Month: December 2015

Thrice | Vheissu | Review

Posted on by Mess Matty

Thrice are one of, if not my favorite band of all time. The music they create is some of the most fulfilling, heartfelt and honest you’ll ever hear. Each instrument is respected and plays a vital role in every song and there is never any wasted time or moments that aren’t thoroughly thought out. The lyrics are so deep that after 10 years of listening I’m still discovering more meanings and ideas that have been masterfully woven into each song.

They are revolutionary, inspiring, thought-provoking and genius. This is my review off Vheissu, which remains after 10 years as my favorite album of all time.

Review:

Man, where do I begin with this record. There’s so much here that it’s impossible to ever write down every single one of my thoughts. This album changed who I am as a songwriter and a person. It made me fall in love with music and learn to appreciate the art of songwriting. How you can layer on complexity without overwhelming the listener but also having deep meanings that could be analysed for years. There’s so much to dig into that this will probably be a long review. I won’t talk about every song since that would end up as an essay. These are just the ones I really want to discuss.

As the album begins you hear a classic anthem, ‘Image of the Invisible’ which at the time of released was disregarded as a standard singalong opening song. In many ways it is, I mean it has the rallying chant in-between each line screamed out by Dustin. It’s very easy to get into and yell along with him, however take a second to listen to what he’s saying before you disregard it. ‘We’re more than static and dial tone//We’re emblematic of the unknown’. Now think about how masterfully those lines contrast and work together. The first being relate-able to anyone while the next invokes deeper thoughts and pulls you in to a deeper meaning.

I now want to talk about ‘The Earth Will Shake’ and how I believe it should be considered as a true classic in modern music. Now that’s a bold claim but here’s why I think this. The song itself is made up what equates to three sections. There’s the huge chorus, the heavier verse and the softer sections that interlinks the other parts of the song. It’s in this simple structure where there is layers upon layers of detail and depth that truly make this track a classic. Have a listen to it before I go into detail. I’ve embedded a live version so you can really see the emotion in the song rather than just a lyric video. Thanks to Moshcam from filming this. 

The lyrics in the chorus, despite being deceptively simple have layers of depth and are incredibly powerful but in different ways dependent on the area of the song. At the beginning you get this sense of a lone soul looking to escape a prison, either methodically or literally which is yet another reason why it’s such an amazing song. You hear it pounding out and later in the song as a huge section that has crowds stomping their feet in unison. If you see it live, it’s a moment that can’t be replicated. The reason I think the song is so masterful is because it’s absolutely timeless. The way the lines of the verses call to each other, how the guitar work is constructed perfectly, ranging from heavy and massive all the way too soft and beautiful. The vocals are perfect. They’re gritty and forceful yet heartfelt with great amounts of passion behind every line sung. From the opening softness to the building aggression of the ending, the lyrics with the delivery are nothing short of perfect.

For the sake of readability I’m going to talk about two more songs in-depth even though I could go through every song in detail. The first I want to talk about is ‘For Miles’ which is another masterfully written song. It opens with a beautiful piano line and is accompanied by one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever heard. The emotion captured is astounding, it’s thought-provoking while having so much hope within sadness. it’s ultimately a more Christian song however it’s still open for anyone to relate too and interpret however they feel.

The song progresses until you come into a long bridge that gives you so much time to reflect on what you just heard. It gives you this moment of calm and allows you to digest everything before the ending of the song kicks in. Then you’re met with this intense emotional end that nearly pulls tears from me every time I hear it.

Now, the final and my personal favorite song of all time. ‘Red Sky’. The seer amount of raw emotion that this song invokes every time I hear it is incredible. Before I talk about it, hear it is for you to listen.

I just re-watched/ listened to it before writing this and every time I hear it, there’s just so much depth and emotion in the song. The way it begins with a piano and drums, then builds and builds with each element of the track adding so much. Until you hear the line ‘We’ll raise an empire from the bottom of the sea’ and then you are hit with the most uplifting moment in music I’ve ever heard.

It’s the most breathtaking and complete piece of music I have ever heard and will always remain as the only song I will ever consider perfect.

That’s just a few a of the songs from the album. Every song has its own merits and as a whole they all come together to form what I would argue as the greatest album of all time. It is timeless, emotional and heartfelt. If you’ve never heard it then go right now and listen to it. If you’re with me and heard before then just take the time to listen to it again.

Thrice crafted greatness with Vheissu and should be remembered as one of the great songwriters of our time.

10/10 – Best of the Best.

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Dawn Of Justice | Adventears | Review

Posted on by Mess Matty

Dawn Of Justice are Melodic Ambient Metalcore band from France. Their latest release, Adventears, is their second E.P after previously releasing a debut E.P and album. It’s available for you to pay what you like on Bandcamp or on iTunes for £4.74.

Review:

I like to discover new music and since I’ve started reviewing albums I decided to take the time to find and review some lesser known albums between the big releases. So I found myself on the new arrivals section of Bandcamp in the Metalcore section. Most of the time I expect to hear sub-par, distorted music that has been thrown up in hopes of making a little bit of money. However sometimes you discover something that just makes you sit back and remember why you love music in the first place. Dawn of Justice’s Adventears is the record that blew me away.

The first thing I saw was the beautiful, vibrant artwork among the typical metal blacks and grey’s. The intro to the E.P is beautiful and sets the tone for the record perfectly. It’s calming, yet you feel this rising tension before the first song, ‘Styx’, kicks in. The opening track is a perfect mix between echoing riffs and heavy guitars, it fills up your speakers and just has a certain sound to it that makes you sit back and listen. It demands your attention from the first note to the last.

The vocals at first sound like the standard screaming that we’ve all become accustomed to but as the songs progress they become so much more melodic while keeping the harshness. They fit in perfectly, whether it’s as part of the heaviest breakdowns or part of the more ambient areas, they just work so flawlessly. The guitars either sit nicely in the mix with the bass or echo out riffs that contrast so well with the heaviness of the music.

As always though, there are some things I will pick at that just don’t quite do it for me. Including the intro, there are two extended ambient sections that for me, just go on a bit too long. I’d much prefer hearing the softer parts more involved in the songs rather than as extended intros. This is a personal taste issue though, for some they will love the ambient feeling before the storm.

My only other criticism, is that given the much more melodic feel that echo’s throughout the record it makes the breakdowns feel less needed and more like they are there because a metalcore band needs breakdowns. I’d love to see them break away from the traditional scream into a break down and focus on the melodic ambient side while still incorporating the metal edge.

Those are only minor points though. I absolutely love this E.P and am incredibly happy that I’ve found them. They hold true to the genre they’re within, while masterfully incorporating different feels and sounds. In a world where nothing is unique, they truly standout.

8/10 – Must Buy. 

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Rest, Repose | The Sleep City | Review

Posted on by Mess Matty

Rest, Repose are a newly formed band that include popular YouTubers Jared Dines and Ryan Bruce, or Fluff as he is known. The Sleep City E.P is their debut release.

As the album begins the first thing that becomes apparent is that this is very different to what many may be expecting. For anyone who’s followed Jared in the past, either his work in Dissimulator or his YouTube channel, will be used to hearing him scream or playing generally heavy music. After hearing the first riff filling up my speakers I was ready to hear something new, something interesting and something I wasn’t expecting.

The first track ‘Influence’ sets the tone for the record. The opening riff, that has guitars chugging down low notes while a memorable guitar part echos out in-between, sets the tone perfectly. This record is all about the riffs. Every section is well thought out and put together masterfully. Each part flows beautifully into the next, every transition is pulled off to perfection and each section is varied while managing to remain familiar. It’s a fantastic example of having complexity within simplicity.

By far the most surprising part is the vocals. To me, they invoke thoughts of Alter Bridge, with lines being belted out as if a stadium of thousands were watching and singing along. Unfortunately they are more miss than they are hit. While the vocal lines and melodies remain strong, the delivery just falls short. There’s just something missing on the majority of songs and a lack off variation from section to section takes away from the moments that make you want to sing along.

My only other criticism of the record is that intros to songs become to feel a little too similar. This becomes apparent when you compare the opening track ‘Influence’ and the third song, ‘McCoy’. They are so alike in their opening that unless paying attention you may think it was the same song. This changes as both songs progress as it’s only an intro they share.

The two strongest songs from the E.P are ‘Sleep City’ and ‘The Generator’, the latter being the leading single. Both display the incredible amount of potential Rest, Repose have. The way the songs progress is masterful, the riffs fill up the speakers and the vocal lines cut through to create something truly special.

After finishing the record I was incredibly impressed. There is so much potential that the future of Rest, Repose could be incredibly bright. The E.P has wet my appetite, now I’m craving for their first album.

7/10 – Must Listen.

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Secrets | Everything That Got Us Here | Review

Posted on by Mess Matty

Secrets are a Post-Hardcore four piece from San Diego and have been active since 2010. They are signed to Rise Records and ‘Everything That Got Us Here’ is their 3rd studio album.

As I started the album, the intro caught my attention straight away. It’s an acapella, 30 second opener to the album and set me to up to hear some innovation. Then as we came into the first song I dismissed it as another standard post-hardcore release, with screamed verses into a catchy clean chorus, sprinkle in a break down, package it under Rise and push it out. But as it went on, I found myself listening more deeply, hearing something I wasn’t expecting. Yes there’s still the standard tropes but it started pushing more into a singalong, softer and most importantly, interesting album.

For some, you’ve read that and clicked off because as soon as a band goes ‘poppy’ for lack of a better term, they turn on the band and proclaim sell out! However, I judge it on a band by band basis and this direction works incredibly well. Taking this direction puts them on a path to separate from the pack and they begin forming their own sound.

The opening song and leading single, ‘Rise Up’ is also by far the weakest song on the album. It begins with an uninspired riff before coming into some soft vocals and straight into the screaming with a chord progression that just doesn’t sit well with my ears. The chorus is obviously supposed to be a big singalong but ultimately fails. They couldn’t have chosen a worst leading single.

This in contrast with ‘Learn To Love’, the forth song, shows what they are capable off. It begins with a fast pace intro which anyone could end up singing along too and comes straight into the chorus. It’s fast, catchy and is also far more representative of the album. The screaming comes back in, but with a purpose this time, it’s not just there for the sake of it. The music builds as the vocals rise with it before coming back in with a purpose, not a standard break down but still a heavier section. The whole song has meaning too it, nothing is there to fit a checklist, it’s easily my favorite on the album.

As for the rest of the album, it’s hard to judge the overall quality of it due to it changing from interesting to ticking off a checklist. Half the time I find my self getting into it and the next I forget it’s even on. This isn’t by any means a great album but it is certainly good and at points you can feel great music coming through but is ultimately brought down and kept a little too safe.

Overall, you can hear Secrets stepping in the right direction, slowly finding their sound. There are parts of what could be, shining through on the record but in the end, there’s not enough to pull me in completely. I will be listening to the record in my free time, but only selecting certain tracks.

6/10 – Good but kept too safe.

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Ice Nine Kills | Every Tick in The Book | Review

Posted on by Mess Matty

Right so it’s late and I decided to review Ice Nine Kills new record! Why? Because it’s late and I act on impulses, so lets do this!

Ice Nine Kills
Every Trick in the Book

This is Ice Nine Kills fourth studio album and after the first three records delivered really good singles, the album tracks only ever felt like filler. Every Trick in the Book looks to add depth to every song by making each one about a classic story such as Dracula or The Exorcist and for the most part they succeed.

The sound we’ve come to expect from them is clear and present but with a much more defined, more thought out feel to it. The guitars are still heavy with interesting riffs in each song, the drums and bass are solid but rarely standout on their own. The vocals are the best part of the album. The feeling and emotional variety is truly astounding. No where better does it stand out in than ‘Me, Myself & Hyde’. The lyrics and vocals combine perfectly to create this real, almost theatrical sound of a man struggling with a split personality disorder. We also get a softer song, ‘Tess-Timony’ than we’re used to with Ice Nine Kills where, once again the vocals stand out, really showing the range or music that they can create.

Each song feels unique and yet manages to fit perfectly within the overall sound of the album. Opening with the epic ‘The Nature of the Beast’ sets the tone for the entire album, with its theatrical opening into the full on the verse and having a huge chorus that anyone can sing along to. Its the perfect opening song. Other standout songs include ‘Bloodbath & Beyond’, ‘The Plot Sickens’, ‘Me, Myself & Hyde’ and ‘Tess-Timony’. Each offering something for every Ice Nine Kills fan to enjoy.

Unfortunately though, the album still suffers from having certain songs that aren’t bad, just unmemorable. Songs like ‘Communion of the Cursed’, ‘Alice’ and ‘Star-Crossed Enemies’ just can’t reach the level that the best songs do. These songs are a huge step above their previous albums but in comparison to what else they have on offer here, for me, they just don’t reach the standard they’ve set themselves.

Those tracks are the only thing holding the album back from being truly great. I do love this record, I think that as a whole it’s a step in the right direction for Ice Nine Kills, it puts them onto a path for greatness, they’re just one more album away from it. I would love for them to carry on with the theme of each song being a story, it gives so much depth to the songs that otherwise may not be there.

Overall: 8/10 – Buy.

And there’s my first review. Felt serious, I’m not used to being serious, felt weird. Need more explanation marks! There we go! Final thing, these are all my opinions, you don’t have to listen to or agree with me!

Stay being you and carry on your awesomeness!

 

Who are 2015’s Breakout Band?

Posted on by Mess Matty

Hello! Back at it again, I can’t stop myself, words are just pouring out of my finger tips recently! This is how my mind words, one day it’s this, next day its that and so on. Right so today I’m talking who I believe are the ‘Breakout Band’ of 2015! Nice buzz word isn’t it, a fancy way of saying, this band are new and awesome. Anyway, what is my criteria?!

Here it is in a nice little bullet point list:

  • Must have an album release from this year.
  • Clear rise in popularity.
  • Have to have been on tour.
  • I have to like them.

And that is about it, now I’m pretty sure that the winner has been spoiled already because WordPress uses the videos I put in the posts as it’s thumbnails. Thanks for that! However, if it hasn’t been ruined for you, my personal choice for Breakout Band of the Year is…

As It Is!


Congratulations! I’ll think of a name for the award later, I’ll make sure it sounds prestigious and something you could put on a tour poster as an endorsement, if a small time bloggers approval is something you want to sell your band on! So, why did they win? We need some headers for this part.

Album:

This year they released their debut album; Never Happy, Ever After, which is an amazing debut album. When you listen to it the first thing you will hear is the extremely catchy vocal lines and melodies provided by Patty Walters and combined with the grittier, harsher sounding vocals from Benjamin Biss they contrast so well. The music itself initially sounds like standard pop-punk but when you listen, there’s a depth to it, something more than just whats on the surface. That’s what I listen for in music, depth and you find tons of it here.

Popularity:

The band signed in 2014 to Fearless Records and have sky rocketed in popularity since but also they also shown a huge amount of potential with their first album, the future holds big things and part of being a Breakout Band is having the potential to, well, breakout!

Touring:

Since releasing their album in April they’ve played every date of the Vans Warped Tour and Reading & Leads festival. If that wasn’t impressive enough for a new band, from England may I add, to play every show on an American tour, take a look at the size of the audience watching them in the video above.

I Like Them:

And in case it wasn’t already obvious enough, I really like them and I did state that as a part of the criteria so I felt the need to include the header anyway! Plus headers are nice, they really give structure to a post. Right, before this derails lets wrap up.

That’s who I name Breakout Band of the Year. The end of year is for awards so hey, why not give out an award of some kind! Who would you say is an emerging artist you’d give this award too? What other questions can I ask to get a comment? And is this an effective call to action? Smash that ‘Like’ button before you let me know!

Well, got a bit sarcastic at the end there! As always, stay awesome and stay you!

Screaming Is Singing

Posted on by Mess Matty

Hello! Yes, yes introductions, I am well. How are you? Fantastic! Let’s get stuck in!

There are a few huge misconceptions regarding vocalists that scream and use vocal techniques to growl, scream and so on. This post isn’t here to convince you to enjoy it or like the vocal style. No, this article is here to educate those who don’t understand or think that it all ‘sounds the same’. I’m including songs you can compare too, some will be from Pop Goes Punk in order to try help those who aren’t into heavy music a chance to relate to what I’m talking about. Each video will be a different kind of  screamed vocal.

They All Sound The Same:

This is the most common and typical statement I hear in regards too screamed vocals. I’ve heard veteran radio DJs, who have claimed to know what’s good in all kinds of music, say that they don’t understand screaming or can hear a difference between bands. Right, if this is you, get ready to open and simultaneously have your mind blown!

They don’t all sound the same!  Now, here’s some reasoning while you’re putting your brain back  together. In singing, different singers have different ranges that they sing within. Same with screams. You can get highs, lows, mids and so on. Also, different singers have different accents, pronunciations and a variety of things that can affect how they sound. This is the same with singers in popular music. You wouldn’t say Justin Bieber and Usher sound the same whereas those who don’t understand would say that. It’s all about personal taste and perception as to how we form our opinions.

With this in mind, when you hear a screamed vocal, don’t just close your ears and push it out. Take a few seconds to actually listen, take in what you’re listening too. I know it can sound like noise, or just loudness without definition but if you take the time, you may find something you like. If you don’t, that’s awesome! At least you’re a nice person with an open mind!

They Only Do It Because They Can’t Sing:

Right, this statement can only ever be made in ignorance or if you’re trying to be annoying. Why? Because screaming is singing and just because it’s different doesn’t mean it doesn’t fall under the same category. For example, metal is incredibly different to R&B however both are still music. A guitar is as much a musical instrument as a synth is and vocal, screamed or clean is still a vocal.

As for the implied meaning to the statement that screaming is easy, that is also untrue. For those who think it’s easy, I invite you to scream along to the video below and see if you can hit all the correct pitches, lyrical pronunciation and so forth. Don’t worry, I’ll wait!

How’d ya do? See it isn’t that easy. In fact, it’s easier to sing along to a song than it is to scream it. How often do you sing in the shower? Or in your car when your favorite track comes on? Or at two in the morning when you’re listening to your favorite song and can’t help singing at the top of your lungs no matter how many times the neighbors ask you to stop? Now, how often you think someone who screams just naturally screams along. Not many because it takes a lot of practice and technique, which leads me onto the final point!

They’ll Just Ruin Their Vocal Chords:

Yes, it’s incredibly obvious why you’d think this. I’ve thought this before! I’ve even hurt my voice while screaming and other famous musicians have had to change their way of singing because of incorrect techniques. The fact of the matter though is that if you use the correct screaming methods then you won’t hurt anything.

Extremely brief reason as to why. When you were little and you had a tantrum because you didn’t like spaghetti and your lovely mum insisted that you should try eat spaghetti, mum’s spaghetti shall we say! Well, when the bowl went across the room and you screamed because you hated it, that didn’t damage your vocal chords. When you clear your throat, that feeling doesn’t hurt. What I’m getting at is that creating a distorted noise is natural and if you scream from the correct areas, you won’t hurt yourself. That’s the simplest way I can describe it and there’s a lot more needed to do it correctly but you get the picture!

You can always tell when someone is using good or bad technique and here’s a tip, watch some live videos, that’s where you can tell. Take Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire, his screams live are always consistent as well as his clean vocals. He wouldn’t be able to do this night in night out if he was hurting himself. Right, anyway I’ve spoken for ages, get to the wrap up!

The Wrap Up Is Underneath This Header Which Only Exists To Keep Consistency:

And here we are! At the end of that. If you enjoy screamed vocals then this blog did nothing but assert what you already think. However, if you don’t like that style normally, I hope you learnt something. I tried my best to relate and bring more people into this genre, even if i Read More

YouTube Red | The Death or Rebirth of YouTube?

Posted on by Mess Matty

First off, I apologize for ‘click bait’ title, but hey! You’re reading this and it worked so lets jump into this complex issue.

First off, I’m coming at this subject from a consumer point of view rather than a Content Creator, this means that the monetary issues of their lively hood being taken away aren’t directly effecting me. Obviously, I care greatly about the incredibly talented video creators that could potentially have their income reduced but ultimately this article is from a watcher, not a creator. Although, factoring the effects this will have on upcoming YouTuber’s will be part of this.

Anyway, to start here’s a brief overview of YouTube Red and why it’s good for YouTube. If you don’t care or already know enough about it, feel free to skip to the opinion part, it’ll be after the embedded video!

YouTube Red is a subscription service offered by Google and YouTube. It is a monthly subscription which costs $9.99 and has a series of benefits, such as Ad Free videos and downloading videos. They offer a free trial for a month and, at the time of writing this, is only available in America.

Why is this good for YouTube? First off, CPMs (how much money a video generates per every thousand views) are dropping drastically and consistently. This means that not much money is being made from Ads playing before you watch. It’s dropping because Advertisers aren’t willing to pay a lot of money to have their ads displayed plus Ad Blockers take away a large percentage of money generated.

YouTube take around 40% of all money generated from each video, therefore the CPM dropping means that they are losing money. YouTube Red is a way of fixing this. Take money directly from the viewers and cut out the advertisers, it’s guaranteed money and could stabilize their income.

Right, that’s the boring part. Time for the opinions! The video above is made by YouTube and has over 30’000 dislikes compared to the 9’000 likes, which shows that people aren’t exactly thrilled about the idea.

Honestly, I don’t hate YouTube Red, I also don’t like it. It just doesn’t have much effect on me personally. I’m not going to pay $9.99 because it doesn’t offer anything that makes me want to buy it. The entire thing is incredibly lackluster and as a viewer, I’d much prefer them to be working on improving the viewer experience. The strength of YouTube is that it’s free, so keeping it free and innovating in ways to sustain it is how I think that should proceed going forward.

The part that makes me scratch my head the most is that it doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. There are already ways of legally blocking Ads for free and downloading videos is as simple as grabbing a quick app, also for free. If you’re like me and white-list those you choose to support or donate/support them via sites such as Patreon then that helps support creators more than YouTube ever has.

Now to the statements made in the title, is this the death or rebirth of YouTube?

Death: In a one word answer. No, this will not kill YouTube. Could it start a decline if they go against whats best for creators and consumers? Possibly. People once thought MySpace was indestructible, now look at it. This won’t be the death of YouTube but could be the start of a decline. Personally I doubt this very much.

Rebirth: If they do this right, then yes. If they make YouTube Red a must have subscription and then correctly support creators while giving newcomers the chance to grow then this could be fantastic.

The biggest problem I feel with YouTube is the new creators having a much harder time of being noticed and having the chance to make videos full-time. That’s a completely separate issue that I will talk about at some point!

Thanks for reading, remember to remain as awesome as you know you are and have a great day!

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