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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Seems I’m going from A to Z, well anyway here is the “new one” from the Swedish Blinded Colony, hmmm a bit of “Gothenburg” style of music, humm, first of all after a couple of listening although it sounds a bit like a more hardcorish form of Soilwork or In Flames (and lately i haven’t been that impressed with both this bands), well lets just sink our teeth on this one.

Starts of with “My Halo”, and its pretty much the growling/shouting kind of stuff, with some electronics accents and a clearish vocal chorus, kinda the formula is always there, its not that bad, but nothing remarkable, “Bedtime Prayers” is kinda a bit of the same, a bit more catchier… i guess, “Once Bitten Twice Shy” … hummm maybe its me but again pretty much the same, i guess the riffs and timing seem pretty similar, not much definition in the sound, “Need” is… well again a bit better, but it seems like its always getting the catchier stuff and repeating it to infinity.

“Revelation Now!” is … pretty weak track, skip skip, “21st Century Holocaust”… well again a bit of a mess, skip skip, “Aaron’s Sons” is again nothing to call home about, “In Here” … blahhhh, “Heart” finishes the album, and its the “quieter” track, every album seems to have one… the chick pleaser hehehe

I know i know, this kind of music tend to compare with the “big boys” and as such maybe a bit unfair, but if i played in the gender i would try and mix things up and give it an edge, well it kinda doesn’t matter the gender, you should always try and make it your own, also the album seems to die half way trough it or i maybe i just got bored, so i guess i can say that Blinded Colony are good enough but this one is only for real fans of this kind of music… I’ll probably move to more interesting stuff.

Official Site Blindedcolony.com

Blinded Colony – Once Bitten Twice Shy

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Why Amoral?, Well because I’ve just talked about Scar Symmetry, and although they have a lot in common they are two very different breeds, both i would call melodic death metal, although in this case Amoral go for a more technical death metal/thrash combo that gives a bit more bite and interest, and downplaying all the way the melodic part, that’s all good, but how good is “Decrowning”

Pretty good, from the get go with “Showdown” you know were they stand, like i said above a technical trash/death combo, although in a very groovy blasting kind of way, quite the “we are in a hurry to finish this song” kind of thing, in a good way, this is a powerhouse of a track, heaviness and aggression is the name of the game, good for them, and better for me, “Lacrimal Gland” starts off again with another groovy death metalish riffage, this has some kicks ass guitar work, very good, title track “Decrowning” doesn’t fall to short of expectations, straightforward kick and easy, solid death track.

“Tiebreaker” stars off and goes almost all the way through with some incredible guitar work, very impressive with some Meshuggah like pre-D.E.I. thing, just simpler and with more pace (maybe my favorite track, i like them short and sweet), “Drug of Choice” is thrash, almost straight up, “Denial 101″ is again a strong track, plays like a hardcore track, with some crazy guitar solos, “Control Cancer” is some fucked up track, with some delayed riff, it’s good but it feels a bit cut and paste kind of thing, good track nevertheless, shows a lot of skill, hell if they can make even this not so good track sound this good, then they must be doing something right, “Raptus” is another short and sweet blasting all the way through into a another funky guitar solo, nice, “Warp” is a short instrumental, nothing much, maybe it’s suppose to be the intro the final track “Bleeder”, that brings more of that Meshuggah kind of pre-D.E.I. riffing, ugly and heavy, just the way i like it (wasn’t it short and sweet?).

Did i say melodic, i meant to say freakin awesome, yeah the sweetness of the guitars bring it into the melodic section, it’s not straight death, but this is no Killswitch Engage/In Flames kind of thing, this is straight death/trash, great guitar work, solid all round album, i enjoyed the hell out of this one, go check it out.

Official Site Amoralweb

Amoral – Showdown
Amoral – Decrowning

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Scar Symmetry hail from Sweden and as you would expect they play a by the numbers melodic death metal, the only difference between them and the rest of the pack is that they go to an extreme, from a guttural neck breaking death metal to hyper melodic clean vocals, in a world where melodic death metal is synonymous with In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, were the formula is almost to shout your way through to a clean vocal chorus, it’s actually refreshing to see a band play death metal with melody, so let’s have a look at what “Pitch Black Progress” has to offer.

It all starts off with “The Illusionist” and starts off very well, kind of slowish, building up to a Nile-like guttural vocals, damn if it’s not hard, and damn if the clean vocals aren’t crisp like hell, to the highest end of melody, it’s quite compelling, great chorus and some electronic and simple solo to the mix, great first track, then comes up “Slaves to the Subliminal” and again you get that voice, damn they play fine death but that voice is fucking powerful, especially because you get that sweet melodic contrast, and it’s a big contrast, fantastic catchy chorus, and again some guitar solos, it seems their formula is to go back and forth between the high ends (guttural/clean) all the way through, that just emphasis’s the sense that they are on high ends, he must suffer like hell singing this stuff, since he switches like 6 times per track-

“Mind Machine” is slower paced track, even not to the standard of the last 2, it’s still quite catchy, “Pitch Black Progress” is just the death metal part, freaking breaking all the way through, a “fuck melody” kind of track the chorus just raises the heaviness, “Calculate the Apocalypse” sounds like old school Fear Factory, with it’s hookiness, the melodic chorus comes from nowhere and you get a sorta 8bit solo from the guitars, nice work, and nice track, “Dreaming 24/7″ plays and works like a standard melodic death metal track, but shit you not, the played down music just boosts the vocals even more, “Abstracted” is loads of fun, the vocalist somewhat changes his guttural voice to a speedier version, i guess for a speedier track, it doesn’t hit the spot but its fun nevertheless, ohhh and maybe it has the best guitar solo on the album.

“The Caleidoscopic God” is another twist, instead of going for the death metal, they go to a mixture of speed/thrash metal and it fucking rocks or should i say metals, about half way through you get into the “what the fuck” part, when they start adding hardcore, heavy metal, guitar solos… great track, even though you could make 2 tracks from it, “Retaliator” sounds a bit like hardcorish/punk mixed with death, with shouted vocals, but again the chorus is catchy like hell, “Oscillation Point” is the opposite of “Pitch Black Progress”, with a slower pace and mostly clean vocals, really nice, and again a over the top melodic chorus, with a sweet guitar solo, again an excellent track, “The Path of Least Resistance” again back to the groovy death metal, it probably has the catchiest chorus, “Carved in Stone” is probably the weakest track, it just doesn’t engage me, “Deviate From The Form” is the last track, sounds like a mixture of power metal and death metal with quite a extensive use of electronics, again not that great, but not to the point of disappointment, and that’s it, the album is done.

After listening a couple of times to the album i think i will never look back to melodic death metal the same way, i think Scar Symmetry take the genre to another level, by i guess, taking it literally, the name of the game is Melodic Death Metal, so i would expect to listen to melody and to listen to death metal, not unlike other bands on the genre that play a washed up repeated to exhaustion, here you have melodic death metal like it’s meant to be played (like if Nile decided to start playing melodic death metal), the added brushes with other genres to spice things up is just an added bonus, so if your into melodic death metal you have to listen to Scar Symmetry latest, you don’t know what you’ve been missing.

Official Site Scarsymmetry

Scar Symmetry – The Illusionist

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Humm, seems Urkraft hails from Denmark, does that mean… oh yeah that’s on the north… so? it must be Death Metal ehhehe, kidding or not, Urkraft brings us a interesting mix of Melodic Death Metal with a but load of thrash into the mix, not that I’m unfamiliar with the mix, but i actually don’t remember someone that might fit, for comparison i mean, maybe… At the Gates? … well no, no matter, so here comes “The Inhuman Aberration”, its not their first album, but it’s my first listen, and probably yours as well, so lets have a look.

It all starts with “Too Strong For the Strongest Lord”, hummm, interesting, a bit industrial meets thrash meets death, it’s actually good, not brilliant, but solid, nice touches with the atmospheric stuff, “This Great Summer” is a bit deja vu? i can swear I’ve listen to the starting riff, somewhere, nevertheless another good track, very smooth and by the numbers, “The Only Gods” is very similar to the first track, great drive and great synth work, with a somewhat interesting solo, then comes the title track “The Inhuman Aberration”, much more thrashy, all the way through, again good, again not great, “Open Gate” is way more interesting, great pace and a bit more technical than the rest, combines almost perfectly their blend of death/thrash, “Come No Tomorrow” is also interesting with more synth work, “Watch your Own Eyes” is by the numbers again, “Liberation” is more thrashy again, i actually enjoy more when they go for their more thrash side, “Forsaken” is more of the same, good stuff, “The Pressure of Our Jaws” finishes it off nicely, thrash all the way through.

Two things come to mind, first they are a bit too straightforward and a bit too predictable, to the point of being eerie the way i can predict whats going to happen next, well it’s like milking cows, it’s all good, but it’s nothing new, always with the guitar solos at the predictable places, always the chorus in place, not that i don’t enjoy it, this is good stuff, but I’ll probably won’t keep it for that long in rotation, so if your into thrashier death metal, you might want to check it out, if your not, you might want to check Meshuggah’s latest heheheh.

Official Site Urkraft.dk

Urkraft – The Inhuman Aberration

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Since good old Nebulous is out for every Meshuggah clone (he is such a zealot) I’m going to talk about another clone, why? because its phun with a “ph”, now Threat Signal comes from Canada, they play a sort of what Mnemic/Soilwork play on tech inspired metalcore with touches of Meshuggah like riffin, yes because Meshuggah above all else are an institution, and it seems plagiarism is a form of tribute, so lets check this one out.

“Under Reprisal”, works much like a Mnemic album, it’s actually quite eerie, going from full fledged guitar driven in a almost math shredding to a full out melodic chorus, is it good? well i said it before and i say it again, i have no problem with melodic chorus, if it’s done properly with some good judgment, some musics turn out great because they have a melodic chorus, but pleaseeeee you don’t need to put one in every song, that’s just dumb and ruins most of them, and that shows for sure in this album (not as bad as Mnemic but bad anyway), so let’s have a look, first track is “Rational Eyes”, quite good almost stop go riffing going to a clean vocal chorus that ruins it… next one is “As I Destruct” almost the same formula as before, the riff just changes a bit, but the clean vocals kills me again, they just don’t sound great, almost Mnemic bad, “One Last Breath” is more thrashlike, and it dies in the beach again… guess what… the chorus, but the rest is actually some good thrash/metalcore combo.

“Seeing Red” is a more metalcore/groove metal, until now i think it’s the best one, that is until the chorus, what a bastard band, well at least its short and sweet and drives to a funny sounding stop go/weird riffage, well not to bad overall, “A New Beginning” is next and…it sounds like “new” In Flames or Pain hehehe, funny, and not too bad, next is “Counter Balance” and… it’s actually a winner, it’s not that aggressive, it’s like… well the chorus sucks but at least there is plenty of interesting things in between, “Inane” just sounds like the first track but only slower (weird…), well it dies half way through it, but not that bad, “Now” has some blasting, uhhh, chorus sucks again, “Faceless” its actually better, it seems the more the album goes, the more it gets better, “Haunting” is also good, much better overall, and now the album is over with the appropriately named “When all is Said and Done” and its actually good.

Humm, not a single really good track, never seen so much bad clean vocal chorus since the last Mnemic album, clone anyone? or actually trying to add something new?, it seems they do a better job, the sound is just tighter and therefore more enjoyable, even though they seem to suffer from the same unexplainable need to put some clean vocal chorus in every fucking song, and driving home the same idiotic formula, hell change a bit, mix it around, grabbing the things that made things like melodic death metal or metalcore successful, and remove the hardcore/death in exchange with a more math/groove metal, is good and all, but don’t abuse it … but i guess even though it lacks originality it strives for quality, even though its like if they find a good groove riff they just milk it every time, and that’s a bit boring, i guess my only beef is really fear factories Christian Olde Wolbers production, it sucks, you suck, fear factory last album sucks and i can see your hand all over this one, i just hope it’s just you and not the band.

Threat Signal – Rational Eyes

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