Metalcore – Page 20 – Wonderbox Metal

Cold Snap – World War 3 (Review)

Cold Snap are from Croatia and this is their third album. They play Modern Metal.

World War 3 is a surprisingly varied album for what it is. I was expecting a straight Metalcore band for some reason, and although they have this side to them there’s more to Cold Snap than just this.

Mix Metalcore with a bit of Nu-Metal and you’ll have an idea of what Cold Snap are attempting here. Elements of Korn, Disturbed, Slipknot and Machine Head can be heard.

After Nu-Metal effectively stopped existing, (as far as I am concerned), a very long time ago it’s actually quite refreshing to hear something like this again, especially when it’s actually done quite well and without the majority of the generic nonsense that plagued the style.

So as I was saying; Cold Snap have a fair degree of variety in their sound and don’t simply repeat the same formula every song. Similarities exist between tracks of course, as is the same for most bands who play one style, but within their chosen framework they do attempt to mix it up a bit.

The singer has a decent voice and doesn’t fall too foul of the various vocal pit-falls that this style can have. Overall he gives a good performance.

The band are at their best when they let the Euro-Metal influences come to the front. Sections of some of the songs have influences from bands like Nevermore, Darkane and Soilwork, and these are the most enjoyable parts for me.

It’s quite a nostalgic listen in some ways; it’s a familiar style but without being overly so, probably because I haven’t really listened to anything like this in a while. If World War 3 had come out about 15 years ago Cold Snap probably would have been quite big.

If Nu-Metal is a best-forgotten nightmare for you then this will probably not float your boat, but if you want to hear a modern take on it with a beefy, professional production then check out Cold Snap and see what you think.

For myself, this has definitely grown on me and I’ll be spinning this again in the future.

Letallis – Resonate (Review)

Letallis are from the US and play Progressive/Melodic Death Metal. This is their second album.

Originally a full band; for this release everything was performed by just one person, showing a large amount of talent in doing so.

Scandinavian Melodeath is the main point of comparison for Letallis, as well as a smidgen of Metalcore and a pinch of Modern Death Metal. Imagine a band like Lamb of God with a higher level of musicianship and Progressive Metal tendencies.

Vocals occasionally venture into the territory of screams but are largely deeper affairs that aren’t quite full growls, more like guttural shouts. Clean vocals do appear but these are a rarity.

The songs are very guitar-oriented, heavy on the leads, solos and melodics. Good riffs are frequent and the direct Melodeath-influence merges with Progressive Metal tendencies to create a long, ambitious album, totalling 68 minutes of music.

I have enjoyed this. It veers into the more commercial end of this style of music without going too far into that territory as some of the originators/followers of the Melodic Death Metal style have done. Resonate is further saved from this error by the incorporation of the Progressive Metal elements which give the songs more depth and longevity than they would otherwise have if they were absent.

For fans of Lamb of God, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, etc.

Hybrid Sheep – Free From the Clutches of Gods (Review)

Hybrid Sheep are from France and this is their début album. They play Deathcore.

This is state-of-the-art Deathcore with a massive sound and a crisp method of attack.

Hybrid Sheep play their style in the vein of bands like All Shall Perish and Acrania. A few Metalcore influences from the likes of Lamb of God and As I Lay Dying are thrown in also, as well as some Modern Death Metal similar to bands like Revocation and The Black Dahlia Murder.

If you’re not a fan of this modern style of Extreme Metal then Hybrid Sheep are unlikely to convince you, but if you are then Free From the Clutches of Gods has enough meat to satisfy that’s for sure.

This is a well played and produced album with lots of heaviness, melodies, aggressive riffs, blasting and breakdowns. I find this style very easy listening in the sense that if you’re in the mood you can just stick a band like this on and start bouncing around like a maniac. As you do.

Just listening to this now I can’t help but have a little wobble around in my seat. Always the sign of a good listen.

The songs are enjoyable and satisfyingly aggressive. The standard alternation between deep growls and high screams is done well and there’s plenty of guitar widdling included with the heavy riffs.

Hybrid Sheep have produced an enjoyable album of Deathcore. Check them out.

Intraneum – Perfection (Review)

Intraneum are from Poland and this is their début EP. They play Melodic Death Metal/Deathcore.

Apart from the brief and atmospheric piano intro this a short 3 song EP that showcases the band’s abilities.

This is modern Melodic Death Metal that includes components of Metal-/Deathcore.

The songs chug and rip along quite nicely with plenty of leads, solos and melodic extremity sharing space with more considered and streamlined Metal.

The band can clearly play their instruments and they inject a good amount of technical playing into the proceedings, although they never ascend to the crazy heights of pure Technical Death Metal.

How to describe this…it’s like one of the more commercially heavy bands, Lamb of God, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage, etc., started getting heavier and playing with a more Death Metal slant. Add to this a bit more technical playing and remove any clean vocals and you have an idea of where Intraneum are coming from.

The songs are chunky explosions of heavy guitars and melodic riffs, all wrapped up in a punchy production that gives them the bright sound that a band like this needs.

This is a short collection of good songs that demonstrate the potential of Intraneum.

Climates – Body Clocks (Review)

Climates are from the UK and play Hardcore.

This is melodic Hardcore mixed with a bit of Metalcore for good measure.

The vocals are a mixture of screams and cleans, alternated in the usual style for a band like this. The screams are passionate and the cleans well performed. I like the fact that they’re not high enough in the mix to dominate everything, which gives the music the chance to take centre stage.

The songs are enjoyable cuts of lean Metalcore with good energy. They’re the kind of band that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the old Trustkill roster back in this style of music’s heyday, which is a pretty big compliment really.

Angular riffs are thrown out quite frequently and it’s good to see the band not always taking the easy route by using tired or recycled riffs. Instead, they offer up their own take on the genre and some of the riffs are atypical and quite inventive; some even having a bit of a Mathcore twist to them.

There’s a good amount of diversity on display on Body Clocks and the band are confident enough to explore quite a few interesting ideas in the songs. More power to them for this.

This is a quality release from a band who are not only sounding very good in the here and now but are also showing massive potential for the future if they continue to embrace their personality and stamp their identity on their music even more.

A recommended listen. Play loud and get swept away in the pit.

Mandatory – Catharsis (Review)

This is Austrian band Mandatory’s second album. They play Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore.

Mandatory play clean Melodic/Modern Death Metal with some Thrash elements thrown in.

Catharsis comes across as mixing elements of Lamb of God, Illdisposed, Darkane and Arch Enemy…kind of a cross between the European melodic style and the North American modern Metalcore style.

Their melodic sensibilities are finely honed and this is mixed in with heavier moments.

The vocals are mainly deep growls but some spoken word sections and melodious cleans are used occasionally too. These are kept to a minimum though and are not overused.

Mandatory’s sound is big, clean and crisp, as you would expect for a band of this ilk. The songs play out quite nicely and the slightly-longer-than-average length of the tracks mean that the band take the time to explore where and what they want to.

Have a listen.

Undermine the Supremacy – Ashes (Review)

Undermine the Supremacy are from Australia and this is their début EP. They play Metalcore.

After an atmospheric, expectation-building intro the first track, (and title track), starts and it’s actually heavier than I was expecting. It’s almost Deathcore in places. Almost, but not quite.

It’s groove-based and relies on heavy riffs and melodic interludes to propel the songs forward, as is common in Metalcore, but it’s more extreme than a lot of the more commercial-edged bands that populate this scene. It’s less Killswitch Engage and more Lamb of God; less concerned with anthemic choruses and more concerned with flattening everything with heavy rage.

The vocalist is quite the beast, with his voice being much more extreme than the norm for this style. It adds a layer of real bite to the tracks.

The constant level of aggression on display here is good to see and the band are clearly into what they’re doing. Also pleasing is their avoidance, (mostly), of some of the more obvious riffs that usually make up Metalcore. Okay they’re never going to be described as innovative but they don’t fall into the trap of being generic either, which is no mean feat for a genre such as this.

Fans of Lamb of God, Chimaira, Hatebreed, etc. take note.

Check them out and see if they can reduce you to ashes.

Violet – The Love/The Lust (Review)

Violet are from the UK and this is their début album.

Violet play en energetic mix of Metalcore, Post-Hardcore and Rock. It’s on the more commercial side of the spectrum certainly, but the passion and enthusiasm is real.

For comparisons think elements of bands such as From Autumn To Ashes, Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through and Coheed & Cambria.

The band are a six-piece who boast two vocalists, plus vocals from one of their guitarists; they carry a fair amount of diversity due to this. Snarled, Metalcore vocals and clean singing share space with the music being similarly divided between the heavier and lighter sides of the musical spectrum. The clean vocals are sometimes a little too Pop for my tastes, but the shouted vocals make up for this deficiency.

The music is nicely enhanced by keyboards, effects and sounds that give all of the tracks a silken sheen and add a bit of depth to the tracks.

The songs are catchy enough to hold attention, although the sugary cleans can be a bit too sugary on occasion. If they added a little bit more bite to their attack and reined in the more Pop aspects of their sound then in my eyes they’d really be a force to reckon with. On the other hand though, this is clearly an important aspect to their sound that they enjoy and no doubt many others will also.

Overall this is a good début from a promising young band who could feasibly do very well and have a great potential to appeal to a much wider audience than the average Metal band.

Have a listen.

A Breach of Silence – The Darkest Road (Review)

This is the second album from Australia’s A Breach of Silence.

The band play modern Melodic Metalcore. We’ve met this band before with their début album Dead or Alive which was a passionate display of the more commercial side of Metal. So what does the new offering sound like?

Stylistically we’re in similar territory to the first, although everything appears to be cranked up even higher this time.

The harsh vocals are harsher, the clean singing bigger, the heavy parts heavier, the melodic parts more so…you get the idea.

Importantly though, the band have improved their songwriting. Their début was perfectly enjoyable of course, but this album is just better. With the benefit of hindsight it now seems as if Dead or Alive was almost a trial run for The Darkest Road. Whereas the first was the band finding their sound, this is them refining it and obviously benefiting from touring and perfecting their formula.

The Power Metal influence has lessened somewhat, although it’s still a part of the band’s sound; this is most notable on songs like Immortal and Time Still Remains where it gets to shine brightly.

The recording is suitably huge, which is a necessity for a band like this. Everything sounds in your face and clear.

Well I’m suitably impressed by this. It won’t change the world but it is a very enjoyable slab of modern Metal. The band have improved on their sound and the songs are bigger and better than ever. Kudos to them.

If your tastes run to the more commercial then this is definitely a recommended listen.

Order of Chaos – Deadweight Undertow (Review)

Order of Chaos are from Australia and play a combination of Underground Metal/Hardcore.

This is a hard one to pin down in some ways. It has elements of the more modern Metal/Metalcore sound, but also more of an unhinged, underground vibe and some definite Death Metal/violent Hardcore leanings.

This is more of the kind of thing I would have expected to come out of the UK rather than Australia; I’m thinking of bands like Corrupt Moral Altar, Charger, Raging Speedhorn, Labrat, Mindjuice, Mistress, The Rotted, etc.

Nonetheless, Australia it is, and it’s a good listen. The songs are typically about the 3 minute mark and are focused into little balls of heavy rage. They’re well written and have a good amount of energy. Although the emphasis is on heaviness, small amounts of melody get a look in here and there.

This is a good synthesis of modern-styled Metal with a violent Hardcore element keeping it grounded. It’s underground, nasty and rumbles along with a good chug and a healthy groove.

The singer sounds quite demented on occasion; the higher pitched he gets the more he appears to lose it.

It’s easy to like these songs as the emphasis is on ripping the listener’s face off before they even know what’s happened.

Songs for the moshpit.