Mere Moths – Water of the Land EP Review (Chordblossom Review)
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Indie rock four piece Mere Moths, hailing from Co. Down in Northern Ireland release their debut, three track EP, entitled Water of the Land this month, through Circulation Recordings. Mixing crunchy distorted bass and funk-esque tempos, the band create a mixture of rock tones that give it a groovier feel than most indie rock available on the market at the moment.
It’s clear to see from the offset that Mere Moths have bags of potential, and have only just begun to tap into it. For such a newly signed and, at the moment, small band, the production quality of Water of the Land is really rather good. It’s well recorded, mixed and produced, giving a good representation of both what the band are capable of sounding like, and the attitude that the band have towards their recordings. The fact that the EP is so short just goes to show this attitude even more clearly, that Mere Moths put so much effort into each individual track that it takes as long as many other bands would take to put together a seven track EP has materialised into three, meticulously produced tracks that sound nothing less of professional. Now that’s dedication.
Musically, again it’s got a great groove to it, a refreshing take on the rock/indie genre to put something a little more funky into it, and it makes it interesting to listen to and that little bit special. The standout track on this EP has to be Mine, a song that just oozes feel-good tones, sing along vocals and talented instrument work that makes it a great track to listen to all the way through.
One of the only problems with this EP is, as previously mentioned, the fact that it’s a little bit short. Three tracks weren’t enough to get a proper appreciation of the talent that’s gone into creating the music. But, on the flipside of this, being so new, Mere Moths are only just getting started, and three tracks on this Water of the Land does definitely enough to whet the appetite of the hungry listener, and leave them want a lot more. It’s not an EP, it’s a starter.
So, overall then, Water of the Land is a very good and well put together EP, with just enough to give across the right impression of the style of music that Mere Moths are going for, without giving too much away, and just enough to leave the listener wanting that little bit more. Clever and teasing, this reviewer hopes to be hearing a lot more from them very soon.
Read the original article here: http://chordblossom.com/musicreviews-meremoths-wateroftheland
General Fiasco – Unfaithfully Yours Album Review (Never Enough Notes Review)
Pop-rock act General Fiasco are a rare gem of a band, the type of which, sadly, aren’t discovered very often. This album, their latest full length studio release entitled ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ showcases that perfectly, as it’s a perfect mixture of musical talent and, music that’s actually good (as talented music isn’t necessarily good).
It’s hard to describe the music on ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ without resorting to very overused phrases, phrases which don’t do the album justice particularly. It’s rock music, with a melodic vocal overtone and an excellent, shoulder-bop-inducing groove to it. Brilliant, that describes just about every indie-rock album out there. See? That just doesn’t do it justice. This album has got that little-bit-of-something that makes it slightly different, slightly special, and, overall, that little bit better than every other indie-rock album.
Looks like there’s no alternative. Overused phrases it is. To put it on a basic level, the music style and especially some of the verses have the capacity to remind one of indie bands such as The Hives, or similar. On top of that, there’s extremely catchy choruses, melodic vocals and an excellent rock/indie groove that gives this album a solid backbone with which to work.
Now for the tough bit. That extra bit that’s tough to put into words. Well, this album has a little bit of everything, so that’s a good starting point. From melodic, sing along pop-punk songs in the form of ‘Closer’ to a harder rock style on ‘Bad Habits’, which is a song that instantly makes a listener want to start headbanging like they’re fifteen again. That’s an example of that little something that makes this album special compared to other albums. There’s even a classic-rock esque guitar solo on ‘The Age You Start Losing Friends’ that can only bring a smile to a listener’s face, unless they’re completely without musical feeling, in which case they need to be locked in a dark room with a full iPod and not let out again until they’ve listened to everything on it.
Bad points–that’s even tougher. There’s enough variety on this album to keep everyone happy, except possibly hardcore metal-heads. If one were to nitpick, it could be said that some of the solos are a little unnecessary, and some of the songs a little repetitive. That’s not really noticeable though.
Overall, an extraordinarily well put together album, lyrically heartfelt and musically talented. It has ups, downs, fast music and slower, more emotive music, as well as lighter, indie-pop styles and harder, rockier sounds. Something for everyone, and everyone will be happy. Excellent.
Read the original article here: http://www.neverenoughnotes.co.uk/2012/07/general-fiasco-unfaithfully-yours-30-07-12-authority-communications/
Sam Lee – Ground of its Own Album Review (Never Enough Notes Review)
London-born folk musician Sam Lee releases his debut full length album, entitled ‘Ground of its Own’, an austere title that pre-empts the attitudes that Lee has taken towards its contents and the music on it.
It’s an apt, title too, because he’s right. It’s folk music, but it’s definitely, forgive the terrible pun, on a ground of its own. So, ‘unique’ is the word for the day here. It might even be possible to use the original meaning of the word ‘indie’ and call it ‘indie-folk’, although this might be reading too much into it.
Before getting onto the actual sound itself, it’s worthwhile mentioning that even the process of putting ‘Ground Of Its Own’ together has been unique and unorthodox. It was apparently originally sought through word of mouth and oral traditions, definitely something that hasn’t been done properly before. Lee is careful to mention where he sourced each song as well, definitely something that isn’t often done.
The music itself is imaginative, different and, on the whole, very pleasant to listen to. The unique way of thinking carries on throughout the whole album, it’s one of the only albums that this reviewer has ever heard where the sound of a guitar’s jack plate meeting the plug on the end of a cable, but not quite plugged in so it makes a “bzzzzzzz” sound, used as a constant effect, behind what sounds oddly like a banjo.
It works, too. Sam Lee’s baritone voice is oddly soothing, so much so that it would send a listener to sleep, were the music less interesting to listen to. So it’s soothing, and it keeps a listener’s attention, as well as being unique. He is ticking a lot of boxes with ‘Ground of its Own’.
Points against? It might be slightly gimmicky, or at least that might be how some people see it. That doesn’t feel like the intention, but it might be how it’s perceived. Other than that, the vocals, whilst soothing, are quite deep, quite a lot of the time. A little variety wouldn’t go amiss, just to make them slightly less monotonous. Other than that, there isn’t really anything to gripe about on this album, it’s just generally rather good.
So overall, an experimental, expressive and extraordinarily talented album, taking a unique perspective on both how the music is made and put together, as well as the music itself, leaving a listener guessing what sound they are going to hear next, and wondering where the song and the sounds on it actually originally came from. Excellently done, wonderfully produced and great to both listen to and talk about. More of the same, please, Sam Lee.
Read the original article here: http://www.neverenoughnotes.co.uk/2012/07/sam-lee-ground-of-its-own-the-nest-collective-out-now/
Distance to Fall – Rise Above EP Review (Hevy Petal Review)
Metallers Distance to Fall, hailing from the Essex town of Harlow, release their second EP,Rise Above. Recorded in a local, hometown studio, the band appear to pride themselves on making music that they genuinely enjoy playing and have a ‘sticking to their guns’ mentality about writing. Hopefully, it’ll pay off in this release.
First impressions of it are good. It’s a purely metal, ‘angry guitar and angrier vocals’ kind of release. It’s got plenty of hefty breakdowns and crunched up, hard-hitting guitar sounds. From the recording, it also sounds like it’s been recorded live, too, which makes a nice change from overproduced, synthetic studio sounds. ‘Good old-fashioned’ seems to be the phrase on the cards for today. 
Rise Above is, above all, a showcase for metal music. Talented, varied, interesting metal, definitely, but pure metal nonetheless. It’s choppy, full of quick tempo and feel changes, and an almost unashamed display of how much talent the band have. What’s good about it is that the band haven’t worried too much about ‘being different’, or in other words, they haven’t been scared to do something that’s been done before. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about the music on the EP, it’s a style that has been written many, many times before. Ordinarily, this would be an issue, but for some reason with Rise Above, it doesn’t matter, because it’s been done very well and it’s good to listen to.
Areas to improve – the clean vocals are excellent, and it’s very good that they’re actually present on this inherently metal album, but to be honest they could use a little work on being more varied. That’s nitpicking though, they’re still very good. Other than that, there aren’t many areas looking at improvement. Rise Above ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’, to use exactly the right phrase.
So, in other words, it’s been done before, but in this case it’s been done better than before. That’s good, it shows that the Distance to Fall both have talent and know exactly what they’re doing, and they’ve made a decent EP to boot. Great stuff.
Read the original article here: http://www.hevypetal.com/release-reviews/1015/distance-to-fall–rise-above-ep
This Deafening Whisper – A Matter of Knife and Depth Album Review (Hevy Petal Review)
This Deafening Whisper, Parisian based metalcore band who come under the same umbrella of music as Suicide Silence, release their imaginatively titled EP, A Matter of Knife and Depththis month. It’s a guitar-and-bass heavy release with plenty of breakdowns and much to keep the speed-metal fan very happy.
In a nutshell, this EP is pretty much exactly right for the die-hard metalcore fan. It’s fast, heavy, full of low-end screams, punctuated and broken up by the addition of clean vocals to give a much-needed break from the onslaught, and to boot its extremely well written.
For such a short EP, A Matter of Knife and Depth has a surprisingly long introduction, with an entire two-minute song taken up of what sounds a lot like pure strings, which carry on into a lengthy introduction to the second track, Emma Sin, which opens with electronic synth sounds, misleading the listener into thinking this is going to be a synth-metal album. It’s not, though, and the wait is definitely worth it, as it builds up a great amount of atmosphere, and when the music actually does kick in, the listener is blown off their feet.
Musically, the record reminded this reviewer of Architects and Suicide Silence, as well as maybe All Shall Perish. The guitars and bass hit the listener hard, especially if listening through headphones, and the hefty, double-kicked bass drum packs a heck-of-a-punch. This Deafening Whisper have definite talent when it comes to giving the listener exactly what they want, there isn’t a bad track on the album, and the fact that all the tracks are easily distinguishable from each other because they change pace and sound enough is another tick in the this-is-a-decent-metal-album box.
Vocally, again, standard metalcore but, excellently done and happily with a bit of a different twist that makes it slightly unique. The chop-and-change between low end, blow-your-face-off-with-fright screams and higher, cleaner actually sung vocals definitely keeps a listener on their toes and also gives a nice breather in between the metal-assault and heaviness, and is also something one doesn’t often see in pure metalcore like Bring Me the Horizon and Architects.
So, overall, This Deafening Whisper are an extremely talented evolution of the metalcore genre, who know exactly how to please their fans, make good music and show off their talent as songwriters. It’s excellently produced, presented and packaged into a neat little EP that should get them very, very far. If that doesn’t happen, this reviewer will be very surprised.
Read the original article here: http://www.hevypetal.com/release-reviews/976/this-deafening-whisper–a-matter-of-knife-and-depth-ep
Simbiose – Economical Terrorism EP Review (Hevy Petal Review)
Scary metallers Simbiose, hailing from the exotic land of Portgual, grind their way back on to the scene three years after their last release, Fake Dimension, with this, new studio album entitled Economical Terrorism. Describing themselves as “crust”, a word for a genre that conjures up all sorts of interesting images, Simbiose claim that they are a “no-holds-barred attack current social, political and economical events”. Expect loud and furious, then.
This reviewer has to be honest, the opener, Payback Time, made him jump out of his skin. In fact, this will probably happen for most listeners, especially if they have headphones on with the volume turned right up. Just a slight word of warning take this as advice against doing that. It does however set the tone for the whole album afterwards very effectively. Beyond the terrifying opening, the music itself is chaotic, fast, heavy, low and generally angry. 
It’s good, too, as music of this type is generally quite hard to follow along with (there are always complaints that it’s hard to tell when one song ends and another begins) but with Simbiose, this is not the case. Despite the choice of genre and style of playing, it’s still very plain to see that the band are very talented. The guitars, though distorted heavily can be plainly heard, and everything just feels very well balanced. The speed is also very, very impressive, as the band manage to maintain the quickness without every song sounding the same (Dragonforce), which is another tick in the box as well.
Improvements – the vocals could use a little more variety, although they do fit with the music style perfectly. They do however get a little tedious after a while, so a little break up in the might be useful for a listener making their way through the whole album. Other than that, it’s a well mixed, surprisingly clear (as in all the instruments are clearly audible) mixture of sounds, which is a pleasant surprise for metal of this speed and level of distortion.
Overall, a rather scary, dark and yet extraordinarily talented album. Not to everyone’s tastes, but sure to set the band on the road to musical success. It’s been too long since metal of this kind caught anyone’s attention, a comeback is needed, and it looks like it’s going to be in the form of Simbiose. Excellent.
Read the original article here: http://www.hevypetal.com/release-reviews/974/simbiose–economical-terrorism-ep
Arcane Roots – Left Fire Album Review (Contact Music Review)
Progressive, experimental rock band Arcane Roots releases their latest album Left Fire through Play It Again Sam Records. It’s an ambitious, motivated release, clearly put together with a lot of talent, but does that necessarily mean that it’s any good?
A listener could initially be forgiven for being a bit dubious about this album. The opener, Aus Blauderen Verederen, Dus Moet Ik, is completely without lyrics and, apparently, completely without song structure either. It’s, to use exactly the right word, unsettling. The new listener isn’t left with much hope for the rest of the album, if this song is the trendsetter. However, the more this album is listened to, the more Aus Blauderen Verederen, Dus Moet Ik begins to make sense. A listener realises that Arcane Root’s music is progressive and experimental, more than it is ‘rock’. In fact, ‘rock’ is just a word used because nothing else seems to fit.
It makes more sense when reviewing this album to talk about the aspects that stand out the most and what the music focuses on. To that end, it’s necessary to talk about the music itself first, before the vocals or the production, or anything else. Clearly, the instruments are the most important element of the music on this album. Arcane Roots seem to want to push the boundaries of how songs are put together, as if they have looked at a guitar, a bass and drums and how all of them are ‘ordinarily’ played and said to themselves, ‘How can we make that different?’ In fact, it’s a very similar attitude to that of rockers Incubus in the ways in which the instruments are at the forefront of the music and played with unashamed, showcased talent. And why shouldn’t they show off? It’s excellent, and very well done.
Vocally, the singing fits perfectly. It’s not too intrusive a voice, sitting perfectly behind the instruments, accentuating them just enough to give the impression of song rather than improvisation. The high pitched tones don’t get in the way of the music and are present enough to just remind the listener that they are there. Very well done.
Highlights of this album? You Are is complete genius. An amazing song, very well put together and performed. Overall, a stunning and talented release and hopefully the music scene will be seeing more of Arcane Roots very soon. There’s something for everyone here, Habibty will keep the more metal-inclined of listeners happy, whilst Million Dollar Que$tion, along with the rest of the album, really, has the potential to keep the softer listeners occupied also. Fantastic.
Read the original article here: http://www.contactmusic.com/album-review/arcane-roots-left-fire
Room E – Penguin Child Album Review (Contact Music Review)
Electronic maestro Room E, a producer from San Diego, USA, releases full length studio album entitled Penguin Child through label Kudos Records. It’s an ambient, chilling sound that Room E seems to have gone for with this album. Not a bad thing, although maybe slightly overdone. 
There are some strong points on this album – as electronica goes, it definitely ticks all the boxes. It’s uplifting and obviously talented. The use of live drums also seems to set it apart slightly from other electronica, making it sound more ‘bandy’ than other electronic releases. There is also a pervading sense of it being completely saturated in effects that ‘twinkle’ their way through the album, again, setting it apart from other electronica that uses mainly synth riffs to create songs, rather than a mixture of effects all put together to create sound. It’s a different approach and it appears to have been a bit of a success.
Limitations – some vocals wouldn’t go amiss to break the monotony of the music, which can get quite ‘samey’ as the album progresses. It’s also, despite its differences, still electronica that’s been done before. Talented, yes, but not wholly original. Maybe that’s not the point; maybe it’s not meant to be completely original and groundbreaking. It is, however, still rather good.
So, overall, nothing special, but yet, importantly, it’s nothing terrible. The music is good, excellent to put on in the background when a listener is busy with something else or it’s particularly good when put on in the car on a long drive. It could be improved with a little more originality, but it definitely shows much promise.
Read the original article here: http://www.contactmusic.com/album-review/room-e-penguin-child
Everyone an Army – The Thundering Triumph of Knowing What’s Right EP Review (Hevy Petal Review)
Heavy progressive metallers Everyone An Army release their imaginatively titled EP The Thundering Triumph of Knowing What’s Right. A fuzzy, distorted and extremely ‘heavy’ (by definition of the word!) EP, it looks set to blast its way onto the metal scene upon release.
Again, heavy is the keyword for the day here. There are only three songs on this EP, but a listener wouldn’t know it. Slow and grungy, somehow mellow, yet terrifying at the same time, the hefty distorted fuzz effect put onto the guitars really creates the feeling of ‘pressing on the ear drums’, especially if listened to through headphones. 
The title track The Thundering Triumph of Knowing What’s Right is even stranger, because it’s heavy on the ears and yet somehow very soft all at the same time, a skill that Everyone An Army seem to have mastered. Few bands have the ability to sing the lyrics “cut out your eyes” in such a nonchalant fashion, in such a softly sung voice and inspire that amount of fear in the pit of a listener’s stomach. It just sounds so serious, which is what makes it so scary. Other bands with lyrics along those lines, for example “put a gun to my head and paint the walls with my brains” (Bring Me the Horizon – Alligator Blood”) doesn’t give off the same ‘serious’ image with it that Everyone an Army do, and that’s what sets them apart from other metal.
Vocally, a listener could be forgiven for expecting low pig-squeal screams and growls, but they’d be wrong. In fact, the presence of completely clean (although mournful, monotone and quite low in pitch) vocals is actually more disconcerting than anything else. It has the capacity to remind of black metallers Akercocke, which is both a good and terrifying thing.
Overall, an extremely talented, deep and, at the end of it all, scary release. It’s heavy and yet soft, metal and yet not-metal, but above all else, it’s really rather good. It could be slightly improved with a little more variety, however, but from a three-track EP this is an unfair criticism. Lyrically, fantastic. Really moving, albeit maybe not in a comfortable way, which just adds to the talent. This reviewer (although only half of him, the other half is a coward) wants to hear more.
The Fades – Foot In Your Mouth Single Review (Never Enough Notes Review)
And they say early noughties punk-rock (Blink 182, Sum 41, Green Day…) is dead. Not so. The Fades, punk-rock band formed sometime in the year 2000, took a long and arduous route to their first full length, self titled album, released a monumental seven years later in ’07. Happily, the wait between that album and their newest one, entitled ‘Ragnarok’, due to be released on September 17th 2012, is not so long.
Ahead of the album’s release, The Fades have given us a taster; a single entitled ‘Foot In Your Mouth’ (released July 4th), to whet listeners appetites.
‘Foot In Your Mouth’ is definitely a throwback to their early noughties roots. The style and the structure of ‘Foot In Your Mouth’ really reminds of some angry, anti-establishment punk music of the early 2000s, when music began to shape into a style that wasn’t quite nineties (thankfully) but yet hadn’t really established itself as a new style yet.
Ironically, that now makes it a whole style of its own – early noughties. This song specifically has the ability to remind a listener of very early System of a Down (albeit without the shrieking and heavy guitars) in terms of the style, it’s a disconcerting, quick-paced and fast-changing song, which chops and changes, starts and stops and generally gives a sense of never really getting going, but also the sense of it being a good song at the same time.
Musically, the choppiness of the sounds cuts through the listener like a bit of a musical knife. Not that this is a bad thing, the sharp guitars and almost chanted vocals give off an impression of anger, an impression that suits the genre perfectly. Lyrically, it’s quite tough to follow, but still enjoyable to listen to once a listener is past that.
Overall, a good song, and a great taster to what should be a good follow up album for The Fades. This reviewer is just glad that the wait for it wasn’t as long this time.
Read the original review here: http://www.neverenoughnotes.co.uk/2012/07/the-fades-foot-in-your-mouth-single-out-now-genepool-records/
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