WRUV Reviews

Nox Aurea- Ascending In Triumph
released June 30, 2010 on Napalm Records

Latin for “golden night”, swedish band Nox Aurea is described as gothic doom metal. This certainly shows with the opening track, “Ascending in Triumph” starts off with slow and ominous notes of doom. If I could name possible influences, I’d pick early Cathedral. “The Loss And Endeavour Of Divinity” is beautiful with a very well done of mixture of death/doom and sorrowful melodies. At about 3 minutes in, the song changes up with a stronger focus on the drums and a faster pace before it slows down once again. Kind of a “peak and valley” time signature. “The Shadowless Plains” starts with a strong build-up and the instrumentation really shines. Combine that with strong male/female vocals and you really can’t go wrong. “Mother Aleitha Chapter II” is certainly one of the strongest tracks and I believe it fully fleshes out the vision that the band seeks to fulfill, resulting in a track that’s nothing short of epic. During my research, I noticed that a common complaint was the length of the songs. Honestly, I feel that the length isn’t really a problem as most songs have their own unique signature. “The Delight Of Autumn Passion” and “My Voyage Through Galactic Aeons” are also delightful tracks as well. “To The Grave I Belong” is strongly reminiscent of Cathedral but otherwise, there’s not much to differentiate it from other tracks. “Emendare” closes off this album with a return to slow, haunting melodies. In conclusion, this is an album that starts off strong and only really starts to get repetitive with three of the last four songs. It’s certainly an album that you’d want to listen to from start to finish. One of the strongest albums of the year!

FCC: Check
Try: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8

01. Ascending In Triumph
02. The Loss And Endeavor Of Divinity
03. The Shadowless Plains
04. Mother Aletheia Chapter II
05. The Delight Of Autumn Passion
06. My Voyage Through Galactic Aeons
07. To The Grave I Belong
08. Emendare

4/5

NJ keyboard wiz takes trio in more groove-oriented directions stressing melody & song structure. MB plays w/the usual “toys” & effects to weave different jazz/funk/rock elements into deceivingly accessible yet total original tunes.

The Austerity Program- Backsliders & Apostates Will Burn
released May 4, 2010 on Hydra Head Records

This is a 4 song EP from the band The Austerity Program, which is actual a duo from NYC named Justin Foley (vocals, guitar) and Thad Calabrese (bass). They also use a drum machine as well. I was unable to find any more information on musical genre but on first listen, I could pick out vibe similar to that of Harvey Milk. “Song 25″ starts off this EP in a slow, droning manner with mechanical drumbeats. It takes a while but about half-way in, the song picks up some beats before returning to the droning manner of the start. “Song 26″ has more variation with a stronger emphasis on the drum part and it’s a bit sludgy as well. About three minutes and twenty five seconds in, the vocals kick in and thus it continues on. I like the feel of “Song 27″ more and once again, it has a focus on drums and drones on as well. After listening to those three tracks, “Song 29″ wraps up this EP with just about more of the same. It’s really not easy to describe such tracks but one should be apt enough to lean towards “noise rock”, which is certainly not a new term. It’s hard to discount such creativity exercised by both members of this project because a drum machine by itself cannot possibly replace human hands. But, when combined with competent bass and guitars, it becomes an unique form of art. I have seen two-man bands before but not within this style. Check out this EP.

FCC: Check
Try: 1,3,4

01. Song 25
02. Song 26
03. Song 27
04. Song 29

3/5

The Generators- Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
released July 13, 2010 on People Like You Records

The Generators were formed in 1997 with members of defunct band Schleprock and this is their ninth full-length release. The album opens with “Sound Off The Alarms”, which is a dose of fast street punk with a bit of a Stiff Little Fingers feel to it. Highlighted tracks include “Every Waking Moment” (similar in style to Pennywise), “Day Of Reckoning” (one of the stronger tracks), “Same Old Day”, “Somewhere In The Rain” and “Trainwreck”. Honestly, all tracks are well-done and easy to listen to. Their sound obviously has matured but in the process, they haven’t lost a step. I did detect a strong Pennywise influence in more than one song but that’s not a bad thing. It’s one of the better releases this year and I’m always looking for bands that play straight-forward street punk as it’s my favorite style. Check out this album!

FCC: 2,7
Try: 4,*5*, 9, 10

Zoroaster – Matador
Release Date: 2010Jul13
Label: E1 Music
Rating: 4/5

There are plenty of Metal fans out there that worship Sleep. Many of these same folk also have great reverence for both of the bands birthed from its dissolution: Om and High on Fire. And I never thought I wanted to hear a happy medium between that divide, yet that is exactly what Zoroaster delivers.

(more…)

Haste the Day – Attack of the Wolf King
Release Date: 2010Jun29 (US)
Label: Solid State Records
Rating: 1.5/5

My original 2/5 felt generous. This is the Christian metalcore quintet’s fifth effort; if all they can scrape together is faux-brutality, tired breakdowns, and aping a variety of styles, then count me out. The cover art should be your first clue, which looks drawn by a twelve-year-old. I have seen my share of Metal albums with wolves on the front––Burnt by the Sun‘s Heart of Darkness comes to fond memory––but Attack of the Wolf King is neither badass nor intriguing, yet strangely indicative of its contents.

(more…)

Iron Thrones – The Wretched Sun
Release Date: 2010Jul13 (US)
Label: “No Label Needed”
Rating: 3/5

I have to start this review by saying that I am typically wary of bands that slap an adjective next to an established band; in this case, Joe Preston’s Thrones. It happens. There have been all kinds of liberties taken with “architect” and “ocean” in the past few years (to name but two). This Minneapolis quartet recently won the No Label Needed contest, and have opted for a concept EP as their second release, which uses thematic elements similar to Mastodon‘s Crack the Skye (astral travel, yes; Rasputin, not so much).

(more…)

Glyder – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Release Date: 2010Jun29 (US)
Label: Steamhammer
Rating: 4/5

It seems, in our day and age, anybody can twist songs together into some worshipful retro band. Some groups merely move through the motions, but every now and again, one gets it. Glyder proves that Ireland has even more to offer 21st-century hard rock audiences besides The Answer. I keep hearing that band’s name mentioned in the same breath as Led Zeppelin and I don’t quite feel the resemblance; however, Glyder‘s continuous comparisons to Thin Lizzy are altogether apt (not to mention the Philomena Lynott endorsement).

(more…)

Pain – Cynic Paradise
originally released October 31, 2008
re-released June 8, 2010 on Nuclear Blast Records

Rating: 2.5/5

Side projects in the Metal world usually form to either flesh out––or experiment with––enigmatic aspects of one’s personality. Pain is the result of Peter Tägtgren’s love for industrial metal, reportedly inspired by Fear Factory‘s Soul of a New Machine. Frankly, his attention is better devoted to the celebrated death metal of Hypocrisy. (more…)

Songs written, mixed, and produced by Marcelo E. Quinonez. Band is based out of Seattle interestingly, and they play afro latin rock tinged with exploration into ska, reggae, cumbia, etc. Vocals in Spanish and English. Really tight musicianship—good music for this time of year.