Timeblog.net

I want to talk about three of the CDs I recently acquired (and yes, that means I went into the shop and bought them!). First, some popular music:

Billy Talent - II
Entered the german charts on the top spot, so normally wouldn’t be music I like. But - knowing one song from the first CD and then seeing the video to “Devil in a Midnight Mass”, I knew I had to listen to this. I’m not quite sure where to categorize this - maybe it’s radio Punk meeting some screams and a lot (A LOT) of ass kicking. The energy level is enormously high, you can hardly keep sitting in your chair as the urge to jump around the room and scream grows with each minute of the first songs. The album has some emotional moments too, but then are also done really well. Ben Kowalewicz’s voice is totally fitting, normally with a strange high timbre, but often into screams, but never annoying. The songs have much drive and sometimes I am reminded of Mastodon, on “Worker Bees” for example. The production is excellent. I can really recommend Billy Talent to everyone!
You can find videos on YouTube, e.g. Devil in a Midnight Mass. I don’t want to embed the video, that clutters up the site!

Next up is…

Cataract - Kingdom
Ok, I bought this album for the package! I had the review somewhere in the back of my head, and so when I saw the thick pack with a printed cover and a bonus CD, I couldn’t resist! Cataract are a swiss Melodic Death Metal band, that also have mild Thrash elements. Overall the Metalcore label is appropriate! The songs are good, get a bit dull maybe if you listen to everything at once, but that might be my Progressive Metal mind. All songs are about the same speed, and sound alike, so there’s nothing new to find on this album, but Cataract do a really good job and deserve to be listened by Metalcore/Melodic Death/Thrash-fans!
Here is an audio sample of the song “War of Cultures” (found here):

And finally:

God Forbid - IV: Constitution of Treason
Now God Forbid play Metalcore, plain and simple. I don’t know if God Forbid are one of these bands too, but most Metalcore bands never say they play Metalcore, but each one will never get tired of telling interviewers that they have their very own and special sound. Bullshit. It’s Metalcore, or maybe Melodic Death or Death/Thrash or Modern Thrash. But never unique or new! If the band is as good as God Forbid, they don’t have too. The Thrash roots are running strong, the screaming of the singer isn’t too annoying as the refrains are always melodic and easy to consume. The CD cover is simply amazing! One of the rare CDs you can listen to at whole length and never get the urge to skip a track or too as no tracks stand out as being especially good. The album works as a whole! Heartly recommended to fans of hard metal sounds!
Here’s a song sample, “End of the World”, more can be found here