Digestor, Fermentor, Cremator, and Dissector, the alter ego's of Cali's Thrash/Death band Ghoul are back with their album Transmission Zero. It doesn't break their traditional concept one bit, while maintaining a fresh feeling with the new album. The variety of vocalization styles between the band members makes the narrative of the songs more pleasant to listen to. The standouts of the album include "Death in the Swamp" which was featured on Tankcrime's mix album "Life is Shit, Take One", "The Mark of Voodoo" and "Brain Jerk". The 8+ minute song "Morning of the Mezmetron" slowed the album a bit for a taste of doom, and the lyrics truly resonate.
Cattle Decapitation's new album may not be the best yet, but it is absolutely raw. The instrumentation is enough to make your head explode, the lyrics (and video) enough to make you sick, and the vocals have two very good ranges, much like The Black Dahlia Murder's.
Cannibal Corpse Comes to Oregon at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland May 18th. Along with them are Napalm Death, Immolation, and Cretin.
Population Reduction's debut album "Each Birth A New Disaster" has really impressed me. It's a great mix of some Grind, Thrash, and Death Metal. Shredding guitar riffs, and slamming bass drums makes this album really heavy. A favorite track of mine is: "Taking Bong Rips in the Tomb of the Blind Dead", which is really instrumental heavy. "Amish Meth Dealer" and "Black Metal Beach Party" prove that Population Reduction has a sense of humor.
Night Fever is a newer band from Copenhagen Denmark, and after listening to "New Blood" I cannot wait for their next release. It's fast, aggressive, macho, and very catchy. Fast steady melodies driven by furious drums throughout followed by some wicked guitar riffs, and Salomon Segers wailing out some amazing vocals. Reminiscent of the Hardcore of yore with modern recording technology allows this album to be clear and heavy unlike the older washed out recording sounds. I would love to say I have favorite tracks on this album, but there is no chink in this albums armor, every track is as good as the last. However I do really like the lyrics of "Twilight Zone", "Wasted", and "Insane".
A debut, self titled comparison: Fidlar and Face the rail
Fidlar's self titled album is awesome. If you skate, surf, smoke weed, drink beer, and don't give a shit, this album will speak to you. This album will leave you with the sweet taste of a SoCal summer in your mouth. It has some nice fast hardcore skate punk tracks, as well as slow melodic tracks, and even a really Beatlesy, Hendrixy sounding hidden track. The variation between the styles of the different songs makes it a box of awesome surf punk chocolates. "Wake Bake Skate" is pretty wicked, as is and this album is worth a listen.
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Face The Rail's self titled Album is much more consistent, and consistently hardcore. It sounds much more a like an old LP that you just found from your good ol' days, with the vintage sound it has. To me it sounds as if Minor Threat had decided to drop everything, and said "screw it lets go surf". "Face The Rail" is much more centered around its homage to the 70's and 80's, being a beach bum skating and listening to music. The vocals and guitar are much twangier, and the guitar lines seem to drift off into solos that are constant before joining back with the chorus. The driving force of this album is in the bass and lead lines which push everything along with it. The drums get covered up at times, and it could have benefited from more focus on drum lines.
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