phixation.

What the hell happened?!?

For those who are into music and live and die by new releases you surely have had this feeling or thought. Unfortunately, this has happened to me so many times I am just pissed. Here are some of the more memorable ones from the past few years.

All That Remains “Overcome” – After 2 stellar albums and one mediocre album this album has forever changed the band for the worse. I first got into All That Remains after falling in love with the This Darkened Heart album. It is a metal masterpiece. It has every aspect I look for in a band. It has brutally heavy guitar riffs, massive breakdowns and killer vocals to go along with it. They followed up in 2006 with The Fall Of Ideals which brought them a bit more mainstream and toned things down a bit and landed them a spot on the Ozzfest tour. During the pre-release hype for the album the band released the track “The Weak Willed” to show those who were concerned that they may “sell out” that they were heavier than ever. This track happened to be about as heavy as can be with brutally heavy vocals. Having said that, the rest of the album never came close to the same level as this track. However, I gave it a chance and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. In 2008 came Overcome which has absolutely destroyed the bands image as a east coast hardcore band. The album includes overly processed vocals which make Phil sound like a robot at times. Don’t get me wrong, the album does certainly have it’s moments such as the track A Song for the Hopeless which starts off with an almost Guns N Roses or Skid Row guitar riff and then breaks out in some great vocals and breakdowns and then back to the 80s guitars. Overall Overcome easily makes the list of albums that were not worth the wait. I’ll give this band one more chance to get things right again.

Atreyu “A Death Grip on Yesterday” – Okay, so this was a hard one. I didn’t know whether to choose this album or Lead Sails Paper Anchor. They both sucked. I think it’s safe to say i’ve given this band 2 chances. 2 Strikes you’re out with me when it comes to albums. This band busted onto the scene in 2002 with their first full length album Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. They instantly created a massive following outside of their Orange County roots. The band mixed a very unique style having 2 singers – one being the drummer who adds the melodic vocals over the screams of Alex Varkatzas. I really fell in love with this band after they released The Curse in 2004. To this day The Curse is probably one of my favorite albums of all times. The album started off with a unbelievable first few tracks such as Bleedng Masscara and their single Right Side of the Bed and on the deluxe edition ended with a cover of Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name. Now, onto this pile of suck known as A Death Grip on Yesterday it’s become clear their “grip on yesterday” was not very tight. This album too does have its moments but not nearly enough for me to ever want to put my ears through it again. I did however enjoy the band enough I thought they’d fix things after moving from Victory Records to Hollywood Records to release their next album, Lead Sails Paper Anchor. I was wrong. This band is done in my books. I’ll just pretend they all died in a car crash after The Curse and assume that’s all I will ever get.

Inhale Exhale “I Swear” – I don’t even know where to start on this album. I really don’t. Lets start with their debut album in 2006 The Lost. The Sick. The Sacred. It had been years before this album that I had bought an album simply on seeing the album in the store and not ever hearing of the band. I rolled the dice and it turned out to be a great roll. This album received many many plays in my Jetta and on my iPod. The album started off with a very aggressive first track Redemption. The rest of the album rarely was a let down making the entire album something that was in my books genius. I spent the next 2 years waiting for their follow up which turned out to be I Swear. I bought it the day it came out on iTunes because I could not find it stocked anywhere. That’s a whole different story(ie, Solid State Records distribution). Let’s say I don’t have much to say about the album except that I couldn’t finish listening to the entire thing. That’s never a good sign. To this day I can’t get past the first few pussy songs on the album to even get to the meat of the album – which I doubt is even there. Major disappointment – so much so that I doubt I will ever even look to hear what their next album is. I do have one good thing to say about it – the album cover is cool.

It Dies Today “Sirens” – Yet another band who hit the hardcore scene hard only to followup with an embarrassment. Their debut album The Caitiff Choir may be one of the worst recorded as far as quality goes but it is also one of the best hardcore albums of the millennium. I will never forget seeing this band open for Machine Head and DevilDriver in Edgerton, WI. One of the most amazing shows ive ever seen. Just straight up hardcore in your face. No fucking around there. After a singer switch and new album titled Sirens out it turned out the sirens were not loud enough for me to stay away. I waited for this album and again I don’t know what the hell happened to the band. Maybe they all had breakups with girlfriends? Shit, maybe even with boyfriends – after hearing the album I wouldn’t be surprised. Again, no bright spots at all on Sirens to talk about. I can say I do have high hopes for this band now though. I saw them about 6 months ago in Minneapolis and they played some of their new stuff from their upcoming album. If the album is anything like what it sounds like live I am eagerly waiting for it. Don’t let me down again, please.

36 Crazyfists “The Tide and it’s Takers” – The band has easily been one of my top 10 most listened to bands of all time. Their 2006 effort Rest Inside the Flames should be in any hardcore music fans music collection. I think i’d even go as far as saying i’d answer that stupid question “If you were on an island and could bring only one album what would it be?” with Rest Inside the Flames. Well, as long as it doesn’t come bundled with The Tide and it’s Takers. Granted, the album doesn’t suck or wasn’t a let down because they pussed out like the femmies above. It’s just because it seems to be a little rushed – which is weird because it took the Alaskans 2 and a half years to release the album. In fact, as I listened to it right now. It may be their heaviest album to date. Gone though are the hardcore breakdowns. Hrm, maybe I should take this album off the list as i’m bobbing my head right now..Could it be, that I like the album? Nah..can’t be..