October 4, 2006

Strapping Young Lad The New Black [4/5] In preparation for this summer’s OZZfest, death-metal jester (and all-around master of sonic overdrive) Devin Townsend has just slightly blunted his edge. The New Black has better hooks than its predecessor, 2005’s Alien. Touring a lot and recording with his road band has reminded Townsend that “the people”...

Set Your Goals Mutiny! [4/5] With the festering mess of overproduced, substance-free pop-punk bands currently representing 80-percent of the musical landscape on MySpace, it’s almost mind-blowing that Eulogy Recordings could locate a young band like Set Your Goals. Though they make no real effort to break new ground and write some truly corny lyrics (see...

Deicide The Stench Of Redemption [5/5] Deicide fans, listen up: The Hoffman brothers are gone-deal with it, because Glen Benton sure has. This eighth studio album from the Florida veterans features new guitarists Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal Corpse) and Ralph Santolla (ex-Death). The difference is audible on every song; the tired tremolo squeals that passed for...

Cattle Decapitation Karma.Bloody.Karma [3/5] They don’t eat meat, but they talk about feces in their lyrics. Oh, the irony. Leave it to San Diego’s Cattle Decapitation to inject a little irony into standard meat ’n’ potatoes (sorry, we had to) death metal. On Karma.Bloody.Karma, Travis Ryan spits up his vocals over blindingly fast riffs that...

Bury Your Dead Beauty And The Breakdown [3/5] You pretty much know exactly what to expect from a Bury Your Dead record: pure testosterone-fueled mosh-pit mayhem, the kind that inspires countless hours of sweaty, shirtless fun for juiceheads and the beer muscle-endowed masses everywhere. That’s not to say that BYD aren’t damned imposing at what...

Betrayed Substance [4/5] Since Betrayed’s lineage features former members of defunct straight-edge torchbearers Carry On and Champion (as well as Terror), it’s sort of unavoidable that they’ll receive those comparisons. While it’s hard to deny the similarities to those bands, neither Carry On or Champion, had much of a fluid understanding of mid-’80s emo as...

All That Remains The Fall Of Ideals [2/5] Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall are the monoliths of Massachusetts metal, so it’s no surprise that fellow statesmen All That Remains lift from both bands, simply because it’s impossible to not be influenced by those bands. Frontman Phil Labonte was once in Shadows Fall (wonder if he’s...

The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower INRI EP [3/5] After releasing an album as urgent as 2005’s Love In The Fascist Brothel, The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower knew they had to take things to the next level. But who knew that would mean releasing an EP with one new track,...

The North Atlantic Wires In The Walls [4/5] It’s been argued that it’s impossible to create anything wholly unique, and while that may be true, Michigan’s the North Atlantic are about as close as you can get. Equal parts driving and dissonant, the 11 songs on their debut, Wires In The Walls, recall everyone from...