I had to come out of hibernation to review this masterpiece: Abysmal by The Black Dahlia Murder. For all who care to know, I have been going through constant transitions in my life, and a lot of personal stuff has happened ever since I stopped worked on this site. That’s enough about me for now, I promise that this review will be more interesting than my life.

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The In Flames in 2014 is not the same band that brought us Reroute to Remain or The Jester Race. Following Sounds of a Playground Fading, Siren Charms was released on 9/9/2014 via Sony Music. Come Clarity was actually my first album by this band, and I fell in love with divergent and interesting guitar riffs and Anders’ unique sandpaper vocals. Despite their departure from their melodic death metal roots beginning with Reroute to Remain, In Flames has always remained relevant due to their captivating and unique sound signature. Since the early 2000s, with the emergence of many metalcore, deathcore, and even melodic death metal bands, we have seen a rise in bands that completely disregard innovation and simply adhere to the formulaic expression setup by their pioneers. Job for a Cowboy, All That Remains, At the Gates, and In Flames were these pioneers. Throughout the years, despite multiple lineup and sound signature changes, In Flames has always stayed true to themselves and continued to produce quality, inspirational, and innovative music… and then Siren Charms came out. Disappointment is an understatement of how I, and many other fans of In Flames felt, when the band decided to take the “alternative” route and release a record so bland and generic to the point that it simply doesn’t belong in the In Flames discography. Continue reading →

With eighteen years of experience under their belt, melodic death metal band Darkest Hour is back again with their self-titled, eighth album. This is the band’s first release with Sumerian Records, and one can only imagine how big of an influence the label will be to their sound. For better or for worst, Darkest Hour is not the album that fans of the band are expecting. In this self-titled release, the band has decided to abandon a great deal of their melodic death metal roots in pursuit of an alternative rock and metalcore sound. Continue reading →

Ashes to Ashes is the third studio release from the popular deathcore band Chelsea Grin, and it is their first official album since the addition of the guitar virtuoso, Jason Richardson. Old fans of CG will realize that Ashes to Ashes is a continuation of the Evolve sound signature, as the band sounds dramatically different than they sounded on their first two albums. Ever since Jason Richardson joined this band, he has revamped the band’s sound signature, especially in the guitar department. This has led to the dismay and the abandonment of many prior CG fans, but has also seen an increase in popularity and a larger fanbase. Has Chelsea Grin made the right move in bringing in Richardson and changing up their sound? Read on to find out! Continue reading →

After a little more than a year, Massachusetts deathcore band Within the Ruins is back with another full length release, entitled Phenomena. People who have followed this website since the beginning will know that Elite was actually my first review, and it’s hard to believe that more than a year has passed by since. Releasing back to back albums in such a short amount of time leads fans to wonder whether Within The Ruins is overflowing with ideas, or simply attempting quantity over quality for the money. After listening to Phenomena for a few times, I can promise you that it is not the latter. Phenomena keeps the sound signature that WTR implemented in Elite, but extends on much of the musical concepts to create another powerful and scintillating album. Continue reading →