Insanity – Toss a Coin

If there is brawl you really want to be at the heart of, it is Toss a Coin the new album from Swiss hardcore outfit Insanity. It brings eleven insatiable confrontations to the ear; a clutch of spirit raising, defiance driven roars which refuse to take not today sir for an answer.

With a sound bred in the New York hardcore scene at its height, Insanity has sonically bullied and physically roared their way to a potent reputation and presence within the European punk scene over the past five years, one now sure to be re-ignited again by Toss a Coin. Since emerging, the Lucerne quintet has surged from their homeland across Europe into international waters, sharing stages with the likes of Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Madball, Sick Of It All, Terror and many more along the way as well as headlining their own successful tours. Their debut album, No Limit, set down a certain marker in their ascent, its well-received presence matched by that in success by the Ready To Row EP. Released through Bastardized Recordings is a new powerful statement from the band, in sound and political/social quarrel as well as simply rousing punk ‘n’ roll.

With gang shouts, body manipulating grooves, and addiction forging hooks as prevalent as raw antagonism and instinctive antipathy to the world’s ills, Toss a Coin snarls and harasses from its initial second and opening breath of first up No Tolerance For Intolerance. The gnarly tone of Pery Zemp’s bass instantly has ears lured, riffs a great dirty backing before both collude with the rapier like swings of drummer Raphael Renggli and the first of involvement enticing band shouts. Vocalist Tobias Küng is soon to the fore directing middle finger reply to prejudice, the guitars of Yannick Balmer and Michael Portmann casting a mesh of grouchy riffs and animated grooves. There is no escaping the swift influence of its attitude and body, a submission subsequently given to song after song in varying but certain degrees thereon in.

The excellent start is matched by the caustic stomp of Find A Way, its intensive assault a furious charge compared to the swagger of the previous protagonist but veined with melodic tendrils and scythes and twisting spirals of noise. For all the rage, already an inbred infectiousness is as powerfully commandeering reactions, Insanity entangling both with imagination and zeal. It is a quality as rich within the album’s title track and indeed What I See after that. The first of the pair points and challenges with every syllable and note, band cries and neck muscle testing catchiness a particular trespassing incitement within nothing but while the second flows from its predecessor upon another deliciously grouchy bassline into a web of seriously grooved and rapacious punk rock with the instincts to rock ‘n’ roll.

Four tracks down and we would have forgiven any upcoming slip-ups such the potency of the quartet but no second is wasted in allowing ears and attitude a moment to relax, With My Friends an immediate air punching, hip guiding announcement of kinship stoking the fires. Again pleasure is ignited by Zemp’s bass, its metallic grievance manna for personal taste more than matched by the rest of the band within the inflammatory holler.

Down consumes ears in a cantankerous bawl next but one delivered with deliberate restraint carrying a perfect level of volatility; a blend lifting the body to its feet and vocal chords to their highest decibel throughout. Such success is an easy finding for All I Need too; its badgering riffs and probing rhythms herded into greater feistiness by Küng and listener by the ever persuasive and addictive gang clamours.

Through the mercurial but persistently wilful and stormy climate of One Day and the surly belligerence of $laves, there is no let-up in disdain and disobedience or imagination lit invention which may at times take a while to reveal it’s surprises within the tempests but hungrily makes each track distinct and riveting incitement; What’s Hardcore just as eager to prove the point with its punk ‘n’ roll revelry. Like a vipers nest, the song writhes with grooves, their snaky lures even flirting away when the song is running headlong with punk predation.

The final ignition of defiance and unbridled pleasure is provided by Die For, a body stomping charge riding thrash nurtured riffs like a surfer as melodies flare and rhythms prowl. Musically, the senses feel like they are being stalked by the track, vocally being willingly drawn with the spirit into mobilisation, both whilst rocking like a hound in heat to their combined militancy.

It is a glorious end to an outstanding encounter entwining the familiar with instinctive contumacy and enterprise resulting in one of, if not, the most enjoyable and manipulative treats heard so far this year.

Toss a Coin is out now through Bastardized Recordings @ https://bastardizedrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/toss-a-coin  or http://insanity.ch/store/

http://insanity.ch/    https://www.facebook.com/insanity.metal

Pete RingMaster 26/05/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Diamond Youth – Nothing Matters

It may be only thirty minutes in length but Nothing Matters, the debut album from US alternative rock band Diamond Youth, is jam packed with boisterously contagious songs to party hard and long to. It is a riot of fun seemingly bred on flavours inspired by the likes of Queens Of the Stone Age, Weezer, and Foo Fighters but with plenty of its own distinct characteristics and flavours to create something individual to Diamond Youth. For personal tastes the release is stronger and most tenacious in its first half but every offering within Nothing Matters is a compelling slice of pop rock equipped with feisty persuasion and a good strain of tenacious mischief.

Diamond Youth hails from Baltimore, emerging around 2010 with a line-up featuring members of Trapped Under Ice, Terror, and Down to Nothing; all sharing a common background of art, design, skateboarding, and of course music. Influences range from band such as Pixies, The Nerves, and unsurprisingly Queens Of The Stone Age, and it is fair to say that the quartet has increasingly lured attention through a host of EPs starting with DMND and Don’t Lose Your Cool in 2011. It is Orange in 2013 and Shake a year later, both as the new album released via Topshelf Records, which provided the spark to greater focus and acclaim enveloping the band, in turn sparking strong anticipation for the band’s debut full-length. It will leave no one disappointed and is destined to not only recruit another wave of eager spotlights and fans whilst simply creating a fun time for all.

Recorded with engineer Dave Warsop, the album starts with its title track, swiftly entrapping ears and appetite with stirring rhythms and spicy hooks encased in vocal and melodic revelry. Quickly, especially as the vocals impressively cast their tempting on proceedings, that QOTSA air is an open breeze bringing even greater catchy bait to the vibrant persuasion. It is the tangy hook though which brings the biggest smile in the emotions, that and the adventurous ideation lining the song from first note to last.

     The excellent opening to Nothing Matters is quickly matched by Thought I Had It Right, another song with thick hooks and entrancing harmonic tempting. Slightly more restrained in energy compared to its predecessor, the song saunters and sways with a rich Muse like sultriness to sound and voice. Every syllable comes coated with a spice of angst whilst melodies like a fine wine just become more seductive and effective on the senses with very passing moment. There is also a volatile edge to the contagion posing as a track, its sonic presence flirting with causticity as it forcibly infests and ignites ears through to the imagination.

Spinning steps up next with an even more reserved nature though melodic and vocal passion in turn create a blistering roar courted by a snarl of a bassline. Fair to say that it might be the least feisty song on the release so far but it is the most tempestuous and fascinating, and subsequently quite irresistible as also the following Far Away from Earth. Rhythms straight away lay down an anthemic potency before quickly finding themselves skirted by a deliciously grizzled bassline and a brewing sonic mist of guitar. The mellow croon of vocals does bring a magnetic tempering but ultimately only seems to inflame the growl and rebellious attitude of the song as it erupts in a cauldron of pop infectiousness and rock ‘n’ roll predation. Crunchy and warmly smouldering simultaneously, it teases the psyche like Josh Homme toying with Muse as it creates yet another instant pinnacle upon the album.

A more summery swagger comes with Succulent next, a surf rock/ garage pop colouring the sweltering climate of the bewitching instrumental. Its heated charm and warm elegance are emulated in next up In the Clouds, a bubbling shimmer of sound and harmonies which takes the listener by the emotions and leads them on a dance of addictive devilry. Six tracks in and five of them are easily single potential, an instrumental having little chance of being chosen let’s be honest.

From Riptide onwards, band and album seems to explore a different avenue with a lessening of the agitated sonic invention and an increasing of more immersive melodies and warm radiance. Tracks as this compelling ballad still have a fire in their belly but such the alchemy of virulence in earlier songs they just miss, and it is just, casting the same persuasive spark. Nevertheless the song has ears engrossed and satisfaction full whilst the static kiss and melodic coaxing of No Control and the post punk like rhythmic lure of The Nothing, ensure only the keenest attention is given. The second of the two especially has thoughts and enjoyment lit before Deep Love explores some dark pop beauty. It has a feel of UK artist Rooster Cole to it, with its sombre ambience encased in an excitable adventure of sound. The track is superb, a match for anything before and without doubt also a song on its own sure to trigger greedy reactions.

The album closes with The Difference, itself a humidly aired release of emotional and musical drama, and a fine end to an increasingly impressing encounter. Diamond Youth has taken the qualities nurtured in previous releases to new thrilling and at times spellbinding heights. Whether you want an out and out romp to party with or something with a melodic embrace to sink into, Nothing Matters delivers one very enjoyable time.

Nothing Matters is available now via Topshelf Records @ http://www.topshelfrecords.com/products/545159-diamond-youth-nothing-matters or https://topshelfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-matters

https://www.facebook.com/dmndyouth   http://www.dmndyouth.com/

RingMaster 20/05/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://www.reputationradio.net

 

Choking On Illusions – Rest/less

Hailing out of South-West Germany, Choking On Illusions is a band which looks like they are about to be on the receiving end of an enthusiastic roar of attention. The reason being their new album Rest/less; a beast of a melodic hardcore incitement which is as fiercely confrontational and emotionally voracious as it is inventively compelling. On first listen, it is not one which instantly leaps from the crowd though it certainly is a more riveting and fascinating encounter than most, but over time it reveals an imagination and craft which leaves ears and attention gripped. You would still not say that the second full-length from the Saarbrücken quintet is going to turn the hardcore scene on its head, but it definitely gives it an exciting proposal to chew over.

Formed in 2008, Choking On Illusions has frequently awoken keen and increasing interest in their presence; a self-titled EP in the following year starting the growth which was backed and nurtured further by a two track demo in 2010 and the band’s keenly supported live presence. It has been from the current line-up’s coming together a year later though that the band and their sound really hit its stride, as established by their well-received debut album Guide me home in the summer of 2012. Alongside all these moments the band has similarly drawn great praise and following through shows with the likes of Stick to your Guns, Comeback Kid, Terror, Evergreen Terrace, Hundredth, Counterparts, and La Dispute amongst a great many, as well as tours with The Green River Burial, Wasted Bullet, Chronograph, and Seasons in Wreckage. It all only reinforced and enriched their emergence in the hardcore scene. Now the band is lining up to burst into the broadest spotlights with their Bastardized Recordings released Rest/less, and given the time and focus it needs and deserves, it would be hard to expect anything but further potent success.

The opening Intro is a decent enough emotional scene setter, guitars melodically eloquent within a heavily brooding atmosphere whilst leading ears and imagination into the jaws of the following album title track. The second track bursts into life with ravenous rhythms and fiery riffs, each intensifying as the vocals of Mario Strasser begin their agreeable roar and the guitars of Jannik Aulenbacher and Maciej Spiczak align in a tempting mix of caustic riffery and sonic enterprise. It is when singer and melodies really erupt in an infectious and lively embrace that the song truly comes alive, their brief expulsion of revelry infecting the subsequent antagonistic side of the song which too develops an intriguing mix of catchiness and emotional provocation. It is a great start to the release, and like the album, it takes time to explore all its twists and depths, though its appeal and appetite sparking potency is swift.

   The following Sleepwalker explodes in a creative and impassioned tirade you expect to hear in a hardcore based offering, continuing to feed with satisfaction those thoughts but twisting them into fresh endeavour through the persistently thoughtful and skilled ideation of the guitars. As in its predecessor though, there is a particular moment where the good song ignites into something greater, and here it is the lull in the sonic tempest where the bass of Christian Pontes takes over with a richly carnivorous bass tone matched in intimidation by the muscular swings of drummer Dustin Ueckert. It is a mere moment in the passage of the track but again seems to instil a new attitude and impact into the following adventure and passion of the proposition.

Both Left Unsaid and 13 rage and bellow with explosive and intriguing creativity, the first punctuated by the thickest rhythmic jabs yet on the album but tempered by a tantalising flame of impressive vocal harmonies and guitar crafted melodic acidity. The song continues to be unpredictable and enthralling, a slip into an acoustic landscape bewitching in company with calm and captivating clean vocals. Its heart felt and raw emotion though is soon back filling the senses, and again it is fair to say this also seems to return with a new air and vitality in its angst and sound. It is of course all sparked by the band’s dramatic adventure in songwriting and sound, with these moments seeded in a strong array of flavours outside of hardcore. They are essences not always apparent at the start of songs but emerging impressively throughout and something the band will hopefully utilise even more ahead as this is when Choking On Illusions impressively breaks free of any formulaic hardcore restraints and expectations. The song’s successor is the same, spinning a recognisable initial weave of sound and aggression built on open invention before sculpting a predatory net of rhythms and sonic imagination. It is the most straight forward song on the album in many ways but when relaxing into a smouldering embrace of warm melodies and intimate vocals to again cast a new light on its body and heart.

The disorientating dazzle of guitar and rhythms at its start sets Borderlines off in fine style and initially it is a shame it is not a constant incitement throughout the excellent track, the band preferring to unleash it in bursts amongst the muscular antagonism of the song. The truth is the band get it right, its intermittent diversity makes for thrilling eruptions of bedlam in the ferocious roar of the song and the subsequent melodic poetry charming from its heart. The song is superb, whilst the album simply gets stronger and more exciting with every offering.

The peaceful radiance of Interlude allows a breath next, its brief instrumental a classic hug of keys but as the intro, embraced by a more and increasingly turbulent ambience. Its beauty makes way for the fiery energy and intensity of Broken Song, a blaze of an encounter with deep anxiousness to its air and hostile emotion fuelling its fury. It is another which simply grows in weight and persuasion as it reveals more invention and unpredictable ideation once established in the ears; post and melodic hardcore colouring its ire as forcibly as a punk viciousness.

A new peak is set with the hellacious charge and presence of Death Waltz next, the track a thunderous predator of the senses unafraid to draw on noise rock and metallic essences to ignite its creative battlefield. Complete with soaring harmonies and sonic intricacies, the song is a raucous anthem and impassioned croon simultaneously, and quite sensational in its distorted and scuzz lit brilliance giving next up L.O.V.E. a hard task to emulate. It gives a mighty effort though with a bass sound from Pontes which is raw and carnal in touch, whilst a blistering furnace of sonic rapacity and vocal incitement treats the senses. It also has that fresh onslaught of punk hostility to it which seeps into the album’s latter tracks to enjoyable success.

Closing track Baptism – Funeral enters on a rhythmic enticement from Ueckert which alone secures hungry attention, and continues to drive and ignite the solemn and melancholic heart of the increasingly ferocious encounter. It is a mighty end to an outstanding release, one sure to put Choking On Illusions on the widest hardcore map and suggesting potential of greater things yet to come, though more of the same to be fair would not be too disappointing either.

Rest/less is available from March 27^th via Bastardized Recordings @ http://shop.bastardizedrecordings.de/product_info.php?products_id=2411

https://www.facebook.com/ChokingonIllusions

RingMaster 26/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

 

Rapture –Trials

   Rapture is a Christian hardcore band from Los Angeles, a quartet making a rather striking introduction to themselves with debut album Trials. Recently signed to OnTheAttack Records, the band has also made their first proposition a name your price download, which with some stomping punk bred tracks the reward, is an invitation hard to turn down.

The band was formed last year by four friends who wanted to create and explore the music which excited them whilst also sharing their faith and love of Jesus Christ, an inescapable but not over imposing aspect of their enjoyable first release. 2014 as a musical year was a low key affair, the band only playing a couple of shows, but as this year broke the band decided to concentrate on their music and hit Birdcage Studios to record Trials with Allen Falcon. Approached by On The Attack Records who wanted to be involved in the album’s release, Rapture now make their first potent persuasion on ears with a full year of shows planned to back its unveiling.

The release is opened by Intro, though it is a little more than merely that. From the great growling bassline starting it off, it aggressively snuggles up to ears with abrasive riffs and vocal squalling, providing an unsurprising but swiftly anthemic and pleasing proposal all within 51 seconds.

Its fine start is matched by the fiercer but no less gripping Legacy where again the lively beats of drummer Tony Rangel demand keen attention whilst the grizzly basslines of Isaac Guerrera show themselves to be quickly compelling. The song is a confrontational prowl of ears, though as lyrics show, is more face to face with its own personal angst than solely challenging the listener, a showdown further driven by the accomplished riffs and enterprise of guitarist Garrett Gutierrez and the furious tones of vocalist Richard Haro.

Kingdom Crew steps in next with a rawer air and rhythmic chest beating. The band has been referenced to bands like Terror, Dynasty, and, xLooking Forwardx but certainly this track suggests a merger of early CIV and Shelter as a starting point in its bracing texture and sound, whilst Enemy Lines next rumbles and snarls with a slight air of The Bronx in its rapacious hardcore incitement. Though again surprises might be said to be low, everything about the track from its tenacious rhythms and grainy riffs to the vocal fight and group calls leaves a healthy pleasure and appetite in place.

The tempestuous Deceiver bellows and entices next with magnetic enterprise and attitude before the outstanding Nothing Else brings it all to an impressive close. The final song features Joel Muniz of Dynasty, and treats the listener to a rampaging march of inventive rhythms from Rangel aligned to the ever tempting bass endeavour of Guerrera. That is just the creative spine though of the most inventive track on the album, guitars alternatively spearing and spreading through the air with spiky imagination whilst Haro and band raise voices to their faith. It is Rangel which steals the show here to be honest but as elsewhere it does not work without the rest of the band’s impassioned enterprise and impact.

Without forging something strikingly original but avoiding anything majorly predictable, Trials is a promising and pleasing entrance by Rapture. This is a sure fire recommendation for all raw punk fans from a band with undoubted big potential.

Trials is available now via OnTheAttack Records as a name your price download @ https://ontheattackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/trials

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rapture/1403442699960183

RingMaster 12/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

Bloodscribe – Prologue To The Apocalypse

Formed in 2004, US death metallers Bloodscribe have taken their time getting around to unleashing an album, presumably due to circumstances rather than intent, but a decade after emerging they uncage Prologue To The Apocalypse. It is a ten track ravaging running for less than thirty minutes of senses blistering ferocity. Released through Los Angeles’ Gore House Records, the tempest brings death, grind, and slam essences into one accomplished and solid violation, and though ultimately it strongly impresses without igniting any massive excitement, the album puts Bloodscribe firmly on the radar.

Hailing from Boyle Heights, the quintet draw on inspirations from the likes of Dying Fetus, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Origin, Devourment, and Terror for their sound but as their debut assault shows, their sound also holds plenty of invention to not exactly set them apart from the pack but certainly make Bloodscribe a visible proposition live and on record within the local and broader scene.

The album’s 40 second title track starts Prologue To The Apocalypse off, providing a tempting incitement of ravenous riffs and equally imposing rhythms. It is a good entrance but not around long enough to be or offer much more before Pantheon Of Lies invades ears and personal space. Spicy inviting grooves make the first potent impression amongst another raw flurry of sound. Their presence is subsequently an intermittent offering as the voracious heart and muscular riffs, with similarly intensive beats, take over and prowl agreeably over the senses. With the occasional outburst of warlike hostility, the unsurprising but highly enjoyable track ensures the album leaves a swift good impression.

It is a strong imprint continued through Enslaved By Deceptions and Burning Bridges. The first is a predator, every caustic riff and heavily swung beat a natural threat and each grouchy growl of the bass and gutturally swinish vocal roar, viciously engaging. Again it is hard to declare anything new going on but plenty to get teeth and appetite into for a satisfying experience, matched by its successor. The fourth track is a more volatile confrontation, stalking and going for the jugular with alternating intent whilst ‘creaking’ with its flavoursome hooks and tempting via lumbering grooves.

Demons is a deliberate predacious stroll, with a great thick throated bassline for company and acidic sonic stabs of guitar for flirtation. It has little trouble enlisting full attention, rewarding with a more unpredictable character compared to other onslaughts within the album, though it is soon overshadowed by the excellent Annihilation. If other songs can be called predatory, the song is sheer bestial insidiousness. Riffs and rhythms cage and bully from the off even though they come bound in corrosive yet contagious grooves. As all the tracks there is a swing and underlying infectiousness, but here it is given full rein to seduce; just a shame the song is so short at barely over a minute. The juices start flowing and it dumps them and departs, though the next up Kingdoms Fall is not shy at bringing a catchy inhospitable climate and savage maliciousness to bear on ears, even if it lacks the compelling virulence of its predecessor.

Both the sinister fuelled Shadows and the sonically rabid Castrating Humanity trespass ears and psyche with proficient and pleasing rancor, the first breeding a noir lit atmosphere around its insatiable and captivating brutality. The second of the duo similarly entangles the imagination in black hearted scenery of suspicion and demonic oppression, bass and drums especially picturesque in their rapacious endeavour around the ever composed yet rabid vocals.

Completed by the resonating presence of In Ruins, another lingering assassination of hope and light with additional creative cruelty, Prologue To The Apocalypse is an increasingly enjoyable and impressing proposition. As mentioned it has enough to make Bloodscribe a prospect worth paying continued attention to, even if right now they and album do not manage to quite light a blaze of excitement. It is impossible not to recommend its investigation though.

Prologue To The Apocalypse is available now digitally @ http://bloodscribe.bandcamp.com/album/prologue-to-the-apocalypse and on CD via Gore House Productions @ http://store.gorehouseproductions.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bloodscribe

RingMaster 12/02/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from http://www.thereputationlabel.today

 

Howl – Bloodlines

pic Andrew Fladeboe

 

Following their for the main impressive debut album Full Of Hell of 2010, anticipation for the follow-up release from US metallers Howl as they hopefully built on the promise ignited with the first record was certainly fuelled by a level of eagerness. This was a band which showed a sludge/stoner/doom mentality and strength which suggested major things from them ahead. The release of Bloodlines via Relapse Records, certainly shows the Providence, Rhode Island band as having evolved and expanded their sound though maybe to the detriment of real clarity of their direction but then predictability has no place in music so there is no problem with the stance of the new album in that respect. It does though leave a sense of missing its target. Bloodlines ravages the ear with accomplished potently sculpted aggressive sounds and an undoubted passion but it fails to ignite the passions and fervour their earlier promise suggested possible,  it is simply a release which just has not anything truly new to say.

It should be said right away that Bloodlines is a thoroughly enjoyable and commanding confrontation, the release showing the band evolving and honing their immense power through their relentless touring ethic which has seen the band alongside the likes of Saint Vitus, Kylesa, Pentagram and numerous others. Recorded with producer Zeus (Hatebreed, Crowbar, Terror), the album is a muscle bound predator with intimidating rhythms, malevolent riffs, and devious sonic acid combining to be an undeniably satisfying aggressor. It has hooks which carve lingering moments and a prowling snarl that has the measure of the defences and appetite yet at no moment does the album light a fire, something its predecessor was more successful at.

Opening track Attrition makes a rich and attention grabbing entrance, the early flames of guitar a sonic beckoning upon chewing urgent riffs and firm rhythms. Into its stride the track prowls and stomps with sinews pressing the ear and vocals scowling like a bear in heat, Mastodon and even more so Black Tusk references rearing their head quite soon on. Bass and drums provide a sturdy cage around the enterprising guitar teases and sonic cuts, and by its departure the song has lit a definite appetite for the release which the following Midnight Eyes with its rampaging drums and scything melodic blades alongside persistently niggling riffs has the fight for. A carnivorous death metal breath marks its charging metal gait whilst the song twists and turns on its feet, a thick stoner persuasion emerging from the savage intensity before changing into a doom lined finale.

The Devildriver like Demonic leaves an exhausting and enterprising if familiar onslaught upon the ear with a sonic wind from the guitar spiralling within the brewed raptorial intensity, whilst the likes of the excellent Down So Low and the equally impressive With A Blade reach higher pinnacles for the album. The first of the two emerges from a chilling sinister ambience, a heavy malevolence in vocals and energy wrapping its leering presence around the ear with devilish intent within a mesmeric yet muscular stoner embrace. The track soon brings thrash elements in to press thoughts and emotions to their limits before returning to the almost crawling insidious invidiousness. The second of the two again finds a compelling union of nastily aggressive intensity and a melodic touch which sears with acidic might and craft. The tracks standout with their inventive intent and ready to shuffle up their pace, energy, and directions, though again neither dramatically or effectively unveil anything new of enough potency to open up ardour or feisty passion. Of War is one song though which is close to doing both things, and though it like the others is delivering recognisable weaponry, the track is an anthemic and contagious storm from which its Lamb Of God toned voice makes a familiar but tempting call.

The Mouth of Madness with its vindictive bass sound and the closing rapacious Embrace Your Nerve complete the album with strength and notable craft if failing to find the lure of the bigger triumphs on Bloodlines. Maybe it is being unfair to expect the band to immediately fulfil the promise previously suggested and without doubt the album is one which gets the job done and makes for a pleasing hour or so but the feeling of a lost opportunity and a tinge of disappointment does accompany the release. With emerging bands such as XII Boar and especially Desert Storm finding original and far more heady heights with their new album, Howl have some evolving still to do to persuade ears and passions to go their way.

https://www.facebook.com/HowlHeavyMetal

7.5/10

RingMaster 30/04/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com

Absence Of Heroes: Self Titled

Photo By Bennett Robinson

Released as this and last year exchanged their muscular musical presences was an EP which is as rich in enterprise and passion as it is in stirring promise from a band one can only feel we will be hearing much more of in the future. Based in Southern California, Absence Of Heroes is a rock band which places a steely and compelling grip on thoughts and attention with a release that bruises and enchants in equal measure.

Consisting of John Williams, Diego Rivera, Justin Ferguson, and Bobby Dylans, the band reaps influences from the likes of Bane, Chevelle, Pantera, Tool, Deftones, Slipknot, Terror, Godsmack, Incubus, and Alice In Chains to fire up its own imaginative encounters to intrigue and fire up the listener. The band and their engagingly crafted songs are as eager to rip flesh through sharp incisive riffs and snap bone with big punchy rhythms as they are to offer a seduction of mesmeric melodic teasing to sooth the welcomed forceful assault. There is also an attitude to the songs lyrically and emotively which makes you take notice just as much as the accomplished sounds laying the dramatic canvas for their bed.

The Moreno Valley band within moments of the fiery atmosphere of Raymond secure a rigid focus on their release, its thick textures and expressive vocals wrapped around rampaging beats and a wonderfully snarling bass provocation, immediately magnetic. A mix of alternative metal and a harsher metallic brashness the track is a fully engaging tempest of sound with moments of respite and melodic elegance within the perpetual heavyweight ambience.

The song alone sparks up plenty of lingering interest but placed alongside the other quartet of tracks combines for an immense proposition feeding the needs now and sure deep promise for the coming horizons. AOH opens with a guitar caress which is tender and welcoming and more than able to hold its warm lure as the grouchier voice of the bass and brewing energy of the song enthral form within the stance of the track. There is a lush breath to the song once into its stride which offers whispers of Placebo, Chevelle, and Tool to the potent wash of heart and expression coated emotive sounds.

The tracks Children and Tom Selik (has an awesome mustache) continue the excellent and thrilling companionship of the release, the first built from the same mould of the previous song but with its own distinct character and imagination whilst the second is a stirring incitement of thumping rhythms and rapacious riffs around a drifting breeze of mellow yet charged vocals with a hard to ignore attitude. It is an irresistible agitator of the passions and best track on the EP with its flames of guitar melodic sharpness and infectious recruitment of emotions and thoughts adding extra pleasure.

Final song on the EP is Accident Prone, another track which is adventurous and proof that the band is  unafraid of pushing the limits of their songwriting and imagination within an appealing and easy to confront sound and delivery. Consistently the bass fires up rapture for its menacing snarls but throughout the band and songs every aspect is pure persuasion through their cogent enterprise and skill.

Absence Of Heroes is a group of musicians who through their excellent release leave no room for doubts when imagining their destined success, They should be a band lying easily on the lips of recommendations as rapidly growing mass of fervour driven fans head their way .

http://www.facebook.com/AbsenceOfHeroes

7.5

Ringmaster 06/02/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

 

In Clear Sight – Fuck Fairytales, This is Reality

Belgium hardcore/metal band In Clear Sight deliver a fully satisfying bruising upon the senses with their debut album Fuck Fairytales, This is Reality to reinforce the growing respect and positive responses which have been gathering around them. Released through Clenched Fist Records the release like its title suggests is an honest no messing slab of truth and intensity which is as direct and aggressive as you could ask for.

Formed in 2010, the Antwerp band have brought a reputation for impressive and lively shows which have seen them play alongside the likes of In Blood We Trust, Providence, Onesta, The Setup, 8control, and Screaming Silence to name a few, across their homeland. Line-ups changes occurred early on but once the current union of vocalists Roger Junior De Koning and Kenny Thys, guitarists Tom ‘rosse’ Van Bouwel and Tijs Hostyn, bassist Yannick ‘yakke’ van de Venne, and Gael Renier on drums was in place the band began to make a bigger noise which was noticed further, something the album will surely accelerate.

Influences for the sextet include bands like Terror, Wall Of Jericho and Hatebreed, which with the hardcore spicery of a Madball and Sick Of It All are vibrantly open in their music. The songs on Fuck Fairytales, This is Reality are confrontational and provocative to leave one in no doubt to their intent and views. Lyrically they deal with the corruptive situations and politics in world, social, and personal lives with an in your face and challenging stance. In Clear Sight is not the most brutal band around nor do they make music to extinguish the breath within the body, but with an accomplished skill and craft their music is as violent and provocatively intrusive as can be heard anywhere.

Off of the splintered intro, a piece which seems there to soften up the senses for the main assault, the album explodes into life with Divinity. One of the best songs on the album it jabs and slaps the ear into submission with finely crafted and precisely placed ebbs and flows of intensity. The attacking twin vocals of De Koning and Thys are outstanding and pleasing, both unleashing individual degrees of caustic and scouring growls and shouts to stay clear of the clean and dirty mix of attacks so many bands now employ. The rhythms of Renier are equally impressive whilst the riffs and thunderous energy of the song leaves one stirred and bristling with enjoyment.

The following Back In The Day and Big Boy surge with a sheer potency of power and skill raising the excitement further. The first stomps all over the ear with a punk toned hardcore rifling through the senses, like an agitated bear, burly and intent on damage, the track is a controlled yet mighty fury. It is succeeded by a less intense but equally testing assault in Big Boy. With melodic spirals veining the forceful intent the song shows diversity to the release and songwriting as a whole. It never strays from the aggressive heart of the band but brings fresh well crafted ideas to bring more originality than other similar powered bands.

The rampaging We Count You Out and Struggle For Life add their own formidable weight and strengths to the album but further bigger highlights come in the shape of the excellent melodic instrumental The Silence and the closing tower of abuse which is Crucial Pain. The first is a wonderfully composed and emotive piece of music, its atmosphere as enveloping and powerful in beauty and intelligent invention as others are in anger and vehemence. The elegant piano play coring the tune is pure expression and further shows the skill of the band and possible fields of diversity ahead. The final song simply rips a whole in the fabric of safety with its crushing ominous presence. Certainly the most antagonistic and muscular song on show it is a near crippling end to the album to leave one looking ahead at the band with an eagerness as strong as it is for diving right back into the torrent of abuse just welcomingly felt.

Fuck Fairytales, This Is Reality is not an album to take the band to the top step of the genre but without doubt will open up much more in their immediate future m. It is an album to set in motion something impressive not only for In Clear Sight but for European hardcore music as well. www.facebook.com/inclearsightcore

RingMaster 28/07/2012

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Dawn Heist – Time Wave Zero

With formidable strength and expertise Sydney based electronic metalcore band Dawn Heist unleash their debut EP Time Wave Zero October 21^st, a release that pulsates with impressive and eager sounds. Six tracks of unbridled power and well constructed songs all realised with a defiant aggression tempered with soaring and incisive melodies.

Formed in 2010 Dawn Heist took no time in winning people over with their intense and energised live shows including tours and support slots with the likes of Terror, The Haunted, Daysend , and Five Star Prison Cell.  Time Wave Zero is the result of their time in the studio with ARIA nominated producer Greg Stace, an EP that not only satisfies immensely but sets the band apart as a definite one to closely watch. Their metal/electronica blend is vibrant and at times mesmeric, the band finding a good balance between the two sides of their sound, the flowing electronic swells and atmospheric caresses easily slipping beside and within the hard and forceful mountainous riffs and direct attack. The quintet of vocalist Pat, drummer James, Bassist Zee, and the twin guitars of Lee and Ellis do not thrust forth their wall of noise as violently as for example The Browning but neither do they step back into the lighter tones of an Enter Shikari, the band find an instinctive and very enjoyable mid-point as they batter relentlessly whilst enflaming the imagination with their smoother caresses.   

The EP starts with ‘The Anesthetist’, its techno start misrepresenting the ferocity ahead though it does not take long before the band explodes into harsher realms. Musically it turns out the song is not their heaviest, it is quite a subdued track power wise though the aggressive and absorbing twin vocal attack of Pat carries enough venom and intensity on its own. He switches between guttural growls and smooth croons with plenty of sounds in between, effortlessly making a perfect match for the musical blend on display.

Where the opener and second song ‘Timewave Zero’ end and start is barely noticeable, their handover seamless though it does highlight the one aspect of the release that could be classed as a flaw, the similarity between tracks.  With many bands this is a negative BUT all the songs here are equally well thought out, engaging and pummelling it does not feel important that they carry a shared facade. This track pulsates with unrelenting staccato riffs and soothing, lively electronic sounds that in many ways should not work, but they do totally and very agreeably. The song has a heavier edge to its predecessor coming over with the feel of Fear Factory laced with a liberal dose of Linkin Park and Asking Alexandria, a mix that maybe sounds wrong but works wonderfully.

The bands first single ‘Nine Worlds’ is arguably the best track on the release though there is equality across all tracks to be fair, just this stands wilfully demanding attention and getting it. Again with a similar set up and sound from the previous song it beats its chest with a restive attitude, beating its message into the ear with striking riffs and rhythms.

The remaining three songs complete Timewave Zero with the same uncompromising attack and skilled melodic interplay. The rampant bullying riffs of ‘Loki’, the hypnotic harmonies of the big and another best track challenger ‘The Heretic’, plus the closing violent crescendo of ‘Scarecrow’ all dissect and play with the senses eagerly and thoroughly.

The exciting thing about Timewave Zero is not only the sounds within its walls but the promise and anticipation it ignites for future releases from the band. Dawn Heist is a young band that maybe has yet to find the finished identity for their sound but is already making music that improves any day and gives a new freshness to metalcore and metal in general.

www.facebook.com/pages/Dawn-Heist/96871407343

RingMaster 17/10/2011

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S.O.S. – I Owe You Nothing

With all the aggression of a pissed off bear comes the hardcore might of S.O.S. and their debut EP I Owe You Nothing. The release is just touching eleven minutes of well thought out and delivered intense attitude loaded quality hard sounds; though with the pedigree of the band it is really no surprise but as history has shown the coming together of heralded musicians from other bands does not always guarantee particularly great results.

The beginnings of S.O.S. were inspired a couple of years back when Terror frontman Scott Vogel and Hatebreed bassist Chris Beattie began talking about the possibilities of creating music together. The seeds grew in to a sturdier reality when former Agnostic Front/Madball guitarist Matt Henderson was brought in, the duo persuading him to be part of a band again after five years away from those demands. The band was completed when Vogel’s Terror comrade drummer Nick Jett and Trapped Under Ice guitarist Sam Trapkin were drafted to join up to the project. The songwriting and creation of the EP was a mutual group effect right down to the smallest detail and with Dean Baltulonis (Desperate Measures, Goes Cube, Freya) at the helm for the recordings production, the outcome is an impressive unleashed powerhouse of hardcore might.

The opening instrumental intro ‘Decontrol’ does not give too much away of what is ahead being a firmly solid slice of controlled driving music. Immediately its successor ‘Keep Me Outside’ explodes with all its angry might and Vogel rips the words from his growling throat, the S.O.S. mission is revealed, to challenge, menace, and entertain, which they do in equal measure.  

Apart from the defiant ‘Never A Brother’ the tracks barely pass the 1 minute 20 mark but the skill of the writing is such that one never feels short changed, the tracks are full and satisfying making the EP’s shortness over seven tracks unimportant. There is also a good consistency throughout and if there is any flaw it is a similarity between tracks, but as I Owe You Nothing is such a solid and appetising release it really is not an issue.

The title track ‘I Owe You Nothing’ is the strongest song; with machine gun drums, grinding riffs, gang vocals, and an erect middle finger it is an anthem and classic to be. Every track is in the face, a statement of intent and attitude but this song leads the way, and a song one just knows will have mass approval and participation at S.O.S. gigs.

    I Owe You Nothing is a definite must listen for all hardcore and punk fans for its intensive riffs and incisive delivery. It may not turn a new page for the genre but S.O.S. show they are one of the leaders of the current flavours whether the members are in this or their other bands.

I Owe You Nothing is out via Good Fight Music

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Pete RingMaster 02/07/2011

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