This record is full of heart-stopping moments, absolutely crushing breakdowns, and believe it not, clean vocals. Crazy right? Before you write them off as trying to conform to a more mainstream sound (or go soft), keep in mind that these clean parts are used to give a few of the songs a new dynamic, rather than simply take the easy way out. In fact, they pull it off so well that I am appreciative of their inclusion. Now if you’re a die-hard fan of their last record The World Is Ours, the only thing that has changed is the lack of gangster/mob movie references. Instead, each song title is a reference to movies by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (except for “Mimic,” which is by Guillermo del Toro). In terms of a roller-coaster, this album is like a popular ride after it’s been torn down and rebuilt. The same feel is there along with the same twists and turns, but there are a couple new additions to the ride that heighten the experience immensely.

Take the intro “Game Over”. Following right alongside TWIO‘s intro “Showtime,” they literally waste no time getting straight to the point. This band likes to party, and evidently party hard. Vocalist Danny Leal is literally raging the entire course of this record, showing his tasteful disgust for many reasons. As one of the most recognizable and brutal vocalists of the genre, fans won’t be disappointed. Ruben, Sal, CJ, and Ramon each respectively deliver as well, blistering through these 11 songs like nothing. “Sin City” takes off after a gorgeous melodic intro, and from there they set their priorities straight by getting right into the partying. Everything from that song screams familiarity. “Once Upon a Time In Mexico” is just as ruthless, but implementing those clean vocals I mentioned earlier, it sets them up for total success. “Texas Blood Money” is the belligerent brother to “Intermission” from TWIO, but this time they combine their love of Texas as well as their love of booze (Whiskey, specifically). One of those “oh shit!” moments I mentioned is in this song, but they are literally scattered all over this record so you’ll find much more to enjoy.

Next up is another homage to their roots, but in the form of a sidewinder called “El Mariachi.” There are no vocals, no drums, and no bass guitars; just delightful guitar work that not only shows their proud heritage, but also the skill to branch into completely whack territory. You’ll either love or hate this song. Now straying into the latter half of the album, they’ve sobered up so-to-speak and really let out the aggression. “Desperado” is absolutely curb-stompingly insane and features one of the best breakdowns of the album near the end. “Mimic” is less straightforward, but lyrically it touches on religion and uses more of the background clean vocal style from before. This one feels a lot less stable as a whole, and because of that is harder to get into. “Predators” goes hand-in-hard with “Desperado” because it is also a monstrosity of sound, showcasing some of the best instrumental work on the album as well as the best mix of bombastic vocals.

There’s something about this genre that is so hard to keep fresh, maybe it’s the repeated formulas that it’s saturated in, or the larger-than-life sounds that every group tries to emulate. UABB have taken it on themselves to not give a fuck, and it shows. For example, If you want another dish of absurdly heavy cacophony the next track “From Dusk Till Dawn” should get your blood boiling again. “Planet Terror” gets the honorable mention for coolest intro, because if you listen closely there’s a creepy but quiet vocal track under a ping-pong delayed clean guitar track; from there it leads to an absolutely epic song starter meant for a circle pit. Closer “The Island of Lost Dreams” is a blend of everything that has surfaced so far: one part weird chord structure, one part slowness, one part destruction, and one more part soaked in strange melody. It’s one of those songs that will have to grow on you, much like a few of the others on here too. One thing to pay attention too is the lyrics especially, because for such an angry band like UABB, these are the most positive and uplifting lyrics they’ve created. They saved another game changer for the end, and it serves them well (as well as grants them even more respect in my book).

For the typical deathcore fan, there’s plenty cased inside this record to like. You’ll find a healthy balance of everything from the almost-cheesy humor, to the familiarity of anchor-heavy breakdowns and riffage, as well as a little positivity amidst all of the chaos. This is truly a step up for the band, and from the looks of it they’ve got just the right mix of elements to ring in new fans and stun the old ones. As UABB would want, come join the party; you won’t be disappointed.

Being that we’re about seven years into the hardcore generation, it’s extremely rare to hear satisfying breakdowns nowadays without thinking of where the band ripped it off at. “Murderer” kicks it off with an absolutely sick breakdown that utilizes both the drums and guitars trading off back and forth to create a behemoth, which streamlines perfectly into the metalcore-ish verse that has death metal double bass shaking the ground beneath you. Brook is growling at his all time best, which was previously thought impossible after the last album.

Going almost straight death metal for the next track, “For The Wicked” will put the –core haters to shame with their eclectic and unique blend of death metal and deathcore. Rapid drums keep this track going where it needs to go, the guitars just give off such immense energy, and Brook’s vocals is the blood that keeps this monster alive and conquering. “Giving birth to evil / From the womb of hell” pretty much sums up the direction the lyrical direction of the track, along with “Beware of the mark of the beast.”

Every track brings something new to the table, and “Falling Away” is no exception. It’s a more straight forward and basic song done in metalcore fashion, but with lower guitar tuning and blast beats with a few sweeps here and there thrown in for good measure. The breakdowns are really heavy and are not just basic chugs. They pave the way towards the verse sections of the song, showing a more progressive element in their song writing that ninety nine percent of bands these days are missing.

The biggest surprise of not only this album, but of their career, is the track “My Light Unseen.” It’s (believe it or not) a slightly alternative metal song that features Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter using cleanly spoken vocals that are simply stellar. Although it’s unprofessional to add a personal note, I would love to see them make more songs like this. The man can sing. The guitars are slightly ominous and, at times, drag out a little to doom metal standards. Overall, this is a standout track. For some reason, it’s listed on iTunes as an instrumental, but it’s really not.

Impending Doom seems to completely reinvent themselves for every album. If one were to listen to their albums back to back, you would have to check and make sure it’s all still the same band. The last track mentioned in this review proves this fact even more so. Solid effort from one of the premiere chug-and-chug bands in today’s over-saturated breakdown scene.

Well, rather than focus on the apparent negatives that displease so many of us metal fans, let’s focus on the positives first. Compared to their last record The Heart of Man, the production value has stepped up tremendously. You can actually hear the band’s bassist this time around above the other instruments. The mix is very satisfying to listen to. Also, if you’re a fan of the sort-of preachy religious context, then you’ll definitely be digging this. This comes standard with an album from the band, and this one is no different. Each member of this band does what they do well. The vocals are done well, the guitars/bass are crisp and thick and the drums are spot on.

Where this album fails is just the sheer repetition of its entirety. I mean, the whole thing is practically a breakdown. The clean vocals that were prevalent on earlier releases are gone, trade-for-trade with growl after growl. The songs tend to run together into giant blobs, which is a huge negative for bands trying to break into this genre successfully. I guess when you’re trying to find something to latch on to with this type of music, there has to be something that sticks out. This is inherently tough. Thankfully, there are a few.

Album opener “False Idols” starts with a pretty lengthy breakdown. Followed by a long two-step section, hardcore kids will be ecstatic when they hear this. Moving on, “The Call” runs with nearly the same format, except there is a pretty sweet pinch-harmonic loaded beast of a breakdown near the 1:10 mark. The intro in “Take Your Place” has a great energy attached to it, and keeps it up throughout the whole song. “Overcome” has to be the best song on the album, although that is hard to distinguish. The guitars are really what keep this one grounded, because technical riffage is good riffage, especially when it’s done right. “Cry of the Oppressed” features one of the most badass examples of guitar work as a whole, but then immediately follows with a breakdown, like every single song does. It’s such a beatdown, and not in a good way. Bands have got to come up with more originality than this, because it has gotten so stale.

For the album’s second half, “An Offering,” is just sick with the way it starts; I could listen to that intro over and over. After two more generic repeats of the earlier tracks, we make our way to the closer, “One For All.” If every song was as technical as this one, this album would be much better. Unfortunately, they just have not gotten there yet as musicians for me to make that call. Finishing the album with one last ginormous breakdown, it ends abruptly; and I’m glad it did.

I can appreciate great metal. There is tons of it out there, but when it follows the same format recycled by every single metal/deathcore band, I get discouraged. You can do better than this, guys. Hopefully, the next album (which judging by their release history will be 2012) will be more technical and have more goals than just beating in the listener’s face and ears. Trust me, if the saturation that has surrounded us is any indication of what’s to come, then I’m scared. Good luck next time around.

With Chelsea Grin riding high on the release of their newest album My Damnation, I decided to hit up guitarist Jaek Harmond and see what plans they have in store for their fans. To my surprise, they have their first ever headlining tour coming up and have already started writing for their next album. Read on to learn more.

MEB: So tell people a bit about Chelsea Grin. What other bands were you guys in before? How did you all meet?

Jaek: Chelsea Grin has been around since about April of 2008. Dan (Jones, guitarist) and myself were in another local band in the Salt Lake area called Hermione, and we had actually played a good amount of shows with Chelsea Grin. After CG lost their guitar player, and our band had fell apart, we joined with Chelsea Grin and it’s been like that since.

Being one of the first deathcore bands that popularized the genre, do you feel that the genre has gotten a little overloaded with the dozens of deathcore bands popping up everywhere?

Honestly, I don’t hear that many “deathcore” bands nowadays. It’s a lot more popular to have some dubsteppy keyboard parts, singing choruses and half-assed screaming vocals. Don’t get me wrong- there are millions of deathcore local bands around, but not many deathcore bands ever “broke out,” so we were the lucky ones.

What guitar brands do you guys stick by? Any difference between studio and live guitars?

We have always played Ibanez 7-String guitars, but recently Dan has made the switch to the Ernie Ball Music Man 7-Strings. I am still sticking pretty loyal to Ibanez, and just got a new Prestige RGA7 that’s pretty badass, so I am happy haha. We have always used the guitars we use live, in the studio as well. We figure we want to sound as close to the record as we can when we play live, so the best thing to do is use the same gear.

How do you feel the process for making My Damnation differed from the process behind Desolation Of Eden?

Mostly DOE was different because we had such a long span of time for the writing of the CD. “Recreant” and “Cheyne Stokes” had already been songs for over a year before we had them recorded for DOE, but with My Damnation the first song and last song were written about four weeks apart, so it was much more… rushed. We definitely feel that My Damnation was a step in the right direction and made a lot more sense than DOE did haha.

After the Thrash and Burn tour wraps up in December, what are your plans? Any chance of writing new songs or any other tour plans?

Instead of waiting for Thrash and Burn to finish before we start writing, we decided we are going to start writing the next release on the road. It’ll give us a nice head start for when we are home and do need to concentrate on it, so that we can hopefully get our next release out by next summer. The only touring plans we have are with Asking Alexandria and Blessthefall in January/February, and our first ever headlining tour in March/April right after that.

What are some of your favorite venues/cities that you like to play in? Any standout experiences that you’ve had (good or bad)?

There are a ton of cities that come to mind when I get asked what our favorite is to play, but San Antonio always seems to take the cake. Shows in New York are also so fun just because of how violent the kids are there, so awesome.

What has been your biggest challenge as Chelsea Grin over the past few years?

Other than the common stuff (van repairs, low income, etc.) I think the biggest “challenge” we have had to overcome has been the recent births of several members’ daughters (three out of the six of us have daughters now, haha) so there were a couple tours where we had a fill-in drummer, or only played with two out of our three guitar players.

What are your favorite places to chow down at?

Our favorite place always has been and will be Taco Bell. We go every single night, and when our trailer won’t fit through the drive-thru or the drive-thru is closed, there is literally a symphony of cries in the van. Our favorite place in the country to be is California, not only for the weed but for the awesome weather and shows too, haha.

What advice can you give other people that look up to you guys and plan on forming their own band?

Do whatever you can to be different. You can be the best (musically) band in the world, but if you don’t have an image, or a way to “portray” your band, then it doesn’t matter. Fans like to attach themselves to a lot more than just the lyrics of the band, so if you feel like your band is stuck…work on that.

What other bands would you recommend your fans to check out?

The band opening this year’s Thrash and Burn for sure… Volumes. They have a great mix of melodic and heavy and they are VERY good at what they do. Awesome dudes to chill with too, we get along with them great.

Any last words for the fans?

Death metal.

“Section 8” has been touted by the band for a while as their first song written since acquiring new kit-master Ben Harclerode – and in all of its dissonant glory, the track still kicks pretty hard. On the other hand, WC’s cover of Pantera’s “Strength Beyond Strength” is respectable, but the grating vocals of Phil Bozeman just don’t quite transfer as well as the triple guitar attack Whitechapel lays down here. While we can’t expect a perfect rendition of the classic track, it’s also difficult to parlay such aggressive vocals to a track such as this – though Whitechapel’s hammering ending is a damn good one.

The pair of remixes are what end up as the duds of the bunch. Big Chocolate’s “Breeding Violence” remix does little else but suck all the bob-and-weave energy out of the original, leaving only a few sections of guitar-warping to truly get into. Ben Weinman’s cut of “This is Exile” is reasonable at best, mixing a brooding atmosphere and haunting melodies that apex into a mechanical, yet intriguing interpretation of the track’s breakdown.

Ending the EP is the peculiar yet entertaining acoustic version of “End of Flesh.” Broken down and not trying to battle with machine-gun drumming, the trio of guitars rip through bursts of maniacal strumming laced with dissonant melodies. While obviously not as abrasive, it serves itself well and actually transfers decently into an acoustic track sans vocals.

In short, Recorrupted holds some value to us as Whitechapel fans, but with some skippable content. While it isn’t an EP of completely new material or even a full-length, hopefully this will keep the ball rolling towards another Whitechapel release in 2012.

The first song, “Murder I Wrote,” is clear evidence right away. The indecipherable rawr rawr’s are quite funny, the high screeches are borderline good, but the singing is purely awesome. It’s got some brutal deathcore breakdowns, but with weak deathcore verses that lead into a complete 180 with the post-hardcore chorus. At another point they combine the clean and low screaming over music that blends both styles.

Having never heard this band before, that post-hardcore influence threw me for a loop. The track has a bit of a classic The Acacia Strain feel to it in the beginning. Throwing heavy drop D breakdowns and linking with heavy metalcore verses provide the stage for an epic singing chorus that stands out on its own among other post-hardcore bands of today.

Easily the best musical section of the album is on the song “Delusions.” It builds off of a really soft and mellow guitar playing with subtle drums, then some of the best brutal breakdowns I’ve heard all year. Bass heavy is how I like it. These guys may get crap for not being more exploratory in the guitar playing, but in this case minimizing it can be a good thing. At the 3:55 mark, they bring the pain to the pit with menacing vocals coupled with the same breakdowns as before. Could have done without the low singing going out on an electronic style as they’re very cliché, but it’s forgivable. The actual singing is very mellow and calming, which again seems out of place.

For essentially a straight post-hardcore track, check out “Heroes Of June.” It starts with a soft background-placed guitar, then high-pitched guitars over standard screaming sets you up for the singing parts. Though at this point I started to notice that as soon as they end the singing, the brutal deathcore lows kick in without the mid-range screaming. They try to use this shock value over and over but after a while you start to notice it.

Then “Famous Last Words” bitch-slaps you with a metalcore sound that is largely missing from the rest of the album along with heart-stopping breakdowns. They use a more ominous post-hardcore type of music in the chorus with no clean singing at all, until the 2:15 mark. To give the listener a break from this tired shock value, I think they should have left it as a regular deathcore song.

I can’t really say too much about the deathcore sections, other than they’re mostly generic while throwing in something new every once in a while. This is admirable however, because it proves that if you think you can’t stand out in one genre, then combine a few and create something no one has heard before. If anyone is aware of more deathcore/post-hardcore bands, let me know cause I’ve never heard of this.

MEB: So tell people a bit about The Contortionist. How did you guys all meet? What is the meaning of the band name? What bands were you all in before The Contortionist?

Robby Baca: We met in high school. The band name doesn’t have much meaning, although I suppose it describes our sound pretty well. That was unintentional. The Contortionist is all of our first band.

What are your influences in your song writing? What sort of topics do they address?

For Exoplanet we had kind of a spastic writing style. There’s never really a set formula for our song structure, and we plan on continuing that style on the next record.

What guitars do you guys use? Any difference between live and studio?

We use Ibanez guitars and basses. Same guitars live as in the studio. We’ve recently added some 7 strings to our arsenal.

You guys have a very unique song writing style. What influenced you guys to combine brutal deathcore, punishing technical and mathcore elements, and build upon that with atmospheric/ambient playing?

The deathcore came from us coming from that kind of background. I think we’ve said everything we can musically about “deathcore”. We’ll be moving away from that a lot on the next record. Other than that were just trying to keep it interesting on our end. We love playing with time and key signatures in our music. Fun stuff!!!

Is there any news on a new album? Have you guys been writing new songs while doing the extensive touring you’ve been doing?

We’ve been writing as much as we can individually. Now is the time where we start to pull all our ideas together and try to build cohesive songs. We’ll be in the studio in February. Couldn’t be more stoked!

What is the overall message behind your latest album “Exoplanet?”

It’s not really a message, but a story about a few things: birth and death of our planet, humankind looking beyond our solar system for help with crossing the galaxy, deep space travel, etc..

After your Australian tour in November, what are your guys plans?

We plan on getting right back into writing mode. It will be crunch time about then.

Which comes first in the song writing process, the lyrics or the music?

The music. It will most likely always be like that for us.

What have been some of your favorite venues or cities you’ve played in so far? Any standout crazy experiences/crazy fans?

Some of my favorite venues have been: Key Club in West Hollywood, Trees in Dallas, The Gramercy Theater in NYC, La Tulipe in Montreal, and Firestone Live in Orlando. All sick shows, sick venues! NYC had an exceptional turn out. Playing a sold out show in the big apple is something.

What has been the biggest challenge for you guys so far as a band?

Writing seems to be our biggest challenge. I feel like we still haven’t really figured out our writing technique. We have great chemistry together, but getting past each others differences can be hard for us. Unless the room is filled with good vibes, the song isn’t going to get finished.

Who are some of your personal influences

I could list for days, but here are a few of the most important: Planet X, Pat Metheny, Meshuggah, Allan Holdsworth, Between the Buried and Me, Dream Theater, The Dear Hunter, Textures, Deftones, Ect…..

Which songs do you like to play the most live? Any covers at all?

I really enjoy playing the 3 Exoplanet tracks back to back to back. But I also love to head bang to Primal Directive and Oscillator. No covers yet…

Any last words for your fans and people who have yet to experience the sheer eargasm that is in store for them?

Sit back, close your eyes, and listen!

As far as the music is concerned, the band has left no doubt in my mind that they could one day rise from the depths of the underground. From front to back, this record makes the case of a band that can break it down without getting old, while adding melody in delicately measured portions to spice up the chugfest. Opener “I, Tormentor” flexes between uzi-drumming and lick-laced chugging before kicking the tempo down for a mosh-inducing sludge-down that keeps you on your heels. This is a prime example of what to expect on the record – everything is put together well enough to keep your ears tuned in, but the interest is stopped from peaking the way it should. “Human Waste” and “Clear Head” show further exploration in the songwriting ways of the band; the former uses a slimy riff backed by maniacal double-bass to push its way through bursts of searing melodies as the latter finds success by using similar ways to drive the crunching guitars straight in and out of our heads.

Eighth track “Pale Skin” is the odd one of the bunch, focusing more on a slow burn of drawn out guitars and bursting punches of double-bass to create something abrasive, yet much less frantic in its end product. It is a bit deceiving in that it still comes across as heavy as opposed to embracing the qualities of a ballad as many heavier artists might in their reach for something different. This track gives a look into the flaws of I Declare War’s approach to their craft. While strong as a whole, the tracks give off little to pinpoint when looking for completely memorable moments. If you have to grasp at straws to remember anything specifically, it is difficult to call an album outstanding. Sure, bits like the grooved out chugs of “Final Hour” or the sludge and slam riffs of closer “Weak Minds” make for great bits in their respective tracks, but they are far and few between.

On the other side of things, much can be said about the production of the album – good and bad. Vocally, it teeters between indecipherable and just plain brash, giving little room to even attempt to figure out what is being said without the help of a lyrics sheet. Is it the fault of the vocalist or the man behind the boards? It would be easy to say either, but even in the more extreme music genres, there has to be some room for expressed emotion – and with a dismal sound such as this, there has to be something for people to latch on to. Still, the band has taken a new step forward by adding vocalist Jamie Hanks, who does shine some variety into the vocal stylings the band has been plagued by in older recordings – even if the band’s messages are getting tuned out by the mixture of throat-searing vocals and the need for extra abrasion in the final sound.

While this album lacks in standout qualities, it does an ample job in keeping you tuned to the aural assault of blasting drums and gritty guitars the band has to offer. It might not be the best there is to hear, but there’s something worth hearing on this record that might make I Declare War a bigger name in the near future.

The Contortionist is, for lack of a better term, “Progessive-Experimental-Deathcore,” or as some people at MetalSucks are dubbing them, “Sumeriancore.” Down-tuned riffage that, as their MySpace proclaims is, “strong enough to shake the core of the earth” combined with techy noodling and atmospheric elements give The Contortionist everything they need to make a solid record. Clocking in at just under 50 minutes, Exoplanet packs a powerful punch of brutality and finesse, expertly executed with every note.

If you’re familiar with The Contortionist’s older work, then you will find some similarities on Exoplanet. There are a few songs that are the same songs with different vocals on their EP Apparition, (of which are “Oscillator,” “Flourish,” and “Advent”). Now, before you get all hot and bothered over them ‘rehashing’ songs, get over it. It’s totally understandable; bands do this all the time, at least these songs are solid. New lyricist and vocalist, Jonathan, explains the new vocals on old songs.  “I had a month to rewrite an entire album, and then two and a half days to record it. The only way that I as a musician could approach a full-time music endeavor, was to write the material to fit my sound and style.” That being said, the new “old” songs are fantastic. Jonathan does a great job of making the songs his own without distracting you from the music that you already love.

The Contortionist succeeds where so many bands fail. Many bands take on the challenge of incorporating a wide variety of sounds and influences. While many miss the mark, creating songs that sound more like chopped up versions of different songs sewn together, this is not the case with Exoplanet. The Contortionist is able to combine technicality, brutality, melody, and  emotion seamlessly into one song. This is definitely a band who is sure of what they are doing and what sound they are trying to achieve. They can easily be compared to an early Between The Buried And Me, while maybe not being as experimental.

Instrumental interludes and electronics are used throughout the album without feeling gimmicky. My favorite songs on the album are the “Exoplanet” songs (“I:Egress,” “II:Void,” and “III:Light”). These songs are a perfect representative of the band’s strengths. Melody is the key when combining the chaos and sophistication that these songs posses, and The Contortionist seem to understand exactly how to utilize it.

I’ve been looking forward to this release ever since I discovered their EP, Shapeshifter, a few years back. So, I admit, this may not be the most unbiased review, but frankly I don’t care. I think this band is solid and hope they get all the success they deserve. Check them out; give Exoplanet the listen it deserves. Let the music shape your opinion of the album, not my words. Whether your a fan or not, give it a try and make sure to catch The Contortionist on tour this fall.

The album begins with the ruthless instrumental title track ‘Malevolence’. The isolated bass riff in the middle of the song gives us a taste of what to expect throughout the album – a raw, heavy, unrelenting intensity that will kick you in the nuts if mind begins to wander. Malevolence is a straightforward representation of deathcore, both the good and bad aspects of the genre. While vocalist Jonathan Huber’s growls are excellent in their own right, his lack of variation of tone begins to wear on your ears.

Although the album is overall a breakdown chugfest, I felt as if the subtle technical guitar work and drumming made the repetitiveness not as overwhelming. I Declare War has a substantial amount of breakdowns, teetering on the edge of over-saturation, but they are all heavy and fun as shit. Don’t take this album for something it’s not. Malevolence is straightforward and heavy. I Declare War aren’t breaking any new ground on Malevolence; they are taking what people already like about the genre and doing it right.

My personal favorite track is “Purification of the Population” which starts with a melodic riff that pulls you into a sea of blast beats, double-bass and open-stringed chuggage which turns into one of the best breakdowns on the album. This three and a half minute monster has enough power to get any fan of the genre moving, and any haters to cover their ears and swear. A close second is the closing track “Fractions” which I feel is the most mature song on the album. With solid breakdowns, technical riffs and a melodic interlude, the song showcases everything that makes the bad worth listening to. Not to mention the outro-fade is sick. If their next album has more songs like “Fractions” then I Declare War will be more of a force to reckon with than they have already established themselves to be.

As a debut album, Malevolence has launched I Declare War into the forefront of the deathcore genre, crushing the flippy haired, synchronized stage-moving bands that over-saturate the scene. I Declare War are here, and we are listening.