Allegaeon - Formshifter

Melodic Death Metal is a genre in which you can find plenty of great stuff, but at the same time, much like almost any other sub genre, it's easy to find band's that are skilled technically speaking but lacking in creative song writing skills. Allegaeon, who are building quite the name for themselves since the release of their debut album Fragments Of Form And Function, are not one of these cookie cutter bands, and they hope to further that idea with the release of their latest album Formshifter.

Wretched - Son Of Perdition

Victory Records, much like Sumerian Records, are a label with an almost startling roster of bands under them. It's amazing to go from the likes of Jungle Rot, or Between The Buried And Me to the likes of The Royalty, and Silverstien. That's not an insult to any of those bands, it's just a bit a of a shock how wide a variety you can find under this label. On the heavier side of things lies Wretched, a band that seems to bend between a handful of metal sub-genres, but proclaims themselves as melodic death metal. Their latest outing Son Of Perdition, to me at least, sounds more like a blend of technical death metal with a splash of more melodic deathcore. (The album cover reminds me of a tech death album cover too.) However, labels don't really matter much, it's about about the quality of music right?

Against Tolerance - Undefined

Shortly after getting a Twitter I was followed by a band called Against Tolerance who told me to check to their album. I did and I’m glad I made that choice. Hailing from Brazil, Against Tolerance crafted the album Undefined and released it back in mid-2011. It’s a thrashy progressive piece which takes influences from all over the place and dares you to call it anything but metal.

Impending Doom - Baptized In Filth

Impending Doom presented us with their fourth studio album this week, entitled Baptized In Filth. This follows 2010's There Will Be Violence, which in my opinion was pretty great, so my expectations for this album were pretty high to say the least. But were they met?

Derelict - Perpetuation

2011 was a fantastic year for metal and upon writing my year end list I found myself thinking that 2012 has some really big shoes to fill. However this year has already dropped some mammoth sized albums on us and is proving itself to be just as good as last year.

Vying for my top 15 list this year is Montreal based Tech Death  band Derelict’s latest album Perpetuation, and by vying I mean slaying it’s competition so far. This is the first album I’ve listened to this year that I immediately felt would make my top albums list. The year is early, but I have a good feeling about this one.

Anyhow let’s get on with the album. 

Veil Of Maya - Eclipse

Chicago's Veil Of Maya are a band I've heard plenty about, constantly told myself to check out, but never really got around to actually do until about a month or so ago. They are a band at the forefront of Progressive Deathcore, who've made quite the name for themselves over the past few years, and have a loyal following. This album, will not change any of that. The thing is it doesn't do a whole lot to draw in new listeners.

The Marilyn Effect - Vanitas

Post-Hardcore band The Marilyn Effect recently released their debut EP Vanitas, and sent me a copy to listen to. I have to start this by saying I'm not all that adept on Post-Hardcore bands, it's not my favorite genre, but I'm pretty open minded about anything heavy, so I gave it a shot.

Secrets Of A Psychopath - Concept Of Failure

I was sent a link to download this EP from German Progressive Deathcore outfit Secrets Of A Psychopath for free this morning thanks to the vocalist dropping me a line on my Last.fm account. I'm not sure if he personally sought me out, or if he was spamming peoples wall, which I wouldn't blame him for, but regardless, I saw free music and decided it couldn't hurt to give it a listen. It also helps that it wasn't just a single, it was a solid 5 track EP, which in my opinion an EP needs to be at least 5 tracks. So my pre-requisites were met. Oh and the album art looked professional, which is always a good way to attract potential listeners.

So after all that, how did the album hold up?

In The Midst Of Lions - Shadows - Formal Review

I've been waiting for this album for a while. I found Christian Deathcore outfit In The Midst Of Lions around the middle of last year, and have been thoroughly enjoying The Heart Of Man and Out Of Darkness since then. They now present us with their third full length album entitled Shadows. The long and short of it? It's great.

Misguided Aggression - Flooding The Common Ground - Formal Review

Misguided Aggression, a groove metal band from Woodstock, Ontario, aren't the biggest name in Metal, but they should be more well known. They gained some fame with their 2009 album Hatchala and have now graced us with a follow up album entitled Flooding The Common Ground.

The album starts with an eerie intro, setting the tone for the entirety of the disc. A slightly distorted voice tells a story about how he was brainwashed by the media to believe that everyone in the Middle East deserved to die after 9/11. It’s a disturbing image, but an image you want to hear more about. Your interest is piqued.

'Winter's Soldier' hits you with a bang.  A snare rattles off like a machine gun, pinch harmonics scatter throughout, and throaty screamed vocals make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It almost makes you uncomfortable, but you can’t stop listening. Then a bit of a surprise comes: “What makes the green grass grow? BLOOD!” We get what is possibly one of the best breakdowns in a long time. 'Winter’s Soldier' is definitely one of the best songs on the album.

The album is full of great songs like 'Winter's Soldier'. At a glance, things might seem simplistic, but upon further review you find some technical prowess and really well worked out songs. It’s got quite a number of breakdowns, though none of the breakdowns feel out of place, and the pinch harmonics scattered throughout really help pull the album together. The vocals are tense, raspy and dirty. For the most part they are mid ranged, but they aren’t afraid to go deep and shake your ears. The song Autonomy has a really long guttural that is a standout point of this album. The guitar work throughout the album is pretty fantastic, the Meshuggah influence is prevalent, but it’s got enough of its own style to keep you interested and coming back for more.

I can definitely praise Misguided Aggression’s ability to change tempos often and quickly while not jarring the listener too much. It gives you a sense of well thought out madness, it helps tie songs together, and keeps your ears on their metaphorical toes.

The title track, 'Flooding The Common Ground', is the closer for the album; and a great one at that. It starts with an unsettling two note beat that repeats for a few seconds before those throaty vocals tear into the song. The beat is still there, but much more expanded upon. We get to a breakdown about two minutes in and things start changing a bit until we are met with another even longer guttural that levels you, you can almost feel a weight on your chest. It, like the one in Autonomy, is another highlight of the album. The vocal work throughout is very good.

Overall, Flooding The Common Ground is a great release.  It doesn’t necessarily re-invent the wheel on groove metal, but it doesn’t really need to. It takes the ideas and executes them very well. If you want to listen to something heavy and grungy, look no further than Misguided Aggression.

You can buy the album on their bandcamp page. OR at least give them the streams!

Molotov Solution - Insurrection

Enter Molotov Solution. A Deathcore outfit from Las Vegas, who are presenting us with the fourth and latest full length outing. (Third signed full length, fourth overall.) I'll be honest, I've really only listened to these guys a handful of times, and when I heard that these guys and Carnifex had albums coming out, I was fully suspecting these guys to be the 'meh' album of the two.

Carnifex - Until I Feel Nothing

Sand Diego's Carnifex are presenting us with their fourth full length release this week. Entitled Until I Feel Nothing. This album got me pretty excited I have to say. Carnifex is a good deathcore band, but they've never really been on my top list. However when I heard that Tim Lambesis was producing this one I let my hopes get up.

Oh, Sleeper - Children Of Fire - Formal Review

I’ve been listening to Metalcore for a while, Mainstays for me being the likes of August Burns Red and As I Lay Dying. I’ll have to admit that I never really listened much to Oh, Sleeper. Son Of The Morning is a good album, but I have to admit I thought of them more as another Inhale Exhale, with Haste The Day inspiration. Then out of nowhere comes Children Of Fire. I’ve listened to this album about 4 times now, and each time it gets better. To use a word I use a little too often, It’s Awesome.