I’ve got a bone to pick about Structures‘ debut album Divided By, which was just released this week on Sumerian Records.
First off, I’d like to say that this isn’t to be considered our official review; we’re saving that for later. Typically when we review things, we try to focus on the good and bad parts about an album and try to give things their fair shake — I do take some sort of pride in being able to find nice things to say about Limp Bizkit and Design the Skyline. No, today I’m focusing entirely on a glaring and unignorable flaw to what could have been an otherwise good album that was worth your time:
Divided By sounds absolutely terrible, and could very well be the worst produced album from a widely-distributing label this year.
For some reason, I really dig For Today‘s new album Breaker(review here). It’s probably not ‘best of 2010′ level of great, but it’s definitely a good album, although it probably shouldn’t be. I guess there are exceptions to the rule of stereotypes associated with the combination Christian metal and deathcore.
But given the album’s goodness, I figured any music video the band produced would be fairly lame and boring, and once again, I was wrong. The video is actually pretty cool. Check it out!
808s drop like bombs, son!
Check out Breaker if you haven’t. It’s a (slightly reluctant) recommendation from us. I know I’m iffy about liking the album and giving it praise, but it is what it is! Breaker is out now on Facedown Records.
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.
For Today are streaming their new song “Devastator” from their upcoming album Breaker on their MySpace page. As far as I can tell, the band have stepped their game up in terms of songwriting. It’s more than chugs and sweeps, so things are definitely picking up. Maybe their upcoming album will be something worth listening to. Maybe.
Fun fact: Mitch sort of enjoyed their album Portraits, and like it says in his bio (now located in the site footer) he hates everything. Either give him shit for it or take it as a sign that these guys aren’t completely terrible. Breaker will be out August 31st.
Meanwhile, Impending Doom are streaming the title track to their new album, There Will Be Violence on their MySpace page. It’s just about what you’d expect if you heard them before. You know, if people call Oceano Blackchapel, does that make Impending Doom Christchapel?
Last Chance To Reason are a Progressive Metal band from Augusta Maine and to say that they are ambitious and creative is a bit of an understatement. They worked with producer Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, The Human Abstract, For Today) to record their second full-length album which they are calling Level 2, and as if that wasn’t enough, they are also simultaneously developing a video game with the help of indie video game designer Tom Vine. Both the album and the game will share the same name and concept with each other and from what I have seen/heard this multifaceted project is something worth keeping tabs on.
We know that this isn’t the first time that a band has released a video game, (Iron Maiden, Journey) but we can still expect a unique experience from LCTR’s Level 2. You can find two of their songs from Level 2,“Temp Files’” and “Upload Complete” on their myspace page and I am very impressed with both of them. The music makes me think of Periphery or Speak Of The Devil, both of which are very good things. Here is an excerpt from their myspace page so you can get a feel for what LCTR are about:
“Level 2 is a new take on both the concept album and the videogame. It is a melding of both arts into a unified experience. In Level 2 you will battle through fully interactive interpretations of Last Chance to Reason’s futuristic progressive metal. The game/album’s story unfolds through thematic riffs, stirring vocal hooks and progressive virtuosity while the player blasts his way through viscous gameplay inspired by classics such as R-Type, Contra, and Super Metroid. Level 2, a collaboration between LCTR and indie game developer Tom Vine is slated for release in 2010″
I consider Super Metroid to be one of the best video games of all time so it excites me that they cite the game as an inspiration. They also have a pretty sweet teaser video for the album/game:
Pretty awesome stuff. Another thing I like about the band is that on their youtube channel, they like to upload videos explaining sections of their songs, and this proves to be very interesting due to the complex and intricate nature of their music. They also have a blog that they update frequently following the development of the project so that is nice.
For Today
