The Word Alive - Life Cycles American Metalcore band return with their anticipated follow up to debut "Deceiver" with their full length sophomore album. They have toured with big bands such as A Day To Remember, Underoath and Suicide Silence, have recently been annouced as support for Parkway Drive in November and recieved critical acclaim from press including Kerrang and Metal Hammer who named them in their feature of 75 bands that will shape the future of metal! So how does the new album shape up?!. "Dragon Spell" is the perfect opener as it throws everything at you, and if not familiar with their sound is a great introduction to their elaborate mix! Starts of with creepy eerie sounds then tranforms into a crazy,hectic and powerful sound. Almost Sounds like a Metal Circus! Filled with Impressive shredding and great mix of madness and brilliant production which is no surprise really with producer, Joey Sturgis on board (The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria). Other stand out tracks include "Entirety" which opens with a great intro riff which grabs you. So much going on..in a good way! "Bar Fight" fastest heaviest track so far with dramatic synth sounds and again as seen with other tracks powerful and diverse singing. Album titled track, "Life Cycles" slows things down a bit at first but soon picks up again, in what is a very dynamic track, good choice for single as represents the album well. "Evolution" has a dramatic opening backed up again by strange synth sounds, and crazy guitar riffs,shredding and licks. Great mix of both equally superb clean and aggressive vocals, singer, Tyler Smith, really is a great metal vocalist. One of fave tracks on album, although you are spolit for choice! "Ambitionary" boasts excellent guitar work, something which this album has tonnes of! Guitarists, Zach Hanser and Tony Pizzuti certainly know their way around the fret board! Last track number 13, "Astral Plane" is cleverly 3 minutes 13 seconds long. Different to other tracks, first half is rather calm and serene, then half way through comes 'alive'. "Life Cycles" is complex organised musical chaos that remains coherent with consistently high standards! There are no sudden drops in creativity throughout, making the whole 13 tracks a brilliant experience in its 'entirety'! CL
The Offspring – Days Go By I was 10, in the throes of childhood, when I first heard The Offspring and became corrupted. Their ferociously catchy skate punk guiding me into the twisted world of music I listen to today. A lot has changed in the twelve years since I first heard Conspiracy of One, and we could forgive the Californian titans if they wanted to slow the pace after 28 years in the game. Whilst their latest release, Days Go By, is a really solid album in true Offspring fashion it lacks that killer edge of the earlier days when they produced killer classics and countless hours of entertainment, and many more sleepless hours for our parents. It would have been all too easy, considering their age, for them to lose touch, but they’re still on the pulse of what punk rock is all about – mainly having fun and not giving a shit what people think. As for standout tracks there really aren’t any, not because they lack pizzazz, but because the whole album is consistently strong, if you ever liked The Offspring then you’ll like this album – I’m barely a couple of tracks in before it starts to get stuck in my head, with my foot starts taping it’s not long before I end up singing choruses whilst walking around Tescos – much to my girlfriend’s embarrassment. If you’ve never liked The Offspring I can’t begin to imagine what planet you live on, Days Go By will never be a classic, but you’d be a fool not to check it out. SM