“Please don’t forget we love you, but now you have to die.” We Love You is an album that doesn’t take long to establish it’s themes. Whether you want to call it aggrotech or electronic death metal, Combichrist are a band that are at home in an angry world full of jagged electronic sounds that are designed to have fans flipping tables.
Animals as Leaders – The Joy Of Motion
Some albums defy reviewing, you can say what you want about them but at the end of the day what you get and what you find within it is a completely personal experience. This is more true amongst instrumental music than anything else and Animals as Leaders are the perfect example of it. Now on their third album, this American instrumental prog-metal band create music that is as difficult to place as it is to review, in saying all that we are about to give it a go.
Architects – Lost Forever//Lost Together
Architects have had an unusual career path. At one point they seemed like they could do no wrong and were heading for the big time. Then they released The Here and Now, an album which despite some initially positive reviews, slowly saw fans turn against it and then even the band themselves turn their back on material they discovered they had little passion for. Since then the release of Daybreaker has seen them begin the path to redemption and Lost Forever//Lost Together may be the album that seals that return.
Steel Panther – All You Can Eat
Born with the mission to remind people that the 80’s were cool once and Vince Neil wasn’t fat, Steel Panther’s rise to success has been spectacular. Going from a LA hair metal cover band to arena playing, globe trotting superstars is a remarkable achievement for a band who many assumed would fade away when the joke got old. Their third album All You Can Eat is their latest attempt to prove this is far from the case.
Chuck Ragan – Till Midnight
Some time in the last few years it became cool for old punk rockers to ditch the band, pick up an acoustic guitar and go all folk troubadour on our asses. It’s probably not that much of a leap to believe that this trend was inspired by Chuck Ragan and the Revival Tour, his touring acoustic shows that feature everyone from punk singers to bluegrass to country. By creating a sense of community around these shows Ragan has turned a great idea into a yearly event that many look forward to. This event has also seen him releasing several acoustic records and the latest, Till Midnight, hit our shelves earlier this year.
Savage Messiah – The Fateful Dark
Some bands can be figured out by one glance at their name. Savage Messiah are one of those bands. With a name like that and an album title like The Fateful Dark, you know you’re in for old school heavy metal, widdly guitars and all. These London thrashers are now onto their fourth album and despite their ever growing success are still very much part of the metal underground.
Comeback Kid – Die Knowing
Comeback Kid may have a name that makes them sound like a boy band (or is that just me?) but it hasn’t prevented the group that was originally started as a side project from releasing five albums of hardcore goodness. Album number five, Die Knowing, has recently hit the shelves and see’s this Canadian band doing what they do best.
I Killed the Prom Queen – Beloved
There is a moment half way through Beloved where I thought I’d made a mistake and accidentally put on shuffle. As “Kjaerlighet” slowly creeps in those not paying attention might believe that “Last Serenade” was preparing to blast through their speakers. It’s become a cliché to say that all metalcore takes it core roots from Killswitch Engage and most bands are just repeating what’s been done before, but sometimes it’s so incredibly obvious you just can’t ignore it.
Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang – Four Foot Shack
Cover albums are notoriously difficult to pull off. Releasing a collection of tracks by bands better than your own (*cough* Puddle of Mudd) that sound exactly like the originals is one of the laziest ways to finish up a record label contract and insure that the rest of the world thinks your a bit of a plank. On the other hand take an original song and make it your own (Marilyn Manson being an expert at this) and it can kick start a career. However you get the impression that Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang don’t really care about career progression or probably even what other people think about them, this is an album that feels like it was made purely for fun.
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Within Temptation – Hydra
It’s easy to forget just how big a deal Within Temptation are. Their latest UK tour has seen them playing Wembley Arena and their 2011 studio album The Unforgiving sold over 300,000 copies on ITunes alone. Therefore, the release of Hydra earlier this year has to be seen as a big deal and with it hitting number 6 in the UK charts it may be a case that this is a band that are able to make the leap into the mainstream on their sixth studio album.
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