Well who are Straighthate, well they come from Greece, uhhh nice place for a vacation, but who cares who they are, we are here to talk about their latest album, that they gave me a copy, how nice of them heheh, called “Indigenous”, the music fits into a kinda “Death Grindcore Hardcore Metal” thing, just like they say on their website, again, how nice, lets check to see if the music is nice as well, shall we.

I guess Indigenous is plagued by some of the same shit that plagues this kind of music, after a while it all seems the same, it doesn’t feel like its really a band problem as much as a musical genre problem, there are only so much ways you can blast away, well anyways it all starts off from “Middle Class Kidds” with the all too smoothing blasting and growling, its kinda quick and simple grindcorish track, not too bad, “Cannibalistic Society” is more a hardcore grind with nuances at the end, “Higher” starts up with … i don’t know some kind of movie sound sample with people struggling while Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane Starship sing “White Rabbit” on the background… what? higher? hey not all hippies were high hahaha, well anyways it then goes into blast hardcore and kinda keeps like that till the end, still with a nice pace to back it up, “You’ll Never see Heaven” starts off slower more verging on the hardcore side, still with intermittent blasting and then back to the full on blasting grind, till halfway were it kinda goes to more a death mood, humm a bit spliced together but still nice riffs and interesting listening, “Ethnocide” is a bit of a 2min throwaway track blasting half way to more growling and more blasting.

“Curse the Unholy Corpse of Jesus” is another kinda mess of track, and not in a good way, the vocalist seems to be everywhere on this one… txaaa you don’t need to growl all the way through, sometimes not talking makes a bigger impact, let the music speak for you, “Stench of Immortality” is back on the hardcore side of things, and a much better listen, kinda reminds me a bit of hardcore punk, well with the added screaming howls, finishes on a more moody groove, solid track, “Company Car” moves us back into the griding and blasting, kinda standard stuff, “Procreate” is a bit groovier hardcore grind track that finishes with a guitar lead, cool, now “Isolator” kinds starts a bit techie but grows back into full blast grind, “Kollapse” is a bit of more groovier kind of death hardcore metal, i liked it, mostly cause it has a bit of everything and still sounds pretty distinct from the rest of the the album, “Which One of Us is Gonna Die First” again starts off with more hardcore metal and kinda goes on… but well you all know what i feel about 15min tracks, unless they are going to do some groundbreaking stuff, then they mostly suck, this one is ok with some not that good parts… still about half way it stops for the “ethereal” sounds and the low guitar number finishing with some talk that gets lost on someone like me that grabs a cd to listen to music not to someones thought agendas… boring, especially for re-playability… skip skip.

From production values, lets say its ok, a bit muddy at times, still even though most tracks aren’t awesome, there are some interesting ones, also cause most tracks keep it short it listens well as a whole even when they start a lot of tracks with interesting and groovy intros and then blast away until the end, not following through, uhhh also i found the track names quite charming heheh, so what can i say of “Indigenous” humm like i said above this genres are a bit difficult to move beyond what is expected, even if you fuse and mash them together like Straigthate intended, i would say that this album is a solid album for those genres, these guys know theirs chops, this isn’t some garage shit, so if you are into hardcore or grind, be sure to check them out its a pretty sweet listening, but if you are looking for enlightenment, fish elsewhere ^_^

Myspace Straighthate | Video for Ethnocide

Straighthate – Higher
Straighthate – Stench of Immortality

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Humm Divine Heresy’s “Bleed The Fifth”, of course i had to talk about Divine Heresy, after i knew that Dino Cazares of Fear Factory fame had a new band and that it was kinda deathmetalish and that it had Tim “The Missile” Yeung on the drums and on the bass Joe Payne from Nile fame (even though he had no part in the making of this album), and some metalcore guy for vocals, well thats a kick ass lineup, but as well we all know sometimes a great team doesn’t play a great game hehehe, so i guess Divine Heresy play above all else Melodic Death Metal, with a lot of touches of Deathcore and Metalcore, sounds good to me… well we will see.

So the album starts with the title track “Bleed The Fifth”, were you get a pretty tight death metal track with tight blasting and a kind of over simplistic guitar work (ahh what do you expect from Dino) and pretty much metalish vocals, still hard hitting and very by the book type of metal, hehehe im complaining just a bit, but overall it is still a pretty catching track, then we get the single “Failed Creation” were you get again a by the book hardcorish melodic death metal track, its ok but in comparison to the rest of the album its a bit too radio friendly and the chorus seems completely out of place like “… play death play death play … ohhh lets stop everything its time for the clean vocal chorus … play death play death play …”, still its not bad, its just not that great, then we get “This Threat Is Real” were you get like a 2 part thrash setup, that is until you enter into the “screaming tech metal part” that is actually pretty kick ass very groovy blasting, “Impossible Is Nothing” seems and feels more like Fear Factory, with tight drumming and guitar combo, ahhh how i missed it, then it goes more into death metal groove, still even when its not excellent its refreshing in their hit on this genre mix, that is until we get into the melodic part… i would cut that… its pretty awful, skip skip.

“Savior Self” ohhh snap hehe tech metal, awesome awesome, blasting away, then it goes into deathcore genre… until again… ahhh the painful melodic part, and then a OH MY FREAKIN HELL a “Body Hammer” hint damn… thats sweet (if you don’t know what i mean… fuck you hehehe) and thats all i have to say, “Rise Of The Scorned” starts out a bit like a melodic interlude, ahh the fuckers attached it to the begging of the song, noo it kind melds pretty well to the death metal track that blasts of screaming away, the rest is ok, i guess more into the metalcore, it ends pretty well merging with the beginning of the track, next up is “False Gospel” with a bit more deathcore meets metalcore with a much better groovy chorus with some in between licks from Dino’s guitar (i complain i know, but i like is over simplistic playing style), next is “Soul Decoded (Now And Forever)” ohh doesn’t that sound like a Fear Factory track name?, and wouldn’t you figure, it kinda sounds tech metalish, muahahah great and even better is the absence of Burton “everytime i get to a chorus i hit the sissy distortion mode” Bell, we even get a bit of a stop-go groovness, fuck it, its not awesome, but its pretty good, “Royal Blood Heresy” ohh a bit more tech metal, still pretty fucking groovy stuff, we even get a strange melodic blasting part that its actually not so bad, good job, then the album finishes up with “Closure” that although sounds like trademark Dino melodic stuff, the guy singing sounds a bit too Nickelback for my frail heart and so i pretend i didn’t listen to it.

Ahhh finished, so what would i expect from a band made of a tech/industrial metal guitar player, a death metal drummer and a hardcorish melodic metal singer… well exactly what i heard, it all seems so divided and broken apart, both trough the album and in the songs, its not a coherent sound in all aspects, its a broken down mess of different genres, hell just listen to the first and last track, its frightening, but in the end what did i think of this album?

In a perfect world Fear Factory wouldn’t have pseudo disbanded and wouldn’t be playing the fucking sissy contrived music they are playing now, hummm? did i called it music? i meant to say playing around with their instruments, but well enough about fear factory, what about divine heresy, well its a new band and as such its normal for the sound to be a work in progress, ill give them that, as well the fact that the bass player didn’t play a part working on this album, that and the fact that in the end this is a pretty nice album, makes me hope for a brighter future for Divine Heresy and as such i recommend everyone to at least give it a listen, hehehe.

Myspace Divine Heresy | Video for Failed Creation

Divine Heresy – Failed Creation
Divine Heresy – Savior Self

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Oh Machine Head?, do you like good music?… then probably you don’t know Machine Head too well hehehe since hummm since The Burning Red… i just don’t give a fuck, their albums sounded like thrash, but they were mostly… how can i put this gently… shit? a big pile, well more because they had such an interesting first album, that everything after that should have been at least somewhat good, seems not, so… after 2 or 3 albums, here comes “The Blackening” (and i’m only reviewing this cause a friend told me i should check it out).

“Clenching The Fists Of Dissent” starts if off, and i’m impressed, solid thrash, it kind drags a bit on with 10min and it has a slowish middle… but i kinda get it, sort of “lets just make a freaking kick ass first track”… hell its long because it has a bit of everything, from slow burning trash, speed blasting, some Hatebreed public shouting, short burst guitar solos, hell even time to go for a clean vocal section nearing the end, breakdown head-banging end i mean… sweet ride, “Beautiful Mourning” starts pretty well, shouting and here we go, a bit of thrashing and then we get to some heavy rifting with slow singing, then we get a sweetish chorus with some blasting, ok… not so bad… sounds a bit swedish, but not in a “LETS STOP EVERYTHING AND SING LIKE A GIRL MOMENT”, plenty of hardcore breaks and again a smallish guitar solo, and thats pretty much it, again another pretty catchy track, moving on to “Aesthetics Of Hate” starts off pretty well with pure thrash, with a very big solo… all building up to a clean vocal and pretty old school breakdown… again great, now we get “Now I Lay Thee Down” humm a bit more metalcore i guess.. with clean vocal even trough the chorus, still pretty catchy and it kinda seems to be the softest until now, some guitar solos and it gets a bit heavier to the end… humm its ok.

“Slanderous” is a bit of the same with some groovy drum/guitar work to build up, but again more metalcore, some breakish moments, some guitar solos, ends with a clean vocal buildup to… a bit heavier chorus, ahhh its getting kinda formulaic, “Halo” gets us a groovy blast guitar squeal break moving trough the track, that drive us to (probably) the catchiest chorus yet, pretty sweet clean vocal/guitar work… driving again to the groovy riff, midway we get a sort of breakdown to the guitar solos and even these seem to fit well with the rest of the track and to finish it off … yeah you guessed it… again clean vocal to build up to the chorus, its great don’t get me wrong, pretty sweet, but still more than predictable… a hell yeah for this track, “Wolves” starts off like hardcore should, but then goes into metalcore mode again, and then back to more hardcorish riffs, humm it gets better as we move along, we get midway another characteristic break that then merges with the rest of the track, then we get back into thrash, guitar solo and then back to chorus for the end, and that bring us to the last track “A Farewell To Arms” were we get a slow burning guitar/vocal build to the hardcorish slow burn riffing, then again a clean vocal chorus… still catchy, after the second chorus you get the guitar solos, then we speed along to thrash and eventually it dies out… pretty solid end track.

So what did i think of “The Blackening”? well it seems the expression “time heals all”, does have a use heheheh, Machine Head did a fine album, its not groundbreaking, its a bit formulaic (kinda has always the same song structure and it kinda always revolves around thrash/hardcore/swedish melodic metal), it lacks consistency (starts heavy with loads of thrash and ends more near to metalcore), but in the end, its a pretty slick album, even the not so good tracks are solid and there are some very groovy and heavy tracks throughout, so… if you were a fan of Machine Head or you want to listen to some modern thrash, then give this one a go.

Official Site Machinehead1 | Vidcult Video Now I Lay Thee Down

Machine Head – Aesthetics Of Hate

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Ahh back to some headbashing hehehe, Diskreet is kind of the new wave of death metal, it has a more hardcore/grindcore feel to it, and not so much a leaning technical ability, nevertheless they hail from Kansas USA, and that might mean something to be mad about muahhaha.

Infernal Rise starts pretty good with “Infernal Throne”, its kinda a slow burn blast beat kind of track, pretty good and straightforward, “Infinite Hold” comes next and starts with a guttural blast/slow rifts, then it gets into a more speed up but always with a play with the speed, slowing and speeding, always with prologued drummed blasting or small bursts of blasting, actually the drumming is what shines, its always changing the pattern, pretty nice track, it finishes much like it started, “The Bigger Complex” starts with a sound clip then goes into death blasting, it kinda works like the previous track with a bit more guitar work, but it still feels like its an all drumming thing… “Entrails” starts with the death blasting thing, stops and then picks up again almost all the way through… humm

“Faust” at least starts pretty differently with a more groove metal kind of thing, but damn if the drumming isn’t kinda carrying everyone on their backs, loads of variations of blasting, feels a bit like don caballero but with worse mix between the guitarists and the drummer, it even has those more breakneck kind of breakdowns, “The Nightmare” is a bonus track and it kinda shows, its a bit more straight death metal, but still a pretty solid track, again drums shine like hell, “Promising Demise” is the last track and also a bonus one, and again a bit different from the rest of the album, slower and maybe not even death, more like metalcore even with a cleaner chorus, not so bad, its good as a final track.

Diskreet… humm, well this didn’t WOWed me, and it does feel like its a work in progress, i really cant tell if they are really good, i do like some of the tracks, but it seems like a one trick band, well we will see how they fare with time, i did particularly liked the drumming and hell with this drumming maybe its just a matter of tweaking this and that and they have them selfs a kick ass band, so why not check it out (at least the mp3) hehehe

Official Site Myspace Diskreet (Myspace? hum?) Siegeofamida.net (Label Page)

Diskreet – Faust

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Oh dear… this is one those albums thats hard as hell to review but oh so fun to listen to… if that doesn’t abode well for Car Bomb (nice name by the way… kinda appropriate) i don’t know what will, so Car Bomb is what i would call a Mathcore band, following the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Psyopus… so lets have a look see.

It all starts off with a bit of a bang with “Pieces of You”, you kinda get a picture right away of what this is all about, the music is a bit more cut and paste than The Dillinger Escape Plan, i mean they have smoother transitions, unlike Car Bomb were most of the time you see cuts between segments in the music, its not too bad cause the segments are pretty rockin, but still … cut and paste, “Gum Under The Table” comes next and a kind of fused death fuzzed metal groove going on into a electronic passage into a hardcorish kind of breakdown… and then… might i say a Meshuggah big wall of sound break… humm very nice.

Well i wont bore everyone by examining every track, suffice to say all of them seem and sound very fresh, they all follow this constant cutting and are very much founded into a more hardcore and harsh foundation, but again with loads of different stuff going around, maybe the most notable track for me is the very awkward “Best Intentions”, the rest is kind of a blazing blur of blasting and jazzing.

So… ok… is it good? txaaaa, i don’t know, like i said above this kind of music is difficult to give it a heads up or down, these boys have skill, but i do understand why a lot of people might not like it, its a bit too cut up, they barely capitalize on good grooves, i guess they seem to be in too much of a hurry to play something else, so yeah if you like weird technical metal maybe Car Bomb is just the right fit.

Official Site Car Bomb (great domain by the way)

Car Bomb – M^6
Car Bomb – His Eyes

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Hardcore and Punk never brought to the table complex playing or technical ability, it’s not in their nature, but their basis of raw energy and aggression do infuse other genres and metalcore being what it is incorporates (ones more than others) the core part more seriously, that mixture of ability and pure hardcore energy can be found on some one like Misery Signals.

Blá blá, so is the album any good?, It’s good, tracks like the album starter “Face Yourself”, with a mix of odd and brutal, i say odd, because it’s not overly complex, just filled with small touches, that i guess pull them a little bit apart from the mob, “The Failsafe” is also nice, kinda odd drumming (i said odd again?), “Post Collapse” brings back that hardcore feel from the first track, with some bits of death to the mix, again good guitar work, vocals are starting to become one tone (getting boring…), “Migrate” is a softer track with a hardish end, nothing especial.

“One Day I’ll Stay Home” is a bit more of the same, good finish nevertheless, “Something Was Always Missing, But It Was Never You”, has the most idiotic title I’ve seen in quite some time, but not a bad track, ahh the good ones always have fucked up names (“Cannibalistic” anyone?), “Reverence Lost” is good and tiresome, “Sword of Eyes” is a bit more of the same, “An Offering to the Insatiable Sons of God (Butcher)” ohh another interestingly named track, and unlike the previous it’s kinda a interlude like track, too much noise, they might be good, but if it’s all distorted it isn’t anything, “Anchor” is a better than the last track, its got a bit more flare, quite good, then the album finisher and title track “Mirrors”, bit of same o’, nevertheless full of breakdowns…

Did i like it?, well somewhat, its got flare and pace, but the one sided vocals, the grungy production and the oddness although refreshing, it gets overused, like teaching a monkey a trick, after they get it right they just do it over and over again, by the time it gets over … I get over it, i don’t feel like listening again (and that’s not “in a good Meshuggah burnout” kind of way), i actually liked their previous album better, so if you like your metalcore with a bit more spice you might want to checked them out, if not, you won’t lose much.

Official Site Miserysignals.net

Misery Signals – The Failsafe

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