Prophet Margin - Faith Salesmen (2011)

Genre - Crack Rock Steady

Good Crack Rock is hard to come by. In a world saturated with fusions and where Crust seems to be the order of the month, one has to take a dogmatic stance to what is acceptable as punk. This suffices, with good songs, bad songs and leftover something.

Prophet Margin stays true to the nihilistic tendencies of Crack Rock, for the reason that it seems to be anti-everything. I promote this as an alternative to the happy-clappy shit that seems to have taken over. With screeching vocals, they do not fuck around with trying to sound ‘clean’, a highly respectable virtue, in a world saturated with all that sounds nice.

Faith Salesmen is a follow-up on their 2009, “We've all got cancer”. Prophet Margin are from Australia. 

Star Fucking Hipsters - From the Dumpster to the Grave

Ska-punk / Crack Rock Steady

This is the third Star Fucking Hipsters album. I am hesitant to criticize this album, predominantly because of immensible respect I have for the super-human Stza. Truly this vocalist is up there along with my inspirations such as Nietzsche and Marx, with well thought out lyrics and an ability to deliver ranging genres. This is overall a more sober project, with clear vocals and some good riffs it really seems the great Sturgeon have decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

The change of female-vocalist is undeniable. They have definitely gone a more ska direction. Twenty-nine minutes of true political-driven aggressive punk music. The lyrics focus on the discrepancy between excess and having nothing in American culture.

Death is never out of fashion is melodic as fuck; it’s typical Star Fucking Hipsters. With a familiar type-chorus and really cool lyrics they truly capture your attention. The Broken Branches’ soft vocal intro is fucking ridiculously beautiful. This is by far my favourite song on the album.

9/11 to infinity is an amazing fusion of punk and rap. My initial impresion was too much process. My first reaction was dubios, but it takes a couple of listens to realize this is an  amazing song. The Stza that raps is a Stza I thought I would never hear.

Drowning out another year

This song sums up the change that Star Fucking Hipsters underwent. Perhaps more pop than punk, but all in all I approve.

Authenticity 5/5

Repeatability 4/5

Skeletonwitch – Forever abomination

Thrash Metal (Blackened Thrash if you must)

Well done Prosthetic Records for holding on to this fucking cool band (third album on Prosthetic Records).  They are currently touring with Devildriver and Arch Enemy. If you buy one album this year, buy Forever Abomination. Skeletonwitch truly created something louder than the sum of its parts.

Eleven songs are perhaps a bit too short, yet they pack a powerful punch in the short time of 32 minutes. The album has a very atmospheric, familiar feel; perhaps become a bit more sinister. They truly transcend the limits of the genre, with grinding drums and screeching vocals. They somehow delivered more than I expected.

Forever Abomination is the follow up on the 2009 masterpiece Breathing the fire. Forever Abomination is a major improvement in terms of vocals and drumming. Dustin Boltjes (the new drummer) is definitely an improvement as he is a furious drummer, with relentless beats he truly adds something Skeletonwitch have been lacking. Really clean and loud effort on the bass, really adds to the more melodic feel of the album. The vocals and as far as I can tell the lyrics are a much more brutal and sinister effort.

Best songs: The infernal resurrection, Reduced to the failure of prayer, Shredding sacred flesh.

This horrifying force (a desire to kill)

This is the most epic intro to an album this year, preliminary for the reason that it’s basically 50 seconds long. Then Chance Garnette vocals just fucking take over.

The minimalist drums at the beginning and the end is fucking intriguing. Point of critique: The lyrics are hard to understand, yet this is not a real criticism.

Reduced to the failure of prayer

Perhaps the most brutal song on the album, it seeps with thrash-fueled hatred. This song is meant for masses of fucking people circle-pitting. It starts with demonic guttural vocals, and doesn't seem to stop throughout.  What a strong message“…and yet your prayers go unanswered!” Solo that melts your brain.

The Infernal resurrection

This is so far my favourite song on the album. Most of the song contains tasty fucking riffs. This song is right in the middle and sincerely keeps the tempo of the album.

Shredding Sacred Flesh

This is a real ferocious song, proving once again Skeletonwitch to be a revelation of a sinister genre. Sounds like Chance Garnette has fucking demons to be let loose.

Sounds like: Witchery, Arsis

Style (uniqueness): 5/5

Brutality: 4/5

Skeletonwitch - Soundcloud

All Shall Perish – This is Where it Ends

01. Divine Illusion
02. There Is Nothing Left
03. Procession Of Ashes
04. A Pure Evil
05. Embrace The Curse
06. Spineless
07. The Past Will Haunt Us Both
08. Royalty Into Exile
09. My Retaliation
10. Rebirth
11. The Death Plague
12. In This Life Of Pain

I have always comfortable classified All Shall Perish as deathcore (a comfortable stime). After this fourth studio release it is near impossible to label, due to a lot of progressive/speed elements that this album offer. As a package (production, effort, tone) the album is a major improvement from Awaken the Dreamers – a pleasure for the senses.

The new drummer presents no problems; I fail to discern their styles. The lyrics once again made a huge impression, as well as the vocals itself. Francesco Artusato (lead guitarist) is a very interesting addition to the band, and may have had a greater influence in their change of sound.

Divine illusion is an impressive first song, with a feel of djent. In essence, the lyrics are really brutal and the instruments adds to this brutality.  This is all accomplished without relying on tedious breakdowns.

There is nothing left presents a really progressive take on the vocals with the vocalist ranging from really low to high-pitched screams. The lyrics are also rather fast, which changes the pace of the song. Procession of ashes is a really nihilistic song, yet in no way melodramatic. The theme of the whole song is burning the world down. Insane guitar outro to the song.

A Pure evil is backed up by some serious sweeping, deep guttural vocals and insane bends. The pitch and crudeness of the screams are really something to prepare yourself for. Embrace the curse is a heavy song with an awesome mix by the production. Spineless starts with an insane guitar part. On the track a lot of their speed elements shines through. The drumming itself is fast and technical/tricky. Love the use of drum-rolls.

The past will haunt us both fading intro is really elegant, with the drums creating an epic build-up. It’s amazing how the vocalist can keep the pitch so long. Royalty into exile has a real tasty riff at 1:24. My retaliation is a very intense song, with the vocals dropping in at the first second with “I hope to see you fucking die”. 

Rebirth has an insane guitar solo in the first minute of the song. After hearing The Death Plague a couple of times I could not help singing with “We are the dominant species”. In no sense does the album slow down at the end. This song is still filled with brutal riffs, bone-crushing vocals and drum-beats that make your spine cringe. 

In this life of pain has interesting palm-mutes. This album is meant to satisfy the die-hard fans of this genre. A true monster of an album.