Need Some Tech Death? Ouroboros!!

Ouroboros ("one who eats himself" aka the dragon devouring its tail) is a really great technical death metal band from Australia.  Check them out, they have an awesome drummer and some really melodic moments amid the technical brutality. 

Fantastic Symphonic/Orchestral Black Metal - Tvangeste

If you love strings, piano, and choir integrated into your black metal you will love this band. Check out the album Firestorm, it is fantastic! And just in time for Christmas. 

Noam Chomsky Interviewed By Zak de la Rocha

Apostate Release New Drum Video

The simplicity of the kit and surroundings contrast so deliciously with the complex playing. So happy to have another drum performance from Fedor, he is very dynamic and creative. 

Epic Metal - Substructure

If you haven't heard about the metal band Substructure, you are missing out! The band is reminiscent of contemporaries Circle of Contempt and Born Of Osiris but have a definite cosmic, soaring feel that recalls Wrath and Rapture. Beautiful ambience, brutal riffage, epic soloing and innovation!! Check out "Canis Major."

Born Of Osiris - Shaping The Masterpiece

Check this video out about Born Of Osiris' writing and recording process. Fun to watch now having heard the record several times.

DJ Shadow Remix Competition

Hey guys, I have just submitted my track to the DJ Shadow remix contest, please give it a listen and vote for it here http://remix.djshadow.com/tracks/107.  Thanks!!

How Far Away Is It? - The Exposed

Check out The Exposed, a great young punk band from Britain, and then ask yourself, "will you believe what your told boy, when their marching down your street, gun in hand boy?" Well, they're marching. 

Marilyn Manson On Fleischer's Universe

This is hands down one of the craziest, brilliant, and eccentric interviews I've ever seen. Its pure id. Hilarious in a "smelling your own death" kind of way. Watch it, enormous audience that I have! 

Enfold Darkness - Death Metal Of Fantastical Proportions

Technical death metal such as this is normally hard to digest, but Enfold Darkness are such masters at their craft you simply fall into their imagination and get taken along on the back of a dragon on the way to war.  Draw your swords, ready your shields, and embrace, nay, enfold, the darkness. 

Pelican's Dreamy Post-Metal

Its been awhile, but I've recently rediscovered one of my first favorite metal bands, or rather post metal if you feel the need to label.  This is my favorite Pelican song, check it out. 

Apostate Release New Single!

Finally, my favorite new metal band from the Czech Republic released an awesome music video for their new single! A continuation of their distinct style, some nice solos, complex drums, brutal breakdowns, and great lyrics.  Check out the mini china/bell work at the start and then during the breakdown. Love it guys! Watch them shred in this video and go get the single on iTunes!

Northlane Announce Signing!

Hey everybody, Australian metallers Northlane have just announced their signing to We Are Unified! Check out this awesome single, and keep tabs on them.

Olafur's Living Room Project Ends

What a magical week it has been, with seven new songs from Olafur Arnalds every day. Watch his performance of the last one. Thank you for the inspiration!

Lodeck and Omega One - Postcards From The Third Rock

Take a ride through the dirty alleys of Copenhagen, Moscow, Brooklyn and Indonesia as dusk settles in. Lodeck takes his scalpel and talks you through the anesthetic as Omega One puts down layer after layer of dusty samples.  If you want to take a ride through the universe while staying on earth, this is the album.

Emancipator's Dreamy Soundscapes

Don't be fooled by the lush, atmospheric qualities of Emancipator's flawless beats, they are filled with incredible complexity, strings, eastern themes, and tons of surprises. Become swept up in his imagination! A marvelous journey.

Feed Her To The Sharks - Brutally Satisfying

Feed Her To The Sharks' The Beauty of Falling is quite simply one of the best metal albums I've heard all year.  These Australian lads have captured the beautiful and brutal aspects of metal and blended them effortlessly with fantastic songwriting.  Read the lyrics, some of the best I've read in a long time. In fact, maybe some of my favorite lyrics ever. Keep it up guys! And go buy their album on iTunes!

Olafur Arnalds - Living Room Song Project Begins

Those of you that know me will know I have great admiration for Mr. Arnalds. Check out his latest project, and I'm sure you will too!

A Winged Victory For The Sullen

If you guys haven't heard Erased Tapes' A Winged Victory For The Sullen, I encourage you to check them out. The music speaks for itself.

Amazing Metal Tours - The Best In The Game

Attention everyone! (Or anyone.) The following are amazing metal tours. Go see one, do not be afraid, you won't regret it!


Carnival Is Forever Tour: Decapitated, Decrepit Birth, Rings Of Saturn, Fleshgod Apocalypse, The HAARP Machine
Crush Em All: Veil Of Maya, After The Burial, Within The Ruins, Misery Signals
Obscura Headlining Tour: Obscura, Abysmal Dawn, Last Chance To Reason, Enfold Darkness 


Also, there is rumor of a Born Of Osiris Headlining Tour!: Born Of Osiris, Veil Of Maya, Carnifex, Structures, Betraying The Martyrs. Crazy good line up!

Apostate - Metal's Great Young Hope

Hailing from the Czech Republic, the epic, technical, crushing and confounding metal that Apostate plays is one of the most refreshing sounds in the scene right now.  A perfect blend of speed, chops, brutality, breakdowns, and ambiance, their debut EP Seaborne sounds like it belongs on Sumerian Records. Still don't believe me? Check out this amazing video of their creative drummer performing the instant classic, "Omit The Words." Then go grab their album on iTunes! Word is they are preparing for a new album...can't wait guys!

Make Them Suffer's Symphonic Deathcore

Australia has produced some mighty fine metal bands (Parkway Drive, Resist the Thought, Feed Her To The Sharks, Curse At 27, Vegas in Ruins), but quite possibly the most interesting of the bunch are the black metal worshipping deathcore kvltists in Make Them Suffer. Blending beautiful piano, soaring strings, and even choirs with intense blastbeats and brutal breakdowns, these guys make for incredibly entertaining listening and great songwriting. Go buy their fantastic EP Lord Of Woe on iTunes! And check out the new single...I'm already starved for a new album.

Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - Masterful Improvisation

Hey everyone (or at least anyone) I'm back after a long while away.  Please enjoy this fantastic video of Mr. Arnalds and Mr. Frahm creating a melancholy, soaring journey right before your eyes...and be sure to check out Nils' upcoming project, Felt.  And if you haven't heard Olafur Arnalds by now...go get Eulogy For Evolution!

The Discovery - Born Of Osiris Review

Digital Veil not quite heavy enough for you?  Have no fear, for progressive deathcore outfit Born of Osiris has just released what might be one of the best albums of the fledging year.  Since the shaking release of the uncompromising Rosecrance in 2007, the band has been steadily growing in musical prowess.  Though glimpses of their genius have shown on tracks like “Now Arise” and “Abstract Art,” the full realization of their expansive vision and musicianship has not quite been explored.  Until now that is.  Born of Osiris’ newest album, The Discovery, launches the band into new heights of composition that is as technical as it is crushingly brutal. 

            The Discovery is, if anything else, a musical and lyrical journey that expands upon the concepts explored in A Higher Place.  Born of Osiris utilizes their ubiquitous palm-muted djent style breakdowns to crushing effect throughout the album, showing that the aggressive, extremely heavy riffing that characterized their earlier work is still present.  However, the band begins to lace this playing with disembodied guitar work, complex soloing, and beautiful soundscapes that create an atmosphere that, for such an intense sound, create an amazing harmonious album.  In fact, this seems to be the source of Born’s fully developed design.  They have the ability to create songs that begin fundamentally as a deathcore work, but develop with the careful layering of ambient keyboard work, unsettling melodies, and gradual decays into introspection, a highly complex piece of progressive metal.

            Musically, Born of Osiris writes distinctively and with much intricacy.  Using odd time signatures and disturbing yet melodious lines over cutting start stop riffing, the band sets such a unique sound to the whole album that it draws comparisons to another metal masterpiece.  In the words of Chandler Greenwell, “(The Discovery) is as brutal as Nocturne was awe inspiring.”  As the breakdown in “Follow The Signs” crashes, accompanied by rapid arpeggios, the listener sees immediately that this is true.  Indeed, the guitar work on this album is very impressive.  The eccentric and incorporeal lines on “Recreate,” the gliding sweeps on “XIV,” and the slower soloing on “Shaping the Masterpiece” all showcase young, creative guitarists with a knack for artistry (though every song could be noted for astonishing guitar.).  At the same time, the muted, breakdown riffing shows a definite knowledge for construction, or rather deconstruction, that was reached a long time ago.     

Born of Osiris has always pleaded with their listeners to seek enlightenment in some form, by smashing barriers and bringing down the towers of empires.  The Discovery is no exception, as its name implies, and the plight and hope of the power of the human spirit is clearly seen in artist Cameron Gray’s lush album artwork.  A more fitting parallel I could not imagine, and as the magnificent, sadly soaring opera of “The Omniscient” quietly illuminates, it’s hard to not see the grandeur of the band’s visualization.  Its moments like these that make the album, the quite meditative transitions that link the vicious distorted anger that characterize the main body of work.  When vocalist Ronnie Canizaro gutturally screams “Closed eyes will never open,” you sense both his frustration and his intense desire to redesign, which is undoubtedly a predominate theme in his writing.

The Discovery is an eccentric and exceptional piece of music that is both brutally devastating and philosophically contemplative.  It is arguably a masterpiece, and undeniably is so in Born of Osiris’ small but powerful discography.  Like Digital Veil, The Discovery offers the thinking man’s metal, but perhaps to a more envisioned and impassioned man, with an intense desire to recreate that which surrounds him.   

Key Tracks: “Follow The Signs” “Behold” “Two Worlds Of Design”  

           

Digital Veil - The Human Abstract Review

Did you hear that?  That was the collective gasp of music fans everywhere as they learned that A.J. Minette, one of metal’s most notorious song-writing kings, had rejoined The Human Abstract for a brand new album.  A.J. was largely responsible for the eclectic, brilliant masterpiece that was 2006’s Nocturne, and as he returns (from pursuing a master’s degree in guitar at the prestigious Thornton School of Music) fans are left wondering: what should we expect?

            Everything.  The album Digital Veil, is an amazing journey through a stunning young band’s development.  With the additional of Travis Richter (formerly of From First to Last) as vocalist, the band has taken a new direction, into a much darker, heavier, and complex sound.  A.J.’s liquid sweeps, Dean Herrera’s rapid hammer ons, and Richter’s deeper scream all contribute to a project that frankly is strikingly beautiful from beginning to end.  The sheer technicality of the album is overwhelming.  Excursions into the soft strains of classical guitar, gliding piano melodies, languid solos, and start-stop breakdowns create an atmosphere that recalls the tone of Nocturne, but does not emulate it entirely.  What it does do, however, is craft an entirely unique, clever, and artistic sound, one that has never been imitated.

             Indeed, there has never been anything quite like Digital Veil.  A.J. and Dean throw blistering arpeggios over cutting breakdowns at each other almost constantly.  Remember how magical that solo in “Mea Culpa” was?  Simply listen to the soaring “Antebellum” where A.J. sits back in the groove and sweeps like he is trading licks with the devil for his soul (Which, by the way, he would totally win) or the fantastic sweeps amid the harsh breakdown in “Complex Terms.”  Equally impressive are the rapid and precise half-sweeps that he seems to be experimenting with.  A majority of the near continuous soloing is high-speed, but many unhurried and deliberate lines occur as well.  When the measured, huge, anthemic chords are struck in “Elegiac,” the listener knows that A.J. is going to take his time and play soulfully in this album.   For that matter, every track has such consistently astounding guitar work that it is hard to single any out, without mentioning them all.  Though A.J. is certainly responsible for a large part of the song writing, Dean does not get enough credit for being shred-tastic himself, as he hammers and sweeps like a man possessed. 

            Conceptually, Richter brings a philosophical depth to the album with his lyrics, which explore the ramifications of an intensely digitalized world.  At first, it seemed that replacing the passionate Nathan Ells would be a challenge, but as the breakdown in “Digital Veil” crashes and Richter screams “Pull me, from the gallows” you feel that he is more than up to the task.  He gives an excellent urgency to the more brutal moments, and his melodies are an interesting companion to the neo-classicism that defines much of the album.  A wide vocal range is a must for a band with such a diverse and extensive sound, and Richter is more than capable.

            It has oft been said of the perennial Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Everybody can play a Stevie Ray Vaughan riff.  But nobody can play it for as fast or as long as Stevie can.”  This is certainly true of The Human Abstract as well.  Every can play like them, but nobody can do it as brilliantly time after time as The Human Abstract does.  Live they are even more incredible, playing every song to record perfection, without seeming to tire whatsoever.  The band members seem conscious of the role they occupy in metal legend, and put on one of the most energetic and technical shows this writer has ever seen.

Digital Veil is an amazing musical journey that rises and falls amid astral melodies, callous rhythms, and soaring musical theory.  If you consider yourself a true music fan, you need to experience this band and this album.  Otherwise, you are guilty of simple ignorance, especially if you are disregarding it because it is metal.  As Kelly Shaefer once wrote in the liner notes of Atheist’s now classic Elements, Atheist was for “all those who demand a thinking man’s metal.”  Carrying on that honored tradition, The Human Abstract ‘s Digital Veil is a thinking man’s metal, for the thinking, questioning, and artistic man.        

Key Tracks: “Complex Terms” “Antebellum” “Faust”

Damnation - Resist the Thought Review



Listen up metal heads: Do you remember your first breakdown experience?  When suddenly, after a blastbeat pummeling, the song dropped tempo and a low growl keyed a slow, vicious, rhythmic guitar chugging that was physically impossible to ignore.  I’m willing to bet it stirred something deep within yourself, some primordial feeling of basking in the presence of pure power and the complete catharsis of emotion.  Yes, that first breakdown was quite a moving experience, and embodies what metal (at least modern metal) is all about.  Unfortunately, the current scene has become so inundated with popularity, clichés, faux ferocity and money that metal’s original meaning has become lost.  Fans have long been searching for that next band that will bring back the excitement and musicianship that once was so commonplace.

            Hailing from musical Australia, quintet Resist the Thought looks to do just that on their latest release, Damnation.  From the opening bars of the opening track, it’s clear that the band is not willing to compromise anything in the face of recording the most vicious, passionate, and headturning deathcore/metalcore album since Count Your Blessings.  Pounding blastbeats, polished guitar work, and impressive vocals characterize every track, and though it is a short album, it seems incredibly complete.  Those of you looking for deathcore brutality will certainly find it on tracks such as “The Risen” where vocalist Rhys Giles showcases his deep low to instigate a growl filled chug that is sure to inspire fierce mosh pits.       

            In fact, Resist the Thought write some of the most urgent and interesting breakdowns that this author has heard all year.  No metal album has been able to hold attention quite like this one, mostly due to the high level of musicianship.  Don’t believe me?  Simply listen to the acoustic and electric introspection of “Exitium,” which is sure to recall a thoughtful Metallica.  Winding guitar, attractive progressions, and clever drumming (especially with the cymbals) keep Damnation a surprising, engaging listen.  Combine this with incredible breakdowns that always come suddenly and stay forcefully, and you have one of the greatest metal albums of the year. 

            Damnation is a sophomore release that should mark Resist the Thought as a very promising band that has already set the bar high.  The band so cleanly bridges deathcore and metalcore that they are sure to attract a wide range of fans drawing from Chelsea Grin followers as well as As I Lay Dying fans.  However, its clear that Resist the Thought aren’t concerned with any type of genre label.  When Giles menacingly chants, “Run to the hills, cover up your eyes, for the reaper awaits you,” the message is clear: Resist the Thought is here to restore metal to its proper place.  

Key Tracks: “Misery’s Miscreation,” “Reflections” “The Risen”

TRON Legacy - Daft Punk Review

Daft Punk, like fellow electric beat freaks the Gorillaz, have a habit of releasing a fantastic album and then disappearing for several years.  In regards to the former, Daft Punk’s last album was the seminal Alive 2007, though for original work you’d have to go back to 2005 for Human After All.  So it was with great anticipation that fans and critics alike awaited the release of a new album, only to find that it was to be a soundtrack for the movie TRON: Legacy.  What?

Okay, on closer inspection this makes a lot of sense.  Daft Punk are rarely represented in anything other than their robot helmets (Yes, Deadmau5 owes a lot to Daft Punk), and much of their music could probably already have scored the original TRON.  They weren’t content to hash up old techniques, though.  On TRON: Legacy (the album title as well as the movie title) the duo, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, paint their eclectic and artistic vision with the help of an 85 piece London Orchestra.  While this may sound a recipe for disaster, the outcome is actually a fully coherent, captivating, and symphonic piece of music.

The album itself, from start to finish, is rife with weaving, frantic string patterns, over which Daft Punk lay various electronic elements; meandering synths, crunchy bass lines, and the duo’s distinctive arpeggios.  The pounding house beats found so readily on their previous recordings are hard to find, substituted instead for minimal beats or slow, orchestral percussion.  If you are looking for another “Da Funk” or “Harder Better Faster Stronger”, you won’t find it on this collection.  What you will find, alternately, are twisting, building overtures such as “The Game Has Changed” that are laced with tension and drama, and marching, percussive string lines such as “C.L.U.”

This being said, it is easy to tell that TRON: Legacy was written as a soundtrack.  Some sections may seem empty or lacking of direction.  This is probably due to the fact that the listener is holding on to the idea of the hook driven Daft Punk that they have come to know and love.  To appreciate the album, however, one has to let go of this standard.  Once this is done, the full picture of Daft Punk’s extensive composition is seen.  The relentless, stalking strings soar and crash against electronic melodies that snake in and out of the ambiance.  Falling and rising violins set against buzzing and whirring synths give huge build-ups a sense of urgency and necessity, before giving way to more atmospheric pieces.  Relentless in its pressure in its structure and emotion from start to finish, the music leaves the listener exhausted.

All in all, TRON: Legacy is an incredible dream realized by incredible musicians.  It’s great to hear anything from the Daft Punk; they have always been innovative, and are masters of their craft.  The combination of orchestral and electronic sounds on this album is spellbinding, engaging, and extremely harmonious.  Say whatever you will about them, Daft Punk just wrote a symphony. 

Key Tracks: “The Game Has Changed,” “TRON Legacy (End Titles), “Recognizer”     



Silver Lining - Mimosa Review

Electronic music undoubtedly comprises the fastest growing music scene today.  With thousands of basement artists and dozens of niche genres popping up all over the place, it’s hard to find talented, consistent musicians that put out fully developed albums.  However, the rewards of such a search can be immensely gratifying, and Los Angeles area based producer Mimosa is one such example.  Having only been on the scene for two years, Mimosa has already developed a unique, artistic, and mature sound that is solidified by his new release, Silver Lining, which may both attract new fans and leave old ones questioning.

            Silver Lining is a relatively short album that jumps across Mimosa’s resume.  Bits of the underlying dub and dubstep elements that characterized his earlier work are present, but it’s soon evident that the murky and aggressive atmosphere of 2009’s Flux For Life has been replaced by a more meditative sound.  The focus on heavy bass lines and forceful melodies is gone, replaced instead by ambient driven composition that is easy to mistake for background music.  This is Mimosa’s newfound genius; the album is brilliant not directly, but in its subtleties.  Pensive sounds are slowly and slowly added to create an extremely complex piece of music, rising, breaking, falling, and moving in and out of multiple tracks.  Indeed, the album is better listened to from start to finish than by analyzed track by track (as electronic music often is analyzed).

            Though the composition sounds deceptively calm and serene, the large number of progressions that are laid onto one track make each piece intricately forceful.  Mimosa utilizes what sounds like bell pads, mild synths, and breeze-like patterns as a canvas, and then proceeds to fill this atmosphere.  Grimy melody lines, glitchy water droplets, siren wails and yes, the driving acid bass are painted on to make for eclectic easy listening.    

That is not to say the old Mimosa has gone and has been replaced by some placate teddy bear version.  On “Pushing Little Daises,” Mimosa proves to the new scene he still has the dubstep chops, with an extremely whomp-tastic bass line that flies AWOL until a “Six million ways to die” sample brings the deep drop.  Older fans will be equally impressed with “Badlands,” another Captain Crunch filled Wah-Wah scuffle.  Interestingly, the battle between his old and new sound is heard in this one track, as the bass eventually gives way to the mild electric piano and soft atmospheric winds.

Mimosa’s Silver Lining is a calculated and well composed full length that is impressive throughout.  His largest skill, and the skill most showcased by this album, is that of creating a dense and structured mood, then lacing with additional sounds that assimilate perfectly.  The real brilliance here is that though the melodies blend together, every staticy lead, every grimy bass, and every airy sequence stands out somehow.

Key Tracks:  “When Will We Learn”  “Pushing Little Daises”  “No More Messin About” 

No Name No Color - Middle Class Rut Review

           

            Fans of Sacramento based Middle Class Rut probably already know that the duo released their first full length LP about a month ago, but I’m sure they’ll excuse the writer’s tardiness in reviewing it.  The record, No Name No Color, is a collection of some previously released recordings and some new tracks, but is notable as the band’s first “real” album available widely, opposed to just at Middle Class Rut’s live shows.  It stands as a shining attempt at capturing the band’s particular performance

            No Name No Color spans a wide range of Middle Class Rut’s playing styles, but at the same time never seems to stray far from their stripped down, simplistic style of rock n’ roll.  As far as a particular style or comparison, Middle Class Rut sounds as if The Black Keys and Refused had some sort of love child, but luckily, they look to bring the best of both bands.  Classic stompers “One Debt Away” and “I Guess You Could Say” exemplify the pair’s knack for keeping the riffs slow, attractive, and aggressive, as well as almost twanged with an ounce of blues.  Alternately, they also rage on tracks such as “Usa” that point more to punk roots than anything else.

            Passion definitely seems to be the main driving force behind vocalist/guitarist Zack Lopez.  Despite whatever is in his path, he is determined to get Middle Class Rut’s music out there.  As he shouts “I came into this world as nothin’/I ain’t gonna leave that way” you feel that you had better stay out of his way, or at least come along for the ride.  Accompanying Zack’s angst ridden swagger is drummer Sean Stockham, who balances the guitarist’s furious performance with one of his own.  Sean’s drumming can be relentless but languidly groove as well, and his more docile voice is a great complement to Zack’s insistent tone.

            Middle Class Rut undeniably offer a strange brew of music that asks a lot of questions. (Was that a banjo?  Was that a breakdown?  Was that Steven Tyler in Home Sweet Home?)  The tracks that see the band at their best are their forceful, rollicking chord stompers that occasionally delve into punk freakouts, such as the instant classic “Busy Bein’ Born.”  Middle Class Rut also excels at a more thoughtful form of blues rock that has their own added flair.  Sometimes, however, this can spell bad news for the duo, “Are You On Your Way” certainly feels as if it could be much shorter, or at least less reflective.

            No Name No Color is a very energetic and appealing collection of Middle Class Rut’s music, if a bit rough edged.  The album appears to have captured the band’s captivating live performance (which if you have the chance to see, is definitely worth it), and the most important element of Middle Class Rut, passion.  They have appeared to have found one of rock n’ roll’s most important mantras, that simpler is sometimes better. 

Key Tracks: “Busy Bein’ Born” “New Low” “Thought I Was”

There Is A Hell... - Bring Me the Horizon Review

             The young metal pioneers Bring Me the Horizon have always had a knack for creating eccentric and diverse music, with each album different from the last.  On their latest, There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret., the Sheffield quintet have once again befuddled longtime fans, as they delve into more of a conceptual musical experience along the lines of 2008’s Suicide Season.

            Bring Me the Horizon have never sounded quite so ambitious as they do on There Is a Hell, and the end result is a frantic, soaring opera of lyricist Oliver Sykes’ internal meditation.  There are of course the standard elements of Count Your Blessings style deathcore, breakdowns and blastbeats can be found throughout the album.  But the band appears to have tried to step away from this trend, a welcome relief from the oversaturation of this approach to song writing in the current metal scene.  Instead Bring Me the Horizon employ a mixture of harmonious sonics, choir-esque vocals, and electronic components that balance out the band’s new, thrashier punk influenced sound.   The quiet, contemplative violin and driving drums behind Oliver’s insistent voice on “Don’t Go” are an excellent example of this.

            That’s not to say Bring Me the Horizon have gone soft.  They are still heavy as ever, writing some unique and pounding breakdowns, to accompany their classic gang shouts.  These are simply made more appealing due to the juxtaposition of the softer non-traditional elements.  “Anthem” and “Alligator Blood” show the band’s newer approach to writing heavy music.  Lee Malia and newcomer Jona Weinhofen keep the guitars clean, and slow down the riffs, almost recalling a bluesy Pantera at some points.

            There Is a Hell is an engaging and urgent piece of music.  Bring Me the Horizon definitely had a lot they wanted to accomplish in this album, and while it may at some points drag, the listener has to appreciate their vision and desire to move things forward.  Sykes lyrically shines, and ties much of the album’s concept into his previous writings.  He sounds determined to make you see how he feels, and while he has always been tortured, he has never sounded so exhausted and beaten down.  When Olivier frantically cries “God forgive me, for all my sins,” he doesn’t sound like he thinks that anyone is listening, but at the same time he doesn’t seem to care. 

By the end of There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret., you think you have a grasp on Bring Me the Horizon’s new style, but they’re sure to change it again.  Bring Me the Horizon didn’t make this album for the public, because they desperately needed to make this album for themselves.  And as always, they don’t care if you like it or not.

Key Tracks: "It Never Ends", "Alligator Blood", "Blessed With A Curse".