A good gig should be a break from reality. The world beyond the walls of the music venue in question should temporarily cease to exist. You should be made to forget any problem that’s rumbling away outside of those walls, without even realising that said forgetting has happened Read more…
Devil Sold His Soul have long been once of the most exciting metalcore-based bands in the UK. I got chatting to DSHS guitarist Rick Chapple about his band’s latest plans…
You’re three dates into a four-date UK tour. Can you tell us what it’s all about?
We’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of our first full-length album, A Fragile Hope.
The initial idea was to re-release it on vinyl, which the guys over at Basick [Records] were really happy to do. From that, the next logical step was to Read more…
All That Remains have really stuck their necks out here.
My strongest music-related belief is that bands and artists should be allowed to play whatever the hell they like. Without the concept of creative freedom, music’s history would be very dull indeed. We’d probably still be banging rocks with sticks, or humming along to bone flute quartets, and there would be no rock ‘n’ roll, no Read more…
We live in a divided world. Conflict is common, and even the smallest things can spark it off. Unity and respect are relatively rare.
With their new album You Are We, While She Sleeps are working to balance things out. Funded by fans via PledgeMusic, You Are We sees While She Sleeps push further in the experimental groove metal direction established on 2015’s Brainwashed. Metalcore remains at the core of While She Sleeps’ sound, but You Are We was recorded in a self-built Sheffield studio – and the resulting sense of newfound independence and freedom permeates every Read more…
Falling In Reverse have always been a divisive but diverse band. Everything they release leads to a massive debate about which parts are good, and which parts are bad. Even after five or six years, a general consensus has not been reached.
Having already experimented with emo, metalcore, hip-hop, and electronica, Falling In Reverse continue to expand their comfort zone on Coming Home. The opening title track is a bar-setting start, bringing in parts of 30 Seconds To Mars, Muse, and Angels And Airwaves. Driven by dirty, heavy synths and absolutely going for it, it is Read more…
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Since it first emerged at the turn of the 1970s, metal has been through so many evolutionary shifts that at this point, any given band has a vast wealth of influential options to cherry-pick from. Anything goes, and anything can happen. Only one rule remains: There are no fucking rules.
Betraying The Martyrs are the ultimate embodiment of that one and only rule. For their sophomore LP, 2014’s Phantom, these guys pulled out a fat and brutal cover of Let It Go – a key track from the soundtrack to Disney’s monster hit movie, Frozen. Naturally, Let It Go proved controversial and divisive – and so Read more…
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As the music industry slows down, its alternative end hibernating while the pop-enamoured mainstream hungrily ogles Christmas shoppers, the time has come to look back on a seriously strong year for organised soundwaves. For me, it’s been heavy, intense, and a hell of a lot of fun thanks to the releases listed below.
With so many exceptional contenders in the running for the top spot, the thought of ranking them in order of quality is plainly ridiculous. So instead, I’ve picked out three releases that had memorable impacts on me when I first heard them, and assembled the others in alphabetical order.
The Pretty Reckless’s Who You Selling For – along with previous effort Going To Hell – is conclusive proof (if it were honestly needed in 2016) that women belong in rock music, and are fully capable of kicking ass. The sexists of the music world are like Wile E. Coyote; they’ve run off the edge of the cliff, nothing surrounds them but empty air, they’ve looked down, and they’re panicking. Sonic Boom Six’s The F-Bomb picks up where that image leaves off – it’s cheeky, chirpy, happy and hard-hitting (sometimes simultaneously), addressing a wealth of gender-related issues and providing a great ska-fuelled party soundtrack as only Sonic Boom Six can.
Musically, Dissociation is The F-Bomb’s polar opposite. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s swan song is crammed with brutal and ultra-experimental mathcore – but it’s also Dillinger’s most delicate and diverse album. The Dillinger Escape Plan are living proof that you can achieve great things without compromise, by sticking to your guns and just going for it.
Beyond that point, you’re free to dive into an epic range of albums including solidly grooving rock sets, monolithic slabs of military-grade metal, and progressive masterpieces. Since I’ve not reviewed many EPs this year, I’ve also included a pair of extended-playing mind-blowers in the form of Dorje’s Centred And One and Toska’s Ode To The Author. Dorje specialise in utterly idiosyncratic rock tunes with added progressive spice, while to me, Toska (made up of Dorje’s backline, namely guitarist Rabea Massaad, drummer Ben Minal, and bassist Dave Hollingworth) represent the future of instrumental metal.
Both Dorje and Toska are bands on the rise – and they fully deserve to hit the same peaks enjoyed by the biggest names on this list.
There’s little more to say; for me, this list represents the top albums of 2016. Enjoy the full reviews linked below, follow TMMP on Twitter, subscribe to my brand new YouTube channel, and stay tuned for more world-class music next year!
1) The Pretty Reckless – Who You Selling For
1) Sonic Boom Six – The F-Bomb
1) The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation
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2) Read more…
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Imagine a musical four-corner cage match involving Asking Alexandria, Bring Me The Horizon, Periphery, and Enter Shikari. The results would be fucking chaotic – and they’d likely also sound a lot like Cabin Boy Jumped Ship.
Cabin Boy Jumped Ship aren’t looking to play sardines within an already cramped scene. They’re not trying to live up to someone else’s expectations, or Read more…
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A year ago, Griever showed great promise as potentially shit-hot metalcore up and comers.
With their brand new Soul Searcher EP, these guys are delivering on that promise – and then some.
If names like Trivium, Killswitch Engage, and Malefice make you Read more…
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Asking Alexandria have never been my thing, as much as I’ve wanted them to be. To be honest, most modern metalcore bands send me rushing back to The End Of Heartache by Killswitch Engage. Until now, Asking Alexandria have always been lumped in with the others.
The Black is literally a whole other story.
With Asking Alexandria having parted from former frontman Danny Worsnop, his shoes filled by Read more…