Almost exactly two years ago, Sevendust decided to experiment with an album after over 10 years of consistency. The album is billed as acoustic but it has electric guitar solos and riffs in it. For this experimental album, they wrote six new songs and re-recorded six of their classics. The unplugged acoustic concept really works beautifully for them. Typically, one wouldn’t expect it to work well with a metal band, but it really works, and it is incredible. "Come Down," the opener of the album, is pretty upbeat for a song that's supposed to be acoustic - it has a lot of activity to it. "Under It All," and "One Life," have a prominent piano feature, which I personally love. It goes really well with the acoustic vibe, but it's also a nice contrast from their other, more aggressive, work. The re-recorded tracks retain the energy of the originals. For a metal band, that must not have been easy to do, but they pulled it off very well. More bands should definitely do this, especially the ones that you wouldn’t ever expect it from. Not only did they totally release six kickass songs for this album, but they also re-worked six songs that now have a whole new feel to them. More bands should step a bit out of their comfort zone, and do this. It may have just been an experiment, but it was definitely a success. I would recommend this album to anyone who's never heard their music before, and as someone who has listened to them many, many times, I was very impressed with this musical experiment. I highly recommend you check out this album, along with all of their other works. This includes their newest album, Kill The Flaw. I also highly recommend that you head on over to Sevendust's official website to check out all of their upcoming adventures. They will be going on tour with Trivium and Like A storm April 26 through May 27 and will be performing at Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Lunatic Luau '16, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range, Rock'n Derby, and the River City Rockfest.
0 Comments
Flashback to April of 2010, Sevendust released their eighth studio album, Cold Day Memory. The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, and sold around 27,000 copies in its first week alone, here in the US. To this day, this is still their highest ranking album on the Billboard 200, with their newest album, Kill The Flaw with a close second. The lead single from this album, "Unraveling", was actually the first song we ever heard from Sevendust. Therefor, that one is very obviously a stand out track to us. I noticed a re-occuring them with this album. Through out the album, they speak of struggles in life, and share their thoughts on the situations. You hear about coming part, you hear about wanting away from someone, the feeling of going insane, and so much more. Aside from Unraveling though, we really didn't have a track that stood out to us. They're all very good, and thought provoking. There's a bit of a religious undertone to some of the lyrics, which was a bit surprising, but that is most definitely just an undertone. This is a very good album all around, and we recommend you check out not only this album, but the three others released from Sevendust since this one was out. The latest is Kill The Flaw, which came out in October of last year. We just did a review of it, for anyone interested. In support of that album, and just in the spirit of touring, they're going out on tour with Trivium and Like a Storm this spring. The tour starts on April 26, and goes through May 27, and will have several festival appearances in between! Those festivals include Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Lunatic Luau '16, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range, Rock'n Derby, and the River City Rockfest. For further information, such as exact tour dates, please head on over to Sevendust's official website. For information on the festivals, such as full lineups, exact dates, and ticket prices, please visit the festival websites. Just on January 22 of this year, Megadeth released their fifteenth studio album! The album is called Dystopia, and debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. They haven't had an album go that high on a chart since the release of Countdown to Extinction, which peaked at number two in 1992. So, go Megadeth on their massive success! Now some people out there are more than likely going to be upset with me over this, but this is my introduction to Megadeth. I've heard the name my entire life -for obvious reasons, but never sat down and listened to them. I'm sure I've heard some of their songs here and there, through the radio, television, movies or friends playing their music without me being aware of who we were listening to. The first thing I want to say is Dave Dave Mustaine's voice is quite unique and I like that. It fits very well with the genre, and his lyric writing style is quite beautiful. He words himself very well, and as a writer, that is something I can appreciate a lot, even if the subject matter doesn't exactly speak to me. That being said, I did over all enjoy the album, and had one lyric actually resinate very well with us. Its in the song, "Post-American World", and it says, "When you walk away from that which makes you strong, you only fool yourself; you only weaken your cause." The song is more about questioning your surroundings, but that's not nessicarily a bad thing. You do need to be aware of your surroundings and you definitely need to cling onto the things that keep you going. Another track I wish to acknowledge is actually the third single for this album, and the title track. "Dystopia." Its actually quite thought provoking, and makes you wonder just a bit about why this song was written. Its speaking of a dystopia (a place where everything is unpleasant or bad, by definition), but does seem to give you a glimer of hope near the end of the song. "You must destroy the cancer at the source." If I'm taking this right, its saying you must fight against the things that are making the world around us bad, in order to improve. Which is entirely true, to be honest. The final verdict on this album is that it is very good, and worth checking out. It questions the world quite a bit, which may get some people to stop and think. As I said before, this was my introduction to Megadeth, so I'm afraid I cannot tell you how this compares to their other works, but I do plan on looking into them a little bit more so there may be further thoughts on that here on the website soon. Speaking of websites, head on over to Megadeth's website to check out everything they've got going on. Especially their tour dates and festival appearances. They are currently on tour with Suicidal Tendencies, Children Of Bodom and Havok through March 24, dates with Anthrax coming up after that, and then will be performing at Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range, Rock'n Derby, Rocklahoma, and River City Rockfest here in the US. Then in the summer, they will be performing at many European festivals, such as Gods Of Metal, FortaRock, the Power Festival, Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival in Paris, France, then Download Festival in England, and many, many more. Please visit the individual festival websites for more information, and Megadeth for even more tour dates and festival appearances! Five Finger Death Punch is a massive name in heavy metal these days, but everyone had to start somewhere. Their debut album, Way Of The Fist came out on July 31, 2007 and surprisingly didn't do that well at first. It did just barely break the Billboard 200, by coming in at 199, and it did go all the way up to 107, but that's as a far as it went. That being said, as Five Finger Death Punch kept going on, their success grew. This album was certified as Gold on April 1, 2010 after they sold 500,000 copies.
One of my favorite tracks from this album is actually on re-release that came out on May 13, 2008. That song is "Never Enough", and there's just something that speaks to me about it. Its a perfect song to play when people around you leave you feeling like you're never good enough, and you're just getting frustrated and over it. The chorus expresses this feeling all too well, "Its never enough, no its never enough. No matter what I say, its never enough, no its never enough. I'll never be what you want me to be." This song is only on the re-release here in America, but it was featured on the normal version in the UK, which didn't come out until 2009. As for the tracks on the first edition as well, I absolutely have to give credit to the lead single, "The Bleeding." It tells quite the story of what we assume was break up, or a friendship falling apart. You hear the pain, and suffering of it all, and its done incredibly well. Another track I wish to bring some light to is "Death Before Dishonor", which basically says they're going to live their life, regardless of how the world is or the bullshit other people say about them. That's something you just have to respect and love, therefor, we had to mention it. The album, along with Five Finger Death Punch's entire discography is great, and I highly recommend anyone who likes heavy metal even just a little bit, check them out. If you like what you hear, perhaps you will be able to catch them live here in the coming months! There's a ton of different chances coming up very soon. They will be performing in Australia April 15 through the 25, and then head back to the US to begin performing at several of the big festivals. Their fun begins at Fort Rock on April 30, and Welcome To Rockville on May 1. They will also go on a short, four day tour with Shinedown before performing at Rock On The Range, Rock'n Derby, Rocklahoma and the Chicago Open Air Fest. That's a lot going on here in the US, but their travels do not stop there! They also will be performing at several festivals around Europe this summer. They will be performing at the Provinssi Rock Fest in Finland, Bråvalla Festival in Sweden, With Full Force Festival in Germany, Rock For People in the Czech Republic, Two Days A Week Festival in Austria, Jarocin Festival 2016 in Poland, and several more! For more information, please visit the respective festival websites and Five Finger Death Punch's official website. Be sure to check out our reviews for all of Five Finger Death Punch's albums, and while you're at it, please let us know which 5FDP album is your favorite. War Is The Answer / American Capitalist -Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 / Volume 2 /Got Your Six Back in May of 2008, 3 Doors Down released their fourth studio album, and named it after themselves! This self titled album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one and sold over 154,000 copies in the first week.
The lead single from this album, "Its Not My Time", is one of the songs that instantly comes to mind when we think of 3 Doors Down. Its catchy, and its all about living your life and not giving up without giving it your all. That's something we can always get behind. Another song that really stood out to us was also a single for this album. The song is, "Let Me Be Myself", and the title does sort of say it all. It tells the story of losing yourself in a way, just to please someone else. Its asking that person to just let them be themselves for once, and that's something very important. Everyone deserves to be themselves, and this song expresses that normal human need. I think people could play this song when they just need to express themselves, and maybe it would make them feel better. While the whole album is good, the last track we would like to mention is "It's The Only One You've Got." The song flat out tells you that you have to try, and you can't let your fears stop you in this life. The past is in the past, and you've got one life -so live it. It sounds incredibly cliche' when we write about it, but the song expresses this in a rather beautiful manner. Go listen to it. While you're at it, be sure to check out the album they released just three years later, Time Of My Life, and get excited for their upcoming album, Us And Them. The album comes out on March 11. Another exciting thing is all of the performances they have coming up. They will be doing a free show on March 20 in Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. A couple weeks later, they will go out on tour! The tour goes from April 8 through May 13, and in the mist of that tour will be several festival performances. They will be playing at Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock,Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma and Bands In The Backyard. For further information, head over to the 3 Doors Down official website and the respective festival websites. Pop Evil's fourth studio album is coming up on its third birthday here very shortly. It was first released on February 28, 2013, and did decently on the Billboard 200. It debuted at number 39, but it also reached number 9 on the Independent chart albums as well. The album had several different singles, but the first to be released also happens to be one of our favorite songs on the album. "Trenches" was released as a single on the same day of the album's release and instantly became a hit. It hit number one here in the US on not only the US Mainstream Rock, but also the US Heritage charts as well. Its quite rare for us to say this but honestly, the singles from this album are the best ones, in our opinion. Normally something else on an album dominates the singles for us, but in this case, that's not the case at all. "Trenches", "Deal With The Devil", and "Torn To Pieces" are our favorites, and can safely say all three songs are wonderful live. "Torn To Pieces" tells the story of feeling down, and trying to recover from a break up. The story has been told a million different times, but its always touching and each story is just a bit different. In this case, he does it in a very beautiful, melodic way. "Deal With The Devil" has the exact opposite feel. Its heavier (but not excessively heavy), and is one of those songs that's great for hyping everyone up. We can say from experience that this song is awesome live. Speaking of live, you can catch Pop Evil live beginning March 18 with Devour The Day and Red Sun Rising. The tour goes through April 5, and shortly after begins all the festivals around the US. Pop Evil will be performing at the 98Rockfest, Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Rock N' Derby, and Rock on The Range. Surrounding all of these festivals will be a tour with Disturbed and Rob Zombie, which goes from May 3 through May 25. Further information can be found on Pop Evil's official website, or the respective festival websites. Be sure to check out this album, and their latest album, Up, now! Back in 2008, Bring Me The Horizon released their second album, Suicide Season. It was thought as a turning point for BMTH, because their first album was often described as 'deathcore', while Suicide Season was more metalcore than anything else. None the less, its did fairly well, and does feature a couple of the songs that are most often associated with Bring Me The Horizon. The album peaked at number two on the US Top Heakseekers charts, and broke the top 30 in Australia, and Swedish, top 100 in the Netherlands, and top 50 in the UK. The only song from this album we've listened to consistently for years has been "Diamonds Aren't Forever." However, we decided to go back and give it a second chance. I've kind of always felt like older BMTH was too heavy, which was kind of a shame because lyrically, we've always like what I've heard. Or read, really, because the music kind of drowns out the lyrics in my opinion. Others very clearly feel differently than I do though. After revisiting the album, honestly I can't say my thoughts have changed. Oli's screaming, growling, whatever you wish to call it, just doesn't please me. Don't get me wrong, I actually like Bring Me The Horizon....but its their newer stuff. I can see why some don't, if they prefer the heavier earlier stuff. They're polar opposites, but I personally just don't care for the sound of early Bring Me the Horizon. That being said, when I look up the lyrics, its wonderful. Oli Sykes is a very talented lyricist, I just, unfortunately, cannot actually hear the beauty in it. One thing I can say though is that it is rather impressive that a band can change their style so much in just a matter of five full length albums. They have changed so drastically -its like they're an entirely different band! That is most definitely a special art form that not every artist can master. What are your thoughts? Please let me know, because I'm curious to see what others think. Personally, I'm going to stick to blasting That's The Spirit and Sempiternal, but still appreciate that others rock out to this on a daily basis. While you're at it, head on over to Bring Me The Horizon's official website to check out everything they've got going on in the coming months. They are quite possibly the busiest band out there right now, as they will be performing all over the globe. While they are not going to make it to every continent, they sure as hell are trying. They will be touring in South America this March, all over Europe through April 22, and then at all sorts of festivals in the US, and later on in Europe. They will be performing at 14+ festivals, most of which are listed below! Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On the Range, BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend 2016, Rock Am Ring, Rock IM Park, Greenfield festival 2016, Aerodrome Festival, Hellfest, the Amnesia Rockfest and more! For further information, such as ticket prices, exact locations, lineups and more, head on over to the respective festival websites or Bring Me the Horizon's official website. Getting into what may be our oldest throwback yet in the history of Immortal Music. This album came out on March 7 of 2000 and was the debut for one of the biggest names in metal, nu metal -whatever you choose to call them, today. The album we're discussing today is The Sickness from the wildly famous, Disturbed. This album may be nearing its sixteenth anniversary, but its still widely loved. Its gone platinum four times over here in the US, and spent almost two full years on the Billboard 200 charts. It originally peaked at 29, and its the only Disturbed album to not hit number one on any chart. Its very rare when a band's debut album is not only great from the start, but loved so deeply for so long. This album is a classic by far, and we don't even really have to point out stand out tracks backs everyone knows them. Unless you've been living under a rock, that is. Chances are, you've heard this album and many other works from Disturbed, even if you haven't heard the whole album. Especially, "Down With The Sickness." Its everywhere! Its even been in movies like Queen Of The Damned, The One, Green Steet, and South Park, which is a show, not a movie, but still worth mentioning. That one is a classic all on its own, and we can safely say its one of those songs everyone knows even if they have no idea its by Disturbed. A personal favorite for us is actually, "The Game." Can't really tell you why, because frankly, there isn't a reason. We just really enjoy it, its just catchy and we enjoy it. Enough said -we hope. Then of course there's other classics like, "Stupify", which has also become a massive success all on its own, and "Shout 2000", which is actually a cover. The song was originally released in 1985 by a British band called Tears for Fears. Disturbed did a fantastic job on the cover, and this album in general. It goes without saying that this album is badass. The success, and the album on its own speaks for itself. Go listen to it if you haven't -or just go listen to it again just because its awesome. Use it, and the other five albums from Disturbed, such as their latest one, Immortalized, to get hyped up about all of their upcoming events. Disturbed is on tour right now with Saint Asonia now through the end of March, and then will be going out with Nonpoint and Mindset Evolution until the festival season kicks in. The festivals begin properly in late April, and go through out the summer. Below is a list of every festival they will be playing, be sure to check out each one to see the full lineups and locations. Ufest 2016, 98Rockfest, Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, and Rocklahoma. For any tour information, please head on over to Disturbed's official website. Now this one is an extreme throwback, and something Immortal Music personally goes way back with for a few different reasons we will get into at a different time. Today we are talking about Scream Aim Fire, which is the sophmore album from the Welsh heavy metal band, Bullet For My Valentine. The album was released on January 28 in the UK, and January 29 here in the US. It did extremely wide success on the charts. It actually reached number four on the World Albums Chart, number one in Japan, 4 in the Us and Australia, 3 in Austria, 5 in the UK, ect.
Since its release, this album alone has sold over a million copies world wide, and has been ceritified gold in the UK and Australia. This is actually the album that introduced us to BFMV, with the song, "Waking The Demon." "Waking The Demon" is the perfect song to get you angry when you're feeling down. Its a bit hard to explain, its just one of those songs that pumps you up and gets you ready to take things on. The other two tracks we wanted to mention are actually rather sweet, unlike "Waking The Demon." Those two songs are, "Hearts Burst Into Fire" and "Forever And Always." Both are love songs of sorts, and simply beautiful. "When I see your face, my hearts burst into fire." We never quite understood why 'hearts' was plural, but after hundreds of lyric checks, we realized that is what he's saying for some reason. The song speaks of being on the road, there for away from the one you love, and how depressing it can be, but when you see them you're instantly filled with warmth and there's no where you'd rather be. "Forever And Always" goes along with that, and when you really listen to the lyrics, it almost sounds like wedding vows. "Forget about the shit that we've been through, I wanna stay here forever and always. " Life gets tough sometimes, but when you love someone, you're there anyways and it helps. This song expresses that in a simple, yet very beautiful and very real manner. If you've somehow missed this album, we recommend you go back and listen to it because its wonderful. It really is among some of Bullet's best work, in our opinion. They're still extremely active today for anyone who's interested. They have released three more albums since the release of this one, and are on tour right now with Asking Alexandria and While She sleeps. The tour goes through March 7, and then a couple weeks after that they will be performing in Japan for a little bit. Once they return from that, they will take part of the Loudest Month Ever, and perform at many festivals around the US! Those festivals include Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range, Rocklahoma, and the River City Rockfest. They also have a bunch of European festivals to perform at later in the summer as well! For further information, please visit Bullet For My Valentine's official website, and the respective festival websites. Doing yet another throwback review today! Today we're going back to April 5, 2011, which is the day Asking Alexandria released their second album, Reckless And Relentless. Many feel that this album is really what helped put Asking Alexandria on the map, and perhaps they're right. The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 charts and sold over 31,000 copies in the first week alone. Fans today still greatly enjoy it, even though they have released more music since then.
Normally, the singles from the albums are not the stand out tracks for us, but in this case, they definitely are. Those tracks are, "Breathless" and "Someone, Somewhere." "Breathless" gets your attention instantly, by yelling, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME," right from the start. Not only is it musically great, but the lyrics appear to be speaking to someone who you needs to save themselves, and get away from you because you feel like you're not good for them. You see a bit of former front man's own insecurities in this song. "Every mistake I've made leaves a scar that burns every day, yet I still carry on without regret, without remorse. I'm gone. You're better to walk away. I am corruption, I am sin." Its a shame someone could feel that way, but maybe its time for the person he's talking to, to simply let go. Easier said than done, of course. Then there's "Someone, Somewhere", which unlike "Breathless", is actually very postive and uplifting. "Even though I'm on my own, I know I'm not alone. 'Cause I know there's someone, somewhere praying that I make it home." You're never alone, even when you feel like you are. Someone, somewhere always cares, even if you don't know it. This is an old album now, but its still great. The whole album goes through different topics and sounds, and is highly worth a listen. You can get this album, along with all of Asking Alexandria's work on iTunes. This includes the pre-order for their upcoming album, The Black! The album comes out March 25, and will be the first to feature the new front man, Devin Stof. While you're at it, head on over to Asking Alexandria's official website to check out all of their upcoming performances. They're currently on tour with Bullet For My Valentine and While She Sleeps here in the US. That tour is going on through March 11, and then in April they head over to Australia to tour with Blessthefall, and Buried in Venom. After all of that, they're coming back to the US to be part of the Loudest Month Ever, and play most of the big festivals happening in North America. They will be performing at Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, and Rock On The Range, Rock USA, and the Chicago Open Air festival. For further information, such as full lineups, and ticket prices, please check out the respective festival websites. |
InformationAll reviews have the date they were written, the album title, and the band's name, with the exception of Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace and Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin. Those dates were guessed at, as they were written well before the website began. Archives
February 2022
|