Butcher Babies - Take it Like a Man (2015)

Genre - Heavy Metal / Metalcore

Label - Century Media

 

Track listing:

 

01 - Monsters Ball

02 - Igniter

03 - The Cleansing

04 - The Butcher

05 - Gravemaker

06 - Thrown Away

07 - Never Go Back

08 - Marquee

09 - Blood Soaked Hero

10 - Dead Man Walking

11 - For The Fight

12 - Blonde Girls All Look The Same

By God......this is an album!
Now I have to be honest here and admit that I am not the biggest fan of the metalcore and nu-metal genre's. I just don't seem to get it, if you know what I mean. Although over the years the odd band has caught my attention, its usually just the odd song, and rarely could I sit through a full album. But that has changed with Butcher Babies and "Take It Like A Man".
Californian Metal / Metalcore quintet return with their sophomore album in the form of "Take It Like A Man", and what an album it is, with vocalists Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey more than proving they do anything any metalcore singer can do, and probably a whole lot better too!
The album opens with the brilliant 'Monsters Ball', before launching into the equally brilliant 'Igniter' and 'The Cleansing'. Furious riffs and demonic vocals abound!
'The Butcher' has a steamroller of a break down, whilst 'Thrown Away' has a brooding stripped down feel to it. 'Marquee' is probably as extreme as metal can get before becoming utter nonsense, whilst 'Never Go Back' and 'For The Fight' bounce along in a rather familiar way. 'Blonde Girls All Look The Same' has a certain ferocity to it with the venom filled vocal lines.
"Take It like A Man" proves Bucher Babies credentials beyond any doubt, they are here and they are here to stay.

Very Highly Recommended

Rating - 10/10

Internal Conflict – The Rising Tide (2015)

Genre - Metal/Thrash/Hardcore/Metalcore

Label – Self Released

Track listing:

01 – Darkest Before The Dawn

02 – Self Made Asylum

03 – Baying For Blood

04 – A Thousand Times

05 – Another Day

06 – Undertow

07 – Lessons

08 – The Rising Tide

09 – Deprivation

Internal Conflict are a five piece Hardcore/Metalcore/Metal band hailing from Leicester (UK)with an ever growing fan base, and now having just completed a very successful co-headlining tour of the UK with Ballsdeep, Internal Conflict are now preparing for the release of their new album 'TheRising Tide'. The band are made up of: Adam Kyle (Vocals) Sean Rice (Guitars), Matt Hall (Guitars), Dan Laffar (Bass) and Dan Robbins (Drums).

With influences ranging from: The Haunted, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Gojira, Darkane, Chimaira, Death, Pantera, Slayer, Sepultura, In Flames, Soilwork, Testament, Devildriver, Sylosis, Malefice, Mastodon, Pink Floyd, Dream Theatre, While She Sleeps, Bleed From Within, you kind of have an idea of what to expect from these guys, it’s going to be hard, fast, aggressive and heavy!

Now I have to be brutally honest here and admit that I am not the greatest fan of the hardcore/meal genre’s, hell to be honest Gallows are the only real hardcore band that I can say that I am a fan of, but I am approaching this album, and review with a totally open mind.

Internal Conflict seem to have been impressing all the right people, gaining comments such as, "the passion was certainly visible". (Getyourrockout.co.uk), and Internal Conflict "clearly mean business" (midlandsmetalheads.com) and their music has even been described as "a riot transcribed into musical form", which is a pretty apt description to be fair.

The first thing that I notice just how mature and accomplished the musicianship is on every song, no hints anywhere that this is the band’s debut album. The guitar work of Sean Rice and Matt Hall stands up there alongside that of any of the bi9g bands, and the rhythm section are as solid as anything, not only providing a solid base for most of the songs, but in many cases driving them along! Vocalist Adam Kyle sure has a set of longs on him too!

Every song upon ‘The Rising Tide’ is well written and well performed, with the band managing to capture all the intended anger and rage to perfection, and trust me there is plenty to be found upon ‘The Rising Tide’. Your ears take a pummelling with every track, fast aggressive pounding riffs, coupled with Adams vocals from Satan’s very own gut, and there is not a bad track to be found anywhere. My only gripe with the album is that it could do with a little more variation, after all, I could do with the odd slower kore atmospheric track thrown into the mix so that I can catch my breath so to speak.

Stand out tracks for me include, title track, ‘The Rising Tide’ and the albums closer ‘Deprivation’ which see’s the band at their most versatile.

A good solid debut album that is sure to please pre-existing fans of the band, and garner a fair amount of interest from fans of the genre too. 

Well worth checking out.

Rating 8/10

 

Watch the ‘Another Day ‘ Lyric video here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_zigv8G5oA&feature=youtu.be 

Download the ‘Another Day’ MP3 here:

www.soundcloud.com/internal-conflict/another-day

internal-conflict.bandcamp.com

www.reverbnation.com/internalconflict

 

Seven Deadly - Obliviation (2014)

Genre - Melodic Heavy Metal
Label - Self Released

Track listing:

01 - Play The Game
02 - Life Begins To Fade
03 - From this Darkness
04 - Posthumous
05 - Blood On Your Hands
06 - Obliviation
07 - Remain At Peace
08 - Pure Steel
09 - Allegiance
10 - Remember
11 - The Wrath
12 - Time Ghost

UK metal heads Seven Deadly serve up their highly anticipated debut album after wetting out taste buds with their Allegiance EP previously, and you know what? They don't disappoint!
Seven Deadly deliver up a great dose of metal, combining elements of heavy metal, groove metal, metal core, thrash and classic rock, into a truly unique and brilliant sound. I really do believe that this band are destined to just get bigger and bigger, the world really is their oyster as there really aren't many bands out there today producing albums of this strength and quality, and I'm including many of the established "big" bands in that comment.
One of Seven Deadly's strongest attributes has to be the range and versatility of vocalist Archie Wilson, as he effortlessly straddles the various genres and styles that each song, (yet alone the album!) passes through. The guitar work is outstanding, brutal, exciting and restrained when required, always allowing the song to breath and showcase itself brilliantly. The rhythm section are the solid foundation that each of the songs are built upon, and to be honest Murillo Rassi and Rob Hicks could give any rhythm section in ANY band a bloody good run for their money!
There is not a bad track to be found anywhere on this album, but if I had to pick a couple that really do stand out as future metal classics then title track Obliviation, Remember, Remain At Peace, From This Darkness, Blood On Your Hands and opener Play The Game would have to be among them!
Combine the great songs, a band that really are at the very top of their game with a top notch production and Obliviation could damn well be the best metal album released in 2014!
Now lets get them onto some festivals.

Very highly recommended

Rating - 10/10

American Head Charge - Shoot Ep (2013)

Genre - Industrial / Heavy Metal / Metalcore
Label - Self Released

Tracklisting:

01 - Writhe
02 - Set Yourself On Fire
03 - Sugars Of Someday
04 - Sand
05 - Rock and Roll N_gger


'American Head Charge, the Minneapolis-based metal band, which had its genesis when Cameron Heacock and Chad Hanks crossed paths in a Minnesota rehab facility in 1997, has up to now been known primarily for the radically dysfunctional behavior of the band members.

“We were definitely out of control on our first tour, Ozzfest 2001,” Mr. Banks admits. “It wasn’t enough to just play our music; we also had to fire shotguns on stage and throw pigheads at the crowd. Chalk it up to a desperate bid for attention.” The Head Charge rap sheet - which also includes getting into bloody brawls with their fans, smashing equipment they couldn’t afford to replace, reacquainting themselves with hard drugs and occasionally being locked up by the enraged fuzz - has served to obscure the fact that these free spirits play the shit out of their instruments and make brutally powerful music of uncommon distinction.'

So with the introductions out of the way we have Shoot, which marks the bands return to recorded output after taking a short hiatus of six years. And do we have, well to be honest, hard brutal, melodic (at times I swear!) metal

Kicking off with the atmospheric Writhe, AHC set the scene perfectly for what is to follow, heavy guitar riffs, alternating melodic and intense vocals, and well some of the best brutal music that I have had the pleasure in listening to for a while.

Shoot is too short ( four new songs and a Patti Smith cover), to really judge as to whether AHC are ready to take the world by storm but its a promising indication of what the next full length album is going to sound like. Awesome


If you like your music a little on the heavy side, then this Ep is well worth checking out!

Rating - 8/10

Visitor - The Need To Believe

Genre - Metal / Metalcore
Label - Copro Records / Casket Records

Track listing -

01 - Face Of Fear
02 - 428
03 - The Whispering
04 - We Are Not Alone
05 -World In Flames
06 - Relentless
07 - 9 Circles of Hell

Manchester four piece, Visitor, unleash The Need To Believe upon the poor unsuspectine world. Seven, yes only seven, tracks of blistering riffs, relentless drumming and 3 part vocals, yes three of the four guys handle vocal duties, switching between each other throughout each song. The songs are relentless, pounding you into submission, barely leaving you time to catch your breath. I love the vocals, constantly changing from old school metal, vocal harmonies and growling, great concept.
This album probably needed a softer track included, to add a little contrast, a little light to the shade so to speak, but on a whole its a good release, but be warned, it WILL LEAVE YOU EXHAUSTED!!

website - Visitor
Rating - 8.5/10

Eyes Of The Raven - From The Ashes (Live Demo)

Eyes of the Raven are a 5 piece groove metal band from the west Midlands.

From The Ashes is their debut recording, a demo recorded live at Base Studios in Stourbridge (West Midlands) earlier this month.

The band have a very heavy sound, quite bassy, but very clear and also quite melodic. One of the first things that I noticed is that Dave Horan manages to keep his vocals very melodic, and never resorts to ineligible growling as do many other bands that play similar music to Eyes Of The Raven.
For a band that has only really been together for a few months (the lineup was completed Autumn 2009 when James McHugh (lead guitar) joined up with fellow band members Dave Horan (vocals), Damon Cartwright (drums), Matt Walters (bass) and Ross Pickett (Rhythm guitar / Vocals), the songs are very well structured, and well just seem to flow.

From the Ashes brings us six tracks,

‘I’m Gone’ - a mid to up tempo grinding metal track, live these riff’s must be brutal!

‘Cause and Effect’ – a heavy up tempo rocker, again some great riffs and some interesting tempo changes.

‘From The Ashes’ - title track of the demo, and a great little song, musically quite melodic, yet still very heavy!

‘Reflections’ – a great number any band would be proud of, gentle guitar intro with a nice solo over the top, before breaking into a real ass kicker of a track with some riff Metallica would be proud of!

‘Echoes’ – The opening of this track feels very familiar, it has a real traditional metal maybe even NWOBHM feel to it, again another example of the bands softer side showing that they are not just all about bone crunching riffs.

‘My Life’ – closing track, is an up tempo rocker, bone crunchingly heavy.

Every song has its own appeal but I would have to say that the standouts for me are the last four, but although the songs are great, and the band as tight as you can get, the demo has its faults!

Production wise mainly, most of the time the lead guitar is way too low in the mix, barely audible at times, and the same can be said too for Ross’s backing vocals as for most of the songs they seem to get buried beneath the bass and rhythm guitar, on a personal note I’d love the rhythm guitar to have a cleaner sound, less bassy and sludgy. A good producer could really give the songs the platform that these songs clearly deserve, but even with the production they have the quality of the songs shines through.
If you like your music heavy, then I see no reason why you won’t love Eyes Of The Raven.

From The Ashes is available to download for free from the bands website, go on check it out you’ve nothing too loose!

Website - http://eyesoftheraven.freeiz.com/
Rating – For the band and songs 9/10
             For the production 4/10