A Classic Vomitory Release

Considering the lack of new metal out right now, I thought it would be appropriate to explore something old and deadly. Something like Vomitory's debut: Raped in Their Own Blood. Vomitory is known for the menacing brutality, not only from their rude name, but from the sheer grisly nature of their music. I think anything that opens with a song called "Nervegasclouds" should automatically be considering a legendary album. And as soon as that song ends the rest of the album never lets up, you get a face-full of songs like, "Raped in Their Own Blood" "Pure Death," and "Through Sepulchral Shadows." It's like the guys from Vomitory knew exactly how much evil they were capable of spewing out at eager death-heads, the titles were just icing on the cake. A cake made of scorched flesh and blood that is. While the music itself may sound very old-school when compared to acts such as Braindrill whose music is just hyper speed nonsense that makes one's mind tie itself in knots, Vomitory's sound is nothing short of frightening. The production of this album gives me the feeling of classic Norwegian black metal because of how raw everything sounds. Not that raw is a bad thing of course, if anything, the rawness gives them that necessary bit of dark murderous intent that no death metal band should be without. Easily a classic death metal album that hopefully has not been forgotten.

Focus Tracks:
Nervegasclouds, Raped in Their Own Blood, Pure Death, Through Sepulchral Shadows, Perdition.

Austrian Death Machine Is Brootal

So I came across the goofy, 1-man, testosterone fueled, metal band that is known as Austrian Death Machine and I have to say, it isn't too bad. For those of you that haven't heard of this, it's basically a metal tribute to the great action star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying apparently recorded the vocals, guitars, bass, and drums for the entire album himself, with a little help from As I Lay Dying band mates and some dude who does a pretty good Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. The songs basically quote all of his movies and have the dumbest lyrics I have ever read. But then again, in that sense, the lyrics are basically perfect for this type of album.

"You betrayed me
You betrayed me
Now you're out for blood
To make me your kill
I must put a stop to this
By impaling you with a drill
Screw you
Screw you
Screw you Benny" - Screw You Benny, Austrian Death Machine.

As for the music, it's really just re-hashed As I Lay Dying songs with less complexity and tons of random-ass guitar solos. I guess you could call it mosh music or just straight up thundering metal that doesn't hold much weight in terms of brilliance. However, seeing as this isn't meant to be serious, each song was written in under an hour, and some songs are called, "Who is Your Daddy, and What Does He Do?" "Get to the Choppa," and "Screw You Benny," how can I not like this? And I mean the album is called Total Brutal, c'mon now. Plus, 7 of the tracks are just the Arnold impersonator doing comical skits with Tim Lamesis. So if you're willing to just have a good laugh or have nothing better to do I would consider checking this out. If anything it's just funny to hear "Schwarzenegger" tell Lambesis that he sounds like a dying moose.


Focus Tracks:
Get to the Choppa, You Have Been Erased, All the Songs Sound the Same, What It's Like to Be a Singer at Band Practice, Screw You Benny, If It Bleeds We Can Kill It, It's Not A Tumor

War of Ages: Melodic Metalcore Masterpiece

War of Ages seemed to start as a very harsh, yet tight Christian metalcore act in 2002. Not that the Christian part necessarily matters because honestly, without reading the lyrics I don't think it's possible to tell. Anyway, every release they've had (I believe the latest is technically their fourth album because their debut was re-released on Facedown records) has become more technical and more melodic, which is a damn good thing. I can't say how annoying it is when metalcore is looked down upon for being too repetitive because all of the bands sound the same. I got my hands on their newest album, Arise and Conquer, and all I can say is, War of Ages brings fresh meat to the table to be fully and heartily enjoyed by open-minded metal fans.

Arise and Conquer is like a non-stop battle of good against evil told through dueling guitars, thundering drums, and a fierce vocalist. This album gives War of Age's band name true meaning. The album really grabbed me as soon as I began to listen, which is always great because no one likes to force themselves to listen to something boring. The album is upbeat and head-bangable, the rhythm isn't uncontrollable and fast so you loose your mind trying to keep up. The thundering and pummeling drumming fuses nicely with the slower yet more melodic and technical guitars so I could really listen to the layers that each song had. Songs like, "Generational Curse" and "Salvation" really illustrate the band showcasing their knowledge of how great melodic metal can be fused with the fury of metalcore to make an amazingly unique sound. And even though this is metalcore, it has enough variety to keep anyone interested to hear more.

Well it looks like War of Ages has it again, they've constructed a well mixed album that blends awesome guitar harmonizing, a vicious vocal performance, perfectly clean melodies, and a sick album cover to top it all off. Compared to Pride of the Wicked, their previous release, I would say that War of Ages has matured in terms of song complexity and branching away from the traditional, old, re-hashed metalcore scene, and formed into a band who has finally found their own sound.

Focus Tracks:
Generational Curse, When Faith Turns to Ashes, Salvation, Sleep of Prisoners, Yet Another Fallen Eve, The Awakening

Whitechapel: Deathcore Take-Over!

Has anyone else noticed the large amount of deathcore bands rising from the bloody carcass of the earth these days? I sure as hell have. Whitechapel's Metal Blade debut: This Is Exile shows us a great example of the deathcore genre and how it's practically taking over with brute force. A solid release on a pretty big metal label, without sounding like every other up-and-coming band. Whitechapel mix just the right amount of gut-wrenching violence with the pummeling blast-beats that death metal drummers are so good for. The whole vibe of the album gives you a feeling like you've been cast into the deepest and darkest pits of despair and turmoil without an escape of any kind. The album cover alone makes me feel like that anyway. It's not even a gorey portrayal of destruction either, it's a person covered in razor wire with a bag over their head, talk about creepy...

This Is Exile is jam-packed with pig squeals from hell, guttural growling like that of Job For A Cowboy and Winds of Plague, a fair amount of guitar proficiency (there are 3 guitarists), although there is still a lot of very fast yet very heavy chugging, and bone-shattering double-bass brutality. This Is Exile is just one of those album that never lets up, just keeps dragging you through the broken glass and torn bodies of the fallen without a second glance. "This Is Exile," "To All That Are Dead," "Daemon (The Procreated)" and "Exalt" are fantastically arranged songs that bludgeon you to a bloody pulp and then feed on your entrails, while "Of Legions" and "Messiahbolical" just give you that eerie feeling of being trapped in a pitch black torture chamber with only the sound of your own breathing to keep you company. The only downside of this album is the constant use of the word "fuck" throughout almost every song, which makes it difficult to play on the radio. Apart from that though, Whitechapel make a definitive impact on the deathcore genre with their primal rage and infernal wrath.

Focus Tracks:
The whole album is a journey, just listen to it all the way through.

Keep of Kalessin: Untraditional Black Metal

A few months ago, several friends and I went to see Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, PA. Needless to say the show put on by both Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth was flawlessly filled with Satanic rituals, anti-Christian rants, blood spewing, and Nergal of Behemoth ripping up a bible. Before all of that though, there was a smaller band that none of us had heard of that opened for these larger black metal acts. We were all blown away by the sheer intensity that this band displayed, as well as the fact that the bass drums were so incredibly loud it was difficult to breathe properly. This band is known as Keep of Kalessin.

Keep of Kalessin recently released their 4th album, Kolossus, which I have to admit is a damn fine representation of untraditional black metal. It's fast, brutal, full of fury, and straight to the point. Unlike more traditional Norwegian black metal acts like Darkthrone and Mayhem, that feature high pitched screams, hyper-speed drumming, and very raw and grisly guitar work, Keep of Kalessin, add deeper guttural growls, more experimental drums, and some aspects of symphonic black metal and thrash to the mix. These additions make Kolossus an album full of variety and a lot of fun to listen to. With that said, it is safe to say that Keep of Kalessin may very well be considered a more progressive black metal band than anything else, kind of like Enslaved.

"Warmonger" is a very good example of the band experimenting with different types of extreme metal because the song promotes the usage of groove-oriented drumming, guitar soloing, much deeper vocals and that lyrical rawness that every black metal fan adores: deep hatred for the Christian religion. Not to exclude the epitome of machine gun double-bass drumming, blast beats, and pure, unbridled speed, but I think that Keep of Kalessin enjoys a bigger variety of playing styles than just those. "The Rising Sign" is another track that stands out because it features a long section of peaceful symphonic sounding instruments that bring everything to a calm state before hurtling the listener back into the blood-soaked war between corpse-painted demons and Christian angels.

Whether you're a black metal fan or not, this album is definitely worth checking out just for the sake of hearing something different and full of variation. Traditional Norwegian black metal is relentlessly evil and a great inspiration to many, but seeing a black metal band willing to branch out a little is definitely something to look out for.

Focus Tracks:
Kolossus, The Mark of Power, Warmonger, Against the Gods, A New Empire's Birth

Bonded By Blood: A Modern Thrash Attack

For those of you that think that thrash metal is a dying breed, I have some important news for you... I haven't seen this many thrash albums come out in a VERY long time. If anything, thrash metal has been refurbished and is now taking over with tremendous force. With that said, I just got Bonded By Blood's debut, Feed the Beast from Earache records and I have two words: FUCKING AWESOME! Does the band name sound familiar? Well, it is in fact a tribute to the famous thrash band Exodus and their debut in the 80's. This is genuine thrash at its best, these guys are young and ready to rip your face off with 12 ridiculously fast-paced thrash assaults, including a cover of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song.

This is the kind of thrash album where the riffs and solos are comparable in terms of intensity and complexity. And with song titles such as, "Necropsy," "Self Immolation," and "Feed the Beast" it's clear what these guys' intentions are: total fucking destruction. With lyrics like, "Blood boiling heat, what a wonderful treat, like getting fucked with a knife" how can you possibly say no? But apart from the songs and their undeniable "bang-your-fucking-head" mentality, the production of the album is really fantastic. Not only is the album mixed very cleanly, the sound of all the instruments together sounds very fresh and deep. More often than not I will hear a thrash album that I like, but it sounds like it was recorded in someone's garage. It's got almost a tinny feeling to it. Feed the Beast is heavy, fresh, has great production value, and will leave you wanting more bloody carnage because from start to finish you are force-fed unrelenting classic thrash straight from the blood drenched soul of Satan.


Focus Tracks:
The whole god damned album rules!

DragonForce's New Video

While this may not be the news for everyone, it's definitely news for me, DragonForce just released a music video for the song "Heroes of Our Time" off of their new album Ultra Beatdown, which is set to be released in August. I know these guys get a lot of criticism for their outrageously fast playing style and from what I hear, their live shows not being that great. But so what? I think as a power/speed metal band known for playing ridiculously fast, how can anyone deny that they are fun to listen to? After watching the video on YouTube, I found that the dudes from DragonForce are definitely attempting to play even faster than they did on Inhuman Rampage. And after seeing the dueling guitar solo that ensued about half way through the video I think it's amazing to see that Herman Li and Sam Totman have kept adding more strange and unique ways to use their whammy bars and fancy guitar techniques. And with their new Ibanez signature guitars on hand, Herman and Sam are really able to tear it up to no end! I really cannot wait to see how the rest of the album turns out.

Check out the video here.

Cavalera Conspiracy ≠ Sepultura

I have been bothered to no end by this little bit of controversy over the new flavor of metal created by the Cavalera brothers. For all the haters, the Cavalera Conspiracy is not supposed to be a reinvented version of tribal infused death metal cult that is Sepultura. It seems that people are so hung up on the fact that Max and Iggor left Sepultura separately, went on to different projects, but are now back together that they should just rehash the old stuff they're known for. So many people get upset because they're unimpressed by this un-Sepultura creation. The Cavalera brothers aren't going back to Sepultura, get over it. Instead of tribal death metal, the Cavalera brothers bring a whole new form of fucking hateful music to the table, what I like to call curb-stomping metal. Self-explanitory songs like "Must Kill" and "Nevertrust" are two especially hateful tracks worth checking out for the titles alone. With mind numbingly fast guitar work and blistering drumming, Cavalera Conspiracy are unrelenting, fierce, unstoppable and every other adjective necessary to describe primal rage. And with the help of Mark Rizzo of Soulfly and Joe Duplantier of Gojira, the four musicians are able to create a bludgeoning assault of gruesome fury. They are not Sepultura or Soulfly, but they should not be overlooked.

Focus Tracks:
Inflikted, Sanctuary, Ultra-Violent, The Doom of All Fires, Nevertrust, Must Kill

Melodic Power Death Metal?

Norther:
Petri Lindroos - Lead vocals/guitar
Kristian Ranta - Guitar
Jukka Koskinen - Bass
Tuomas Planman - Keyboard
Tony Hallio - Drums

Norther is the band that got me into melodic death metal, plain and simple. I first read about them in Metal Hammer magazine when I visited London a few years ago with my folks on a very un-metal vacation. Seeing as I was still very new to the metal scene back then, I didn't have tattoos, piercings, or even sideburns, one could say I didn't really know what I was getting into. To be honest, when I first listened to the song "Death Unlimited" off the demo CD that came with the magazine, I couldn't listen to it. I wasn't used to the harsh vocals and fierce playing style that this band is known for.
At that point I was probably listening to Metallica's Black Album and other clean-singing bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I hadn't quite made it to extreme metal yet. In a silly way my ears hadn't really "matured" yet to handle such visceral sounding music seeing as this was my first introduction to melodic death, or actually any death metal really. I'm pretty sure at that point I would never listen to bands like Cannibal Corpse or Emperor because they were just too much for my little 16 year old ears to handle... Now look at me, I've seen them both live and hold them pretty highly among my long list of favorite metal bands.

I forced myself to listen to this song over and over, hoping that the next time I would finally get that heart-racing feeling, the jolt of electricity up my spine, and that feeling of every hair on my body standing up as I felt the overwhelming glory like I do now. Unfortunately I didn't. It was only until I saw the music video for the song "Death Unlimited" did I finally feel like I could honestly enjoy this band. And let me just say that that video scared the 16 year old piss out of me when I first saw it. To be honest, I think it was the pure darkness of the video that got me excited enough to genuinely listen to the song again. Seeing the solo actually played also got me to appreciate how cool whammy bars are when they are used correctly. In a nutshell, the "Death Unlimited" music video shows Norther playing in a very dark and creepy warehouse (I swear every god damn metal video is filmed in a dirty warehouse or something), there are very bright lights flashing behind them, and they all look very frightening. Along with their performance, there are short scenes of a man taking pictures of people, scratching out their faces, and getting angrier with each imagine he marks up. As the video continues, this character ends up shaving his head into a mohawk and taking out a handgun, which he uses on a number of things. If my memory serves me, he pistol-whips a guy, kills a baby, kills a woman, ties this random guy to chair, beats the life out of him, and then shoots him in the face. The video comes to halt as this mohawked-psycho douses the tied up dead guy with gasoline and sets him on fire. During all the violent parts of the video are where the solo is put in, which is pretty awesome. Here I am, 16 years old, head-banging and playing air guitar while I watch people getting murdered...I guess you could say I was totally hooked on extreme metal at that point.

One more thing before I get to the album, I know that Children of Bodom was around way before Norther came out and I'm sure Norther is inspired by the "Hatecrew" as well. They both incorporate power metal into their melodic death metal sound, yet I still think the bands are pretty different. Children of Bodom seem to be advancing toward a more thrashy audience with their latest release Blooddrunk, while Norther continue to stay pretty melodic with Death Unlimited and Till Death Unites Us. I haven't really given their latest release N a good listen so I don't really have much to say about it.

Death Unlimited is probably Norther's strongest release so far considering that the album has such a wide variety of playing styles that range from the truly grotesque and ultra-violent to the beautiful grace that only Gothic metal bands like Nightwish are able to create. The beginning of the album starts with a beautifully constructed guitar intro that actually tricks the listener into thinking that this album may be similar to a quiet walk in a deserted garden of mystery and wonder. This is "Night Fall."

However, before you can get comfortable, Tony Hallio's bludgeoning drums gives the listener a nasty shove away from the mysterious garden of peace and into the fiercest of fires. The guitarists of Norther don't waste any time showing off their fast paced strumming and soloing abilities as this song demands a fair amount of speed and precision. "Deep Inside" ends with a really cool guitar duel between Kristian Ranta and Petri Lindroos.

"Death Unlimited" is the beast that haunts your dreams and eats you alive as you struggle to get free of its awesome power. This is by far the strongest track and my favorite as its relentless ultra-violent lyrics and take-no-prisoners attitude give a severe and murderous beat-down to whoever listens. Not to mention Petri Lindroos' demonic guttural growl and high-pitched screeches. Like I mentioned above with the music video, the solo is a fantastic example of good whammy bar usage as Lindroos and Ranta make their axes scream so shrilly that you would think they were actually capturing the sound of murder with their agile fingers.

"Welcome to my world of death and pain
Oh it drives you so insane
I am no blast from the past
Because I'm death and I'm everlast

I'm the future breed, evil and mean
A fucking killing machine
No-one will stay alive and see
They all will die and join me" - Death Unlimited, Death Unlimited.

Moving on, "Chasm" slows the tempo down a bit, but continues with the ferocity of the two previous tracks. This is one of those songs that really emphasizes Norther's existence as a melodic death metal band because of the eerie yet beautiful mesh of dense bass and violin-like playing about 3 minutes into the song. Like "Deep Inside," this song finishes with some speedy guitar shredding.

The vibe I get from listening to "Vain" is that I have been pushed back into that mysterious garden that was "Nightfall," yet something is different. The song begins pretty fast-paced but slows down with a groovetastic bass line that makes me feel as though I am lost somewhere dangerous. The keyboardist, Tuomas Planman, really adds a lot of Gothic effects and textures with his white and black keys of death. He can also I guess "shred" or at least play really fast with his keyboard so that he's able to really keep up with the dueling guitarists.

The most power metal inspired track I feel is "A Fallen Star." The way that the song is introduced makes me feel energized all of a sudden even though the last couple of songs have been so dark and evil. There is a small amount of clean singing done by Ranta which is a nice change of pace too. The power metal feel really comes from the way the riffs sound and how the overall song is put together. This song doesn't sound murderous or bludgeoning, instead it's fast-paced like power metal and energetic rather than thrashy. There are more keyboards dueling with guitars in this one as well.

"The Cure" puts you right back into the thrashier side of this album as this track just sounds very raw to me. Not raw in a bad way at all, but not very melodic at all. Very much guitar and drum oriented. It sounds very angry actually, like the listener had escaped the fire for a few minutes only to be shoved back into it head first.


"Day of Redemption" is just a cool title, period. I feel as though this track would satisfy any battle scene of any action movie. Or at least be something to play as people are getting themselves ready to annihilate foes, regardless of whether they're protagonists or antagonists. Needless to say, I would call this song very epic. There's no other way for me to describe it really, you just have to hear it.

If you were hoping for a small breather, this would be it. "Beneath" is basically the intermission of this album as it follows the same path as "Nightfall." It's mellow and gentle unlike the rest of the album. It's the slight scent of a delicate flower blooming in the garden of mystery. Don't worry though, that flower is quickly crushed.

"Hollow" is probably the other awesomely strong track on this album that I really enjoy blasting for prolonged periods of time. Nothing but very fast tempos and demonic vocals coat this track with buckets of fresh blood. There are also some cool chanting parts that make it sound extra brutal at times along with a quasi-break down that introduces the keyboard/guitar shredding mayhem that Lindroos, Ranta, and Planman are obviously so notorious for. It's so great how well the guitars and keyboards fuse together to make an impossibly technical yet melodic display of soloing power.

"Nothing" is like the one song on the album that has a really emotional side to it. Most of the songs have been comprised of murderous intentions or spite for the ignorant. "Nothing" on the other hand reminds me of songs like "My Curse" sung by Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage because the lyrics inspire me to do something other than thrash around and pretend I can play as fast as Ranta or Lindroos. This is basically the final chance to escape the fiery pits of hell by being somewhat sentimental.

"I fear the darkness that makes me blind
There's nothing I can feel
These tears are nothing without you
I'm nothing without you" - Nothing, Death Unlimited.

The final song on the album is "Going Nowhere," which is a pretty good finisher to such an amazing album such as this. It blends all of the aspects of this album into one by using complex keyboard structures along with some cool guitar solos. The drumming and bass are also in perfect harmony, which gives the listener a nice balance of crushing speed and brutality. After hearing the ending solo it really doesn't matter whether you're impaled by a large burning spike in hell, it's safe to say that this journey has been pretty badass.

I almost forgot, there's a pretty good cover of Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" after "Going Nowhere." It's a decent cover. That's all.

All in all, I'd say this album is more than worth checking out, not just because it's essentially what got me into the extreme metal scene, but because it's a great example of GOOD melodic death metal. It's also good to see that Norther isn't afraid to experiment with such opposites like energetic power metal and ultra-violent melodic death metal. This turned out way longer than I thought, hopefully I didn't lose anyone back there...

Let's Get This Ball of Brutality Rolling...

Last weekend I hung out with my good friend Nick, who shares the same interest in a variety of metal as yours truly. We both share a strong admiration for musicians who can create technical music as opposed to people who can just play obnoxiously fast without a sense of rhythm or art. Even though some of the latter can be fun to watch as their fingers turn into blurs that practically jack off the neck of their guitar, we would both rather hear some sort of intelligence come out of it all. Anyway, every time we hang out we usually become engulfed in an endless debate over who has found the most amazing new band as well as revisiting favorite bands that each of us has just rediscovered in our search for really awesome metal. On this specific occasion we were both just going on and on about Lamb of God and how amazing they are in every way possible. During that time we were having serious issues coming up with similar bands that could really rock like these neo-thrashers. This leads me to something that has been bothering me for awhile.

It has come to my attention that the band Lamb of God is a one-of-a-kind metal phenomenon that I cannot seem to compare to anything else. Whether it is Randy Blythe's unique style of guttural growling or Chris Adler's insanely complex drumming style, I just can't find anything quite like it. Lamb of God just seems to be one of those bands that is reinventing the whole "New Wave of American Metal" genre by leaps and bounds.

However, recently I found a not-so-new but not-so-old metal band that is comparative to Lamb of God's style, yet can stand on its own without being ridiculed with being a cheap knock off of another band (like the endless debate over Trivium's latest album, The Crusade being an exact copy of Metallica's most famous album, Master of Puppets, which I still can't take sides with either argument, but that's another story). Byzantine is this semi-new band that I'm attempting to introduce.

At first glance, I highly doubt anyone would see any sort of similarity between the two bands apart from the small fact that they originated very close to one another (Lamb of God being from Virginia and Byzantine being from West Virginia). However, if you take a deeper look at the two bands it is apparent that they are very much alike. The drumming in Lamb of God has always stood out to me among all of the metal bands I cherish because Chris Adler doesn't just provide a beat to go along with the rest of the musicians, instead it's almost as if he's doing a drum solo throughout the entire song. It's tough to describe, I guess another way to put it would be that Chris Adler's drumming doesn't turn into a blur after a few songs, every song has a new and fresh feel to it because he changes the rhythms, beats, and tempos throughout every song. The drumming can be pummeling as well as somewhat groove-oriented is what I'm really trying to get at. The structure of the beats and drum fills are so complex it has really opened my eyes to more than just some dude who can move his feet really fast. After listening to Byzantine's latest effort, Oblivion Beckons I feel like Chris Adler has some serious competition. Drummer Matt Wolfe, like Chris Adler, isn't your average drum pounder who plays loudly in the background with no one taking any notice of his existence in the band. Wolfe's drumming ranges from the delightfully heavy double-bass sequences that every metal band should have to the complex drum fills that Chris Alder is so notorious for. Like Lamb of God, Byzantine's Matt Wolfe probably uses a pretty hefty drum kit containing multiple cymbals and percussion that can be heavily used for a more interesting variety of drum fills and rhythm sections.

While I could probably go on for hours about how incredible the drumming force is between these two bands, I think it would be wise to move on to the other aspects of Lamb of God and Byzantine. While the drummers may share the same sort of style the vocalists are probably the main difference that separates both bands. The only similarity I can see would probably be the lyrical comparisons. Both bands typically write about political stuff having to do with the American society being so completely ass backwards that everyone is getting fucked over. Randy Blythe of Lamb of God has his signature demonic sounding guttural growl that can scare even the most hardcore metal fan shitless with one of his barks. He must gargle sand paper after brushing his teeth with razor wire or something in order to get that kind of hateful demonic sound to come out of his mouth. Byzantine's Chris Ojeda mixes guttural growls, hollering, and clean singing all together to create a much broader array of vocals. The amazing thing about Ojeda is that his vocals do not change between songs but rather throughout each song. In the song "Centurion" off of Oblivion Beckons he switches from a Scar Symmetry-esque death growl, to a Randy Blythe style guttural growl, to a regular clean singing voice. Ojeda's vocal range really adds to the complexity of the rest of the album because whether people like to believe it or not, front men are one the main driving forces to making a band stand out among the rest. During a live show they're usually the conductor of madness during the metal extravaganza. And I mean, look at Judas Priest, Rob Halford's vocal style is what makes them stand out. Don't get me wrong, the dueling guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are pretty rad, but hearing those high pitched screams coming from Halford's throat pretty much seals the deal that you're probably listening to Priest.

Lastly, I'd like to look at the guitar work for both bands seeing as this is the last instrument I have yet to obsess about. I mean I could talk about the bassists but to be completely honest I don't have anything really amazing to say about either bassist. Of course, it's also important to realize that all of Byzantine's members have their fair share of guitar input on Oblivion Reckons seeing as they all have some background knowledge on guitar. They're definitely an important part of the band and I think the bassists give the music a certain level of layering and density, but that's about all I have to say about them. I think it's clear that whichever instrument I'm talking about for each band that the specific musician is probably going to deserve a medal for being complex without being senselessly loud and obnoxious. Lamb of God's Mark Morton and Willie Adler both create an atmosphere of precision as well heaviness that makes any listener want to hear more. Recently I think they've been incorporating more solos into their songs, like the one in "Walk with Me in Hell" or "Requiem" (my personal favorite) off of Sacrament, but apart from the soloing I think that their use of complex riffage and song structure really allow me to appreciate the hard work that goes into making an album rather than something to just thrash around wildly to in my state of excitement and metal bliss. And let me just say that Mark Morton and Willie Adler may use more pinch harmonics on Ashes of the Wake than I've ever heard Zakk Wylde use...which is fucking awesome. As for Tony Rohrbough and Chris Odeja of Byzantine, their flawless harmonizing in the song "Nadir" off of Oblivion Beckons sends chills up my spine in the best way possible. Their efforts create a sort of thrashy yet melodic sound that just creates such a perfect mesh of ferocity and precision that goes along with the blistering drum fills and complex song structure. "Receiving End of Murder" is probably one of their strongest songs on the Oblivion Beckons because it mixes complex riffs with some pretty cool shredding solos without being too much to deal with. The song isn't crammed with so much that it's impossible to comprehend, but rather has the perfect balance of thrash, melody, soloing, and brutality to make it a dignified metal anthem of the future.

I think that while Lamb of God may be more widely known than Byzantine, I definitely think that the latter will be joining the ranks of "Most influential bands of the New Wave of American Metal." However, I just found out upon writing this that Byzantine broke up like 4 days after Oblivion Beckons came out for reason unknown to me. That really sucks, but I still think their music should boost the New Wave of American Metal to new heights. If you are to take anything away from this rant/ramble/whatever you want to call it I'd say to check out both of these bands if you haven't already. Byzantine's Oblivion Reckons is more than worth the money and has been blasting through my headphones this whole time. I STRONGLY suggest picking this album up if you like Lamb of God or agree with anything that I've said above.

Suggested tracks off of Ashes of the Wake*:
- Hourglass
- The Faded Line
- Blood of the Scribe
- Now You've Got Something to Die For
- One Gun

Suggested tracks off of Oblivion Beckons:
- Absolute Horizon
- Nadir
- Receiving End of Murder
- Catalyst
- A Residual Haunting

*These are tracks I thought had awesomely complex drumming