Mike SOS is back with a whopping 58 mini reviews. Enjoy them.

THE FICTION
NAMES
WAKING
The NYC trio known as The Fiction play a brand of disjointed hardcore that art students clamor over, as the outfit’s 10-track release liberally apply touches of Refused, System of a Down, Fugazi, and Jawbreaker as shards of razor-sharp post-hardcore. Dissonant riffaging on “The Ballad of Tim and Dawn” gives the band that left of center feel, while “27” displays the band’s ability to bring the atmosphere down without losing an ounce of intensity. While The Fiction isn’t providing anything overly provocative or unique, this unit’s spurts of maddening metallic angst and subtle unmelodic punk rock stance make a fine listen for the louder times of the day. www.wakingrecords.com -Mike SOS

CREOZOTH
CREOZOTH
ESCAPI
Creozoth is a side project for two members of the seminal doom metal troupe Candlemass, but don’t expect the same kind of gloomy feel on this 13-track disc. Instead, this Swedish quartet employ the classic metal sounds of the bands of the mid ‘80s metal movement like Iron Maiden and Helloween with a darker edge a la Danzig and Black Label Society, as songs like “Intoxicatedead” supply a flurry of heavy riffs to gnaw on. While the album is a bit long, this self-titled debut is well executed and truly portrays the spirit of classic metal, complete with a tasty metal guitar crunch that fuels tracks like “Watch ‘n Wait” and “Mind”. www.escapimusic.com -Mike SOS

VILE
THE NEW AGE OF CHAOS
UNIQUE LEADER
Embarking on its third album of carnage, death metal mongers Vile once again brandish its brand of technically sound brutality with THE NEW AGE OF CHAOS. Changing it up by blending slower, churning riffs found at the end of “Deafening Silence” with the blast-beated bruising of “Suicide Warfare”, Vile’s array of styles and musical prowess stands out the most here. Where other bands rely on blowing you away with blinding speed, Vile instead slides in some neat black metal nuances that complement its Floridian death metal and European extreme metal sides and adds another interesting twist to Vile’s already vast arsenal of mayhem. If you dig Nile and Morbid Angel’s techniques and Cannibal Corpse’s gore, you’ll flip over this one. www.uniqueleader.com -Mike SOS

WITH RESISTANCE
REAL HARDCORE KIDS HAVE DAY JOBS
IMIGRANT SUN
Does the title of this disc suggest why these guys have called it quits? Regardless, the posthumous release by With Resistance is a heavy handed eight-track endeavor whose beefed up metallic hardcore is bursting with crazy guitar effects and off the wall screaming vocals. Songs like “Nathan Larry and the Money Shot” showcases this quartet’s controllable chaos, while “That’s Seven” evokes the latest release by Cave-In by way of Every Time I Die and “Spacemaster LSD” exhibits the band’s spacier, jam rock side. It’s a shame that this band called it a day, because they make engaging music that dabbles in many different genres without sounding forced or contrived unlike many of their peers. RIP, With Resistance. www.immigrantsun.com -Mike SOS

TOMMY AND THE TERRORS
UNLEASH THE FURY
TKO
Boston punkers Tommy and the Terrors bring it back to the golden age of punk rock on the quintet’s 15-track offering. UNLEASH THE FURY is a brash, no-frills album filled to the brim with piss and vinegar, as songs like the fast and furious “Pay You on Tuesday” and the blue collar anthems “The Gorilla Song” and “Here We Go” portray a band that loves its city, punk rock, and having a good time. This sophomore effort is long on attitude and while it may be a bit short on heady themes, there’s no shortage of kicked in the head, anti-establishment punk rock that the common man can have a few brews and pump his fist to. www.tkorecords.com -Mike SOS

NUSE
HUNGWELL
NO JOKE
With a name like Nuse and an album title like HUNGWELL, you can only fathom what kind of sound is going to come from this veteran New Jersey trio. What is unsurprisingly dispersed is a bevy of punk-tinged metal with some crossover appeal a la SOD and DRI, as songs like “Death of Flesh” meshes the wares of Propain, Leeway, and Prong while “Wrong” gets in touch with the band’s inner shredder. Providing both furious firepower and whimsical overtones (especially lyrically), Nuse understands how to have fun without forfeiting heaviness, a trait that much of today’s heavy music misses the boat with. For a thrashing good time, check out Nuse’s most recent 12-track endeavor. www.nojokerecords.net -Mike SOS

TAKEN
BETWEEN TWO UNSEENS
GOODFELLOW
Orange County, CA hardcore troupe Taken choose to say goodbye with this CD, a five-track release that thankfully contains oodles less of what we’ve recently heard come from the area. Emblazoned with a way more substance and displayed with painstaking precision and a grand emotional investement, BETWEEN TWO UNSEENS joins a relentless vocal attack with passionately performed music underneath. Tracks like the atmospheric “Treaded Paths” bridge the gap between Thrice and Dredg, while the soulfully infused fretwork found all over this disc comes to a head on the lush “Eternity Was On Our Lips”. Shame that this band is no longer active and never received the accolades that they deserved, as this disc has a little something for fans of heartfelt heavy music everywhere. www.goodfellowrecords.com -Mike SOS

CATHETER
DIMENSION 303
SELFMADEGOD
Merging sludge, grind, and crusty punk into an undeniably brutal concoction to be served with a side order of beatdown, the three dudes from Denver that comprise Catheter aspire to lay your sorry carcass to waste. With an explosive 18-track disc such as DIMENSION 3O3 on their hands, it shows that this band of gritty grinders have studied their Sepultura, Nasum, Eyehategod, and Brutal Truth. What comes out on tracks like the scoldingly fast “Sit On This” and in the chunky churn of “Waste Time” is a uncompromising array of heavy that seeps from every underground pore, and will undoubtedly bestow a delectable yet dastardly fun time for those that have no issues with pushing boundaries and taking their musical tastes to the limits of the metal spectrum. www.selfmadegod.com -Mike SOS

THE SMASHUP
BEING AND BECOMING
WARCON
NYC outfit The Smashup has risen from the ranks of the emaciated NYC club scene to their first release, the 10-track BEING AND BECOMING. Sounding like the ruffian offspring of My Chemical Romance and The Used, this energetic quartet play their brand of rock with vibrance and grit, thanks mainly to the vocal gymnastics of singer Watt White, a voice that can wail like Axl, growl like Hetfield, and command an audience’s attention like Billie Joe. Songs like the dynamic dipping and tumultuous twisting roller coaster ride of “No Name” take the dramatics of Meatloaf and update the vernacular and attitude for the Warped Tour kids, while “Murder to the Mattress” displays a somber, more introspective side aside from the showmanship with stark results. The Smashup started as a DIY band scraping by for recognition. Now, by the sounds heard on BEING AND BECOMING, this talented band is poised to take their incredible work ethic, stellar songwriting skills, and intriguing merger of classic hard rock from the ‘80s and today’s current crop of punk rock pinups that don’t just look good but play phenomenal to the next level. www.warconent.com -Mike SOS

45 GRAVE
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
RESTLESS
45 Grave, along side The Damned, TSOL, and The Misfits, were one of the progenitors of the punk scene in the early ‘80s, meshing Gothic looks, haunting melodies, venomous vocal outbursts, and a dark sense of humor to boot, and sparking the death rock genre. They met their demise after a member’s overdose in 1991, but lead singer Dinah Cancer has recruited a whole new crew and is making a comeback, sparking this re-release. Capturing the band at its essence at a live performance from Hollywood circa 1988, ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG puts you in the front row for the entire 16 song set, and while their take on the jazz classic “Take Five” is damn near unlistenable, 45 Grave more than makes up for it with repeated shots of pre-riot grrrl angst, crossover riffs that still stand up today, and the commandeering attitude of punk rock that gels it together on cuts like “Party Time”, “Bad Love”, and “Dream Hits”. Wanna see where bands like Hole, AFI, and countless others have gotten its groove from? Look no further than this band’s live disc that, if nothing else serves as a history lesson of the origins of the death rock scene as well as the early punk rock from the left coast. www.rykodsic.com -Mike SOS

DESTRUCTION
INVENTOR OF EVIL
CANDLELIGHT
German metal veterans Destruction’s sound hasn’t changed very much over the years, yet no one really gives a damn, especially its most ardent supporters. This indestructible beast continues to churn out some of the finest molten slabs of metallic thrash glory this side of Kreator and Exodus. INVENTOR OF EVIL finds the thrash pioneers returning in fine form, and while some parts may be deemed dated or feel like the trio is trying too hard, try and find a band whose riffs still illicit the same power as “No Man’s Land” or get the pit moving like “The Chosen Ones”. Even going so far as to bridge the gap between schools of metal with “Alliance of Hellhoundz” by enlisting some of today’s metal greats from bands such as Soilwork and Dimmu Borgir to scream their asses off, some may argue that the band is desperately grasping for straws to rekindle audience’s affection. Cynics be damned, because this band still has a lot of gas left in the tank and can still present a thrashing groove like “Seeds of Hate” with the conviction of any other band on the planet. Put them in the pile with AC/DC, Motorhead, and a select few of bands that you know are known for their durability than their elements of surprise. www.candelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

GOJIRA
FROM MARS TO SIRIUS
LISTENABLE
The bruising French outfit known as Gojira (named by a derivation from Godzilla, play a brand of technically proficient death metal whose crushing smorgasbord of sound encompasses everything from blistering death metal to ambient industrial to suffocating doom metal. 12 tracks that run over an hour long may make some listeners wary, however this quartet keep the intensity consistently flowing and the changes jaw-dropping and staggeringly brilliant until the last note of “Global Warming”. To top it all off, this band take on heady issues like environmental misuse to their credit, truly meshing heavy topics with extreme music. If you ever wished an amalgamation of Fear Factory, Morbid Angel, Death, Sepultura, and Meshuggah was to be created, FROM MARS TO SIRIUS is the closest thing that makes that fantasy a reality. www.gojira-music.com -Mike SOS

REDS
IS: MEANS
WAKING
Reds is yet another Brooklyn, NY based noise-laden hardcore band whose Fugazi meets Hot Cross delivery seems to be all the rage amongst the hardcore hipsters these days. Screaming over a batch of frenetic tunes that sound like kids with ADD were let loose in the studio after a sugar feeding, songs like “The Blind Believe” contain four musicians all over the place that seemingly lock together, while the U2 gone underground vibe on “Vikings of Progress” displays the band’s unnerving knack for hammering out engaging riffs. “Do It. Do It” supplies a hearty serving of raging, Bronx-esque punk of today and “Waiting for the Barbarians” lays down spastic rock for the moppy-haired contingent to get their ya-ya’s out on the dance floor. While Reds is by no means reinventing the wheel, they manage to create a hybrid that is at times interesting when on the verge of collapsing. www.wakingrecords.com -Mike SOS

THE THIEVES
TALES FROM THE WHITE LINE
LIQUOR AND POKER
Three guesses what this English band means by the white line they speak of from the album title. Well, just pop in TALES FROM THE WHITE LINE and feel the Jet by way of Oasis rock seep through your pores for a turn and you can read between the lines more clearly. 12-tracks of sanitized retro rock adorn this disc, whose main mission seems unclear, but contains a slew of the ghosts of rock ‘n roll’s past to steer you through a voyage that you can just as easily obtain by watching an hour of VH1 Classic Rock videos. While not at all devoid of talent or style, when it comes down to it, these guys are merely translating an FM rock radio station’s playlist to a throng of eager ears, taking the WB melodrama route a step further. www.liquorandpokermusic.com -Mike SOS

DOOMRIDERS
BLACK THUNDER
DEATHWISH
Aside from showcasing one of the most badass album covers in recent memory, Doomriders kick out the jams with the hard rock histrionics of yore, complete with Motorhead’s undeniable smarmy charm, the bastardized brevity of Misfits, and the painstakingly verbose guitar assault of Thin Lizzy. BLACK THUNDER is a 13-track wet dream for the hardcore rock ‘n roller whose LP collection warped from overexposure, as the NWOBHM sound is aped here, but accentuated with a punk hardcore aesthetic that is unsurprising when you consider this outfit’s members boasts stints in Converge, There Were Wires, Cast Iron Hike, and Hallraker. Steady streams of the evil of Danzig (“Midnight Eye”, fuzz rock a la Fu Manchu, and heavy things like COC and Entombed rip through your speakers with the unencumbered sense of demonic possession via rock music. Deliciously dastardly, dirty, and utterly diabolical, Doomriders have made a bestial offering brimming with everything dangerous about rock music, and it needs to be in your collection if you like it hard, dark, and real. www.deathwishinc.com -Mike SOS

DRAGONLORD
BLACK WINGS OF DESTINY
ESCAPI
The 10-track release by American black metal troupe Dragonlord features an accurate depiction of the genre. Handling guitar and vocal duties surprisingly is none other than Testament’s Erik Peterson, who, alongside the four other members, provides a searing black metal disc that rivals Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, almost to the point at times of out and out plagiarism. Emblazoned with strong songwriting, wonderfully placed atmospheric keyboards on “The Curse of Woe” that make the song, masterful performances from top to bottom, and a solid production not unlike the band’s at the forefront of today’s extreme scene, BLACK WINGS OF DESTINY’s captures an overall ominous feel throughout, even on the juiced-up closer, a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Emerald”. This disc may unfortunately be written off as yet another endeavor by a band trying too hard to emulate a certain style, but if you dig the genre that much and don’t mind yet another outstanding band with a similar sound, then this disc will put you in black metal heaven. www.escapimusic.com -Mike SOS

I FARM
SO MY KIDS WON’T HAVE TO
BLACKOUT
I Farm’s contagious concoction of metallic-tinged punk with an emphasis on speed has placed this Brooklyn by way of Ithaca, NY act on the lips of the snotty punk rock contingent, and with good reason. This re-release takes the frenetic pace of West Coast punk and aligns it with a heaping helping of attitude that only the most grizzled East Coasters can muster. The end result is a smashing 18-track punk rock explosion that melds NOFX, Misfits, F-Minus, and Propagandhi into blistering nuggets of socially aware punk rock like “All Punks Go To Hell” and “No Thanks To You”. While these guys are far from doing anything unique, the passion displayed is genuine and the band’s intentional sloppiness gives SO MY KIDS WON’T HAVE TO that punk rock edge that so many bands miss the boat with today. Worth a listen if you dig the more chaotic Warped Tour acts. www.blackoutrecords.com -Mike SOS

EARTHRIDE
VAMPIRE CIRCUS
SOUTHERN LORD
Earthride hail from Maryland, the unofficial capital of doom, and feature former members of Spirit Caravan and Internal Void in its ranks. The quartet’s second syrupy sojourn, produced by none other than Corrosion of Conformity bassist Mike Dean, is a 10-track menacing exploration into the inner sanctum of your mind, complete with slow churning riffs, dynamically displayed dirges like “Loss” hypnotic rhythms, and a gravel-throated vocal delivery that reveals many a drug induced evening. The title track includes both huge hooks and a hedonistic hellfire guitar solo that severely summons Sabbath, while “God’s Own Medicine” tells the tale of the worst hangover you never had the pleasure of feeling. But, the guys in Earthride sure did, and when they crank out the stoner rock growls and hazy rumblings like it was 1975, stand clear of the carnage. Crowbar plus COC times Clutch equals the hellacious offering by this mid-tempo monster. www.southernlord.com -Mike SOS

SUPLECS
POWTIN’ ON THE OUTSIDE PAWTY ON THE INSIDE
NOCTURNAL
The New Orleans rock scene has always been produced some of the most exhilarating bands, and the latest album by the trio known as Suplecs fits right in. The 10-track endeavor finds the NOLA outfit fine tuning its metallic punk crunch thanks to producer Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity’s expertise, as “Gotta Pain” starts as a molten metal attack before the sinewy sludge seeps through while the moody instrumental “Cities of the Dead” eerily resonates the spirit of the band’s hometown, currently picking up the pieces from the disastrous Hurricane Katrina. While not everything here hits the mark, such as the trite “Black Cloud”, for the most part POWTIN’ ON THE OUTSIDE PAWTY ON THE INSIDE succeeds by fueling its rock machine with a voracious display of sludge-ridden versatility that fans of Zeke, Motorhead, and stoner rock everywhere will be glad to tune in and burn out to. www.suplecs.com -Mike SOS

SEVERE TORTURE
FALL OF THE DESPISED
EARACHE
Cookie Monster vocals, incessant blast beats, and rapid-fire guitar runs galore is what Severe Torture deliver on its latest gore infested release. With subject matter that ranges from sawing off body parts to killing for the mere thrill of it all, this Dutch quintet isn’t likely to be asked to play the community church service any time soon, unless Anton LaVey is presiding. With lyrical content firmly entrenched in the grotesque and the musical acumen to play on par with Cannibal Corpse and Impaled, FALL OF THE DESPISED showcases this veteran act flawlessly grinding out the death metal grooves and detonating the explosive beats and guitar runs with savage grace. If you pine over Deicide and Suffocation, add this band now. www.earache.com -Mike SOS

ROSETTA
THE GALILEAN SATELLITES
TRANSLATION LOSS
The City of Brotherly Love treats your ears to a debut twin-disc from a quartet whose ambitious nature spawned a atmospheric hunk of ambient metal. Rosetta is the name of the aforementioned outfit, whose expansive sound and grandiose delivery is liberally taken from luminaries such as Isis, Neurosis, and Swarm of the Lotus without simply creating a carbon copy. Instead, songs like “Absent” paves its own way using these templates, drumming up tension and intrigue within every movement of the piece. 10 tracks, two discs, and two hours later, when the smoke clears, THE GALILEAN SATELLITES leaves an undeliable impression on your psyche, nestling deep within the recesses of your mind all of the swirling riffs, multi-textured rhythms, bombastic exhibits of metallic glory, and serene soundscapes that emanate from this collection. Connecting arthouse flare and trailblazing metal, Rosetta’s promising introduction to the world unleashes a futuristic vision to the unsuspecting. You’ve been warned. www.translationloss.com -Mike SOS

HACRIDE
DEVIANT CURRENT SIGNAL
LISTENABLE
France’s Hacride fancies itself as a technical metal clan, yet a more appropriate classification may be metalcore a la Caliban with a Gothenburg metal spirit a la Entombed intertwined with a strong dosage of hi-tech metal. Not to say this quartet doesn’t have the aptitude to roll out some complicated tricks, but songs like the dynamic “This Place”, with its stop-start tempos sound more Diecast than Death. However, tracks like “Flesh Lives On” emulates Meshuggah channeling Strapping Young Lad, albeit through a sheath of hardcore and the jagged riffs and crushing sonic slam of “Protect” merges Pantera, Fear Factory, and Candiria into a torrential assault. Never a shortage for ideas or afraid to experiment, yet at all times retaining an aura on the attack, DEVIANT CURRENT SIGNAL is an album laden with impressive heaviness and provocative new variations on old standbys that should garnish this band much well deserved attention from the metal realm. www.listenable.net -Mike SOS

SO I HAD TO SHOOT HIM
ALPHA MALES AND POPULAR GIRLS
CRUCIAL BLAST
If Blondie fronted Mr. Bungle, it’d sound something like ALPHA MALES AND POPULAR GIRLS by So I Had to Shoot Him, the New Jersey quintet’s debut full-length endeavor. Boasting 10-tracks of avant-garde metal with strains of dramatic pop, operatic rock a la Diamanda Galas, and subdued noise, songs like “King Diamond in the Rough” fleshes out a hauntingly dissonant dirge, while “Contusion Shematics” mashes dance rock, industrial metal, and System of a Down’s left of center approach into a jarring listening experience. Chances are most people won’t stick through this disc long enough to appreciate all of its merits, yet if you’re seeking a musical adventure that encompasses a cavalcade of styles while sounding utterly unique, songs like the disjointed harmonics and hybrid histrionics on “John Cleese and the Fountain of Youth” will leave you yearning for more. www.crucialblast.net -Mike SOS

SHATTERED REALM
FROM THE DEAD END BLOCKS WHERE LIFE MEANS NOTHING
EULOGY
Talk about bleak. Read aloud the title of Shattered Realm’s album title, and one can only fathom what this 11-track collection holds. If you guessed a durable display of tough guy hardcore a la Bury Your Dead and Blood for Blood, give yourself props, because that is exactly what this quintet unleashes without an ounce of remorse. Chugging guitar riffs leads the charge on “Endless”, while gravel throated pleas emblazoned with passion propel tracks like “Fallen” and “Eat Shit”. Despite the disc clocking in at a mere 22 minutes, and raking over the wares of Hatebreed, Madball, and Terror without a shred of regret, if you need a soundtrack to pillage and destroy to, look no further than this presentation of pent-up bruising hardcore. www.eulogyrecordings.com -Mike SOS

BRONX CASKET CO.
HELLECTRIC
CANDLELIGHT
This metal outfit holds members of Misfits, Savatage, and Overkill in its ranks, so it may surprise people that HELLECTRIC contains a slew of Goth rock overtones. So many, in fact, that the 11-track offering gives bands like Lacuna Coil and Type O Negative a run for their money when it comes to laying down finely written, moody keyboard driven rock anthems. Discernibly darker than any of its member’s main acts, yet retaining a metallic crunch throughout, songs like “Sherimoon” embody the spirit of Rob Zombie, while “Motocrypt” chugs along with eerie connotations. They even go so far as to take a page straight from the Pete Steele playbook by putting a Gothic spin on Skynyrd’s “Freebird”, something which is bound to evoke a reaction, either good or bad. Bronx Casket Co.’s latest presentation goes down much like Halloween candy a few days into November does, still strangely satisfying but a bit devoid of the initial thrill of the score from the day of reckoning. www.candlelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

ZERO HOUR
A FRAGILE MIND
SENSORY
One of the many stigmas involving progressive metal is the over the top-ness of the genre, complete with overblown solos and ridiculous song lengths. San Francisco’s Zero Hour combats these negatives by creating A FRAGILE MIND, a seamless nine-track exhibition in prog metal that feels more like an applied science than a piece of music. While many use Dream Theater as a measuring stick by which to judge, Zero Hour’s commonalities like more within the Fates Warning/ Queensryche realm (perhaps it’s a West Coast thing), often throwing down pummeling riffs and drums like on “Brain Surgery” instead of glitzy instrumentations. Grittier than most bands in the genre, yet not at all lacking the agility to twist and turn tempos inside out on such amalgamations as the piledriving instrumental “Somnecrophobia”, Zero Hour can also take it down a few notches without sacrificing intensity, like on the somber title cut. Substantial without being too showy, and at every helm solidly put together, this disc provides a prog metal fan with everything necessary to be blown away. www.lasercd.com -Mike SOS

THE BLACK HALOS
ALIVE WITHOUT CONTROL
LIQUOR AND POKER
Grizzled Canadian punk vets The Black Halos pay homage to the punkers of the days of yore on ALIVE WITHOUT CONTROL, a 13-track tilt-a-whirl ride that takes the punk out of the mall and puts it back in the gutter where it belongs. Displaying equal amounts of attitude and musicianship, songs like the fist pumping title track and “Three Sheets to the Wind” stick in your head like gum on the bottom of your shoe, and are just as hard to remove, while the Social Distortion-esque “Darkest Corners” echo sentiments of a band that has been through the ringer and still stands today to tell about it. Sneering its way back from the dead, The Black Halos have lovingly recreated the days of too much booze, too little sleep, and maximum rock ‘n roll onto an album whose sleaze rock leanings and live fast/ die young creed will have protectors of the punk rock crown sighing in relief knowing there are a few bands like them still around. www.liquorandpokermusic.com -Mike SOS

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST
THE UNBORN
LISTENABLE
Finnish metal troupe Mors Principium Est (translation: Death is the Beginning) takes the melodic death metal path to new and exciting territories on the group’s latest 10-track offering. Melding the perfect combination of dastardly metal riffs with harmonic keyboards and lush arrangements, songs like “Parasites of Paradise” fuse the collective wares of Soilwork, Children of Bodom, and The Haunted into an impenetrable force that any self-respecting fan of European metal will stand up and take notice of. Supplying ample dollops of death metal demonics, thrash metal carnage, dazzling technical metal, and an overall layer of melody that seals the deal, THE UNBORN can dually split your head open and sweep you away in epic fashion, sometimes in the same song, like the chameleon-esque “Two Steps Away”, which goes from sadisitic metal assault to anthemic stadium rocker at the change of a chorus, An unbelievable release that uses all of the faculties of the genre expertly, Mors Principium Est has raised the melodic death metal bar to majestic new heights. www.listenable.net -Mike SOS

SCUM
GOSPELS FOR THE SICK
CANDLELIGHT
Casey Chaos is living out his dream on this project, as he gets to play with some of extreme metal’s elite in the new project dubbed Scum. The 12-track death punk metal excursion, which includes members of Emperor, Turbonegro, and Mindgrinder, unfortunately seems like another day at the office for Chaos, as a lot of the material heard on GOSPELS FOR THE SICK sound more at times like more polished outtakes from an Amen session, while others take on a darker punk skin rather than something totally earth shattering. Perhaps this is the intention, but to dub Scum a supergroup is kind of a misnomer. However, if you’re in the market for some lo-fi frenzy that broods like Venom versus Sex Pistols at a DRI show, songs like “Night of 1000 Deaths” deliciously deliver the deviance, while the mid-tempo monster “Truth Won’t Be Sold” is brimming over with evil. Crusty, raw, and rude, Scum’s death punk stance is for real, and exemplifies the spirit of the dark side of rock. www.candlelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

SINALOA
FOOTPRINTS ON FLOORBOARDS
WAKING
Remember when emo wasn’t so goddamn commercial? Sinaloa does, and this trio (who work sans a bassist) have channeled the progenitors of the genre on the outfit’s 10-track sojourn such as Rites of Spring and to an extent, Fugazi. “Only In Dreams” showcases a twin guitar cacophony over a tortured vocal, as “Tracing Portraits” displays the band’s social consciousness as well as their stellar musicianship and “Static” explores the staleness of corporate America from a Proletarian focus yearning to break those heavy chains with jangly guitars and off-time drums in tow. Emblazoned with an excellent visual presentation (the booklet has both lyrics and explanations for each track) and an impassioned performance captured, Sinaloa gives out a blueprint by which to not only understand its music, but hopefully comprehend humanity on a whole as well. Captivating and enchanting, if you dig At the Drive In’s barrage of sound and the discord of early post hardcore, then Sinaloa is worth checking out. www.wakingrecords.com -Mike SOS

SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM
SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM
SPITFIRE
A rock supergroup of sorts, the members of Slave to the System have spent time in Queensryche and Brother Cane respectively, as Scott Rockenfield, Kelly Gray, Damon Johnson, and Roman Glick comprise this project. On the outfit’s 12-track debut, a teeth-gnashing display of hook-laden hard rock hysteria collides with traces of the band’s day gigs, whipping up some of the most organic hard rock heard since Velvet Revolver and Audioslave burst on the scene from the ashes of celebrity excess. When cagey veterans join forces, hopefully songs like the Southern rock twang of “Gone Today” or the unabashed stompbox special that is “Disinfected” blast through the speakers, and thankfully, there is no shortage of intriguing instrumentation, fervent performance, and a sense that these guys are finally able to work outside of the box and let loose, both in mind and in practice here. In fact, Slave to the System explores arenas each member’s main band touched upon in much greater depth and breadth (especially the ‘90s-era Queensryche material), yielding compelling compositions like “Walk the Line”, ready for the radio tracks like “Abyss” and driving grooves like “Cruze Out of Control” without reprise and sans sounding forced or contrived. Feeling and sounding comfortable in their new skin, this self-titled debut merges darker edged progressive and Dixieland hard rock with a substantial sum of soul and is worth a spin for those craving a powerful hard rock release. www.spitfirerecords.com -Mike SOS

CARBOMB
CARBOMB
SELF-RELEASED
Blasting out of the gate, Long Island’s Carbomb’s aural assault intertwines industrial, death metal, and hardcore, creating a chaotic cacophony that rivals Candiria and Dillinger Escape Plan in terms of sheer volume. Pushing the boundaries with constant tempo changes and vicious mood swings, this three-song smattering whips up an amusement park ride’s thrills and chills in under seven minutes, truly providing a sonic bang for your buck. www.carbomb.us -Mike SOS

DOGS OF WINTER
CUT DOWN TO THE QUICK
EXOTIC
Embodying what a rock ‘n roll band should be about, NYC’s Dogs of Winter play a kind of sultry, sinewy hard rock devoid of pandering or excess. Instead, this trio opts to get down and dirty like Motorhead meeting the Foo Fighters on the bong-induced groove of “Natasha” and the All versus Nirvana crunch of “Thumbscrews”. Armed with sweeping choruses, guitar fuzz galore, and an airtight rhythm section that solidifies the foundation, CUT DOWN TO THE QUICK is an album whose hypnotically hazy riffs and thick delivery transcend metal, punk, and stoner rock, drawing up something substantial for the kids to load the bong to. www.dogsofwinter.com -Mike SOS

KHOLD
KREK
CANDLELIGHT
Norwegian black metal troupe Khold keep the evil at a medium pace and the overall sound clean but heavy on its latest endeavor KREK. On the group’s 10-track offering, rather than blind your senses with blistering guitars and rapid-fire rhythms, songs like 4 maintain an ominous beat which allow the guitar’s diabolic progressions to ring out in a semi-doomy state, while 6 finds the outfit toying with blast beats before nestling into a nefarious pattern of slow churned devastation. Weighing in with mid tempo majestics and metallic might combined, Khold’s brand of pronounced extreme metal appeals to the Sabbath folks on down to fans of Dimmu Borgir and Emperor. www.candlelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

DIVINE EMPIRE
METHOD OF EXECUTION
CRASH
Florida death metal trio Diving Empire have both an impressive pedigree and battering delivery, as their 16-track release showcases a band that hammers out traditional death metal nuances with groove and melody a la Cannibal Corpse. Not even the lush string arrangement of “Prelude to the Storm” provides enough solace for the dastardly death metal attack of such cuts as “Random Beheading” and “Surgical Strike”. Channeling that staple southwestern death metal sound made famous by Morbid Angel and Deicide, Divine Empire display the kind of music nightmares are made of on METHOD OF EXECUTION. www.crashmusicinc.com -Mike SOS

THE BERZERKER
WORLD OF LIES
EARACHE
The Berzerker’s latest drastic death metal foray WORLD OF LIES relies on sound alone, as the uber visual Australian clan disavows itself from its much maligned masks, tosses out live drums and amps in exchange for a computer to handle the workload, and recorded the entire 14-track collection in a week. The end result yields a technological threat whose inorganic incantations and menacing metallic maulings combine Nasum’s grind, the gory virtue of Carcass, and the insane industrial of Atari Teenage Riot, encapsulating a synthetic synergy whose spastic brilliance is nearly impossible to escape from. www.earache.com -Mike SOS

SUPERVILLAIN
EARTHQUAKE MACHINE
SELF-RELEASED
NYC hard rock heavies Supervillain take the harrowing sounds of Gotham City’s underbelly and incorporate them into the quintet’s latest 10-track offering EARTHQUAKE MACHINE. Unleashing a Soundgarden-esque flurry of slash and burn guitars, headbangingly solid rhythms, and husky vocal utterances that accentuate the rock ‘n roll attitude, songs like the cowbell-infused “You Ain’t Got a Prayer”, the fist-pumping stomp of “Prey to Me”, and the sprawling “Drowning” harkens back to the days when Circus of Power and Warrior Soul ruled the club circuit. Emblazoned with monstrous riffs and dollops of decadence. EARTHQUAKE MACHINE is an unabashed album bursting with hard rock’s raw powered histrionics. www.musicrealms.com/supervillain -Mike SOS

HINDER
EXTREME BEHAVIOR
UNIVERSAL
Chances are Hinder’s anti-hard rock malaise stance and pro-party like it’s 1987 position will find the Oklahoma quintet heirs apparent to the Nickelback throne, especially if they keep the pace set forth by the band’s debut EXTREME BEHAVIOR. Exhibiting anything but on this slickly, arena-rock ready set of anthems for the disenchanted teenager that finds Papa Roach and Three Days Grace records too edgy, this band of merry men, whose love for sex and the art of the party shine through on tracks like the bluesy and brainless “Room 21” and love for balladeering comes through most of the other 10 tracks on the disc, have given the rock world yet another faceless band for frat boys and MTV-influenced kids everywhere to adore. Yippee. www.universalrecords.com -Mike SOS

FENIX TX
PURPLE REIGN IN BLOOD
ADRENALINE
Progenitors of the pop-punk genre, Fenix TX return with a live endeavor jokingly titled PURPLE REIGN IN BLOOD. The high-energy 13-track set captured in front of a rabid Arizona audience however is no laughing matter, as the quartet’s brawny yet bratty style still translates well enough to satisfy longtime fans and the MTV crowd alike. Pumping out anthems such as “Threesome”, “Pheobe Cates”, and a scorching cover of CCR’s “Fortunate Son”, this feel good foursome rivals today’s pin-up punks by melding muscular riffs and sophomoric banter between tunes, showing just why so many still clamor for a full-scale return. www.fenixtx.net -Mike SOS

FALL RIVER
LIGHTS OUT
THORP
Ferocious female fronted metal is what the quartet Fall River bring to the dance, complete with searing metallic breakdowns, jagged hardcore rhythms, and a true sense that something bad is about to happen. While the incessant screaming gets worn quickly, the stop-start chugging of “”If We Knew Then What We Know Now” and the piercing guitar tones that pervade throughout the 10-track collection hold it together enough to elicit bedlam on the dance floor. Looking for something in between Otep and Arch Enemy? Fall River is the answer. www.thorprecords.com -Mike SOS

THE BOILS
FROM THE BLEACHERS
TKO
25 tracks of streetwise punk rock is what Philadelphia’s The Boils churn out on FROM THE BLEACHERS, blending oi screams, boot-stomping chord changes, and drunken sing-along choruses like the ones found on “Bullies”. Infusing reggae, ska, and a convincing punk rock scowl into songs like the high-octane “All I Ever Need” and the country-fried “Summer’s Brightest Day”, this versatile quartet aren’t afraid to get as heavy as Blood for Blood on “Declaration of War” or bring the Carribean vibes on “Skinhead Reggae Beach Stomp”. Constantly shifting gears with relative ease and keeping the hardcore spirit alive throughout, The Boils’ bevy of influences create a solid mix that open-minded punk rock fans will undoubtedly enjoy. www.tkorecords.com -Mike SOS

SPIRITU/ VILLAGE OF DEAD ROADS
HUMAN FAILURES
METEOR CITY
After a four-year hiatus, the long awaited return of desert rock mavens Spiritu is here, and they’ve even brought company. Splitting their four-song sojourn with Pennsylvania’s Village of Dead Roads, this New Mexico based stoner rock clan continues its hearty hypnotic jam rock blend with slow burners like the impassioned “Object of Desire”, sounding like the bastard spawn of Clutch and Kyuss. Armed with acidic grooves aplenty, “Throwback” moves with a Sabbath-esque acumen, and is the highlight of Spiritu’s contributions. From there, a darker, bleaker atmosphere takes over, akin to a foreboding storm engulfing the daytime sky, as the sinister sludgecore of Village of Dead Roads takes over. Taking liberally from Crowbar, Sourvein, and High on Fire, this group’s four-track offering takes a sharp left from Spiritu’s good time flow and allows a touch of evil to enter your headphones on cuts like “Descendants of the Dendrites” and the punishing crunch of “Woman of Ill Repute”, their best showing. Stoner rock comes in all shapes and forms, and the eight-tracks which adorn this split CD display some of the best by two bands that can dually load a bong and get their groove on. www.meteorcity.com -Mike SOS

NO TURNING BACK
RISE FROM THE ASHES
BRIDGE NINE
Dutch hardcore mavens No Turning Back were undoubtedly weaned off of the wares of NYHC stalwarts Sick of It All, Madball, and Warzone, evident on the band’s latest full-length release RISE FROM THE ASHES. Exuding a tough guys stance and complementing it with chugging riffs found on the title track and the sneering delivery of “Poisoned Tongues”, No Turning Back’s sturdy hardcore approach will nudge you into throwing on your wifebeater and throwing a few windmills around the living room in no time. www.bridge9.com -Mike SOS

HE WHO CORRUPTS
THE SMELL OF MONEY
EUGENICS
He Who Corrupts slice and dice though five tracks of aural madness, complete with unorthodox samples, grindcore instrumentations, and foreboding interludes on THE SMELL OF MONEY. Displaying a sound technical background as well as a sharp sense of sarcasm, tracks like “Your Mama on the Rocks” juggles jack hammered rhythms with shards of whimsical lyrics like “Just got a bone to pick with you sexual chocolate Catholics”. Huh? Yep, and by the time you dissect that amongst the other phrases that are abrasively screamed at you, a thunderous breakdown like the one on “Pain in the Tight Pants” destroys your senses. Then, poof…the CD is over. Short, sweet, and severe, this Chi-town treat turns up the heat and cranks out a whirlwind of mayhem. www.eugenicsrecordlabel.com -Mike SOS

BEDLIGHT FOR BLUE EYES
THE DAWN
TRUSTKILL
Trustkill Records is probably the label you go to for the kind of music you can rely on to destroy things to, so it comes with some surprise that BEDlight for BlueEYES, for all intensive purposes a rock band (and one that leans on the softer side of things to boot) resides here. While the New Jersey quintet’s music is a bit on the fashion rock/ Warped Tour side of the fence, the deal breaker here is the massive vocal range and talent supplied by lead throat Christian. He croons, he hits Jeff Buckley’s, Chris Cornell’s, and Geoff Rickley’s ranges with relative ease, and his dynamic AOR voice may make your mom fall in love with rock music again if she fondly remembers Styx and Journey. Expertly recorded and mastered, and loaded with the anthems Audioslave may have made if not so left-wing or Steelheart would if they had bigger testicles, THE DAWN is a 10-track album laden with hard rock balladeering disguised in a pop-punk wrapper, yet there’s something delectable about it all that fans of arena rock from Boston to Creed will surely gush over. www.trustkill.com -Mike SOS

CAVE IN
PERFECT PITCH BLACK
HYDRA HEAD
Boston’s Cave In rose from the Boston underground to major label disaster. Now, the band is coming full circle with the 10-track PERFECT PITCH BLACK, which finds the quartet juxtaposing its crushingly heavy sounds of yesterday with the savvy songwriting they fine-tuned while on tour with Foo Fighters. Songs like “Paranormal” brilliantly combine the shimmer of Oasis and U2 with the dastardly hardcore of Converge, while the album’s top track, the ass-shaking “Trepanning”, puts the pedal to the metal and boogies like Sabbath meets Soundgarden at a COC gig. Perhaps radiating the perfect blend of heavy and melodic ever, PERFECT PITCH BLACK is a must have release for any self-respecting rock fan. www.hydrahead.com -Mike SOS

THE DEACONS
BROOKLYN TOWNE
MADE IN BROOKLYN
Hardened punk rockers The Deacons boil over with passion and conviction on the quartet’s 12-track old school offering. This outfit, born and bred from Brooklyn makes a firm point that the borough offers much more than trendy Williamsburg, as songs like the blue collar stomp of “Don’t Need a Reason” or the rejuvenating “29” display some mighty fine street punk. Keeping it simple, energetic, and interesting, songs like “I Feel Fine” and “Of My Father” provide the kind of insightful expositions behind crashing power chords that your new fangled punk band couldn’t muster even after repeated listening of Social Distortion. The Deacons would fit best in between your Dropkick Murphys and The Casulaties. www.brooklyntowne.com -Mike SOS

THE CLASSIC STRUGGLE
FEEL LIKE HELL
METAL BLADE
It’d be hard to classify The Classic Struggle as run of the mill only because this South Carolinian beast play its brand metalcore with the utmost precision, but at times, this 12-track disc sounds a bit too sterile. It could be the robotic drum triggers or the standard serpentine vocal delivery that countless bands employ, but there’s not a lot of unique identity here. What lies beneath, however, is a simmering showcase of molten metal, such as the face-breaking “Amen to Artillery” and the thrashy “Unsacred”. This quintet has undoubtedly studied its metalcore and has in turn unleashed a potent, yet a bit tattered, album that moshpit mavens can get their rocks off to. www.metalblade.com -Mike SOS

SWIMMERS
WE SWAM AS FOR BEHAVIOR OUR BEHAVIOR
LOUISIANA PURCHASE
Left of center rockers Swimmers have released a five-song sampler highlighting the outfit’s penchant for creating noise-laden punk rock nuggets. “Hot Pocket” sounds like the end result of a collaboration between System of a Down and Talking Heads, while “Domicile, Where I Live” provides a tense surf rock vibe under spastic vocals. Jagged, dissonant, and very bouncy in a thrift store t-shirt kind of way, this disc smartly combines the exaltations of a carnival with the omens of a rock ‘n roll show firmly in tow, making palatable rock music for the ADD crowd. www.swimmerspdx.com -Mike SOS

DEVILDRIVER
THE FURY OF OUR MAKER’S HANDS
ROADRUNNER
Formerly of nu metal poster children Coal Chamber, vocalist Dez returns with a 20-ton vengeance with the quintet known as Devildriver. Dez and company’s sophomore effort attacks metal with Swedish precision and a thrash attitude, culminating in 12-tracks of unrelenting heaviness. While some of the nu metal gloss is still apparent, flurries of death metal guitars heard on “Hold Back The Day”, the undeniably crushing staccato riffs and rhythmic gallop of “Before the Hangman’s Noose”, and the buildup on the caustic opener “The End of the Line” reveal a love of Euro metal as well as a tip of the hat to the underground metal scene. Sounding similar to In Flames meeting mid-era Testament, and produced by Colin Richardson, this disc is a metallic monster that’s hard to ignore. www.roadrunnerrecords.com -Mike SOS

TWENTY FOUR HOURS TO LIVE
WE’RE LOUDMOUTHS
SURPRISE ATTACK
Miami, FL hardcore troupe Twenty Four Hours to Live take much of its influence from the NYHC scene, namely Madball, Sworn Enemy, and Cro-Mags. On the quintet’s eight-track endeavor, a high-pitched yowl leads the menacing assault packed with breakdowns and an occasional guitar lick thrown in between the chunky guitar riffs and bass rattlings on tracks like”We’re Bringin’ It Down” and “Dragnet”, whose ending is the best part on the disc. There’s nothing earth shattering or incendiary here, folks, just five guys letting loose and churning out some heartfelt hardcore with a metallic coating. www.surpriseattackrecords.com -Mike SOS

KOLA KOCA DEATH SQUAD
KOLA KOCA DEATH SQUAD
WIFE
Ohio duo Kola Koca Death Squad take the template set forth by Local H and Death From Above 1979 and put a little White Stripes blues jam action into its 13-track offering, resulting in some minimalist yet spirited rock tunes. “W.T.F.” channels the bends of Stevie Ray Vaughn, while the slow crawl of “Trying to Remember” and the cowbell induced groove of “Power Stroke” are reminiscent of arena rock circa 1976. Sounding like Violent Femmes crossed with Queens of the Stone Age, especially on the rumbling “Let’s See”, this outfit may be small in numbers, but they sure do pack a plethora of grooves into its bag of tricks, making the listening experience enthralling throughout. www.wiferecords.com -Mike SOS

SIX FEET UNDER
DECADE IN THE GRAVE SAMPLER
METAL BLADE
Taking snippets from the four disc/ one DVD box set, this 13-track disc highlights just a fraction of what it has to offer from this seminal death metal band’s most recent collection. Six Feet Under’s decade long career is chronicled on DECADE IN THE GRAVE with live cuts, rare demos, and of course, all of the group’s best known works. Taking the Cookie Monster vocal to new levels courtesy of Chris Barnes and laying down some of the sickest death metal grooves ever heard, if you have a mind for the macabre, this collection is worth the investment. www.metalblade.com -Mike SOS

INKED IN BLOOD
LAY WASTE THE POETS
FACEDOWN
Portland, OR residents Inked in Blood’s debut full-length will have metalcore fans frothing at the mouth, as this quintet succinctly combine the wares of Zao, Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour, and As I Lay Dying into 12 well-crafted songs. Bursting with emotion and chock full of masterful lyrics, these guys have been heralded as the next big thing, and with good reason. Despite playing within a saturated genre, LAY WASTE THE POETS has surpassed the rest of the bands by laying down some beautifully mapped out, poignant heavy music emblazoned with intelligence and fervor. www.facedownrecords.com -Mike SOS

SPUTTERDOLL
PIPE DOWN THE PIED PIPER
INCOMPLETE
Sputterdoll returns with a full-length endeavor laden with the same punk infused garage rock that has made this female-fronted Bay Area outfit all the rage. Songs like “Dumb Dumb Girl” and “This is Not an Anthem” retains the three-chord assault and straightforward musical output that overcomes your body and makes you wanna dance, while “Total Isolation” showcases the sneering vocals and overall jaded punk rock attitude prevalent on PIPE DOWN THE PIED PIPER. If you can’t wait for The Distillers new disc, Sputterdoll’s most recent release will sufficiently hold you over. www.sputterdoll.com -Mike SOS

ONCE FOR ALL
DOWN FOR THE GETDOWN
HARVEST EARTH
Midwestern hardcore quartet Once for All embody the tough guy hardcore persona over 10 tracks of searing breakdowns, angst-ridden yowls, and simple yet effective guitar chugging. With obvious influence by Madball and the harder bands in the genre, this quartet blasts through songs with unbridled intensity while staying true to the spirit of the music. By no means are Once for All reinventing anything, but they do a fine job of emulating their heroes while putting a hometown spin on their brand of aggression. www.harvestearth.com -Mike SOS

OBITUARY
FROZEN IN TIME
ROADRUNNER
Seminal death metal mavens Obituary have returned with a new album, the quintet’s first in nearly seven years. FROZEN IN TIME is the name of the 10-track collection, and the title truly reflects the mindset of this release. Sticking to the same formula of slow, grinding grooves, insane solos, tortured vocal screams, and midpaced metal madness, this Florida fivesome has stuck to its roots so well, after a listen of this album, you’ll swear they never took a sabbatical. Displaying the same ferocity and level of decimation as its previous works, this album will knock you back to the early ‘90s in fine form. www.roadrunnerrecords.com -Mike SOS

HIMSA
HAIL HORROR
PROSTHETIC
Decisively darker than previous efforts, the Seattle outfit Himsa’s latest offering exhibits the band’s versatile approach to abrasive music. Hardcore’s brevity and metalcore’s fury collide head-on across the 10-track HAIL HORROR, resulting in tracks like the pummeling “The Destroyer”, the classic metallic gloss of “Wolfchild”, which has hints of NWOBHM all over, and the very Gothenburg-esque metal of “They Speak in Swarms”, a track that could easily be mistaken for a cut by In Flames or The Haunted. Himsa has made an alarmingly crushing offering this time around, pulsating with pounding drums, frenetic guitars, and a guttural growl that puts the evil authority in the driver’s seat. If you’re craving triumphant tumultuousness, this quintet delivers in spades. www.prostheticrecords.com -Mike SOS