Review: As Cities Burn - Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest

artist: as cities burn album: son, i loved you at your darkest label: solid state records released: 6/21/05 by: eduardo moutinho I’ve always been taught and have always read that clichés are detrimental to good writing. While such a statement does make sense, I’m sorry, but I just have to use one in this situation. As Cities Burn’s latest release, Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest, is a tale of two albums. Damn, that cliché works so well for this release. Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest at times sounds like unbearable mainstream filth and at other times sounds like exceptional post-hardcore. It’s frustrating. I think it also appropriate to state that As Cities Burn is a Christian band. Hell, they’re on Solid State for God’s sakes (clichés and puns, wow). The band’s lyrics seem to be ambiguous enough, but we all know what their intentions are. I was able to wade through the album with little pain, and let it be known that I get easily irritated by overly-Christian people. So yeah, listen at your own risk. With all that out of the way, I can now address the music itself. Man, this band has talent. Unfortunately, As Cities Burn exhibits its talent in bursts on this record, not one consistent groovy flow. This results in the annoying “good song, bad song” phenomenon. The album begins with the raucous song “Thus from My Lips, by Yours, My Sin is Purged,” a choppy and frenetic fireball of post-hardcore bliss. The song elevated my spirits which were then immediately lowered by the next two lobotomycore songs and the damn-I-want-to-like-but-don’t-like number entitled “Bloodsucker Pt. II.” Yet, my morale improved when I heard the thunderous chords of “Terrible! How Terrible for this Great City!” The entire album follows this pattern. There are great songs here, yet you have to wade through a lot of muck. Other highlights include “Admission: Regret” and “One: Twentyseven.” At its best As Cities Burn is sporadic guitar-driven post-hardcore with interesting song structures and competent screaming vocals; at its worst, the band is sappy singing segments, silly emocore conventions, and blatant emulation of MTV emo. I don’t know what this band wants. I just don’t think that you can satisfy both the diehard post-hardcore people and the Hot Topic frequenters by meeting them halfway. Ultimately, the band seems to be facing an identity crisis. I liked this album and I hated it as well. Yet, it gets a somewhat positive score for the potential that I see. I just wonder where they will take said potential. favorite song: “one: twentyseven" rating: 85%/100% listen to as cities burn

Interview: Throwdown

bst interviews throwdown by rob tatum Recently, bst had the chance to interview Matt Mently, the guitarist of Orange County's Throwdown. We spent some time asking Matt about the band's new album, the resurgance of heavy music, and the Sounds of the Underground tour. The following is a recap of the interview. If you are interested in learning more about and listening to Throwdown, visit the band's official website, and Trustkill Records. bst: Please state your names and instruments. Matt: I'm Mentley. I play guitar. Dom plays bass, Ben plays the drums, and Dave sings. bst: Tell us about the new album, Vendetta. What should listeners expect from the new album? How would you compare it to your other releases? Do you think that losing a guitarist has had any negative impact on your sound or the new record? Matt: What listeners can expect is a brutal and heavy record. We as a band also feel that this is our most solid and complete album that we have ever done. I think that fans of Haymaker will enjoy it. There is little more metal influence in there, but it's done tastefully and I think each song can stand on its own. As far as losing a guitarist, I don't think it hurt us. I think that it's just different. It's a different album, and it's got a different vibe to it, which is a good thing. bst: How would you describe working with Trustkill? Does it feel good to be on a label with some other bands from the Orange County scene? Matt: Working with Trustkill is like eating a freshly roasted corn on the cob right off the grill. Yeah it's cool because 18 Visions and Bleeding Through are all good friends of ours. We have known all those dudes forever. bst: You guys played Ozzfest last summer, what was that like? What kind of response did you get? Do you think that bigger tours like Warped, Ozzfest, and Sounds of the Underground are beneficial to the music community by exposing more people to your music? Or do you think it keeps some of the diehard fans away? Matt: Ozzfest was a great tour. I loved playing to that many people everyday. I personally thought that we got a solid response each time we played. As far as those package tours go, I personally feel that they help underground music get out to a lot more people then it normally would. I would hope that the so-called "diehard fans" would be supportive and come out and support the bands that they claim to love. bst: As the hardcore/metal genres continues to gain popularity through these larger tours, Headbanger’s Ball, and the larger labels signing more and more bands with few or no releases to their credit, do you see the quality of music suffering as a result? Why or why not? Matt: I don't think that the quality of music suffers because major labels take interest or bands get bigger. It only suffers when bands start sacrificing their integrity to try and fit in to something they are not. If we were on a major label, we would still sound the same. We would be the same dudes, with the same beliefs. That will never change no matter how big we might get or how much money may be thrown our way. bst: What do you think is the best part of the music industry right now? What can be done to keep that going? What do you see as the biggest problem with the music industry right now? What do you think can be done to fix it? Matt: I think that the best part of the music industry right now is how much the underground is thriving. It is starting to get noticed as something true and real. The only thing that can be done to keep that going is for all of us to keep doing what we are doing and stay true to who we are as bands and people. The underground music scene will be here even when the mainstream decides that they are no longer interested. I guess the biggest problem is how much fake watered down crap is still so prevalent on the radio and on TV. But that has always been the problem and it probably always will be. I just try not to worry about it and just keep doing what I love to do. bst: I read that Revolver called you guys “The Future of Metal,” how do you react to that? I also saw something about you guys being the next Pantera; those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Personally, I don’t think there will ever be another Pantera, but do you consider it an honor to even be mentioned in that sense? Matt: First of all, I agree that there will never be another Pantera. If former members of Pantera's new bands aren't it, then we sure as hell aren't either. Yes, it is a huge honor to even have that said about us. We all love that band to death and what they did for American Metal. We can only hope to ever come close to matching what they did. As far as us being the "The Future of Metal", that is just as much an honor and we are very excited to be considered as such. We would love to be the "future", but that isn't up to us, it's up to the fans. bst: What are your plans at the conclusion of this tour? More touring? R&R? Matt: I think we have a week or so off, then we doing a headlining tour across the U.S. hitting a lot of the smaller cities that we don't usually play on a regular tour. Along with us will be, Sinai Beach, The Agony Scene, and Remembering Never. It should be a great tour. After that, I don't know yet, but I promise it will be non-stop touring for the next year. bst: Anything else you would like to add? Matt: THROWDOWN LOVES DENVER!!! bst: Thanks a ton for taking the time to answer the questions. We really appreciate it. See you guys in Denver. throwdown official site

Interview: All That Remains

bst interviews all that remains by rob tatum Recently, bst had the chance to interview Phil Labonte, the vocalist of Massachusetts outfit All That Remains. We spent some time asking Phil about the band's touring, the resurgance of heavy music, and more. The following is a recap of the interview. If you are interested in learning more about and listening to All That Remains, visit the band's official website, and Prosthetic Records. bst: Please state your names and instruments. Phil: My name is Phil and I am the vocalist. bst: What is it that you think separates All That Remains from other bands? Music? Lyrics? Vocals? All of the above? Phil: I would say music mostly, vocals and lyrics just a bit. We try not to get into a mold with our stuff but still write songs that are songs. Above all we write what we want to hear. bst: What do you expect listeners to take from This Darkened Heart? What were the main inspirations behind the album? Phil: I don't expect people to take anything from the record, if they do find it personal and that it relates to them. That's great, if not I just hope they listen and think it's a good record with good songs. bst: As heavy music continues to gain in popularity, where do you see the band going as a result of this? Do you see any potential problems that may result from this popularity? Phil: I think we may be able to pay the bills someday. That's really all we hope to do, just be able to play music for a living. At the end of the day that's all that matters. bst: What are you thoughts about the bigger tours (Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Sounds of the Underground)? Do you enjoy playing for bigger, diverse crowds? Or do you feel at home with a smaller, more intimate setting? Phil: I like the idea of bigger tours, the summer festivals have done great things for heavy music. I like the idea of getting our music to as many people as possible. That's why we tour in the first place. At the same time intimate is probably a more fun show for us to play. I like to have crowd participation. bst: Speaking of touring and shows, what would be your dream show/tour? Why? Phil: Right now it would be either Carcass, us, and I don't give a fuck who else, just because I want to see Carcass. Or Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Unearth, us, and The Acacia Strain. We could call it Massholes Across America. bst: You guys hail from Massachusetts, which seems to be the Mecca of metalcore lately; do you think that makes things easier or harder on the band? Does the success of bands like Unearth and Diecast make you guys strive to push yourselves harder? Phil: I will say that I think we don't get a fair shot with some people on the one hand and it draws more attention to us at the same time. I guess it kind of evens out in the end. As for pushing us harder, no. We have never looked at making music a competition. bst: What has been the biggest obstacle that you have overcome as a band? What would you consider the band’s greatest achievement to this point? What goals do you have for the future? Phil: Surviving the summer after Behind Silence and Solitude came out. We kicked out our guitar player, our bass player quit, and our drummer broke his arm. As for goals like I just said earlier just to pay the bills and write good heavy metal. bst: What are your plans at the conclusion of this tour? More touring? Recording? R&R? Phil: Touring, touring, a month off then more touring. We'll probably have a month off between now and Christmas. We go into the studio in January. So we have to write. bst: How do you guys feel about the internet and mp3’s? Do you feel that it is an asset to bands (specifically up-and-coming ones), or do you see it as a problem? Phil: I don't know, it's a double edged sword. We want to get our music out to as many people as we can. So I guess it's a good thing at the end of the day. bst: Thanks a ton for taking the time to answer the questions. We really appreciate it. See you guys in Denver. all that remains official site