All Shall Perish – Awaken the Dreamers
Nuclear Blast Records

(4/5)

Ok Metal fans; are you ready for the next great Grindcore album of 2008!? If so, look no further than All Shall Perish’s newest Nuclear Blast release Awaken the Dreamers! This being my first experience with All Shall Perish, I am actually really impressed with the great talent portrayed by this band. Musically, this album is extremely sound including great shredding guitar and bass lines by guitarists Chris Storey and Ben Orum and bassist Mike Tiner accented excellent double bass by and drum beats by drummer Matt Kuykendall. On top of the great music qualities, vocalist Hernan Hermida really rips it with some very unique vocals. One aspect of this album I find interesting is the slight decline in heaviness as the album goes on through its 12 tracks. I’m not saying that by the end of the album its pure acoustic work, but the amount of cleaner material is incorporated more closer to the end of the album than at the beginning. Again, this entire album has a lot of great qualities that really impressed me. Getting more into the individual tracks of Awaken the Dreamers, I have to say that “Black Gold Reign” (Track 2), “Never…Again” (Track 3), “Awaken the Dreamers” (Title track/Track 5), and “Gagged, Bound, Shelved and Forgotten” (Track 8 ) have to be my top 4. Although those four are my favorites, I have to say that the other eight tracks are absolutely crucial in making this album as great as it is. The overall product is incredible. So, for all the metal fans out there who like styles similar to Grindcore and love great shredding guitar parts, intense drums, and brutal vocals (with a bit of high-pitched ’80s singer flair in a few select spots)…Awaken the Dreamers is the album for YOU!

Of the First Born Son – Of the First Born Son EP
Year of the Sun Records

(4/5)

Of the First Born Son’s self-titled EP “screams” Grindcore! Although there are other influences thrown into the mix, the overall sound of the EP is more Grindcore, but whether you want to call it Metal or Grindcore, it’s HEAVY! From the first few seconds of the first song, “The Attack of Doctor Robotnik”, to the last breakdown in the last track, “Playing Dodgeball With a Shotgun”, OTFBS hits you with shredding guitars from Mike Rideout and Rob Falconer, thundering bass lines from Curt Long, and sick drum parts encompassed around the insane double bass skills of Eric Phillips. From a vocal standpoint, vocalist Jamie Schoch absolutely eats this material alive! From screams to growls, Jamie is definitely on top of his game throughout this EP. The one song that really struck me as the best (which I can’t stop listening to) is the EP’s first single, “You Can’t 2-Step in a Wheelchair”. Not only does this song have a clever title, this song DEFINES OTFBS! It starts out slightly mellow, but soon takes off after the first sign of vocals. Throughout the song, Jamie displays his obvious skills in different styles of vocals and even throws in a quick “bree” scream commonly seen in Grindcore music. Again, with the incredible talent and effort put into this song and the other tracks, this self-titled EP truly defines who Of the First Born Son really are and I’m truly excited to see what comes from these guys next!