Album Cover Released
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, October 8, 2007
Bullet For My Valentine's New Album - Scream,Aim,Fire
From left to right: Michael Paget, Matthew Tuck, Michael Thomas, Jason James.
Confirmed tracks
"Scream, Aim & Fire"
"Disappear"
"Waking The Demon"
"Eye of the Storm"
"Long Journey"
Friday, May 4, 2007
Atreyu
Biography
In a musical environment that values style at least as much as substance, many bands embrace one over the other, or attempt to walk a tightrope between excessive showiness and serious, honest song craft. Atreyu have firmly established themselves on the side of solid songwriting, tight arrangements and musicianship with their previous albums, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses and The Curse. A Death-Grip on Yesterday takes their dedication to new heights with great metallic rock songs, mind-boggling guitar runs and the dynamic brutality they are known for. The album was produced in collaboration with Josh Abraham, known for his work with Velvet Revolver, Korn and Staind; it shows off Atreyu's trademark incendiary guitars and soaring choruses with a thunderous rhythm section framing each track. Lyrically, Atreyu comes out swinging, with solid blows against hypocrisy, betrayal and corruption. "This record is a journey for me," singer Alex Varkatzas said, "It is shedding the past and growing beyond it, and all that it entails."
The album was written in just two months in the fall of 2005 and with pre-production nailed down a few weeks later, Atreyu descended on Pulse Studios in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles. The band discovered that in producer Abraham and engineer Ryan Williams they were able to deliver their songs with a whole new dimension of heaviness they had been looking for. "The talents of Josh and Ryan made things sound bigger and meaner than they ever had," commented Alex. Drummer/vocalist/songwriter Brandon Saller agreed, saying, "Sonically, they really knew how to get the sounds we wanted. This record was very natural for us. We just kind of poured ourselves out for this one; it came more naturally than anything we've done in the past."
The album kicks off with "Creature," a razor sharp track that embodies everything that makes Atreyu unique; vocal interplay that flaunts the melodic lines of drummer Brandon as they slam against the enraged roars of front man Varkatzas. "The Theft" builds arena-sized backgrounds of lush synth, joined by pretty guitar figures and a graceful vocal that breaks hard against Varkatzas meaty counterpoint. "Ex's and Oh's" takes Atreyu into more traditional rock territory, with sharp hooks and a truly spectacular guitar solo that makes it from strong to colossal. While "Ex's and Oh's" is the first single from A Death-Grip on Yesterday, Atreyu contributed an exclusive song to the soundtrack album for Underworld: Evolution, which debuted at #1 it's first week with 27.6 million dollars in ticket sales. The video for "Her Portrait In Black" is inter-cut with footage from the movie and has enjoyed massive plays from the online sites in the past few weeks since its debut on Yahoo! Music.
Atreyu exploded out of Orange County in 2002. Previously unknown to the rest of the world, the band released their stunning debut album, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, grabbing the attention of a wide spectrum of music fans by demolishing the barriers between rock, melodic hardcore and metal. The band's original, unique music hit like a lightning bolt in hard music circles, energizing audiences and redefining the hardcore sound Southern California was known for. Critical raves poured in from publications like LA Times, Guitar World, and Metal Maniacs, who commented, "…the Southern California five-piece brings new definition to overnight success." Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses has scanned 230,000 units and shows no signs of slowing down.
Atreyu headed home in late 2003 to write and record their second album, The Curse. The cathartic process transformed the band. "We were in the van for two years, and it seemed like every time we left home, there would be a crisis with someone close to us, and there was nothing we could do to help. Eventually the van becomes like an isolation chamber in which we internalized every trauma or negative experience." Alex explains, "When we came home and starting writing the album, everything came pouring out, with the intensity of something new. It was really cleansing." The Curse went on to sell 300,000 copies, with magazines like Rolling Stone calling it "Pure Awesomeness". Atreyu played Ozzfest in Summer of 2004, lead a sold-out headlining world tour, and rocked the main stage at Warped 2005.
With one of the top slots on Taste of Chaos Tour 2006, Atreyu are poised to reach a huge audience and captivate them with their genre-bending metallic rock. Their headlining slot on Ozzfest's second stage for summer 2006 see them in front of heavy music fans across North America. Their dynamic guitar assault combines brilliant single-note leads and pummeling power chords, offset by the melodic and guttural vocals. "We blend it to make a prettier dark picture," Alex comments. With their new album, A Death-Grip On Yesterday, Atreyu have honed their personal style even more, exceeding all expectations and expanding the boundaries of metallic rock yet again.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Avenged sevenfold review - A7X
The members of metalcore outfit Avenged sevenfold (or A7X) were still in high school when they formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, CA. Still, it didn't take long for M. Shadows (vocals), Zacky Vengeance (guitar), Synyster Gates (guitar), the Reverend (drums), and Johnny Christ (bass) to make an impression with their aggressive hybrid of metal and punk-pop. The band debuted in July 2001 with Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (Good Life), and followed two years later with the Hopeless release Waking the Fallen before jumping to Warner Bros. for June 2005's City of Evil. That summer they supported the album (which began their breakthrough into the mainstream) with a live run on the Warped Tour's main stage. City of Evil hit number 30 on Billboard's Top 200, propeled in part by the Top Ten success of their single "Bat Country." The video for that song was heavily rotated on MTV and Fuse, where live appearances also helped Avenged's growing profile, and the guys wound up winning the Best New Artist Award (though they were hardly newcomers) at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. ~ Christina Fuoco, All Music Guide
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Trivium review
There's no such thing as a band born to greatness. To succeed in the world of music there's a whole energy-sapping storm of hard work to plough through. Florida's Trivium has surely earned the major contender status that has been afforded them by the international media. After spending the last few years up to their necks in blood, sweat and tears, the formidable foursome, whose 2005 sophomore release (and Roadrunner debut) Ascendancy made them a hit with discerning music fans everywhere, have paid their dues. Relentless touring around the world with over 350 shows in the past two years has sharpened the band's live prowess, making their new album, The Crusade, one of the most hotly anticipated hard rock albums of 2006. The level of charisma and energy that they've harnessed since hitting the global gig circuit has built Matt Heafy, Corey Beaulieu, Paolo Gregoletto and Travis Smith a huge international fan base that is as devoted as it is ever growing. (More on Roadrunnerrecords.com)
Bullet for my vallentine review
Everyone predicted it. The metal press, the music industry and especially the gig going kids all knew that there was something special about Bridgend based Welsh metallers, Bullet for My Valentine and now it looks like everyone else is going to know it as well.
2005 has been a momentous year for the four piece; selling out their first ever headline tour of the UK, performing bone shaking sets at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards Ceremony and the Kerrang! Day Of Rock and that?s before we even mention rocking Reading, video shoots in Slovenian cave systems, making a splash in Japan and preparing for their first US tour.
Of course if there is one group of people who are not surprised by their upward velocity this year it is the band themselves. Matt Tuck, poster boy vocalist and guitarist, is more matter of fact than arrogant when he says: ?I know what it is that separates us from most other bands. It?s keeping our metal roots; keeping all of the aggressiveness and brutality that we?ve grown up on, but at the same time writing good songs. You need good melody, good tunes.? Then his tongue slips firmly into his cheek as he adds: And when you put it all together in one good looking, young, 21st Century rock band, you can't fail!
The debut album "The Poison", which was released on October 3, obviously met the demands of the fans, going straight to number one in the rock charts: with four Bullets.
As well as turning in a blistering set at the Kerrang! Day of Rock, where there was almost a riot, they played another foundation rattling gig at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods, which was all the more surprising because less than 24 hours earlier Matt had been in hospital suffering from exhaustion.
We'd just been doing too much, says Matt. My body just said "No more" and packed in. But the same protestant work ethic has taken its toll on the rest of the band as well. During a hectic and insanely well received tour of Japan, affable drummer, Michael Moose Thomas contracted a potentially fatal strain of bird flu! It was horrible, says Moose I was on a drip for a fortnight. They said it was avian flu but I reckon I picked it up in those caves.
Those caves were the Postojna Caves in Slovenia where they filmed the epic video to their last top 40 single Suffocating Under The Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do). It was the most heavy metal place you can imagine, underground with all these stalactites. But I thought they were going to snap off and spear me while I was playing, adds the drummer. It had Enter Traveller In To This Immensity carved in big letters in Latin over the entrance, it was mad, adds laidback guitar man Michael Padge Padget. If we don't watch Matt, adds Manga haired bass monster Jason Jay James, that's what the new album will end up being called.
Their hectic schedule has still allowed time for a Kerrang! cover feature and getting a future Metal Hammer cover in the bag. Most importantly, however, is their first ever UK headline tour, which has completely sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale. The UK jaunt kicks off in their native Cardiff on the 18th and winds up in Nottingham Rock City on the 25th after a night at the UK's rock Mecca, The Astoria. Given the nature of what they're embarking on, though surely it would be fair to say that they are, in technical terminology, shitting their pants? But this just elicits an emphatic No from Matt and the boys. We're going to destroy everything, adds Jay simply. Of course, the band have had recent experience of playing in front of gigantic crowds after a volcanic set at this year's Reading and Leeds festivals. Matt adds: It was our first main stage performance at Reading and we fucking killed it man. Jay chips in, indicating the amount of sphincter dilating stress you have to deal with playing the main stage of a festival: I had a dry mouth! But it was fucking cool, you don't look too hard at how many people there are and just get on with it. Given that they have just been picked to do a joint Kerrang! tour with Avenged Sevenfold and they have an upcoming tour with It Dies Today in America, you would think that the band don?t have time to think about the long term but they have solid plans for the future. Moose starts listing the reasons why he knows they're still going to be on people's lips in ten years time: First classic album. Second classic album. Third classic album then a fourth. We're just gonna keep on going.? Matt agrees adding: ?It?s like I said, classic song writing is going to ensure that people will still want to listen to us. I want to be a metal John Lennon!? But for the band one of their personal highlights of the years was the first of many annual parties to celebrate their namesake saint's day: The Valentine's Day Massacre. Matt concludes: ?It was our party at the Mean Fiddler and it was immense, the crowd was just like one big wave and I had to take two seconds to take it all in before we started. It was like . . . wow! And if we've got one piece of advice for the UK's hottest fresh metal act (to paraphrase Roy Scheider in Jaws): you?re gonna need a bigger venue.
2005 has been a momentous year for the four piece; selling out their first ever headline tour of the UK, performing bone shaking sets at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards Ceremony and the Kerrang! Day Of Rock and that?s before we even mention rocking Reading, video shoots in Slovenian cave systems, making a splash in Japan and preparing for their first US tour.
Of course if there is one group of people who are not surprised by their upward velocity this year it is the band themselves. Matt Tuck, poster boy vocalist and guitarist, is more matter of fact than arrogant when he says: ?I know what it is that separates us from most other bands. It?s keeping our metal roots; keeping all of the aggressiveness and brutality that we?ve grown up on, but at the same time writing good songs. You need good melody, good tunes.? Then his tongue slips firmly into his cheek as he adds: And when you put it all together in one good looking, young, 21st Century rock band, you can't fail!
The debut album "The Poison", which was released on October 3, obviously met the demands of the fans, going straight to number one in the rock charts: with four Bullets.
As well as turning in a blistering set at the Kerrang! Day of Rock, where there was almost a riot, they played another foundation rattling gig at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods, which was all the more surprising because less than 24 hours earlier Matt had been in hospital suffering from exhaustion.
We'd just been doing too much, says Matt. My body just said "No more" and packed in. But the same protestant work ethic has taken its toll on the rest of the band as well. During a hectic and insanely well received tour of Japan, affable drummer, Michael Moose Thomas contracted a potentially fatal strain of bird flu! It was horrible, says Moose I was on a drip for a fortnight. They said it was avian flu but I reckon I picked it up in those caves.
Those caves were the Postojna Caves in Slovenia where they filmed the epic video to their last top 40 single Suffocating Under The Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do). It was the most heavy metal place you can imagine, underground with all these stalactites. But I thought they were going to snap off and spear me while I was playing, adds the drummer. It had Enter Traveller In To This Immensity carved in big letters in Latin over the entrance, it was mad, adds laidback guitar man Michael Padge Padget. If we don't watch Matt, adds Manga haired bass monster Jason Jay James, that's what the new album will end up being called.
Their hectic schedule has still allowed time for a Kerrang! cover feature and getting a future Metal Hammer cover in the bag. Most importantly, however, is their first ever UK headline tour, which has completely sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale. The UK jaunt kicks off in their native Cardiff on the 18th and winds up in Nottingham Rock City on the 25th after a night at the UK's rock Mecca, The Astoria. Given the nature of what they're embarking on, though surely it would be fair to say that they are, in technical terminology, shitting their pants? But this just elicits an emphatic No from Matt and the boys. We're going to destroy everything, adds Jay simply. Of course, the band have had recent experience of playing in front of gigantic crowds after a volcanic set at this year's Reading and Leeds festivals. Matt adds: It was our first main stage performance at Reading and we fucking killed it man. Jay chips in, indicating the amount of sphincter dilating stress you have to deal with playing the main stage of a festival: I had a dry mouth! But it was fucking cool, you don't look too hard at how many people there are and just get on with it. Given that they have just been picked to do a joint Kerrang! tour with Avenged Sevenfold and they have an upcoming tour with It Dies Today in America, you would think that the band don?t have time to think about the long term but they have solid plans for the future. Moose starts listing the reasons why he knows they're still going to be on people's lips in ten years time: First classic album. Second classic album. Third classic album then a fourth. We're just gonna keep on going.? Matt agrees adding: ?It?s like I said, classic song writing is going to ensure that people will still want to listen to us. I want to be a metal John Lennon!? But for the band one of their personal highlights of the years was the first of many annual parties to celebrate their namesake saint's day: The Valentine's Day Massacre. Matt concludes: ?It was our party at the Mean Fiddler and it was immense, the crowd was just like one big wave and I had to take two seconds to take it all in before we started. It was like . . . wow! And if we've got one piece of advice for the UK's hottest fresh metal act (to paraphrase Roy Scheider in Jaws): you?re gonna need a bigger venue.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Saturday, July 1, 2006
UnderOaTH - Define the great line (Review)
Define the Great Line (Solid State/Tooth & Nail)
Released June 2006
Sounds like … a stronger, more visceral version of My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, Senses Fail, and other representatives of the emo-screamo canon.
At a glance … Define the Great Line not only redefines the sound of Underoath, but also has the potential of redefining the hardcore emo genre.
It's still too early to say if Underoath will truly become this generation's P.O.D., but one thing's for sure—their new album, Define the Great Line, has all the makings of a blockbuster effort, much like 2001's Satellite was for P.O.D. Co-produced by Atlanta-based producer/drummer Matt Goldman and Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, Define the Great Line simply sounds huge, far removed from the tamer and thinner feel of its predecessor. Once recording wrapped, the disc was handed off to mixing guru Chris Lord-Alge, today's authority in mixing rock music. The results show.
Regardless of what you think of the hardcore emo-screamo genre, Define the Great Line unquestionably transcends it as an album discontent with simply staying put in a single subgenre. Thus, it represents the best chance yet of appealing to listeners beyond Underoath's core audience, assuming of course that they can stomach the intensity. There's something primal, ferocious and grandiose about it, as if this was the mother of all lesser albums that predate it, including this band's own material. In a genre that has become as ubiquitous and indistinguishable as late '90s teen pop, kudos to Underoath for raising the bar and setting precedent in both Christian rock and beyond.
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