if somebody put the CD on I wouldn’t complain but it’s a big ask to listen to regularly. It becomes obvious the band have taken a massive 15 year break from the music industry, the music is uninspired.

Thrash metal fans may however enjoy this, packed full of solid riffs and singing, it delivers a punch. One question that can be asked of this album is, where are the solos? When listening to any classic Metallica or Slayer songs the technical, impressive solos are memorable points. This album has no memorable solos, even the riffs are barely memorable. The sound of the album is very traditional but it lacks the excitement of good Thrash Metal. Awful? No. Memorable? Not a chance.

Rating: 3/10

Track Listing

1. Feed The Extermination

2. Tremendous Brutality

3. Cancer

4. Ovulation Bitch

5. Storage Of Anger

6. Dog In The Manger

7. De-Organ-Izer

8. Abuse

9. Trust In God

10. Til’ I’m Dead

For Fans Of: Metallica, Deathrow, Grinder

Band: Andromeda

Album: Manifest Tyranny

Label: Inner Wound Recordings

Release Date: 21.11.2011

Genre: Progressive Metal

Andromeda are a band who have never quite broken into the mainstream of Metal. Stuggling between the underground and the known. Whilst listening to this album it’s very clear why, they’re not sure what sub-genre they are. They call themselves a Progressive Metal band but Djent, Thrash, Electronic and Industrial elements are all present in their music. It’s quite hard to tell if this makes listening to their albums interesting or confusing. This is present whilst listening to the album from start to finish. Some tracks are confusing, some are great, some are half and half.

The instrumentation is very nice on the whole, harmonic and heavy, it flows and falls over itself at the same time. Progressive it is, in quite a lot of parts, but not traditionally. The songs are broken up by the unusual afformentioned elements. The singing is not as great, which is possibly why they haven’t quite made the mainstream (yet), it doesn’t compliment the music and it’s clear the songs improve as soon as the singing ends.

A hard album to summarise really, the music at times can be great and at times can be bizzare..confusing..uncomplimentary. The only piece of advice I can offer is listen to it yourself, it’s unusual to say the least. I’m going for a lie down.

Rating: 7/10

Track Listing

1. Preemptive Strike

2. Lies ‘R’ Us

3. Stay Unaware

4. Survival Of The Richest

5. False Flag

6. Chosen By God

7. Asylum

8. Play Dead

9. Go Back To Sleep

10. Antidote

For Fans Of: Redemption, Circus Maximus, Sun Caged

Band: Nickelback

Album: Here And Now

Label: Roadrunner

Release Date: 21.11.2011

Genre: Hard/Alternative Rock

Here it is, the seventh studio album by Nickleback, ‘Here And Now’. The Canadian rockers are something of a marmite band, there are most definitely lovers and haters. Some may argue their music is very bland and commercialised, almost verging on pop-rock. What this album does is give a middle finger to those people. If you’re looking for pop-rock, turn away now. This is most certainly a balls to the walls, rock ‘n roll, sex and drugs album.

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll are themes which have ran through almost all of their albums, and it does tend to wear thin. However if you’re listening to the album outside of a Nickleback session, this shouldn’t be an issue. The album has a good mix of fast songs such as ‘This Means War’ and slower, piano filled songs for example the ballad-esque ‘Lullaby’.The music does feel like it belongs in the 80′s at certain points, and the lyrics are easy to roll the eyes at, but on the whole the catchy songs stick like gum in your hair.

Nickleback have stuck to their guns on this one, and a few tracks are forgettable, but there’s also some you’ll be subconsciously humming for weeks.

Rating: 7/10

Track Listing

1. This Means War

2. Bottoms Up

3. When We Stand Together

4. Midnight Queen

5. Gotta Get Me Some

6. Lullaby

7. Kiss It Goodbye

8. Trying Not To Love You

9. Holding On To Heaven

10. Everything I Wanna Do

11. Don’t Ever Let It End

For Fans Of: 3 Doors Down, Theory of a Deadman, Breaking Benjamin

Hot Snakes, though they might not know it, have come a long way since the days of Suicide Invoice and their belief they were just “four guys with no future, maybe a bit older, a bit more bitter” but with “intent”. Of course the line-up has changed slightly and the direction of the music can also clearly be seen in the two track EP Do Not Resuscitate. Though it was recorded in 2005, it has only been due for release recently to mark their comeback European tour.

All the way from Ontario, Canada comes a math rock band called The Bulletproof Tiger who have taken the genre and created something peculiarly unique with it. Their only EP to date was the 2009 release, Stab the New Cherry which has been described as, “as if a group of deep, intellectual 6 year olds are creating the most fortified sand castle on the playground.” Pretty accurate description given the new album’s sound.

James Robert Norris talent on the drums is for all to see, combined with the complex fret work from Drew Kech and Corey Temesy on guitar and the creative bass lines played by Joe Dimaio, really does light up this album and this group as shining lights in the math rock world.You Wanna Kiss About It takes the listener on an emotional rollercoaster with every song. The absence of lyrics to accompany the melodies only improves the listener’s experience as the band allows you to become apart of and be involved in the make-up and direction of each song.

The first track on the album is Franko Spanko’s Greatest Hit which really goes some way to demonstrating the accuracy and complexity with which The Bulletproof Tiger put together their music. The early guitar work is frantic and intense which becomes a common theme throughout the album. Norris on the drums really ties the bass-lines and the guitar frets together, controlling both tempo and intensity yet somehow not dominating each instruments contribution to the track.

The album continues with Everything Popular Is Wrong. Despite the track’s title, it takes on a very popular structure starting with the familiar frantic and intense sound to grab the listener. The track soon slows and mellows out allowing the listener to catch their breath before Norris on drums once again beats the track back into life, ending the track on more precisely placed frets and lines.

The next track, An Awkward Moment With a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, carries on in much the same vein though the drum phrases become a lot less prominent and the guitar work of Kech and Temesy really comes to the fore. Our Band Name Sucks and Garth – The Belt – Brooks being the next two tracks really relax the listener with much softer sounds which are in a sharp contrast to the early tracks.

The jolty and frenetic melody remains though the intensity is somehow lost. As aforementioned, having no lyrics allows the listener themselves to create stories with the music and this is definitely seen in these two tracks, perhaps more than any other.

The final three tracks on the album very much follow the pattern of the first few tracks; starting fast, mellowing out, and surging back into life in the seemingly un-organised yet somehow melodical way. There is an epic feel to Paper, Socks, Raper and Christoper Walken Reeve which is perhaps the natural way to begin the end of an album. Though, as with the rest of this album, The Bulletproof Tiger manage to relax the listener while you perch, sweating on the edge of your seat. The final track is Menter Mandman which really sums the album up as a whole. Starting wildly, each band member seems to be given their own tangent with which they can do what they like.

As has become normality though, the tempo slows and the sounds soften for a period of rest before yet again the jolty bassline and complex frets are rained in by the work of Norris on the drums. The end of the track slows and brings an air of calmness and finality which has perhaps been what this album is all about. Throughout each track there has been a period of calm but has yet to be seen through to the very end of any of the songs except this final track, Menter Mandman.The Bulletproof Tiger and their debut album You Wanna Kiss About It, for me, was nothing short of quality. Every listener to this album will go on their own private journey and end up in their own private place by the end. Yet somehow we all would have felt the same emotions and the same intensity created by the melodies.

The music created in this album is wild yet organised, frantic but calmly and accurately put together.My only criticism would be this isn’t easy listening. This is certainly music for those who wish to think. So if you’re a chart-hungry, background noise, Rihanna-worshipping type, stear clear. If your headphones are permanently attached to your ear and you can’t get enough of delving deeper into music, then get this album.

Rating 8/10

Tracklist:
01 – Franko Spanko’s Greatest Hit
02 – Everything Popular is Wrong
03 – An Awkward Moment With a Grilled Cheese Sandwich
04 – Our Band Name Sucks
05 – Garth -The Belt- Brooks
06 – Paper, Socks, Raper
07 – Christopher -Walken- Reeve
08 – Menter Mandman

Band: The Head And The Heart
Album: iTunes Sessions
Release Date: 29th November 2011 (US – not currently available in UK iTunes store)
Label: Sub Pop Records
Genre: Indie; folk; pop

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, The Head And The Heart is made up of the vocals, guitar and percussion of Josiah Johnson and Jonathan Russell, the vocals and violin of Charity Rose Thielen, Kenny Hensley’s piano and Tyler Williams’ drums. Heather Browne, who wrote the bio on the band’s website, describes them as having “Americana roots and strong vocal harmonies that swell like a river”, placing their music in a very natural, organic place that has drawn on a lengthy musical heritage.

In The Head And The Heart‘s iTunes session, it is the natural-ness of their music that really stood out to me. There is nothing synthetic at all about anything they produce and while Johnson, Russell and Thielen’s beautifully compatible voices dominate each and every one of their songs, the richness of their instrumental cannot fail to go unnoticed. The iTunes session begins with “Lost in My Mind”, a up-beat and catchy tune that gently introduces the different instrumental and vocal layers that make up The Head And The Heart, building up from a single voice and a guitar into a plethora of sounds that give their music a sense of contagiousness and community, as though the song is building on the sheer irresistability of music rather than on some contrived, planned effort. The session continues in this vein with “When I Fall Asleep” and “Coeur d’Alene”, where Thielen and Hensley’s instrumental skills are showcased more clearly as the basis of the music and I suspect that additional instruments are also brought into the mix as the string contribution, especially in “Coeur d’Alene”, seems at times to be of too low a pitch to be a violin.

When “Rivers and Roads”, the fourth track of the iTunes session, began, I could really see what Heather Browne meant about how The Head And The Heart‘s music swells like a river. Where the first three tracks of the recording had swollen up and up with vocals and instrumental, “Rivers and Roads” ebbs back, returning to an introduction of single voice and guitar that, as in “Lost in My Mind”, builds gradually, inviting contribution and eventually really focussing on Charity Rose Thielen’s very typically folk-type vocals. “Cats and Dogs” is a similar track; its only instrumental contribution is a simple percussion that really draws attention the the vocal harmonies at play in this track. “Ghosts” provides a brief swell again, combining rich vocals and instrumental together similarly to the tracks of the earlier part of the session, before “Down in the Valley” strips The Head And The Heart‘s music back to its raw elements, building slowly and focussing on each aspect of their overall sound carefully before they are combined again towards the end of the track. The final track of the session, “Ever Since”, makes for a sort of anticlimactic finish to the recording by being another “stripped back” track that relies simply upon a guitar instrumental and those dominating but beautiful vocal harmonies for its construction. While “Ever Since” is a beautiful song, I can’t help but feel as though something a little more inclusive and boisterous would have been a better ending for them on this occasion.

The Head And The Heart‘s music reminds me of a summer Sunday afternoon in the countryside spent with friends. Their music has a real sense of invitation and community about it that you just can’t help but sing, clap or tap along with. It may be winter at the moment, but The Head And The Heart have made me look forward to summer again.

Rating: 8/10

Track Listing:
1. Lost in My Mind (Alternate Version)
2. When I Fall Asleep
3. Coeur d’Alene
4. Rivers and Roads
5. Cats And Dogs (Alternate Version)
6. Ghosts
7. Down In The Valley
8. Ever Since