Oh, Sleeper – Son of the Morning
Solid State Records

(4/5)

Since the first time I heard Oh, Sleeper, they have been in the top of my list of favorite Metalcore bands and with releases like their newest full length album Son of the Morning, it shouldn’t be hard to see why they have stayed there! On top of being a great Metalcore band, the fact that Oh, Sleeper is a Christian band is a plus in my book, but either way, the onslaught brought by the 10 tracks on this album makes a hard argument for anyone to deny them despite whatever religious affiliation you may or may not have. Moving on to the tracks in the album, all 10 tracks bring their own identity to the table and make this album as great as it is, but there are a few I would recommend to get a really good preview of the overall album. The list of tracks I really enjoy consists of “Son of the Morning” (Track 1/Title track), “Breathing Blood” (Track 4), “World Without A Sun” (Track 6), and “The Finisher” (Track 10). Once again, the entire album is excellent, but these four tracks provide an excellent example of the overall talent this band has. Overall, if you’re already a Metalcore fan or you’re just getting into Metalcore/Oh, Sleeper, I certainly recommend Son of the Morning to help beef up your arsenal.

Eyes Set To Kill – The World Outside
BreakSilence Records

(4.5/5)

Less than a year after releasing their debut album Reach, Eyes Set To Kill is back with their sophomore album entitled The World Outside! According to singer Alexia Rodriguez, she really let loose and put more of her raw emotions into this album and doesn’t hold back on issues such as her own insecurities, the pain of lost love, and more. I honestly see the difference between this album and Reach and I feel the growth the band has made (even though Reach was an incredible album). Whether you want to pick this album apart and choose favorite tracks or not, there is no denying that the overall product is amazing! Some of the tracks I would mention that I feel represent this album well are “Heights” (Track 1), “The World Outside” (Track 5/Title track), “Wake Me Up” (Track 7), and “Her Eyes Hold The Apocalypse” (Track 11). These tracks are just 1/3 of the album. All twelve of the tracks are important to making this album as incredible as it is, but the mentioned tracks are good examples of the great amount of skill this band has and the ever growing vocal connection between Alexia Rodriguez and Brandon Anderson. All in all, The World Outside is a great album that I would suggest to any ESTK fan as well as any Metalcore fan!

Loren Battle – Words Begin Wars
Unsigned

(4/5)

The battle has begun and this war has been started by words! This is not a literal battle, but the debut album from Phoenix-based Metal band Loren Battle entitled Words Begin Wars! With an extreme similarity to the sound of early August Burns Red and early As I Lay Dying, Loren Battle is showing that “beauty” and “brutality” can be combined in musical and vocal aspects. This style of, what I would call, Metalcore combines an in-your-face brutality in the music as well as in the growled and screamed vocals with a more “beautiful” vocal style in the clean singing and some great melodic aspects in the music. These guys already have a reputation for a great live show and it’s reflected in this debut album by the intensity of the music and extremely talented musicianship of the individual members. Just to take it over the edge, Loren Battle also incorporates 808’s into their music giving it that extra bass blast at moments to really keep you pumped up. If you thought I couldn’t get any more excited about this album, then realize I haven’t even gotten to the overall theme of it. The title Words Begin Wars was influenced by the albums lyrics that are aimed to inspire the listener to “stay positive and keep your head up in turbulent times” according to bassist Eric Davis. That just makes this album that much better in my opinion. Getting deeper into the album, I have a hard time elevating any one track over any of the others, but to get a good feel for this band, I’d suggest listening to “Intro/A Hero’s Nightmare” (Tracks 1 & 2), “Remember the Archer” (Track 5), “Paper Hearts + Scissors” (Track 6), and “When Angel’s Sin” (Track 11). These tracks are all very powerful and provide a glimpse at what this band is about musically. Overall, Words Begin Wars is an excellent album that will have you pumped up and ready to jump into the mosh pits in no time!

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.

Sonic Syndicate – Only Inhuman [Tour Edition]
Nuclear Blast Records

(4/5)

Swedish Metalcore is still making an impact as Sonic Syndicate released the Tour Edition of their second full length album Only Inhuman! Two things I have to point out about this band that I think are interesting are the use of two vocalists (Richard Sjunnesson and Roland Johansson) and the fact that Richard is the brother of both guitarists (Roger and Robin Sjunnesson). Together, the four of these guys join with bassist Karin Axelsson and drummer John Bengtsson to create an amazing Metalcore sound whether it be live or on an album! As far as the album side of the band is concerned, Only Inhuman is definitely an awesome album that should grace every Metalcore fan’s collection. Out of the 12 tracks (the 12th being a bonus track for the Tour Edition) on the album, I certainly would have to recommend all of them as being great ones to listen to, but there are a few I would promote a bit more than the others. The ones I most recommend looking at are “Blue Eyed Fiend” (Track 2), “Double Agent 616″ (Track 4), “Enclave” (Track 5), “All About Us” (Track 9), and “Freelancer” (Track 12) if you have the Tour Edition. These five songs provide a great range of styles and sounds you’ll get in listening to Sonic Syndicate material. Again, for the overall final product of the album, this is a great album to add to your collection if you are a Metalcore fan. These six individuals are all very talented and I certainly can’t wait for the next album to come out!

Scar Symmetry – Holographic Universe
Nuclear Blast Records

(4/5)

Scar Symmetry can be called a band of many talents, and their newest full length release entitled Holographic Universe helps defend that statement. Whether you want to call this album a Metalcore album, a Melodic Death metal album, or a Progressive Death metal album, everyone should realize that Scar Symmetry has some major skills! Between Christian Älvestam’s beautiful clean vocals and brutal death growls and the sick guitar skills between guitarists Jonas Kjellgren and Per Nilsson, the melodic aspects of this album are absolutely spot on. However awesome these three guys are, the overall heaviness and pure musical sound would not be complete without the help of bassist Kenneth Seil and drummer Henrik Ohlsson (who also writes lyrics for the band). Putting all these skills together have made a difficult decision as far as picking favorite songs, but the one I would most recommend is the title track “Holographic Universe” (Track 10). This track happens to be the longest track on the album at a time of 9:05 and I think it truly shows the wide range of talent these five guys posess. It takes you through futuristic synth effects, Meshuggah style heavy guitar and duble bass, and some massively brutal Metal. One cool aspect Scar Symmetry implements into the track is the Progressive sound just before battering you with heaviness and blistering guitar solos once again. Overall, this is a great track to catch a fairly large sized glimpse of Scar Symmetry’s true power. Other than “Holographic Universe”, I recommend listening to “Artificial Sun Projection” (Track 4), “Fear Catalyst” (Track 7), and “Prism And Gate” (Track 9). All of the tracks have their unique greatnesses, but these are a few of my favorite songs. All in all, I say Holographic Universe is definitely an album to add to your metal arsenal. The overall product is one that you will be listening to nonstop until the next album comes out!

(4.5/5)

Reach is easily in my top 10 albums of 2008! I seriously can’t put this album down! In this album, Eyes Set To Kill brings you a great Metalcore mixture with a few heavy breakdowns, excellent acoustic work, and all around great music! Vocally, you are hit throughout the album with Alexia Rodriguez’s GORGEOUS singing and Brandon Anderson’s, almost, demonic scream. Not only do those two cover the vocals, but Alexia plays lead guitar while Brandon plays keyboards. Joining them in the incredible musical journey that is “Reach” are bassist Anissa Rodriguez, guitarist Greg Kerwin, and drummer Caleb Clifton. Although the entire album is awesome, a few songs stuck out to me as “favorites”. Oddly enough, they all are right after another as tracks 4-7 which are entitled “Darling”, “Violent Kiss”, “Young Blood Spills Tonight”, and “Where We Started”. “Darling sticks out the most to me because of it beginning. Altogether the track is a great one as all the others are, but it starts out really strong with one of Brandon’s crazy screams and proceeds through different phases that switch vocally from Brandon to Alexia giving it a great mixture of Metalcore vocals. The next song that stands out really well is “Young Blood Spills Tonight”. This song starts out very beautifully with an acoustic part. All of the sudden you are hit with another one of Brandon’s screams before ESTK finishes taking you through different “movements” of the song, once again, providing a great Metalcore mixture. “Violent Kiss” and “Where We Started” stick out simply for their entire structures, but “Where We Started” also has the sound of a “female anthem”. What I mean by this is that lyrically, it sounds like what a lot of girls go through in relationships and whatnot. I definitely recommend the female fan base listen to that track! All in all, Reach is a fantastic album and I can’t wait to see what Eyes Set To Kill does next!

Across Five Aprils – Life Underwater
Victory Records

(3.5/5)

Got Metalcore? If not, you need to run out and get yourself a copy of Across Five Aprils’ new album, Life Underwater ASAP! This album is one for the books! Throughout this 11-track piece of art, you are taken from the “norm” of Metalcore, and you’re thrown through an exciting plethora of Metal and Alternative influences! Guitarists Adam Nordmeyer and Zak Towe kick-off this album just before really being joined by bassist Josh Dycus and drummer Steve Wooteon for an impactful burst of energy in the first track, “The Darkest of Roads”! Seconds later, you’re introduced to the screaming vocals of Brandon Mullins. To be honest, I’ve never heard vocals quite like what’s coming of of Brandon’s pipes! This element helps make this album different from so many other Metalcore albums. Armed with this edge, AFA takes you through track titles such as “Faith Shaped Pills”, “This Means Not Welcome”, and they even throw in a Harry Potter reference for all you HP fans with the title “Snape Kills Dumbledore”. Honestly, I think that “Snape Kills Dumbledore” and the last track, “My Sins Stacked to Heaven” are my two favorite off the album simply because of their musical content. “Snape Kills Dumbledore” doesn’t appeal to me through the name, but this track is heavy! I love it! “My Sins Stacked to Heaven” shines over the others as well because it’s mellow makes you think that they AFA will end the track in a soft and relaxing way. Not quite! This track definitely has its mellow parts that definitely help it, but it also has very high energy parts as well, making it a well rounded end to a great album. Overall, Life Underwater is a great buy, and you should get a copy as soon as possible.

Four Letter Lie – What a Terrible Thing to Say
Victory Records

(4/5)

If you want one of the best Metalcore albums of early 2008, Four Letter Lie has answered the call! Their latest masterpiece entitled What a Terrible Thing to Say is an absolute masterpiece. Throughout the entire album, you are constantly taken from one extreme to the other as the members of FLL create an ingenious mixture of Metal and Alternative music to take you through the motions of one of Victory Records’ top albums! Seriously, this album is great! The musical aspect of the album is composed with an incredible mixture of guitar riffs from guitarists Kevin Skaff and Conner Kelly, thunderous drums provided by drummer Derek Smith, and smooth bass lines kicked in from bassist John Waltmann. From a vocal standpoint, this album continues to get better and better. The vocals provided by vocalist Bryan Nagan and guitarist Kevin Skaff intertwine screaming and clean vocals to help you along the thrill ride that is What a Terrible Thing to Say! Honestly, I can’t figure out which tracks really stick out to me; they’re all so vital to making this such a great album! The first track “Cake Eater” is a good one to listen to when looking for a track to really set the mood for the album. You know right off the bat that this album is going to have moments that are made of just pure energy, and you will have moments where the tempo is slowed enough to take a quick break before being hit with energy again. So, if you’re looking for an album to keep you on your toes and in the spirits of Metalcore, go get your copy of What a Terrible Thing to Say as soon as possible!

Farewell to Freeway – Definitions
Victory Records

(4/5)

Farewell to Freeway has officially set the bar for Metalcore in 2008 with their new album, Definitions! This album is so good, I can’t stop listening to it! Guitarists Drew and Chris absolutely tear it up on the six stringed dreams as drummer Richie and bassist Adam bring the powerful backbone accompanied by Michele on the keys. Not only are the musical aspects of this album top notch, the vocals provided by most of FtF’s members match the level of the music creating one killer combination and one incredible album! Definitions takes you from heavy “breakdowns” to a soft, Alternative sound that calms you down just before you hit heavy again. Although the entire album is good, there are two tracks that stuck out to me over the rest. These tracks are the first track “Sound Minds” and the fourth track “Lemmings”. “Sound Minds” popped out at me not only because it’s the first track on the album, but it starts this album with a nice burst of energy that keeps you wanting more. By the time you realize the track is over, you’re already to the next stop on this Metalcore roller coaster, “Lemmings”. “Lemmings” being the fourth track, this was a good time to really hit you with some energy again, and it does! It starts with a quick drum part from Richie and quickly brings in the screamed vocals that help this album maintain it’s Metalcore aspects throughout the album! This track also helps push you on through the album until you’ve reached the last track, “What Happens in Viper City, Stays in Viper City”. This track makes a good ending to the album because it starts with lots of energy, but ends with a slow and melodic instrumental finish. By the time you reach the end, you’re ready for a second round. If you want to experience Metalcore at it’s finest in 2008, go grab a copy of Definitions as soon as possible!