Release-date: 31-10-2011
Label: Basick Records
Origin: France

Long have I been looking forward to this release (although at time of writing not yet officially released), it has surpassed even my best expectations and finds itself steady at the top of favourite releases this year.

Februus is yet another Djent album, but one that not much unlike TesseracT and Proghma-C focusses more on groove and atmosphere than sheer technical ingenuity. If you’re a fan of any of these bands, purchasing Februus should be a gut-reflex. Drawing another comparisation with TesseracT, we can’t exactly speak of songs with this release as the whole album is just one continuous experience just like the formerly mentioned’s EP Concealing Fate. From Awaken to Finale it takes you on a journey where you’ll chill, strain your neck headbanging and shiver, just like I did, seeing Uneven Structure perform an awesome set at Euroblast last weekend in Cologne, Germany amongst many of its peers.

Expect rather chugging djenty or spacey guitars or both, carried by rhythmically intense drums. An amazing vocal performance on both screams and cleans that will make the hair on your neck get up, are the cherry on the whippedcream covered cheesecake goodness that is Februus.

Pick this excellent piece of progressive, technical and atmospheric metal up the 31st of October 2011, and in the meantime stream it on Soundcloud below.

KoRn – KoRn III

13th July 2010

Roadrunner

An odd intro to the album but meh, mustn’t dwell. KoRn III properly kicks off full of that nice low guitar drone and padded really well with percussion – Ray Luzier‘s first with the band (not surprising the band made him their drummer after seeing his performance at Download Festival 2009). In fact that is quite the feel for the majority of the album. Sounding a little like the band have gone back to their routes, even bringing in the producer of the first two Korn albums, Ross Robinson.

All the tracks on this album stand out and it’s certain to be one of my favourite albums of the year, which really makes reviewing this hard as I like all the tracks! Oildale, Pop A Pill, Fear Is A Place To Live and Let The Guilt Go, stand out most and all have the same pace too. The Past is the only song that slows down with the acceptation of the chorus in the concluding track Holding All The Lies. My favourite track is Never Around. I love the middle 8; wicked riff and the hypnotising laugh is very energetic I find it hard not to skip back to it!

So basically this album is great. All Korn fans will love this album, its great to rock out to and great at a party or get together. ★★★★★

Xander – Album Of The Week 13/07/10

Soulfly – Omen

Roadrunner

18th May 2010

Soulfly are back on form! Omen is awesome right from the beginning with Bloodbath & Beyond. The first single featuring Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Rise Of The Fallen is Soulfly’s best track for years. It’s modern yet still that classic sound from the longest line up of the band, half way through the song breaks down until the end with various drums beat variations. Great Depression and Kingdom are great examples from Omen and two favourites of mine, Jeffrey Dahmer – though short and sweet about the american serial murderer, and Mega-Doom. Be sure to check out Lethal Injection featuring Tommy Victor of Prong and the thrashy Vulture Culture. And of course, the album would not be complete without the latest instalment of the instrumental self titled series of tracks – Soulfly VII.

Fans of Soulfly from any period will love this album and as usual is available in the extended digi pack edition. One of my favourite albums of 2010 ★★★★★

Xander – Album Of The Week 18/05/10

Dead Identities – Bad Cats & Heart Attacks

5th July 2010

I love this album! My first listen I actually found it hard to listen to, there are a lot of tempo changes and can feel unstable at times and you wonder where the hell is this going?! But once you relax you can see Bad Cats & Heart Attacks for what it is – a fantastically crafted piece of work that anyone would be proud to have made.

Generally the whole feel for the album is very happy though the themes are not. I can imagine dancing in a club with bottle in hand singing out loud and smiling to negative tracks such as Invisible, On My Own Again and You Bring Out The Worst In Me. The songs are bouncy rock & roll punky and anthemic. For me two massively familiar sounds stick out, being The Wildhearts and The Living End, anyone who’s seen or heard those bands know what I’m on about and here’s the band next in line to take the reign! My favourite track is Lost Property Song, complete with harmonic a capella’s intro, speed, catchy chorus and at just over two minutes long, the shortest track on the album – short and sweet! A great buy, especially for the summer! ★★★★✩

Xander, Album Of The Week – 06/07/10

Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders – Red Light Fever

Shannabelle/RCA Records

20th April 2010

So what do you think Foo Fighters drummer can come up with? Well, I certainly didn’t expect this. Straight off a little mix of Queen, The Darkness and a dirty riff! Taylor’s vocals sound awesome and Not Bad Luck is so catchy with awesome guitars. Your Shoes starts very Foo’s sounding, understandable, but this track, along with the entire album, has some kind of old fashioned rock n roll feel to it that can appeal to anyone – I like it. Way Down really shows off Taylor’s vocals with such a raw rough sound, very gritty, and goes well with this style of rock. It also reminded me of Roger Taylor’s vocals, but after further investigation turns out Roger is actually a contributing to back up vocals for this track. And guess what, Brain May also contributed guitar for some tracks along with Dave Grohl with some guitars and vocals too.

It’s Over then flips and goes all psychedelic on us in the intro only to slow down into a smooth verse, this album starts off a little eccentric, sometimes pushing the limits of what can be put together, yet remaining cohesive. Unfortunately the album then starts loosing pace and heads towards the middle of the road with just a couple more slightly upbeat tracks at the end of the album.

Red Light Fever starts well but then becomes quite average just before halfway. Certainly worth giving a chance and the band play well live, as seen at Download Festival 2010. ★★✩✩✩

Xander – Album Of The Week 29/06/10

Imicus – Animal Factory

Transcend Records

24th May 2010

The album kicks off with the title track, Animal Factory, setting the pace for the album. I find the album atmospheric and in places dark, aided by the vocals of Andrew Miller, even occasionally haunting with echoes and delays. This can be heard well in the breakdown to Visceral, their first single back in 2009. A great catchy song, though for me the middle 8 is about a middle 16, too long! Then comes the bounce with Inveigle which went down very well live at Download Festival 2010, but come the chorus you start to see a pattern emerging in that the chorus for the songs are very similar

You may think the album could then be repetitive but it is very solid and the riffs set the tracks apart. Precise drumming from (now guitarist) Dale Chapman and subtle guitar layers along with Dan Baker and flowing solos along with a groovy, hard and smooth bass lines from a Mr. Steve Parker show this bands high quality ability to write good songs – for example, The Butterfly Effect, with a striking solo, groovy riff and bass line. I really like this song.

The album is great to drive to, especially on a rainy day. It works when you’re happy and it is also pretty good to do the hoovering to (turn it up loud of course!!) I look forward to more great stuff form this band. ★★★✩✩

Xander – Album Of The Week 08/06/10

Then came along Circles, who’ve managed to combine all this in a stunning blend of Aussie progrock with djenty grooves. Clean vocals, the rare grunts… and some great synth-work mixed in this all adds up to 3 amazing and dynamic songs. What’s not to like? I don’t know… top tip of the week, 16 May new EP “The Compass” out on Basick Records not to be missed!

Jurojin – The Living Measure Of Time

10th May 2010

Self Release

This self release can quite possibly be THE self release of the year! Each member of the band is truly magnificent, see them live and you will see for your self. They’re even that good that rock violinist, Anna-Phoebe, has hired them as her backing band, in return she also occasional features in a few songs with them live. As a full band the heavier stuff has strong power chords and riffs but then striped down a level to acoustic and my word, they will blow you away! Again, this is mimicked in Anna-Phoebe’s band, along with a part time table, Sim, player for both groups.

So the album starts with an intro that appears to warm us up for what is about to ensue, though you’re not entirely sure what will come next. Well, it’s a drum fill intro to The Scars, a fast paced hard rocking track with a melodic and catchy chorus and riffs, proceeded by the equally rocky track, The Liar. Perhaps worth noting at this point that for the album the band recruited Heights and TesseracT drummer, Jay Postones, with whom I had the pleasure of seeing them play together back in mid 2009. Since then until mid 2010, having now recruited a full time drummer, Francesco, the band have being playing a string of acoustic shows around London. So here is where the album turns so beautifully into acoustic and indian. Proem breaks right down with delicate harmonies, total chill! I even love that you hear the vocal count in a gap. The Winter is kind of a heavy chill, if that could exist, and fits perfectly in the middle of the album. The Equinox brings us back to acoustic and tabla and smoothly brings us back to heavy, a beautiful mix of both in one track and a perfect display of the skill and quality of bassist, Yves. We are then left with one of my favourite songs of 2010, The Dreaming. Everything about it is good; gentle  power, strong vocals, heavy riffs, and the most magnificent 2 minute soft ending – like a dream. ★★★★★

Xander – Album Of The Week 11/05/10

Opeth – Blackwater Park

27th February 2001

Music For Nations

Originally released just shy of ten years ago, this highly acclaimed album displayed a change in style from the band aided by Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, who produced the album. In March 2010 it was re-released with extras.

The album must have had such an impact when it first came out as for me right now it does not sound aged and is beautifully stunning.The music is epically chilled and fused with heavy riffs and tones. Essentially though, I should let the music do the talking because this album talks for itself. It speaks so well that even if I put it on in the background, I end up having to just sit and listen. So without a doubt, it’s easy to give Blackwater Park ★★★★★

Xander – Album of the Week 06/04/10