Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Anthony Joseph

Here in 2017 with the over-saturation of bands and cookie-cutter riffs that often occur, most bands can get lost in a sea of noise and sounds that begin to blur together. That is not the case with Emmure and their brand new album entitled ‘Look At Yourself’. Emmure have been on the rise throughout the years, carving their path in the metal scene being labeled by the media as either deathcore, hardcore, metalcore, and even nu-metal. Emmure sounds like Emmure and most fans would agree. Continue reading “Album Review: Emmure – Look At Yourself”

By Ryan Falla

Bringing a special brand of punk-grunge from their hometown of Los Angeles, the three-piece act ‘Dealer’ are dropping their debut record ‘Billionaire Boys Club’. Crafted from a deep angst born from founding member and singer/guitarist Kevin Clausens’ struggles in getting a musical project going. Dealer represents years of failed musical projects and struggles to get the band off the ground, finally coming together in 2016 as Sexless before a name change and lineup finalization. What’s striking about the record ‘Billionaire Boys Club’ isn’t the journey taken to create this album, but the level of emotion present in the album. Continue reading “Album Review: Dealer – Billionaire Boys Club”

By Rosie Walker

Out of New Jersey comes a metal band that is difficult to categorize. Mutiny Within has defied genre boundaries since their self-titled debut album in 2010. The band has been through some tough times since then, but their third album is finally seeing the light of day. Holding true to their eluding ways, ‘Origins’ is a record Mutiny Within fans should be excited about. The band made a dent in the scene when they became road warriors promoting their first album in 2010. It was obvious they were hard-working and truly loved what they did, but sometimes that’s not enough for a band to keep going. Hitting financial trouble, they went on a hiatus in 2011. Though they independently released another album in 2013, things remained relatively quiet for the band. Yet their fans were faithful, and are now rewarded for their patience. Continue reading “Album Review: Mutiny Within – Origins”

By Anthony Joseph

Suicide Silence are back this year with their brand new self-titled LP. This is the band’s fifth studio record, the first since 2014’s ‘You Can’t Stop Me’, and their second on the Nuclear Blast label. This is also their second full length album to feature vocalist Eddie Hermida, who replaced the late Mitch Lucker. I’ll admit, I am a big Suicide Silence fan and have been since 2007’s ‘The Cleansing’, and I was actually quite skeptical myself coming into this new album because of what the band had previously been saying in interviews leading up to the premiere of the first single ‘Doris’. The song raised quite the controversy over the internet and the metal community because of its use of clean vocals and analog tape recording, and ultimately the loss of some of the band’s fanbase as a result of this newfound musical direction they were going in. Continue reading “Album Review: Suicide Silence – Self-Titled”

By Jaide Alicia

Personally, I have never been a fan of live records. If it isn’t ‘Kiss Alive’, the odds of me listening to it is slim. However, between Accept’s live CD/DVD release ‘Restless and Live’ and Armored Saint’s ‘Carpe Noctum’, it’s safe to say they’re growing on me. Continue reading “Album Review: Armored Saint – Carpe Noctum”

By Andrew Bansal

It only seems like yesterday when Canadian metal group Striker released their fourth full-length album ‘Stand in the Fire’, not only because the release date was less than a year ago, but more so because that album is still on the minds and playlists of those that were wise and fortunate enough to feast their ears upon it. Many bands claim to be old-school, most notably in the dress sense, lyrical themes and imagery, but purely from a musical standpoint, the true throwback to the ’70s and ’80s is in bands having the creativity, desire and motivation to release one or more albums a year.  Taking us back to the ultra-prolific glory days of the likes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in their early years, but with a sound undeniably contemporary with modern times, Striker are ready to unleash their fifth, self-titled full-length album. Continue reading “Album Review: Striker – Self-Titled”