Airbourne – Runnin’ Wild
Roadrunner Records (U.S.)/EMI Records (Australia)

(4.5/5)

Got Rock ‘n’ Roll? Australia does, and Airbourne’s album Runnin’ Wild proves it! The only way to accurately compare Airbourne to any other band I’ve heard, I have to say that they are AC/DC in the 21st century! The similarities between the two bands is uncanny, right down to Joel O’Keeffe’s vocals that sound like a mix between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, both AC/DC vocalists. Musically, Joel and co-guitarist David Roads, bassist Justin Street, and drummer Ryan O’Keeffe sound very similar to the musical stylings of AC/DC, but they have song titles that resemble those of Mötley Crüe. Lyrically, the songs from Runnin’ Wild could go either way in resembling Mötley Crüe or AC/DC with the content of cheap booze, cheaper women, and livin’ for Rock ‘n’ Roll! Honestly, I think Runnin’ Wild is a great album, and it’s a good break from the “norm” of what’s being produced in today’s music industry. As far as the individual tracks on the album go, my favorites are “Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll” and the three singles from the album, “Diamond in the Rough”, “Runnin’ Wild” (title track), and “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast”. Overall, all of the songs consist of pure, fist pumping, head bobbing, Rock ‘n’ Roll throughout the whole album and I, for one, am glad to see it back in the music scene.

Bury Your Dead – Bury Your Dead
Victory Records

(5/5)

Bury Your Dead is back and they are better than ever! If you liked their debut album Cover Your Tracks, you are going to love their new self-titled album! Although all the tracks aren’t named after movies and there are no “Top Gun” breakdowns, this album certainly speaks for itself and the subtle breakdowns included are more than effective in producing headbang/mosh worthy material. One thing I certainly like more is the vocal effects change. With the new vocalist, Myke Terry, came the elimination of most of the layered vocals that, in my opinion, brought down the vocals in past albums. Musically, this album features classic Bury Your Dead heavy guitars by Eric Ellis and Brendan “Slim” MacDonald, thundering bass by Aaron “Bubble” Patrick, and super fast double bass by drummer Mark Castillo. Myke’s vocals on this album are absolutely incredible, helping to make it, in my opinion, the best Bury Your Dead album to be released thus far. On top of his vocals, Mark’s drumming in this album continues to show proof that hes is one of the best in the business! As far as the whole tracks themselves go, my personal favorites are “Hands to Hide the Shame”, “A Devil’s Ransom”, and “Angel With a Dirty Face”. “Hands to Hide the Shame” is my favorite out of all the tracks because its all around greatness. This song shows more diversity when it has its heavy breakdowns then goes into a more progressive, clean part with pure sung vocals. The musicianship in that song, again, is very diverse and I think it really shows what these guys are capable of. As far as any of the other tracks go, I really enjoyed this whole album because of the pure talent and musicianship portrayed throughout all 11 tracks. Overall, this has got to be one of the best, aggressive albums I have heard in 2008!

DevilDriver headlines insane show at Jester’s Pub!

On March 18, 2008, DevilDriver’s Bound by the Road Tour came to Jester’s Pub in Fayetteville, NC! Supporting DevilDriver were Straight Line Stitch, Invitro, 36 Crazyfists, and Napalm Death. Walls of Jericho was supposed to play, but they were not able to attend, so Straight Line Stitch was put on the bill. From start to finish, this show was one of the craziest shows I have ever been too!

The first band to play was Tennessee’s own Straight Line Stitch. When I first heard that they were supposed to play instead of Walls of Jericho, I wasn’t sure what to expect since I had never heard them before, but I was extremely impressed with this band. The one person in SLS I was most impressed with was their bassist, Jason White. This guy was amazing! He was incredibly fast and was actually sweep picking on his six-string bass! If he had done a harmonic bend and spun it around his body, he would have done it all! The guitarists Seth Thacker and Tim Chapell definitely helped put on a great show with their skills. The other member I was extremely impressed with was their drummer, Patrick Haynes. He had some incredible double bass skills whether he was using one foot or both feet! Heading this great band up was vocalist Alexis Brown. This girl could growl! Because of the sound levels, I couldn’t hear her as well when she was singing clean, but her growl was intense and she can spin her crazy extensions with the best of metalheads! Overall, SLS put on a great show and really got this concert off to a great start!

The next band to play had the weirdest entrance I have ever seen! The band was Speed metal band, Invitro, and these guys came out in lab coats with tin foil on their heads! I believe they were a guitarist down because there were only four members playing, but they put on one excellent show. I’m not much of a Speed metal fan, but I can’t deny that Invitro knows Speed metal. Vocalist Jeff Weber could scream and sing very well as he hit every part of the stage along with their bassist Brad Dujmovic, who displayed great stage presence as he jumped around and bounced from each side of the stage to the other. Joining him from time to time in the jumping and stage show was guitarist Mikey Doling, who could wail on guitar! Last, but certainly not least, was drummer Benny Cancino. Not only was Benny just a good drummer, this guy was wailing on his drums to accent his insanely fast double bass skills! All in all, I was impressed with their entire show and wouldn’t mind seeing them again in the future.

The third band to hit the stage was Alaskan four-piece, the 36 Crazyfists! This was the first band to play that I was really there for, and I was not disappointed. I wasn’t quite familiar with their set because I haven’t kept quite as updated on their material, but they put on one heck of a show! Throughout the set, vocalist Brock Lindow proved his ability to scream as he screamed more live than on the album with the help of guitarist Steve Holt’s back-up vocals. Not only could Steve also scream, he showed his ability to rip it on guitar and cover while their guitar tech (filling in on bass) had to run off the stage to get cables to play with when his wireless battery died. Bassist Mick Whitney couldn’t attend because he was with his wife who was giving birth to their new daughter. As for their drummer Thomas Noonan, another great drummer! Thomas definitely kept with the night’s pattern of entertaining drummers and helped pull the sound of the band together for a great show! To help finish the last few songs of the set, Jason White from Straight Line Stitch came out and took over on bass. Before the show, I was able to hang out with Steve and I got a great interview with him. I found out about his experience helping with the Roadrunner United: The All Stars album and working with Joey Jordison from Slipknot on that and some cool things about their touring and whatnot. I had a great time hanging out with Steve and I can’t wait to see these guys again!

Next to play was Metal legend band, Napalm Death! Hailing from Birmingham, England, ND is playing in their 27th year in existence as a band and I can see why they have lasted this long! During their set, the sound was never properly fixed, so they had to struggle through that, but they still displayed their skills to crowd that was going nuts for them. They weren’t my favorite band of the night, but I enjoyed their set. Just as the three drummers before him in the show, Danny Herrera played with extreme skill and fast double bass (despite the mics on his drums not being right). Guitarist Mitch Harris and bassist Shane Embury were both great players, but they didn’t move around as much as they could have. This didn’t take away from their playing, they just didn’t display a great deal of stage show. Vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway was growling pretty well through the set and was bouncing a bit around the stage between lyrics. Overall, ND played a pretty good set and I wouldn’t mind seeing them with all the sound issues worked out.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for 2 or 3 years for happened! DevilDriver took the stage and the place went absolutely insane! This was one of the craziest concert experiences I have ever had as I was smashed up against wooden railing at the edge of the stage, stuck between people so that it was hard to headbang or do a whole lot of anything. DD played through a great set including songs from all three of their albums including “Grinf**ked” (one of my favorites), “I Could Care Less”, “These Fighting Words”, “Sin & Sacrifice” (another favorite), “Clouds Over California”, “I Dreamed I Died” (another favorite), and their encore song “End of the Line”. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for much more out of DD; they were amazing! Dez Fafara’s vocals were right on, guitarists Jeff Kendrick and Mike Spreitzer were awesome, Jon Miller was killin’ it on bass, and John Boecklin’s drumming was massive! To top off the line of drummers with fast double bass skills, John definitely was the ultimate finisher! The overall stage presence of the whole band was great, being led by Dez who can definitely work a crowd! Overall, perfect show! Before the show, I got a quick interview with Jeff where I learned that the band’s name was actually Dez’s wife’s idea and that the logo is actually a form of the cross of confusion. Basically, the cross of confusion stands for questioning everything, where the person using it can take it as far as they wish.

All in all, I had the time of my life at this show and I can’t wait to see DevilDriver in action again! Altogether, this whole tour line-up couldn’t be much more perfect and I’m glad I got to witness this show!