Yes, ABR has released some dates when they will visit Europe. Here are the dates.
I will be on one of these for sure, will you?
Yes, ABR has released some dates when they will visit Europe. Here are the dates.
I will be on one of these for sure, will you?
This 6 piece post-hardcore band comes from Troy, Michigan. “To Plant A Seed” is their debut album. Some say they are shit, some say that they are really awesome, but what do I think?
This band has 2 vocalists, which is nothing new. Some people actually has something against having 2 singers, personally I don’t get it. If you could choose one mediocre singer or two singer where one is good at screaming and the other one at singing, what would you do? The last of the two is the best in my book. When it comes to We Came As Romans David Stephens is the one screaming his guts out. He does it good. Forcefully he commands your attention and he doesn’t let go. This guy fits this bands music perfectly. He’s not the best screamer you will ever hear, but a damn good one. Above average I would say actually. On “Broken Statues” he does this kind of battle cry and it’s awesome.
Kyle Pavoce is the guy taking care of the clean vocals. In my mind, there is a little too much production to it all. It just sounds to polished for my taste. I got to give them cred tough, it’s interesting to see Kyle and David work together. It flows between clean and screaming vocals in a really good way. They jump between each other in such a good manner, remember this is their debut album. Their talent in the vocal area when it comes to switching between each other, where what type of vocal fits is spot on. If they only could let the clean vocals be a little more “human” I would think it would be even better. Kyle does not only handle the clean vocals, he also takes care of the keyboard, synthesizer etc. We Came As Romans have a lot of this stuff in their music. I quite like it actually. Sometimes it becomes a bit much, but overall it’s nice. It creates this “wall of sound”, it just feels like they have filled out the tracks sound completely.
We Came As Romans guitarists will not blow your mind. They are not doing anything super special. Sure, they got a few good moments, but overall nothing makes them really stand out from the crowd. Although they might not do anything special, it’s good for what it is. Andrew Glass is there, but as usual when it comes to bassists, he doesn’t get a lot of space to show of skills. He knows his space so to speak. When it comes to drums Eric Choi does it pretty good. Nothing that makes you have an eargasm, but not bad either. He complements the music, but isn’t that experimental. “Stick to what you know” is something boring, or rather “stick to what you KNOW the fans will like”. Make it a little more interesting.
Since this is a post-hardcore band, they have breakdowns. Are they good? Sometimes. I never really got a feeling during the record for the breakdowns. Often you can hear when they will come. We Came As Romans sometimes just seem to put them in on random places where they take you with surprise. As I mentioned earlier We Came As Romans is like this “wall of sound”, if you don’t like that type of thing, stay away. If you don’t like “electronic” elements in your music, check out some other band. These guys are trying to sound “epic” or something close to that. Orchestral synth stuff, does that sound bad? Well, get used to it if your going to listen to this band. When push comes to shove, this band stands out from the other post-hardcore bands. There is something here. This is their debut album and although I have some complaints, it can be fixed. I’m looking forward to their next release. Not so produced vocals, maybe a little more “outside the box” thinking when it comes to guitars/drums and I think we could have smash hit. I seriously believe that these guys can make it far. They are young, they will evolve, I hope for the better. If you look at their lyrics, there is meaning behind them, something I like really much. All in all, I would call this a good debut album.
Rating: 3,5/5
Between The Buried And Me is one of my favorite bands. I don’t think I need to tell you who they are do I? Anyway, they are planning on releasing an EP early this year. ZOMG! That’s just awesome! Can’t wait for that “shit” to drop!
In metalcore Killswitch Engage has been one of the biggest bands around for years. In 2002 when Alive Or Just Breathing was released the band got more exposure than ever before. It came as a shock for most fans when Jesse Leech the lead singer left the band after their recent success. A couple of years has went by since Jesse left the band, now he and Adam Dutkiewicz (KSE lead guitarist) has joined forces to start a new band together named Times Of Grace. I think most people who have heard AOJB are excited for this new release, I know I am. Jesse has vocals to die for, there is something really special about him. I think almost everyone who have heard AJOB will agree with me. Hymn of a Broken Man will be out the 18th of January this year, be sure to check it out.
This 5 piece band hails from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. When Will We surrender is their first full length album, is it any good? Well let’s see.
Their lyrics revolves around a “never giving up” attitude and to accompany that a very melodic sound. Like many other metalcore/melodic hardcore bands they have the “famous” breakdowns. A must in this genre of music. But the difference between Hundredth and a lot of other bands seems to be that the former uses less breakdowns. Yes, the breakdowns are there but there is not a overuse (or underuse either for that matter). It’s nearly perfect in my mind.
One thing that annoys me about this band is that bassist Michael Raymo is not present. Well ok, he’s there, but you can’t hear it. This is true for a lot of bands in this genre. Although I love this kind of music, I have never really understood why they need a bassist in the first place if he never gets to shine, even if just a little bit. Now that is a minor complaint that can be applied to 99% of all band in this genre. But nevertheless it’s a valid complaint. Drummer Matt Koontz is for the most part just an average drummer that shines from time to time. I would like him to take a little more space in their music, there are some drum fills where he shows what he can do, more of that please.
Alex Blackwell and Andrew Minervini plays guitar in Hundredth. On this record they have the usual chugging and riff combination as most bands in metalcore/melodic hardcore does. No solos are present which can be a bit disappointing for some people, but I feel that the guitars are good enough as they are. They contribute much to Hundredth melodic sound. A good solo would certainly make this band stand out even more but isn’t a necessity to make you remember or like this band.
When it comes to the vocals they are really good. The first time I listen to this band I understood almost every word, which isn’t always the case with such aggressive vocals. But you come to a certain point where singer Chadwick Johnson vocals becomes a bit repetitive, a bit boring actually. Next time around I hope that he has worked a bit on this so that he has a bigger spectrum to play around with. If you listen to this record you might pick up on that the vocals changes in some songs. Well you might actually be right, there are 3 guest vocalists that makes appearances on this record. The first track of the record, “Catalysts” features Matthew Hasting of MyChildren MyBride. Then we have Jonathan Vigil of The Ghost Inside doing his thing on the track “Desolate”. Last but not least we have Ian Fike of It Prevails on the track “Willows”.
“Catalysts” features Matthew Hasting of MyChildren MyBride who I’m personally not that familiar with. I would say that he makes a decent performance on this song. It’s ok, not more than that.
On “Desolate” Jonathan Vigil makes an appearance. Although I love The Ghost Inside as a band and love Vigils vocals, it’s a bit hard to work out who’s who in this track. Still a great track though.
I love how they make use of Ian Fikes vocals on “Willows”. This song suits him perfectly. I love the lyrics too.
“My Whole Life…I’ve been compared to those around me. Expectations on my shoulder and people to please.
I will no longer sway with the willows. I will stand strong on my own. When everyone lets me down, I will stand strong alone.”
There are tons of melodic hardcore bands out there, but I think what makes Hundredth stand out from the masses are their undeniable passion for their music. This band does not reinvent the wheel by any means, but it’s nonetheless really good music. Remember that this is their first full length album, hopefully they have a lot of time to improve. I think that with a little work these guys can get huge. I’m not kidding, there is something about this record that takes a hold of you and just won’t let go. Although this record can get a bit repetitive or even a little bit cliché for this genre, it’s full of emotion and that is what saves it. I can’t wait for their next release, keep an eye on these guys, they are on to something great.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Welcome to Aggressive Music! You all can call me “E” because I’m fun like Ecstasy. Nah, I’m just joking. I’m a music lover that loves to write, so the goal with this blog is to fuse those two things together. There will be news, reviews, maybe some interviews later on. Most of it will revolve around metalcore/hardcore/metal music. Sometimes I will feature other styles of music too, as I actually do like many more genres besides metal and it’s sub-genres.