Black Hole - Land of Mystery

Black Hole - Land of Mystery 

Tracks: 

1. Demoniac City 

2. Land of Mystery

3. All my Evil

4. Bells of Death

5. Blind Men and Occult Forces

6. Spectral World

7. Obscurity in the Ethereal House

8. Overture

9. Angels of Lucifer

10. Crying Puppets

11. End of All Times

Background: 

 Blackhole, or Black Hole, I'm not sure what the correct spelling is, is an early '80s Doom Metal band. I found them searching on Spotify for a local band, since I can only really use my school computer and therefore bandcamp cannot be used. Formed in '83 in Verona, Veneto, Italy, they released a few demos before releasing their first full length, "Land of Mystery," in '85.

 A haunting symphony starts this album. If I were to compare them to a newer band, they remind me a lot of Ghost (B.C.), their thin, almost whisper-ey and fairly high pitched male vocalist, and satanic, creepy theme. the difference is their guitar tone is MUCH thicker, their bass well produced and one of the defining factors of this band. The band itself reminds me a lot of Black Sabbath or Candlemass. To say the least, its haunting. Definately something I'd play on Halloween. Ghost-like vocals, a bass with a wah pedal. There's really nothing I dislike about this band. I generally don't like higher pitched male vocalists, but this one fits the band well. The intro to "Bells of Death" reminds me so much of Suicidal Tendencies's "How Can I Laugh Tomorrow," that I wouldn't be surprised if Suicidal Tendencies copied Black Hole.
 One thing I must touch on though is this is no easy listen. Songs regularly exceed 7 minutes, a few of them 8 minute monsters.

This is a GREAT doom metal album, and is an essential listen for ANYONE who likes any form of Doom Metal. 88/100. The long song length wears on you after awhile.

Favorite song: Demoniac City. Classic Doom Metal.

Blackhole – Land Of Mystery

Ghost Bike--Ghost Bike

Ghost Bike|Ghost Bike|Ghost Bike|Ghost Bike|Ghost Bike

Trackz:

Murderboat

Satanic Wind

"help me"

Ghost Bike is a real band. I think.

listen

The Divine Unknown by East Beast

The Divine Unknown| East Beast

1. Werewolf Order

2. The Divine Unknown

3. Destroy Your Deceiver

4.♄

5. Quality over Quantity

6. Decipher

Awwww yes, Boston Hardcore band East Beast just dropped their second release (not counting their demo), and I'm more than stoked about it. East Beast picks up from where they left off on their self-titled and just keeps going. Hard hitting, angry,  the five tracks encompassing The Divine Unknown are ones that grab your attention from the beginning. Just as before, the tracks are quick and to the point, simple and mean. This is one of those bands that I would pay quite a mint to see live. Great band, great music, and in the twoish years between this release and their self-titled, it's obvious they've grown as a band, while still sticking to what they are. Instrumentally they all seem to lock into place perfectly, and vocals, oh gosh I can't get enough of 'em. 

I still listen to the first release almost every day, and seeing this is out made my day. Anyway, yeah I don't know, check it out without a doubt. 

Favorite Track: "The Werewolf Order"

Bandcamp

CHECK IT OUTTTTT
Favorite lyrics:

"Reaagggghhhhhhhaaaahhhhhhh oh."

Those Who Challenge the Sun by Mariner

Those Who Challenge The Sun | Mariner

1. A letter home

2. The Grind

3. Kilgore trout

4. Pride

5. Patterns on the Ceiling

6. Boundary Waters

7. Statues

8. Occam's Razor

9. Eurydice

10. Pithy

Found another amazing Missouri band. St. Louis band Mariner's first release, Those Who Challenge The Sun, is a melodic/post hardcore/indie rock 10 song release. Maybe this is just a thing with post hardcore, but a lot of the songs sound really really similar. That's one of the major major major downfalls to this release. That's essentially the only one. Vocals are a mixture between defeater-esq yells and some Flawlessy singing. 

This was never about you

I notice that they seem to be putting lyrics and vocals in front of everything else. That's fine, if that's what you're going for, but if you do that than the band usually ends up with music that isn't that interesting. They kinda do it well on this release, music still is fairly good and all, and at least the lyrics are good. Right now they hit home so I can appreciate them even more. Song length wise they keep them at that length most post-hardcore bands throw out their songs. Normally around three minutes long, the longest track clocks in over six minutes. "Eurydice" is a symphony of a song, once again set around the lyrical aspects. 

I think on a whole, these guys did a really good job what with this being their first release. From the quite start of the release to the spacey fading outro, these guys define what they play, and they define it well. Really good release, and one that you should all check out.

Favorite track: Eurydice

Bandcamp

Tsunami Bomb - The Definitive Act

Tsunami Bomb - The Definitive Act

Tracks: 

1. Dawn on a Funeral Day

2. Being Alright

3. 5150

4. Safety Song

5. I Bought You

6. 4 Robots and an Evil Scientist

7. A Lonely Chord

8. Epic

9. Negative One to Ten

10. My Machete 

11. Tetanus Shot 

12. Jigsaw

Background:

 Tsunami Bomb is a Bay Area punk band formed around '99. Constant touring and their interesting and original take on punk earns this band its well deserved spot in my top 3 list. Their first full length release (The Ultimate Escape) came out in 2002, and they hit the road immediately after. This is their second release, coming out in 2004. Unfortunately, this band broke up after releasing a DVD because of business and music industry problems in fall of 2005. 

 I have a confession. I don't like Paramore. They're not that bad its just... I couldn't place what I didn't like about them until I found this band. Paramore is too... girly. These guys don't hold back. The guitars are heavily distorted, and are in no way simplified, and the singer, (Agent M) sings loud and proud about all the various subjects you'd expect a punk band to. Society, government, psychopaths, life, ect. The reason I compared this band to Paramore is because the lead singer reminds me a lot of Hayley Williams... Just in an actual punk band. Every once in awhile there's a male scream or two, and Agent M sometimes pulls out all the stops and full-on yells. It's quite amazing to hear. This band stays within the punk genre, but can sometimes be described as Pop - Punk, and sometimes borderlines on straight Rock. Nothing really stands out to me on this album, other than the fact that I absolutely love every song. Even the ones that I don't like as much as the other ones, I'd listen to them over practically every other band on the face of the Earth. 

This whole album was great, I'd give it a 96/100, and recommend it to anyone the moment they say they like Pop-Punk, or early 2,000's punk in general. 

Favorite track: Negative One to Ten. It's fast, in your face, and doesn't hold anything back. Everything I like in a song.

Tsunami Bomb – The Definitive Act

Hello, I'm Glad You Exist by Southlakes

Hello, I'm Glad You Exist | Southlakes

1. Hello, I'm Glad you exist

2. Georgé Amoré

3. No Snowing throwballs

4. Leonardo Dicaprisun

Get your tears ready boyz, we've got another emo release to listen to. Hello I'm Glad You Exist is a four song release from the uk by emo band Southlakes. 

"You're still outside, 

crying your eyes out, saying 

"we're back at the start""

I won't go through a track by track detailed description of everything, but I'm going to mention that almost through the entire release, all vocals are harmonized/done as gang vocals. I actually really like this, it adds another layer to the entire thing. Drum wise, I spent quite a bit of time just listening to the accents thrown in randomly. Cool drumming going on there. This is a good emo release, but it's kinda stock. Most emo these days is just that, sadly. Anyway, if you're looking for a new emo/really sad band, this is a good one to listen to. Personally, it's not my favorite and I'm not wowed by it but as I said it's something to check out.

Favorite track: No Snowing Throwballs (cool tremolo parts)

bandcamp

Autonomads////No Mans Land

Autonomads|||No Mans Land

Trackz:

Great Benefit Cheat

The Struggle Continues

G.M.P

Foot In Mouth

Supermarket Sweep

Foundations

Dubbin' Up The Downfall

Back To The Bark

Motordread

Bandcamp

Autonomads is an punk/ska band from Manchester, UK that dabs in the dub and dries in crust punk. Lyrics dealing with how things would be better without The Man over our shoulders, trying to control our actions. It's actually a really cool release with a lot of different elements that all flow into each other like a fast 'n dirty river. High energy and no low points. Most of the songs switch back in-and-forth between punk and dub/ska for the song structures which gives a push/pull feel to the entire album.

"Anarchy In The U.K"

The whole record grooves, musically and lyrically. I typically think featuring female vocalists is a very tacky and lame decision to made for "punk" songs but whoever Autonomads is featuring do a very successful job at not being either of those things. She sounds good. I don't know if you can call it "featuring" if she appears on half the tracks. The bass lines are pretty solid, but being a ska band, that's what I kind of expect. Drum tones are pretty cool. Keep that bass drum pumpin' dude, it's juicy and PHAT. Guitar melodies (when they're not skanking away) are simple 'n sweet. I think the sample in the beginning of G.M.P fits very well into the track. I would even say that this is the quintessential track of the album. In fact, all the longer songs on this album sound really good even though they repeat the instrumental part for the whole song with some different melodic ideas thrown around by the guitar/horns. All in all, the tones on this album are very professional for type of music these guy play. It's intriguing, and I dig the message of the band (I'm 50-50 on apologizing for the incredibly lame Sex Pistols reference)

Fav Track: G.M.P