With Smash Hits magazine gone to the great pulping machine in the sky, it seems that alternative music magazine Rock Sound has taken over its legacy of garish colours, fun free sticker sheets and massive posters of various gurning musicians. Well, in issue 107 they have. I mean come on. Is this really what people want? It seems a great shame that they are disguising what is always a well-written and informative music rag, beneath the staged false sneer of Paramore’s jailbait singer and various other embarrassing ‘eye-catching’ taglines. Are they aiming for a different audience or something? Should I start reading something else to get my daily mix of music news? Probably – I could always switch to Plan B. There’s no way I’m going back to Kerrang, what is this, 2001? Needless to say, I still bought RS. Hey, there’s a review of the Rocket From The Crypt album I want to read about and the free CD has got to be worth a listen, right?

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Cavalera Conspiracy – Sanctuary

“This album is fucked up” – not my words, but those of Max Cavalera on his new project with his brother Igor. I’d say more “fucking average’ really. Okay, so I’ve only heard 1 song but the lyrics sound like the warped ramblings of a 3 year old: “everybody dead tonight, everybody dead tonight, SANTUARY!” Max roars. Yeah, great stuff. Bog-standard speed-metal. I know I’ve only just started, but can I go home now?

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Protest The Hero – Sequoia Throne

There is no way I’d see a band called Protest The Hero. Right, moving away from that, this isn’t too bad really. Promising start; nice screechy-guitars that show some experimentation and technical proficiently to what is basically, a hardcore band attempting to play metal.

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Cry For Silence – Nightmare

I actually saw these guys about 3 years ago at my student union supporting Fightstar. They were ok actually, very Poison The Well-ish. I’d assumed they’d split. It’s perhaps not good that I can’t see a distant change between this song and the last is it? I prefer the guitars and the vocalist’s phlegm-gargling roar to Protest The Hero’s though. However, they lose points for the ‘fade out.’

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Cursed – Into The Hive

Much, much better. Cursed’s guitars sound so down-tuned and grimy that they may actually be being played in hell. Easily the best track so far and the only one I’ve wanted to put on repeat. Cursed seem to have a way of filling the listener with a deep-seated loathing for everyone and everything, especially when the words “INTO THE HIVE!” are spat out with such hate.

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Year Long Disaster – Leda Atomica

Year Long Disaster play “rock “n’ roll’ apparently. Yeah, so does everyone, mate. I’m sorry, but on first impressions this just sounds like a slowed down version of Wolfmother with more ostentatious guitar flourishes. Good vocals though from guitarist Daniel Davies though.

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Youthmovies – Last Night of the Proms

Calm down guys, jeez. There seems to be so much going on at the same time here, it’s difficult to pick out what’s happening, albeit the seriously catchy keyboards and the sombre trumpet parp. The vocals smack slightly of Thom Yorke, whilst other parts give nods towards a kind of miss-matched progressive-pop rock hybrid that I’m guessing is hideously popular in the mild-mannered indie-kid circles I fail to tread in.

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Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future

Well that’s 3 minutes I’ll never get back. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fall Screaming To A Sickening Bone-Crunching, Blood Splattered Death.

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...And So I Watch You From Afar – The Machine (Part 2)

An instrumental offering then. The inconsistent nature of this track reminds me slightly of rowdy rebels, Oxes (but without the fun) but also touches on a wonderful enveloping nature that Isis would be proud of. Spirited and resourceful, definitely one to keep an eye on.

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HEALTH– Crimewave

“A passion for percussion” – thanks Superhans. Yes, this is how I would describe HEALTH. Heavy use of the rhythm section, combined with some lovely scrawling feedback, disconnected vocal-wails and even more drums means that this Los Angeles 4 piece are in my good books.

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Secret Lives! Of The Freemasons – Life Begins At 40oz

So this isn’t New Found Glory then? Mind you, name any pop-punk band and I’d say “yeah, this is one of their tracks! It’s about girls or something?” and we could all go back to looking up videos of Chinese guys singing Backstreet Boys songs. Pleasant chorus though, so they drag themselves up from minus points – but only just.

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Gwen Stacy – The Fear In Your Eyes

Re-arrange these familiar phrases into a coherent description for me: “CHUNG CHUNG, *MELODIC VOCAL BIT*, “CHUGGA”, *RIFF* *SHOUTY BIT*, “CHUGGA-WEEEEEE”, “WEEEEE”, “CHUGG”, *SHOUTY BIT,* *MOSH BREAK*, “CHUGGA”, “CHUNG-CHUNG.”

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Fight Amp – Lungs

Fight Amp actually sound so much better when they are not doing the “it’s really boring now” hardcore thrash. They should stick to the gloomy, head-banging dirge of mutilated noise and grunge-heavy metal that most of this track seems to comprise of.

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Eternal Lord – Get To Fuck

The winner of best song title this month goes to Eternal Lord. I don’t even have to listen to this track to know that it’s going to be damn good (*listens anyway.*)

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Rotten Sound – Alternews

This must be a drum machine, right? Or at least 4 drummers. Or a robot. Or something. Anyway, “Alternews‘ by the excellently named Rotten Sound features some horrific grind/thrash stick-work, complete with some truly foul/distorted guitars. (Basically, they sound great.)

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The Ocean – Calymmian

I really, really like this. A blissful, atmospheric instrumental that even my dad would enjoy up to the 3:30 mark where it all goes to shit and some guy starts bellowing as loudly as possible. Cue 5 minutes of some nice winding “riffs-a-plenty’ uncompromising metal interspersed with some calming violins.

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Links

See above. I’m off to listen to emo bands with really ‘tappy’ sounding guitars as that’s all I can stand at the moment. Well, that and Rancid’s version of ‘Don’t Call Me White‘, which I’m still in two minds about. It’s either the best cover I’ve ever heard in my life or the worst. In fact, next feature will be on this cover, so stay tuned and any other bands that have recorded a version of this NOFX classic. I seriously doubt it though.

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By Ross Macdonald