I loved their first album Hate Crew Deathroll for its mix of speed and symphonic metal elements. It was an album whipped through riffs and solos like a fat kid pounding halloween candy. The albums that followed just didn't seem to have that relentless energy. They impressed me a few years ago opening for Lamb of God. The lead singer had dislocated his shoulder a day before and was up there playing and singing.
I decided I would get their next album and it finally arrived; Relentless, Reckless, Forever. Glad I did. The energy is back. COB are firing on all cylinders throughout the album. One of best aspects is the approach to the song writing. Each song has its own pace and approach to shredding. The vocals are not a clean as previous releases and as a result much of what sticks in my head ends up being the great melodic riffs that are scattered through the album.
COB is a band that likes to solo which to many listeners can seem boring, and if it is soloing for the sake of solo I agree. But COB does a great job of setting up the solos and they are all about melody within the intensity and speed of the solo. Thus the solos are not a segment in the song but an integral part of the song. When listening also note many mini solos are played in between vocal parts.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Hatebreed King of the Pit
Having pounded more than a few people in the pits over the years there a two bands whose pits I look forward to the most, Hatebreed and Lamb of God. Their styles are different but the energy they evoke and excitement of pummeling people for an hour straight is equal.
Hatebreed specialize in pounding riffs played by their two guitarists. Solos and harmonies are rare. Usually they are locking in and playing in sync to increase the volume or weight of their sound. The lead singer, Jamey Jasta, writes lyrics that are about finding power within and being a part of something bigger than yourself. Everything is yelled or spoken and it lends itself to non-stop crowd participation. That is one of things that gets the pit going. Everyone knows the lyrics and responds accordingly to changes in each song's intensity.
Best pit moment was when Jamey told the crowd that he wanted a circle pit to go around the sound tent which was 100 yards away from the stage. Awesome! In a parking lot on a second stage summer festival that means that no one could be a bystander! Move back or get run-over! Garbage cans got trampled, crushed, and thrown in the air in front of me. The first minute of that pit was pure chaos. People on edges whipped their phones out to film the heard charging by. FYI: I have crappy video on my phone of a smaller pit.
Some of the tracks they play live are: Become the Fuse, Everybody Bleeds Now, This Is Now, Destroy Everything, As Diehard As They Come, To The Threshold, and I Will Be Heard. If you workout this is your soundtrack to sick results.
Hatebreed specialize in pounding riffs played by their two guitarists. Solos and harmonies are rare. Usually they are locking in and playing in sync to increase the volume or weight of their sound. The lead singer, Jamey Jasta, writes lyrics that are about finding power within and being a part of something bigger than yourself. Everything is yelled or spoken and it lends itself to non-stop crowd participation. That is one of things that gets the pit going. Everyone knows the lyrics and responds accordingly to changes in each song's intensity.
Best pit moment was when Jamey told the crowd that he wanted a circle pit to go around the sound tent which was 100 yards away from the stage. Awesome! In a parking lot on a second stage summer festival that means that no one could be a bystander! Move back or get run-over! Garbage cans got trampled, crushed, and thrown in the air in front of me. The first minute of that pit was pure chaos. People on edges whipped their phones out to film the heard charging by. FYI: I have crappy video on my phone of a smaller pit.
Some of the tracks they play live are: Become the Fuse, Everybody Bleeds Now, This Is Now, Destroy Everything, As Diehard As They Come, To The Threshold, and I Will Be Heard. If you workout this is your soundtrack to sick results.
Malpractice by Faith No More
This post is inspired by listening to XM radio for 20 minutes. After listening to Between the Buried and Me play a great cover of Pantera's Cementary Gates, Faith No More's "Malpractice" began to play. I almost shit my pants but instead turned the dial up louder.
The track is off of my all time favorite album, Angel Dust. It is great that the DJs at XM radio have the freedom to play truly great metal and it is obvious from their selection that they know their stuff too.
Malpractice starts of with an odd drum syth sequence before a crunching guitar riff pounds a few times. Then it dives right into the first verse where Mike Patton covers a wide range of sinister vocal styles without death growling or screaming. That is later. After the first verse and a brief bridge featuring keyboard playing that foreshadows doom the pre-chorus hits which is Patton screeching. The main bridge or interlude between early verses and later verses dives into breakdowns, then a child's melody with soft singing seep into the mix before the riffage from the beginning returns to pummel the listener and Patton begins barking that the end is in store.
This song contains so many masterful metal elements it is interesting to note that is was a B-side for their main release "Midlife Crisis". When I first heard this song I was blown away by it. It totally overwhelmed me. I could blast it loud and not get in trouble with the parents because it had no profanity. But at the same time just so brutal and aggressive. I would never have imagined, no wait I did imagine it, but I would never have thought that I would hear "Malpractice" on the radio one day. After all it was a B-side.
The track is off of my all time favorite album, Angel Dust. It is great that the DJs at XM radio have the freedom to play truly great metal and it is obvious from their selection that they know their stuff too.
Malpractice starts of with an odd drum syth sequence before a crunching guitar riff pounds a few times. Then it dives right into the first verse where Mike Patton covers a wide range of sinister vocal styles without death growling or screaming. That is later. After the first verse and a brief bridge featuring keyboard playing that foreshadows doom the pre-chorus hits which is Patton screeching. The main bridge or interlude between early verses and later verses dives into breakdowns, then a child's melody with soft singing seep into the mix before the riffage from the beginning returns to pummel the listener and Patton begins barking that the end is in store.
This song contains so many masterful metal elements it is interesting to note that is was a B-side for their main release "Midlife Crisis". When I first heard this song I was blown away by it. It totally overwhelmed me. I could blast it loud and not get in trouble with the parents because it had no profanity. But at the same time just so brutal and aggressive. I would never have imagined, no wait I did imagine it, but I would never have thought that I would hear "Malpractice" on the radio one day. After all it was a B-side.
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