Children Of Bodom-Blooddrunk

Blooddrunk is the sixth studio album of Finnish band Children Of Bodom.Well this album is certainly more trashier and aggressive than its predecessor "Are You Dead Yet?" and Alexi Laiho has also been very aggressive while writing the album.So far Blooddrunk hasn't been received as well as the previous albums but I sort of like this one.The album starts of with a killer of a song "Hellbounds On My Trail" with a trashing riff.This is a good opener and probably it would be the opener in their concerts as well.The second song Blooddrunk is also quite good.From this song it is quite evident that Children of Bodom have been emulating a bit of the sounds of Lamb of God as the song has a heavy riff and a spoken word part just like the one you may hear in a Lamb of God songs.The album highlights come in the form of "Smile Pretty For The Devil" which has an excellent keyboard and guitar solo,"Tie My Rope","Banned From Heaven" and "Roadkill Morning".Roope Latvala also plays two solos just as he did in "Are You Dead Yet".The rest of the album is more of the same.Fast,angry downtuned riffage with a keyboard melody and a guitar solo thrown in.The album also gets progressive at certain spots.

Blooddrunk is a good album ,faster and heavier than "Are You Dead Yet?" .I don't know what others think and I don't care about the damned comments they give as well.To me this is just another Bodom classic.

Band:Children Of Bodom
Album:Blooddrunk
Year:2008
Genre:Melodic Death metal,Extreme Power metal
Rating:8.3/10

Breaking Benjamin-Phobia

Phobia finds Breaking Benjamin picking up exactly where they left off with 2004's "We Are Not Alone" mixing heavy hard rock with a moody demeanor that never slips into full-on dejection,thanks in part to their proficient grasp of accessible melody and ever rousing chorus.Darkness permeates Phobia's tracks,but the quartet always remembers the silver lining hanging in its cloudy skies.Songs like "Until the End" exhibit this resilient attitude,while affirming that life can be tough,"Why give up?Why give in?....I will go on until the end".Breaking Benjamin mix dense upfront vocals with dense riffing("The diary of Jane","Topless").

As often is the case,certain tracks work out much better than the others as in "Dance With the Devil" and "Unknown Soldier".The songs "Until the End","Diary of Jane" and "Breath"stayed in the charts for a very long time and there's no reason why the shouldn't have.Breaking Benjamin have proved a point to all their critics with this album.Phobia can win over any skeptic who is holding out on the band.For all those who are happily settled in the Benjamin camp this is another good listen.

Band:Breaking Benjamin
Album:Phobia
Year:2006
Genre:Rock,Alternative rock,Alternative metal
Rating:7.9/10

Anti Flag-The Terror State

In their fourth album Anti-Flag position themselves as punk's foremost peace activists.And with 2004's presidential elections looming large at the time of its release,the Pittsburgh quartet's delivery of The Terror State couldn't have been better timed.Aiming fourteen aural bombs straight at George W Bush,the group's music charge is heightened by the contagious sloganeering of mouthpiece Justin Sane.The song "Turncoat" is escorted by an infectious chorus which even the staunchest republicans will have trouble resisting.The declarative tune then makes way for alluring numbers like "Death of a Nation" and "Tearing Down The Borders".Judging by spirited,percolating items like "Mind the G.A.T.T" and "You Can Kill the Protester" Anti Flag's controversial messages are matched by volatile yet affordable arguments.Sure its never ending pretest tracks becomes redundant after a while but questioning the motives of world leaders through the form of punk is something that will never go out of style.

Band:Anti-Flag
Album:The Terror State
Year:2003
Genre:Rock,Punk
Rating:8/10

Rise Against-The Sufferer and The Witness

"The Sufferer and The Witness" finds Rise Against continuing on the path begun on 2004's well received "The Siren Song of the Counter Culture".Their melodic hardcore may still sound more mainstream accessible,but this can hardly be looked at as a bad thing.After all the band's sincerity and passion remain very much intact,their socially conscious approach no less pressing and new and old fans alike must take to "The Sufferer and the Witness" with open arms.As such,Rise Against continues to muscularly confront political and personal grievances to the tune of swirling guitars and assertive rhythms.However "Chamber the Cartridge" doesn't open the record with the same acidic bite of the previous lead tracks,as the chorus is lacking something in its delivery to really hit a nerve.However "Injection" and "Ready to Fall" bring things back into invigorating Rise Against territory early on,while "Bricks" stands out as a vicious blast of old school energy and power.This record is basically one shout along.The excellent "Prayer of the Refugee" jarringly alternates between plaintive guitars and weary singing to an empowered chorus and exploding rhythm section to affectingly address the plight of displaced families of war.The frustrated disconnect distressing a troubled relationship is represented surprisingly well in "The approaching curve" with its driving use of spoken words and complementary female backing vocals.Essentially,"The Sufferer and the Witness" showcases Rise Against maturing within the realms of major-label hardcore revivalism,while still remaining relevant and exciting.So even with the occasional letdown,there's a lot to be said for Rise Against pulling everything of with as much substance and strength as they do the whole away.

Band:Rise Against
Album:The Sufferer and the Witness
Year:2006
Genre:Rock
Rating:8.2/10

Megadeth-United Abominations

Megadeth's eleventh album,"United Abominations", sees Mustaine return with a very much back to basics Heavy Metal album that sits more than comfortably with ‘’Rust In Peace’’, ‘’Peace Sells’’ and the multi-platinum "Countdown To Extinction’’.This album is such a welcome return to Mustaine’s visceral take on world events and he has plenty to spit his venom at. With much of his rancour directed to the political arena Megadeth has rarely sounded more potent or deadly. Opening with the rampant riffing of ‘’Sleepwalker’’ quickly dispels the feelings of waste that has perpetrated the previous few albums. This is bang on the button head banging Heavy Metal. The now (hopefully) solid addition of the Drover brothers (Eidolon) has pinned down the Megadeth sound to a bomb dropping barrage of resolute Metal. Not since ‘’Rust In Peace’’ has Megadeth laid down such precision riffing and concise song structures. ‘’Washington Is Next!’’ keeps up the relentless charge, although pinching from MAIDEN’S ‘’Wasted Years’’ this is polished slice of charging Melodic Metal. Featuring some fine guitar interplay between Mustaine and Glen Drover this is simply pure classic Megadeth in ‘Hangar 18’’ form.With Mustaine providing a top drawer vocal performance, his guitar playing is never in question, it’s the aforementioned Drover brothers that have injected the muscle into a Megadeth sound that was falling by the way side.

‘’United Abominations’’combines all the rudiments of the Megadeth sound from those early days and melds them into what is their best album since 1990.
Megadeth are selling… are you buying?

Band:Megadeth
Album:United Abominations
Genre:Heavy metal,Trash metal
Year:2007
rating:8.1/10

Ugly Kid Joe-America's Least Wanted

Ugly Kid Joe's debut album reprises the hit "Everything About You" and delivers a similar set of power ballads and including a revamped version of Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle".Listeners who are too far removed from their adolescence wont find America's Least Wanted engaging in the least,but it wasn't designed for them.Ugly Kid Joe rocks for the average high school kid who doesn't think of anything but partying,girls and metal.On the whole,the bands mixture of fizzy riffs,sing-song melodies and calculated obnoxiousness isn't that offensive but it will certainly test the patience of anyone who doesn't find the band's vulgarity fun.For fans of the band America's Least Wanted delivers the thrills.

Band:Ugly Kid Joe
Album:America's Least Wanted
Genre:Rock,Heavy metal
Year:1992
Rating:8.4/10

We the Kings-We the Kings

We the Kings is the debut album of Florida pop-punks We the Kings.The music in this album is speedy,crisp power pop with just a little distortion in the guitars and just a little emo-hoarseness in the vocals.For 11 schematic three minute tracks:that is just exactly what We the Kings deliver:the songs are so catchy that they all bleed into one another with little differentiation but when the tracks are taken one at a time,tunes like "Skyway avenue" and "Check Yes Juliet"are so pleasant that the album becomes charming.You will love this band if you like songs by Yellowcard.This album is a must buy for all the punk lovers.



Band:We the Kings
Album:We the Kings
Year:2007
Genre:Punk rock,Pop punk
Rating:7.2/10

Funeral For a Friend-Hours

The previous album of Funeral For a Friend "Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation" featured big singles like "Juneau" and "Bullet Theory" which pushed up the bar for emo punk today.So it's no wonder then that the acclaim for "funeral for a friend"'s second album was so high.'Kerrang!' labelled it as a potential masterpiece.Once 'Hours' was released it was snapped up by eager fans only to find that there was no screamo on the album.Not that 'Hours' is particularly a bad album.Infact it is very good.

Almost all the songs in this album have belting guitar works and strong choruses."Hospitality" and "monsters" show how much the band has matured lyrically and how they have leaned towards melodic hooks than the predecessor "Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation"."History" is one of the album highlights with the lines "Dear friends of this academy/Romeo is bleeding to death/To see a friend bleed to death what for/Some kind of metaphor tha i cant see/So ill drink until i cant see it".I think its the closest Funeral For a Friend have leaned towards something ballad esque.The opening to "The End Of Nothing" is very like Iron Maiden.The drums stand out on this track and also on the song "Alvarez" which starts of with a mean guitar riff.The album closer the superb "Sonny" will leave you grasping for more of what Funeral For a Friend has to offer.

There is definitely a massive audience out there to be tapped and with this,the second full length offering from the welsh rockers,Funeral For a Friend will have the masses kneeling at their feet.This is one of the best releases i have heard in a long long time.I think this album will have a permanent place in my cd-player for quite a while to come.

Band:Funeral For a Friend
Album:Hours
Genre:Post hardcore,Alternative rock,Punk rock,
Year:2005
Rating:7.4/10

Days In Grief

Well these guys have broken up at present but their music is still stuck in my head.Days In Grief have a punk rock and metalcore like sound.The guitar riffs and drums are in a way similar to bullet for my valentine.You can see the similarities in the songs "Kill the Music" and "Now its dead".This german group also has amazing vocals but i still dont realize why they are not so popular.Even Wikipedia one of the most famous online encyclopaedia's has no article on this band. Days in Grief who cite In Flames and Iron Maiden as one of their cheif influences,emulate the screaming that appears in songs of In Flames perfectly.Days In Grief opened for "My Chemical Romance","Funeral For a Friend" and "Bullet For My Valentine" when these bands performed in Germany.These guys have produced some excellent and creative pieces of music.I thought they would be stars one day but unfortunately they broke up in 2007.Hope they reunite and rock the world again.

Band:Days In Grief
Years Active:2001-2007
Genre:Punk rock,Emo,Metalcore

Staind-Break The Cycle

Surely by now youve heard of Staind at some point or the other.After the release of Break The Cycle their single "Its been Awhile" received quite a lot of airplay.Itz really hard to get the melody of this song out of your head.Besides the instrumentation in this album is amazing.Performance from all the band members are top notch.Guitar riffs come from the direction of Mike Mushok and are distorted and heavy,in the true angry music way.The bass is not audible enough to criticize, but when its there does a good enough job.Drums are well done, while still fitting the music.Vocals are once again really well done except in a few places when it dips into whiny territory.It can be forgived though as they sound good much more often than not.The gentle song "Outside" features an amazing vocal performance.

Lyrically the songs are in the "Im sad/I hate my life" fashion,especially in the song "For You" with a chunky riff and parent-directed anger."Waste" is a ballad type song about a fan who killed himself, whereas "Its Been Awhile" is a power-ballad centered on some sort of significant other and how much Aaron misses them.

Overall this is a good record.Everything you would expect out of something good is here.Its got good guitars,good drums and amazing vocals.The songs are catchy and easy to listen to as well.Anyhow this is a must listen for those who love heavier rock.It should suit you.Its not mind blowing but good enough to suffice

Band:Staind
Album:Break The Cycle
Year:2003
Genre:Alternative rock,Hard rock,Alternative metal
rating:8.2/10

Dashboard Confessional-Dusk And Summer

Dusk And Summer a cohesive album divergent from the modern-rock collection of songs inds Dashboard Confessional's path to maturity leading them, weirdly enough, back to their roots. Whether or not this is a reaction to mainstream success, Dashboard is still very much a full band, but the album is gentler.Not only does it include more tracks with simpler arrangements that occasionally now include piano and violin, the general sonic vibe resembles more of its earlier work, just more seasoned.The suitably titled Dusk and Summer is very much full of satisfying heartfelt anthems that reflect its early evening beach artwork.Chris Carabba's lyrical touchstone is again dominated by relationships, but that invigorating first date from 2003's "Hands Down" must have really taken off, since broken-heart brooding only appears sparingly.The gentle "Stolen" is a beautifully sincere song where the repeated "You have stolen my heart" is so tenderly spoken, it's like Carabba is taking care to not wake his sweetheart sleeping beside him.Leaving one's hometown is delicately reflected upon in the piano-tinged "So Long, So Long," where Adam Duritz of "Counting Crows" provides wonderful guest vocals, while the band proves it can rock out in tracks like "Reason to Believe" and "Rooftops and Invitations." And damn if "Slow Decay" isn't the dirtiest, darkest song Dashboard Confessional has written to date ("Heaven Here" might have been a contender with its trashy percussion, but the song quickly goes soft and remains a muddled mess that never quite gets worked out).Dashboard Confessional may have been embraced by the masses with the success of "Vindicated" in spider man 2, but Dusk and Summer doesn't care about that.It's an album from a matured Carabba directly to his grassroots fan base.He may have grown beyond six-strings and a wooden stool, but when the result is this good, who can really complain?

Band:Dashboard Confessional
Album:Dusk and Summer
Genre:Acoustic rock
Year:2006
rating:8/10

Dragonforce-Valley Of The Damned

In this album Dragonforce combine elements of power,speed and some light progressive metal into a fast and melodious sound that still has an own touch to it.Dragonforce prefer a higher tempo,but still do not get on your nerves in a way you might fear,because the have a very good hand for good melodies and flowing arangements,plus calmer breakdowns for a good measure to keep things interesting.Despite the high level for a debut not the whole 51 minutes can keep that up,so i cant attest them an all out outstanding debut effort, but 'only' a really good one that does not sound like your everyday run of mill power metal.So if you dont like power metal circle Dragonforce widely, for they wont win you over but if you have a certain affinity to these sounds,you should check out "Valley Of The Damned".

Band:Dragonforce
Album:Valley Of The Damned
Year:2003
Genre:Power metal
Rating:7/10

Silverstein-Discovering The Waterfront

When a band combines hardcore,power-pop and rock,the results can be pretty tedious,not because the combination is a bad one but its just what everyone seems to be doing these days.Importantly Silverstein keep the screaming to a tasteful minimum,using it as a spice rather than as a main ingredient.They ensure that the screaming actually carries emotional meaning.Equally importantly,they deliver their beautiful melodies and tight rich harmonies very well.The odd metered guitar breaks are few and brief which keeps them interesting and enjoyable as well.The result is Power-pop for the new millenium and a remarkably mature sound for a band that has only been together for a few years.Every track is well worth hearing but the tracks that will make you press the repeat button are "Call it Karma" with its blissful guitar solo,"My Heroine","The Ides Of March" and "Discovering The Waterfront".

Band:Silverstein
Album:Discovering The Waterfront
Year:2005
Genre:Rock,Post-Hardcore,Emo
Rating:7.9/10

Atreyu-Lead Sails Paper Anchor

Lead Sails Paper Anchor is the fourth studio album by Atreyu.This is Atreyu's first album with hollywood records.The band has largely abandoned their screamed verse,sung chorus metalcore template.The lyrics are totally about a real world where romances fail,friends betray and self-reliance is the greatest of attributes.The vocals are almost all melodic now,with just a few hardcore yells.

Lead Sails Paper Anchor is diverse,but almost too much so.Atreyu explores metal,pop,rock,hardcore,eighties metal,and even country.I dont blame a band for trying new things but some things just dont work.There are some really good songs in the album,but a lot of filter and failed experiments.Few of the good songs are "blow" which features " Josh Todd" from "Buckcherry","Becoming the Bull","Honor","fallin Down" & "two becomes one".One of the huge failures is the cover of faith No More's "epic" which sounds like a bad karaoke.Now theyve tried all these genre's,hopefully the next album will be more focussed and they will concentrate on the things they do best.

Band:Atreyu
Album:Lead Sails Paper Anchor
Year:2007
Genre:Alternative Metal,Hard Rock,Post-Grunge
Rating:6.7/10

Hurt-Vol.1

Hurt's debut album definitely has a unique sound to it. The tones range from soft and melodic, to bone crushingly brutal. The singer's voice is really good. One of most interesting things about this record is the use of a violin on some songs. It adds a nice quality to the songs it's used on. The guitars don't show off a whole lot, but the riffs are great. There are even a few solos. I am not a drummer, but I noticed that the drumming was quite amazing. A lot of the record has a dark, slightly depressing sound to it, so the band's name seems rather appropiate. There are parts of the record that you can hear influences in their music, ranging from Tool to Metallica.This is the real highlight of this album. From the difficult subject of killing a child in "Rapture" to a desperate man's last cry for help in "Falls Apart", every song appears to have deep, meaningful and thought provoking lyrics that can be sung along to as well as studied in greta depth. The singing is also very inmpressive. It uses a mix of mellow and quiet singing to massive screams that rival some death metal bands. A good example of this comes in "Overdose."
But as a whole this album is a marvel,one of the ebst albums you will hear all year. The most impressive songs on record are "Rapture", "Falls Apart", "House Carpenter", "Cold Inside" and "Overdose". However there is not a single poor track on this record. I love it's mix of Metal and Emotion that is missibng in a lot of music these days. I would buy this album time and time again because Hurt are an amazing band that have an amazing future.

Band:Hurt
Album:Vol.1
Year:2006
Genre:hard rock,alternative metal
Rating:7.5/10

Amon Amarth-With Oden On Our Side

Amon Amarth are back and "With Oden On Our Side" is the title of their new fare against Christendom and into Nordic mythology.Their previous album "Fate of Norns" had not been received favourably everywhere(I still like it).

in the new album,the mighty thunderclap of an opener "Valhall Awaits Me" stands high in the well filled history of Amon Amarth.The strong riffing and powerful melodies make this one great.The song "Hermods Ride to Hell(Loki's treachery part I) is a perfect amon amarth hymn,melody with majestic lead guitars."Cry of the Black Birds" also has amazing riffs while "Under The Northern Star" is the undoubtedly most melodic song Amon Amarth have ever done, unusually “light” in its melody, yet still with this epic feeling, which together with Hegg’s gruff voice guarantees that it does not turn sweet and in the middle the whole thing gets heavier, too, so no worries that the Swedes have softened up.Basically we get all trademarks of the Amon marth sound, the majestic, but still heavy riffs and leads of Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, the powerful drumming of Fredrik Andersson together with Ted Lundström’s pumping bass and, of course, Johan Hegg’s roar, everything packed into altogether faster compositions again, which still do not drift off into one-dimensionality and should satisfy every Amon Amarth fan!
Up the horns cause this definetely gets a 9/10 from me.

Band:Amon Amarth
Album:With Oden Our Side
Year:2006
Genre:viking metal,Melodic Death Metal
Rating:9/10

Seether-Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces

In the past, Seether has always struck me as a band struggling to find its own identity and sound. But after giving Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces a few spins, I've realized that this post-grunge outfit is really using their influences to craft an ever-changing body of work.Ive read some piece of junk like shaun morgan is trying to emulate chad kroeger but i seriously dont see what the problem is.After all the vocalist is just trying new things just to make his music sound better and to get better sounds from his instrument. Lyrically, the songs are tormented and bitter.One can only as speculate the meaning of the songs as morgan as morgan seldom discusses it.But what really matters is that this is a musically sound album.The album as a whole is redeemed with great tracks like 'fake it','like suicide','breakdown' and '6 gun quota'.The band has proven that they are more versatile songsmith's than I previously thought.

Band:Seether
Album:Finding Beauty In Negative Spaves
Year:2007
genre:Post grunge,rock
Rating:8.8/10

Bullet For My Valentine-Scream Aim Fire

Well I had heard a whole lot about this album before listening to it,and most of what I’ve heard was really bad. So I started listening to it with kind of low expectations and I to my shame I kind of believed they would screw up, but I was pretty surprised to see that it’s good music.A whole lot of people, especially from the US gave it really bad reviews, motivating either that it’s a copy after metallica, either that there’s not enough screaming in there, and all sort of dumb reasons.Im not sayin any crap like that cause the album seriously delivers.BFMV just wanted to blend modern metal with some old school heavy riffing metal, and they did a more than decent job.The riffs are really good and fast.With a bit of diversity it would have had a chance of being a memorable album, but in this way, it’s just good music (even great at some points). No more, no less.But for those into this face of the genre, it definetly is a must have. For other people, try it, you may be hooked.

Band:Bullet For My Valentine
Album:Scream Aim Fire
Year:2008
Genre:Rock,Heavy metal
Rating:7.6/10

Ensiferum-Ensiferum

Oh man, this... Really, I... Ouf... This is... I... Well... Ack... WOW! I lack words like not in a looong time before!Sometime back i got a song of ensiferum from my friend.Now ensiferum rotates in my computer and I am on a musical cloud 9!Ensiferum is the first album by the finnish folk metal band ensiferum.The vocals sound a lot like amon amarth but markus taivonen is just amazing and that is one reason why you have to check this out.Theyve got really cool guitars.Ensiferum are kings of folk and viking metal for me.If you like heavy,hymnic metal with tons of vareity and nt get Ensiferum right away or at least check it out,you will be excommunicated from Metal-fanship on the spot!

Band:Ensiferum
Album:Ensiferum
Genre:viking metal,folk metal
Year:2001
Rating:8.1/10

Foo Fighters-Echoes,Silence,Patience,Grace

If I were to use a simile to describe the Foo Fighters, I would definitely exclaim that they’re like a fine wine. With the release of their sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace, the Foo is a band that just gets better with age. Produced by Gil Norton, the same man who produced the defining record of the Foo’s career (1996 The Colour And The Shape), Echoes is a hauntingly beautiful display of how good this band is.

Don’t let the opening track (also the first single), “The Pretender,” fool you, Echoes is not as rip-roaring as that track is. This is very recognizable on “Let It Die,” a song that repeatedly tip toes the line behind quiet and loud. The verses are paced by the gentle strumming of the guitar, while the bridge and ending feature Dave Grohl yelling his lungs out. And this particular song is what Echoes is in a nutshell. We still have the hard-hitting and fast-paced music that we all know and love about the Foo Fighters, but, overall, they show a mellow demeanor throughout the album.

But we should have seen this coming, especially with the past two releases from the band. The second disc of 2005’s In Your Honor and 2006’s live album Skin And Bones are strong indicators of what direction Grohl is taking his band in. While this may take a few fans aback, there is no need to worry as the Foo Fighters pull it off with style and grace.

“Long Road To Ruin” is reminiscent of “Times Like These,” as the tempo and vibe is very similar. Beauty and inspiration come together with “Come Alive,” which begins and carries on gently and poetically until midway through when Grohl, guitarist Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer Taylor Hawkins kick it up a notch, which results with numerous fist pumps from this reviewer. Another different style is showcased on the twangy “Summer’s End,” a heavily influence southern rock track that the Foo pull off well.

While “The Ballad Of Beaconsfield Miners” isn’t necessarily anything special as an instrumental, it is especially touching when you know of the background. Grohl wrote this after meeting with a survivor from the 2006 mine collapse in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia, who, while trapped underground, asked for an iPod specifically loaded with all of the Foo Fighters material to keep him company. Grohl promised to record it, and proves to be a man of his word. Following this delicately plucked interlude is the dreamy “Statues,” which is paced by all sorts of different instrumentation.

“Home” closes out the album with Grohl on piano, softly singing while the keys hit emphatically in the verses. While some may view this as a very strange way to close out a Foo Fighters album, I think it’s very telling of what kind of band the Foo Fighters are today and closes out Echoes in pristine fashion.

Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace is the sum of all the previous styles the Foo Fighters have tried out on previous albums. It’s the album the band has always wanted to make, and with its variations in styles and moods, it is an essential album to pick up if you are Foo fan. Very few bands have as solid of a discography that the Foo Fighters have, and Echoes only adds to it. So take it all in, for the Foo Fighters have again shown that they always go down smooth.

Band:Foo Fighters
Album:Echoes,Silence,Patience,Grace
Year:2007
Genre:rock,grunge
Rating:8.3/10