Bleed the Sky – Murder the Dance
Nuclear Blast Records

(3.5/5)

Putting Bleed the Sky into a category is a bit harder than most bands because of the styles represented in their most recent full length release Murder the Dance. According to my “standards” for these categories, I would have to put BTS into the heavier side of Metalcore because of the use of more screamed vocals than clean vocals. Honestly, I like this album. Not all of the clean vocals are my favorite, but Noah Robinson’s screams have an aggression to them that seem to strike a good chord in my mind. As far as the music, the changing of the line-up seems to have been a good thing. I haven’t heard any of BTS’s older material, but Justin Warrick, Rob Thornton, and Ryan Clark seriously wail on this album with Austin D’Amond killing it on drums. These four guys seem to work together well to help Noah with vocals and provide very energetic and aggressive music for him to rip his vocals to. Overall, this is a great team. Getting more into the album, I’d have to suggest “Murder the Dance” (Track3/Title Track) and “Poseidon” (Track 10) as my “Top 2″. “Murder the Dance” simply has great heaviness and aggressiveness that will make you want to mosh till you can’t mosh any more and “Poseidon” just has a great groove to it (which is never a bad thing in my book). Overall, Murder the Dance is a great album that shows the great range of skills from the guys in Bleed the Sky.

Whitechapel – This is Exile
Metal Blade Records

(4/5)

You want gruesome, all-American Deathcore? Here it is! Just two tracks into Whitechapel’s newest album This is Exile, I could tell this album had what it takes to be a sick album! If I’ve said it once (or multiple times as it seems on this site), Deathcore and Death metal are by far not my favorite styles, but that may be changing with bands like Whitechapel and Carnifex. The overall level of brutality is THROUGH THE ROOF! The excessive amounts of blast beats always throw me off, but that is made up with the sickness of the other parts of the material. On top of the musical aspects, Phil Bozeman’s vocals are absolutely killer and accent the music very nicely. As far as the tracks on the album go, definitely check out “Father of Lies” (Track 1), “This is Exile” (Track 2/Title Track), and “To All That Are Dead” (Track 4). These three tracks are three small of examples of the true brutality that is Whitechapel! My advice to fans of Deathcore and Death metal is to get a copy of This is Exile as soon as possible and definitely check these guys out live; they are sick live!