August Burns Red
Leveler
Solid State (2011)
August Burns Red have become the face of American metal over the last few years with their unique brand of metalcore, but Leveler is poised to redefine the genre all together. Tactically bending genres with ease, they’ve crafted a truly ambitious album of unparalleled diversity and precision.Constellations, ABR’s last release, had shown a tremendous amount of growth with a more diverse, structured sound. Leveler expands on that in a major way, managing to broaden an already diverse sound to extent that has to be heard to be believed. Not only is Leveler more diverse, it’s done in seamless fashion; blasting through metal and hardcore subgenres in an almost careless manner. Where Constellations was generally a metalcore album and rarely strayed from that sound, Leveler throws caution to the wind, mixing in influences from all over the spectrum. "Internal Cannon" is a perfect example of this, starting off with your usual mix of blistering guitar noodling and off beat breakdowns but takes a turn into left field with a Latin influenced acoustic bridge. These odd moments arrive when you least expect them and add an interesting dynamic to the album.August Burns Red also displays a new found interest in melodies often … Read more
The United Sons of Toil
Until Lions Have Their Historians, Tales of the Hunt Shall Always Glorify the Hunter
Flannel Jammies Music/Sector Five (2008)
The United Sons of Toil probably won’t ever receive the distinguished honor of a 7.1 rating from Pitchfork, but anyone … Read more
Deafheaven
Roads To Judah
Deathwish Inc. (2011)
When I initially read about San Francisco’s Deafheaven, I didn’t expect to be surprised by their recordings. Anytime I see … Read more
Death Cab For Cutie
Codes And Keys
Atlantic (2011)
With a prolific band like Bellingham, Washington’s Death Cab for Cutie, (Codes and Keys being their seventh studio album release), … Read more
