Show Review

Hal Jordan

Xtreme Wheels

Buffalo NY 

2/17/12

This show opened up with Brian Naus, a local hard rock songwriter.  

This was different compared to what is normal for a show like this in the area.

He played rhythm guitar and vocals with a live drummer on top of a backing track with some lead guitar, bass, and subtle effects.  He played well, started off a tad rough but quickly worked out the kinks and started rockin out.  Normally i like to see a full band behind the music i'm hearing.  You'll come to find i actually hate samples or backing tracks at all.  But Brian did it well!  he had a good hard rock/punk pop kinda sound 

https://www.facebook.com/BrianNausMUSIC

For what it was, 6/10

it was a good way to get things rolling 

Next up was another great band from Buffalo called Anchor Me Down.

They are, at least what i can best describe them as, hardcore pop punk.

Melodic, has a fantastic groove, but it'll also crush you and get that adrenaline flowing. Their stage presence and overall tone matched that description to a T as well.  I'm used to seeing great bands in Buffalo.  Our music scene is one of the best i've seen, this was my first time seeing the band and i was impressed!  Great songs, good energy, fun band to see in person and set the stage well for the rest of the night.  only complaint i have is the guitars.  and i tread lightly with this statement because it's not the band's fault.  Could be the venue or just the way it was mixed but i could not hear the difference between the guitars even when they were clearly playing different parts.  woulda been nice to hear some more of the intricacy's in the sound.

https://www.facebook.com/AnchorMeDown

8/10!

i'd like to see them again at a different venue 

Next up on the show was Sunset Wakeup.  I had mixed feelings about these guys.  Now i'm going to be completely honest, i liked them!  I liked them a lot, they played great, their lights were good, their stage presence was good, the sound was good.  And that's where the problem lies.  I feel like the band isn't quite sure who they are yet.  They have this very stereotypical pop rock image similar to that of All Time Low.  That whole, "i'm doing this to get girls" look and feel that you see so much of.  But that's not who they are!  I highly recommend seeing this band live in person because they really are pretty great.  Amazing vocals, good energy, and tight musicianship. 

https://www.facebook.com/sunsetwakeup

7/10

check em out!

SW was followed by a band from Rochester called Dividing The Skyline.  This is a 3 piece hard rock/punk rock band.  Now this is a hard set for me to review...my biggest issue with this band, which is unfortunately going to have to hinder their score, is a technical thing.  They don't have a bass player.  They had 2 good guitar players, one doing lead vocals, the other doing backup vocals, and a drummer.  The fact that the bass was not there, not even in a backing track, was obvious. The sound guy did a good job of trying to compensate by adding more kick & toms into the mix and some more mid levels to the guitar but it was still very shrill sounding which made it hard to enjoy.  Which is disappointing because the music itself was good.  It's a bunch of kids!  They look to be between the ages of 15-17 which is awesome.  Their singer/guitar player had a great voice, the guitar work was good, the drumming was a tad bit off at times but that's just me being picky.  I want to say this band is really good for what they are, but if i told you to go see them i'd also have to tell you to bring ear plugs if you don't want to be in pain which sucks to have to say

https://www.facebook.com/DividingTheSkylineOnline

5/10

needs BASS :)  other than that, it was pretty tight 

Following them was City Lights from Columbus Ohio.  They were great! Reminded me of Close To Home. not sure what else to say.  They didn't blow me away or do anything i've never seen before but that's ok.  The mix was good, great sounding guitars and drums, good vocals, lots of intensity in the sound and the stage presence.  I'd definitely see them again.  They knew the music well, they seemed to really enjoy being there and playing for us and it was fun to listen to.  Not too much else to say really, it was tight in all the areas it needed to be!  it just didn't blow my mind is all

https://www.facebook.com/citylightsband

8/10

Last up for the night was Buffalo's own Hal Jordan!  They were on par with Anchor Me Down and City Lights easily.  They had this hardcore punk kinda sound with come metalcore elements.  Sorta reminded me of early Set Your Goals with a hint of Stray From The Path.  After seeing all the other bands, hours of other music they still managed to keep my interest.  They were solid and produced some wicked energy considering much of the crowd left after City Lights.  BTW i'll take the time to mention that i fucking hate that.  I hate it when people leave shows early.  They come and see the band they came to see and then leave ignoring anybody else they haven't heard of.  Stuck up much?  -punches dumb kids in face-

But yea, if you didn't stay for this band i have no problem calling you a closed minded fucktwat because they were awesome 

https://www.facebook.com/haljordanband

8/10

LISTEN TO DEM

Album Review!

The Bunny The Bear - If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say...

Mixing brutal Buffalo hardcore music with dance/electronica, The Bunny The Bear loves to be hated \m/  Think what you want, I think they're fantastic.  Their debut album on Victory Records 'If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say' starts off by jumping directly for the throat.  'Prelude To Pregnancy' sweeps in with some sweet synth, guitars, hi-hat filled drum tracks, and some incredible screaming work.  Yes, it's a generic synth break intro..but you can't help but love this one in particular.  Jumps from that into a previously released song 'Asile' which brings in The Bear's intoxicating voice work.  Big bad bear with the voice of a motherfucking angel.  'The Asile' is a very good example of what TBTB is all about.

If you're still with it after the first two tracks, stay aboard for a fun little musical ride.  'Ocean Floor' is one of their newer songs.  It's fantastic.  1:17 into the song and you'll witness a bit of dancecore...i made that up just now.  Nice use of reverb and electronic effects on the track.  It's prominent, but not overpowering.  It fits in perfect with the song and nothing feels out of place, this pretty much carries on throughout the entire album luckily.  Everything feels right.  It's experimental by nature, but that doesn't mean they just threw a bunch of things together and added pro-tools magic.  There's a lot of very cool things going on here.

'It's A Long Way From The Esophagus To The Ovaries' (oh rly?) has one VERY catchy chorus.  The melody is mesmerizing, and the percussion thuds to a very danceable beat.  I'm positive that throughout the rest of this band's career we will hear a lot of songs like this one.   'Lust Touch Seed' follows suit, this one's an older one of their's re-done for the debut album.  The synth riff that starts the song, carries on, and morphs throughout the song is simply perfect.  You will be hearing that in your head for days, not a bad thing by any means.

This is not a perfect album.  The songs need a little better structure and direction but that's simply constructive criticism, because i've heard this band grow from what they were years ago, to what they are now and i can tell you if you like this effort, their best is yet to come.  To judge for yourself, check out the rest of the songs on the album as well because i could go on for an hour on these guys

8/10

i love this album, and i don't have much bad to say about it.  It's an acquired taste, and the only reason i personally don't score it higher is because i feel like they're progressed so much over the years, that they can do even better than this.  This is a band that i predict will explode over the next year or two

Coming Soon...

2012

what to expect from this page in the coming year

New album reviews

'classic' album reviews (reviewing various albums from my vast collection of random tunes)

More show reviews

Big show review coming up in march.  

Full Analysis of the 

Dying Fetus/The Faceless/ Job For A Cowboy/Volumes/Last Chance To Reason show

at Club Infinity March 3rd

rating the performance of each individual band as well as the show as a whole

and who knows, maybe some random stupid videos from the chaos which shall ensue at the after party \m/  

bookmark this page, send it to your friends, or trash me on your own blog i don't give a fuck.  :)

Album Review

Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood of Colour 

If you hate Enter Shikari, and many do, this will not change your mind, only make your opinion more concrete.  They are very different, for those who are intimidated by a band that is different enough to have their own genre my guess is this is a band you would condemn from your playlist.  

On the contrary, for those who like electronica music, hardcore music, rock music, and especially creative tunes that effectively merge said genres you will love this band and this album.  Personally, i've been waiting since last summer for this to arrive.  It was worth the wait. It is bass heavy, sonically crushing, creative, and beautiful all at the same time.  Now, i say this with caution as i'm pretty sure i'm biased to them at this point.  To me, Enter Shikari is one of those bands that just 'can do no wrong'  So as with anything else this is nothing but my own 2 cents.  To know if you like something best bet is to listen for yourself and i highly recommend that you do!  

You don't have to like dubstep, metal, or anything like that to love this album.  I have friends from all musical backgrounds who absolutely love this album like i do, and others who just don't get it

This should give you a good taste of the concept.  Love it or hate it, It's Enter Shikari

and this will easily be one of my favorite albums of 2012 guaranteed 

GO BUY THIS NOW

10/10 

Album Review

Lamb of God - Resolution 

Lamb of God has always been one of my favorite metal bands for obvious reasons.  The guitars, drums, and vocal work are top notch on every level, and this album takes it to a new one.  This is the best LoG album hands down.  Not only is it the best Lamb of God album ever but it is easily in the running for the Most Badass Album of the Year.  if there was such an award anyway

Instead of going into ridiculous detail using terms only half of you will understand about why this stands out above some of the other recent releases lately, listen for yourself.  

Overall, the tone of the instruments, the structure of the songs, and the style mostly resemble Wrath over any other album but in reality..this album is truly a beast all it's own.  

do yourself a huge favor and go BUY this album, i'm going to that's for sure

9/10  \m/

Album Review

Attack Attack! (US) - This Means War

After losing their vocalist/founder of the band after their debut album, following it up with their now ex-synth player on screams immediately took a heavier direction due to the nature of his voice and the lack of creative input from Austin, their old screamer.  After their second album release they then lost their lead guitar player who was responsible for most of their signature half-auto tuned high pitched clean vocals.  Their third full length release 'This Means War' heads further away from the original vision for Attack Attack!  but in a good way.  

This album treads very very close to the border with their friendly neighbor 'Deathcore'

The move to 7 string guitars is immediately present  from track one and sticks through the whole cd.  This album is like a breakdown minefield interbreeding with melodic chorus's sung by Caleb himself.  This dude's been taking some singing lessons!  who needs their old guitar player..?  clearly not these guys.  

So the vocals have improved a ton.  They have put a lot more thought into the production of them in both the singing and screaming.  They ditched the autotune, only put in synth where it was appropriate, and made it dirty as all hell so it really stands out in a good way.  The biggest gripe i have with the new album is the instrumentals..and that is what kills it for me.  The instrumental tracks alone have no traction against anything else in the genre they're so closely dancing with.  They are extremely boring.  They need to learn how to play those shiny new 7 strings before they even DARE call themselves deathcore, which more than likely will end up happening at this rate.  

Final word?  personally..i'm probably not going to purchase it.  The instrumentals kill what would otherwise be their best album to date.  They blend most songs together and doesn't hold your interest much.  

forces me to give this album a 

6/10

better luck next time boys

Check out this band!!!

Brought By Pain

Pretty impressive new death metal band from out of Montreal, Canada.

just put out an album called 'The Dreamer's Will'  which they are pretty much encouraging people to just go download for free.  you can do the same from THIS LINK

Show Review

The Headstones 

This is a band that i grew up with.  Being on hiatus for a long time, to my knowledge they are technically not back together as a band.  They just kinda decided to do a small amount of shows in the area for fun.  Hailing out of Canada just north of the border, this grungy alternative rock band has a very unique, likable sound on their studio albums.  Some notable tunes inclue 'Cemetery'  'Absolutely' and 'Fuck You' 

From a band with so much music in their library and so many shows on their resume it doesn't surprise me how solid they were.  The mix was great at Rapids Theatre although i wish their guitar player would have played with his custom Les Paul instead of the black Fender Telecaster he used through the entire set.  I have nothing against the guitar or the player.  They're both legendary for a reason, but the pickup combination of a Telecaster is known to be kind of twangy and shrill.  That's exactly how it sounded, In it's clean tones it was absolutely harsh and cut over the rest of the mix.  But this is a very minor almost ridiculous critique, i'll admit haha.  They were great.  Entertaining to watch, played the songs well and with a lot of energy, you can tell that they enjoyed playing the songs and they expressed that in almost every way.  I'd say i'd go see them again, but i probably never will.  This was a very RARE show that i was very lucky to go see.  If you are also lucky enough to have them play a show in a city near you, don't hesitate.  Go listen to some of their song clips on i-Tunes and if it sounds even sort of good to you, go see the show you'll have a blast 

5/5

Show Review

Super Killer Robots

Local band from my home city Buffalo, NY they opened up for the Headstones at Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls NY.  To start off, i'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, they are a new-ish band with little to no fanbase who were put in front of an absolutely massive crowd of people who didn't give two shits about them.  They were...'interesting' is the best word to describe them.  Their show had no direction or structure, seemed like they were just kinda jammin the whole time.  Their vocalist...wow..their vocalist.  He was trippin on something and HARD.  He was skipping around, crawling around under a blanket while doing handstands, throwing things...he was in another world.  It was absolutely hilarious.  i was legitimately laughing my ass off.  but it made the band look bad.  As far as musicianship goes, you can tell there's something there.  They aren't bad musicians at all..i just didn't 'get it' i guess.  I think i needed to be in the same realm the rest of them were in hahaha.  

If their vocalist wasn't so funny to watch, their score would be lower

3/5

It's an electronic music kind of day

It's Shpongle time!!!

Off the latest Shpongle EP 'The God Particle' 

This is extremely tripped out, drug inspired electronic music at it's finest.  

i'd say if you are into Dubstep and are curious as to what else is out there as far as electronic music, this is a pretty good next step, because either you're going to love it or hate it.  My ex girlfriend seemed to think back when i first discovered this that it wasn't even music.  That's fucking bullshit lmao.  This guy is awesome, listen for yourself!  it's a cold, lazy, boring day in Buffalo and this is what i'm jamming to and you should as well.  Turn your radio off and throw this on NOW!  :D

Best song so far..

In Flames - The Chosen Pessimist

So far, this is the best song on the cd, as well as their longest song in their studio recording history.  It's the only song that really does something different.  It's slow and easy going for the most part and it just changes up the pace well and reminds you that the album is still on haha.  Because for the most part so far...This cd is pretty boring.  But my opinion could change

In Flames - A Sense of Purpose

Currently listening through the second most recent In Flames album called 'A Sense of Purpose' through some pretty good bose speakers. bought this at Best Buy a couple weeks ago for about ten bucks.  worth it?  not sure yet

Like The Deftones?

TesseracT

Here's a good alternative.  Are they better than The Deftones?  no, i don't see it that way.

This band has elements of The Deftones in the overall structure and vocal style

but has harder guitars, 'Djent' style guitars more along the lines of Periphery (actually their vocalist reminds me a bit of Spencer from Periphery as well)

when shown to my friends and fellow musicians i have gotten mixed response.  

a good buddy of mine said something along the lines of "It sounds like they are trying too hard"  not really sure what that means..but that's one angle.  

But if you like The Deftones or that Djent style of guitar work, for sure give these guys a listen.

They're heavy almost without trying to be.  They're heavy in a different sense.  You won't find any 'breakdowns' here.  But they aren't needed.  

Welcome to Fuck Your Scene!

Your mind is about to be blown as you will realize all the music that you thought was awesome, actually sucks

 :)