Marmozets - The Weird And Wonderful (Record Review)

Another late one from my Top 5 of 2014.

But Marmozets are simply a band the world needs to get to know more these days. 

Seeing as I'm usually not too fond of many female voices, Becca's is ... something else. It's not about always hitting the right notes but sometimes just get up and scream into a mic if you feel like it. Which is exactly what's being expressed in Born Young And Free. Nevertheless, her vocal performance is outstanding and on point when it has to be.

Their sound is incredibly refreshing in the dull pool of breakdown riffs and mindless shredding that is around today, their diversity in sound and song construction is a welcome change.

Why Do You Hate Me is another full on frontal rager, before it then flows into Captivate You which shows the softer and more melodic side of the quintett, displaying Becca's vocal skills properly. Is It Horrible is one of my personal favorites, starting off with a simple drum beat, slowly getting more hectic once the other instruments join in and the first vocals sound through before it really hits off. Having two voices lead up to the chorus creates a fun and dynamic setting as it then dives into the more harmonic sides again. To pick apart every song like this would be mental and unnecessary. 

Let's just try to round this up saying that the record manages to bind together a huge range of diversity into 13 tracks, with none of those ever appearing tiring or like anything you ever heard before. 

There had been so much raving about these guys from several friends in the UK and I can say that I was not disappointed at all when their debut record finally dropped in Germany.

Marmozets are definitely a band to look out for in the next few years. With such potential and achievements only after their debut record, I can only imagine what to expect from them in the future. One thing's for sure, they're one of the most exciting bands around right now.

Favorite song(s): Is It Horrible, Weird And Wonderful, Love You Good, Hit The Wave, Move Shake Hide

Overall: 10/10

Marmozets are currently on tour in the US with The Used and are also playing off-day shows with Every Time I Die (if you don't have tickets for those guys anyway ... you've obviously been missing out already). Check their website for further info and a date near you, you don't wanna miss this: www.marmozets.co.uk/

Cheerio xx

Architects - Lost Forever || Lost Together (Record Review)

While this record has been out for a long time, I just dug out my review of it from a couple of months ago and feel like posting it on here as I think it is one of the most genre shaping records of the past year.

This band has had its heights and lows before and recovered from a massive drop in their career. Hollow Crown/The Here And Now is up to this day a rather weak spot of the band as they ended up playing in front of almost nobody in small clubs after starting to fill venues with the capacity of over 2 000 people. When they put out Daybreaker, it seemed as if they were finally back on track and slowly started climbing upwards again. When LF//LT dropped within a year after that, nobody would have expected it to be such a huge progression and recovery, especially creatively speaking, again.

Gravedigger doesn't give you much time to prepare before it fully kicks in with huge riffs and Sam's indistinctive voice. The thought of them ever failing at creating huge tunes like that is hard to imagine at this point, seeing as the first song already has some of the biggest moments of the 2014 metalcore scene.

Naysayer doesn't let a simple spark of that energy die and drags you along the hurricane that is this record. "You can't stop me giving a fuck" states their intentions with this track more than clearly. After that, they don't stop with criticizing and approaching problems such as religion, as displayed in Broken Cross. Without slipping into the all too often heard same old sentences, they manage to take a new turn on the whole subject. 

They do not disappoint a single time, instead, the record gets stronger with each song. The Devil Is Near's riff constructions throughout the whole song, Dead Man Talking's huge chant during the chorus, the anthem that is C.A.N.C.E.R., the more melodic and dramatic side with Colony Collapse ... I could go on.

To sum it up, the emotional weight Architects can put into their songs is uncanny and certainly one of a kind. There's hardly a band around these days to manage to speak to and move such a huge crowd with heavy tracks like these as them. To have a band in this genre headline a sold-out venue the size of the Roundhouse in London would've been unimaginable a few years back. 

While the younger generations are certainly focused on bands such as them, with the flood of artists in the genre, they still managed to stand out and draw in the fanbase they have now.

They were not only in my favorite records of 2014 but certainly already managed to place themselves in my favorite gigs rank list of 2015. Unlike (sadly) a lot of bands these days, they actually deliver an even bigger show live than they already do on record and create a one of a kind atmosphere.

Favorite song(s): Gravedigger, Naysayer, Colony Collapse, Broken Cross

Overall: 9,5/10

Architects are currently finishing up their Australia tour. Check their website for the remaining dates: www.architectsofficial.com

Cheerio xx

Cancer Bats - Searching For Zero (Record Review)

Gotta admit that I was a little anxious when I first pressed play considering what other people told me about it so far, plus the fact that I basically dig pretty much everything that those guys put out thus far and had expectations due to that. That's why I let it rest for a bit before really adding my two cents to this.

Satellites was a considerably easy introduction seeing as it had been out for quite a while before the record release. While I can find something in every song that makes me go: "Hell yeah!" (Bass intro for Cursed With A Conscience, Sabbath drenched Beelzebub and Dusted, 2nd verse in Devil's Blood etc.) There's still something missing in it all.
Obviously it's still the Bats. Scott's guitar skills (which are specifically outstanding on this record!), Liam's rough vocals, their heavy grooves ... everything is there. Yet, it doesn't kick my butt with as much of a power as e.g. DSOL did. But hey, taste differs, bands develop and maybe it'll need a few more spins for me to get into or it'll remain this way. However, I'm still beyond excited to see those guys at my work place with While She Sleeps, especially since I'm pretty sure that All Hail is gonna be quite the rager for the pit people.

Favorite song(s): Buds, No More Bullshit

Overall: 6,5/10

Co-headlining tour with While She Sleeps through Europe is on now! Check their websites for a date near you: www.cancerbats.com 

Cheerio xx

The Amity Affliction - Chasing Ghosts (Record Review)

The first two songs seem a little too similar to me already. While they are well constructed, they don't differ much from each other. To have this as a first setting for the record, isn't exactly a great start.
 RIP Bon has me finally moving along a little and definitely makes it into the upper section of my faves. Open Letter is to my liking once more, especially the drums and general structure/development of the song. Chorus and lyrics are another plus, yet the shouting seems to turn more and more monotone from song to song. I Heart H.,C. deserves a special mentioning again due to it finally being exceptionally diverse to any previous track. But the second Flowerbomb starts, we're back at square one.

This whole record is really hard to tell apart in general. While every song has a part here or there that stands out, it's all too monotone and creatively not as great as it could be. At least to me. I really dig those guys live and how they get the crowd going and communicate with their audience and I think that's how it'll remain. Great live band. Far from being as impressive on record.

Favorite Track: I Heart H.C.

Overall: 6/10

Cheerio xx