Captain Obvious

Hey guys and girls =) This is my blog which is mostly about music =) I am a huge metal and hardcore-punk fan and so i will often post stuff about these genres, but I also listen to other music from time to time (: Well, if you have any questions about me...

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In Flames - Clayman Review

With „Clayman“ In Flames, one of the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal, released their 5th album in 2000, which came with an interesting change of the bands sound. Less acoustic elements, therefore the use of synthesizers and a change in vocals. All these elements were combined in this album, and the mixture works. In Flames shows that a bigger change in style does work with the elements of their first albums that established them as a big name within the genre.

Instrumentalwise the band balances the whole sound of „Clayman“ between their classical style and newer elements like the use of synthesizers, just to name one. Especially remarkable is the song „Only for the weak“ that make big use of this new feature. But also other elements enrich the known mixture of acoustic melodies and hard guitar riffs, for instance the variations in singing of Anders Fridén. That whole mixture makes the songs on the album somewhat various, even though the general mood of the stays well-known: dark, depressive and powerful. One song, however, breaks the circle: „Swim“ In contrast the the album’s other songs, „Swim“ contains a positive sounding riff that (in my my personal opinion) has a resemblence to Power Metal, even though this resemblence might be very slight.

The main difference to albums like „The Jester Race“ is that the singer varies his vocals between deep growls, high screams and also clear passages, mostly in the refrains of the songs. Also slower, dark spoken passages appear here and there that give some rememberable twists. A remarkable thing is that Anders Fridén manages to change his vocal style in most of the songs effectively and by that and his unique voice gives a very special touch to the songs. Another thing that strenghtens that is the already mentioned use of spoken passages that are often supplemented by effects.

Lyricswise the band relies on mostly on lyrics that fit the overall instrumental tune of the album, dark and depressive. Remarkable is that the themes of the lyrics sometime leave time for interpretation. The lyrics of „Only for the weak“, for instance, could tell the story of a psychically broken person that hates it’s own life, but also seems to give the fault for it’s situation to another one. Whatever happened to the talking person, it is filled with hate and maybe insanity, with that being just one interpretation people could see in it. Hate, misery and desperation might also be good words to descrive the allover lyrical style of the album. Again, „Swim“ is a song that breaks this circle, since it contains hopeful lyrics.

Summarizing the album shows that the band is capable of bringing new elements to good use, without completely changing the style they have become known for. Still, there are calm, acoustic passages that are interrupted with explosive guitar play and desperate screaming. My final rating of „Clayman“ is a remarkable

8,5/10

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Cil City - Red Ocean review

„Red Ocean“ is the debut album of the austrian rock band „Cil City“. Originally being an AC/DC cover band, the sound of their first album remembers of the times where Hard Rock has started to  rise to a celebrated genre and became a big name all over the world. Cil City relies on a classic, almost nostalical playing style, that will remember many rock fans of a time that has passed a long time ago. Like in every band that is new to the business, there are things to be improved, however, Cil City delivers an album that is great fun to listen to, with some clear references to the band‘s roots and a lot of love for the spirit of rock music.

Instrumentalwise the album has more than one similarity to their great idol, the australian rock-gods AC/DC. Harsh and catchy guitar riffs, accompanied by slow-paced, classic drums that fit the overall tune of the music, everything seems somewhat familiar, but still fresh. That is because Cil City, unlike most other hard rock bands, does not rely on male vocals, instead of that they chose to break the generity and added female vocals to the familiar mixture, which may be the most outstanding feature the band has to offer, since the mixture of harsh rock sounds with resolute female vocals raise the band from other members of the genre. A good example for that is the album‘s first song, „Red Ocean“, that starts off somewhat generic but explodes as soon as the refrain comes in.

Lyricswise the band’s style can be described with one simple phrase: Sex, drugs and Rock N‘ Roll. This matter of fact is makes the lyrics very well fitting to the instrumental, but also lacks a bit of new ideas. The lyrics do not exactly take up new themes that would enrich the already known formula, but it is also questionable if the band wants that, or just wants to catch in the spirit of rock in their lyrics. Whatever of that is the case, the lyrics are fun and tell tales of everything a rocker’s heart could ask for, from big cars to fireballs on a „highway to hell“ (which can clearly be seen as a reference).

Summarizing the album is a present for everyone that likes old school, harsh and fun rock music, but that also comes with the price of being somewhat generical. That does not make the album bad at all, but it might dissapoint people who wish for truely new inventions in the hard rock genre. Cil City made a good start here, with an album that is a good base of what is yet to come. My final rating is a

7 - 7,5/10

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We are Harlot - We are Harlot review

With their self-titled debut album, „We are Harlot“ tries to bring back some old school rock music from the 80s, while enriching it with elements of the new century. With members like Jeff George, a guitarist that has already worked with people like Sebiastian Bach and singer Danny Worsnop, former singer of Asking Alexandria, some may describe the band as a super group. The influences of both, old school rock music and the new influences coming from the earlier music expieriences of Danny Worsnop do not fail to deliver, since „We are Harlot“ may be one album that acts as a basic for a great band that speaks to long-time rock fans as much as to people newer to the genre.

The first song on the album, „Dancing on Nails“ gives a good glimpse at what this album is all about: Sex, drugs and Rock N‘ Roll (mainly sex). It starts off with a guitar riff that might also fit in a song from 1984, that is accompanied by a fast drum-play and the rough, enthusiastic voice of Danny Worsnop. Even if most of the songs on the album try to be as classic as it could be possible, the band does not fail to bring innovation and variety, since „We are Harlot“ do not entirely rely on a fast paced song structure, they also are not afraid to bring in ballads here and there. However, most of the time the tune changes work out well, only the beginning of the song „Never turn back“ seems a little bit out of place in comparison with similar songs on the album. An outstanding thing that raises „We are Harlot“ from comparable bands is the melodic, variable guitr playing of Jeff George and the surprisingly fresh voice of Danny Worsnop that fits the genre perfectly with it’s raw, smokey singing style and his trademark screaming that is brought in here and there and remembers of his time with Asking Alexandria. This relation to a more metal-related tune is mostly recongizable in the song „Flying too close to the sun“, the probably heaviest song on the album.

The greatest weakpoint the album shwos are the lyrical themes that are dealt with on the album, since there are roughly seen two themes that bend over almost all songs: Love and sex. This fits the overall music very good, but does not really show much effort in making the lyrics something special. „We are Harlot“ tries to fit, however, to the motto that this album follows and the feeling it wants to catch in: A life full of „Sex, drugs and Rock N‘ Roll“. A good thing, however, is how the lyrics are delivered: once emotional, once rough and brutal and always with great passion from Danny Worsnop, who lets the fans feel that he is truely living his childhood dream within this band.

Summarizing, „We are Harlot“ delivers an incredibly coherent album that stays on a high niveau over almost the entire play time, that, indeed, is a little bit too short. However, the short time delivers with a high musical niveau that makes fans of the genre beg for more. The only thing that falls flat in comparison to the other elements of the album is the lyrical content, that is, indeed a lot of fun, but has a clear lack of new ideas. Nevertheless, „We are Harlot“ might be one of the best rock-album that were released in the past recent years. My final rating is an outstanding

9 – 9,5/10

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Mayburn - When Worlds Collide Review

„When worlds collide“ is the debut album of the relatively new austrian formation Mayburn, coming from the capital city Vienna. The band, as such, can be put in the genre of Powerrock, however, it benefits from the earlier musical expieriences of the band members, coming from many different genres. The album shows influences of many musical styles, ranging from calmer, acoustic passages over parts showing the face of a modern form of Heavy Metal, maybe even Extreme Metal, to slight Nu-Metal influences here and there. This combination of somewhat different musical elements give the best preconditions for an unique expierience for the listener.

The album starts off relatively calm. The sound of playing children, interrupted by a thunderstruck and a calm guitar tune, but the calamity is not meant to last long. Power chords interrupt the silence and initiate the heavier side of Mayburn with the song „Hope is Gone“. Fast riffs are accompanied by impulsive drums and do not fail to remember of the earlier days of Avenged Sevenfold. The mixture is accompanied by the unusual voice of Peter Janda, that enriches the mixture with a darker tone. But that is not all the band has to offer. As the album continues, Mayburn shows that they are not bound to one specific playstyle. Changes of tune, ranging from Ballads over Hard Rock hymns like „Addicted to Rock“ to „Unleash“, which makes use of spoken vocals are not unusual. A thing that astoundingly stands of is the quality of the guitar solos provided for the songs. These are, in my opinion, one of the greatest highlights of the album. A thing that also must be adressed is that the band from time to time makes use of the same power chords often in a row, which is a problem, since, while working as a bridge, it creates some monotonies in a couple of songs. Also, in combination with the following of very high quality solos, the adressed passages simply falls flat to them. This, however, should be an aspect that can easily improved in future records, since this only happens passagewise and through most oft he songs the harmony between lead and rhythm guitars works out well.

Another thing that makes Mayburn well recognizable is the vocal performance delivered in the different songs of the album. Peter Janda features a relatively deep, but still clear voice that personally remembers me of the former Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones. Janda manages to bring much energy and passion into the songs. Especially the song „Unleash“ stands out in this point, since the vocal style changes between clear singing and spoken passages, that even contain a short double-time passage. A thing that also enriches the vocal performance ist he slight use of screamed background vocals in „Facing Demons“. Sadly, this is the only song that contains screamed vocals, since the combination of deep, clear vocals and high-pitched screaming work well in combination with the harder passages of the album. A problem that can be seen, however, is that vocals and instrumental music somehow seem to be working not as one unit, but as two departed song units. This is a problem that is hard to explain and probably has less to do with the music itself but with the acoustic implementation of the vocals. But again, this is a problem that probably ca be fixed with time. Concerning the albums lyrics the band incorporates many different themes, ranging from confessions tot he harder side of music to ballads and songs like „Facing Demons“ that sometimes even seem to show feelings of hate and anger. All in all, the lyrics are fitting for the songs, however they move into background compared to the vocal perfomance.

Summarizing Mayburn delivers a worthy debut album that shows the musical experience of the band members. „When worlds collide“ incorporates many different musical styles and has to offer some oustanding qualities like astonishing guitar solos and  an exceptional vocal performance that hide some minor weaknesses like a some repetitions here and there. My final rating is a

7,5/10

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Kvelertak - 1985 Short Review

„1985“ is the first released single of Kvelertak’s new album „Nattesferd“. The song acts as an appetizer for what is yet to come and shows that the band evolved their sound, at least for „1985“ itself. In comparison to previous tracks of the band, „1985“ incorporates a much cleaner sound and is lead by a pretty simplistic tune, accompanied by repeating, fast riffs. Even though the track seems to follow a more basic approach to music, it manages to bring the feeling of an 80s rock track, which can be interpreted as an intention for the song itself. „1985“ acts pretty well as an appetizer, but is far too long for it’s repetetive song structure, at least in my opinion. The overall change of Kvelertak’s sound for the song, however, is a welcome feature and is hopefully included in „Nattesferd“ in some way and a more complex manner.

„Nattesferd“ will be released on May 13th 2016

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In Flames - Siren Charms Review (+ personal statement)

With „Siren Charms“ In Flames released their 11th studio album, and maybe the most controversial album of 2014. The album mostly earned a lot of criticizm from the band’s fanbase itself, since it includes a complete change of musical style. In Flames, a band that became big as one of the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal, changed their musical picture to a style that could be described as Alternative Metal. „Siren Charms“ is a lot calmer than earlier releases and definitely shows the band’s will to distance itself from their musical roots. Further it contains some interesting vocal changes, with both making the album by far not the best of In Flames‘ releases, but one that stands out as a unique try of a change of style.

The album starts of with some synthetic sounds that sound very similar to a video game out of the 1990s, an element that is reoccuring in several tracks on the album. Sythezizer sounds are put to good use here, since they underline the overall mood of „Siren Charms“, however, the sounds are different in comparison with „Clayman“ as an example. They are much less melodic, they act much more as an ambient-like subtone. However, this is well implemented into the tracks of the album. With the end of the synthezizer sounds the first major changes in In Flames‘ musical style start shining out: The use and quality of the guitar sounds diverse very much. One the one hand, guitar solos are as good as they used to be, quick and melodic. The rhythm guitar, on the other hand, sounds pretty much the same over the lenght of most of the album’s songs. A very deep sound dominates most tracks, the album is almost entirely held in a moll-pitch, which gives it a kind of depressing mood. This mood is even strenghtened by the vocals of Anders Fridén. Another thing that represents a change is that songs like „Through Oblivion“ are much calmer and represent an alternative to other tracks like „When the World Explodes“. This makes place for passages that bring something expressionistic into the music, a remarkable element that also dominated the mood of the album. The whole album seems to be aimed to sound different, alternative, unusual, whatever it may be called, it describes the whole break in style of the band pretty good.

Concerning the vocals there are also some remarkable changes. The first and probably best recognizable thing is that guttural singing is reduced to a minimum here, instead of that, calmer, clean vocals, that share similarities to spoken poems (subjective opinion) dominate. Screams and shouts, however, did not vanish completely, since they are used as a contrast to the described calmer passages, mainly in refrains. Examples for that are „Rusted Nail“ and „Everythings Gone“. It might sound like an interesting mix, the truth, however, is that all of the described elements do not seem to be fully developed, everything feels very unusual, like the band mainly tried to sound different to their previous releases. That point worked for sure, but the whole album does sound very „inconsistent“, that just being said as the best description I can come up with for describing the album. Lyrically the descriptions given until this point are also fitting, the lyrics are presented in a thoughtful manner and seem some kind of strange, not to say that they are bad, but „inconsistent“.

Summarizing, „Siren Charms“ is without a doubt one of the worse albums of In Flames, however, it seems like the band tries to find a formula for a new sound. This album can be seen as a first step to that new sound, far away from being perfect, but a beginning with a lot of interesting elements that show potential. My final rating is a

5,5/10

Personal statement:

 I have the feeling that many fans of the old releases of In Flames are complaining about this album just because it is different to what they are used to, but without bringing up a serious critic, except „I don’t like it because it’s not what I know“. To those I can say that you are right in the point that In Flames used to deliver far better stuff, but it is wrong to dislike the album just because they are trying to do something new. My thought’s this: If they just blindly remained with their old sound, which they stated they wanted to get away from, they were not able to bring joy into their music, and if musicians do not enjoy their own music and just want to satisfy others, what’s the point in the whole thing? With the second thing being that music you don’t like to play starts to suck anyway sooner or later, so what’s the point in all the complaining? My favourite In Flames album is „The Jester Race“ from 1996, I also liked their earlier sound better, but I accept that the band wants to sound different and wish them good luck with making the best of it!

Feel free to text me your own opinion, I’d be happy to know what others think =)

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Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards Review

„Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards“ is the second album of the international Power Metal band Gloryhammer, and the album’s title already pretty much describes what it is all about: Cheesiness. The album obviously doesn’t take itself seriously and is held in the style of a Sci-Fi saga from 1984, mixed with the fantasy elements known from Gloryhammer’s first album, which seems to play in the same universe like it’s successor. With „Space 1992: Rise oft he Choas Wizards“ the band creates a musical space opera that is not too complex in it’s basics, but does not fail to entertain, not only musically, but also lyrically.

The album starts of quite calm, but soon lets the listener know what to expect from the next 48 minutes. „Infernus ad astra“ is a complete orchstal arrangement that only includes distorted, spoken lyrics, which serve as an intro for the album’s story. This is an element that is used in several songs of the album. The track transitionless passes over to the album titled „Rise of the Chaos Wizards“, the song that sets the mood for almost the whole album. The strong use of orchestral elements combined with a choir marks the most outstanding element of the whole album, since it is used over almost it‘s entire lenght, only few songs break the routine in that regard. The orchestral feature is accompanied by  electrical keyboard sounds. These are especially recongizable in „Victorious Eagle Warfare“.The combination of these two elements gives a unique tune, since it acts as a musical counterpart to the story that is told. Sadly, the remaining instrumental falls flat to the bombastic  songdesign, since the actual structure of the album’s tracks is not too complex, everthing follows a pretty clear scheme. Also, the actual guitar playing is more or less basic. One the one side, the guitar solos included act as an effectful break of routine. They are fast and very melodic and integrate well into the overall epic tune. Rhythm guitar playing, on the other side, is as basic as it could get and almost entirely fades in comparison to the other described musical elements. Another thing that has to be critizized is, that, with a few exceptions, all songs have musically very much in common. This may be an subjective opinion, but all songs feel pretty much the same after some time listening to them. The reason for this may be the  continous use of orchester. The intro of „The Hollywood Hoodsman“ stands out in that regard, since it puts a heavier guitar playing to use, sadly, the song soon falls back into routine. The final track, „Apocalypse 1992“ stands out as the longest song of the album (almost 10 minutes), it brings together all of the story parts described in the previous songs and also brings back the melody of „Rise oft he Chaos Wizards“. After that, it ends abruptly, which is somewhat unsatisflying.

The vocal style of the band’s singer Thomas Winkler fits the album well, since it contains the same epic tune that is also found in the described instrumental part. That counts for both, lyrics and vocals themselves. The singer uses his rough voice to lead the instrumental counterpart through the song and tells it’s story at the same time. The qualities of Winkler’s voice, which include four octaves, are put to good use, however, this happens not through the whole songs. Winkler mostly relies on a rough, deeper singing style that is broken sponaniously by high pitched tones, used to underline a certain song moment. The whole mixture fits pretty well, especially comined with the album’s lyrical content, that can be summarized in two worlds: epic and cheesy. The lyrics tell the tale of Angus McFife XIII, a descendant of the band’s previous album’s protagonist and his war in the depths of space. Every song tells an episode oft he storyline, while the tracks‘ titels pretty much describe what the songs are about. In the story, cheesy clichés are put to their best use and make much of the album’s fun. In the end, all story elements are brought together in „Apocalypse 1992“, which tells of an epic final fight. This acts as a very satifying end of the story, even though the song actual and might be a little bit too abrupt.

Summarizing the album managest o combine extreme cheesiness with a rousing use of orchestral music that overshines the use of guitars. This is combined by lyrics just as cheesy that are delivered in an epic and most of all fitting manner. Once again, this album does not take itself seriously at all and everybody should keep that in mind while listening to it. People who are not fan of self-ironic lyrics and a certain amout of ridiculousness might not like this album, while those, who like these elements should definitely take a look at Gloryhammer’s latest release. My final rating is a

7/10

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Kvelertak - Kvelertak review

The self-titled album of the norvegian band Kvelertak stands out as an album that combines influences of several musical styles that couldn’t be more different: Rock N‘ Roll, Punk-Rock an Black Metal. Titled as „Black N‘ Roll“, the band combines guttural vocals of singer Erlend Hjelvik, catchy, rhythmical guitar riffs and smooth guitar intermezzos that let you listen up immediately. But does Kvelertak’s album bring enough innovation to make the new-comers from Norway something truely unique?

Like already mentioned, the album  builds up to a somewhat followable tune, there is a rhythmical formula that draws through many of the songs of the album.  An example for that kind of flow are the songs „Mjød“ and „Offernatt“. First starts with a memorable, but quite simple riff that draws through most of the song, a feature that is remarkable in many songs of the album. This is not meant as negative critic, since, even though some songs seem to be simple in some part, they all sound different and sometimes really show the influence of punk rock to the bands music. Also, the simplicity makes unique twists of songs like „Blodtørst“ even more effectful. After a short pause, Kvelertak almost immediately changes it’s tune: Deep tuned rhythm guitars suddenly stop, and in their place, an incredibly catchy solo comes up that gives an unique feeling and melody to the song and makes it my personal highlight of the album that will surely stay in the mind of listeners for a while.

Concerning Kvelertak’s vocals, they are almost entirely screamed and, sadly for me, they seem to have a little lack of variation over some songs of the album. What’s good, however, is that if the vocals change and in two songs even become clean, it comes as a welcome surprise and knows how to entertain the listener.

Lyricswise Kvelertak knows how to lift off from standards. First, their lyrics are written in their native language norvegian. Second, the lyrics vary between being brutal and almost comedical. A good expample for that is the second verse of „Mjød“, in translation a part of it says:

„[…] Then where gonna fuck Odins widow While where bestowing raw riff’s Pain, joints and decadence Look at kvelertaks pestilence“

In connection with the refrain’s lyrics, which glorify the deeds of Odin and the mead he brought, passages like these make for a good laugh.

Summarizing, the album is different to most of the things I have listened to before and is very entertaining over most of its lenght. There are songs like „Blodtørst“ and „Liktorn“ that really stand out and the album shows that there is always place for innovation in music and is really worth listening to at least once. My final rating is a more than solid

8,5/10

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In Flames - Clayman Review

With „Clayman“ In Flames, one of the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal, released their 5th album in 2000, which came with an interesting change of the bands sound. Less acoustic elements, therefore the use of synthesizers and a change in vocals. All these elements were combined in this album, and the mixture works. In Flames shows that a bigger change in style does work with the elements of their first albums that established them as a big name within the genre.

Instrumentalwise the band balances the whole sound of „Clayman“ between their classical style and newer elements like the use of synthesizers, just to name one. Especially remarkable is the song „Only for the weak“ that make big use of this new feature. But also other elements enrich the known mixture of acoustic melodies and hard guitar riffs, for instance the variations in singing of Anders Fridén. That whole mixture makes the songs on the album somewhat various, even though the general mood of the stays well-known: dark, depressive and powerful. One song, however, breaks the circle: „Swim“ In contrast the the album’s other songs, „Swim“ contains a positive sounding riff that (in my my personal opinion) has a resemblence to Power Metal, even though this resemblence might be very slight.

The main difference to albums like „The Jester Race“ is that the singer varies his vocals between deep growls, high screams and also clear passages, mostly in the refrains of the songs. Also slower, dark spoken passages appear here and there that give some rememberable twists. A remarkable thing is that Anders Fridén manages to change his vocal style in most of the songs effectively and by that and his unique voice gives a very special touch to the songs. Another thing that strenghtens that is the already mentioned use of spoken passages that are often supplemented by effects.

Lyricswise the band relies on mostly on lyrics that fit the overall instrumental tune of the album, dark and depressive. Remarkable is that the themes of the lyrics sometime leave time for interpretation. The lyrics of „Only for the weak“, for instance, could tell the story of a psychically broken person that hates it’s own life, but also seems to give the fault for it’s situation to another one. Whatever happened to the talking person, it is filled with hate and maybe insanity, with that being just one interpretation people could see in it. Hate, misery and desperation might also be good words to descrive the allover lyrical style of the album. Again, „Swim“ is a song that breaks this circle, since it contains hopeful lyrics.

Summarizing the album shows that the band is capable of bringing new elements to good use, without completely changing the style they have become known for. Still, there are calm, acoustic passages that are interrupted with explosive guitar play and desperate screaming. My final rating of „Clayman“ is a remarkable

8,5/10

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Asking Alexandria - Reckless & Relentless review

With the release of „Reckless & Relentless“ in 2011, Asking Alexandria managed to catapult themselves into the olympus of the Metalcore – genre and won lots of fans all over the world. In comparison to their debut album „Stand up and Scream“ the album contains less elements of electronic music and concentrates more on a rockstar-image that the band built up in this time of their carrear, even though their music spoke a completely different language. A mixture of agressive vocals, fast drum play and immense use of bass strokes is what makes this album one of the best known albums in the modern history of Metalcore, even though it recieved heavy critic from the Metal-community for it’s musical simplicity. Like most things, there are two side to this statement, and both are equally correct.

Instrumentalwise, the album can not be praised as an oustanding example of complex guitar playing, since probably more that 40 percent of the whole instrumental might be empty bass strokes. This, on the one side, is nothing new to the genre, something that is criticized from many metal fans. On the other side this style of guitar playing makes the instrument to an percussion medium, at least in some kind. The hard, rhythmical strokes have a very adrenaline-pumping character and make a good job in raising excitement for the actual song. Still, it cannot be doubted that there are more complex methods in putting one or more guitars to good use. Another mentionable thing to this is, however, that if the described bass strokes stop, the instrumental part is enriched by eighter harmonic chord playing or very fast paced riffs that support the mostly agressive tune of the whole album.

Even though the instrumental part of the album may be lackluster, the vocal part almost completely makes up for it. Danny Worsnop, the first singer of the band that left Asking Alexandria in 2015 shows one of the best vocal performances of that era of Metalcore until today. The vocals are stilized by the fact that Worsnop manages to bring a big variety into his singing, since he is able to change his vocals in almost every song. High screams, deep growls, clear singing, shouting, all of these techniques are used in the album constantly. Combined with the fact that Worsnop used a far more mature and deeper pitched voice than other bands in the genre and with addition of clean vocal parts of band leader Ben Bruce makes this album one of the best examples of how to create variety in the vocal area.

Lyricswise, however, the band does not reach the niveau of Worsnop’s singing. Like mentioned before, the album deals with the „Sex, drugs & Rock N‘ Roll“ aspect the band embodied for many fans. The songs mostly deal with the comsume of drugs and alcohol, the life of a rockstar and the problems that come up with that kind of life-style. Also, moral problems are dealt with, an example therefor being the song „To the stage“. On the other hand, however, the band also shows agressive atheism, shown in the last song of the album, „Morte et Dabo“ and „A Lession Never Learned“. In contrast to that, „Dedication“ is adressed to family members of the band that have passed away, flowing right into „Someone, Somewhere“, the only ballad-like song on the album that breaks the agressive tune.

Summarizing, there is definetely a reason for this album being one of the best known in Metalcore. Even though the instrumental performance is, compared to other bands, poor, the simply fantastic vocal performance and the harmony that exists between the two make this album worth listening to and one of the best recognizable metalcore albums known to me. My final rating is a

6,5 - 7/10

(Personal note: Subjectively I would have given the album a much better rating, AA used to be one of my favourite bands because of this album, but I’m trying to be objective here. I struggled with the rating, but this is how I see it, if you have another opinion feel free to write to me. I won’t answer to hate messages.)

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Parkway Drive - Ire Review

„Ire“ is the latest album of the australian Metalcore band Parkway Drive and marks a change of style in the band’s music. Where in earlier albums hard breakdowns, harmonating with clear guitar solos here and there dominated, this album shows that the band can turn around the table on their old style and starts relying to a more melodic sound in their music, while still keeping some of the things that made them famous within their genre, at least in some songs. With „Ire“, Parkway Drive shows that they are ready to change their music style and bring some diversity in their already known, dark sound.

With „Destroyer“ being the first track on the album, Parkway Drive does not take too much time to show that „Ire“ is a fitting name for their album, since the song is dominated by agressive paroles that remember of a revolution and a straight forward, catchy guitar riff that dominates most of the song. A thing that long-time fans of the band will recognize is, that the song incorporates way less breakdowns than earlier album’s songs. This is remarkable, because these kind of hard breakdowns were one of the key factors that distinguished the music of Parkway Drive. Also in many other songs, the band distances itself from their earlier sound. Where in „Horizons“ more monotone breakdowns dominated, fast, melodic guitar riffs took their place. The best example for this development is probably the song „Vice Grip“, since it is the most up-beat song the band has released until today. Parkway Drive clearly aims for a clearer, more metal-orientated sound than they used to do before. Also, there is some kind of musical diversity recognizable in some of the tracks. For instance, „Crushed“ makes use of monk chants, while „Writings on the Wall“ includes string instruments. Still, at a later point of the album the band falls back into their older style and the innovations that dominate the album fall flat in comparison, which might come as a welcome change for fans oft he earlier releases oft he band, but still disappoints me to some point. Most parts of the album, however, show a new side of the band, which also can be recognized in the overall design of the songs, lyrically and musically. Many tracks on „Ire“ incorporate the character of marching songs with a realtively clear song structure and agressive calls to action, sometimes also remembering of militarical music. This also shows in the field of percussion. The sound of the drums varies between complex and fast passages and powerful, straight forward rhythm guidelines, the second thing being fitting, but technically not too impressing.

Concerning the band‘s vocals there are also some remarkable changes. The first and probably most recognizable thing being the increasing use of spoken vocals, maybe even including a rap-like style which fits the already described „call to action“ character of songs like „Crushed“. Changes like these may show a certain influence of bands like Rage Against the Machine. Another thing that appears to become more common in the band’s music is the use of choirs that underline the character of a song, with the best example again being the song „Vice Grip“. Thirdly, and most surprisingly, the band seems to incorporate some clear vocals in their music, at least a little bit of them in the last song on the album, „A Deathless Song“, a thing that completely vanished in the Parkway Drive’s music since their first releases. Another thing that should be remarked is the short, but fantastic use of double-time in „Dying to Believe“ which underlines the pushing character of the song. Lyrically the themes of the band vary between the already mentioned marching paroles that remember of revolution and violence and more up-beat songs like „Vice Grip“, even a love song managed to find it’s way into the album.

Summarizing „Ire“ marks a step into a new direction in Parkway Drive’s music, a step into a more melodic, faster and metal-like direction. This change will surely impress listeners that found a lack of diversity in the band’s music, but also will hurt fans of the earlier albums of the band. Still, credit must be given that the band tries to break their routine, even though the formula surely has room to improve. My final rating is a

7,5/10

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Untitled | via Tumblr on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/72209595/via/Ajatar

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Amon Amarth (my gifs, keep credit):

Twilight Of The Thunder God, 2008

Surtur Rising, 2011

Deceiver of the Gods, 2013

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Have you ever been so bored that you climbed to the top of the map?

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Incredible evening sky from yesterday =)

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