A complete break from the norm this week …
The end of June draws closer and the year is already half over. What better time for a “mid-term” report card, a quick look at the hits and misses of 2005 up to this point?
To keep the length down, I had to overlook some stuff … albums I might have enjoyed or hated. But I think overall, I hit what I thought were notable releases for the first half of ’05, some stuff to pick up (if you haven’t already) and some stuff to avoid. So, without further ado …
Trivium: ” Ascendancy” … a great metal album …
An impressive major-label debut from this straight-ahead, bludgeoning metal band. With a sound akin to Shadows Fall or label-mates Killswitch Engage, “Ascendancy” is right on the level of each band’s previous release. Recommended tracks: “End of Everything,” “Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” and “Dying in Your Arms.”
Nightrage: “Descent into Chaos” … metal and death metal collide …
With each listen, this band’s mix of metal and death metal grows more and more addicting. The riffs are epic, the drumming is relentless and the vocals are scary and intense as hell. Recommended tracks: “Phantasma,” “Frozen” and “Omen.”
Crowbar: “Lifesblood of the Downtrodden” … middle-of-the-road band finally hits it big …
I was never a huge Crowbar fan, but this album — a sludgy mix of riffs and subtle melody — won me over. With each spin, this album becomes more and more comfortable, showing no chinks in the armor. Recommended tracks: “Fall Back to Zero,”Dead Sun” and “Coming Down.”
Open Hand: “You and Me” … genre-blurring act doesn’t disappoint …
I’m not listening to this album nearly as much as I’d want to, but “You and Me,” one of my most anticipated albums of 2005, still ranks high on my “best of” list. Four months later and still nothing disappoints me about this release. Recommended tracks: “Her Song,” “trench Warfare,” “Pure Concentrated Evil.”
Mudvayne: “Lost and Found” … band finally has a solid direction …
Finally with a set direction, Mudvayne hit one out of the park. This is actually a solid, tight, metal release. “Lost and Found” has all the different elements that were good from the band’s previous albums rolled into one. Recommended tracks: “Choices,” “Forget to Remember” and “Happy?”
American Head Charge: “The Feeding” … I was expecting more …
I was hoping for so much more with this release. The band tightened up, but lost a little of its edge with this latest release. Most of the material is catchy enough, but the spark from “The War of Art” seems diminished. I’ll be interested where the band heads since a founding member died earlier this year.
Norma Jean: “O God, The Aftermath” … Is there too much noise? …
Following in the steps of its last album, Norma Jean pushed the boundaries of orchestrated noise. For the most part, this album is a success but still lacks a cohesive thread to pull the entire album together.
Corossion of Conformity: “In the Arms of God” … Is there enough to keep my attention? …
“In the Arms of God” is a solid album. I loved hearing the band revert, in a sense, to its older “sound” … but I wonder what exactly is missing since I don’t feel compelled to listen to the disc as much as I expected …
Still Remains: “Of Love and Lunacy” … The band has matured since its EP, but do I like it? …
Don’t get me wrong … I love this album. I’m just still trying to process whether or not the more polished sound is working for the band. Having recently revisited the band’s debut EP has raised doubts for me, so this one is on the edge (for now…).
A Static Lullaby: “Faso Latido” … How much melody is too much? …
This album is a little more subtle than the band’s debut effort. Having heard most of the material live, I know there’s an edge to it that doesn’t quite shine through on the studio versions. This is still a solid album, just one I’m still on the fence about.
Avenged Sevenfold: “City of Evil” … A total change of sound …
I still can’t believe how disappointed I was with this album. I really want to give it another chance but, with the older material still ringing in my ears, I just don’t know how I can do that right now.
The Esoteric: ” With the Sureness of Sleepwalking” … A little too unfocused…
This band has so much potential. “Ram Faced Boy” is a killer hardcore/metal anthem, and the album has a couple more good ones on here. But the effort, as a whole, is too unfocused. The band takes too many liberties with ambient noise and tracks flowing in to one another and, as a result, I get bored half-way through.
Life of Agony: “Broken Valley” … More of the same ol’ same ol’ …
I expected more from the reformation of the band. The time away from the scene has caused the group to get trapped somewhere between the older material and the more commercial final effort.
Sinai Beach: “Immersed” … Unimaginative hardcore/metal …
What could have potentially been a huge hardcore release ended up being nothing more than a mediocre effort. Much like Bury Your Dead’s “Cover Your Tracks” last year, there’s glimmers of hope on here, but disappointment overall.
System of a Down: ” Mezmerize” … Too short and too unfocused …
Not only am I perturbed at the all-too-short length of this album (come on, there’s a second disc coming out later this year!), but it seems that System of a Down has bought in to its own hype. What was once a creative and imaginative sound (on the first album) has devolved into a mess of style and, in most cases, complete nonsense.
It’s important to note, this list was compiled from material I’ve managed to pick up and listen to enough to actually form an opinion on. There’s a bunch of stuff out there I’d still like to pick up (most notably the Bloodsimple album and the latest As I Lay Dying). These are not my final evaluations of each album, just how I’m feeling about them at this moment.
On top of all that, I had to leave some stuff off the list for space concerns (I wanted to keep each section down to five albums) … no mention of Black Label Society’s “Mafia” (that hasn’t had a lot of activity from me lately), 100 Demons’ self-titled effort or the Foo Fighters’ latest, which is impressing me greatly at the moment (at least the first disc). Who would have thought, way back in the heyday of Nirvana, that Dave Grohl would be who he is today?
So, next time we do this it’ll be the end of the year … enjoy everything until then (especially that new Obituary disc)…
And that’s that. As always, drop me a line. Until next time, I’ll be here at Inside Pulse making sure no metal news falls through the cracks.
Take it easy…
