Knights of the Abyss: Shades

Mediocre as fuck. It sounds like they might have tried to swap identities with the Black Dahlia Murder and got turned down. Juggernaut was mediocre as well, so I can't say I'm surprised that Shades is fail as well, but they've gone even farther down the path of fail. No longer are there at least gimmickly enjoyable riffs or breakdowns, it's clear that some asshat producer had his way with the boys of KotA. They'd likely claimed they've evolved, but what little good they had before, they're rolling without it now. Can't say I'd recommend this one, save for track 2: a New Darkened Faith.
6/10.

DL that shit here. Though I'd recommend getting the Black Dahlia Murder's discography instead.

Peet&TrevAreError

IAMERROR.

I love them, it's true. Trout Yogurt was quite a masterful piece of work, and sealed the band as the only "e-grind" band that can really be taken seriously.

Nodding back to the days of my youth, when turn-based RPG's were all that mattered, save for occasional dabbles into various Kirby games, iamerror perfectly captures the nostalgia of such defining games as (of course) Final Fantasy VII, Pokemon, Kirby, Chrono Cross, etc. With much shredding on the proverbial e-axe, catchy melodies backed by well thought out lyrics with even better vocal composition, Trout Yogurt veritably defined the genre.

But enough about the past.

With addition of Trev (guitar) who is, in fact, less than three, iamerror has taken a new compositional direction that has, again, placed them a step above the rest. The only preview of this leveled-up awesomeness to come along thus far has been the song "Hyr00l", and I'm hoping you catch the 'reference'. In composition and melodic focus, this song blows the tracks on Trout Yogurt away: lyrically as brilliant, yet invoking an even greater sense of Link's epic journey than I had when I was a tot, I truly hope this preview of the team's new work is an accurate gauge of the awesomeness to come. New works are expected a month or two into the new year, and I for one am goddamn excited to see what they do.

You can check out iamerror here. Trout Yogurt is available for download on their page! I advise you skip over Demo 06', personally:D

PS: Peet/Trev, if you are ever in need of a live drummer, I will move to California and shred gnar for you. Seriously.

Metal Review: BTBAM's Colors, Live.

Oh, how predictable, Chonch. A review of a metal album.

Yes, I know, yet the starting of this blog coincides with quite a wondrously metal event. Today, to my merriment, is the day that Between the Buried and Me's newest album Colors Live came in the mail.



The studio version of this album, released in the spring of 2007, is one of my favorite albums of all time, so much so that every song on the album has at least two times as many plays as any other song in my iTunes library. This is not without merit, as the album indeed heralded a new age of musicianship in the generally frowned-upon genre of modern metal. The live performance does not disappoint, and indeed it may even be better performed than the original cut. The rawness of the live vocals really brings out another dimension in Tommy Roger's voice, and Blake Richardson's Tama Starclassic sounds absolutely beastly. Perhaps it's just the fact that it is live (and executed perfectly, just like the album) or maybe its just the subtle differences of the live performance that put it a step above. Either way, the disc only solidifies Between the Buried and Me's place in the pantheon of musical greatness. (Step aside Dream Theater, a band with a good vocalist is here.)

Both the studio 2007 cut and 2008 live album are available for download here along with the rest of their discography.