Noise Addiction

Apocalyptica – 7th Symphony

Emma — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:54:15 +0000

APOCALYPTICA – 7TH SYMPHONY
Released 23rd August (Spinefarm Records)

2/5

Words: David Spickett

Opening up the album is a classic example of good Apocalyptica writing, an instrumental roller coaster of heavy metal influenced cello playing. A bold opening statement “At the Gates of Manala”, is just over seven minutes long and sets a fairly high bar for the following material.
Now before I continue please note I am not a cello player, or even a listener of classical music, but I do know my way around the heavy metal universe that Apocalyptica cross in to. So you see where I’m coming from when I say that this album seems to rely on metal cliches to get by.
There are many guests on the album such as Gojira’s Joe Duplantier and Slayer’s Dave Lombardo. They all put in great performances, but listening to those tracks, especially “2010″ featuring Lombardo, it just feels like a song from that guest’s band. Standout tracks such as the opener “At the Gate of Manala” and “On the Rooftop With Quasimodo” aside, the album seems to be carried by the guests.
There’s some beautiful playing in the classical sense but I just can’t help thinking that the material is trying so hard to be something it shouldn’t. Maybe its years listening to overdriven guitars that has soured me to the concept but the “we play metal on unusual instruments” idea is getting a little old now. It feels like the majority of the album was written in conjunction with the guests and maybe that’s a choice they made but it comes across as a selection of knock offs, a smattering of killer and a lot of filler.
On the whole it’s hard to judge, I’ve only ever been a casual fan of the band so I can’t comment on overall trends but I’m starting to think the covers were a better idea. If these guest tracks were covers, it would have been more acceptable but otherwise, it’s just filler to me.

SOUND OF GUNS – New single and tour details

Emma — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:16:45 +0000

SOUND OF GUNS
‘Elementary of Youth’
Single released as vinyl and download: 20 September 2010
via Distiller Records

www.myspace.com/soundofguns

Liverpool’s Sound of Guns are making headway since first causing a noise as part of the BBC’s ‘Introducing’ sessions last year and will now release a new Chris Potter (U2/Verve)-mixed single ‘Elementary of Youth’’ on September 20^th through Distiller Records. The track will be available on 7” single / digital download and includes a new song, ‘Silent Canon’.

Written and produced themselves in their Penny Lane studio, the five-piece perfectly show off their big raucous eclectic styles on this record. The single is taken from their recently released debut album ‘What Came From Fire’ and has lofty ambitions on being the one that breaks them to the mainstream. Their previous single ‘Architects’ was play-listed on daytime Radio One and XFM. The track was also ‘Single of the week’ on Greg James radio One show.

After a summer of festival appearances (including an ‘eventful’ trip to Mallorca Rocks with The Courteeners), Sound of Guns are set to prove their rock credentials at this year’s Reading (August 29) and Leeds (August 28) before heading out on a headline tour and a run of dates with Detroit Social Club this Autumn.”

Already tipped for great things from the likes the Guardian, NME and Q, frontman Andrew Metcalfe aims to sell their music as being not-your-average Scouse sound. He says: “We didn’t have any boundaries – I love the Coral, and the La’s and bands like that – but in terms of the music we wanted to make, that sound didn’t really appeal to us. We were all into The Walkmen, for example, who make a big noise. They are also big on Led Zeppelin and The Doors, amongst others. I think people were expecting this typical Liverpool band, and that’s why people became interested so quickly, people seem to connect with the choruses.”

Sound of Guns are set to tour with Detroit Social Club (gigs marked*) in October and all live dates coming up are:

Leeds Festival, Leeds (August 28^th)
Reading Festival, Reading (August 29^th)
Bingley Music Live, Myrtle Park (September 4^th)
Birmingham Rainbow (October 8^th)*
Newcastle Academy 2 (October 9^th)*
Manchester Ruby Lounge (October 11^th)*
London Dingwalls (October 12^th)*
Sheffield Plug (October 14^th)*
Glasgow King Tuts (October 15^th)*
Leeds Faversham (October 16^th)*
The Big Reunion, Skegness – w/The Courteeners and The Twang (November 20^th and 27^th)

The Strangerhood – Claws

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:02:51 +0000

THE STRANGERHOOD – CLAWS
Out Now

5/5

Words: Katie Wright

The Strangerhood – a four peice from South England – may not be a household name, but they’ve released their album, Claws, in order to try and change that.

The album is a blend of alternative rock with thrashing indie rock tracks. The bands leader, Dean Austin, has provided well crafted melodies which are predominantly masked by the layering of synths throughout the album. The band excel at quickening the riffs, pulsating drum beats and all techniques lead to this album being possibly a perfect record to accompany us in reliving our memories of Glastonbury. The track from which the album derives it’s name, Claws opens with a steady drum beat, the guitar and electronics gradually build up, as does the momentum and just as you think the song is about to burst into life, it all dies down into a calm, laid back verse. Scars, an acoustic, is a personal favourite – the strongly strummed guitar and airy atmospheric vocals make it the highlight of the album.

Drowning Pool – Drowning Pool

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:41:36 +0000

DROWNING POOL – DROWNING POOL
Released 23rd August (Eleven Seven Music)

2/5

Words: Mark Robinson

It’s hard to really say what purpose Drowning Pool have in 2010. They exploded on the nu-metal/hard rock scene back in 2001 with a perfect blend of angry, frustrated alt-rock and fused sense of pop melody and their hit single ‘Bodies’ that was just about everywhere and has been used in God knows how many promotional movie trailers since then. Then it all came crashing down with the Death of singer Dave Williams. While not a poet lyrically, there was a heartfelt sense of honesty much in the same light as Layne Stanley of Alice in Chains. Drowning Pool went through a change that saw Jason Jones come and go, but they eventually settled on ex-Soil singer Ryan McCombs and this latest release is Drowning Pools second album with Ryan. The first issue with ‘Drowning Pool’ is that Ryan is not anywhere near as interesting vocally or lyrically as Dave or even Jason (who was more style than substance to be fair). But then at the same the music is not as interesting either as the riffs from previous albums are far more creative and memorable and were produced with a slightly harsher tone. ‘Drowning Pool’ suffers from being far to monotone and produced as a typical American rock radio release. The production takes any life that there may have been and sucks it all out, not there was much life as the riffs are all predictable and unoriginal. With that said there are a few highlights, ‘Feel Like I Do’ starts off like it came out of the Tom Morello book of riffing and is a treat. It isn’t as heavy as Drowning Pools earlier work but it doesn’t need to be, it’s just a shame McCombs adds absolutely nothing to the song. ‘Children Of The Gun’ has an awesome bass line but lyrically is poor and opener ‘Let The Sin Begin’ is acceptable, but other then this the album is completely forgettable.

Shadows Chasing Ghosts – The Golden Ratio

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:37:16 +0000

SHADOWS CHASING GHOSTS – THE GOLDEN RATIO
Released 2nd August (Small Town Records)

3/5

Words: David Spickett

Shadows Chasing Ghosts surprise me somewhat by stepping back from the usual metal “growls and riffs verse cut to clean sung chorus” model. Though they do make use of the contrast, it’s a much less obvious use than say, The Devil Wears Prada have gone with.
Of course the comparison there isn’t apples to apples either as if anything, Shadows Chasing Ghosts’ riffs remind me more of nu-metal than metalcore when they’re not clearly on the melodic side of things. I want to be clear though, there are some well done chugs in there but they always fall on the side of melodic chords rather than discordance and squeals.
This brings me to the other component, the vocal performance(s). Overall it’s very impressive, showing quite a range between rough screams and clean singing. The problem however is that the latter of the two sometimes falls a little short, not so much during the bulk of the album but the acoustic song “Timelines” definitely feels like it’s missing something.
When it comes down to it, there’s a lot to recommend here. It could do with a little more variety in the style but they haven’t fallen for some of the more common traps that come with the genre. Also the album is refreshingly lacking effects wise, there’s some flanger and a little telephone effect (plus a random vocal effect about 2:25 into “You Ain’t Got the Minerals”) so it feels quite real (so to speak). If you like their material already, this is a great record, for those less sure I wouldn’t rush to buy it but definitely try to get to a show. At least keep an eye on them, a few small changes could propel them into the big time.

Orphan Boy – Pain, Passion and Loyalty

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:33:57 +0000

ORPHAN BOY – PAIN, PASSION AND LOYALTY
Released 2nd August (Concrete Recordings)

3/5

Words: Mark Robinson

If this album had come out about 4 years ago it would have probably been a smash hit. Coming off the tails of the Arctic Monkeys debut release; Orphan Boy’s ‘Passion, Pain & Loyalty’ has a heartfelt edge set to a indie/pop background that the crowd of 2006 would have lapped in a instance. But timing is a funny thing within the music industry and Orphan Boy may be a little too late to the party. Which is a shame because unlike a lot of the bands that road the coattails of the Arctic Monkeys, Orphan boy are both better then most of those bands and have enough originality on their own part to stand out. Opening track ‘Letter For Annie’ is a call to arms-esque anthem in the same vein as The Enemy but done much, much better. ‘Popsong’ tells a story of the frustration with the music industry and is also a damn good pop song as well. ‘Anderson Shelter Blues’ throws a slight curve ball musically but does not really go anywhere. Elsewhere ‘Remember’ has a good groove to it. ‘The Promise’ is the strongest track on the album, starting with big church organs with added indie style drums that is not something heard often but doesn’t sound gimmicky and has a real good charm to it and ‘Untitled #9′ follows with bright, sunny upbeat sound that would go down well at any festival over the summer. In general nothing about the album immediately grabs at you for its attention, but it is a well crafted collection of songs that also doesn’t lose your interest either.

The Charlatans – Love Is Ending (SINGLE)

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:30:26 +0000

THE CHARLATANS – LOVE IS ENDING (SINGLE)
Released 2nd August (Cooking Vinyl)

3/5

Words: Richard Heaven

Wow, I was not expecting that – Love Is Ending starts with a enjoyably hectic instrument pile-up before slipping into the straight melodic indie that The Charlatans have become famous before. Ignoring the musical timeline for a second – this reminds me a lot of early ASH. The chorus is a little disappointing – the build up feels a little lost when it doesn’t explode into a large singalong chorus. It ends with much of the same as the beginning barrage before fading into static. All in all it is not a bad track – The Charlatans have produced worse material – but it isn’t going to make them any bigger then they currently are.

Trash Talk – Eyes & Nines

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:16:28 +0000

TRASH TALK – EYES & NINES
Released 19th July (Hassle Records)

4/5

Words: Jack Pudwell

You almost have to admire any band that has the sheer audacity to release an album clocking in at a mere seventeen minutes long with only two previous studio releases under their belt. Some would call this a brave and courageous move, but this is Trash Talk we’re on about; a group seemingly intent on flipping the whole world off constantly. This should not be taken as a criticism, however; they really are a band who are all the better for it, as proved throughout the pummelling, sonic hurricane that is Eyes & Nines.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the album could almost be considered one continuous piece of music, with most of the tracks blending perfectly into the ones that follow, but with this in mind, the album, impressively, never falters or becomes samey; the Californian hardcore mob manage to keep the listening experience consistently fresh, varied, and, of course, utterly ferocious throughout.

Only one vital question remains. Is this aggressively blunt knock-out over all too soon? The short answer is no. The band clearly had the safety of their fans in mind when recording this album; any longer and most listeners would end up in casualty suffering severe fractures to the skull combined with extreme hearing loss…And the group clearly seem intent on saving such activity for their barbaric live show.

The Xcerts preview new video featuring Jamie Campbell Bower of Twilight, Sweeny Todd and Harry Potter!

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:47:23 +0000

THE XCERTS

Unveil the new video for ‘Young (Belane)’ featuring Jamie Campbell Bower of Twilight, Sweeny Todd and Harry Potter through www.thexcertsband.com on 25th August at 5pm

THE XCERTS return with their second album and follow up to 2009’s ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’; ‘Scatterbrain’ will be released on the 4th October through Xtra Mile Recordings (Frank Turner, Reuben, Far, Straight Lines…) preceded by new single ‘Young (Belane)’ a week earlier. The video for the single which is directed by Joseph Rodrigues Marsh was recently filmed by the band in a remote part of the Welsh countryside. Not wanting to be added to the list of bands creating standard performance videos the band called upon the help of friend, actor and fan of the band Jamie Campbell Bower.

Speaking of how this came about frontman Murray McLeod says “We were on tour a few month’s back and got a message on Twitter from Jamie (Campbell Bower) that said he was coming to one of our shows. Our Drummer Tom is a massive film buff and we were delighted that he was coming to see us so we added him to the guestlist. We spoke to him after the show, and he was a really humble, down to earth guy. When we were pitched the idea for the video, we instantly thought of Jamie who is an incredible actor.”

Jamie Campbell Bower is best know for his role of Caius in ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ and has recently completed the filming of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ Part I and II. His filmography also features films directed by Tim Burton and Guy Ritchie and he is rumoured to be cast as King Arthur in a 10-part American TV series called ‘Camelot’ alongside Tamsin Egerton as his queen Guinevere.

In the video for ‘Young (Belane)’ Bower is cast as a creepy-obsessed fan that kidnaps the band and drags their unconscious bodies back to a secluded barn to add to his ultimate shrine of memorabilia. When not force feeding them Macaroni Cheese or cutting off trinkets of their hair Bower’s character gets distracted and while he’s dancing to one of the The Xcerts’ early releases the band make for an escape! But will they be successful?

The only way to find out is to head to The Xcerts official website (www.thexcertsband.com) at 5pm on 25th August when the video will be revealed!

LAB Records give away entire roster!

Emma — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:28:54 +0000

LAB Records Unique CD Giveaway – Entire roster goes free for a day!

LAB Records, the home of such prominent pop and rock artists as Just Surrender, Not Advised, MiMi Soya, Portia Conn, Pegasus Bridge, The Morning Of, Blitz Kids, are running a very unique giveaway over at www.labrecs.com/store on September 3^rd.

For one day only, LAB Records will literally give away their entire roster for free! As one of the most successful independent labels of its kind out there right now, with 15,000 sales this year alone, LAB has built up a solid following of admirers in its short history, and this is their way of giving something back to their fans.

LAB Records CEO Mark Orr said;

“This is a huge time for the label as we come towards the end of our most successful year to date and prepare for a more mainstream sound in 2011.

“Every label gives away digital samplers but we thought – for one day only – it would be a unique and memorable stand to make all of our CD’s absolutely free. It’s our little way of saying ‘thank-you’ to everyone who has supported LAB over the past 3 years.”

So come September 3^rd, the following releases will be free, while stocks last – all you’ll need to pay is the postage.

Just Surrender – Phoenix

The Morning Of – The Way I Fell In

Portia Conn – I Don’t Care

Lost On Campus – Tell Them I Had A Wonderful Life

Not Advised – After The Fight

Lost On Landing – Sweet Talk

MiMi Soya – I Can’t Stand Pop Bands

For more information on LAB Records please visit: