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.

Zoroaster emerges with a didjeridu-esque guitar tone before working in dark chants through thick grooves. While it serves as a good introduction to the band, the over-exuberant drum fills get away from skinsman Dan Scanlan, which is distracting. “Ancient Ones” charges harder, with some of my favorite vocal harmonies here, plus hints at the blackened touches to come.

“Odyssey” loosens things up with easy head nods and smooth croons, but gets downright frenetic building up to the third minute, crescendos nicely, then brings the song back full circle. “Trident” strips it down to short and dirty, with a fist-pumping chorus that makes it single-worthy. I wasn’t feeling the “Firewater” because I just heard sloppy drunken jamming, but maybe that was the idea. At any rate, the seven-minute “Old World”––with its evolving Cisneros-channeling mantra––gets back on the psychedelic journey, beginning with lines like “I see your eyes across the ocean/I feel your arms across the sea”. It is quite a beautiful track, but I was pleasantly surprised at the left turn that followed.

Considering the comfort zone where one is left, “Black Hole” is all the more frightening. They evoke a nasty Nachtmystium vibe (appropriate, since they are touring together), culminating into a destructive din that honestly caught me off-guard, to the point where I actually jumped in my chair. I then understood why “Odyssey II” shows up next––to calm the listener down in preparation for the epic title track, which effectively covers all the band’s bases.

I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing Zoroaster‘s previous three releases, but consider my interest officially piqued. Hotlanta, keep churning out awesome music!

FCC OK
Try: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9

01. D.N.R.
02. Ancient Ones
03. Odyssey
04. Trident
05. Firewater
06. Old World
07. Black Hole
08. Odyssey II
09. Matador

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.

Haste the Day has no idea how to write, they know how to imitate. Most of the time, they can cobble together some Killswitch riffage (“Wake Up the Sun”, “Crush Resistance”) in a way that doesn’t roll your eyes too much. But even in these songs, they need to repeat themselves so the listeners can tell one song from another. Overspeaking plagues this band in more ways than one; some lyrics actually read as scripture, and are equally dry. They lack both weight and depth throughout the album, somehow both cliché and cryptic, and in all the wrong places. There is nary a moment in “Dog Like Vultures” that is not laughably bad, from the music Mickey Mousing with the vocals to lines like “Who will protect you/From these dog like vultures?/And I know they’re small/But their teeth are sharp/We’ve been sent with eyes to see them/And ears to hear their steps/Our hearts are softer than the sheep”. This is to say nothing of the empty bravado in the chorus.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. In “White as Snow”––perhaps with an allusion to Deftones‘ White Pony–– we hear Stephen Keech attempt his best Chino Moreno. Too reliant on vocal effects, he fails, and the band’s scant imagination cannot complete the song. There are also those that simply go nowhere and end abruptly, like “The Quiet, Deadly Ticking” or closer “My Name is Darkness” (barely half a tune). Ironically, their best bet is brevity. “The Un-Manifest” is one of Haste the Day‘s most efficient songs here, with concise lyrics, driving pace, and creepily slinking guitar in the background.

These are my preferences, though, and something tells me this music is for a different audience––one with a high tolerance for mediocrity. I am about to review their former labelmates, Norma Jean, whom I have been listening to concurrently. If you want to hear what a band can really do after five albums, Meridional is a better choice.

FCC OK
Try 1, 6, 9

01. Wake Up The Sun
02. Dog Like Vultures
03. The Quiet, Deadly Ticking
04. Travesty
05. Merit For Sadness
06. The Un-Manifest
07. The Place Where Most Deny
08. White as Snow
09. Crush Resistance
10. Walk With a Crooked Spine
11. My Name Is Darkness

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).

“Like a Moth to Flame” begins their journey successfully, exploring most of their sonic breadth, which strongly emulates Between the Buried and Me. But they fully realize all the best of this early career stage on “Against the Grain”––opening fast, retaining heavy hooks, flowing into a mellow midsection, and incorporating clean vocals.

I wondered why it was then so difficult for Iron Thrones to hold my interest throughout “I Once Had the Crown”, the longest song here at 11:44. It seesaws between light and dark, but lacks unifying nuances. Plus, the lyrics “I thought you were walking beside me/Only to find out you were never there” just plain annoyed me. They repeat. Over and over. Sometimes with slight variations on the wording, but never gripping.

“Ever Flowing” and “Forever Glowing” didn’t strike me either, and I do not mean to nitpick simply because they rhyme. The latter is a keyboard-driven instrumental that feels unnecessary, but the former kept turning my head. I consider it the heaviest song on The Wretched Sun, but it never generates more than passing interest. “And the Sky Came Falling Down” is redeeming, but I wish the lyrics were as imaginative as the musicianship.

Iron Thrones are a band to watch, and had I a label myself, would consider signing them. They have clear potential, but perhaps all this media attention affected their artistic focus. The third effort will be the true test.

FCC OK
Try 1, 3, 6

01. Like a Moth to Flame
02. Ever Flowing
03. Against the Grain
04. I Once Had the Crown
05. Forever Glowing
06. And the Sky Came Falling Down

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).

The best way they maintain the parallel is through character examination. “Knockout” chronicles the legendary ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ boxing match to great effect, the underdog Ali an inspiration to eldest member, guitarist Bat Kinane (who is just into his 30s). But “Jack Strong” is the track that did it for me, as it slyly invokes Lizzy‘s “Bad Reputation” in a noble tale about a quiet hero at his favorite bar.

Bassist Tony Cullen rocks a smooth timbre that shifts from Josh Homme (“That Line”, “Make a Change”) to Bono (“Innocent Eyes”) and, most frequently, the late Phil Lynott himself. The fact that he also plays bass draws even more connecting lines between he and the legendary rocker. Though I should mention that much of the vocal power comes by way of the two-part harmonies between he and Bat, which are decidedly infectious. On that same token, I wish you all luck getting the chorus in “One of Us” out of your head; those hooks have some of the sharpest barbs I have ever experienced.

And listen for one of the album’s finest moments toward the end of the title track: a guest guitar solo by Dave Meniketti (appropriately of Y&T, aka Yesterday & Today). After twenty seconds of silence, we are treated to a trio of concluding bonus tracks, that express first an optimistic (“Time to Fly”), and then pessimistic (“All You’ve Done”) view on life, with the instrumental “Elverstown” a gentle descent featuring female vocals amidst the ambience. These three tunes seem to connect in one big story arc; if so, it is an impressive, near-eight minute epic about a troubled soul.

This is one of those albums where you have favorites, but still listen from beginning to end. Like the Glyderau itself, Glyder display humble majesty with adherence to their roots, and strive for the sky.

FCC OK
Try 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, [11+12+13]

01. That Line
02. Knockout
03. Jack Strong
04. Innocent Eyes
05. Make A Change
06. Back To The Water
07. The Bitter End
08. One Of Us
09. Always the Loser
10. Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow
11. Time To Fly (Bonus Track)
12. All You’ve Done (Bonus Track)
13. Elverstown (Bonus Track)

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.

Rarely do the songs pack the vicious bite of heavyweights like Ministry, and half of Cynic Paradise sounds sloughed off of Stabbing Westward. Tägtgren’s vocal pitch is actually uncomfortably close to Christopher Hall, which is probably why I drew the comparison. “I’m Going In” starts things off deceptively strong, and the programming is more seamlessly integrated (though I did not like the cliché ‘record scratch’ ending). “Monkey Business” is just as nasty, with a catchier chorus that drops a couple of cuss words for radio folks like me to dance around.

“Follow Me” is the first of two duets with Annette Olzon of Nightwish; Tägtgren has gotten friendly with the band since Hypocrisy toured with them in early 2008, as did Pain in early 2009. In fact, the North American version of Cynic Paradise will have a bonus live CD recorded on March 23-24, 2009 at the Zenith in Paris, during the band’s European tour with Nightwish. However, the version I reviewed had a standard track listing, with the bonus ELO cover that I did not find particularly interesting.

“Don’t Care” is improved by David Wallin’s live drums, and I would urge Tägtgren to consider this option in the future. The MF-bomb is easily bleeped, and I would be more inclined to play it, if not for the abrupt early finish. At thirty seconds shorter than any other track here, it feels unfortunately skeletal. “No One Knows” has a similar problem: the chorus is almost unbearably addictive, but it feels like it was written first, with the rest of the song as mere afterthought.

Honestly, I do not require this band in my discography apart from passing knowledge of Peter Tägtgren’s work. But he is not on my completist menu, so this Pain is getting bottled and buried.

FCC: 2, 5, 6, 10
Try 1, 7, 8, 11

01. I’m Going In
02. Monkey Business
03. Follow Me
04. Have A Drink On Me
05. Don’t Care
06. Reach Out (And Regret)
07. Generation X
08. No One Knows
09. Live Fast / Die Young
10. Not Your Kind
11. Feed Us
12. Here’s The News (Electric Light Orchestra cover)

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.

Debut album from this Brooklyn based alto saxophonist. All instrumentals. Gastelum has lent a notable contribution to the Brooklyn neo soul scene—he has played with Sharon Jones, The Budos Band, and others on Daptone. That combined with some obvious Eddie Harris (electrified saxophone ) and Mulatu Astatke (+ other) influences makes for an interesting and modern cross-bred sound.

Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire- Songs Of Ill Hope And Desperation
released June 8, 2010 on Prosethetic Records

C.T.T.O.A.F.F is a band out of Denver, CO that’s been described by some as “funeral grind” (too slow for grind and too fast for doom). Since I’m new to this sub-genre of metal, my first thoughts are obviously concentrated on the speed and intensity of the instrumentation. “Teeth & Hair” is basically an all-out assault with intense drums, loud & droning guitars and vocals that are probably too fast to even pick out (at least for me). Good way to start. Some of the tracks that stand out to me are “Gold, Frankincense & Myth” (the pacing is not as fast and it’s easier to pick out some doom among the distorted instrumentation), “Bouquet Of Self-Pity” (starts off with some ominous drumbeats before taking on a sinister tone) and “Remove The Light” (starts off as the usual before it slows down about two minutes in and it works as a way to close off this album). In conclusion, I’m not quite sure if this style is something I’d spin often but otherwise, it’s an interesting album to check out. Fans of grind might enjoy C.T.T.O.A.F.F more than I did.

FCC: Check
Try: 1, 5, *8*, *13*

01. Teeth & Hair
02. Cloven
03. I Walk Away From The Human Race
04. Shat Out My Bones
05. Gold, Frankincense & Myth
06. Recession
07. Piss
08. Bouquet Of Self-Pity
09. Leather Hands
10. Made Of Coal
11. They Smeared Shit On Their Skin So They Could Blend In At Night
12. Empty
13. Remove The Light

2.5/5