Review: Underoath - The Changing of Times

artist: underoath album: the changing of times label: takehold records release date: 2/26/02 by: justin morgan First of all, this has to be one of the most unique sounding bands I have heard in a long time. The first track on the CD (and also my favorite) "The Sun Still Sleeps," starts off with electronic keyboard sounds then the band rips into the song. The vocals are very well done screamo vocals traded off by melodic signing for the chorus and hooks. The guitars are very melodic and make the song flow very well. What’s great is that all the songs on the CD flow so well together. The Changing of the Times has not left my CD player for weeks. I think the overall sound the band has is refreshing for a hardcore/metal/rock band. I just can’t stress how talented these guys are. By far, one of the best releases on this year. rating: 100%/100% listen to underoath

Review: Wolves - Art.Culture.Work

artist: wolves album: art.culture.work. label: coalition records released: 4/2002 by: dan phelps The music on this record is incredible. Straight forward rock and hardcore. Yet, unbelievably unique and ahead of its time. I like that the guitars are often very note-oriented. The very "I'm an art student" booklet repeats ideals like: revolution, youth, movement, art, freedom, etc. This album discusses the destruction of art to create new art, and how youthful energy should create a new freedom. It discusses the end of authority as a result of reclaiming our rights. This is intelligent and well thought out. These are people that understand playing recycled bullshit is lame. This is probably my favorite release of the past few years. favorite song: n/a rating: n/a listen to wolves

Review: Thursday - Full Collapse

artist: thursday album: full collapse label:victory records released: 4/10/01 by: eduardo moutinho I’ve told my friends this story quite a few times, yet it never seems to get old to me. About two and a half years ago, I went to my first basement show. It was being held somewhere in Lakewood, and I was going because I felt that it would be interesting to check out. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing some friends. At that time, I was a “newbie” to the scene. To be quite honest, I was wearing a Nonpoint shirt, and into hard rock. I was in a cocoon of power chords, double bass, rap metal, clown masks, and Fred Durst. I remember enjoying myself quite a bit, and wanting to get more involved in what was going on. The music wasn’t necessarily what I enjoyed listening to, then and now, yet it was different and interesting. I wanted to know what the people involved were listening to. I remember talking to Ryan Nee, one of my good friends, who got into this before I did, about forming a new band. I asked, “Who do you want to sound like?” And he quickly responded with, “I wanna sound like Thursday!” And from then on, I began breaking out of my cocoon… I know that a lot of people that come to this site are relative newcomers to our underground music scene, like I was, and would like to know about a release or a band that would be a good place to start at. Well folks, this is the release, and this is the band. Thursday is a hard band to categorize. They epitomize the post-hardcore genre, by fusing together many elements from hardcore, punk, indie rock, and emo. In fact, Thursday’s sound has been copied by many upstart groups, who have failed to capture the same essences that make it so great. This sound has helped Thursday emerge as one of the most popular bands in the scene. The band is relentless in their passion for what they do, as they are known for putting on zealous performances, literally matching the ferocity of their music with the energy they display on stage. This ferocity is accurately exhibited on Full Collapse, Thursday’s second album, and debut on Victory. This release is strong, from start to finish. You can put it in, and leave it alone, because there really isn’t one song that’s not worth listening to. Thursday’s incredible talent and intense songwriting shines through, rendering this album into a true tour-de-force. The first track on the album, “A0001” is an atmospheric mainly instrumental piece, with hints of voice haunting the track. It acts as one of those soft-to-hard transitions, which has become cliché with recent bands, with the second track on the album, “Understanding in a Car Crash.” This track is quite spectacular, and is probably Thursday’s most popular song. The song is fast, with charging verses and choruses, accentuated by excellent guitar work. There are quiet moments in the song, yet they are few and far between. They almost act like little breaks for the listener. The song culminates with a breakdown where the guitars and vocals duel with each other. There are high-pitched string parts, choppy chords, singing, screaming, etc. It’s an appropriate end to such a veracious piece. Thursday likes to experiment with dichotomies. It’s quite easy to see them playing a song with a very slow and melodic opening piece, that leads to a crushing verse. This is evident in quite a few songs, such as “Autobiography of a Nation,” “A Hole in the World,” and a form of it is seen in “Standing on the Edge of Summer.” While this is done frequently, it never becomes boring, and is in fact quite wonderful. In addition, another dichotomy is frequently seen: the use of singing and screaming vocals. Thursday didn’t pioneer this at all, yet they really helped popularize it. I like this combination a lot, yet it has to be properly done. Thursday does it brilliantly. Almost every member in the band does some form of singing. So in many instances, you can hear up to three voices going on at the same time during a song. The screaming is distinct and unique to each member, along with the singing. It flows together well, and adds rawness to the music that is much appreciated. Also, the use of spoken word is used masterfully on the record, which adds poignancy on top of all the organized chaos. The strongest track on the album, in my opinion, “Paris in Flames,” demonstrates all of these things. The song is sinusoidal in nature, and has quite a bite to it. The vocals are all over the board, with a lot of contribution from backup vocals in addition to well-placed spoken word. The epic-sounding end is quite spectacular, and is a good segment of sound to personify the band with. While I could go on and talk about other great tracks on the album (“Cross Out the Eyes,” “I Am the Killer,” etc.), I’m going to stop here. I don’t want to make this any longer than it has to be. I want you to go out there and listen to this record, if you haven’t. This is definitely one of those albums that define our scene, and what we’re all about. It’s a beautiful compilation, and definitely the strongest release Thursday has put out. It’s not the newest release out there, yet I’ve wanted to review it for a long time. In fact, this release has catapulted Thursday to an almost mainstream-like acceptance, which may prove to be unfortunate. They have recently signed to Island Records, and will put out a record on that label in the coming months. Nevertheless, Full Collapse will always be here, and for those who haven’t embraced it yet, please do. You won’t regret it. favorite song: "paris in flames" rating: 97%/100% listen to thursday

Review: Engine Down - Demure

artist: engine down album: demure label: lovitt records released: by: ryan nee Demure is the third full-length release from the Richmond, Virginia based band, Engine Down. The band is known for their mellow, yet incredibly tense style of straightforward rock with a few twists and turns that keep it interesting. I picked up the prior release from Engine Down, To Bury Within The Sound, and was very impressed. At first listen, Demure just didn’t live up to its predecessor. The style of the music had shifted and become less based on the waxing and waning climaxes of To Bury Within the Sound and had shifted more in the direction of consistent rock. After listening to this record three or four times, I was completely dragged into the new style and sound. Twenty or so listens later, I am convinced that this is the best album that Engine Down has ever released. Demure starts out with a constant syncopated drumbeat, a few notes on the guitar and the great voice of singer/guitarist Keeley Davis in the opening track, “Songbird.” The band lays the groundwork for what is to come in this slow, driving, and tense track. To me, “Songbird” is like the opening credits of the album – it lays the groundwork and provides a good overview of the sound of Engine Down, while creating an intense sense of tension in the mind of a listener. The next song on the record, “Pantomime,” is one of the most rocking songs on the record. The catchy, yet cryptic lyrics of Keeley Davis chime over the instruments. The instrumentation of Engine Down really shines on this song – they manage to beautifully balance loud and soft parts, string progressions and driving chords, and instrumental and vocal sections. Each and every part of this song, as well as the other songs on this record, are amazingly catchy. The record flows through each song, with some songs more rocking than others, but constantly manages to keep a brilliant balance between overly consistent and not consistent enough. Each song has its own character and voice, yet they all manage to keep the same Engine Down sound. Highlights of the record include the climactic interludes of the fourth song, “Detour,” and the intense chord progressions of the seventh song, “Overrated,” among many other great songs on the record. There are only two drawbacks to this record. First of all, you can’t really hear the bass for most of the record. In a few songs, the bass shines through, but for most of the record it is completely inaudible. I have never been one of those people that would rather listen to a good recording than a good record, so this problem doesn’t reallybother me that much. The second thing that I find to be a problem with the record is that the lyrics of Engine Down are overly cryptic. While the lyrics set a good tone for the songs, I have no idea what any of these songs are about. A few parts come through and are pretty easily decipherable, such as “I gave your time away to the first smile come my way.” But others, such as “Seen it before / picture-perfect release temperature / filled this room,” just don’t seem to make much sense. Writing lyrics is something that I personally enjoy doing, and I think it’s important to strike a good balance between creating songs that only have meaning to yourself, and creating songs from which your listener can derive some kind of meaning. I don’t feel like Engine Down really accomplishes this task in any of their records, and Demure is no different. Overall, this is a great record, and is definitely one I will be listening to for years to come. This is one of those records where you have a new favorite song every few weeks. Songs that were looked over after ten listens emerge as your favorites after a few more listens. I highly recommend this record to anyone who likes other rock-oriented bands like Cursive or The Casket Lottery. favorite song: "overrated" rating: 93%/100% listen to engine down

Hopesfall - No Wings to Speak Of (EP)

artist: .hopesfall. album: no wings to speak of (ep) label: takehold records released: 8/14/01 by: eduardo moutinho Let me start off by saying that this is a spectacular release. It is absolutely spectacular. I love it with all my being; it’s so good. Now that that is out of the way, I’ll begin the review, going over each song and wrapping everything up. The EP starts off with the blistering "Open Hands to the Wind." This song has a wicked structure, with harder parts followed by softer parts followed by harder parts followed by well, you get the picture. Hopesfall lets you know their style immediately with this song, as you can see the blatant melody coming through above all the crushing guitar riffs. This is hopesfall’s strength, in my opinion. They are one of the best, if not the best, bands to incorporate melody into their hard-edged sound. They do it damn well. This song exhibits sporadically placed singing that is very well done. Also, there is a brief, yet well-placed melodic breakdown that characterizes the aforementioned song structure. Although this is an incredibly good song, it’s definitely my least favorite song on the release, which tells you how good the other songs to come are. "April Left with Silence" is in essence, beautiful hardcore. It really is. The beginning of the song is moody with a dark clean intro leading into piercing distortion with excellently crafted singing. The singing eventually blends perfectly into screaming, setting the pace for the remainder of the song. This song has no melodic breakdowns or peculiarities. It is very straightforward, which works perfectly for the song. It’s your basic emotion-fest, with straight up passion shown by the vocalist. Like I said, this is a beautiful song. The next song up, "The End of an Era," is by far, the greatest song on this EP. The first time I heard this song was the first time I heard hopesfall. By hearing this song, I fell in love with this band. This song is so good, so good. It’s got a touch of everything in it. It’s hard, it’s soft, it’s beautiful, it’s saddening, it’s awe-inspiring, it’s melodic, it’s aggressive, it’s emotional, it’s all of this and so much more. The song has a structure similar to "Open Hands to the Wind," with blistering hardcore mixed with beautiful melody and singing. The guitar-work in this song is exceptional, with many pretty licks and effective riffs that would make any guitar player happy. The middle of the song is the most beautiful part of the whole EP, with a two-minute long instrumental melodic breakdown. No vocals, just melody. The song’s poignant lyrics give it a somber tone, with this breakdown adding to the message. The silence does more than any string of words can. Following the breakdown is a slow and hard bridge to the end with the singer belting out the words “I pray for” repeatedly. It’s an awesome finale. Absolutely awesome. This song is fantastic, pure and simple. In fact, it has become my favorite song, period. The EP ends with another strong effort entitled "The Far Pavillions." hopesfall’s ardent use of melodic breakdowns and interesting musicality continues in the song. The beginning is one of those “build-ups to an expected climax which is rewarded with a return to the build-up” which does its job of confusing the listener. Once the song actually does leave the intro, it’s blisteringly fast. The style of the beginning is reminiscent of punk in the guitarists’ chord progressions and the drummer's double-time beat, yet it manages to remain “hardcore.” The drummer changes beats from the simple punk one to a more hardcore one, which helps to keep the “punkess” as a non-factor. The song remains at a fast pace for the majority of the time, except in the final minute and a half where the band goes into yet another beautiful melodic breakdown. This one is different than the others though because the singer screams in the latter portion, creating an interesting dichotomy. Melodic, non-distorted music, can work with hardcore vocals. It’s been done before, and it’s done remarkably well here. All in all, this is an excellent crescendo for the EP, yet I remain wondering if "The End of an Era" would have worked better, since it’s such an epic work. Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed the EP. It’s incredible, fantastic, wondrous, etc. I can’t think of words to describe it. The musicianship of this band is absolutely superb. The guitarists are extremely talented, and the drummer the same. The vocalist is one of the best hardcore vocalists I’ve heard. Only Jeff Moreira of Poison the Well compares to this guy. The vocalist on this EP (his name eludes me) has been replaced though, along with one of the guitarists. I’ve heard that Jay Forrest (the new vocalist) is just as good, and I haven’t heard much about the new guitar player. But knowing that these guys have recently signed to Trustkill and are about to release their new album, I must say that they probably know what they’re doing. I am sure that The Satellite Years (the new album) will be absolutely fantastic. It’s at the top spot of my “most anticipated albums” list. favorite song: "the end of an era" rating: 100%/100% listen to .hopesfall.