Finally! A quality punk band actually existed! I'm really excited to review this album by FBS because they definitely is one of my favorite current punk bands. In the world full of fake punk that's actually mostly just pop crap pretending to be punk, it is very difficult to find good punk bands that feel "real". Their sophomore album, "Fight Before Surrender", is excellent punk sound with tons of influences from classic 70s punk like The Clash, and 80's punk like The Exploited with their own current punk sound thrown in the mix. The lyrics is straightforward and true to their Christian beliefs. The only negative aspect of the album probably is that it's little tad "rip off" of those classic punk sounds but I can see their own creative spin on it so I am hoping that on their next album(they are recording right now) will have more of their own sound than reaping off their influences too much. I give this album 8.5 out of 10.

Labels: FBS, punk, review, street punk

This probably is one of the most interesting album I ever heard in a while. That doesn't mean its the best album ever...not that close to it. However, this band definitely have HUGE potential. I can see in their lyrics and music that they have tons of passion for music and experimenting with styles of music to see where they can push the boundary of black metal. They mix in grind and hardcore in black metal to create some good sound. The biggest problem with the album is production. It definitely need some good production and mixing so it doesn't sound all washed in. I would give this album 4 out 0f 10 mainly to production. They already are working on new album and I heard two songs they have up on myspace and it's WAY much better! I'm excited to see what they will do with next album because I knew they have huge potential and it's coming out now.

Labels: black metal, christian, experimental, majestic winter, o, review, sullen records

Hortor is a black metal band from Mexico and they released a demo, an EP, and a debut album. I am reviewing the EP, which have four songs. I don't really know what most of their lyrics means because they are in Spanish. However, I really dig the emotion and the keys in this EP. The major problem would be the mastering because it is really hard to listen through the bad production. I hope they would improve that aspect and put some money in mastering part. I can see that they have big potential to be a really good black metal band. The only thing that hold they back would be the production/mastering. Definitely give them a listen and try to ignore the production issues. 5/10

www.myspace.com/hortor

Labels: black metal, hortor, mexican metal, review, sullen records, unblack

A Plea For Purging is a well known metalcore band from Tenn. This is their sophomore album and an improvement over the debut album. I remember the debut album being full of energy but bit too generic for my taste. Now, this album is still a bit generic but the energy is still there! I really dig the energy they had and that is probably why they are doing so well right now. I really dig the song Malevolence and Traitor. This is a good album if you dig metalcore that is more metal than the core with breakdowns. That is one thing I really like about them a lot....not full of breakdowns. I would love it if they stop being generic and bring some more creativity in the next album. 6/10


www.myspace.com/apleaforpurging

Labels: a plea for purging, american metal, christian, metalcore, review

Elgibbor is a one man project by Fire who originally is from Poland but lives in USA now. He has many previous albums in his belt so there is a high expectation for this release. This album definitely surpass my expectation and I was blown away with the progress he has made with the album compared to last one. The whole album is excellent black metal with no fillers at all. Each single track is very good. I especially love the two songs in Polish language. Maybe it is just me but I have a thing for singing in foreign language. My favorite track probably have to be Dark Valley due to the atmosphere Fire created in this song. The entire album is pretty much almost flawless. I am very excited to see what Fire will do with his new album, War, that is coming out soon. 9/10

www.myspace.com/elgibbor

Labels: black metal, christian, polish metal, review, sullen records, unblack

Frost Like Ashes is a band created by Sebat in 2001. They are mixed black/death metal and just released Born To Pieces EP last year. This happened to be one of my favorite release of 2008. The album is limited to 250 copies and is already sold out. The album is absolutely amazing... I listened to it for weeks when I first got it. First three tracks are totally solid and Born To Pieces track is my favorite track. It's so brutal and the lyrics is hauntingly straightforward about abortion. The EP have two covers, one of Saint's "Plan 2" and Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around". Both covers are excellent done although I prefer the Cash over one a little better than the Saint one. They also did an acoustic version of their famous song, "A Nightfall's Cold Kiss", which is an interesting but good song. At first I was hesistant because I normally am not a fan of acoustic versions but they did this one very well. The last two tracks are rehearsal tracks which is nice to hear and see how they usually rehearse.

This is definitely a must for any death/black metal fans. Unfortunately its all sold out so you will have to search through ebay or see if anyone have it for sale/trade. 9/10


www.myspace.com/frostlikeashes

Labels: black metal, christian, frost like ashes, review, sullen records, unblack

Ulterium Records is one of the best metal record out of Europe right now. Incrave released their sophomore album, "The Dead End" about a year after their debut. I have not listened to the debut album but I heard from several people that it's big improvement so I will take their words. I honestly cannot remember where I got this album from but I stumbled on it today and decided to give it a listen. I'm glad I did!

I usually am not big fan of power metal and tend to be very picky on those type of music. However, I have to admit I enjoyed this album. It's a little bland for me and could use more variety of riffs and vocal techniques. I am surprised with the way they used the keys in this album and I really liked that. I'll have to say my favorite track got to be either "The Touch Of Death" or "Nevermore". If you are a power metal fan then you probably will enjoy this a lot. This is a good progress for Incrave since they are so young (average is 22 years old I believe) and I'm looking forward to see what they have in store for next album. 7/10

www.myspace.com/incrave

Labels: christian, incrave, metal, power metal, review, ulterium records

Transbeauce is a French rock band and they have been around since 1997. I received their album, Stories On The Radio, and gave it several listens in past few days. I really enjoyed the mellow sound and I can see that they are very experienced with their instruments. It's actually an instrumental album so there's no vocals on it. At first I was a little hesitant because it is very difficult to make a very good instrumental album without any lyrics to tell a story. However, I think they did pretty good job with that. I noticed that some of the songs sound little similar and I think that more variety in tempo and beats would make the songs different, yet still flow together. Overally this is a good mellow album and I would recommend it to anyone who may want to just chill out and listen to good relaxing music. 6/10

www.myspace.com/transbeauce

Labels: french, french rock, instrumental, review, rock, transbeauce