Hands of Ruin - Realizations (2011)

Genre: Metal/Hardcore

Release Date: 2011

Location: Port Macquarie, Australia

Tracklist:

1. Honeybadger

2. Hook, Line, & Sinker

3. Veil of Deceit

4. The Blight of Mary Jane

5. Realizations

Abide By Me - Nonyava (Single) (2012)

Genre: Metal

Location: Brookfield,WI

Tracklist

1.Nonyava

Gaia - State of Urgency (2011)

Genre: Hardcore / Metal

Location: Massachusetts

Tracklist

1.State of Urgency

2.Faux News

3.The Root of All Evil

4.Chaos Profits

5.U.S. Inc

6.Savior Self

This Deafening Whisper - A Matter of Knife and Depth (2011)

Genre: Melodic Metal/ Metalcore

Location: Paris,France

Tracklist

1.Introduction

2.Emma Sin

3.Teaching to Whisper

4.Learning To Doubt

5.Cyanide Overdose

6.Slices of Life

Buy Merch HERE

Water's Edge - Drifting (2011)

Genre: Instrumental Progressive Metal

Location: Rhode Island

Tracklist

1.At the Waters Edge

2.Synapse

3.Voyage

4.With The Tides

5.To Walk A Dead Sea

6.Unfamiliar Ground

7.The Spill

8.Reanimation

9.Drifting

Great Album. Looking Forward to their Next Release " An Abstract Collapse" be sure to support these guys!.

Rogue Empire - Rogue Empire (2012)

Genre: Metal

Location: Waukesha,Wisconsin

Tracklist

1.Overlord I

2.Overlord II

3.Hallowed I

4.Hallowed II

5.Misdirected

Nightmares - Demo (2011)

Genre: Metal/Metalcore

Location: Gold Coast ,Australia

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2......And Thats Goodnight

3.Enslaved

4. Your Next Victim

5. Timeless

LOCUSTS - Demo (2011)

Genre: Deathcore/Metal

Location: UK

Tracklist:

1.Spread The Plague

2.Descent Into Malevolence 

Barrier - EP (2011)

Genre: Metal / Hardcore

Location: Chicago, IL

Tracklist:

1. Habits

2. Denial

3. I Am The Mistake

4. The Struggle

5. Cut Throat

Click HERE for merch.

Courting Pandora - World Of Filth (2011)

Genre: Metal / Progressive / Hardcore

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Tracklist:

1. Abandoned

2. Skullfuck

3. Cold Blooded Murder

4. Vultures

5. Filth Missile

6. Tear Her To Shreds

7. Christ Puncher

(Free or name your price off bandcamp!)

Life Before Last - The Finest of All Hours (2011)

Genre: Metal

Location: Hamilton, Ohio

Tracklist:

1. Our World In Peril

2. The Finest of All Hours

3. Against the Fortified Cities

4. Portrait of Glory

5. The Crime of the Century

6. In Hope of Our Redemption

7. Chariots of Salvation

8. In Triumphant Echoes

9. Here We Stand (Ooh Rah)

10. The Last Breath of a Dying Breed

Preview:

Shall Be The Conqueror - Chillicothe Burning (2011)

Genre: Experimental / Progressive / Metal

Location: Chillicothe, Ohio

Tracklist:

1. Chillicothe Burning

2. With Empty Hands

3. So Far The Horizon

4. Needles Kane

Preview:

Skeletonwitch "Forever Abomination" Review

Genre: Metal

Location: Athens, Ohio

Skeletonwtich are on their fourth studio album, and these Ohio thrashers are taking all the elements from each album, and combining it into one massive attack. Many people believe that thrash had died out long ago, and is a genre of Metal that has long gone to the way side! With a band like Skeletonwitch alive and well and their new drummer Dustin Boltjes are on a Thrash assault like no other band of their kind!

Skeletonwitch are like no other Thrash band on this planet in my eyes. They are able to create a sub-genre of Metal like no other on this planet. They combine elements of Thrash, Black, and Death metal. Than put it in the sublet blender of Metal grind that shit up, and you have one of the most intense Metal albums of the year! Skeletonwitch really learned over the years to find that well balanced mix of guitar worship, bass gallops that refine Maidens legacy, blackened eerie vocals, and blast beats that will have your ear drums begging for more!!

This band is no joke when it comes to hitting the studio either! They have every single lyric, riff, bass line, drum beat, and lead written before they even hit the studio. They do make tweaks here and there, but they really do not mess around when it comes to making an album. On Forever Abomination though they where worried, because there was no drummer for this album until two months before hitting the studio!

Prosthetic wanted them in the studio earlier than Skeletonwtich actually wanted to, and being the perfectionist they have come to be. They stood their ground, and instead of hitting the studio in February they did not go into recording until June! If not this would have not been the album they wanted to put out, and in basic Skeletonwtich style they stuck to their Metal ways and gave them a big Fuck You! Yes it is their label, but they should still have say in when their art is produced! What they do create is art, and not some milled together bullshit!! I respect them for possibly loosing their label, and not giving into what the pencil pushers wanted them to do. Is that not what Metal is about?

This album is about dare I say. Bringing back the Headbang! I enjoy the album from start to finish and find myself banging my head while driving, and envision myself at a Skeletonwitch show while listening to this album. It is in your face, dark eerie, and the music propels this album forward all the way through! If they are slamming their way through your town. Do yourself a favor, and go see these dudes live. You will not be disappointed, and their merch is some of the best around! I love drinking outta my Skeletonwitch pentagram pint glass!

So I say fuck yeah brothers and sister. Do what you do. If you like , worshiping Satan, drinking beer, eating pussy, and your Metal dark and in your face. Then fucking listen to Skeletonwitch!

Ryan

Our Last Crusade - Demo (2011)

Genre: Metal / Hardcore

Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Tracklist:

1. Kingdom

2. Shepard

3. Avenger

Merch Link:

Take Charge - Pre Contact: The Extermination Theory Review

From: Tampa, Florida

Genre: Metal/Deathcore/Hardcore

Songs to Jam First: Flies, Cancer Garden, The Further

From the start this record grabs you by the balls and does not let go. It opens with "Flies", a driving and heavy track that imediately drops in with chugs and concise drumming that commands your attention. I'd like to note that drummer Ed Pena really puts the bar up on this record with his creative fills and flawless transitions, hard to believe this kid is so young. Hailing from central Florida Take Charge's"Pre Contact" is a well thought out masterpiece. Not to mention producer Kenny Gil's magic touches always seem to captivate his audiences. Anyhow, The record progressively moves forward with "The Second System", more of a post hardcore djent style track. The track highlights Jeff Wester's vast vocal range, where he uses more punk yells and traditional style vocals, but mixes in his death vocals as well. His vocals are most definitely on their A game at this point in Take Charge's history, and he is easily one of the best I've heard in awhile. The next song, "The Further" drops the ball with a very windy city heavy feel. While jamming this track,I've begun to notice that the riffs on this record are a lot chunkier and more technical compared to demos and previous tracks from this group. But my favorite thing, is that it's got a very traditional death structure, but with a super melodic ambiance that trails the entire album. At this point I approach "Cancer Garden".

This is my personal favorite off the record. It really highlights the guitarist's capabilities, as well as being more lyrically deep. The track has the most personal feel, but I feel it'is got the most combined in it to describe Take Charge best. And the record ends with "Accepting Insanity", easily the most heavy and traditional metal on the Album. What sticks out in this track is the Make Them Suffer style synthesizer and the choppy blast beats. Overall, this record is pure perfection and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to every minute. It completely took my perspective of good death metal to the cleaners, leaving my ears raped in the best way possible. I can't wait to see what this band comes out with in the future, and I will be keeping a close eye on this group. And after hearing this record, I suggest all of you readers do the same. It seems everything they touch turns to heavy gold, leaving my score at 10 out of 10 for this review. Let's hope they keep their Midas touch.

Rating: 10/10

Review by Sura Chase

Eat a Helicopter "Descend Into Darkness" EP Review

Genre: Metal / Deathcore / Experimental

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Eat A Helicopter's latest EP, Descend Into Darkness, is a brutal album that didn't quite find its voice until about halfway through. Once they found it, there was no turning back. If you're a fan of beatdown, dissonant breakdown, crushing vocals, and amazing drum work, this album is for you! See below for the track by track dissection:

1. Blood Dynasty (Scourge) - The opening track comes at you slow and heavy with plenty of breakdowns strewn without it. There isn't a lot of technicality in the guitar work, but the drums really stand out to me on this track. There are fast blast beats and triplets on the bass. The vocals couldn't match this song any better, both high and low. This song will get you up, moving, and ready to start moshing. Be ready for a lot of dissonant, beatdown style breakdowns!

2. Internal Decay - The drums absolutely tear this track up, and the guitars take a more technical turn, which I was very happy to hear. There is still a strong beatdown presence in this song, which I haven't heard a lot of recently. It's a welcome change for me. They bring it hard from start to finish on this.

3. Maggot Mouth - A very slow, electronic beeping starts this one, followed by some ethereal sounding voices and textures. The bass drums comes in and slips away. Then, the moment you've been waiting for: a skull crushingly heavy breakdown to get things going. This doesn't give way until we go back to the creepy voices, which is short lived. It really sounds like Eat A Helicopter comes alive on this track with their brutality and sound. Ridiculously heavy, and not just for the sake of it. This song obliterates.

4. Sluggard (Infected With Life) - This song comes out of the gates of Hell blast beating, tremolo picking, and high screeches. It's a drastic change in speed from the last track to get you going again. The speed slows down as we enter more breakdowns and beatdown style writing. The pattern of blast beats and breakdowns continues as it just gets progressively heavier as the song treads on. The last breakdown may feel a little tacked on, but the insanity of it makes it okay.

5. Lovers Wrought - The last drum hit of the breakdown in track 4 leads right into this one. The intro of it reminds me heavily of Recon. The vocals kick in with a tingling keyboard sample, which I wished they used a little more of throughout this EP. The drums, as par for this album, are killing it. We hear some pretty awesome riffs from the guitarists on this track, showing they can do more than "chug chug chug". A nice drum build up leads us into the last breakdowns and keyboards, as the album comes to a close. Absurdly heavy song to end the album.

Rating: 4/5

Myth - Era Of Hate

Genre: Ambient / Symphonic / Instrumental / Metal

Location: Morocco

Tracklist:

1. Era Of Hate

2. Apocalypse Signals