In 2012, all the rock radio stations began heavily promoted a female fronted alternative metal band, In This Moment. They began playing a song called, "Blood" which was featured on In This Moment's fourth album, which was also called Blood. Now this album seems to be what put them on the map, but they were already growing and expanding all on their own. I personally had not heard of them, and I'm not going to lie, I didn't like the song, "Blood" at all. But it still lead myself, and many others to checking them out. This album came out on August 14, 2012, and reached all sorts of charts in the US, UK, Canada, and Japan. It barely reached the UK, as it only hit 187, same went for Japan, which hit 124. It did fantastic here in the US, however. It reached number 1 on the Top Hard Rock albums, number 5 on the Top Rock, Top Alternative, and Independent charts. It also hit 15 on the Billboard 200. It stayed in the Billboard 200 for the remainder of the year, and came in at 46 as well. I think a big part of In This Moment's appeal is just how unique they are. I have yet to hear another voice quite like Maria Brink's, plus their lyrics push their limits some, which also draws in the attention. There's an almost constant sex appeal, but it's also very deep. A track I enjoyed lyrically, was actually a very short, intermission called, "It Is Written." Which is only about thirty seconds, and is about the power music has. I love that, but obviously there's so much more to talk about with this album. Honestly, I can't say I'm a fan of this album. I definitely see how others would be, but the style throws me off. Lyrically, I liked most of the album, especially, "Whore", and "Scarlet." "Scarlet" is actually a beautiful song, with a twist. It seems to be about a relationship, a hidden love, if you will. You never want to let go, yet you see how they treat you and how unhealthy it truly is. As for, "Whore", there's something just interesting about the song that's a bit difficult to explain. It sort of expresses knowing you're deep in someone else's head, and you're acknowledging that you two can be something. I feel like there's not a ton of songs out there that are quite like this. Over all, I'm not sure what to say about this album. I can't say I loved it by any means, but it's definitely attention grabbing. So, I highly suggest you simply listen to it yourself, and see what you think. Everyone may feel differently. Please be sure to leave your thoughts, and head on over to In This Moment's official website. Over there you will find all of their upcoming events, which includes several festivals such as Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville and Carolina Rebellion! For more information, please check out the respective festival websites.
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Today we are going to talk about one of the Papa Roach albums that I feel is slightly underrated sometimes. This one is their sixth studio album, Metamorphosis which came out on March 24, 2009. While it does contain a couple of the bigger hits from Papa Roach, such as "Hollywood Whore" and "I Almost Told You That I Loved You", it seems like most of the other tracks get forgotten. That may not be true, but the people around me hardly ever seem to mention anything but those songs. That being said, it did fairly well on charts all over the world, including here in the US. It reached number two on the US Hard Rock Albums, but the highest it reached outside of the US was actually in Austria. It reached number 12 over there, and then also reached 21 in Sweden, 23 in Germany, 42 in the UK, and 44 in Japan. The lead single is, "Hollywood Whore" which is about the idolized lifestyle of many Hollywood socialites. They're made to look like role models, but really they're far from it. It paints a picture of the typical Hollywood lifestyle that's not exactly glamorized. The part where they're leaving a party drunk as a skunk, after being passed out on the floor. Lyrically, it's not much, but it's a very catchy song that helped draw the attention into this album. I don't want to spend all day talking about the singles, because it feels fairly redundant with this album. They're big hits at this point in time, so therefor, obviously they're great. What I want to talk about are the other tracks that I think makes this album great. Starting with the first track actually, "Change or Die." This is a great song to get people hyped up, and I can say from personal experience that yes, it does hype up a crowd fantastically. It's all about life and how you have to change with the world, and more importantly how society expects you to change. It seems to be going with the insistence of change but then changes its pace and says "We won't go down, not tonight. This is our battle cry. We're ready for a fight. This is our battle cry." I think it's done fantastic, with just enough of screaming to give it a little more power. Another one I really enjoy is "State of Emergency", which I've always primarily enjoyed for the beat. Its catchy and fun, but it's also acknowledging the state of the world and the distress it causes. So while it might be fun to listen to, it's also fairly serious. Which is intriguing to me. It might come as no shock for me to say this, but Papa Roach did a fantastic job on this album, and much like most of their music, I highly recommend you check it out. Papa Roach has done quite a bit since the release of this album, like they've released three more albums, and have been on many tours. You can read the reviews we have for those albums if you like! In this order, the albums are Time For Annihilation, The Connection and F.E.A.R. Don't forget too! Papa Roach is extremely active today, and this year they are going to participate in many of the US festivals such as Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, and the Rock City Rockfest. For more information, please head on over to Papa Roach's official website, or the respective festival websites. On June 3, 2016, Beartooth released their second studio album, Aggressive. This time they were clearly on the map. With their debut, Disgusting, it actually didn't reach far out of the US, but did break the top ten on the US Hard Rock charts and reached 20 in the UK. This one however reached a much wider span of people. This one did not break the top ten anywhere but it broke broke the top 50 in six different countries including the US, UK, Canada, Austria and Australia. It also broke into the German, Swiss and Belgian charts. Not bad, Beartooth! Not bad! The fun started with the lead single and title track, "Aggressive" which came out at the same time of the album's pre-order. That track was good, and definitely would inspire some mosh pits live, but it didn't stand out to me nearly as much as a few others. The tracks that stood out the absolute most to me were "Hated" and "Loser." "Hated" is something I highly recommend anyone that tends to care too much and gives way too many chances to people. It's actually says "I won't forget, I won't forgive", and later flat out says, "It took a while but you're out of my life and I swear there's no better feeling." It can take a lot to cut someone out of your life, but sometimes enough is enough and it's up to you to decide when that is. As someone who tends to forgive and forget every bad thing anyone has ever done to me, I must say this, LISTEN TO THIS SONG. Use it as fuel to put your foot down and walk away when you need to. As for, "Loser", it's not only catchy in beat, but it's about being yourself despite whatever others may say. Why fit in when you're born to stand out? This song depicts that perfectly. "You say I'm just a loser in the background, I can never seem to get it right, but I'm learning my worth is more than your word. You told me I would back out, I would break down, I'm not even putting up a fight. But I'm learning my worth is more than your word." Be yourself -everyone else is already taken. I cannot say that enough, so whenever a song does it too, I have to applaud it. This entire album is highly worth listening to, and I highly recommend you look it up on Amazon, iTunes or Spotify! Use it to get excited because Beartooth has a lot coming up here shortly. Starting on March 8, they embark on a tour with Bring Me The Horizon that will last through April 8. After that, they begin performing at many of the big festivals happening around the US such as the 98 Rockfest, Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, and Rock On The Range. After all that, they fly over to the UK to take part in the Slam Dunk festival. For more information, please head on over to Beartooth's official website, and the respective festival websites! Motionless In White is extremely well known now, and very well loved, but like every band, they had to start somewhere. I actually saw them just a few months after the release of their debut album, Creatures and honestly wasn't a fan at the time. As they have grown as a band, and my music taste has expanded, they have grown on me. So, it was kind of interesting to revisit this album, roughly six and a half years later. Aside from "Abigail", and "Immaculate Misconception", I remembered nothing, so this felt basically brand new to me, even though it wasn't even close. Creatures was released on October 12, 2010, and didn't appear to reach any charts. Unfortunately, I quickly came to a realization -I like what Motionless In White has grown to become, not who they used to be. I can remember way back when saying they gave me a headache and I saw the potential, but wasn't seeing the appeal of what they were. Sadly....that opinion still stands. They have become an awesome band, but this sounds entirely different than they do today. There's hints here and there of who they are now, and those parts I liked. Like during, "London In Terror", there's a slightly electronic sounding break down where Chris Motionless sounded a bit like Marilyn Manson. Overall though, this album gives me a headache. I can't hate on it entirely though, because every band starts somewhere and it set them on a great path. Plus I like that there's a theme of darkness to it that feels like it could easily be the plotline for a really good vampire movie. So its got that going for it, but honestly....I am not impressed. Others clearly really enjoyed Motionless In White's debut album, but I personally am just grateful for their growth. Their potential has definitely been met now, but it was barely shining through back then. In my eyes, anyways. Everyone's opinions differ on that subject. If you would like to see what I have thought of their last two albums, Infamous and Reincarnate, please feel free to read the reviews I already have up on the website. They have a new one called Graveyard Shift set to come out sometime this year, and I'm excited to see what they have in store for everyone. You also can keep up to date with MIW by checking out their official website. Over there you can see all of their tour dates, which includes the tour they are currently on Falling In Reverse, Issues , and Danger Kids. The tour goes now through February 12, and then after that they will be performing at many of the major festivals such as Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, and Rock On The Range! For further information, please visit the respective festival websites or MIW's website. Three Days Grace released their fifth studio album, Human on March 31, 2015. This was the first one to be released with Matt Walst as the band's frontman, and raised a lot of mixed reviews because of that. Chart wise, however, it did rather fantastic. It broke the top ten on four different US charts, along with a Canadian one. It hit number one on the US Top Hard Rock Albums charts, number three on the Top Alternative Albums and the Top Hard Rock albums. It also made it into the charts for Australia, Germany, and New Zealand. Now this review was a slightly difficult one to write, because if I'm quite honest -I had avoided listening to the album. If you've followed my work for a while, chances are you know Three Days Grace always has been a very important staple in my life. When Matt joined, I wasn't overly thrilled. Matt is a very good singer, and I liked him in My Darkest Days, but I didn't care for him in Three Days Grace. That being said, since this album is his work, not Adam's, I wondered if maybe it would be better. I'm going to be brutally honest and tell you all of my thoughts. Some of it is very good, because I was actually very pleasantly surprised with this album. Some of it though, is quite bad because I found some of it to be slightly....generic. The good did outweigh the bad though, I will start with that. First of all, I actually genuinely enjoyed several of the songs. Songs like "Landmine", "Fallen Angel", "Real You", "Tell Me Why" and "So What", all for different reasons. "Landmine" is the perfect song to pump yourself up, or to be played live to get a crowd excited. It doesn't really have a ton of meaning, but the catchy beat makes it fun and that was what I really liked about it. "So What" had a similar catchy vibe, but actually had a meaning that I honestly loved. Its all about being yourself, and not caring what people think. "You can say say that I'm going insane, and that I'm not quite right. And that I'm to blame. You can say I'm sick on the inside, but you don't know I like it that way. You can say whatever you like, if its so wrong I don't wanna be right." I'm all for being yourself, and admittedly, the way he worded that was fantastic. Now I could go into detail on the reasons why I enjoy all the songs I already mentioned, but I still have one other I would like to bring up that I had extremely mixed feelings about. That song is "The End is Not The Answer." While I fully appreciated the sentiment and the offer of strength that is provided in the song, it simply rubbed me wrong for a couple reasons. The song is an anti-suicide song, which is fantastic, don't get me wrong. Music is supposed to provide comfort and strength here and there, and this song is up that alley, so that genuinely is appreciated. However, I am going to be very blunt here about my immediate reaction. My very first reaction was, "This is the crappy version of Never Too Late." The meaning spoke for itself, but I felt like the lyrics didn't exactly flow very well. There were a few other disheartening thoughts that flowed through my head about this song, leaving a bitter taste about it, but at the risk of being fully unprofessional, I will keep those to myself. Overall though, I was very happily surprised with this album. As I said before, I was not eager to listen to it at all, so coming out with it with mostly positive things to say is rather refreshing. Please let me know what your thoughts on the album are, and after you do so please be sure to check out Three Days Grace's official website. Three Days Grace will very soon be taking part in several of the big festivals all around the Us. Those festivals include Fort Rock. Followed by that is Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Park Live, Extreme Mudfest and Rocklahoma. Further information can be found on Three Days Grace website, or the festival websites. Alter Bridge is a hard rock band from Orlando, FL and they made their debut on August 10, 2004 with One Day Remains. The album has been cerified Gold and initially didn't do bad on charts all over the world, and here in the US. It reached number five on the Billboard 200, broke the top 50 in New Zealand and Australia. It also reached 102 in the UK, 54 on the Swiss Music charts, 56 in the Netherlands, and 61 in Germany. Not too shabby for a debut album. The first single, "Open Your Eyes" came out on June 11 of the same year and I can definitely see why it drew some attention. Its not only got an incredible beat, but the lyrics to it are simply fantastic. It encourages you to keep going when you're feeling broken in a great way. "'Cause I see in you more than you'll ever know and I ask you, 'Why you question the strength inside?' And you need to know hwo to feels to be alive." It shows you that someone believes in you and encourages you to believe in yourself. So of course people were interested and wanted more. The entire album has a similar vibe to it, where it speaks of mental struggles but also provides the hope of strength. They had a very powerful beginning, and I think they've simply contiuned and are still doing great things today. I highly recommend checking out this album, I bet you will be very impressed. If pressed to pick stand out tracks, I think I would have to say "Open Your Eyes" is one of them, but the other would be, "Burn It Down." Which is much more of a solem track. Its about hitting rock bottom, and realizing its not over. "So burn it down, discovere the dusk of your day has its dawn." The darkness won't last forever, and it can be hard to remember that. This song is beautifully done and reminds you of that. Things get better, even when it feels like they won't. Since the release of this album, Alter Bridge have released four other albums, and have done some incredible things. They're still doing great things, as they just finished the Shiprocked Cruise and then will be going out on tour with Nonpoint in just a couple days. The tour goes through February 22. Then they fly over to Australia in early April to perform a handful of shows before coming back to the US to take part in several festivals. Those festivals are Fort Rock, Northern Invasion and Rock On The Range. For more information, please head on over to Alter Bridge's official website, and the respective festival websites. And stay tuned to Immortal Music! Several more reviews for Alter Bridge, along with other Fort Rock artists will be going up consistently until the end of April! Check back every day to see what's new. Chevelle has been around for quite some time and today we're going back to ther beginning for them. They released their debut album, Point #1 on May 4, 1999 and it didn't do much chart wise. The lead single and title track reached number 40 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, but other than that, there's not much success to be noted here. There's a fairly obvious reason for that though. Like most debut albums, it has its flaws. At this stage, unless a band has a fanastic team to help make them sound impecible, you're going to have a few faux pas'. Its just inevitable. This album was released through a small label, and it was the late 90's, and it shows. Everything sounds fantastic, but the music seems to drown out the vocals on some of the tracks, such as "Point #1." Here's something I really like about this album. It sounds like Chevelle, just in a slightly lesser quality. That probably makes very little sense, but let me explain. I discovered them about two albums later, and actually am only hear this album for the first time just now as I write this review. So I'm used to their 'classic' and 'modern' sounds, not their original sound. They've clearly always had the same feel to them, they've simply just grown and improved on it. That's something I can really respect and enjoy. Plus, its cool to hear a band you've known of for 8+ years in an early state. If I had to pick a stand out track, it would actually be "Prove To You", which has a subject matter that I feel often is over looked. We have songs all the time against people. Songs that are saying how hurt you are by someone's actions, how much you still care, things like that. So rarely do you see the other side of that story. Where the person that's being fought against simply wants to prove themselves and they don't want to let someone down. This song expresses that. Its just saying they promise to fight for you, and they're going to prove to you that they're there. For some reason, that spoke to me on a personal level, so I had to share it. All in all, I would have to say Chevelle made a great start, and sincerely have come a long way. Once again, this album came out in 1999, so they've done quite a bit since then. Since the release of this album, Chevelle have released seven more albums, had several big hits, and gone on countless tours. They're not stopping there either. They're actually on tour right now here in the US with Dinosaur Pile Up and Black Map. From there they will be heading over to Europe to perform with Avenged Sevenfold in several countries such as Germany, Austria, France, Denmark and more! Then they get a bit of downtime before performing at several festivals around the US. Those festivals include Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, and Rock On The Range. For more information, please head on over to the respective festival websites and Chevelle's as well for all the tour dates! Cover Your Tracks is a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia that formed in February of 2014. I couldn't find a ton of information regarding them but I did discover that they released their debut album and EP this year. Today we're going to be talkiing about the EP, because it came first. They're actually quite a bit heavier than I expected. They have themselves labeled as a rock band on Facebook, but I'd say they're more metalcore and are actually somewhat reminescent of Motionless In White. Cover Your Tracks released The Taken EP on February 9, 2016, and it only had four songs on it. Starting with 'Round & Round." Which seems to be about a failed relationship where you accidentally blamed them for your actions. I could be wrong about that, as it also seems to have a hint of alcoholism to it, and it repeatedly says, "I will not let you win." Its hard to say exactly what the song is about, but I definitely can say it sounds fantastic. "Never Again" really spoke to me. Not only did it have a great beat, and just the right amount of screaming in it, but its about not letting someone win. You hit your limit of people's bullshit, and you eventually say they're not going keep using you. This song is by far my favorite on the EP. I could easily talk about every song, but then I will just spoil it all. So instead I'm going to leave it there and tell you to check it out on Spotify or iTunes. Also know that they released their first full length album, Fever Dream later on in 2016. I have yet to listen to it but stay tuned as a review of it is coming soon. Use their music as excitment because Cover Your Tracks will be at Fort Rock 2017! All That Remains is fairly well known now, but everyone has to start somewhere. They made their debut on March 26, 2002 with Behind Silence and Solitude. Its the only album it feature Chris Bartlett as their guitarist, and Dan Egan as their bsassist, and was re-issued and remastered in October 2007. Interestingly, the cover art was actually designed by the bassist for Killswitch Engage, Mike D'Antonio. Its not a very long album, as it only has eight songs, but every song packs its own punch in their own unique ways. The biggest thing I want to say about this album is I'm glad I discovered All That Remains later on in their career. This might be some people's taste but it is far from mine, but they've grown and changed quite a bit over the years. I feel they've evolved into their sound, which is something I do enjoy now. This style to me sounds borderline generic and its what I imagine people think of when they say, "That screaming music." When I go in and read the lyrics, I can see they're filled with very deep lyrics that tell stories of love lost, mental struggles, and more. Unfortunately though I simply cannot get past the sound....it doesn't tickle my fancy. I can see how some would be into it, but its not my cup of tea in the slightest. I can't even pick out a stand out track for this one, its just not great. I'm sorry, All That Remains. All That Remains has come a very long way, and we applaud them for it greatly. I look forward to checking out the rest of their discography to see their progression, and hope you do too! Reviews for every album will hopefully be up through out the next couple months. Please use all of this, and of course their music to get excited because All That Remains will be performing at a few of the big festivals this year. Those festivals include Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville and Carolina Rebellion! For further information, please head on over to the respective festival websites, and stay up to date with All That Remains by checking out their official website or liking them on Facebook. On June 15, 2004, Seether re-released their first album, Disclaimer. Quite fittingly, this album is called Disclaimer II and features the twelve original songs, just all slightly different. They remixed the tracks, but not too much where they were vastly different. This verison of the album did alright on charts. I wouldn't say it did fantastic, but it certainly did not do terrible. It reached number 12 in New Zealand, 38 on Austrian and Australian charts, 43 on German charts, and 53 on the Billboard 200, here in the US. The only single for the album became one of their absolute biggest hits. It may actually be their biggest hit, actually. That song is, "Broken", featuring Amy Lee. "Broken" was on the original Disclaimer as well, but due to the popularity, and Shaun Morgan dating Amy at the time, they decided to re-record the song with her in it. It became a massive hit, and I can almost guarentee everyone has heard this beautiful version, so it feels redundant to talk about it for too long. One of my personal favorite tracks is, "Fuck It." Which really is just a good song to play when you're trying to get fired up, or are slightly pissed off yourself. Its not exactly a nice song, but its very catchy and is very good to try to get yourself away from someone that's clearly just....well, fucking with your head. "You're out of luck -can't get a piece of me. It's all blown up. Don't even fuck with me. I cannot please you forever. I cannot please you at all." You hit your limit, and eventually you're done. If you're someone like me that struggles with giving people far too many chances, I recommend listening to this song. And I mean really listening to it, it may help inspire you to break against that and actually be done with a toxic person. Another favorite of mine is, "Out of My Way", which is all about doing something your way, not someone else's way. Sometimes you need to put people behind you and take opprotunities when you see them. This song expresses that perfectly, and I think it too could be very inspiring. I highly recommend listening to this verison of the album, I feel like it really helped Seether grow into the band they are today. Not that Disclaimer wasn't good, because it most definitely was. Seether has come along way since then, and have done a lot more. Please be sure to read the reviews we have for Karma And Effect, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, Holding Onto Strings Much Better Left To Fray, and Isolation And Medication. Along with all of those is an interview we did almost exactly two years ago with Seether's drummer, John Humphrey! Feel free to use all of this, and of course all of their music, to get excited for everything they have coming up. Seether is going to perform at several festivals in 2017, such as Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville and Carolina Rebellion. For further information, please check out the festival websites, and follow Seether on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with them and all they do. |
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
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