Atreyu - Congregation of the Damned

For a long time, I refused to listen to Atreyu. I didn’t really know why, but since I had full faith in my reasoning abilities (but not so much in my memory), I naturally concluded that I must have had a real good reason for my bias, which had since been washed away by the er.. tides of time.

But one fine day – scratch that – one utterly miserable day, in a fit of pique born of months and months of using a slow Internet connection and Grooveshark streaming worse than a tube of toothpaste, I decided to abandon the hunt for new music and browse instead through some old music I already had but never really listened to. Enter Atreyu.

I listened to their ‘A Death-Grip On Yesterday’ first, and while I really like the album, it had nowhere near the effect on me that ‘Congregation of the Damned’ did, so the latter’s what I’ll talk about.

Congregation of the Damned starts off with a very good, if conventional metalcore song called ‘Stop! Before It’s Too Late And We’ve Destroyed It All’. The lyrics aren’t conventional metalcore though – they’re misanthropic in an eco-warrior sort of way that I thoroughly loved. In fact, the chorus with its gang chants of ‘Kill! Kill! Multiply! Till the skies are black and the rivers dry!’ is one sticky little refrain that I simply can’t get out of my environmentalist head. However, while ‘Stop! Before…’ is a great song, it’s unlikely to become anybody’s favourite from this album.

Lyrics Video: Stop! Before It's...

This album is hard to classify because it tries so hard to be eclectic. Halfway through a song you’re ready to dismiss as meh metalcore, a blazing fast solo appears out of nowhere just to disconcert you. Halfway through a song you’re ready to dismiss as another love song, an ear-splitting scream appears to throw your pigeonholing right out of the window.

‘Gallows’ is a great, great song. Brian Saller, the drummer, is the one singing during the chorus, and once you start to become familiar with his delivery, you realize that most, if not all, the songs on this album have him singing the choruses. Alex Varkatzas, the ‘lead’ vocalist, the chief lyricist and frontman, takes up the verse singing and screaming duties.

This combination works. ‘Gallows’ has an almost power metal feel to its soaring vocals, clean chording and simple, fast beats. Brian Saller’s voice is strongly reminiscent of Edguy and if you go further back, even has shades of Bruce Dickinson with its tremulous high notes. When combined with Varkatzas’s more typical ‘modern’ metalcore voice, it works a tangy treat. Atreyu knows this because pretty much every song on this album uses the dual vocalist formula.

Video: Gallows

‘Storm to Pass’ is almost an identical twin of ‘Gallows’ with a slightly less catchy chorus, and with some additional - spectacular - soloing to fill up the bridge. Which one of the two do I like better? I’m leaning towards ‘Gallows’ at the time of writing this review, but that wasn’t always the case, and I’ll let you decide which one wins.

Video: Storm To Pass

My favourite song on this album is probably ‘So Wrong’ and - interestingly - it’s almost fully Varkatzas. His smooth transitions from whispery verses to rising, pleading shouts to agonized screams and back make for one mesmerizing song. There’s even a quirky little solo in there, and also a bit of Saller in the choruses, but nothing ever feels out of place.

Lyrics Video: So Wrong

‘Black Days Begin’ is almost hard rock with its slow, punchy beats, chugging guitars, and a catchy, catchy chorus. I seem to be repeating myself, eh? Well, Atreyu, even in their otherwise most generic, ‘filler’ songs on this album, have hit on catchy choruses. ‘Black Days Begin’ has a bit of screaming (that spoils my ‘hard rock’ tag a bit, but well, I did call their music ‘eclectic’ earlier), and a solo that’s eerily similar to Megadeth’s ‘Sweating Bullets’ (let’s call it a ‘tribute’, shall we?), but the parts fit together without too much creaking.

‘Ravenous’ is rollicking fast and even more reminiscent of a power metal anthem than the other songs on this album. It’s not a song I would often skip on a full album listen, but it’s not a song that’d make stop what I’m doing just to listen.

‘Coffin Nails’ has some neat riffs and yet another soaring, clean sung Saller chorus. It quickly dropped off my favourites list though, for some reason I haven’t figured out. Having said that, this is a song you’ll definitely enjoy on your first listen.

‘Wait For You’ is the obligatory love song with the keyboards, the soft angsty crooning and the gradual rise to an uplifting crescendo. For something that’s another example of a much abused formula, it’s not a bad song at all.

Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a cliché because there’s something about this album that strikes you as startlingly familiar, even on your first listen. Atreyu, perhaps in their hunt for radio success, have simplified their music. When there’s conflict between catchy but repetitive versus creative but possibly dissonant, Atreyu have always gone for the former. The chording is simple in most of the songs, but you can see that it’s not because the guitarists ain’t got it – there’s enough of soloing on the album to put that doubt to bed. The drumming is occasionally fast, but always simple. The choruses are always catchy, and always simple.

If Atreyu haven’t really experimented with song structures, where does the ‘eclectic’ bit come in? The styles they play – they do a great job mixing the punk vocals with the metalcore vocals with the power metal vocals with the pop vocals; the alternative rock guitaring with the speed metal soloing, with the hard rock riffing - that’s where they’ve really mixed things up.

If you’re an alternative rock fan who likes a bit of screaming, you’ll love this album. If you’re a metalcore fan, so little screaming may be disappointing at first, but you’ll grow to love this album. Lastly, and here’s where I’ll put my neck on the line, if you fancy a bit of Maiden or good ol’ heavy metal, I suspect you’ll enjoy quite a few songs on this album.

The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above And Branches Below

It’s high time I reviewed ‘With Roots Above and Branches Below’ by The Devil Wears Prada, seeing as it’s been my metalcore band of choice for the past month or so. If you haven’t heard of these guys, let me pre-empt your thoughts here: ‘That was a mouthful, wasn’t it?’ Indeed, there’s a joke which goes something like this.

‘Think of a phrase, any phrase. Just make sure it isn’t too short. Now do a google search, and I’m sure you’ll hit upon a metalcore band with that name.’

If you read that Wikipedia article through, you’ll notice something surprising. Apparently, the band is not named after the movie: it’s just them making a statement against petty consumerism. They’ve often been called a Christian band, and I have to admit that nothing in their lyrics disproves that observation. I have half a disclaimer to produce here: if you strongly, strongly get irritated/offended by Christian lyrics, then don’t listen to them. It’s only half a disclaimer because any religious references in their songs are highly tangential/metaphorical at best, so your distaste better be severe if you are not even going to give them a shot. Before I launch into the review, I have another (full) disclaimer to make. As always, if you dislike metalcore (you don’t like unclean vocals/you think all metalcore bands are untalented/ it’s cool to not like the genre), then don’t bother with this band.

It took me quite a while to start liking this band, and retrospective analysis threw up a couple of reasons.

1) All their songs sound the same.

2) They use weird, inappropriate instruments in weird, inappropriate places.

As for the first point, I can’t really give an explanation how I got over that. Perhaps it was just altruism: I just wanted to give these guys a shot. Perhaps I got bored of all the other metalcore bands that I had in my collection. Whatever it was, I urge you guys to ignore your first impression (if it’s a negative one), and give the album three, four, five listens before making the judgment. The point about the strange instruments: I’ll get to that in a bit.

Usually, bands pick up the most popular song off a record to make the first video. And usually, this choice matches my choice of favourite. Not in this case, however. ‘Dez Moines’ (and not ‘Danger: Wildman’ which has a video) instantly worked for me. In hindsight, it’s not easy to see why this is the case, as the song is not significantly different in composition from the rest. However, ‘Dez Moines’ perfectly illustrates several features that identify a TDWP composition. The clean vocals by Jeremy DePoyster, for a start. They have an almost robotic feel to them – mechanical in a way reminiscent of As I Lay Dying’s clean vocals, but with a pop-punk voice instead. 'Dez Moines' starts off with them, and that is slightly uncharacteristic, but their presence is not. Almost every song has a significant proportion of clean vocals. But that’s not makes 'Dez Moines' tick. It’s the brutally simple chorus riff, more than adequately backed up by Mike Hranica’s searing screams that hits you hard. A word about the screaming, and it’s really only one word. Brutal. I could literally feel the agony coursing through Mike Hranica’s lungs with each enunciated syllable. 

Video: Dez Moines

‘Danger: Wildman’ is a pretty decent song too. This is one song off the record where it’s the clean vocals that work. Perhaps the first thing that’ll hit you about this song is the breakdown. ‘Wait, these guys haven’t done away with the stripped down chugging yet? With all that bad press going about, I thought everyone’d done away with that.’ Well, not quite. TDWP still love their breakdowns, and there are a lot of them in this album. Do they work? Erm, kind of. The breakdowns by themselves are not works of art: they are usually nothing more than vaguely melodic chugs on the open E. But they are good foil for what follow. Breakdowns on the lead, as I like to call them. Dainty little tunes that up the tempo, and stick. ‘Lord Xenu’ is a great song, and a great example of this. So is ‘Wakakalypse’ and to some extent, ‘Ben Has A Kid’.

Video: Danger: Wildman

I’ll come back to ‘Danger: Wildman’ because this song has many more features that mark TDWP as a band. There are violins! Aye, weird instruments, like I said. Extremely disconcerting in the beginning, but I’ve grown to like them. And there’s synth. No, don’t turn away your head in disgust. I actually think synth can be used very productively in a metalcore setting (look at Bring Me The Horizon, Enter Shikari). ‘Big Wiggly Style’ starts off with a hilarious violin mediated breakdown, but it’s a pretty good song as it turns out. There’s another thing about TDWP’s music that sets them apart from the stereotypical metalcore band: they actually go easy on the chugging. There’s a lot of clean chording on this record, and it works for me. It goes quite well with the clean vocals.

I’ve always been a sucker for the slow, soft, lilting melody. No, I wouldn’t listen to a record full of those, but just one, on a metalcore album, is always welcome. A Day To Remember never fail to do this, and apparently neither do TDWP. ‘Louder Than Thunder’ is a decent listen, and highlights the keyboard work and Jeremy DePoyster’s clean vocals.

Video: Louder Than Thunder

Other good songs on this album include ‘Assistant to The Reginal Manager’ (more oral gymnastics) and ‘Gimme Half’. And the bad? There aren’t too many songs on this album I would call coincidental stowaways, but ‘Sassafras’ and ‘I Hate Buffering’ definitely are. Incidentally, they are the first two songs on the album (I don’t know who did the ordering, but I sincerely hope it was just a lottery.)

To sum up all my observations, I think WRAABB is a good album by a good band. It’s unlikely that TDWP will become the most popular metal band ever, or the most critically acclaimed, but within their limitations they do a fair job, sewing together a coherent and distinct record. 

Rating: 8/10

Suggested songs: 'Dez Moines', 'Lord Xenu', 'Danger: Wildman', 'Louder Than Thunder', 'Wakakalypse'

A Day To Remember - Homesick

’s been a while folks, and I have nothing to offer by way of apology except for a sheepish defence of the powers of procrastination. Now this band I’m going to review today, I have wanted to for a long time – these guys practically created their own genre, which they still dominate with aplomb. If you are wondering if the statement “they have their own genre” is getting a wee bit stale, you have got the situation almost exactly wrong. With reviewers’ penchant for creating a handful of genres every week, it is very impressive that these guys have defied classification even after three full length albums.

The band I’m talking about, A Day To Remember, is an American band. The album I’ll be talking about is called ‘Homesick’ and is their third offering to be released into the wild. Having whetted your appetites about the kind of music they play, it might seem appropriate that I start off with a description of their playing style. Every one of their songs has two markedly different sections – a pop punk (usually chorus ) section where the painfully sweet vocals of lead singer Jeremy McKinnon serve up simple pop melodies, and a metalcore/deathcore section where the song is completely amped up to the point where death growls, harsh screams and breakdowns wipe away any semblance of the pop. Until of course the pop returns during the next chorus; and goes away again. You might think that the two genres don’t mix, and such an experiment will inevitably sound ridiculous, but the opposite seems to be true. I’ve always felt that hardcore has punk roots, and this band just proves my point.‘Homesick’ has been unfavourably compared to their earlier albums, and perhaps justifiably so. Some reviewers have pointed out that the novelty associated with the fusion of genres is fast wearing off, and I would have agreed a couple of months previously, but not today. This album has grown on me slowly, moving from a state of complete disdain to a regular playlist slot. On the other hand, if you are starting off your ‘popcore’ (one genre suggestion for this band) journey with this album, I think even the slowness won’t be an issue. ‘Downfall of us All’ was the first song I listened to, or rather watched, as it’s the only song off the album that has an associated video. It starts off with a bunch of gang chants, that soon fuse with a breakdown typical of the band. Combined with a fairly melodic chorus, this song makes for a good listen. ‘I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?’ was the only song that I really enjoyed on my first listen, to be honest. Again typical of the band, this song has a catchy chorus, nicely complemented by the screaming and the breakdowns.

Video: The Downfall Of Us All
Video: I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What're You Made Of?

‘Welcome To The Family’ and ‘Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End’ almost perfectly capture the musical essence of this band. Both start off with heavy deathcore growls and amp down into clean vocals for the chorus portions. First timers might find the genre switches disconcerting, but both songs are excellent listens once you get used to them. ‘NJ Legion Iced Tea’ was the first single released by the band – it was an interesting choice because this song is almost totally pop punk/alternative with hardly any hardcore portions. However, it might have been the right choice because it hints at the trend towards more ‘punkness’ in this album. Most other songs, including ‘Homesick’ and ‘Have Faith in Me’ are stylistically similar, mostly punk, with hints of hardcore. One song that deserves a special mention is ‘If It Means A Lot To You’ featuring guest vocals by Sierra Kusterbeck. Nearly three quarters of the song is acoustic. This song might have only been mediocre on an album full of acoustic recordings; but on this album, it nicely complements the other, heavier songs.

Video: Welcome To The Family

Will you like this album? If you like metalcore, and can tolerate punk, there’s a good chance you’ll like this album. Or flipping that statement around, if you like punk, and can tolerate metalcore, you’ll love this album. Also, if you are a fan of alternative rock, A Day To Remember, is probably the most palatable introduction to the world of metalcore you can get. If you absolutely detest nasal punk crooning (or metalcore screaming for that matter), I think you’d rather stay away. There’s one more thing: having defended this album against criticism, I have to admit that it still comes off worse in a song to song comparison with its predecessor ‘For Those Who Have Heart’. If you want to start off listening to this band, that album might be a better choice.

(Vocals 8/10, Guitaring 7/10, Lyrics 7/10, Originality 9.5/10, Overall: 7.9/10)

Lamb of God - Wrath

Lamb of God is an American groove metal band. Do not be overly alarmed if you have no idea what that means. Neither did I for a considerable period of time, before I eventually came to the conclusion that groove metal is at best a filler genre – it straddles metalcore and thrash metal. Besides, it also satisfies our very human urge to label everything in sight. One heavy metal band epitomizes the definition of groove metal. That’s Pantera. For many, groove metal begins and ends with Pantera. If you are a fan, forget everything else you’ve heard about syncopation (Wikipedia) and filler genres (me); you’ve already got a pretty good idea what this genre is all about.

‘Wrath’ is Lamb of God’s sixth studio album. Let me first explain why this band cannot easily be classified as metalcore. The overall sound is darker, and completely lacks the melodic overtones that many metalcore songs have. The reason for this simple – a firm insistence on down-tuned guitars, and low frequency riffing. Lamb of God also refrain from too much thrashiness, by giving equal importance to unmuted chords. Even the picked (as opposed to strummed) riffs are longer than the usual metalcore’s. The guitarists bring in four, five, six notes before falling back to palm muting or chording. In fact I think this technique, backed by the guitarists’ undoubted technical ability, is Lamb of God’s greatest strength. With their usual searing pace, they almost always manage to hit the sweet spot with their riffing. ‘Grace’, the first song I listened to off this album is an excellent example of this. Interestingly, this song highlights another aspect of this band’s music – the occasional acoustic preludes. Perhaps this feature is an attempt to brush off the criticism of monotony that has often been directed towards them. In any case, it works. ‘Grace’ is an excellent song. ‘Everything to Nothing’ is my personal favourite though. It sticks to the same tried and tested formula, does nothing new, and packs one hell of a punch.

Video: Grace
Video: Everything To Nothing

I have spoken of how Lamb of God move away from traditional metalcore, while still identifying with it. Where does thrash metal come in? The usual screaming by vocalist Randy Blythe is interspersed with bouts of very thrash metal like shouting. Actually, the vocals are reminiscent of an excellent, if underappreciated thrash metal band called Overkill. For any metalcore based music to not inevitably fizzle out, the vocals have to bleed raw energy. Blythe delivers, and with aplomb. The chorus of ‘Fake Messiah’ (another excellent song) highlights his considerable vocal skill in the higher end of the decibel scale. Lamb of God move even closer to thrash metal with their solos: nearly all songs accommodate one. The solos keep up the high tempo and manage to blend seamlessly in. Breakdowns, the staple food of metalcore, are there too. In fact some songs have both breakdowns and solos. While the breakdowns are not totally stripped down to zero speed, they do their job – you’ll find yourself nodding your head in rhythm, if not quite jumping up and down.

‘Dead Seeds’ has some delightful bends in the opening riff. ‘Contractor’ has an Iron Maiden-esque galloping riff that I can’t seem to get tired of, no matter how many bands I hear it from. ‘Choke Sermon’ is fast, groovy and an excellent listen. ‘Reclamation’, and the two bonus tracks, ‘Shoulder to your God’ and ‘We Die Alone’ break away slightly from convention: they are slower and correspondingly longer, with mixed results. ‘We Die Alone’ and ‘Shoulder to your God’ evoke favourable comparisons to As I Lay Dying’s music, but ‘Reclamation’, the longest song on the album at just over 7 minutes, disappoints. On the whole, this album blows you away with its frenetic pace and groovy riffs. If there’s anything negative to speak of, it’s that my first impression was to doubt the lasting power of this album. However it’s been a month and I am not bored one bit; that should go some way in dispelling any doubts.

Video: Dead Seeds (live)

Rating: (Vocals: 9/10, Riffs: 9/10, Overall: 9/10)

Parkway Drive - Horizons

You’ve been forewarned that the author of the following post is likely to descend into an incomprehensible rant, drooling over the delightful excellence of the band being described.

Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band. I was introduced to this band thanks to a question asked on Yahoo! Answers, which was something about naming the ‘Top Ten metal bands’. Of course a whole bunch of people contributed their two paise’s worth, and I randomly picked up several from the intimidatingly large groups of ten. Parkway Drive was one of them. There’s a problem with listening to unheralded bands: it usually, and I stress the word ‘usually’, happens that these bands are unheralded because they aren’t all that great. But of course, all great bands start small, and once in a while you get lucky. Parkway Drive is an excellent band, and their recent success should deservedly lift them out of obscurity into the mainstream metal scene.

Here I’ll cover their latest album ‘Horizons’, although their previous album ‘Killing With a Smile’ is also brilliant, if only a wee tetchy bit less so. In ‘Horizons’ Parkway Drive experiment a bit more with their music, making some slightly less metalcore-like songs, while keeping their identity intact and managing to make the album sound more complete. What is it about them that I find appealing? The brutal riffs are a very good start. One reviewer, while giving ‘Horizons’ a ten on ten rating, asked rhetorically, ‘Who said metal’s dead?’ The riffing is almost vintage thrash, but the screamed out vocals means that it’s unlikely that that label will ever be applied to this band. Sometimes, with metalcore bands, you wonder if they would be better served if they cut out the vocals all together and stuck to guitaring. Not so with Parkway Drive. The vocalist is far from monotonous: he effortlessly switches from standard metalcore screaming to more emo-like whining, and death metal like monster growls. The breakdowns in most of the songs are brilliantly timed; the solos are sweet with plenty of legato and finger tapping. Chugging thrash riffs are great, but can get repetitive and melt into a background drone; Parkway Drive almost unconsciously vary the tempo of the songs, repeatedly demanding your full attention. Listening to Parkway Drive makes you want to use up that energy you never knew you had; it makes you want to headbang viciously, no matter how bald you are. It makes you want to jump up and down and listen to the songs at full volume, no matter how many neighbours you offend. Surprisingly, for a band of this genre, the lyrics are often profound, if you manage to figure them out.

‘Boneyards’ was the first track I listened to, and in many ways exemplifies all things good about this band. Stunningly brutal breakdowns, thrashy riffs and mind numbing vocals are a part of this song. ‘Carrion’ is another sensational track; if metalcore can ever be melodic, this is it. ‘Idols and Anchors’ is excellent too, and marks a successful experiment for Parkway Drive in expanding the scope of their music. Again, picking out individual songs is more of an academic exercise with this album. No metal fan would want to miss out on 'Horizons'.


Video: Boneyards
Video: Carrion
Video: Horizons

Rating: (Vocals -9/10, Riffs-10/10, Overall-9.5/10)

Bring Me The Horizon - Suicide Season

Bring Me The Horizon is a British band that takes it name from a line in the POTC movies. When I listened to 'Suicide Season' the first time, my reaction was, 'These guys are pretty good!' And it hasn't changed much despite a couple of hundred listens during cycling sessions. What genre do they belong to? Difficult to say, but the closest would be metalcore. If you don't know what that is, here goes. Metalcore is simply metal where the vocalist screams out the lyrics most of the time. And vocals are BMTH's strongest suit. The singing style has an almost pleading tone to it, which, combined with the added layer of techno-like jingles gives a haunting aspect to some of the songs. 'Suicide Season', the title track is outstandingly good and a perfect example of this. Despite its length (at 8:19 minutes), or perhaps because of it, this is one song that will refuse to budge from your skull.The guitaring is heavy, and coupled with the drumming is rhythmic enough to be almost melodic. Watch out for the softer portions of the songs where the guitars take a break; the alternating of sounds is delightful. The subtle British accent helps too. All the songs are pretty good, but if I were forced to choose, I would recommend 'Chelsea Smile', 'The Comedown' and 'Diamonds aren't forever', apart from 'Suicide Season' of course.

Video: Diamonds Aren't Forever
Video: Chelsea Smile
Video: Suicide Season

RATING: 8.5/10