Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Shirukume – Speaking in Colours

For fans of:  Sikth / The Dillinger Escape Plan / Protest the Hero

The debut EP, Speaking in Colours by incoming UK band, Shirukume is a fantastic introduction to their unique take on the Metalcore genre.  To be frank, pigeonholing Shirukume to a single genre is both unfair and nonsensical, as shown by their willingness to experiment with a great amount of proficiency on this EP.  Speaking in Colours is both heavy and melodic, with a great use of experimentation used.   Despite Shirukume being a relatively young band, they wield their instruments with great skill and display an immense talent for song writing.  Now defunct, Shirukume have ended and the remaining members have moved onto a new band, known as Chronographs.

Read on to see my review of Shirukume’s debut EP.

Blast From The Past: Khoma – The Second Wave (2006)

For fans of:  Cult of Luna / A Perfect Circle / Muse / Radiohead

‘Supergroups’ often fall deep into the trap of being overhyped by the media and fans and thus, at times, fail to reach the heights expected once the music is actually released.  Khoma managed to escape any real hype and ended up releasing one of my favourite albums of 2006.  The Second Wave is an album that passed by without even a blink from the mainstream.  It always seemed bizarre to me that an album that fits so well into the Indie trend (yeah don’t stop reading here. Trust me) that was big at the time would not receive any of the recognition that it deserves.  It suddenly hit me one day though; unlike other bands in that genre, Khoma are heavy.  They are very heavy and experimental.  This definitely helps them stand out from their contemporaries.  It’s almost a crime that Khoma have never got the attention they deserve, but to those that open their eyes to their music, Khoma provide something really special.

Khoma was formed from members of Cult of Luna, The Perishers and Deportees coming together in order to experiment with complete musical freedom, creating music different from their own perspective bands.  Whereas remnants from those bands can be heard in The Second Wave (in particular Cult of Luna), the music is different enough to not fall into the trap of being too similar to the members’ other bands; another trap which a lot of ‘supergroups’ fall into.

Read on to see what I make of their first album, The Second Wave, released back in 2006.

I actually bought this crap: Mudvayne – Lost and Found

Welcome to my very first posting for “I actually bought this crap”.  Basically, each week I will delve into my vast CD collection and pull out some of the worst albums I own and then discuss and mock the album in question.

First up this week is:

Mudvayne – Lost and Found (2005)

Review: Stone Sour – Audio Secrecy

For fans of:  Slipknot / Nickelcack / Alter Bridge

Following the tragic death of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray earlier this year, the one question on many peoples’ minds has been regarding the future of Slipknot and whether there will be another album.  Apparently, looking at many of the recent interviews, this is also not a question that people are too polite to not ask.  For the moment, comments by the band members have been conflicting and it’s a case of just waiting and letting them mourn first before asking themselves if they want to re-enter the studio and continue without their friend.

In the mean time however, Corey and Jim’s other band, Stone Sour are back with their third album and I present to you a review of their latest offering.  Read on to see what I make of it.

Blitzkritik: Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Nu-metal is like a nude beach. Sounds good in theory, but you go there and the people you see shouldn’t ever be nude in public because they’re fat and hairy, and the one cute chick is laughing at your small penis with her friends.

What I mean by that is, rock + rap wasn’t a bad idea per se, but it was done by no-talent nimwits for the most part, hence all the terrible bands, albums and singles released in that genre.

Which brings me to Linkin Park. A band who decided to also get a misspelled name after Limp Bizkit made it big. I’ve never liked them, and I think all their members are pretty bad at their instruments, maybe except the singer.

So without further ado, let’s review the latest offering from this “8-bit metal” band.