Wednesday 19 March 2014

Glamour of the Kill - Savages


Release Date: 23rd September 2013
Genre: Post Hardcore
Record Label: eOne Entertainment Music
Number of Tracks: 11

Overall Rating: 3.2/10

The UK metal music scene has sadly struggled in their attempt at reaching the heights of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Led 
Zeppelin, to name a few. In recent years, we have heard disappointing stuff from Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria and Bring me the Horizon in attempts to scale the heights of their successors.

Glamour of the Kill have been touted as the one of the 'Uk's brightest young hopes', after their first release The Summoning (2011). Unfortunately, their latest album, Savages (2013), is a weak attempt and another disappointment for British metal. 

Nothing on this album manages to surpass average. The guitars show no imagination and lack of ambition. The creative minds of the guitarists have surcumb to what we know as the modern metalcore scene. They are very basic, and are reminiscent of the type of riff you are taught as a beginner guitar player. The solos are often replaced by slow chugging breakdowns, however there is one solo to note in track 3 The Only One and is really the only glimpse of creativity in the entire album. 

The vocal diversity was very good in The Summoning with deep growls, clean vocals, and higher end melodies. This highlight, has sadly abaited in this album as the vocals are weak and lack dynamic variation. They are now all clean vocals, similar to All Time Low. The lyrics are typical of a modern hardcore band track 4 Live for the weekend - 'And last night was so crazy / My head feels like its World War 3 / And no other night will be the same / We're going to do it all again'

The use of electronic synthesizers in metal is something which we should approve of. They are used in this album, however, they are clearly making up for the lack of creativity in other departments.

Overall, this album is geared to the younger metal fans and is not a good example of fine musicianship, creativity or construction and has a more pop feel to it. This album and band have a lot to do to ever scale the heights of their predecessors.

Currently touring America with Pop Evil and Escape the Fate.

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Sunday 9 March 2014

Conquering Dystopia - Conquering Dystopia

Release Date: 10th March 2014
Genre: Instrumental, Shred metal.
Record Label: Self-Released
Number of Tracks: 12

Overall Rating: 9.8/10

Purchase From:
Conquering Dystopia

Its always super exciting when a super group forms. Adrenaline Mob, Avantasia, Hellyeah, Murderdolls, Chickenfoot, to name a few. The excitement that enveloped the guitar community when we heard former Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis was collaborating with fellow super shredder Keith Merrow, Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster and The Faceless drummer Alex Rudinger, was endless. More than double the funds for this crowd funded album were gathered very quickly, and they soon got to work. 

The album is put together exceptionally well. Its put together at Audiohammer, and you can hear the quality that a professional studio has to offer. The tone of the guitars throughout is spine tingling, check out the pre-verse riff of track 3 Ashes of A Lesser Man as a prime exampleSurprisingly, it has great dynamic variation throughout the album, and even though the tracks are an onslaught of brutal super shredding, you do get the occasional break such as track 7 Lachrymose and some acoustic interludes.

Conquering Dystopia batters us from song 1, the appropriately named Prelude to Obliteration, with a face melting solo just 2 minutes in and the rest of the song ripping us apart with supreme riffage. Some of the riffs are reminiscent of when Nevermore were in their prime, however it is clear that this is a team effort. Keith Merrow's death-metal back ground can be heard in track 8 Autarch, and track 10 Kurfa at Dusk. It is evident that both guitarists had an input in many of their riffs, and Nuclear Justice is a mix of Merrows Riffing and Loomis' soloing.

We all expected the guitaring to be exceptional, and they excelled. But a big credit has to go to the drummer Alex Rudinger. His drums are phenomenal, and do a great job of creating the mood and, along with Alex Webster's excellent bass  tone, compliment the guitars. Overall, an excellent team effort. 

There was no doubt that this collaboration would work, but its fact that it has has set this high standard for instrumental metal that gets its high rating. It is very hard to find fault with, there are 13 tracks of instrumental genius, with explosive riffing and ear splitting, finger destroying leads. What more could a music fan want?