famelessmusic

Your source for unknown bands/artists.

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Metal-/Deathcore] Destined For Damnation [Nico]

Artist: Destined For Damnation

Album: Before Fate Finds Us [EP]

Release date: April 13, 2013

Label: Unsigned

Genre: Metal-/Deathcore

Hometown: Wigan, England

Band members:

Mark Barron – vocals

Eden Leviston – guitars

Matthew Parkinson – guitars

Taylor Finney – bass

Josh Vermiglio – drums

Band status: ACTIVE

The band:

Destined For Damnation are a five-piece metal band from England. Formed in 2010, it didn't take them long to evolve from "just" a local metal band into something that many people will soon jam on their mp3 players and in their cars all around Europe. Just my opinion.

The music:

Destined For Damnation's sound combines characteristics from various metal genres, such as post-hardcore, modern metalcore and deathcore. They're such a young band and yet they sound like they've been touring and recording albums for a lot longer than they actually have.

Smashing breakdowns, extremely high AND low pitched screams (and also some post-hardcore-ish screaming) and great sense of arrangement when it comes to songwriting; these are just a few things that make this band worth checking out!

The album:

Destined For Damnation – Before Fate Finds Us [EP]

Welcome

A Motionless Picture

Shipwreck

Walk Away

Until Words Fail

The Beginning Of The End

Total length: 24:40

Almost 25 minutes of music is not bad for an EP. Actually, this EP really deserves the E, if you know what I mean. If not, google EP. Please. And the EP is available for free. FOR FREE, god damnit!

Like I already told you, Destined For Damnation have really stepped up their game since we reviewed their EP called "Lost Hopes And Hidden Regrets".

As someone who knows that these guys are unsigned and still have a long way to go, you might not expect too much from music they release. Just forget about everything you pretend to know about them, scroll up to their music video and hit play. That does NOT sound like an unsigned, inexperienced band.

'Before Fate Finds Us' features some awesome clean guitar parts, a lot of moshing potential and a vocalist who really doesn't look like he's capable of screaming the way he does.

'Walking Away' is probably the most intense and hectic song on the album, songs like 'Shipwreck' or the opener 'Welcome' start off a lot less brutal and show the filigree side of Destined For Damnation; well, filigree in a metal context. You know what I mean.

My personal favorite on the record is 'A Motionless Picture'. It has an As I Lay Dying-ish intro, but goes in a totally different direction afterwards. The song combines the best of many great bands. I can hear some The Color Morale, some Parkway Drive, even some Killswitch Engage. These are all big names and Destined For Damnation really deserve to be called the future Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage or whatever.

They deserve it because they know what they're doing – technically speaking – and they just understood what it takes to create good music. Really good music.

Let's summarize:

You like metal(core)? You don't want to spend money on good music and still have a clean slate? You're not deaf? You're deaf but you like angels and stone columns and all that good stuff (look at the artwork)? Then do yourself a favor and get this album. If you don't like it at all, feel free to punch me in the face. I mean that.

Rating: 9.5/10.0

- Nico

Check out Destined For Damnation's Facebook/Youtube pages for news, music and much more:

Destined For Damnation on Facebook

Destined For Damnation on Youtube

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Progressive Metal/Deathcore] Slice The Cake [Nico]

Artist: Slice The Cake

Album: Other Slices

Release date: December 21, 2012

Label: Myriad Records

Genre: Progressive/Deathcore

Homecountries: England/Sweden/Australia

Band members:

Jonas Johansson

Gareth Mason

Jack Magero Richardson

Band status: ACTIVE

The band:

Slice The Cake are a three-piece intercontinental metal band. Founded in 2009, it took the band 3 years to release their first full-length record in 2012. Not even a year later, Other Slices was released. That's what I call zeal!

The music:

Well, Slice The Cake's first full-length album could be described as a death metal wrecking ball on speed. Their latest release is not that easy to classify. It's basically an exploration through the band members' musical lives and contains many experimental ideas and offers a broad variety of genres. Let's just call their music avant-garde death black jazz metal...core. Seems legit.

The album:

Slice The Cake – Other Slices

Blow Up Voodoo Doll

False Illumination

Nebulayer Cake

The Siren's Song

Fractal Exam Sequence

A Dance With Dragons

4th Dimensional Observation

Cleansed

Genghis Tron, Come Home, We Miss You!

The Great Migration

Kow Otani's Castle In the Sky

Total length: 52:34

Other Slices is packed with unconventional arrangements and weird stuff, but weird in a genius way. Although heavy parts are still dominant, you often tend to ask yourself if you're still listening to the same record as five minutes ago.

Let me give you an example of what I mean:

The songs 4 and 5 on the album, 'The Siren's Song' and 'Fractal Exam Sequence', are so different from each other that it's not even funny any more (but still fucking epic!).

'The Siren's Song' has metal- and deathcore inspired breakdowns, black metal parts with blast beats and Architects-/Bring Me The Horizon-like synth drum parts with clean vocals and open riffs. All that is combined perfectly and doesn't sound as frantic as you might think. 'The Siren's Song' is a journey through the (modern) metal world and even has an epic, power metal-ish ending (I believe it's a harp that's playing at the end).

'Fractal Exam Sequence' starts like a Jack Johnson tune. No, really. With an acoustic guitar and stuff. It develops into an emotional duet, featuring a female guest vocalist and tastefully arranged bits of blues rock, jazz rhythms and then, all of a sudden, BOOM! In the middle of this beautiful song, the whole thing gets out of control and a Protest The Hero-like riff kicks in. Sorry for all the band references, but there's simply no other way to explain the madness that is 'Other Slices' properly. 'Fractal Exam Sequence' ends in that PTH-way and is followed by 'A Dance With Dragons', a heavy deathcore banger that takes you back to a soundscape that similar to the one on 'The Man With No Face', the band's debut album (which means technical death metal at its finest).

Let's summarize:

'Other Slices' is one of the most interesting and fun experiences I've had in a while. I believe that an album is great when you don't get tired of listening to it over and over again, for whatever reason. It may be the unique sound of a band, the awesome arrangements of their songs or just the fact that the album has no fillers at all. Other Slices has it all, plus tons of stuff to discover, even after listening to the album for the hundredth time.

Let's hope for a Slice The Cake tour someday, these guys need to take it to the next level and amaze their fans in a live situation. A Slice The Cake show in Germany...? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Rating: 9.5/10.0

- Nico

Check out Slice The Cake's Facebook and Bandcamp pages for music, news and much more:

Slice The Cake on Facebook

Slice The Cake on Bandcamp

Check out Myriad Records for Slice The Cake merch/CD's and more epic bands:

Myriad Records on Facebook

Myriad Records on Bandcamp

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Gig review] Being As An Ocean/Napoleon [Nico]

Welcome to famelessmusic's first gig review!

I went to a great show last Saturday and I thought it would be a great idea to share my impressions from that show with you guys. Are you ready? Then let's dive right into it!

The whole show took place at the Opium Club in Essen, Germany on March 2, 2013.

The line up from the flyer is not quite the one that actually played that night. To See were not able to perform for some reason, so the band Keep Them Shut replaced them.

Here's the running order:

Keep Them Shut

Sigh Away Sundays

Burning Down Alaska

Writers

Napoleon

Being As An Ocean

So, let me just tell you some things about each act of the night.

Keep Them Shut:

I didn't catch their whole set because they were already playing when I was still waiting to get in. Stupid waiting queues!

Anyway, Keep Them Shut are local band and the guys seemed to be pretty young, so I didn't expect miracles to happen on stage, but they did a pretty solid job nonetheless. Straight and heavy modern hardcore with many mosh parts. All in all a good band to do some warm-up moshing exercises to.

Sigh Away Sundays:

These guys really surprised me. I looked them up on the internet before the show because I wanted to get some first impressions of the bands that I didn't already know. The only recordings of Sigh Away Sundays that I found sounded like they were recorded with a shoe or a stone, so I wasn't able to tell how they would really sound like in a live situation.

But when they started playing, I was blown away by the power and energy these guys had on stage. Not the typical hardcore band (they had some heavy deathcore influences), but that was nothing I'd consider a bad thing at all.

Good show, great stage presence of the lead singer and far more ups than downs. Me likey!

Burning Down Alaska:

The first band of the night that had some really slow and melodic parts in their songs. Let's just say the first two bands were local bands that played great party sets, but Burning Down Alaska really presented some more sophisticated and mature material. That was also the first time of the night that I caught myself just standing still and listening to the music. Burning Down Alaska had an overall well-rounded and entertaining set to offer and I enjoyed it.

Writers:

Writers were the fourth and last German band of the night. They combine hardcore with trance elements and that's something the crowd really seemed to like. Writers instantly connected with the audience and made them go nuts at times. Their unique combination of different genres was fun to watch, but to be honest, I'm not that much into this kind of stuff. For a live act, Writers were amazingly entertaining but like I said, not my kind of music.

Napoleon:

These guys were the reason why I went to the show in the first place. In my opinion, Napoleon have a bright future in front of them. They'll be the next big British hardcore/metalcore/whatever export after Bring Me The Horizon and Architects, of that I'm sure!

I hadn't seen them live before that night and I was SO excited to finally catch them on tour.

Their show was amazing, there was so much crowdsurfing going on, so much movement on and in front of the stage! Besides that, the musical part was so perfectly performed that I gotta say, it sounded better live than on the studio versions of the songs. Period! If you're into melodic hardcore and like bands like Architects, get yourself a ticket for a Napoleon show! You can thank me later.

Being As An Ocean:

To be honest, I didn't know them that well before the show, so I didn't have any expectations.

But what I experienced then was something I'll never forget.

Being As An Ocean is not just music, not just party, not just entertaining and "awesome", it's tons and tons of emotion. The deep and meaningful lyrics, the interaction with the crowd and the beautifully arranged music around it just made me fall in love with this band.

The stage was flooded with people most of the time because the band invited everyone to get up on stage and have a good time.

It was a mental experience and a discovery that I'm really happy about.

Being As An Ocean are still on their European tour with Napoleon, make sure to catch them live before they leave and go back home to the US!

Let's summarize:

The whole show (incl. cloakroom fee) cost me 15€ (something around 20$). That was definately worth it! I got to see 6 bands live of which none was bad and the atmosphere in such a little club is just better than at any concert hall or something like that.

All in all, the whole night was great. Go to BAAO's or Napoleon's Facebook page and see if they're gonna play at a club near you on this tour and if so, get yourself a ticket. You won't regret it!

Rating: 8.5/10.0

- Nico

Being As An Ocean on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/BeingAsAnOcean

Napoleon on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/Napoleon.Devon

Writers on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/writersband

Burning Down Alaska on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/burningdownalaska

Sigh Away Sundays on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sigh-Away-Sundays/126963284055909

Keep Them Shut on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/keepthemshuthc

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Progressive Metal] Invicta [Nico]

Artist: Invicta

Album: A Portrait of Home [EP]

Release date: January 24, 2013

Label: Unsigned

Genre: Progressive Metal

Hometown: Nashville, TN (USA)

Band members:

Schii – vocals

Ian – drums

Scott – bass

DJ – guitar/vocals

Band status: ACTIVE

The music:

Invicta are a four-piece band from Nashville, Tennessee. No, that doesn't mean they play country music! Stupid stereotypes. Progressive metal, combined with smashing breakdowns, innovative arrangements, sophisticated and meaningful lyrics and a truly unique voice to bring these lyrics to life – that's Invicta.

The album:

Invicta – A Portrait of Home:

Generic God

Driven Into The Ground

Blessed Assurance

Open The Door

The Peripheral Sound

Total length: 20:25

'A Portrait of Home' is the second release by Invicta. Like the first EP 'Split by the Sun', this one was also produced without a record label that paid for everything, so it's basically self-produced by the band members themselves.

With that said, the overall sound of 'A Portrait of Home' is even more impressive. The mix is great, nothing is too loud or not loud enough.

The drums are programmed, but that's just something I want to let you know and that doesn't make any bad impact on the sound of the EP.

Compared to Invicta's debut EP, this one has some improvements to offer:

a more polished, defined sound, more technical versatility and more elaborate songwriting.

In addition to that, Invicta's lead singer Schii does an AWESOME job on 'A Portrait of Home'. I already loved his unique voice on 'Split by the Sun', but now I would consider him not just a killer vocalist, but also one of the most charismatic singers in modern metal that I know.

Let's have a look at the five songs in detail:

Generic God: The opener starts heavy, but has its open and melodic moments as well. I really like the way triplets are being used in this song. Lyrically, this song is an evil one, denying the existence of a god. The breakdown in Generic God is perfectly fitting into the rest of the song. Overall a badass song.

Driven Into the Ground: The intro section of this song is so dark and heavy, that I really wanted to start a mosh pit while listening to it. After the intro, the song evolves into a sinister journey with a both melancholic and luncatic mood.

Blessed Assurance: This song seems to constantly jump between slow and atmospheric parts and moments of breakdown madness. The vocals in the chorus are out of this world, the harmonics make them even more epic.

Open The Door: Features a LOT of double bass work, low E string and pissed off vocals. I guess Schii hasn't screamed that low on an Invicta song before. Open The Door is a mean machine.

The Peripheral Sound: Save the best for last, right? The Peripheral Sound is a masterpiece, hands down. And by masterpiece, I don't mean compared to other unknown bands; I mean compared to bands like Mnemic, Meshuggah or even Opeth. All these bands have mastered the art of creating unique soundscapes and Invicta did the same thing with this song. The harmonics in the chorus, the choir part in the middle of the song, the whole arrangement of the song, the guitar solo and everything else in this song is just ... I don't know. All I can say is that this song is part of my 'All time favorites' playlist. This playlist contains around 40 songs at the moment out of thousands of songs that are in my music library. LISTEN TO THIS SONG GOD DAMNIT!

Let's summarize:

'A Portrait of Home' is one beast of an album. Well, actually it's just an EP, but that EP has more substance to it than many full-length albums nowadays. It has deep lyrics, intelligent concepts, a dark and still beautiful vibe and is too complex to understand it after listening to it once. Pick it up and you'll have countless hours of musical joy!

Rating: 9.5/10.0

- Nico

Check out Invicta's Facebook page for news, more music and so on:

Invicta on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Alternative Rock] IRIS [Nico]

Artist: IRIS Album: Out Of Fiction [EP] Release date: August 6, 2012 Label: Engineer Records Genre: Alternative Rock/Post-Hardcore Hometown: South east Kent, England Band members:

Adam Smart

James Wells

Ross Gilbert

Rich Goodyer

Band status: ACTIVE

The music:

IRIS play a mixture of alternative rock and post-hardcore. While the alternative side dominates IRIS' sound, their music has many very intense and emotional moments. Some of the bands that either influenced the band or that the band has been compared to are Biffy Clyro, Lower Than Atlantis, Smashing Pumpkins, Twin Atlantic, Billy Talent and Jimmy Eat World. There's actually not much more to say about the overall sound of IRIS.

The album:

Iris – Out Of Fiction [EP]

Out Of Fiction

Your Sacrifice

The Shade

Long Walk To Sleep

Lie For Me

Thicker Than Water (acoustic)

Total length: 25:43

The Out Of Fiction EP is what I consider well-rounded. The opener (which is also the title track) already shows the listener what the EP is all about: rock that you can sing along with, move your feet to or just enjoy the perfect synergy between every single instrument and the vocals.

When the vocals get emotional and more intense, the instruments follow them and the other way around. There's a lot of talent behind the arrangements and even more earworm potential to every single song on the Out Of Fiction EP. Let's have a closer look at the songs.

Out Of Fiction: The opener instantly reminded me of Billy Talent when it comes to the vocals, but when the chorus kicked in I realised that they're a thousand times better! So much more feeling and such a great phrasing. Trust me, you don't want to miss this tune!

Your Sacrifice: Wooooohooooooo *doing background vocals* The chorus will probably be stuck in my head for days now, thanks IRIS. Besides that, the guitar harmonies in this song are great, really enjoyed having the guitars playing without vocals for a couple of beats.

The Shade: Starts slow and slowly builds up intensity. Has great lead guitar parts and kinda reminds me of Coldplay. In a good way, because I usually don't like Coldplay, but The Shade has the same atmosphere than some of their songs without sounding generic or boring.

Long Walk To Sleep: That's one that you should definately move to when you see IRIS live. Probably the most straight forward song on the EP, but it also has a slow break where you can breathe in before getting back to dancing. Also has these "Woooooooohooooooooo"-moments, just like Your Sacrifice!

Lie For Me: Feels like a song by Stone Temple Pilots in the beginning, a very classic alternative rock-riff and a perfectly fitting vocal track makes you think you're reliving the glorious 1990's. I think that Lie For Me is my favorite song of this EP.

Thicker Than Water (acoustic): As you've probably read, this last song is an acoustic piece. The harmonies between the lead and background vocals are just perfect for the acoustic instrumentation, there's even a short break where you just have the vocals without acoustic guitars. Thicker Than Water is the perfect song to end the journey that is Out Of Fiction, because it's quiet, harmonic and makes you smile. I don't know why, but it does. Period.

Let's summarize:

Out Of Fiction will hopefully be the band's one way ticket to fame. Their songs have much commercial potential and are authentic at the same time. Not many bands manage to get a good balance between both of these things, but IRIS surely do.

If you don't mind spending just a few bucks for some really awesome music, pick the EP up. You won't regret it!

Rating: 8.5/10.0

IRIS – Out Of Fiction

Weblinks:

IRIS on Facebook

IRIS homepage

Engineer Records on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Electronic, Progressive Rock] Man Get Out - Sordid Affair E.P Review [Ant]

Artist: Man Get Out       

Album: Sordid Affair (E.P)

Release Date: 13th December 2012

Label: Unsigned

Genre: Electronic, Progressive Rock

Hometown: Liverpool UK

Current Line Up:

Lloyd Ellenberg – Lead Vocals/Guitar

Lars Henning Fylling – Guitar/Backing Vocals

Robert Owen – Synth/Backing Vocals

Joe Lowton – Bass

Chris Pusey - Drums

Band Status: Active

The Band:

Man Get Out are a five-piece synth rock/pop band hailing from Liverpool, UK. Since 2011 the band have played to various crowds across the UK, consequently being spotted and championed by Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music DJ Janice Long at an intimate London gig. In early 2012 the new-music pioneer DJ made the trip to her hometown of Liverpool to host the band’s debut single launch 'Berlin' at a packed Mojo club in Liverpool. Musically the band fit eclectically between hard-edged rock to pop influenced by electronic music and close vocal harmony. 

The Music:

            Sordid Affair E.P

            Lord Byron (3:20)         

            Sordid Affair (2:47)

Inertia (3:10)

    Lord Byron:

Lord Byron is a great opening track to the E.P opening with the ever so catchy vocal runs gives the track such a unique theme straight out the gate and adds a brilliant dynamic to the song. This song is a wonderfully powerful track throughout it is brilliantly written and from experiencing it live also I know it never lets down, spot on every time! There is a brilliant use of dropping down to half speed in the song which you don’t here enough of now a days and adds a great build up to the song. Throughout the whole song every part is so very pleasing from Bass to Lead Guitar it is all so well written and everything works so perfectly I would say.

Great Track! Powerful go check it out you won’t regret it

  Sordid Affair:

Sordid Affair is another great track from Man Get Out, it is a very jumpy and fun track. It opens with a piano and vocal part which is quite ballad like which sounds pretty spot on, and gives something a bit different in the climate of popular songs today. The power just continues when the whole band comes in and gives such great energy which is an awesome thing to put across on a recording.

Awesome track worth the listen!

    Inertia:

This catchy little track is quite an awesome song it has a cool little guitar lick throughout which I quite enjoyed as an element in the verses. The chorus in this song has an amazing vocal hook, the backing vocals integrate perfectly with the lead vocal melody. You can’t help but sing along whether you are hearing them live or just sitting at home listening to it. The vocals in this song were my favourite from the whole E.P., this song is a great example of what the singer and the band can do!

Sweet hooks! One to sing along too!

  Conclusion

I highly recommend everyone give it a listen regardless of music taste it is refreshing to hear great original pop music from an unsigned local band! It has a great representation of what the band can do I thoroughly enjoyed it and am glad to own a copy.

My personal favourite track has to be Lord Byron an incredible, catchy tune - one to be checked out!

  I expect to see this band go far and expect to hear greater things from these guys soon as they’re working on a full length album - I shall wait in anticipation of its release!

    Rating: 10/10 a must have!

Man Get Out - Inertia Music Video

  Contacting

  Email - [email protected]

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/mangetoutband

Twitter - @Man_get_out

Tumblr - http://mangetoutband.tumblr.com/

YouTube – www.youtube.com/mangetoutband

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/mangetoutband

  Track Downloads

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/this-is-what-happens-when/id384974828

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/berlin-single/id499835076

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Progressive Metalcore] Entities [Nico]

Artist: Entities Album: Aether [EP] Release date: January 1, 2013 Label: Unsigned Genre: Progressive Metalcore/Djent Hometown: Sacramento, CA (USA) Band members:     • Anthony Garrison - guitars     • Cody Jarvis - guitars     • Phil Water - guitars     • Ian Robertson - lead vocals Band status: ACTIVE The music: Entities deliver a mixture of complex rhythm, heavy ass riffs and very atmospheric open melodies. The underlying background synths give their songs an even more space-like touch, in addition to the overall song structuring. The vocals consist of smashing, low-pitched and Jonny Davy-like (which means they're awesome!) high-pitched screaming. The guitars have tons of punch on the "breakdown-rhythm-side" and a very clean and bright sound on both the "atmospheric-" (which means clean) and the "Oh my god I'm shredding like John Petrucci-side" (which means lead and solo stuff). I won't say much about the drums and the bass for Entities don't have a drummer or bass player. The drum parts are very groove-based and not too blasty, unlike many other drum tracks you have in metal music nowadays. I really like that. The bass sound is okay, nothing too fancy here. The album:     Entities – Aether [EP]

Primordium

Hadean

Lines of Descent

Revival

Ontogenesis

Between Polarities

Streamlined

  Total length: 26:50 Seven songs, almost half an hour of music; that's pretty much for an EP, some bands would sell this as an album *cough* Limp Bizkit – The Unquestionable Truth Pt. 1 *cough*. 'Aether' has pretty much everything you would expect from a band that can be labeled as "progressive" or "Djent". You get heavy breakdowns, mind-blowing harmonies, an atmosphere that'll take you somewhere else if you listen close enough and a lot of potential to mosh at live shows and in your bedroom alike. I've been jamming the EP a lot lately and I gotta say, it's one of the best progressive/Djent releases I've listened to in a long time. I'm not gonna compare 'Aether' to other releases, that would be unfair to most of the bands that I'd compare Entities with. The mixture of clean, atmospheric parts and bloodcurdling mosh parts is just right. I hate it when there's nothing but "IIIIIIIIII WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND THEN EAT YOUR GUTS AND SHIT!" for 30 minutes straight without any break. This is not happening on 'Aether'. The song arrangements have a great sequence of ups and downs, of melody and heaviness. Recommendations:

Primordium: The opener will get you just in the right mood for  the awesomeness that's about to follow.

Streamlined: You just wanted to listen to the opener and now you're almost through the whole EP? Dayum, I know that feeling. Well, Streamlined is a great way to end an even greater journey. It kinda gives you an overview of what you just experienced. Nuff said.

Let's summarize: There's actually no need to tell you more about Entities and 'Aether'. Just click the link below to get in touch with the band and their music. Also, take a look at the video down below to get an impression of what I just reviewed and liked so much. Rating: 9.0/10.0

Link:

Entities on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Special] Top 10 albums of 2012 [Nico]

Hey folks!

Now that the year 2012 has come to an end, it's time to look back at the awesome releases that it brought us.

Without further ado, here are my personal top 10 records of the year!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

10.

Artist: Every Time I Die

Album: Ex Lives

Release date: March 6

Label: Epitaph

Genre: Hardcore

Hometown: Buffalo, NY (USA)

Band members:

Keith Buckley - vocals

Jordan Buckley - guitars

Andy Williams - guitars

Stephen Micciche - bass

Ryan "Legs" Leger - drums, percussion

Band status: ACTIVE

Starting off the top 10 is the latest release of Buffalo's finest hardcore maniacs Every Time I Die.

Ex Lives is a sometimes confusing, sometimes funny and sometimes thrashing rocker. It's like an audible freak show. It has banjos, tons of disharmonic parts and Keith Buckley on vocals. There's basically nothing else to say, just have a listen!

Favorite song: Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space

_____________________________________________________________________________________

9.

Artist: Job For A Cowboy

Album: Demonocracy

Release date: April 10

Label: Metal Blade

Genre: Technical Death Metal

Hometown: Glendale, AZ (USA)

Band members:

Jonny Davy - lead vocals

Tony Sannicandro - lead guitars, vocals

Al Glassman - guitars

Nick Schendzielos - bass

Jon 'Charn' Rice - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

Job For A Cowboy - a band that has changed SO much since they first showed up on the music radar! The former deathcore band has evolved to a technical death metal beast over the last couple of years with Demonocracy being its latest step.

Everything about Demonocracy is evil. It's nothing you want to listen to while driving or eating, because you might end up hugging a tree or stabbing someone with your fork. If you're into brutal metal with a lot of technical tidbits, Demonocracy is worth a listen!

Favorite song: Nourishment Through Bloodshed

_____________________________________________________________________________________

8.

Artist: Upon A Burning Body

Album: Red. White. Green.

Release date: March 26

Label: Sumerian Records

Genre: Deathcore

Hometown: San Antonio, TX (USA)

Band members:

Danny Leal - vocals

Ruben Alvarez - bass

Chris "C.J." Johnson - guitars

Sal Dominguez - guitars

Jonathon Gonzalez - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

Coming in at 8th place is the latest release of Upon A Burning Body - Red. White. Green. Songs about partying, drinking lots of booze and hymns of praise for Mexico and Texas; that's what Red. White. Green. is all about. Technically, Upon A Burning Body deliver deathcore at its finest and they even have a mariachi-like interlude on the album. My favorite song of this album contains one of the most brutal deathcore riffs that I know. Imagine As Blood Runs Black and Suicide Silence having a baby - that's Upon A Burning Body!

Favorite song: Sin City

_____________________________________________________________________________________

7.

Artist: Gojira

Album: L'Enfant Sauvage

Release date: June 26

Label: Roadrunner Records

Genre: Progressive/Death Metal

Hometown: Bayonne, France

Band members:

Joe Duplantier - vocals, guitars

Christian Andreu - guitars

Jean-Michel Labadie - bass

Mario Duplantier - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

Gojira is the french answer to Opeth, just a little bit less progressive and a little bit more death-like. Joe Duplantier never disappoints with interesting lyrics and great song arrangements, one does not simply listen to a Gojira record once and understand everything in its entirety. Complex lyrical themes and instrumentals make Gojira one of my favorite metal bands and L'Enfant Sauvage my 7th place in this top 10 list.

Favorite song: Planned Obsolescence

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6.

We already have a full review of this album on our page.

Click here to read it:

Periphery II: This Time It's Personal review

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5.

Artist: Caliban

Album: I Am Nemesis

Release date: Februrary 3

Label: Century Media

Genre: Metalcore

Hometown: Hattingen, Germany

Band members:

Andreas Dörner - lead vocals

Marco Schaller - bass

Marc Görtz - guitars

Denis Schmidt - guitars, vocals

Patrick Grün - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

Caliban is a band that I've been into since the release of their album The Opposite From Within in 2004. Since then, my fellow countrymen have developed a unique style of metalcore that has made them pretty well known in the metal scene.

On I Am Nemesis, some big names have guest appearances, for example As Blood Runs Black who do all the gang shouts, Mitch Lucker from Suicide Silence and Marcus Bischoff from Heaven Shall Burn (both as guest vocalists on track 1, We Are The Many). That by itself should be enough to make you curious about the record, so give it a shot!

Favorite song(s): We Are The Many, Broadcast To Damnation

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4.

Artist: Cancer Bats

Album: Dead Set On Living

Release date: April 16

Label: Distort Entertainment

Genre: Hardcore

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

Band members:

Liam Cormier - lead vocals

Scott Middleton - guitars, vocals

Mike Peters - drums, percussion

Jaye R. Schwarzer - bass, vocals

Band status: ACTIVE

Top 4!

When I first picked this album up, I knew it would be hard for Cancer Bats to beat their previous release, Hail Destroyer, but they managed to make it an equally entertaining record. Slow, cool and dirty, that's what Dead Set On Living is. By the way, Liam Cormier has to be one of the most charismatic vocalists in today's hardcore scene! If you like nasty, groovy and heavy stuff, pick this record up!

Favorite song: Bricks and Mortar

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3.

Artist: Veil Of Maya

Album: Eclipse

Relase date: February 28

Label: Sumerian Records

Genre: Deathcore

Hometown: Chicago, IL (USA)

Band members:

Brandon Butler - vocals

Marc Okubo - guitars

Danny Hauser - bass

Sam Applebaum - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

Veil Of Maya is one of my favorite bands, hands down. There are not many bands out there who manage to combine pure aggression and so much melody that well. The technical level of the songs on Eclipse is over 9000. Still, it's not like with many technical bands, that everything you hear is noise and shredding. Marc Okubo is the mastermind behind the instrumental arrangements and he does his job extraordinarily good. Veil Of Maya is one of the best deathcore bands out there. I can't tell you more, just listen to the goddamn record!

Favorite song(s): 20/200 (Intro)/Divide Paths

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1. There are two first places!

We already have a full review of this album on our page.

Click here to read it:

AxeWound - Vultures review

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1.

Artist: Parkway Drive

Album: Atlas

Release date: October 29 (Europe), October 30 (USA)

Label: Epitaph/Resist

Genre: Metalcore

Hometown: Byron Bay, New South Wales (AUS)

Band members:

Winston McCall - vocals

Luke "Pig" Kilpatrick - guitars

Jeff Ling - guitars

Jia "Pie" O'Connor - bass

Ben Gordon - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

As you can see, I picked two first places, that's why there's basically no second place in this list.

Parkway Drive are awesome, that's a fact, and so is their latest release, called Atlas.

My favorite album of 2012 has so much emotion, so much power, so much potential for live performances, I can't wait to go crazy to their new songs on a show! Heavy moments, melodic moments, parts to sing along and two hymns make Atlas a truly moving experience. If you haven't listened to Atlas yet, DO IT! NOW!

My favorite song(s): Old Ghosts/New Regrets, Dark Days, The River, The Blue And Grey

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Have a great new year's eve, I'll see you next year!

- Nico

[famelessmusic-blog]

Revocation - The Grip Tightens

One of the best music videos I've ever seen!

For more information about the band, click this link:

Revocation on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Thrash/Death Metal] Revocation [Nico]

Artist: Revocation

Album: Teratogenesis [EP]

Release date: September 25, 2012

Label: Scion A/V

Hometown: Boston, MA (USA)

Band members:

David Davidson - lead vocals, guitars

Brett Bamberger - bass, vocals

Phil Dubois-Coyne - drums, percussion

Dan Gargiulo - guitars, vocals

Band status: ACTIVE

The band:

Revocation is a four-piece metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was originally known as Cryptic Warning, but changed its name to Revocation in 2006. They have released 3 full-length albums and one EP to date.

The music:

Revocation play a pretty straight mixture of thrash and death metal. Lots of double bass, blast beats, shredding and ear-splitting vocals await you on their latest release, Teratogenesis!

The album:

Revocation - Teratogenesis

The Grip Tightens

Spurn The Outstretched Hand

Maniacally Unleashed

Teratogenesis

Bound By Desire

Total lenght: 21:38

Five songs, a little bit more than 20 minutes of music, that's exactly what I expect of an EP. These 20 minutes will knock you off your feet! Let's take a look at the songs in detail.

The Grip Tightens: An overall pretty fast song with catchy, melodic riffs and a nasty solo. A perfect opener for a record like this! I'll post the music video to this song in the next post, you NEED to watch it! Funny as hell :D

Spurn The Outstretched Hand: Double bass all over your face! Although it's not as fast as the opener, it's at least two times as heavy. This one's a song to bang your head to.

Maniacally Unleashed: The fastest song on Teratogenesis. Features tons of blast beats, mean riffs but also some melodic and open parts. Gotta love the lead guitars on this one!

Teratogenesis: The title track is one evil thrasher. The only slower part is when the solo kicks in, but that doesn't make this song less vicious. Not as freaked out as Maniacally Unleashed, but all the more mean.

Bound By Desire: Features blast beats, double bass and a lot of shredding. The solo is great, it's tastefully arranged and just fits perfectly into the song! During and after the solo, the song slows down a bit and shows some melodic riffing. My favorite song on this EP!

Let's summarize:

Revocation didn't reinvent the wheel. They just managed to make it sound pretty damn sexy! I'm not much of a thrash metal lover, but I do like this EP. Take a look at the video in the next post and get yourself an impression of what you've read here!

Rating: 8.0/10.0

- Nico

[famelessmusic-blog]

Contacting Destined For Damnation

  Look out for their new E.P Before fate Finds Us due for release early January/February

  Email – [email protected]

  Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/DestinedforDamnation

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/DestinedforDamnation

Soundcloud - http://soundcloud.com/destinedfordamnation

  E.P Download

  http://www.mediafire.com/?yf1mz7331kulx17 http://destinedfordamnation.bandcamp.com/album/lost-hopes-and-hidden-regrets

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Metal] Destined for Damnation Lost Hopes and Hidden Regrets E.P [Ant]

Artist: Destined For Damnation

Album: Lost Hopes and Hidden Regrets E.P

Release Date: 14 August 2012

Label: Unsigned

Genre: Metal

Hometown: Wigan, Greater Manchester (UK)

Current Line Up:

Mark Barron - Vocals

Eden Leviston - Guitar

Mathew Parkinson - Guitar

Taylor Finney - Bass

Josh Vermiglio - Drums

Band Status: Active

The Band:

Formed in 2010 Destined for Damnation offer a new take on the metal genre, with an individual sound and influential lyrics the band have pushed the standards to the next level. Having been heavily influenced by bands such as Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Slipknot, has helped develop the sound they set out to create. This being, what they hope, will bridge the gap between modern metal and traditional heavy metal. The current line up consists of 5 members including two guitarists: Eden Leviston and Matt Parkinson, Bassist: Taylor Finney and Vocalist Mark Barron, who were eventually joined by their current drummer: Josh Vermiglio.

The Music:

            Lost Hopes and Hidden Regrets

  Lost Hope and Hidden Regrets (03:50)

Lay Another Scar on my Soul (04:38)

My Sin is Life (03:34)

Where You Can't See (05:00)

    Lost Hopes and Hidden Regrets

  As a E.P opener these guys opened with a great songs it jumps straight in to a pumping chord progression followed by a quality little riff. It gives you a brilliant sense of what the band are going for straight away. The vocalist gives a solid performance bouncing between a higher register scream to a lower chest scream so effortlessly I was begging to think there was a second vocalist at times. Awesome song brilliantly written go check it out you won’t regret it!

  Lay Another Scar on my Soul

  This track was pretty immense when I first heard such an anthem but that may have been down to the fact I was playing Halo at the time it gave me a great feeling when popping some grunts! But any who, this is a brilliant song by DFD great power to it and has a quality intro really gets you pumped before the drop when the vocalist comes in to an extremely fitting dual riff between both guitarists. I feel through all the tracks the guitarists shine through on this one they give so much to this song in the breakdowns especially towards the end.

Another great song by DFD one of my favourite tracks I have heard from them!

  My Sin is Life

  Excellent riffage, solid as f*ck vocals, Rhythm section meaning it! I think as a whole that is the best way I can describe this song hits the nail on the head as metal track goes. Great energy I feel it would be one of the best tracks in there live arsenal.

  Where You Can’t See

  This is easily the behemoth of the at first I was a bit unsure about the length of the intro but as it went on I was slowly digging it more and more and now I love it! I can picture this to be an epic ballad in the live scene. Every member of this band bring so much to this song I was feeling the kick from the drumming for days after listening to this and the guitarists just complement each other so perfectly throughout and again fill it with so much energy. The vocalist also went doing his seamless transitions throughout which pretty much adds a second vocalist all by himself.

  Conclusion

  Destined For Damnations E.P as a whole is a great little record it is very solid in its styling and has a brilliant power to it throughout. The band as a whole seem a very tight nit group of musicians with a solid basis and potential to storm the metal world. My highlight and favourite track has to be Where You Can’t See.

  Rating: 9.10/10 I love it only thing that brings it down for me is I feel a few clean vocals could fill it out a bit more and make it all a bit more interesting other than that a spot on E.P. Great work guys!

[famelessmusic-blog]

Pandora Opened The Box - Getting Crazy

For more information about the band, click this link:

Pandora Opened The Box on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Mathcore/Experimental] Pandora Opened The Box [Nico]

Artist: Pandora Opened The Box (former Perfect Murdership)

Album: She Knew It...So I Did It ...

Release date: 2009

Label: None

Genre: Mathcore/Experimental Metal

Hometown: Athens, Greece

(current) Band members:

Alex - vocals

Eristikos - guitars

Bill - bass

Lefos - drums

Band status: ACTIVE (Reunion: November 2012)

The band:

Pandora Opened The Box are a four-piece band from Athens, Greece. They play a unique style of extreme metal, with jazzy and funny twists, but I'll come to that later.

I first discovered the band back in 2007 when they still called themselves 'Perfect Murdership', that's also the name under which they released their first (and yet only) EP in 2009.

In 2010 (at least I believe it was in 2010), the band split up for whatever reason, but now (November 2012), POTB have reunited and that's why I'm writing this review.

I talked to Eristikos, the band's guitar player and he told me that the band is already working on new material. There will be another review as soon as there is a new POTB record!

The music:

Pandora Opened The Box deliver extreme metal with a lot of unconventional twists, like jazz parts, surprisingly catchy choruses and a constant up and down. What I mean by that is that choruses, driven by simple chords and catchy melodies, are often followed by blast beats, pig squeals and disharmonic guitar playing. POTB also write extremely atmospheric songs, it's not hard for the listener to empathize with the singer when he tells you that he's getting crazy! These guys know how to entertain and arrange songs in a way that's impressing and fun to listen to at the same time.

The album:

Pandora Opened The Box - She Knew It...So I Did It ...

Intro

Getting Crazy

Murder On The Dancefloor

Inside The Clinic

6.06pm

Inside The Clinic (dirty version)

Total Length: 23:30

She Knew It...So I Did It ... is actually not a full-length album, it's an EP. It features 4 songs plus an intro and an alternate version of the song Inside The Clinic. With a playtime of 23 minutes, you get pretty much what you expect from an EP - half an album. The advantage of this EP is that there are absolutely no fillers, every song is great and has a different story to tell. Let's have a look at the songs in detail.

Intro: The Intro features excerpts of the 1976 movie 'Network'. Just talking, but I like it, it fits into the concept of the album which could be considered total madness!

Getting Crazy: The first POTB song I came in contact with and also my favorite one. This song is nuts. This whole band is nuts. It features jazz parts, followed by blasting madness, a depressive semi-acoustic part and just an overall confusing song structure. Listen to this song on Youtube, you won't regret it!

Murder On The Dancefloor: No, this is not a cover of the song by Sophie Ellis Bextor. This is another crazy original tune by POTB. The intro part makes you think that you can expect some melodic metal, but if you think so, you're totally barking up the wrong tree. Well, there is a melodic chorus that will get stuck in your head as soon as you listen to it for the first time, but you can also find disharmonic riffs and a massive breakdown in this song.

Inside The Clinic: This song is evil, mad and all of a sudden...over. There's no break, there's no slow or melodic chorus, who needs shit like that anyway? Inside The Clinic is a song that will clean your ears and probably make them bleed as well.

6.06pm: The intro of this song gives me goosebumps. It prepares you for the most sinister song on the EP. Shrieking, screaming, squealing and clean singing, all of that is combined in this song. Alex does a great job on this song, he makes the vocals so thrilling that I could exactly feel what he wanted to express with his lyrics. Scary and melancholic at the same time, this song is like a good horror movie. It also has some massive blast beats!

Inside The Clinic (dirty version): It's basically the same song as the 'normal' version, but the vocal tracks are different. It's your decision which version you like more. ;)

Let's summarize:

She Knew It...So I Did It ... is a great EP. It really shows the potential of Pandora Opened The Box, so let's hope they get to work soon and bring us some more of their crazy and original ideas.

That's all I can say now, everything else has been stated above. I love this EP. Nuff said.

Rating: 10.0/10.0

-Nico

[famelessmusic-blog]

AxeWound - Exorchrist

Click here for more information about AxeWound and to purchase their record:

AxeWound on Facebook

[famelessmusic-blog]

[Metal] AxeWound [Nico]

Artist: AxeWound

Album: Vultures

Release date: October 1, 2012 (UK); October 2, 2012 (US)

Label: Search and Destroy Records

Genre: Metal

Hometown: Various

Band members:

Liam Cormier - lead vocals

Matthew Tuck - guitars, vocals

Mike Kingswood - guitars

Joe Copcutt - bass

Jason Bowld - drums

Band status: ACTIVE

The band:

AxeWound are a British-Canadian supergroup. You don't know what a supergroup is? Fair enough. Let me explain. A supergroup is a band consisting of musicians who are already successful with other projects.

Pitchshifter (Jason Bowld), Glamour of the Kill (Mike Kingswood), Rise to Remain (Joe Copcutt), Cancer Bats (Liam Cormier) and Bullet For My Valentine (Matt Tuck) - doesn't that sound like a killer line-up? Well, this is what AxeWound basically consists of.

Since the beginning of 2012, AxeWound have been writing songs for their first full-length record. The result of this process, called Vultures, is the subject matter of this article.

The music:

Metal. It's all about straight, in-your-face metal! It's not only the name of the band that sounds nothing but heavy, it's also the music.

If you want to know more about the music, keep on reading!

The album:

AxeWound - Vultures

Vultures (feat. Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold)

Post Apocalyptic Party

Victim Of The System

Cold

Burn Alive

Exorchrist

Collide

Destroy

Blood Money And Lies

Church Of Nothing

Total length: 41:35

Listening to Vultures feels like listening to the child of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and modern, heavy metalcore. The sound/production is so perfectly fitting for the music that it hurts. Liam Cormier usually sings in a hardcore band (Cancer Bats) and to be honest, I thought his voice wouldn't be that great in a band like AxeWound. I was SO terribly wrong! His vocals make the songs even more nasty. The guitars have a sound that is pretty similar to Bullet For My Valentine's sound, which is probably because of Matt. Jason Bowld is such an amazing drummer! His technique and dynamic add a ton of punch to the already fucking heavy riffs. Matt's clean vocals are great as well - a lot better than I remembered from BFMV.

All in all, the combination of the different origins of the band members, their experience and their attitude towards this project created a beast. A beast called Vultures.

Recommendations:

Vultures (feat. Synyster Gates): The opener and also title track is probably the heaviest piece on the whole record. It just blows you off your feet and makes you wanna dance - in a violent way of course.

Cold: A more melodic heavy metal song that features clean vocals by Matt Tuck. The chorus will get stuck in your head for a while, trust me. It's a great song to bang your head to.

Exorchrist: Dirty, nasty, evil. I'll try to post the music video for this song in the following post, you NEED to see it! Also features Matt's clean vocals.

Collide: The only "ballad" you can find on Vultures. It's not really a ballad, it's just a song with clean vocals in the verse, sad/evil lyrics and an EPIC chorus. It's heavy, epic and balladic at the same time. Collide is a MASTERPIECE!

Let's summarize:

Vultures is my personal album of the year. There's nothing I could add to that, besides... LISTEN TO THE FUCKING RECORD, BUY IT AND HAIL SATAN! :D

Rating: 11.0/10.0

- Nico

[famelessmusic-blog]

As I Lay Dying - A Greater Foundation

Click this link for more information about As I Lay Dying:

As I Lay Dying On Facebook