Dark Tranquillity Interview

Dark Tranquillity Interview

For more information on Dark Tranquillity, check out - https://www.facebook.com/dtofficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

Head Inc. - Demons

Head Inc.
Demons
Faultline Records/MGM Distribution

For more information on Head Inc., check out - https://www.facebook.com/gary.buckley.37.

© Justin Donnelly.

Lostprophets – Liberation Transmission

Lostprophets
Liberation Transmission
Columbia/Visible Noise/Sony BMG Music Entertainment

For more information on Lostprophets, check out - https://www.facebook.com/Lostprophets2.0.

© Justin Donnelly.

Dark Tranquillity Interview

Dark Tranquillity Interview

For more information on Dark Tranquillity, check out - https://www.facebook.com/dtofficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

Left Alone - Dead American Radio

Left Alone
Dead American Radio
Hellcat Records/Epitaph/Shock

For more information on Left Alone, check out - https://www.facebook.com/leftalonepunks.

© Justin Donnelly.

Terror - Always The Hard Way

Terror
Always The Hard Way
Trustkill Records/Roadrunner Records/Universal Music Australia

After having made a major impact on the hardcore scene with their debut full-length album "One With The Underdogs" in 2004, Los Angeles based act Terror are finally back with their follow-up release "Always The Hard Way", and it's very much what you would expect from the old school act. With a bit of reshuffle to the line-up (Former Buried Alive/Despair/Slugfest vocalist Scott Vogel, ex-Sworn Vengeance/First Blood guitarist Doug Weber and ex-Carry On drummer Nick Jett remain from the original line-up, while Donnybrook guitarist Martin Stewart and ex-The Promise/Rag Men/Another Victim bassist Jonathan Buske replace Hatebreed's Frank '3Gun' Novinec and First Blood's Carl Schwartz respectively), and producer/mixer/engineer Zeuss behind the consoles, Terror manages to hit back harder than ever.

Terror slowly introduce "All For Revenge" with some gentle guitar feedback, but it doesn't last with guitarists firmly laying down some heavy riffing and Vogel roaring out heavier than ever on the album's opening power charge. With the tone set for the album, Terror continue to pulverise with "Strike You Down" and "Survival Comes Crashing In", while the title track "Always The Hard Way" and "Lost", as generic and cliché as they initially sound, are huge melodic anthem based numbers that are sure to get diehard followers singing along with Vogel in the live sense.

The brief (Ninety seconds) "Last Of The Diehards", "You Cant Break Me" (Featuring Death Threat's Aaron Butkus on co-lead vocals), "So Close To Defeat" (Featuring guest vocals from Leeway's Eddie Sutton), "Test My Convictions", "One Step Behind" and "Hardship Belongs To Me" all represent the fast and aggressive side of the band, while tracks such as "Hell To Pay" and "Smash Through You" show a little tempering of pace, which adds a little more diversity to the album overall. The only track not to make the grade is the rather short (Minute long) hip-hop number "Dibbs And Murs Check In" (Performed by experimental turntablist Mr. Dibbs and L.A. rapper Murs), which interrupts the flow of the album and serves little purpose other than to showcase Vogel's love of hip-hop.

Terror don't really provide anything unique and cutting edge to the hardcore scene on "Always The Hard Way", but what they do manage to achieve is build upon their debut in every conceivable way. For crushing hardcore that completes with the likes of Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Madball and Cro-Mags in the old school stakes, check out Terror's latest.

For more information on Terror, check out - https://www.facebook.com/terrorhardcore.

© Justin Donnelly.

On The Last Day – Meaning In The Static

On The Last Day
Meaning In The Static
Victory Records/Stomp

For more information on On The Last Day, check out - https://www.facebook.com/onthelastday.

© Justin Donnelly.

Sodom - Sodom

Sodom
Sodom
Steamhammer/SPV/Riot!

For more information on Sodom, check out - https://www.facebook.com/sodomized.

© Justin Donnelly.

Terror – Always The Hard Way

Terror
Always The Hard Way
Roadrunner Records/Universal Music Australia

For more information on Terror, check out - https://www.facebook.com/terrorhardcore.

© Justin Donnelly.

Eric Bibb – Livin' Lovin' & Doin': A Retrospective

Eric Bibb
Livin' Lovin' & Doin': A Retrospective
Manhaton Records/ABC Roots Music/Warner

For more information on Eric Bibb, check out - https://www.facebook.com/EricBibbMusic.

© Justin Donnelly.

Satyricon Interview

Satyricon Interview

For more information on Satyricon, check out - https://www.facebook.com/SatyriconOfficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

Avenged Sevenfold
City Of Evil
Warner Music Australia

For more information on Avenged Sevenfold, check out - https://www.facebook.com/AvengedSevenfold.

© Justin Donnelly.

Kreator Interview

Kreator Interview

For more information on Kreator, check out - https://www.facebook.com/KreatorOfficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation

Municipal Waste
Hazardous Mutation
Eachache Records/Shock

For more information on Municipal Waste, check out - https://www.facebook.com/Municipalwaste.

© Justin Donnelly.

Municipal Waste Interview

Municipal Waste Interview

For more information on Municipal Waste, check out - https://www.facebook.com/Municipalwaste.

© Justin Donnelly.

Stone Sour Interview

Stone Sour Interview

For more information on Stone Sour, check out - https://www.facebook.com/stonesour.

© Justin Donnelly.

Stone Sour – Come What(ever) May

Stone Sour
Come What(ever) May
Roadrunner Records/Universal Music Australia

For more information on Stone Sour, check out - https://www.facebook.com/stonesour.

© Justin Donnelly.

Strapping Young Lad - The New Black

Strapping Young Lad
The New Black
Century Media Records/Stomp

For more information on Strapping Young Lad, check out - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044576113870.

© Justin Donnelly.

Voivod Interview

Voivod Interview

For more information on Voivod, check out - https://www.facebook.com/Voivod.

© Justin Donnelly.

Underoath - Define The Great Line

Underoath
Define The Great Line
Tooth & Nail Records/Solid State Records/EMI Music Group

For more information on Underoath, check out - https://www.facebook.com/underoath.

© Justin Donnelly.

36 Crazyfists - Rest Inside The Flames

36 Crazyfists
Rest Inside The Flames
Roadrunner Records/Universal Music Australia

For more information on 36 Crazyfists, check out - https://www.facebook.com/36crazyfists.

© Justin Donnelly.

Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime II

Queensrÿche
Operation: Mindcrime II
Rhino Records/Warner

For more information on Queensrÿche, check out - https://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

Voivod - Katorz

Voivod
Katorz
The End Records/Stomp Records Distribution

Canadian avant garde act continue the rock progression.

Although having never quite broken through to the mainstream in their twenty year plus career (Although 1989's “Nothingface” came close), long running Québec (Canada) based act Voivod have earned a reputation as one of the metal scene's more experimental (At times avant-garde) and different sounding progressive/alternative metal hybrid acts on the metal scene, which in turn has had a profound influence over a number of artists throughout the years. After a somewhat difficult stage of their career with bassist/vocalist Eric Forrest fronting the band (Who, along with guitarist Denis 'Piggy' D'Amour and drummer Michel 'Away' Langevin, managed to produce two full length albums and a live album), vocalist Denis 'Snake' Bélanger announced his return to the group in 2001, along with the addition of ex-Metallica bassist Jason 'Jasonic' Newsted, with 2003's Voivod album, giving the band some well overdue attention.

Three years have since passed, and while Voivod continued work on their long awaited follow up album, tragedy struck when D'Amour finally succumb to colon cancer (Which he was diagnosed with two years prior) in August 2005. Prior to his death, D'Amour managed to record enough material for two albums on his laptop, with the remainder of the band (Along with co-producer Glen Robinson) faced with the challenging task of bringing D'Amour posthumous vision to life.

Voivod's eleventh studio release “Katorz” doesn't stray too far from the direction the band last left off with Voivod, with all of the album's ten cuts relying heavily on melody (Which first started to appear on 1991's “Angel Rat”), all the while pushing ahead with their forward thinking progressive trademark sound. The riff led “The Getaway” (Lyrically based around the war in Iraq) is a fantastic opener that showcases D'Amour unique approach to his six strings, while Bélanger is in great form, with his performance injecting a slight punk vibe into proceedings.

The crawling “Dognation” and “After All” are classic latter day Voivod sounding tracks with their fractured tempos and Bélanger's monotone snarl, while the infectiously rocking “Mr. Clean”, the politically minded “Odds & Frauds” (Which, like Nirvana's “Come As You Are”, reminds me Killing Joke's “Eighties”) and the distorted “Silly Clones” effectively capture Voivod's split alternative/progressive/melodic sound best. The driving “Red My Mind” (Which is the album highlight), the metallic “No Angel” and the anthem based “The X-Stream” all add a touch more aggression to the album, leaving the rhythmic “Polaroids” (And the uncredited last minute of acoustic manipulation) to finish things up.

Given the difficulty in putting together the album (The absence of D'Amour, and the challenge set down for Robinson in ensuring that he sound like he was there), “Katorz” is another strong album from Voivod, and a more than worthy follow up to their self-titled effort of three years ago.

For more information on Voivod, check out - https://www.facebook.com/Voivod.

© Justin Donnelly.

Queensrÿche Interview

Queensrÿche Interview

For more information on Queensrÿche, check out - https://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial.

© Justin Donnelly.

The Bouncing Souls - The Gold Record

The Bouncing Souls
The Gold Record
Epitaph/Shock Records

For more information on The Bouncing Souls, check out - https://www.facebook.com/bouncingsouls.

© Justin Donnelly.