Ice Nine Kills - Safe Is Just A Shadow

I am highly resistant to change, especially when I am completely in love with a certain style of music that a band has, and then they go in another direction. In my experience, this usually results in a pretty crappy album and a lot of hipsters chanting "The first album was better!!!11!11!!!1" That being said...Ice Nine Kills.
Ice Nine Kills have once again redirected their musical intentions and, as usual, do not disappoint. Their previous progressive/hardcore style was something that caught my attention the first time I heard their ep, The Burning. On Safe Is Just A Shadow, Ice Nine Kills have started over with a new lineup and a new direction. Their new style is slightly more predictable and typical of the hardcore scene these days, but it still throws listeners for a loop on occasion with reminders that they aren't just any screamo band who can chug like beasts and bend their knees like crabs during all nine breakdowns in each of their songs. Sorry, I went on a tangent there...Attack Attack! sucks.
Anyway, Ice Nine Kills are not your typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-breakdown-chorus-breakdown band. The few breakdowns that do exist on Safe Is Just A Shadow consist largely of complex polyrhythms that will trip up even the most hardened trendy-two-steppers. The guitarists in Ice Nine Kills showcase their multifaceted talent over and over on this album, and the drummer doesn't fail to impress with his knowledge of, and ability to play, some vary obscure and arhythmic passages, while still allowing them to fit with the music. The two vocalists in Ice Nine Kills perform well together, melding clean vocals with harsh screams and, I hate to say, brutal growls that combat each other as if both singers are trying to see who can cause the highest scale of destruction with just their voices.
Overall, I'd give Safe Is Just A Shadow an 86/100...definitely an album to add to your collection if you're into hardcore music, but its just missing a little something - the Ice Nine Kills signature "progressive weirdness" that makes them who they are.
In all honesty, if this album was released under a different band name, I would probably give it a 92/100...I just miss Ice Nine Kills.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?zhkzioiwzmd
Enjoy!
-John

EDIT: Yes, I know this wasn't a Throwback Thursday. I apologize. I will resume next week with Throwback Thursdays.

Movie Fans?!

So, if you're reading this blog it's safe to assume that you like music...but how many of you like movies?
I mean, who DOESN'T like movies, right?
That being said, head over to http://indiescream.wordpress.com/ and read some excellent film reviews by a talented writer, musician, and all around good-guy who goes by the name of Christian Perez.
The man knows his film...I highly recommend you check out his blog.
F'real.

-John-

Throwback Thursdays #1! - Glassjaw

Droppin' Knowledge On Fools!
I'm starting a new segment to this blog called "Throwback Thursdays" in which I will be reviewing a non-new release and giving some background to an older band or developments since releasing the album being reviewed...dig?

Anyway, I thought that a good band/album to kick off Throwback Thursdays would be Glassjaw and their groundbreaking 1999 album Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence. Many of you may already own this album, but there is a surprising number of modern hardcore kids who don't know about Glassjaw, which, quite frankly, is a sin in the world of hardcore music.
Glassjaw is the sonic representation of the term "acquired taste".
Daryl Palumbo has fronted Glassjaw since they were formed in 1993. To put it simply, Daryl Palumbo is the reason that hardcore music is what it is to day. Prior to Glassjaw's development, many underground punk bands from the 1980s and 1990s had utilized yelling in their music, largely because many of them simply couldn't sing, and for emotional emphasis. Daryl Palumbo, however, took the yell and made it into a scream. Guttural, raspy screams abound on Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence intertwined with Daryl's pseudo-drunken singing. This combination became the foundation for many hardcore punk bands that followed Glassjaw, and eventually translated into the screams that we now hear on albums such as The Devil Wears Prada's Plagues or even Bring Me The Horizon's Count Your Blessings.
Glassjaw is musically unrelenting...heavy yet melodic - structured chaos. Glassjaw and Botch pretty much created what some people have come to call "chaoscore" but that's a terrible label. Think about The Chariot and Norma Jean...they were influenced by Glassjaw and Botch.
Lyrical content on Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence is fairly vulgar, and heavily focused on Daryl's ex-girlfriend who, apparently, was a bit of a slut. When he isn't singing/screaming about her, most of his lyrics focus on his constant battle with Crohn's disease. All of Palumbo's lyrics are heavily emotional and based on personal experience...often to the point of him being overwhelmed and unable to finish a line (Listen to "Pretty Lush"...you'll know) which is one of the main reasons that Glassjaw's music is so captivating - it simply overwhelms the listener and even the performers.
All-in-all, Glassjaw's Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence isn't exactly the type of album you'd just sit in your room and listen to. However, in a live setting, or played really loud in a car, where you can truly embrace the art beneath the chaos...I challenge you to find something better.

But like I said...It's an acquired taste.
Songs To Check Out: All of them. But mostly Pretty Lush, Lovebites and Razorlines, Her Middle Name Was Boom, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence.

Drownload Link! : http://www.mediafire.com/?znt5aznuzjj#1

-John-


Edit: I have decided against continuing Throwback Thursdays.
They're no fun.

Unzipping .rar Downloads

For those of you who don't know how to access the files you download from mediafire, simply download "winrar" (or something of the sort) and unzip the folder. Then you can move them onto your C drive and ultimately into your Itunes library, or Mymusic folder or wherever you keep your music.
Enjoy!

-John

Norma Jean - Meridional

Atlanta-based metalcore kings Norma Jean are releasing an album this month. Luckily, I happened upon a copy of their fifth-and-newest album Meridional recently and I must say that I am a fan. This comes as good news to me after the hot mess that was The Anti-Mother. Many fans, myself included, have been wishing for years that Norma Jean would return to their roots and write more in the vein of their first album Bless The Martyr And Kiss The Child. This, however, doesn't seem to be happening any time soon...though I finally feel as though that is a good thing. On Meridional, it seems as though every member of the band has stepped up their game. Now, that's not to say that it doesn't sound like they're still ripping of Botch's We Are The Romans, but they're most certainly doing it well. Norma Jean's distinctly southern-influenced riffage is prevalent throughout the entirety of Meridional with both Chris Day and Scottie Henry adding technical fills to Norma Jean's signature chugging-and-breakdown style. Speaking of which, there are some gorgeously intense breakdowns on this album, most notably in their songs "The Anthem of Angry Blades" "Bastardizer" and "Blood Burner". In addition to the instrumental aspects of this album, Corey Brandan has certainly moved up as a front man. His signature screams and emotional yells still abound on Meridional, giving hints back to Norma Jean's older material, but his clean vocals shine through on particular tracks such as "Falling From The Sky: Day Seven" showcasing his Brandan's well-rounded talent. All in all, Meridional is a much better album than The Anti-Mother, and is on par with, if not better than, both Redeemer and O God The Aftermath. From the looks of things, Norma Jean won't be going anywhere soon...living on to punish metro-Atlanta, and the rest of the world, through their unique style of hardcore.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?tmjmezmujzd

-John

Eminem - Recovery

Eminem is nothing short of brilliant. If you don't believe me, listen to his new album Recovery. Mr. Mathers consistently displays his unmatchable talent and ingenuity on every single track of his 2010 release, even in the smallest details. For instance, everyone pretty much knows about the Chris Brown and Rhianna fiasco a couple years back, which is why it is an incredibly moving choice for Em to feature Rhianna on his track "Love The Way You Lie" - a song about domestic violence. More than that, Eminem has become more and more creative in his presentation and vocal inflection, moving from his early years of monotonous nasaly vocals to his more modern sound of changing the voice he uses to emphasize his emotions, whether its anger, sadness, remorse, etc. All in all, he's become less of just a "rapper" and more of an all around musician.
More than that, with Recovery, Eminem has recreated his image as a serious rapper, rather than living in the shadow of his "Slim Shady" persona that has gained him his fame. He made this change through the different subject matter on Recovery versus Relapse. Recovery showcases Eminem's more emotional and serious side, while Relapse was composed almost entirely of joke songs and crude humor. Relapse also was not well received by critics or the public, or even Eminem himself, as evidenced from his lyrics on Recovery in which he actually states that he realizes he made a bad album.
He did it on purpose.
Eminem intentionally produced a flop album of humor in order to recreate his image by then releasing a spectacular album of serious and emotional songs.

In any light, regardless of comparison to past albums, in Recovery Eminem has crafted a harsh, emotionally-driven, catchy, and moving album that is sure to top the Hip-Hop charts in the coming weeks.
Especially good songs: Space Bound, You're Never Over, Love The Way You Lie, No Love (Feat. Lil' Wayne)

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?achtmfdqmt1

Foxy Shazam

"Cool shoes, bro" Two years after releasing their sophomore effort Introducing..., Foxy Shazam have returned in a big way. In April of 2010, Foxy Shazam released their first album on a major label, and successfully reinvented the blend of modern soul and rock 'n' roll. Upon first listen, the songs on Foxy Shazam can really only be described as anthemic. All of them are heavily driven by Eric Sean Nally's vocals which carry a swagger that can be likened to the late Freddie Mercury, and Sky White's broadway influenced piano playing. In fact, the entire album has a feel that is strikingly reminiscent of Queen's more memorable tunes. In fact, Foxy Shazam's single "Unstoppable" was featured in the 2010 Superbowl...how's that for something? Overall, the album is bouncy and anthemic, begging to be choreographed, and deserving of being performed in arenas around the world rather than the dive bars and small clubs that Foxy Shazam have been confined to for the past six years. Time will only tell if Foxy Shazam is going to be "the next big thing", but with this album, it's hard to believe they won't be chart-toppers soon enough.
Songs to check out: Teenage Demon Baby, Bombs Away, Oh Lord.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?enhfxiddynj