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Baroness

Blue Record
Relapse (2009)

Much like their previous full-length, Red Album, Baroness' follow-up, Blue Record has been hyped quite a bit by the metal community. Red Album saw Baroness go in a very interesting direction as they shifted away from the straight-up heaviness of their EPs to a more drawn out and atmospheric sound, while still holding onto their sludge roots. Regardless, Red Album … Read more

White Mice

Ganjahovedose
20 Buck Spin (2009)

To start I took a whole bunch of notes on White Mice's Ganjahovedose and realized afterward that I missed something kind of big about this band, no guitars. White Mice operates as a three-piece and that may be the only truly normal thing about them. They use drums, bass and most oddly an oscillator to make some of the strangest … Read more

Stereotyperider

Songs in the Keys of F & U
Suburban Home (2009)

I've had a long-standing career of completely ignoring Stereotyperider even though friends have made valiant attempts to reassure me that I would like this band. I kept hearing whispers of Samiam, Seaweed, and other great rock bands from the 90's. So when I saw a promo for Songs in the Keys of F & U was available for review I … Read more

Lungs

Lungs
Esucha!/Self Inflicted (2009)

Being a firm believer that one's environment can affect one's mood and demeanor and then subsequently affect the music that one creates, it is always interesting to hear music from bands, groups, and people from areas that are not considered to be musical hotbeds. Isolation can cause some interesting music. Lungs hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and although consideration exists for … Read more

Austin Lucas

The Common Cold (Reissue)
Magic Bullet (2009)

In a time of ex-punkers going the acoustic, solo route, Austin Lucas offers something that differs from his Revival Tour circuit peers. Where artists like Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry offer rootsy tunes brimming with desolation, they hold a shadow of hope and optimism. Lucas, on the other hand, wallows in despair, taking more time to focus on the details … Read more

Where the Land Meets the Sea

Listen for the Gulls
Independent (2009)

It surely takes balls to release your own record nowadays (not that it didn't back in the day), but some bands do believe in what they are doing enough to take such a plunge. Where the Land Meets the Sea offer Listen for the Gulls as proof that some bands, be it punk or not, still breath some life into … Read more

Advent

Naked and Cold
Solid State (2009)

Beloved was a band that I never really got into. I gave them a chance, but to me, they were just another band in the faux-hardcore/screamo scene. They were mediocre for what they were doing and living in the shadows of other bands playing similar styles of music in a much more dynamic way. They were like a less volatile … Read more

Dead City

Goddamn the 21st Century
Thrashed! (2009)

To create a preface for the reader I'm going to backtrack a bit. I grew up during an amazing time for metalcore - before Victory Records became giant media whores. So noted I have a very obvious soft spot that style of hardcore. This may be helpful information for you since Dead City compares their sound to that of Crowbar, … Read more

Bloodhorse

Horizoner
Translation Loss (2009)

This review has been a long time coming. Translation Loss Records seems to have a knack of finding the best of the recent crop of stoner or post-metal style bands and giving them a home. This band fits nicely into the first category. Made up of members of Boston area hardcore luminaries of sorts, they have been steamrolling their way … Read more

Seneca

Reflections
Lifeforce (2009)

Although they aren't breaking any new ground, especially in the already worn-down genre of metalcore, North Carolina's Seneca are talented at what they do. Though everything they've written on their sophomore album Reflections has been done before, they execute it with such precision and emotion that it gives it a new feel. This isn't to say that their songs were … Read more

Three Mile Pilot

Planets / Grey Clouds
Temporary Residence (2009)

Thank (insert the deity or spirit or devil that you pay allegiance to here)! Three Mile Pilot is finally giving listeners new music to enjoy, which after years since their last record of new material, 1998's Three Mile Pilot EP (The two-CD compilation of rarities, Songs From an Old Town we Once Knew was released the following year). Comprised of … Read more

Korova

Another Happy Customer
Victimized (2009)

Korova are a DIY hardcore band from Alabama. They wear their influences on their sleeve, with latter-day Black Flag being the predominant one throughout Another Happy Customer, though other 80s bands pop through their discordant surface. The minimal, noisy tracks separate the band from a number of their crustcore peers, but they definitely developed their songwriting from 80s thrash and … Read more

This Time Next Year

Road Maps and Heart Attacks
Equal Vision (2009)

The term "pop-punk" has been tarnished and dragged through the mud quite a bit thanks to the surge of boy bands disguising themselves as pop-punk bands: All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, Mayday Parade, etc. These bands parade around giving a bad name to any band that draws any influence from the New Found Glory/Saves the Day school of … Read more

Izah

Finite Horizon / Crevice
Independent (2009)

Europe, as the old continent, contains a great deal of culture and a long history to help shape musicians and the work. Many in the United States move on obliviously with our lives while barely noticing some of the more well known bands from there. Izah is a group from the old continent that surely is under the radar of … Read more

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