Well too bad, because this is most likely the closest you’re gonna get. You’re gonna have to click through to see the video of BTBAM guitarist Paul Waggoner giving a tour of their bus because Digital Tour Bus doesn’t allow embedding their Vimeo videos outside of their domain. Way to be stingy guys!
Seriously though, Digital Tour Bus is a pretty cool site worth visiting. They give a very MTV Cribs style of tour of bands’ tour buses, which is cool and definitely worth checking out. They have plenty of other tours, including Cancer Bats, Emarosa, War of Ages, As I Lay Dying, and many more. Check it out!
It’s no secret to anyone on my Xbox Live friends list that I enjoy Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series, having completed both to their full 1000G potential (yeah, I’m one of those gamers). I’m pretty excited about the next installment in the series, which is being released at the end of this week in the UK (today in North America!); well documented are my loves of history, renaissance art and stabbing people in the face.
The guys over at Metal Injection have come across this topical curio – an easter egg of sorts. When you use the smoke bomb in Assassin’s Creed II it makes those affected stumble around, windmilling their arms gormlessly like a bunch of dickheads – much like real hardcore dancing! Behold:
Seems like every generation/period in history has their shameful dance moves; who knew we had so much in common with 15th century Italy?
Usually I’m hauling ass post-smoke bomb, preparing to launch a daring counter-strike from the rooftops like some vertiginous ninja, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this phenomenon come Friday.
01. The Breaker’s Origin
02. Devastator
03. The Advocate
04. The Breaker’s Valley
05. Seraphim
06. Arm The Masses
07. White Flag
08. The Breaker’s Encounter
09. Phoenix
10. Psalm Of The Son
11. King
12. The Breaker’s Commission
[Facedown | 08/31/10]
This is probably the first reader-requested review I’ve ever done in which the reader had nothing to do with the creation or promotion of the album, and Lord knows it probably won’t be the last. The album in question is Iowan christian metalcore outfit For Today‘s latest effort Breaker.
Those familiar with For Today know that they are very adamant about their faith. Where most bands make it a bit more subtle (eg. August Burns Red and As I Lay Dying), For Today go full frontal with lyrics like “We will see you on your knees before the King of Kings.” This shouldn’t pose as a problem by any means unless you have some religious hang-ups. Fans of the style will find the lyrical themes to be quite empowering, and they are indeed. There is a very anthemic and epic feeling, and when this album’s done you’ll feel like you can take on the world. Mission accomplished, guys. Too bad I can’t find a bio anywhere that lists all of your names. Seriously, I checked a couple of places.
As some of you may remember, I said As I Lay Dying‘s new album The Powerless Rise was their best so far, and I still stand by that statement. It also seems that I’m one of the few who thought The Cool Tour had a (for the most part) good lineup. AILD, BTBAM, Architects, and Cancer Bats on one bill? That is indeed very cool.
The point I’m getting at is that high quality performance footage for their song “Anodyne Sea” that was shot during The Cool Tour has been posted online. That is awesome, especially seeing as how the footage wasn’t overdubbed with the studio track; it’s an official and hi-def pro-shot live music video. The best part about that fact is that AILD are actually pretty damn good as a live band. Who knew!? Give the video a look-see below.
ARRRGH, it be rough waters in the metalcore scene mateys! Ya got hundreds upon hundreds of blokes chasing the same booty and so it’s no place for a scallywag in such a turbulent living!
Obnoxious pirate-speak aside, I was recently given the opportunity to talk to Luke Kilpatrick of Parkway Drive and was able to ask him questions. Being in one of the most successful bands in a scene plagued by mediocrity and genericism, I was interested to hear what he had to say.
To get things started, please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Luke, or Pig as my friends like to call me.
What was the last thing you ate? Was it any good? I had some Cocoa Puffs a few minutes ago. They were alright.
Cocoa Puffs are shit. It’s all about Cocoa Pops, and they only seem to be good in Australia, they taste weird everywhere else. Last thing I ate was a chicken burrito at Chipotle. It was unbelievable!
As we know the new record, Deep Blue is set to be released June 25th in Australia, June 28th in Europe, and June 29th in the US. From listening to Deep Blue as well as Horizons, you all (as a band) have succeeded very well in creating a very engaging, almost ambient vibe. How was the writing process similar or different to “Horizons” or other past albums and is creating these vibes a conscious effort or something that comes naturally?
A bit of both I think. We wrote the songs fundamentally the same as in the past but we definitely brought in some new ideas and writing techniques. Winston actually tried to write the CD lyrically as a concept album. Whether kids get it, or care will be another story. It was good for us to do it like this, created a bit of a challenge and a new way of thinking. Winston [McCall - vocals] would have certain ‘feels’ he would like from a song and we would get to write the song to try and suit. Usually it’s the opposite… Write the music, add the lyrics. Maybe this created some ambiance?
I’m also aware of some studio updates from the recording of Deep Blue, would you care to speak about how the recording process was for Deep Blue in comparison to your older albums?
Almost the exact opposite. The focus was on playing as a band, getting the feel for the song and tracking it as we played it. Rather than concentrating on getting every hit on the drums, every note on the guitars and every word unrealistically perfect Joe preferred to have us play the songs as we do. It really worked for us and was a fun and challenging time really. It was something different in the studio and we loved our time in there.
Now, there has been a lot of talk going on about your new music video for the song “Sleepwalker”, I know I speak for many when I say it’s quite interesting as well as out of the ordinary. Is there a message being expressed? How does it correlate with the song and/or album? Any sort of clarification is helpful, this video has me stumped!
Yeah it seems a little confusing. It ties in with the theme of the album. The guy basically realizes the world is fucked and the city exploding represents that. Our friend is this crazy graphics dude so I guess that’s why it looks cool. I like the fact that it’s different. It’s not a band in a shed or on a rooftop with complementing semi-hot girl walking or running through the street. Those are so fucking boring and done to death.
This is the new Whitechapel video, “The Darkest Day of Man” directed by David Brodsky. While watching, I realized that Brodsky basically does two things: trippy, effect laden performance shots, and weird cartoons. Notice how the band are performing while some crazy video effects and lights are added to create a trippy look, and it cuts back and forth to some strange cartoon thing. Now, look at these other videos.
After what, like two weeks since As I Lay Dying posted the trailer for their video for “Parallels”, they finally released it. It’s a pretty cool video which, I gotta be honest, I don’t fully understand. The spinning light effects during the chorus look cool though. I really dig the song, as I’m a sucker for some catchy hooks. The clip was directed by David Brodsky, who is apparently directing every metal video these days.
“Parallels” comes off of their latest (and best?) album The Powerless Rise, which is out right now on Metal Blade Records.
1. Sexual Man Chocolate
2. Renob, Nevada
3. I Swear I’ll Change
4. Shut Your Mouth
5. A for Andrew
6. Smokahontas
7. AC-130
8. Fumbles O’Brian
9. Turbo Swag
10. Lonely
I’m sure we’re all aware of last year’s shitfest of Attack Attack busting out on the scene. The term crabcore was tossed around a few times and it eventually stuck to bands who use silly choreographed moves and squatting low enough in those skinny jeans to make is sure that they would never have kids in the future. Since their hilariously awful video for “Stick Stickly” appeared, I’m sure they’ve endured their fair share of embarrassment. They’ve lost their vocalist, having their keyboardist step up to the plate as the group write their new album. What will happen? Will they redeem themselves or will they continue on with the crabcore tripe?
Well, upon first listen, I was surprised. They seemed to have stepped up their game, taking on a dark atmospheric turn on the generic metalcore sound, which honestly wasn’t all that bad. Everything has improved on these first few tracks. There are some real riffs here and there, synths are being put to better use in building mood and atmosphere, and vocals are better in the way of Shomo’s screams. Franck’s clean vocals are still clearly processed and pitch-corrected, but they tried to make it less obvious and obnoxious. Through the first three tracks, I must say, I wasn’t having a bad time, as ashamed as I may be. But I’m not going to lie to you people. Track 2, “Renob, Nevada” sounds like a lazier As I Lay Dying without the cool riffs. The Devil Wears Prada, if you will.
The “NWOAHM” trend has been on a bit of a decline in the past few years, at least from where I’m sitting. After a few excellent albums, the kiddies come out in droves to emulate and eventually ruin a sound that was once pretty awesome. Isn’t that the case with any surge of music? It’s tragic. Even bands that influence the genre try to step into it to ride on the money train (I’m looking at you, In Flames.) I can’t take the genre seriously anymore, except for a few stand out bands, and As I Lay Dying are one of those and that get a considerable amount of respect.
You can hear the majority of a new As I Lay Dying Song over on their MySpace page. Upon first listen, I thought to myself, “Holy shit, this album will be great.” Based on what we heard so far, this could very ring true once their new album The Powerless Rise drops May 11th.
“Parallels” continues with the standard AILD sound, with crushing verses and catchy soaring choruses. The good cop/bad cop formula is overdone in metalcore, I know, but AILD do it better than just about anyone in the genre. It’s a kickass song and you should check it out!
Again, The Powerless Rise. May 11th. Metal Blade Records.
For Today
