Album Review - Everything We Left Behind : Our Ears Are Bleeding (2011)

Bristol punk-rockers Everything We Left Behind claim to write fast songs and play them even faster live, and here on their recently released album ‘Our Ears Are Bleeding’, they prove that the sound of fast-paced no thrills punk rock isn’t dead and there is still a place for this genre of music in the overflowing boiling-pot of talent that is in their hometown. 
 

The album is loaded with intensity and is clearly influenced by US punk bands that came of age in the 90s (think NOFX, Blink 182, Less Than Jake and the like), with rapid drums, juddering chords and raw vocals. It’s these vocals that set the band apart from their American influences, the voice of frontman/guitarist Josh Rees having a grittier sound than would be expected, giving EWLB an edge.

The eleven songs on the album roar by like an express train, filling your ears with powerful punk and drilling rhythm throughout your body. It’s fun and enjoyable, with songs like album opener ‘Generica’, a hard-hitting song with some depth in skilful yet simple guitar solos and nostalgic lyrics (“When I was young, I never believed anyone”). 

Other songs, like ‘No Friend Of Mine’ and ‘Don’t Be Hasty’, show off the musicianship of the band members, drawing out a technical edge to their punk. The songs are well structured and the melodies are well thought out. The vocals are passionate and you can imagine the smiles of the faces of the EWLB guys while bashing out these tracks.

The band are quite clearly good at what they do, and don’t claim to be anything other than fervent punk-rockers. At times, this album can stray into repetitive territory, but luckily not to an extent so that it renders this group of songs obsolete. ‘Our Ears Are Bleeding’ won’t make your ears bleed, but it might make you dust off your old-school punk collection for a trip into memory lane.

Album Review - The Devil Wears Prada : Dead Throne (2011)

American metalcore Christians (which sounds like a movie I’d like to see) The Devil Wears Prada have gone from strength to strength following the release of 2009’s breakthrough album ‘With Roots Above & Branches Below’, and after last year’s concept EP ‘Zombie’, the definitive album for the band has arrived.

New release ‘Dead Throne’, which Adam Dutkiewicz (of Killswitch Engage and Times of Grace fame) has produced, is a fresh album that avoids going over the same old processes that many bands in this genre find hard to avoid. The songs on the album are short, with barely any of them topping 3 minutes, making it a devastating experience that is hard to keep up with at times. It’s awe-inspiring at times, the musicianship at show proving that DWP are a band at the top of their game.

Album opener and title track, ‘Dead Throne’ starts with an ambience, the drums a signal for a march into battle, before the trademark screams of Mike Hranica bring the whole band in, the severe aggression honed to a recognisable sound. This song stands up with some of the best metalcore on the planet, and that’s because DWP are a band that clearly enjoy what they do and are willing to stretch their boundaries to breaking point. The high production values on this album are clear from the word go, shown especially as cymbals build up into the brutal ‘Untidaled’. The combination of thrashing guitars and passionate yet hostile vocals is impressive, but it’s a clean melodic chorus that adds an extra dimension and the doom fuelled outro is a fitting end.

The juddering nu-metal throwback beginning to ‘Mammoth’ brings in a song that really takes no prisoners. Discords and pummelling drums back up the plentiful melodic parts, which are now common place in the most recent releases from this band. ‘Vengeance’ gets the album really going at a cracking pace, the songs now striding ahead with determination. This song is fun, featuring a rare ‘catchy’ hook that shows that DWP are all about branching out to bring their music to the masses. It doesn’t sacrifice the sheer brilliance of their sound, which is shown off at a greater level with ‘R.I.T’ and ‘My Questions’, a pair of songs that channel the well-practised angst-ridden sound that gives substance to what could otherwise be standard metal tracks. Breakdowns have been few so far in this album, so the outro to the latter song is welcome.

The instrumental interlude, ‘Kansas’, gives the listener a break from the aggressive onslaught. The melodic picked guitar sweeps through the song until the rest of the band kick in. It has an edge, making it far from a standard interlude, with progressive percussion and a spine-chilling spoken voiceover. The second act resumes the brutality, with ‘Born To Lose’, a track with guts in abundance. ‘Forever Decay’ shows off DWP as a group of increasingly skilled musicians and their ear for ever changing riffs and pulsating beats. ‘Chicago’ is a song tainted with despair, but despite that, it’s a defiant piece of music. A symbol of resurrection, if you will. The chord patterns are odd at times, but it’s intriguing. The ever-present strain of melody is what ties this song together, as it has for most of the tracks on this album. 

‘Constance’ is another hard hitter, and my personal favourite on ‘Dead Throne’. The parts bleed together perfectly, with an odd yet satisfying Middle Eastern sound running trough it (highlighted well on the verses). A storming chorus throws down the gauntlet to any other bands in this genre, showing them exactly how it’s done.

The final two songs, ‘Pretenders’ and ‘Holdfast’, don’t let up, and our legs may be weary as we come into them but we have to run as fast as we can with them, because they don’t allow us to rest. Some big tricks are pulled off in this finale, including insane stop/start guitars, effects galore and raucous energy. Once it’s all over, it’s clear that DWP are a band just getting into their stride, so expect even bigger things from them in the coming years. A huge US tour to promote the album now awaits, which I am sure will be another step towards superstardom for a fantastic band with both a purpose and a message.

What I've Been Watching (June / July 2011)

Due to some unforseen circumstances I didn't manage to keep on top of my reviews for these months, so I have merely listed the movies I watched and the ratings I have given them out of 10. The reviews will return for August/September!

Role Models (2008)

7.5 / 10

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

7 / 10

X-Men: First Class (2011)

8.5

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

6

Batman Begins (2005)

8.5

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

7

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

7.5

Step Brothers (2008)

7.5

Paul (2011)

6

Sucker Punch (2011)

5.5

Green Lantern – Emerald Knights (2011)

5.5

Bored to Death – Season Two (2010)

8

Brighton Rock (2010)

6

Source Code (2011)

7

The Thing (1982)

9

Flight of the Conchords – Season One (2007)

8.5

Flight of the Conchords – Season Two (2009)

8

The Other Guys (2010)

7

Super (2010)

8

Juno (2007)

7

EP Review - Kills & Thrills / Our Lives : Split 10" Vinyl (2011)

Live Young Records, a DIY label based in the US, hints at the heated cultural rivalry between Boston and New York while promoting the release of a Split 10” Vinyl EP featuring a band from each of those cities. It’s that rivalry that is used to build a ‘common ground’ for the release, which is a collaboration of two brazenly heavy bands, each with a reputation garnered from hard work and a take-no-prisoners sound.

The first half of the split belongs to New Yorker’s Kills & Thrills, a hard-hitting East Coast band that tear into the EP with ‘Come Alive’, a track with more balls than a tennis court. The pace of the song is terrifying at times, thankfully letting up for a few bars in the middle, before the screaming banshee vocals kick down the doors and bring sledgehammers to the walls. The song fades to a close with disjointed guitars, but that’s certainly not where the band is done with us.

‘Live Young’ chimes in with deformed guitars and a yelp of ‘wasting my life away’, soon thundering along. I can hear a lot of US hardcore giants ‘Every Time I Die’ in this track, the attitude of the vocals combined with a never-say-die musical accompaniment making a big impression. Kills & Thrills sign off with a cover of Motorhead’s iconic ‘Ace of Spades’, which ticks all of the boxes a Motorhead cover should. It’s rare that a band can make you not care that it isn’t Lemmy that can be heard, but here it really doesn’t seem to matter.

Boston’s own Our Lives open their side of the Split EP with the hardcore ‘Sky Fire’, with progressive chugging providing an ever changing and advanced backdrop for the vocals to tear across. The song is a juggernaut, leaving your ears ringing and all expectations after the first track blown out of the water. This is a beast of a track, proving what this band is made of, despite being together not much longer than 6 months. It goes to show that success can be gained from simply knowing how to play some kick-ass heavy music with style. ‘The Cleansing Plan’ is from the much grimier spectrum of this genre, but it’s just as hard hitting as the first track, with vocals more distorted this time around and the venom being spat leaving you feeling more pent up than you did before the track started.

‘Cop Killer’, an Ice-T cover which is similarly dedicated to the LAPD by a monotonous voice as the song opens, is a sign of what Our Lives have in terms of animalistic fury.  Screams bring in fast paced punk chords and furious drums. The vocals are then yelped with brash intensity, before the song’s title is thrust into the sky with gang shouts. It’s a brutal song, its social commentary strangely parallel to the recent riots in the UK, providing nothing more than a ‘f*ck the system’ attitude, with little brains behind it, just the intension to rustle some feathers. Agree with it or not, the constant shouts of ‘f*ck the police’ and ‘tonight we get even’ shows that the spirit of punk is alive and well.

This release is just as frantic as it is visceral, which makes for great listening and an awesome chance to discover two fantastic bands, who don’t seem to be trying to outdoing each other on this EP, which makes the experience that much more enjoyable. An honest and compelling group of songs.

Album Review - Biffy Clyro : Revolutions / Live At Wembley (2011)

The Biffy Clyro live show is an awesome affair and I have had the privilege of witnessing on numerous occasions, from smaller stages such as the Bristol Academy to their recent headline set at Sonisphere Festival. This double live release, a CD recording and DVD of the Scottish trio’s huge Wembley show, presents the band at a stage of their career where enormously epic is the scale at which they perform.

They’re a big time band now, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys. The DVD is a fast-cut jolting experience, showing off the huge screens, bright lights and pyrotechnics. The visuals are a stunning accompaniment to the music, and that’s the main thing I want to talk about here. The CD is the set in full, which is 21 tracks (including an intro, interlude and outro) of some of the best Biffy tracks from their back catalogue, performed spectacularly by a band in their prime. Sure, much of the set features tracks from the latest albums, ‘Only Revolutions’ and ‘Puzzle’ but there is still room for some old favourites amongst the arguably more commercially accessible material from recent years.#

‘Revolutions / Live At Wembley’ is a good purchase for Biffy fans of new and old, capturing Simon Neil, James Johnson and Ben Johnson at their best, tearing through opening track ‘The Captain’ with venom, throwing back the years with singalong classic ‘57’ and delivering the complicated time signatures in ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’ in impeccable fashion. They are amazing performers, combining their awesome song writing with a stage presence that is second to none, This shines through in the audio of the show, which although does sound slightly auto-tuned to  near perfection, doesn’t take away from what makes Biffy Clyro one of the most important bands on the UK music scene right now.

Most of the tracks sound massive, which is what makes this album a success. After seeing Biffy rock a headline set at Sonisphere it’s hard to imagine the band being anywhere other than right at the top. Tracks like ‘Glitter & Trauma’ and ‘That Golden Rule’ are thrilling from the offset and the quieter songs like ‘Machines’ and ‘Many of Horror’ are beautiful, especially when combined with the voices of the thousands of people in the Wembley crowd.

Biffy Clyro are already one of my favourite modern bands, but releases like this really cement them as UK heavyweights. I expect a continued rise to the stars on a journey that will only get better. Wembley is just the beginning.