[Review] Protest The Hero - Volition

Canadian progressive-mathcore-metal band Protest The Hero are back with their crowdfunded follow up to 2011's "Scurrilous", with Chris Adler of Lamb of God replacing Moe Carlson on drums and a number of guests on vocals (including long time contributor Jadea Kelly), their new album "Volition" takes them on yet another new direction. Whereas "Scurrilous" was dark, sad and instrumentally spacey at times, "Volition" is compressed, fast and agressive. While it feels than none of the songs in "Volition" are as epic in scale or exhilarating as "Blindfolds Aside", "Sequoia Throne" or "Hair Trigger" the album is enjoyable at all levels from beginning to end.

The album is both lyrically and instrumentally diverse, adressing discrimination and misogyny at one moment and stepping on the toes of dishonest musicians the next and the unending "Star Wars vs Star Trek" debate. It also features what is probably the most agressive song Protest The Hero has released: "A Life Embossed", with "Animal Bones" a close second.

The album sees the return of PtH's (post)hardcore roots in many of it's songs, with the closer "Skies" being the perfect example (specially in the second half). The constant jump between unhindered aggression and attractive choruses keeps the album fresh at all times and vocalist Rody Walker's range is one of the main attractions. In short, PtH has managed once again to keep things fresh in a genre often bloated with carbon-copy bands, while mantaing a high standard of quality in the whole album. it may take as long as 10 listens before the album really sinks in, because of everything it throws at you at the same time, but once it does it's immensely rewarding.

9/10

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[Review] Karnivool - Asymmetry

Karnivool is a prog rock/metal quintet from Perth that has often been compared to Tool by a number of reasons, musical or not; their dark sound, sometimes cryptic lyrics, polyrythms and odd time signatures have drawn comparisons between both. Curiously enough they share the last three letters out of their names and a tendency to take 4 or 5 years between releases.

But how deep do these similarities go? Well, Karnivool has made certain that they draw a line between both bands with their new record, Asymmetry.

The band has incorporated a few elements from hardcore and post rock, the songs are mostly fast, equally melodic and agressive, the guitar arrangements often sound loose and more like part of the background sound of the band than something that is meant to draw attention, leaving that role to vocals and drums. Both guitars and bass mix and melt into a wall of sound that surrounds the listener. The production contributes to this feeling, even when there's not a lot of layers to pick apart, the guitars are often hard to tell from each other in the noisiest parts, and drums feel like they are mixed too loud, with cymbals that sound too distorted and trebly.

Overall the album pays homage to it's name. Asymmetry can be easily divided in two halves, the first being compact and comprised of mostly upbeat songs, with The Refusal peaking in agressivity. The second, much more melodic and laid back, has some songs separated by long ambient and instrumental interludes. This, in my opinion, is not inherently good or bad. While it feels like the album lacks focus or a clear background idea it also keeps things from getting stale; for an album that clocks at about 67 minutes having most of it composed of songs like those in the first half would tire the listener too fast. The lyrics deal mostly with existencialism (though not exclusively), with lines like "Try to understand/ There is no great plan/ We will cross the line/ With an open mind" and "I want us to face the shape we're in/ A world of confusion awaits our sons and kin/ Let's reset it all".

There's no doubt this album is a grower, while initially it feels like it goes nowhere, once you memorize some of the songs and review the flow of the album in your head, the rest starts to sink in slowly and then it becomes a much more rewarding experience. Show patience and you'll see the results soon enough.

7.5/10

[Review] The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer

The Dillinger Escape Plan is a band known for crafting albums that come close to rupturing your eardrums and for doing it in a way that is remarkably enjoyable for the listener (or at least those adventurous enough for the sonic ride). While this is true for their newest album One Of Us Is The Killer, their first in Sumerian Records, the band has been experimenting with more traditional and even melodic compositions.

Make no mistake, the album still kicks and punches and it's knuckles have cymbal-shaped studs, but from time to time the album abruptly changes from a carefully crafted mess to a more traditional hard rock sound and vice versa. The title track is an example of this new refined songwriting that the band "experiments" with, making use of soft verse-loud chorus dynamics and keeping a slow, steady tempo for the whole song.

Each member has something to offer to both their new sound and their "old" one. Ben Weinman's riffs are lightning fast, dissonant and they sound like pure evil, specially when combined with James Love's rhythm guitar, Greg Puciato's furiously versatile vocals are largely responsible for the melodical side of their new sound, effortlessly jumping from quiet breakdowns to chaotic shredding to more melodic yet hard rocking segments, Liam Wilson adds a lot of atmospheric bass lines and Billy Raymer's epileptic drumming are a driving force in the hardest hitting songs and a source of groove in the breakdowns, taking the spotlight for the instrumental CH 375 268 277 ARS (something that instantly reminded me of Hella's 2011 album Tripper) and contributing a great fill for the phenomenal title track.

The production is very good, every instrument can be picked apart, even in the midst of chaos, though at the cost of trying to sound loud and agressive the album has a bit of clipping; sometimes the drums may sound too compressed and some of Weinman's arrangement's are partially lost in the mix.

In short, it's still DEP, it's not for everyone, it hits hard, it's raw and it's noisy, but the band shows it's not afraid of going into new directions and broadening their horizons, something I have always respected, and something to be expected from those who put their hearts into their music.

8.5/10

At The Drive In reunites for a few shows

Don't get me wrong I like ATDI a lot but this is so disheartening despite the fact that it could be a clever move from Omar and Cedric to promote LP6 and have some fun in the process... that beign said, I hope they can kill it this hard, but I have my doubts... Cedric's voice is my main concern. For those wishing to see them Coachella tickets will be available soon.