RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR - "THE LEGACY OF SHI" (2018)

RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR - "THE LEGACY OF SHI"
(Running time: 43:31 minutes; 11 songs)
("Nuclear Blast Records"; 2018; CD):

And here's now already the next load incoming for you, or so to say, trust your eyes, and here and now you get my record review on the new RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR album "THE LEGACY OF SHI" released for all what I would call still pretty recently via the omnipresent "NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS" in this days and age of 2018. So, yes, the french Crossover Hardcore/Metal roughnecks are damn fucking back four years after their outstanding precursor album "WELCAME" (my review on it you do also find up here) and I can only say that it was really by far about time that the RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR finally again lightened up the sky and this time even brighter than four years ago and also already back then the sky was set on fire, yes, but this time today in 2018 the whole sky is burning completly and totally and "THE LEGACY OF SHI" is written in bright and fiery burning letters across the whole horizon and beyond from the far east to the far west and back again. This is a hard crushing, a harsh ripping, and a sharp slaying, furiously grinning Crossover bastard out of massive and groove orientated Hardcore and everything down hammering Thrash Metal cultivated with huge doses of high skilled and damn 'uniquely' done Rap (Metal) influences and huge amounts of fantastic done very strong and amazing tight/dense and very fresh atmospheric markings in it and all done on the highest levels of skills and quality and with a very huge and massively conquering very own, characteristic, and unique identity to it all and carrying an overwhelming and nearly insane dose of intensity in it all the time, oh hell yeahr, being born and bred on a grooving, ripping, and shredding valuable diet consisting especially out of RHYTHM TRIP, MADBALL, SUB ZERO, BIOHAZARD, ALL OUT WAR, SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, and ANTHRAX and melting this all together with stand-alone and very fresh and totally up-to-date ideas and some damn phenomenal and creative and above all unbelievable intense and damn diverse and multi-layered songwriting full of exciting arrangements, brilliant done silence-loudness-playings, huge dynamics, rousing energy, some of the most crushing and also most fresh groove and rhythm work I've heard in and probably also for years, yes, and the crown is given to it all by some damn unique, creative, intense, and simply grapping and exciting, goosepimples-for-free-giving atmospheric and very, very melodic and catchy playings and parts that mark, enrich, and cultivate RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR's "THE LEGACY OF SHI" incredible strong and turning it into an amazing and awesome full charge everything with supreme might and force conquering masterpiece of the most supreme kind. Fantastic, highly rich and diverse guitar work, forceful hammering and beating bass playing, thundering and massively charging drumming, brilliant multi-facetted stunning hard and very charismatic lead vokillz, and incredible broad and fat loud'n'proud gang backings, this are the ingredients of RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR's "THE LEGACY OF SHI" and all is delivered highly unique and damn fresh and alive/lively and this all by high skilled and also damn creative musicians, yes, and to/for me that's sort of a perfect combination. Any listening tipps I will here and now in this very case spare me, definitely, because the whole damn album is nothing but all killers and hell no fillers, again: definitely. A drop-dead-gorgeous artwork, very strong and thoughtful as well as thought-provoking and also nicely (self-)ironic lyrics, and a demolishing production sound then finally round this all in a damn fucking perfect way up. This is one of the very best albums of 2018 and I definitely would say also for the next years to come and so by any means you should definitely get your hands on it, yes, and this definitely best instantly right now. Hardcore!!! Fist!!!

(10 of 10 points)

http://www.riseofthenorthstar.com/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR - "HERE COMES THE BOOM" (2018, "THE LEGACY OF SHI")

SUICIDE SILENCE - "SUICIDE SILENCE" (2017)

SUICIDE SILENCE  "SUICIDE SILENCE"
(Running time: 44:17 minutes; 10 songs)
("Nuclear Blast Records"; 2017; CD):

Hey guys, yes, next load is in-coming for you and this time it is a or better my record-review on a now slightly already a bit older release namely the so far still current self-titled SUICIDE SILENCE full-length-album released via "NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS" some time last year in 2017. I was never the biggest SUICIDE SILENCE fan even their damn strong "THE BLACK CROWN" from 2011 really ruled and still rules but other than that particular album all in all SUICIDE SILENCE never really were that far up high on my personal-faves-list, so to say, and this combined with the very mixed reactions this very one here, SUICIDE SILENCE's "SUICIDE SILENCE" received more or less everywhere last year I never felt that much of the need to get my hands on it. This changed just recently this year when I saw it for less than 5,00 Euros and then so finally took it with me because, to be honest, what could go wrong for a that low price. And now I have it here and am listening to it for… far too often… to get this record-review here finally done and... where to start and this all with keeping it short… Okay, SUICIDE SILENCE as one of the by any means biggest Deathcore acts outta there really wanted to change their game quite a bit, so to say, and this they anyhow anyway did. But... and I'll really try to keep it truly short this time… if this 'changing of the game' and this 'reinventing of your own identity' means nothing else and even less but that you deliver nothing but miserable and pitifull lukewarm together boiled infusions of what bands like (the fantastic) DEFTONES and (the in their glory days absolutely overwhelming) KORN did when they were sixteen and smoked up high and tight on weed in their daddy's garage and this all then rewarmed sort of over two decades later in 2017 in a lousy and dirty cooking pot that was used before to sizzle some garbage crystal meth together then, yes, then you surely missed the point of anything and everything what 'changing the game' and 'reinventing your own identity' could and should mean. Throw some late 1990's and early 2000's Nu Metal of the more (wanna-be) psychotic and dark, (also wanna-be) depressiv and sinister kind like imagine a mixture out of the DEFTONES, KORN, and SLIPKNOT (minus all identity, quality, and/or rousing ideas) together with some 201X's Deathcore and also Metalcore and pull off any focus or any related ideas or any real grapping or exciting songwriting and you have, yes, SUICIDE SILENCE's "SUICIDE SILENCE", an album marked by an unbelievable huge artificially inflated nothingness of all and everything and delivered via pseudo-proggy gadgetry wrapped in a terrible sterile and dull cardboard production-sound and with not much to, in all honesty, nothing else. Deathcore breakdowns and Nu Metal grooves in combination with a lot of pseudo-desperate and in self-pity bathing downpaced and pseudo-atmospheric parts, a truckload of dull struming guitars, terrible vocals that are by all the effects packed on them only even made far worse, and a lachrymatory uninspired scrubing rhythm-section then are the tools via which the… hm... ''songwriting-ideas'' are carried out. And self-pity is a good keyword beside some others that I have already used to describe the lyrics in a proper way, too. Anything positive to end this review on? Not really and not that much but "DYING IN A RED ROOM", "CONFORMITY", and "DON'T BE CAREFUL YOU MIGHT HURT YOURSELF" (minus the crappy outro) are pretty decent, okay to maybe good songs even maybe only or at least especially in the context of this total ass birth of an album and minus the lame bandphoto cover I like the whole artwok of the album quite a bit, yes, and then that's it. Incredible less that this album delivers despise the high-skilled musicians that gave birth to it. And so, yes, we finally got reminded one more time and this also in a pretty impressive way that sometimes even less than 5,00 Euros can be by far too much for an album…

(3 of 10 points)

http://www.suicidesilence.net/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

SUICIDE SILENCE - "DORIS" (2017, "SUICIDE SILENCE")

BLACKLIST LTD. - "STILL LIMITED" (2017)

BLACKLIST LTD. - "STILL LIMITED"
(Running time: 34:21 minutes; 10 songs)
("Kernkraftritter Records"; 2017; CD):

Okay folks, yes, and here's now already coming the next new review for you, trust your eyes because it's damn true, and this time again on another 2017 release and this time it's sort of a little bit of a special one because finally BLACKLIST LTD. are back, yes, the boys from my hometown hood Goslar City finally release with "STILL LIMITED" a brandnew record and this time with their... hm... 'new' singer and 'new' (second) guitar player and also this time via a label, yes, and it's the german "KERNKRAFTRITTER RECORDS" label that is releasing "STILL LIMITED", yes, and the record label deal is more than justified and also anyhow long overdue, yes, at least if you ask me. Okay, and after this introducing smalltalk, yes, now straight'n'right into the action, yes, so here we go one more time again: BLACKLIST LTD. play a sharp cutting and rousing, heavy and yet very melodical Modern Metal that offers also a lot of 'alternative tendencies' as well as 'emo impressions' and often crosses the borders to Metalcore with some slight portions of Modern Hardcore and the focus consequently lies on strong and consequent on the singing melodies and tension building arrangements, the big harmony lines and the hymnal rocking riffs and loud'n'wide refrains, yes, and also on powerful and nicely grooving'n'slamming and instantly 'moshy' mid- to up-paced parts, yes, and you know what, for (mostly) all the right reasons BLACKLIST LTD.'s focus is lying on this elements, for sure. And so expect a huge truckload full of smashing and yet (very) diverse guitars, very well-skilled, hard, harsh, and heavy as well as melodic, hymnal, and 'fluffy' rockin'n'grooving played and really marking the songs heavily and no matter if we look at or listen to the forceful riffs and the grapping rhythm arrangements or if we look at respectively listen to the very marking leads, yes, it's just all damn strong stuff, point and fact. A heavy-ass stunning rhythm section delivers the much needed loadable backbone to the music of BLACKLIST LTD. and adds a lot of beefy meat to "STILL LIMITED", thumbs up. Diverse and strong vokillz then give it all the crowning x-factor and from brutal throaty shoutings and slightly guttural screams to very sensitive and soulful sung clean singing we get it all and also all delivered in a pretty strong way. Also the vokillz as well as the guitar work is pretty charismatic, also owning a pretty special or unique tone or toning, yes, and I think this only adds only more quality to it all. Really strong, oh yes, a damn good album and fans of acts like or from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and CALIBAN to AT WITS END and ALIVE AT LAST will surely start moshing around while BLACKLIST LTD.'s "STILL LIMITED" is playing. Especially the catchy and melodic parts are really the hometown territory of BLACKLIST LTD., yes, the harsh parts they deliver also on point but by far not as strong. Just some too cheesy parts (also lyric-wise) will probably-definitely never be 'my homeground' but after all that's maybe also just me, who knows. My personal favorites or the for/to me strongest songs are "PREACH THE FAITH", "LEADERSHIP", "EGO", "RED OR GEAR", and "DELIVERY ON SUNDAY", yes, so start your discovery maybe with this shining gems first. I only miss some really big hits that this certain style of music definitely needs and some stuff is just too 'cheesy' for me, like above already mentioned, but this are only minor points of criticism and I have to say that I am really impressed of what the guys of/in BLACKLIST LTD. deliver us here with "STILL LIMITED", definitely, and it's a huge step forward by/for this anyhow strong band, yes, and you should also make sure to check them out live on stage; and I only hope that not again nine years will pass us by before BLACKLIST LTD. will release the succesor of "STILL LIMITED". Mostly good and interesting lyrics, a cool artwork, and a heavy and yet dirty production sound finally round it then all up. And for now I've said so much all I had to say right now and right here and so now I will close this review with pointing one last time clearly out that if you are a fan of the described music and/or the mentioned bands then BLACKLIST LTD.'s "STILL LIMITED" simply and definitely should be a part of your collection, yes, it's (mostly even highly) definitely recommended, yes, because it's for sure really a damn strong album, point and fact. Okay, and now, yes, good night my dear readers; and then and now more again soon.

(8 of 10 points)

http://blacklist-ltd.com/wp/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

BLACKLIST LTD. - "LEADERSHIP" (2017, "STILL LIMITED")

RISE AGAINST - "WOLVES" (2017)

RISE AGAINST - "WOLVES"
(Running time: 40:10 minutes; 11 songs)
("Virgin Records"; 2017; CD):

Hey guys, yes, I am back again - finally... and the flow of the last weekend and the start of this now already pretty much over'n'out week didn't last that long at the... hm... at the end of the week... but that's simply what happens when 'real life happens'... but anyhow now finally back straight into the action; and so now here you have the next dose, yes, the next record review on the next 2017 album  and this time it is all about RISE AGAINST and their "WOLVES" titled 2017 album released this summer (or so...) via "VIRGIN RECORDS", yes, and so now let's go: I know now RISE AGAINST already quite a while and also already a bit longer and I pretty much like(d) all of them that I knew/know and so don't ask me now why the bloody hell I never followed them 'closely' so that their 2011 masterpiece album "ENDGAME" that totally conquered me back then (and still continues to do so) is or was since then my 'last encounter with them'... and then "WOLVES" was released and caught instantly my attention and so without thinking twice I got it, yes, and now here we are and here you get my review on it, finally. Very melodic, highly catchy, massively rousing, and very well-skilled Modern Punkrock with good healthy doses of melodic (Modern) Hardcore and maybe also some very few Emo impressions in it as well we get of/by/from RISE AGAINST and this all on a (very) high level of quality and all with owning a through-and-through very strong own identity. Maybe still to be located very loosley somewhere between BAD RELIGION and SICK OF IT ALL and maybe with some very few NOFX in it as well, more-or-less, all melted together with great fresh, modern, strong, melodic, and pretty often surprising and especially grapping ideas and elements, yes, and I am pretty sure that also fans of alternative 'Modern Rock' acts like for example BILLY TALENT will or do already cheer up loudly, heavily, strongly, and massively to RISE AGAINST - and this for all the right and justified reasons. Melodic and rousing yet heavy and pushing'n'driving guitars, first class (lead) vocals, a diverse and stunning rhythm section, hymnal refrains with strong sing-a-long potential, rousing verse arrangements, exciting rhytm structures, shining melody lines, and a high dynamic are the main ingredients of the music of RISE AGAINST (also on "WOLVES", what-else) and all is melted together via (very) strong songwriting and all is delivered by very (high) skilled musicians, yes, delivering with "WOLVES" an exciting ride through the world of Modern Punkrock. My personal favorites are without a doubt the über-hit "HOUSE ON FIRE" as well as the just absolutely fantastic "THE VIOLENCE", the totally beautiful "MOURNING IN AMERICA", "POLITICS OF LOVE", "PARTS PER MILLION", and "HOW MANY WALLS", hell yeah', and so start your discovery of "WOLVES" maybe with this bright shining gems. The not mentioned songs are also damn good stuff, for sure, but are really no rivals to/of the mentioned ones. Fantastic diverse lyrics, a beautiful artwork, and a loud blasting production sound then finally round "WOLVES" in an impressive way up. Even "WOLVES" is (in my book, at least) definitely not as strong as "ENDGAME" it is still one hell of an album and RISE AGAINST are still for sure one of the best and most important Rock and Punkrock bands around these days and if you are into this kind of music and you really still should not have RISE AGAINST's "WOLVES" (why the fuck ever...) then it is really about time that you finally change this, yes, and so go out there and get this damn strong album, oh hell yeahr, and this definitely as soon as possible.

(8,5 of 10 points)

http://www.riseagainst.com/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

RISE AGAINST - "HOUSE ON FIRE" (2017, "WOLVES")

RISE AGAINST - "THE VIOLENCE" (2017, "WOLVES")

RISE AGAINST - "WOLVES" (2017, "WOLVES")

RISE AGAINST - "MOURNING IN AMERICA" (2017, "WOLVES")