Oli Peters (vocals), Tobi Morelli (seven string guitar), Dean Lamb (eight string guitar), Jaron Evil (six string fertless bass and backing vocals) and Spencer Prewett (drums) delivering some extremely rapid and precise, brutal, hyper-blasting, grinding and technical death metal. The young Canadian upstarts Archspire make a proper, promising debut. Pushing boundaries of speed, technique, and limits set only by the human nature, Archspire focusing on the fast, powerful, energetic and explosive, but still musically accurately structured and perfectly performed modern, progressive death metal. Still, these boys from Vancouver managed to stealth melodies, harmonies into this unmerciful massacre. Read more Archspire – All Shall Align (2011)
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Arch Enemy – Khaos Legions (2011)
Angela Gossow is one of the very few successful female metal singers to use hell of the growling. Being part of bands such as Asmodina and Mistress, she joined Arch Enemy in November 2000, after former lead singer Johan Liiva was removed from the band. “Khaos Legions” is the eighth studio album by the band, it will be released on May 30, 2011 by Century Media and it will be the first material consist of new songs since “Rise of the Tyrant” from 2007. The album was produced by Arch Enemy and Rickard Bengtsson, who already worked with the band in their 2005 album “Doomsday Machine”. Arch Enemy was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott in 1996, originally a supergroup, its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, and Eucharist and delivering traditional Swedish quality melodic death metal. Read more Arch Enemy – Khaos Legions (2011)
HammerFall – Infected (2011)
Although Hector is missing from the cover of the eight studio album by HammerFall and the originally planed album cover was replaced after negative reception and some disputes, the fans can breath released, HammerFall delivered the same heavy/power metal album as usual. And it’s quite enough to listen their second track, “Bang Your Head” and you will know exactly what kind of metal came out from the kitchen of this Gothenburg, Sweden based band. HammerFall right from the beginning in 1993 get on this old-school, traditional heavy/power metal path marked by the work of predecessors as Helloween and mainly other German bands and they are still committed and devoted to the traditional approach delivering a same trip-back to the glorious 80s. Read more HammerFall – Infected (2011)
Company of Thieves – Running From a Gamble (2011)
Musicians have their entire lives to write their debut, and a year to complete the followup. I guess this is the result of industrializing the music and turn it from art into business. Company Of Thieves take their time with the second album while “Ordinary Riches”, originally was independently issued in 2007 and came out in February 2009 and their second album, “Running from a Gamble”, was released on May 17, 2011. And the waiting for it’s worth. The 13 new songs keeps that friendly, warm, familiar, close and tight feeling which makes Company Of Thieves so bright and special and bring them a feverish fanbase which extended lately.
While Genevieve Schatz reminds me sometimes of Bjork, their music is a nice blending of indie/alternative rock with roots back to The Beatles and soft shades of blues with the gloomy texture of Portishead and the explosion of 12 Rounds (an awesome and unfairly forgotten band). Read more Company of Thieves – Running From a Gamble (2011)
When Saints Go Machine – Konkylie (2011)
It was a quite nice surprise, I admit, I didn’t heard them before. Saints Go Machine are a band from Copenhagen, Denmark and they play a kind of dark pop which sometimes reminds me eventually of Japan (the British band of the 80s of David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Rich Barbieri, Steve Jansen and Masami Tsuchiya).
When Saints Go Machine was formed in 2007 and debuted with their selvbetitlede Ep in 2008. In May 2009 they released their debut album “Ten Makes a Face”. In October 2010 the band signed a contract with German label !K7 Records and “Konkylie” was released on 16 May 2011.
Silas Moldenhawer (drums), Jonas Kenton (synth, vocals), Simon Muschinsky (keys) and Nicholas Manuel Vonsild (vocals) balancing smoothly between minimalist pop themes and gloomy textures which bring an interesting, exotic taste into their music. Read more When Saints Go Machine – Konkylie (2011)
She Wants Revenge – Valleyheart (2011)
Having a deep and dark Depeche Mode after-taste, the Americans from She Wants Revenge are back with their third studio album after a four years gap. “Valleyheart” with its ten brand new songs holds the same Depeche Mode marks, it’s a gloomy, minimalist, but vibrating material with a typical/traditional British taste. “Must Be the One”, the leading single it’s available for free download on the band’s Facebook page. Justin Warfield – vocals, guitar, keyboards and Adam Bravin (aka Adam 12) – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, drum machine, percussion, programming, vocals get their musical roots and inspiration in bands such Joy Division, but also Depeche Mode, New Order, Bauhaus, Danse Society and the darker areas explored by The Sisters of Mercy. They have been compared to Interpol and My Bloody Valentine. Read more She Wants Revenge – Valleyheart (2011)
Owl City – All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011)
I love Owl City. It’s something familiar, friendly and warm about them music, it’s just feels good. It’s bright and beautiful. Adam Young, formed Owl City in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota and he writes, composes, performs, and produces all of Owl City’s recorded music as Young also produces music under a wide variety of other projects, which include Port Blue, Seagull Orchestra, Sky Sailing and Swimming with Dolphins.
Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents’ basement. Owl City developed a following on Myspace in the late 2000s before signing with Universal Republic in 2008. After two independent albums – “Of June” (2007) and “Maybe I’m Dreaming” (2008) -, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album “Ocean Eyes”, which spawned the hit triple platinum single “Fireflies” and also the album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010. Read more Owl City – All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011)
Seether – Holding On To Strings Better Left To Fray (2011)
“Fur Cue” kick off exploding with raw riffs, pumping energy like a furious Godsmack track and it sounds like any promising nu metal anthem. But in the very neck song, “No Resolution”, Seether settle down to some Stone Temple Pilots after-taste-like area and the rest of the album balancing between this (post) Pearl Jam and Stained marked genre of indie/alternative rock. “Tonight” sounds quite pop while “Country Song” brings some Southern tastes. Read more Seether – Holding On To Strings Better Left To Fray (2011)
Lady GaGa – Born This Way (2011)
Why we should buy an album? Obviously for the music. Unfortunately the “normal” answer is not quite the right one. As music becomes part of the entertainment industry and artist becomes brands, just like with the clothing, we pay for and buy the brand. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady GaGa conquered the world after releasing her debut “The Fame” in 2008 with some catchy songs, singable choruses, “Poker Face”, “Paparazzi” and later “Bad Romance” from “The Fame Monsters” (2009) were strike at first, easy to memorize, singable, catchy songs. Sledge hammering dance beats, plodding keyboard patterns, pumping drums are not necessarily everything, not without melodies. “Born This Way” seems to be written for performances as part of the show where music mainly becomes secondary and much more matters the costumes, the scenography, the dancers, the lights and lasers and well, for the singer it becomes difficult to focus on singing while she have a main role in the show and have to dance as well, so complicated or consumptive vocal scores are not quite recommended. Lady GaGa becomes part of a pop cabaret, a traveling circus and her music is only an accessory of the whole picture. And that brings be back to the beginning. In that case, if this is “only” a soundtrack, part of a bigger production, why we should buy the album? Read more Lady GaGa – Born This Way (2011)
Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See (2011)
Their debut album “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” released in 2006, became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, surpassing Oasis “Definitely Maybe” and remains the fastest-selling debut album for a band in the UK since. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, Arctic Monkeys are one of the first acts to come to the public attention via the Internet and receiving attention from the British tabloid press.
In 2005 the band played a critically acclaimed performance at the Carling Stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, reserved for less known or unsigned bands. Their appearance was hyped by much of the music press and the band was watched by an unusually large crowd.
They refused to change their songs to suit the industry and resisted signing to a record label and their cynicism towards the industry was such that record company scouts were refused guaranteed guest list entry for their gigs. The success of the strategy was illustrated with a series of sell-out gigs across the UK and Ireland.
But as any fairly tale got to an end, finally they signed to Domino in June 2005. The band said they were attracted to the “DIY ethic” of the label, but the UK’s Daily Star reported that following the record deal, Arctic Monkeys singed also a £1 million publishing deal with EMI and a £725,000 contract with Epic Records for the United States. Eventually the band denied this on their website, dubbing the newspaper “The Daily Stir”. Read more Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See (2011)
