Review: Airbourne ‘Black Dog Barking’

http://open.spotify.com/album/4ulIP4JbW6KegM8KNC02k5

Blame Kerrang! for me me reviewing this album. I’d never heard of Airbourne or listened to any of their music until now. I probably wouldn’t have bothered except that there was an interview with the singer, Joel O’Keeffe in a recent issue of Kerrang! (01 June 2013, Issue 1468) and I thought I’d have a listen.

‘Black Dog’ is a metaphor and euphemism for depression, most famously used by Winston Churchill, and the use of it in this album’s title suggests that the band are addressing personal problems. That ignores the rest of the album title. Together they describe the songs and overall feel of the album. It is confrontational, rather than confessional. The band have used their own personal ‘black dogs’ to fuel creativity and produced an upbeat, even fun, album.

It reminds me of Bon Jovi (don’t get mad, I mean lyrically) but heavier. Does that make any sense? They aren’t saying anything new or profound, but they’re saying it with passion. I like this album and I’ll probably try to see them play at Download*.

4/5

*Airbourne play The Zippo Encore Stage 6.15pm – 6.55pm on Sunday 16th June 2014

Review: A New Tomorrow – new single ‘Damn You’

This track was recommended to me by Spotify because I’ve got this band in my playlists. I reviewed their EP ‘Incandescent’a few weeks ago *

http://open.spotify.com/track/3JvHNU1vKQZHWzVrZ0hzUS

Compared to their earlier releases ‘Damn You’ is definitely an improvement in terms of musicianship. The guitars show new vigour and the vocal style has improved. The song is catchy an upbeat.

While these improvements in style are great, the band seem to have lost lyrical depth, like that displayed in ‘Brighter than the Sun’s and ‘What they can’t steal from you’.

3/5

[* ‘One band I like, one band I think are a bit bad mannered and two bands I’m not fussed by’ 16th May 2013]

Black Veil Brides release lyric video for unreleased track.

Last year Black Veil Brides released their third album, ‘Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones’ and on11th June they are releasing their Ultimate Edition of the album containing three unreleased tracks plus a DVD of the film ‘The Legion of the Black’ . In addition they are releasing their Ultimate Black Box Edition that has the same contents as the Ultimate Edition including the CD with alternative artwork plus three the new songs, Legion of the Black DVD, an expanded booklet, and a solid black BVB rosary.

A lyric video for one of the songs, ‘Revelation’ , has been released on youtube. The video shows a young man going in to a Hollywood record shop and purchasing ‘Wretched and Divine’ before taking it home and playing it on a record player.

The song fits with the story told on the album very well, but I can see why they left it off the main release, it is fairly superfluous and adds nothing to the main storyline (yes, I have listened to the album, in fact I’m listening to it again now. I quite like it) and the lyrics are a little repetitive, but is still a decent song. The product placement in the video distracted me slightly, but only because I was wondering whether it was accidental or deliberate; I think it must have been deliberate, on consideration.

Here’s the video for you to decide for yourselves what you think.

 

Black Sabbath: New album ’13’ released in two weeks…

…But in the meantime here’s a video or two about their time in the studio making it.

I will probably be getting the album at some point. Hopefully it’ll be on Spotify so that I can listen to it/review it even if I can’t afford the album for a while. I’m really looking forward to hearing it, especially after hearing ‘God is Dead?’

Loving Ozzy’s snazzy bowler hat btw, even though I’m more of a top hat girl myself.

Download Festival 2013 (A victory for the socially awkward)

My First Festival

In just over two weeks I will be departing Lincolnshire in the company of my dear friend Lellibo for that great celebration of all things rock and metal, Download Festival 2013.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/news

I’m rather excited. I’ve never been to a music festival before. I’ve never been interested in that sort of thing. I was not a normal teenager or student; now I’m getting on a bit I am interested in music (if you hadn’t noticed). I have no idea what to take, although I have been trying to find out. The Download website is quite helpful and when I contacted the organisers with questions they were answered promptly. I also found a festival survival guide written by a veteran of Download, especially for people going to Download for the first time. There’s a link to it on the Download website.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/info

I’m going to meet up with an old friend I haven’t seen in a few years, and two new friends that I’ve yet to have a chance to meet up with. I hope to also meet new people. I don’t find it particularly easy to make new friends or even acquaintances, but I want to try. As well as a celebration of my 30th birthday this trip is also going to be a celebration of how far I’ve come this year. I still have trouble dealing with people (and occasionally leaving the house – people are scary) but I managed to go to London and meet a large group of strangers, and to go to a concert in Nottingham on my own, so this will help me prove to myself that I can do this stuff.

This morning I’ve been going through the line-up and stage times, trying to work out which bands I definitely want to see. There are quite a few. If I get my timing right I should be able to see most of them. Bands I have no intention of missing include HIM, Korn, Motorhead, Young Guns, 30 Seconds to Mars, Stone Sour and Sacred Mother Tongue. There are a few that I would like to see but I don’t mind if I miss a bit of their set getting between stages: Down, Papa Roach, 3 Doors Down, Turisas, Iron Maiden, QOTSA, Alice in Chains, Rammstein and Limp Bizkit. The rest of the time I’ll just catch whoever I like the sound of.

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/line-up/all

I did a quick calculation and worked out that it might be expensive for the weekend (we’ve got 5 night camping tickets) but even if I only see those 16 bands, that’s £12.81 per band with free accommodation plus £20 towards petrol. You can’t get concert tickets, accommodation and train tickets for that; such good value for money! Now I just need to get some spending money together 😀

I’m planning to write about my experiences, and have purchased myself a notebook to write everything down in while I’m at the festival. I’m on the cadge for a camera to borrow so I can take some decent pictures. While I am getting one of the lockers and will be able to charge my phone, I want to save the battery for emergences, for example when I inevitably get lost, confused or forget my medication and need rescuing by my friends who I’m going to issue with spare inhalers for me.

So for the duration of Download I will be offline.

When I get home I plan to sleep, shower and start writing about it. Not necessarily in that order. It might take a couple of days for the band reviews to get published but they will be. In addition to band reviews I intend to write a general commentary on the festival as a whole, and a discussion of my reactions to it. I’m wandering how I will react to all the people, the constant stimulation and general atmosphere. I don’t generally do well in loud crowded places for more than a couple of hours at a time (it’s a wonder I survive concerts).

If anyone has any survival tips for the festival I’d appreciate the advice (or if any of my friends/relatives want to contribute to the 30th birthday spending fund – you know where I am).

Bye for now,

Rose

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Review:’LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS’

http://open.spotify.com/album/2P1mjsH61jGlUtdi7EJSks

I’ve finally managed to hear 30 Seconds to Mars’s new album, LLF+D. Several of my friends are
Echelon and have been raving about it.

Jared Leto has covered huge universal topics with this new album. We all have our love, lusts, faith and dreams.

This new album reminds me a lot of their first, self-titled, album, yet is clearly an evolution in their sound, with some of the anthemic sounds that can be heard on third album ‘This is War’. It also feels like I’m looking into Mr Leto’s soul, especially when listening to ‘City of Angels’.

A mix of upbeat and contemplative tracks, skilled song writing, passionate singing to match the lyrics, and a mix of electronic effects and musical talent from Shannon and Tomo, make this album a good addition to the band’s catalogue of work.

I found it an enjoyable, relaxing listen, although I had to listen to it a few times to really get to grips with the lyrics. My personal favourite is ‘Northern Lights’.

And now I’m going to listen to it again and go back to sleep.

Bye,

Rose

One band I like, One band I think are a bit bad mannered and Two bands I’m not fussed by.

Yes, it’s another round up of the bands that follow my Twitter account. Aren’t you lucky devils?

So the first band on my list are Demise, a band from the West Midlands that formed in 2008. They describe themselves as a ‘heavy band’ and say they sound like Pantera, Down, Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Label Society.

Band Members:

  • Mick Hatton – Vocals
  • Craig Williamson – Lead Guitar
  • Leigh Gittus – Rhythm Guitar
  • Don Whitehouse – Bass Guitar
  • Richie Rogers –  Drums

They have several tracks available a:

I listened to ‘The Contender’.

Opinion

I’m not incredibly impressed, but as I’ve said multiple times I prefer clean vocals to shouting and screaming. I know other people like that sort of thing and if you do they might be to your taste. Either way, don’t let my personal preferences prevent you from at least giving them a listen.

 

Next on my list is an American band called Stellar Revival. I have somewhat limited internet access so it was about a week between them following me and me being able to get online and listen to their music. By the time I had a chance to they had unfollowed me. As a result I haven’t listened to their music, but if you want to, their website is:

http://www.stellarrevival.com

Third on my list is another American band, or as they describe themselves an ‘industrial-metal/shock rock performance art act’ from Portland, Oregon.

Members

  • Cody – Vocals
  • Freeman Manfree – Guitar
  • Brick – Drums
  • The Human – Keys/Sequencing
  • Unlucky Eddy – Bass
  • Enygma – Hype and Shenanigans

 

Their website is:

Their facebook page has a quite comprehensive ‘About’ page, but here’s a small sample just to give you an idea

‘Amerakin Overdose is an Industrial- Metal / Shock Rock performance art act from Portland, OR. Known for hypnotic dance beats and horror style theatrics, blended with heavy driven metal riffs, the band brings a very user friendly sound that promotes accidental cardio via involuntary movement of your head, feet and body. The combination of heavy dance music mixed with onstage antics are a freak show in action, a nonstop visual and auditory stimulate from the first note to the last. True to the band motto; they “Get Shit Done”.’

Apart from the bad grammar and slightly off spelling, I find their expression of intent slightly obnoxious.

I listened to three of their songs after downloading them from reverb nation.

Opinion

Er, no, just, no.

Seriously, that’s what I’ve got written in my notebook.

I see what they’re trying to do, it’s very much in the ‘Slipknot’ mould but it’s just not my thing.

 

Finally, because they’re the last in my notebook, a band whose music I actually liked, A New Tomorrow.

From London and formed in June 2009, they describe their music as modern rock.

Members

  • Alessio Garavello – Vocals/Guitars
  • Andrea Lonardi – Bass Guitar
  • Dan Panza – Guitars
  • Tim Hall – Drums

This quartet have a comprehensive website:

Main Home

and their music is available on iTunes, Spotify etc. They also have a few tracks on sound cloud

Opinion

I listened to the tracks this band have on Spotify, their EP ‘Incandescent’ and the single ‘Believe’. On first listen I preferred ‘Love Utopia’ and ‘What they can’t steal from you’ because I found the lyrics of ‘Brighter than the sun’ and ‘Believe’ to be a little repetitive. On listening a second time I found that I actually quite liked all of them; the songs are enjoyable with a positive feeling about them.

Alesso Garavello’s singing is not necessarily to my taste, his voice is a little too high pitched at times, but still good. Occasionally (especially in ‘Love Utopia’) he sounds like someone has got his balls in a vice.

The guitars are not mind blowing, although they certainly seem competent enough, and Tim Hall is a steady and skilled drummer.

In other words, they’re okay, not quite as heavy as I usually like but still appealing. And they get extra points for spelling my name correctly when they answered a Tweet. I didn’t actually mean for them to answer it, I was just commenting on the music when I listened to it. But still, kudos for that.

 

And that’s the round up for this week.

Bye

Rose

 

 

Review: Sacred Mother Tongue ‘Out Of The Darkness’

 

At last! I’ve been album since I saw them live in mid-March. It does not disappoint.

Andy James’ guitar playing is amazing and Darrin South’s lyrics and vocals are so damn good. Josh Gurner (Bass) and Lee Newell (Drums) tie it all together nicely. And together it’s perfect: a heavy sound with well written, honest lyrics, and excellent musicianship. There really isn’t a track on this album that I don’t like and I can’t wait to see them play at Download Festival next month. They may just be my new favourite band.

Review: Bring Me The Horizon ‘Sempiternal’

I didn’t like BMTH’s earlier stuff, because as I’ve said before I prefer singers who actually sing rather than shout, and Ollie Sykes shouts far more than he sings. That’s unfortunate really because as ‘Deathbeds’, the final track on the ‘Deluxe’ version of Sempiternal, shows, Ollie Sykes can sing quite well. That isn’t the onbly track on the album that shows BMTH’s growth as a band, and as people. The raw pain in the lyrics of ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ contrasts with the anger of ‘The House of Wolves’. Just when you think you know what to expect they change the emotional tone of the songs, although the whole is tied together musically.

I had to listen to the album twice to really get in to it, but once I did I was willing to admit that while they will never be my favourite band this group of lads from Sheffield are okay. I can see why they are considered one of the best young British metal bands around.