Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit (Record Review)

Basically, throughout the first listening of the new record, you'll be asking yourself the same questions: "Is this still BMTH?"

The answer is, yes. Well, obviously. But it's simply such a typical thing you can expect from a big part of the audience. Whenever bands release a new record that differs immensely from their previous music, people will roar up with things such as: "I want |insert band name| back! What is this?! This is not them anymore!"
Sorry to disappoint, but that is literally them. The same people making music together and releasing it to the world because they're proud of what they've created. Just think of it as a new evolution. Think of them as Pokémon. Go from Magikarp to Gyarados, it's not like you expected that dull little orange fish to turn into this huge monster, did yah? (this is not a direct reference ... obviously they weren't dull before) Or ... go for Eevee. Depending on what stone you give it, you'll get a completely new development.

Anyway, this certainly is a whole new chapter musically for these British guys and it's gonna raise a lot of controversy in their fanbase, that's for sure.

Considering their song releases previous to the record, you could already shape the whole thing in your head pretty well. It's exactly what you expected, probably, if you followed them up to this release. A lot of songs have the same vibe and it certainly got a good ounce more pop. Pretty sure that Happy Song is their heaviest track on the album.

Is it weird? Surely.
Is it bad? Not at all.

Of course, not everybody will be into their new style, but to dismiss it because they took a different turn would be a foolish thing to do.

Personally, I do like the path into the pop/electronica direction, but I would've liked it a little more driven and pumped. The strongest aspect of That's The Spirit, to me, are the lyrics. While it's instrumentally new and fresh for them, there's not much that stands out in particular. But, e.g., Throne is such a strong and powerful song, despite its relatively redundant music. Yeah, yeah, we all got it now, we knot it. It sounds like Linkin Park. It's still a rad song.

Catch the guys on tour later this year, together with PVRIS and Neck Deep (UK only), and Beartooth (Europe only). If you miss this phenomenal line up, then ... well ... you're missing out big time.

Check their site for more info and ticket links.

Overall: 7/10

Favorite track(s): Happy Song, Blasphemy

Cheerio xx

Five Finger Death Punch - Got Your Six (Record Review)

Starting off with some extra info: Got Your Six is Five Finger's fifth (or sixth, if you count the latest releases as two individuals) record within just 8 years! You would think that, considering the time period and the amount of material they've put out that it'd feel like a burn out rather soon. But Five Finger found their own sound and path rather soon in their career and they continously grow bigger with every record. 

Got Your Six instantly reassures you of the band you're listening to with the first sound. There is no doubt that Five Finger are back yet again. It's nothing but pure hard rock, a quality one at that.
The previously released Jekyll & Hyde had already given a little bit of insight as to how the rest of the record might turn out, but as you listen to the title track, you know exactly what you're in for.
Every Five Finger fan knows the band's groove and sound and these guys deliver with each riff and rhythm they create.
While it's generally the same drift as always thoughout the whole thing, there are definitely a few special highlights. Such as Wash It All Away, during which you can hear and feel singer Ivan Moody just throw a huge ''fuck you'' out for the media and people who drag him through the dirt in the press, amongst others. Or Hell To Pay, which has a definite huge crowd moving riff from the very beginning and gets you instantly stoked to experience this monster of an album live. A personal favorite is This Is My War. That song will sound absolutely phenomenal in arenas, so I'm really hoping it'll make it onto their future setlist for their upcoming European / UK Tour.

All around, it could use the loss of a song or two, but, none the less, Five Finger delivered a splendid record once more. It's heavy. It's got the usual groove. It will make you want to tear down walls. It will certainly make you move.

Check their website for all their upcoming tour dates and make sure to check those guys out live, because, trust me, as big as they sound on record ... live, they will blow you away. 

Overall: 9/10
Favorite track(s): Hell To Pay, This Is My War

Cheerio xx

Halsey - Badlands (Record Review)

I haven’t been too big of a fan of anything Halsey has done so far, so I was rather interested to check out Badlands considering the praise she gets online these days. To my own surprise, Castle is quite intruding to me and certainly already starts to drown everything I first thought of her.
While I really do enjoy her voice, I’m not too sure as to how much I dig the music behind it all. Her lyrics seem very thought through and creative with a wide vocabulary, yet the first three tracks sound very similar to each other, e.g.

She knows exactly what she wants to bring across and say with her songs, but I’m still not over the fact as to how ... not different it all sounds. Surely, she has her own sound and you can easily tell her apart from other artists, but the record in itself is not setting itself above anything. Colors is a piece that finally gets a bit over the rest of it and manages to at least keep me interested enough to not stop at this point but actually finish the record properly. Luckily enough, Coming Down keeps sparking interest and shows that Halsey doesn’t necessarily stick to the same vibes over and over again, despite what the first songs implied (maybe just unhappy placement). The further the record proceeds the happier I am that I kept on listening cause some proper gems show up out of the dark, such as Haunting with its endearing rhythm yet calming aura.

Towards the end though, the hopes that got built up, all drop down again as the last couple of songs don’t impress much once more.

While I get how Halsey speaks to a lot of people, girls in particular, of the younger generation, I don’t feel that Badlands is as much of a huge differential record as it gets praised for (at least from what I've seen on the web). Without trying to bash her, I'm just not sure if I simply have very high expectations and easily get bored, or if it isn’t for me in general. None the less, I do appreciate her persona and what she stands for, plus I do enjoy a few of her songs and will probably continue to check out anything she releases in the future. But this record won't be in my Top Album countdown of 2015.

Overall: 6/10

Favorite track(s): Castle, Colors, Haunting

Cheerio xx

Ghost - Meliora (Record Review)

If anybody had any doubt that Ghost might not deliver with this record, they instantly get proven wrong as soon as Spirit starts. It’s an absolute fabulous intro to the record and instantly sets the familiar mood that both past records have had already. From The Pinnacle To The Pit was a bit of an unsure candidate to me, but it grows on you the more you listen to it. Cirice on the other hand had me enchanted within the first couple of seconds as soon as it got released. Same case happened once more with He Is, the first few sounds already pull you into their spell and the love for Meliora keeps growing bigger the further through the record you get.
For some reason though, there is a real hype happening around Mummy Dust which I don’t really get. While it is musically / instrumentally pleasing, Papa’s parts seem to be lacking some special spark.  
Apart from that little downfall, the rest of the record just keeps increasing with quality again. If you jump into it thinking that Spirit is amazing, your expectations will only rise with each track. Though two (short) completely instrumental tracks don’t seem to properly fit in and look like more of a filler than anything else, they’re still puzzle pieces to the record as a whole.
The last two tracks, Absolution and Deus In Absentia, are definitely in my personal top songs and I cannot wait to experience these in a live seance at their show in December.

All in all, with Spirit and Deus In Absentia being perfectly chosen in- and outros, it is simply a very well composed record that you will not get bored of, even if you let it run through on a loop (which it does for me currently).

Check their site for upcoming dates near you and make sure to get your bums out to one of their gigs because seeing this group live is a whole different, and special, experience on its own.

Overall: 9/10

Favorite track(s): He Is, Cirice, Absolution, Deus In Absentia

Cheerio xx

Stray From The Path - Subliminal Criminals (Record Review)

The first song already throws you straight into the right line of good old Stray material again. With its siren-ish guitars every now and then, it really gets you going on one hand, though it sadly feels boring after about halfway through the song. Despite that though, Outbreak pushes you back into the rails to keep going and keep on focusing.
Every song is drenched with powerful lyrics, as we know it from those guys. The collaboration with Architects’ Sam Carter is a special little treat here, unlike the rather unfitting addition of Rou Reynolds (which is just my personal opinion though, seeing as I’m not a fan of his voice nor of anything he has done with Shikari). During Shots Fired I realize once more that I’m simply not the type of person to listen to a Stray record and not get bored of it after some time. D.I.E.P.I.G. finally mixes things up a little more and pushes the bar up a bit further again. What follows isn’t outstanding once more, but Snap is a definite favorite instantly and seemed like a perfect ending to the record to me. Which is why I was rather bewildered by the fact that These Things Have To Fall Apart started instead of silence, not having read the track list thoroughly enough before apparently.


Subliminal Criminals definitely has its very high and very low points, but, as mentioned, neither of the previous records had me focused and interested all the way through, so it’s no surprise that it went the same way once more with this one.

Nevertheless, fans of Stray should be stoked with this new release by these guys from Long Island, they certainly delivered to their regular audience.
Critical, heavy, strong and groove-drenched.

Overall: 6,5/10
Favorite track(s): D.I.E.P.I.G., Snap


Cheerio xx

Pop Evil - UP (Record Review)

The new record by Michigan rockers Pop Evil starts with a rather promising (previously released) track called Footsteps that certainly raises your hopes for the vibe of the rest of it. ‚Core’ continues to give it all a certain groove and feeling, setting the stone for a rather rhythm driven album. This seems incredibly fitting for the group, considering other tracks such as Boss’ Daughter and Deal With The Devil, which are some of my personal favorites of them. Sadly though, as promising as Core sounds at first, it also gets as redundant as quickly. In Disarray doesn’t really lift the mood either. This was the second song the quintett released prior to the record drop and it hadn’t impressed me back then either.
As the album processes the whole setting of it becomes more clear. In comparison to Onyx the riffs certainly got heavier and groovier, but Leigh’s voice doesn’t seem to be able to cover these fields just as well. Though songs like Take It All, Ghost Of Muskegon (which has a bit of a NIN feeling to me, at least in the beginning) and Ways To Get High will probably deliver better live, it is all missing power on record.

When I hoped for a bang to end the album with, there are three ballads instead. Not that I’m complaining, these fit together better again than the heavier bits, but it turns the whole thing way too slow despite its jumpy and energetic start.

I still love those guys, none the less, but I maybe expected just a little more from this one in consideration of their previous record Onyx. Still interested to see how they deliver these new songs live.

They’re preparing to tour the US soon with UP, as well as supporting Theory Of A Deadman, so make sure to check their site for a date near you.

Overall: 5/10

Favorite track(s): Footsteps, Ways To Get High

Cheerio xx