Heavy Sh*t: Trail of Lies, Abysmal Dawn, Doomsday Mourning, Without Remorse

Yeah so as the title shows, we have quite a few releases from some heavy as hell bands waiting to be reviewed. Light hearted punks and people with pop sensibilities might want to skip this one! This post only deals with death metal/deathcore/brutal hardcore etc.

Trail of Lies - Demo

I will start this off with Trail of Lies and their amazing new demo. This brand new band from Syracuse do one thing and do it well: they fuck shit up. Their brand of heavy hardcore is reminiscent of the good old 90s, when bands actually wanted to do some damage with their core. This is the type of hardcore that is coming back: no BS, pissed off and straight to the point. TOL mixes the heavy NY sound with some old school hip hop attitude (check the artwork) and just punishes the listener with heavy, phat guitars, distorted metallic bass, heavy hardcore vocals and some relentless - but not overused - double bass drumming. Fans of Neglect, One Life Crew and other 90s metallic hardcore need to get this [9/10].

Abysmal Dawn - 'Leveling the Plane of Existence'

Moving on to some clean death metal territory, we got Abysmal Dawn's killer new album amazingly titled 'Leveling the Plane of Existence'. Fans of Krisiun, Malevolent Creation and Suffocation gather round these new kings of brutal death metal. These perfectly technical metalloids also mix some dark, black metal elements to their sound as well as some black metal vocals, thus making the outcome all grim and disgusting. Hail! Everything is done with such perfect precision that you can really admire the music amidst the brutality. At some points, I can even make out what the singer is saying! If someone asked me what I am listening for metal these days, this is the album I would play them! All killer, no filler, seriously blackened technical death metal. You bet [8/10].

Doomsday Mourning - 'The Science of Exploitation'

I can't say I am overly excited with Doomsday Mourning's downtuned deathcore. It sounds a lot like Emmure and despite 4 out of 6 songs featuring well known personalities from today's metal scene, I'm afraid this doesn't cut the cake. It's all mid tempo with a lot of beatdowns and I guess it does have some head nodding quality to it, as well as some cool psycho, stress-inducing guitar work over the heavy riffs. But every song is kind of repetitive and there is really nothing innovative musically to keep things really interesting. In times with so much good stuff coming out from everywhere, another downtempo deathcore band with nihilistic rap stoner attitude giving it all on the open chords doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid. The kids out there do seem to like this for some reason (maybe cause it's all brutal with no melodies whatsoever), but what do the kids know, really [4/10]?

Without Remorse - 'The Truth Hurts'

Moving back to more familiar and more worth talking of territory, we have groovy hardcore kids gone death metal, Without Remorse. Here is a band that knows what it's doing, by delivering 8 songs of heavy ass, unforgiving death metal with strong hardcore elements. The vokills are not exactly death metal, but bounce back and forth between DM and hardcore (and some gore-metal), while the guitars create a huge wall of sound which is led by the ongoing double bass drum action. This is the new millenium's death metal sound: groovy, phat, jump up and down, let's fuck shit up music. Just utter craziness and grooviness for fans of death metal and brutal hardcore alike. No matter if you're a metalhead who's shaved his head or a hardcore kid that gets carried away listening to Job For A Cowboy and Dying Fetus, you will like this record. The only downer with this record are the tiring cannabis references, but that seems to be a tie-in with a lot of modern death metal for some reason I cannot understand [7/10].

Assorted Fast Reviews - February 2011/#1

OK, so due to the amount of stuff we have waiting to be reviewed, we've decided to throw a quick-piece of reviews for some of the records that deserve a mention and get a lot of luv here at TYS HQ. We'll try to be brief, but accurately descriptive at the same time. Let's go!

Bandage - self titled ep
We'll start things off with Bandage, an ultra-tight punk rock band from Athens, Greece. Punk rock with a distinct 90s Fat Wreck/Epitaph flavor is what Bandage specialize at, and they do it well. The 3-piece brings back the memory of fast 'melody-core' drums, with speedy guitars, rolling bass lines and catchy vocals. If you dig the original whiney punk rock of Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and NOFX, then this is for you. 6 songs of self-released happy melodic punk with excellent guitar work standing out. Did just I say 'happy'? Maybe I'm wrong; there's a definite bittersweet and melancholic feeling lurking in the background of these tunes [8/10].

Attrito - 'Indotto A Camminare'
Attrito come from Italy and play a style of raucous hardcore/punk that many will love, if they can deal with the singing in Italian. Attrito deliver 8 songs of furious Italian punk for Maximum RNR lovers, in a neatly designed gatefold CD case. The music is fast and furious, the vocals are screamed in your face (spitting included) and there are some extra post-metal elements that positively surprise and elevate the overall outcome. There are explanations of the clever socio-political lyrics in English, so you can know what's up in these songs. This is quality modern punk for skaters, hardcore kids, metalheads and squat punks alike [7/10].

Out Of Step - 'Sometimes Posi'

If you like no frills, feverish straight edge hardcore, then you should get into some Out Of Step. These Dutch guys have been around for a few years, releasing nothing but straight ahead sXe mosh music. Not too fast and not metal, but quite heavy and ultra-sold school, Out Of Step knows how to create real hardcore in the vein of Slapshot, Floorpunch and all of that sweet youth crew stuff - but with a harder edge. OOS have a clear in your face approach throughout their whole act, which makes them even more memorable. They might piss off some people, but they will psyche just as many kids. This is real deal even if not it's not that innovative [8/10]!

My Own Voice - 'A Perpetual State of Revolution'
MOV is another Italian band, but these guys are closer to that harder, moshy and metallic side of hardcore. Combining 90s hardcore with a strong metal (but not beatdown!) influence, they deliver the goodies through 14 songs of political, socially minded European hardcore. You can tell a great amount of work has been put into this album, from the perfect crunchy production to the artwork, the song interludes and the explanations/book quotes etc in-between songs. We could call this 'intellectual hardcore', but it still has a lot of guts and an ever-existing street spirit. You might need a few listens until this vast multitude of music, lyrics and ideas actually grow on you - work on the album and it will pay you back in return [7/10].

Desinence Mortification/Giht Shasie - Split
Wow... Last but not least, we also have some insane grindcore from Croatia. I think I haven't reviewed any grind bands since 07 or something. DM plays straight forward grindcore not unlike fellow countrymen (and grind legends) Patareni and even early Napalm Death. Just sloppy, intense punky grind for you, baby! God Almighty if I can classify what Giht Shasie play; let's settle for electronic experimental grindcore. This is some hard-to-listen stuff, holmes. Here are some 40 minutes of industrial grind in recorded, live and remixed forms. Try to see if you can take it and if you can, well go to Hyperion Records and get into some more extreme grind madness [6/10]!