Alexisonfire Special

This is the first post in about a month and a half, so to celebrate we have a super-special edition trip to Ontario, Canada to visit our good friends in Alexisonfire.

Starting most recently, I was lucky enough to see Alexisonfire at Leeds Metropolitan University this weekend. This was also the first band I've seen since moving up here (asides from 5ive, which obviously doesn't count).
In a recent interview I heard with the band, they mentioned that they had been touring with bands that were picked for them, and they didn't really like any of the bands they were doing shows with.
This time round, they took it upon themselves to seek out support, and I think they did a great job of finding two really decent acts.

First on stage was The Computers. They sounded a bit like Gallows, but they did a decent enough job of winning over the crowd, and the singer got really involved. He took his microphone and stand right into the middle of the crowd, before climbing the bannister and assaulting the people up the stairs with his gravelly vocals. They got a really good reaction for an opening act.

After a quick game of pool, we went back down to see Chickenhawk - a horribly named hardcore/technical metal band from the lovely Leeds itself. The first thing that struck me was how strikingly similar the vocalist looked to that of The Computers. I haven't looked it up yet, but I wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised if it was the same guy. I also thought I heard him saying something about a double length set while he was performing with The Computers.
Chickenhawk were probably a bit better, their guitarist was really, really good and you could see how skilled they were. I'd even be tempted to buy their new album they were plugging, if financial times weren't so tough.
After another engaging perfomance from the warm-up, the crowd was getting excited for some good old fashionned Alexisonfire. It's the first time they've toured here in a little while, perhaps over a year?

After a longer-than-anticipated wait, Dallas, Wade, Jordan and Chris made their way onto the stage, and got a bit of a rythm going. The pace picked up gradually, and the crowd was literally buzzing with excitement. Soon, a shirtless George Pettit charged the stage, and the music burst into the beloved Young Cardinals. It took absolutely no time at all for the crowd to get into things, with bodies throwing themselves all across the room from the moment it kicked in. From here on in it was banger after banger, and Alexisonfire proved that they're still the best at what they do. They played an interesting song which I've never heard of before, but the setlist has it down as Charlie Sheen vs. Henry Rollins. I've since learned that this is taken from the Switcheroo EP they split with the band Moneen. This isn't a Moneen cover though, both bands provided an original track. This was a really good song, and actually a highlight of the show for me. I'm also embarassed to have not heard this before.
They closed their main set with new song Dog's Blood and fan favourite This Could Be Anywhere in the World.

It's worth a mention that bassist Chris Steele is playing along with Movember, and he must be winning because his tache is the greatest thing I've ever seen on a man's face, and I spent the whole night wishing I had one. I'll try and find a picture. It may also be worth mentioning he is the sweatiest man alive, and looked like there was a hole in the roof right above where he was standing, and was being rained on throughout the night.

After a bit of a pause to catch breath, we were then treated to a five song encore, beginning with one of my personal favourites The Northern. However, I was let down by the crowd here, as either tiredness had hit or it's just that the semi-fans are still adjusting to the most recent album. I've never understood this, surely if you like a band enough to go and see them, you'd make the effort to familiarise with their latest material, which they're likely to be touring?

Anyway, we were then treated to 4 classic songs from the first and second albums. This included the massive hits Accidents and Happiness by the Kilowatt.
I'm not sure how or why, but so far this tour, the Leeds show has had a bigger set than anywhere else, with a total of 19 songs in the set. Everywhere else seems to be getting 14, except for the first show which had 18. In any case, I wont be complaining.
Alexisonfire are truly an amazing band, and I left really satisfied. My only gripe is that they have too many good songs, where you'll always be missing at least one of your favourites from the show.
★★★★★ for this one, which even the support managed to help with.

It's a pretty dark picture, but this is the awesome Chris Steele.

For the second part of the review we're going back to mid-october, for a look over the Alexisonfire - iTunes Originals release.

iTunes Originals is basically a greatest hits album, except all the songs that don't feature on latest full-length Old Crows/Young Cardinals are re-recordings, performed live in iTunes's studios. Between each track, the release is laced together by some interview pieces with the band members, which are pretty insightful into their career, but not something I'd really want to listen to again.
The main course here is, of course, the re-recordings. It's nice to see a new take on some old classics, even if they aren't drastically different. Perhaps the highlight of the record for me, is the You Burn First track. The original version that features on the album Crisis is actually the only song (pre Dog's Blood) where none of the members of the band sing on it. Instead, they have a guest vocalist perform the whole song. This new version is really good to hear, as we can hear a song that I was never too keen on, but in the classic 'Dallas vs George' vocal style. And it really works well.
As a whole, the iTunes Originals is a nice purchase, and it's one of those things that shows just how and why the band continue to remain relevant and important in a musical scene that is on it's last legs now. This is like a little history lesson in why Alexisonfire are the best at what they do; their music is constantly evolving, but never really changing. Where many bands on the post-hardcore scene think they need to evolve their sound, they end up making a completely different record, often alienating their fans and never truly reaching out to the mainstream. Alexisonfire are such talented song writers, and this LP is the proof.
4/5.

For the final part of this super special bumper deluxe edition of Alexisonfire, I'm going to review their brand new four track EP - Dog's Blood.


This EP is another way of Alexisonfire keeping relevant, and remaining on the scene that they are leading.
And these four awesome songs are a message to all the other post-hardcore bands that says "this is why we're better than you".
However, if it's Dallas Green's amazing vocal performances that you're after, probably avoid this one. Though you'll hear some of his finest lines on the title track, that's where his vocal input ends.
For me, this EP is all about the music. The band have said that this is their chance to experiment a little bit, and it's pretty risk free as you can be forgiven for a bad EP.
The guitarwork from Dallas and Wade is absolutely flawless on this, and we hear them take the sound in a new direction a little bit, with plenty of incredible solos that you'd never expect to find on a release like this. The bass plays a larger role in the grand scale of things here too, playing a key role in the songs, even having a solo groove during Black as Jet. And in Grey, we have a pretty bass-driven tune, where there is a haunting guitar line that runs in the back. It's a really great track, and culminates in a fantastic solo. Speaking of Grey, this song is really unusual, because on two occasions there are call-backs to lyrics from the song Young Cardinals. I'm not sure what the relevance is, or if they've just run out of metaphors but I hope that's not the reason. It's nice when you notice it.
The negative for me is Vex. It's the final track on Dog's Blood, and it's an absolute monster of an instrumental, at six minutes long. It's sort of like 'Alexisonfire does post-rock', but for me it doesn't work that well. It's a chance for the band members to highlight their talents on their instrument of choice, but it never really takes off. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty decent instrumental, but coming from Alexisonfire, who have only just now introduced us to such intricate solos on this EP, to throw us this instrumental it just feels...lacking. Nowhere to be found are Dallas Green's soaring vocals, or George Pettit's trademark grunt-scream-thing. And it all seems pretty conventional, there are no surprises in there and it all feels a bit predictable. It's a crying shame because we know they can do some awesome instrumental work, as the second half of Black as Jet demonstrates masterfully.
Still, filling the gap during the wait for the next full length, Dog's Blood gives fans 21 minutes of great new material. If Vex was three minutes shorter, we'd really be onto something of a mini-masterpiece here.
4/5

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

The World Tour is heading back to California this week for the official review on the new Linkin Park album - A Thousand Suns.

Their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns sees Linkin Park truly depart from their trademark Nu-Metal sound heard on their multi-platinum albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora. For their third release, Minutes to Midnight, they changed the formula a bit, branching into more of a mainstream rock sound. That album has worked as a sort of bridge-piece for their latest effort.

On A Thousand Suns Linkin Park have completely ditched their usual methods of song writing and structure. In fact, they seem to have abandoned any kind of traditional structure.

This album is a band claiming that they want to make the album they want to make, not what their label wants them to make. They want to experiment new sounds and styles. I do, to a certain degree, believe them and I think it's pretty inspiring. However, when you're Linkin Park I'm not sure how true that statement can be.

But they've certainly taken a gamble on A Thousand Suns, and while the music may still have that catchy, radio friendly pop-rock edge to it, the band have gone to great lengths to support the message they are trying to put across. In several interviews I've seen they have basically said that if their fans don't like it they should just go and listen to something else. It's one thing to believe in your art, but it's another to actively push out your fan-base - something that Linkin Park are known to be very supportive of.

On to the music then. A Thousand Suns opens with the first of many instrumental/interlude type tracks. The Requiem is a very ambient piece, with a female voice singing a lyric later heard in lead single The Catalyst.

God save us everyone
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns
for the sins of our hand
the sins of our tongue
the sins of our Fathers
the sins of our young?

The Radiance follows, and is just an electronic noise layered beneath a famous J. Robert Oppenheimer speech, where the concept forthe album actually came from. Although if my research is correct, the words actually come from a sacred Hindu scripture 'Bhagavad Gita'. It's a nice way to set up the album, nonetheless, and we are then graced with our first actual song, Burning in the Skies. It's a decent song, with some great vocals from both Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda. It also seems to be one of the only songs with noticable guitarwork in it.

Speaking of songs, there are actually only 9 on the album, if we take out the interludes. However, that's not the really the point, as you can tell after multiple listenings that the only way to truly gain anything from A Thousand Suns is to listen to it fully. It's a masterfully composed and produced piece of art, something that the band should be proud of, especially considering Shinoda co-produced it, even though many of their fans are still calling out for a return to Hybrid Theory-esque rap-rock.

It's tough, because while they are changing sound and direction, they are sticking to their roots, and you can find plenty of decent rap sections here, such as in the next track When They Come for Me. It's no Place for my Head, but it's a great tune, and fits in great on the album. About two thirds in, it then switches into a melodic section, where Chester takes over the vocal duties.

After some unusual eastern-sounding vocals and beats, we then move into Robot Boy. Every time it comes on I think they're next in line to cover Don't Stop Believin', but thankfully that isn't the case. It's actually not the best song I've ever heard. It's a slow-starter, with a pretty basic lyrical flow, with a pretty standard vocal performance. When the music shifts at three minutes though, there are some pretty strong background vocals from Chester, which have been layered beneath the beat which, for me, really make the song. It adds more depth, and in a live setting could work nicely as Mike joins in lead vocals at this point. Mike and Chester are actually a great duo, vocally, and I don't know why they don't sing together more often. In previous albums they've tended to either take a song to themselves or have Chester sing while Mike raps. In A Thousand Suns, we see their voices supporting one another and it sounds great.

Jornada Del Muerto bridges the gap between the previous track and Waiting for the End, one of my favourites from the album. Mike takes an unusual approach to his rap-section, going for some kind of carribbean style rythm. Chester then performs a great vocal, which out of the album's context does sound pretty emotional, like much of their old material. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Mike comes back in at the three minute mark and Chester takes the background. The song sounds great, and I believe it's due to be the next single.

Blackout is a real headtrip. There's this crazy, techno beat. Like the sort of thing you'd hear in an 80's arcade game. Over the top is a shouted vocal section from Chester. Then at two-minutes it goes crazy, and it sounds like a remix (which annoys me). Then at three minues things slow down, and Mike takes over on vocals, which builds up into a duet between the two.

Next up is Wretches and Kings which for me marks the beginning of the point where the album became great. Opening with Mario Savio's 'Bodies upon the gears' speech (which I'm not going to pretend to have heard before) it then breaks into a great electronic beat. It sounds huge, and since I first heard it I've been dying to see it in an arena. It has a great rap section from Mike, and then a crazy chrous from Chester, continuing with this carribbean-sounding theme I noticed earlier.
Then we go into Wisdom, Justice and Love. In a way, it's one of my favourite parts of the record. It's just a sample of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, on top of a really basic piano melody. As it goes on, a static takes over and eventually we're left with a deep, moving and almost robotic voice, looping the last line;

Cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love.

It's powerful stuff, which leads into the calming Irridescent. Mike sings the intro to the song, and it's almost beautiful. It's got to be number one contender for the third single.
The track provides some really powerful imagery for me, and I think it's the most important song on the album. It builds up towards the end, and it's the perfect example of how Linkin Park have grown into great song writers. Listen to it against a track like One Step Closer. Though it's a classic hit for them, it's a poor song and sounds embarrassing against new ones like this.

Fallout is the final interlude. It's an electronic voice, and it's a callback to the chorus of Burning in the Skies. It builds into The Catalyst. Now, The Catalyst was the first taste the world got of this new-sound Linkin Park, and the reaction was pretty poor. I sort of think that's fair enough. But in context, this song is huge. The first time I listened to the album I think I actually got chills at this point. The song demonstrates Linkin Park at their finest. It shows that they know how to write a song. It builds and builds, with some huge, awesome electronic sounds and melodies. Then about halfway it crashes into this piano-driven section.

Lift me up. Let me go.

They build again from here, with Chester's soaring vocals carrying the track through to it's departure. It feels like the end of the album, and it works great.

The real closer of the album comes from The Messenger, however. Just an acoustic guitar and a really powerful vocal from Chester. It's a beautiful final moment.

When life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind.

This is, undoubtedly, the best thing Linkin Park have ever done. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it's certainly one of the best albums this year. It sure as hell didn't deserve to be beaten to number one by The Script. 4.5/5

Karnivool - Sound Awake

For todays piece the tour heads all the way over to Perth, Australia to take a look at Karnivool's 'Sound Awake'.

I first heard Karnivool through their track Themata which I caught on Scuzz TV once, which persuaded me to put them on my schedule for Sonisphere Festival 2010. We went to see them on the bitterly cold Sunday morning, and it was probably one of the best decisions ever.
They sounded pretty decent, although the crowd never really got into it and there was hardly anyone watching them. I remember how weird their singer Ian Kenny was as he danced bizarrely to their tracks and sang incredibly all the while. The song 'New Day' was the convincer though. It sounded so good when I saw it, I looked up what album it was from when we got home and went out and got it.

Which brings us to 'Sound Awake'. Their most recent of two releases, Sound Awake was released in June 2009, so I'm quite late on the scene for this.
The album opens with 'Simple Boy' which has the deepest bassline I can think of, and is also a very fine song. This one was actually a grower, and my least favourite track for some time (it may still be my least favourite, in fact).
Then we get into the good stuff. Track two is the absolute monster of a song 'Goliath' (I really had to try hard to not say it was a goliath of a song). It's got a huge chorus and is a highlight on the album, aswell as one of the stand out songs from their set at Sonisphere.
Third is the best song of all time, 'New Day'. This is eight minutes of genius. Ian Kenny's vocal is absolutley perfect, and the entire structure of the song is flawless.

Without wanting to do a track-by-track, the album takes you through a variety of musical places, sounding creative at all times and really pushing the boundaries of modern progressive rock music. Whether it's in the heavier songs like 'Set Fire to the Hive' or the amazing, floatier 'All I Know' (which has to be my favourite vocal track on the album), 'Sound Awake' is a masterpiece of an album that needs to be listened to properly.

The other track worth a particular shout out is Deadman, which is a ten minute tune which is followed up by a two minute intro to the final track of the album. It brings the album to a stunning close, at which point you'll be scrambling for the repeat button*.

This is without a doubt the best album I've listened to this year, and I would happily recommend it to anyone who is a fan of progressive music and good singers. 5/5 here.

*so long as you are a fan of music

Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

Today The World Tour moves on from New York to California, where we'll be looking at the new Avenged Sevenfold album 'Nightmare'.

Let me straighten up a few things first - Avenged Sevenfold are my four (previously five) worst people on Earth. I hate their gimmicky names and their gimmicky existence and I hated their music.

However, with new album 'Nightmare' something has changed. With the sudden death of drummer 'The Rev', Avenged Sevenfold seem to have found a way of making captivating music.

'Nightmare' has significantly less Biblically themed lyrics, and songs seem a lot more real and relatable than previous efforts. Song structure is good here too; agressive verses and bridges that lead into soaring melodic choruses works really well, even if it can begin to feel a bit formulaic.

Some of the guitar solos are really impressive on 'Nightmare', particularly the one on 'God Hates Us' - that is definitely the scariest thing I've heard in music all year.

The song 'Fiction' is an interesting song - a vocal duet between M.Shadows and The Rev, which would have been the last thing he recorded before his death. Now, if Rev hadn't died I have no doubt that this would not have made the album as his vocal preformance here is the absolute worst thing ever. Also, I'm convinced there must be some sort of conspiracy going on here as one of the Rev's lines are:

"So tell everybody, the one's who walk beside me
I hope you find your own way when I'm not with you"

and then he died. Maybe his death was suicide, or maybe he just writes songs pretending to be dead. In any case, the inclusion of 'Fiction' on the album is nice in order to honor The Rev, but it's a poor song that lets the album down.

All in all, 'Nightmare' is a strong album, it's really emotional and it's really dark but it showcases some great talent that I don't like to admit these people have. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between us, but who knows?
When Mike Portnoy (stand in drummer for Rev, originally of Dream Theatre) changes his name to The Priest then I'll take back all the nice things I said and the band go fuck themselves. Until then though, congrats on a good album, and I might even go and see them this November if it means I can see songs like 'Danger Line' and 'Buried Alive'.
4/5

Coheed and Cambria - Live at the HMV Forum, London

This is really late, but it's not something I'm going to be forgetting any time soon.

On June 24th The World Tour hit the road once more with both Matt and myself. Staying in New York from the We Are Scientists special, this time we caught Coheed and Cambria.

I'd been looking forward to this for an absolute eternity, it was the first time I'd get to see Coheed at their own show - my previous experience only being Sonisphere last summer.
This was also exciting because the HMV Forum is a venue that I'd never been to before, and had been wanting to go there for some time. When I found out it was in Camden I was pretty horrified.

The venue was actually really nice though, which was great. After having a few pints at The World's End we headed over to the Forum with my Black Card and got in the queue. I'm gonna go ahead and say it now that I really dislike Coheed and Cambria fans. When this blog takes off and goes mainstream I may need to apologize for this, but for the time being let it be known that I dislike fans of Coheed and Cambria.
Anywho, thanks to my Black Card we got into the venue 15 minutes early and had a little look at the merch table where Matt bought a t-shirt. Then the band came onto the stage, and Claudio gave us a solo acoustic performance of 'Here We Are, Juggernaut' which was amazing.
Matt and I decided to go on a hunt for a cash machine, and the one in the venue was broken so we had to leave and once more brave the streets of Camden. This was brilliant, however, as we bumped into Chris Pennie and Travis Stever. I got my Year of the Black Rainbow...thing...signed and then we were on our way.
When we returned to the venue there was a short wait and then we were greeted by 'These Monsters' - the only support act of the night. They asked if we were fans of heavy metal, then began their set.
I actually really enjoyed them, there were hardly any vocals but the music was really good. From what I have read since and could tell at the time, though, I was the only person who liked them.
We then waited for what seemed like forever before the lights finally dimmed and the music for 'One' began playing.
Coheed and Cambria came on stage, opening with The Broken, followed straight by Here We Are Juggernaut. The next song 'No World For Tomorrow' was probably one of my highlights of the night and was strangely the only song they played from their last album.
Then they played two songs from their first album - 'Time Consumer' and 'Everything Evil' which got massive reactions from the crowd.
I've always got something to say about the crowd, and I was really mixed on this one. That's probably because the crowd seemed so mixed - there was a bit of every type of crowd member there:
There were a couple of the big shirtless men, causing trouble.
Angry people who only wanted to hurt other people
hxc kids
People who moan when they get touched by someone
Awesome people (only one)(me)
girls who hold hands and spin around in circles
backpack loser who runs into the middle and does that stupid windmill thing with his arms
a few familiar faces too - i always wonder if they recognise me
circle pit losers
Don't think I saw a Machine Fucking Head though, which is always good.

Anyway, Coheed played a near-perfect setlist, with a brilliant amount of songs from In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3 which is always good.

I had an incredibly good time, and even broke my personal sweat record. My favourite songs of the night were not the ones I was expecting at all - No World For Tomorrow, Made Out of Nothing and Welcome Home.

After it was over we went round the back and hung outside for a while, and Mic came out and I got my YOTBR thing signed again. We waited about an hour for Claudio but to my despair we had to leave for the train.
All in all though, I was expecting the best night ever, and it pretty much was.

Obviously ★★★★★

We Are Scientists Special

For the first stop on the brand new World Tour, we're going to New York - home of We Are Scientists.

The first part of this post is my review on their show from last night at Cambridge Junction.
This was the second time I've been able to see the band, the first time being at Reading Festival 2008, at which point I had never even heard of them.

This time round I'm a big fan of the band, and was really excited to hear great songs like 'After Hours', 'Inaction' and 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' aswell as tracks from the brand new album 'Barbara'.

After a set from a pretty horrible 'The Whigs', We Are Scientists hit the stage pretty much on time, which is always nice. They opened with their new single 'Nice Guys', and the atmosphere in the room was really buzzing. They introduced themselves and had a little joke, then went into 'This Scene is Dead' from the brilliant 'With Love and Squalor' and then straight into 'Inaction' of the same album.

They played through a 17 song set with a healthy mix of tracks from all three of their albums, with the new songs getting just as good a reaction as the old.
Keith and Chris are great entertainers, and there was plenty of banter and interaction with the crowd - which I'm a huge fan of.
All of the songs sounded great, especially songs that I wasn't really familiar with, like 'Chick Lit' and 'Dinosaurs' from the album 'Brain Thrust Mastery'.
They closed their set on 'After Hours' which was brilliant, and then after a short break returned to the stage to play 'Cash Cow'.

We Are Scientists are a great live band, offering a unique show in their engagement with the crowd and their obvious genuine enjoyment from performing.

I can't wait to see them at Reading Festival again this summer, as I think that they are suited to big open spaces more than intimate venues.
★★★★★

Next up is my full review for the new album 'Barbara'.
Barbara is the third major-label studio album from our New York friends, and it's a great little effort.

Little has to be the key word there though, at 10 tracks long with a running length of just over 30 minutes it's incredibly short. But what's there is mostly great - quick, catchy and energetic tunes that makes it an exciting listen from start to finish.

Barbara opens with first single 'Rules Don't Stop', which has the funkiest bassline ever, and also one of the best guitar riffs I've heard from the band. At just over two minutes it's a beautifully sweet opening track and is a great start to the album.

The album then goes right into 'I Don't Bite', which is really just more of the same - a catchy riff and a repetetive chorus. The key is that it manages to stick with the listener, and doesn't just blend with all of the other tracks on the record.

The energy and catchiness keeps up throughout the album, not really letting out - with the exception of 'Pittsburgh' which I really dislike. It's pushing the limits of being repetetive, and I just don't like the overall sound of the track.

Closing track 'Central AC' is probably my favourite on the album, and goes out the same way it began -

Overall, the album is a great success, but there are moments where songs can feel lazy or rushed. It lacks really memorable songs like many from 'With Love and Squalor', but after seeing them live I have found a few favourites in there.
It's a solid effort, and I'd give it a good 4/5.


Thats all from my We Are Scientists Special, but stay tuned for more New York madness later this week.

Dan

The World Tour - New Look

I've decided to try again to get the blog going again, and it's also got a new look :)

Hopefully going to get a bunch of reviews up, if I can still remember how to write.