With that said, the album could have also been called No Time To Write as a band that has captured so much praise over the past two years could have put a lot more effort into their sophomore release. Take opener “Wake Up” which opens in a swirl of sound that breaks into a fast rhythm with vocalist Mitch Lucker screaming, but his vocals sound too processed when he hits the lower growls and the tempo changes sound forced and don’t take you anywhere. Again the vocals in “Something Invisible” are overpowering the track as the tone and shriek in the intro moments and thoughout the first minute are just mixed a bit too in the forefront which detract what could possibly be a decent track. “Wasted” sounds hollow in the intro verse and the musical composition sounds forced and makes the listener think that the band was struggling in their writing process and just put it together. With a band who has been tagged, “Death/MetalCore/Doom” I would expect a much better sounding album for their follow up as the sounds captured might be suited for a more “thrash” oriented band, they sound a bit thin in regards to SUICIDE SILENCE.

There are some high points to the album such as in the track “Lifted” that has tempo changes that sound in place and some nice arpeggios played on the leads that sound well thought out, and not overly fast showing that there is some room for experimentation in the future. “Smoke” is another song that sounds ‘natural’ with their song structure and does not sound forced as the parts roll together fluidly.

It must be tough being “that band” who is talked about by many, received critical acclaim accompanied by awards, and hailed as the second coming in the current American Metal Scene. I was looking forward to this release in hopes that SUICIDE SILENCE might put something across that would prove that they were worthy of their popularity status amongst the masses of metal. Unfortunately, their 37 minute offering this time around falls far from their past accomplishments and leaves the listener wondering what happened as this album comes off as a disjointed, unfocused entity

RATING: 4/10
LABEL: Century Media
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/suicidesilence

“Doing drugs is the most beautiful thing about being in a rockband. Up until 1998 I must have spent £1 million on drugs then I stopped because it is bad for your health, brain, life and for people around you. But while you use them – except for heroin which kills people and which I have never tried – as you lot (Italians) would say “Mamma Mia”.”

…before turning on Chris Martin and U2…

“I look at Chris Martin who says he has never taken drugs in his life and I think he is an idiot ‘We get on the stage and play. I have been to loads of concerts where bands don’t play they just talk about politics. At a U2 or Coldplay concert there is always a message about poor people or people dying from hunger – OK but can’t we just have a nice evening? Do we always have to feel guilty?’

“Chasing Inside” displays their ability to morph their songs to a higher IQ level with stressed vocals over music that supports the strain with emphasized emotion. Their unique approach to having the vocals pressed at full steam 100% of the time no matter the pace of the song is something that isn’t seen that often, it’s almost reminscent of Peter Dolving (THE HAUNTED). “Vice!” enters at a fast pace and is broken down in the choruses with guitar melodies comparable to AMON AMARTH before we head into a guitar solo showing that Nelson Martins knows how to unleash the fury.

With all of these great traits to their arsenal, there are some downfalls. “Dare I Say” comes off as fast for fast sakes and lacks the vocal hooks brought forth earlier in the album. “The Everlasting Grace Of Mind,” an instrumental, sounds like SPONGE circa 1994 and while not horrible in nature, I find myself looking around as it fades into the intro of the title track which sounds a tad bit like DANZIG and again Pantera and the chorus sounds like John Bush era ANTHRAX.

From the opening riff/groove to “Supernatural” from The Astonishing Fury Of Mankind by DARKNESS DYNAMITE to the closing title track, you are taken on a sonic journey crossing genres into something fresh and invigorating taking you away from the standard that is being pressed our way in 2009! Definitely a band to watch in the years to come as they develop into a heavy contender of their own!

RATING: 7/10
LABEL: Metal Blade
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/darknessdynamitemusic

Catch CAULDRON and WOLF at the following shows:

October 9 – London, UK @ The Underworld
October 10  – Leeds, UK @ Rio’s
October 11 – Glasgow, UK @ Ivory Blacks
October 13 – Newcastle, UK @ Trillians
October 14  – Manchester, UK @ Moho
October 15 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
October 16 – Dudley, UK @ JB’s

Check out the tour flyer below:

Dan Octavian, member of a politic party in Romania and also the head of the Local Council in Oradea, said he canceled the event from his orthodox citizen position and that the Local Council had nothing to do with the decision.

Dan Octavian also quipped, “The last two week have been very tumultuous, after some posters appeared in Oradea, stating “Satan Black Rock” and such.  People came to me complaining and telling me that God Dethroned is a band which promotes Satanism and that they are affiliated with a satanic organization.”

“Unfortunately he will have to have surgery and physical therapy for the next 4-8 weeks. So for obvious reasons he will not be with us on our upcoming headlining shows or the Summer Slob tour with The Acacia Strain. Please wish Kyle a quick recovery. He’s pretty bummed out.

“Caleb James, our long time roadie and drummer for Casey Jones, will be taking over drum duties for now. Check out all dates on our myspace.

“Yesterday, July 2^nd, Kyle went back to the doctors and they told him that if he wants to continue to play drums he will have to have surgery. The surgery will cost him $10,000. They require $5,000 up front and the other $5,000 once the surgery is complete. His emergency room bills, tests, ambulance ride, etc. is estimated to be an additional $10,000. He was very close to receiving health insurance thru his work, but unfortunately this happened before it did.”

Kyle’s parents have set up a donation site if you are interested. If not, then please keep him in your thoughts.

• DONATE HERE…

• DARKER HALF
• EYEFEAR
• VOYAGER
• ARCANE

QUEENSRYCHE are conducting a world tour on the back of their latest blockbusting release, American Soldier.

Dates, in Australian formatting, are as follows:

Perth – 27th August – Capitol (over 18)
Brisbane – 29 th August – HI FI Bar ( over 18)
Melbourne – 30 th August – Billboard The venue (over 18)
Sydney – 31st August – Metro Theatre (All Ages)

King Diamond comments:

“It was a lot of fun to get a chance to re-record “Evil” and “Curse of the Pharaohs” from our 1983 “Melissa” album. It was cool to go into the studio and try to figure out all the various harmony vocals and see if I could still do them. The other guys had a lot of fun with this project too, and the whole thing turned out much better than we could have hoped for. Everyone nailed their performances and Hank’s solos were even slightly improved. Everything is right where it should be and with a much better sound! The “feel” was there and all of the guys – Hank, Denner, Timi and Bjarne are all naturals. The versions that will be up on iTunes were mastered by Andy LaRocque and even with a 2009 sound, there’s no doubt that these songs were recorded by Mercyful Fate!”

Evil and Curse Of The Pharaohs will be available for fans to purchase digitally on July 14.

Ironclad Recordings is set to release ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE’s debut full-length studio album Defeat in the US and Canada on September 15 with SOAR releasing this behemoth of an album in Europe. Defeat was recorded during two different sessions in late 2008 at the Pus Cavern in Sacramento, CA and Heirloom Studios in Chico, CA, with Matt Pedri engineering.

Mixing and mastering for Defeat was handled by Eric Stenman (Saves The Day, Will Haven, Senses Fail, Far, Forever The Sickest Kids, Dashboard Confessional, Thrice) with cover art being tackled by renowned artist Matt Loomis, who has done cover art for Abominable Iron Sloth and the Makai in addition to merch designs for Mastodon and The Red Chord.

They even have a MySpace.

Additionally, Ruination’s cover art and full color booklet have also been made available for viewing at this location.  The striking, quasi-conceptual motif was designed by Brent Elliott White and takes its inspiration from JOB FOR A COWBOY front man Jonny Davy’s album lyrics and concepts.  Topics addressed by the album’s schema revolve around modern day worldwide dilemmas and controversial issues including “Propaganda in the main stream media and television, humanitarian rights of Northern Korea, the modern genocidal government of Nubia, the use of torture in American military tactics, overruling by world governments and Police states / Martial law”.

Check out his little interview with PopEater below:

If that isn’t your bag, read forth about SHADOW FALL’s mighty burger conquest.

The band has a few dates scheduled leading up to the release of ‘Frenzy,’ and more dates are expected to be announced soon

2009 Summer Dates:

July 17 – Genos Rock Club – Portland, Maine
July 18 – The Moose Lodge – Claremont, NH
July 24 – Crocodile Rock – Allentown, PA
July 25 – The Trocadero Theatre – Philadelphia, PA
July 31 – DJ Riders – Oceanside, NY
August 5 – Highline Ballroom – New York, NY (record release show)
September 6 – Fallout Fest – Natick, MA

Frenzy tracklisting:

1. First Cut
2. Cutter
3. Sex And Dying
4. The Only Track Not About Sex And Dying
5. The Best Way [MP3]
6. Painted Horse
7. Chemical Fight
8. Burn
9. Undone
10. Spanish Fly
11. She Waits
12. She Waits In A European Nightclub
13. Start The Show
14. Not My Year
15. lost Years

Anomaly official tracklisting

1. Foxy & Free
2. Outer Space
3. Pain In The Neck
4. Fox On The Run
5. Genghis Khan
6. Too Many Faces
7. Change The World
8. Space Bear
9. A Little Below The Angels
10. Sister
11. It’s A Great Life
12. Fractured Quantum
13. The Return of Space Bear (Dedicated to Tom Snyder)

A little promo vid is also up and running:

Dominic Forest, AUGURY bassist, checks in from Montreal and shares the following about the upcoming VADER trek:

“We are really proud and thrilled to tour with a cult band such as VADER and are really eager to join our friends Decrepit Birth on the road.  We will do video blogs while touring, so keep in touch with us on our MySpace page!!!”

“Faith Puppeteers,” a track off AUGURY’s forthcoming album, is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

Fragmentary Evidence was produced by Hugues Deslauriers (Clearwater Deathblow), Yannick St-Amand (Despised Icon), and AUGURY.  Mixing duties were handled by KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean-François Dagenais (Malevolent Creation, Misery Index, Despised Icon).  James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Disincarnate) provided the mastering.  Album artwork is courtesy of Sven de Caluwé (Aborted).

Confirmed dates for AUGURY’s tour with Vader, Decrepit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, and S.W.W.A.A.T.S. are as follows.

Monsters of Death Tour Dates:

November 4 – Sonar – Baltimore, MD
November 5 – The Palladium – Worcester, MA
November 6 – Webster Underground – Hartford, CT
November 7 – The Blender Theater @ Gramercy – New York, NY
November 8 – Fou Founes Electriques – Montreal, QC
November 9 – Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC
November 10 – Mod Club – Toronto, ON
November 11 – Penny Arcade – Rochester, NY
November 12 – Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
November 13 – The Pearl Room – Mokena, IL
November 14 – Rave – Milwaukee, WI
November 15 – Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
November 16 – Royal Albert Arms – Winnipeg, MB
November 17 – The Exchange – Regina, SK
November 18 – The Underground – Calgary, AB
November 19 – Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
November 20 – Roll-A-Dome – Prince George, BC
November 21 – Bourbon – Vancouver, BC
November 22 – Sugar – Victoria, BC
November 23 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
November 24 – Satyricon – Portland, OR
November 25 – Regency Grand Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
November 27 – Jumping Turtle – San Marcos, CA
November 28 – Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA
November 29 – The Key Club – Hollywood, CA
November 30 – U.B’s – Mesa, AZ
December 1 – The Rock – Tucson, AZ
December 2 – Gator’s – Farmington, NM
December 3 – Club Vegas – Salt Lake City, UT
December 4 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
December 5 – Marquee – Tulsa, OK
December 6 – Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX
December 7 – Scout Bar – Houston, TX
December 9 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
December 10 – Peppermint Beach Club – Virginia Beach, VA
December 11 – Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
December 12 – Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
December 13 – The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA

1. Mie
2. La Cerva
3. Ghost of the Garden City
4. Malacoda
5. Epochs in DMaj
6. Of Foam and Wave
7. Concrescence
8. The Raven
9. Vienna
10. Sycamore

Whether a long time fan or new to the ride, check out the with short video below for a look at one of the most successful underground bands in the world. And, for a taste of Bang! Pow! Boom!, which hits stores September 1, check out the freshly unveiled audio album sampler.

Toying With the Insanities marks the band’s first release since March 2009’s Kiss the Lie which was delayed two years due to constraints with the band’s previous label. After numerous speed bumps, “Kiss the Lie” was released on a small scale, without the assistance of a major label.

The remixed tracks on Toying With the Insanities were taken from CANDIRIA’s first three albums, and will feature contributions from underground, eclectic acts such as: Dalek, Dub Trio, Ghosts of the Canal, Kayo Dot and members of Dillinger Escape Plan, Fishbone, Peeping Tom and more.

“This is something that [frontman] Carley Coma and I have discussed for a few years and since I now have my own label and Candiria officially owns the rights to the first three releases we decided to put the series out,” comments guitarist John Lamacchia.

CMJ Magazine recently discussed the release of the upcoming collection, which can be viewed here.

The track list for Toying With the Insanities Volume One is…

1. Divided (Remixed by Dub Trio with Joel Hamilton)
2. Faction (Remix by Edgey)
3. Pages (Revisitation by Kayodot)
4. Tribes (Remix by Budzy)
5. Conjuring Spirits (Performed by Ghosts of the Canal)
6. Mental Crossover (Remix by Pole)
7. Three Times Again (Remixed by HighKoo and Mr.Delaroid)
8. Spectator (Performed by Ken Schalk)