We Are The Union - Great Leaps Forward

So it's been a few months since I posted anything here, but hopefully now that Christmas is over and college is on a break, I might be able to get back up to speed.

Artist: We Are The Union
Album: Great Leaps Forward
Label: Paper + Plastick Records
Released: March 30th, 2010


Detroit, Michigans' own We Are The Union have returned with their sophomore record 'Great Leaps Forward', an album which is sure to cement their status as one of the most exciting, up and coming pop punk bands around, having recently signed to Vinnie Fiorello's record label Paper + Plastick, home to bands such as The Swellers, A Loss For Words and The Ataris

This is an album that will have you hooked from the very beginning, album opener "We Are All Dead" begins with a horn orientated intro before bouncing straight into the middle of a pop punk frenzy, It's a fun track which takes the listener back to the good old days of pop and ska punk!

The entire record is just one giant slab of 100% pure fun, put Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish and Bouncing Souls in a blender and this is pretty much exactly what you would get, 14 tracks of fast paced, bouncy and melodic ska infused pop punk... It's nothing new, but there's certainly nothing wrong either!

This is a great effort from the guys, especially after the excellent debut album 2007's ' Who We Are', They definitely have the potential to be the next big band from this ever growing scene.


01. We're All Dead
02. Where'd You Go, Psycho Boy
03. Rearranging Deck Chairs On The Titanic
04. Glaring Teeth
05. Strange, Slow And Old
06. We Don't Care If Yesterday Burns, Stoke Up The Fire
07. What We Have Here, Is A Failure To Communicate
08. Five Out Of Five Kids Who Kill Love Slayer
09. Start Over Starting Over
10. This Is A Farewell Kiss, You Dog
11. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
12. One Million Motors
13. Curtain Calls
14. Be Kind, Rewind

Spiritual Beggars - Return To Zero

Michael Amott (Carcass, Arch Enemy) has returned from the world of death metal to present us with the 7th full length album from his long running side project, the stoner/doom metal band Spiritual Beggars.

Return to Zero serves to offer a crash course as to why retro is still relevant, This album pays major homage to classic rock and metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Deep Purple and delivers what may be the most pleasing record that Spiritual Beggars have released in their long existence.

Throughout the album the technical ability of the musicians involved really shines through, the way the keyboard and guitars work together and compliment eachother whilst the vocals of Apollo Papathanasio on his debut recording with the band can serve to change the direction and atmosphere of each track. The style of the tracks change throughout the album, 'The chaos of rebirth' is a laid back but heavy slab of Orange Goblin/Grand Magus esque stoner metal accompanied by Apollo's soaring vocals which are comparable to the late, great Ronnie James Dio whilst 'Spirit of the Wind' is a slow, atmospheric metal ballad and 'We Are Free' can only be described as a pure metal anthem! Truth be told, There is just not one bad track on this album.

All in all, this album just seems superior to anything previously released by the band and I feel that this is most apparent in the incredible vocals that Papathanasio brings to the table. Its been a long 5 years since the last Spiritual Beggars release and this is a fantastic return to form for the band and is definately one of the stand out albums of this year, A must hear for fans of all genres of metal!

www.myspace.com/spiritualbeggars

Tracks:

1. Return To Zero (Intro) - 0:52
2. Lost In Yesterday - 4:49
3. Star Born - 3:06
4. The Chaos Of Rebirth - 5:21
5. We Are Free - 3:24
6. Spirit Of The Wind - 5:52
7. Coming Home - 3:26
8. Concrete Horizon - 6:02
9. A New Dawn Rising - 4:42
10. Believe In Me - 6:41
11. Dead Weight - 4:51
12. The Road Less Travelled - 3:45
13. Time To Live - 4:15 (Uriah Heep cover)

This Day In Music (16th September)

So, whilst i've got nothing to review today, it struck me that it might be interesting to take a look back at some of the important things that have happened on this day that have helped shape the music industry.

so without further ado...

1925: US Blues guitarist BB King is born in Itta Bena, Mississippi and would go on to become one of the most influential guitarists of all time, influencing the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and JJ Cale

1963, ‘She Loves You’ by The Beatles was released by Swan Records in the US. Although the song is currently number one in the UK, ‘She Loves You’ was ignored in the US until 1964 when it would reach the top of the US Pop chart.


 1970:Led Zeppelin won 'best group' in the Melody Maker readers Poll. This was the first time in eight years   that The Beatles hadn't won 'best group.'

1977: September 16th seen the unfortunate death of T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan who died in a car crash whilst travelling with his girlfriend Gloria Jones. The car, driven by Jones came off the road and hit a tree whilst travelling to the singers home.

1983: The Smiths played one of their first shows at the moles club in Bath and would later go on to become one of the most influential bands of the last 30 years.


so... not really one of the most influential days in music history, but its something isnt it?

source: This Day In Music

Iron Thrones - The Wretched Sun

 

After releasing their debut EP Visions Of Light as a free digital download  (here) in 2008, Minneapolis' progressive/melodic metallers Iron Thrones have returned with  'The Wretched Sun' a new 6 track EP which clocks in at an impressive 41 minutes. The band had written most of the material on the album previous to winning SCION's No Label Needed competion, their triumph in the competition and the various prizes (such as recording with legendary producer Machine and various promotional campaigns) have helped put Iron Thrones firmly into the foreground of todays metal scene.

It would have been understandable to assume that a band in this posistion, going from an unsigned self release to recording with such a prominent producer might have seen the band crack under the pressure, but luckily for us, this is definately not the case

Generally speaking, there are alot of similarities between The Wretched Sun and its predecessor Visions of Light. The tracks are made up of predominantly of mid to slow tempo prog/death riffing accompanied by some harsh growling vocals although there are hints of more melodic and clean intervals, an aspect that features more often than on the bands previous release. Although there are comparisons between the two releases, Wretched Sun seems more, dare I say, complete... I cant quite put my finger on it, maybe its the professional production values, but whatever it is... it works.

The band makes no secret about the amount of influence they have derived from bands such as Opeth and Between The Buried And Me but thankfully have been able to avoid the trap of sounding like a carbon copy of the aforementioned bands and instead have been able to use incorporate these influences into their own unique sound.

In a sub-genre that sees most new bands compared to prog metal giants Opeth, it takes something special to be able to separate yourself from the crowd but Iron Thrones have been able to do just that with their songwriting ability. Even at the most brutally heavy points of this release, there is a predominant underlying melody which serves to surround the listener and draw them into the atmosphere that this album creates.

The vocals featured here are both powerful and heavy but also melodic during the clean sections and tie in perfectly with the music whilst the solid drumming and bass work coupled with the presence of various intelligently placed clean sections featured on tracks such as 'Like moth to flame' or 'I once had the crown' have came together here to produce one of the best albums of this year.

Iron Thrones have all the potential to step out of Opeth's shadow and cement their place as one of the top progressive metal bands around today. -DN 5/5

The Wretched Sun
(2010 – No Label Needed / Self-Released)
1 – Like A Moth To Flame
2 – Ever Flowing
3 – Against The Grain
4 – I Once Had The Crown
5 – Forever Glowing
6 – And The Sky Came Falling Down

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