Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor

Urie Takes Full Advantage Of Being Sole Member

Panic! At The Disco have been going strong since 2005, and since then have underwent numerous line-up changes as well as changes in genre and musical influences.

The last time we were presented with a new Panic! record was back in 2013 with 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die', a heavily electropop influenced record that came tied together with dark, self-destructive lyrics that juxtaposed the mostly positive sounding synths and instrumentals.

The first track on 'Death Of A Bachelor' had me worried, 'Victorious' is a track that all the features of P!ATD's previous record; the female-lead chanted lyrics, synth-lead instrumentals that sugarcoat the under-laying guitars and the underwhelming chorus. The following track 'Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time' doesn't offer anything exciting either (unless you're a 60's rock fan in which case the looped, recycled sample of 'Rock Lobster' will keep you entertained).

The record however, does have it's highlights, 'Crazy=Genius' is without a doubt the strongest track on the album, with a homage to 2005's 'A Fever You Can Sweat Out's swing and jazz-punk sound. With infectious instrumentals and a chorus that is impossible to not sing along to. This track is an example of vocal and instrumental success in Urie's solo skills. Lead single 'Hallelujah' is a gospel-style, toned down tribute to partying and the self destructive lifestyle and title track 'Death Of A Bachelor' sees Brendon channel his inner Sinatra and really show off his extensive and impressive vocal range.

This is Panic!'s best record as a solo project. A total improvement on their previous effort. At only 28, Urie still has a lot to offer us and he's only getting better.

7/10

POP ROCK / BAROQUE POP / ALT ROCK

FAV RACKS: Crazy=Genius - Hallelujah - Death Of A Bachelor
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Victorious - Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time 

Diabolus - Wasted Air [EP]

Brutal 2-Track Debut From Hampshire Metallers

Diabolus are an up and coming extreme metal act from Hampshire comprising of 6 members. Their debut EP 'Wasted Air' may be short lived, but it packs a pretty brutal punch.

Diabolus' sound combines the best of the more extreme metal genres, the most noticeable being black/death and slamming death metal. This is made extremely clear as soon as you're hit by first track 'Wasted Air', a track that I enjoyed especially due to the range of guitar skills made evident, first you're greeted by the rapid drums and trem picking, this combined with Luke Robbins' throat shredding highs creates a ridiculously evil sound. This track packs a punch until the very end, and is rounded off by some eerie synths.

'The Bay Harbour Butcher' almost seems to pick off where the previous track was, with a chilling guitar intro, reflective of the concluding synths prior, before the rest of the instrumentals build towards a hard hitting 3+ minutes of brutality. 

If our first taste of Diabolus is anything to go by, then we should all start remembering the name. Big things to come from these lads!

8/10

BLACKSLAM / BLACKENED DEATH METAL / BRUTAL DEATH METAL

FAV TRACKS: Wasted Air
LEAST FAV TRACKS:

  

Post War Glamour Girls - Feeling Strange (Parts 1 & 2)

The UK's Most Unique Rockers Return

As far as underrated bands go it's safe to say Post War Glamour Girls stand out among the crowd, they released their debut album 'Pink Fur' back in 2013, this record introduced PWGG to be a very bass driven, slow-yet intense art/experimental post-punk band, with vocals furiously delivered by vocalist Ben Clyde whilst female vocalist, Alice Smith gave a more mellow and soft side to Post War's storytelling sound. Even though 'Pink Fur' brought this heavy yet juxtapositiong soft sound, it all seemed very linear, and even thought every song offered some level of building intensity, it never really went anywhere. The record ended very much how it started, and left me feeling like i was missing something.

Post War Glamour Girl's new album 'Feeling Strange' shows off many new sides we haven't seen before, whilst definitely staying unique and firm in their art rock style. Opening track 'Felonious Punk' doesn't just show a more harshly , guitar-driven, almost Avant-Garde style but also shows Ben Clyde at his current best, he stays as aggressive as ever, but also introduces these disgusting, high unclean vocals that blew me away. The opener on this album, left me breathless. The Leeds-based group still show off their more familiar slow sound in tracks like 'Gentle Is Her Touch', which is also a great example of Clyde and Smith's contrasting voices joining together in a smoothly executed chorus. Lead single 'Southpaw Stance' has a very UK Indie style riff to it that loops throughout this track, Clyde leads the vocals in this track like the leader of the edgiest marching band out there ,and the synth-coated verses and chorus is the icing on the cake of this track.

'Cannonball Villages' is the Glamour Girls' attempted masterpiece on this record, clocking in at over 8 minutes you would expect it to pack some sort of punch, or offer enough to keep you glued to the track. But in reality it never really leads to anything more than underwhelming and scratchy instrumentals, just like most of this album, the lack of Alice Smith (who was more prominent in 'Pink Fur') has caused this track to suffer.

Post War Glamour Girls still stand in my opinion as one of the UK's best underground rock acts, and I have no doubt they'll continue to keep up their unique, innovative ways until they find the sound that's perfect for them.

6/10

ART-ROCK / EXPERIMENTAL ROCK / POST-PUNK

FAV TRACKS: Felonious Punk - Gentle Is Her Touch
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Cannonball Villages

All At Sea - Divided [EP]

Northern Youngsters Release A Fresh, Groove Filled, Debut

All At Sea are just one of many hardcore based bands, emerging from the UK and Europe, making a lot of noise in the underground scene. Whilst a lot of these young bands offer a similar amount of aggression, noise and energy, most sound very much alike and, in some cases, very one dimensional. All At Sea definitely tick those three boxes, if not raising the bar whilst doing so. 

The Newcastle based quintet deliver this heavy, ruthless hardcore with serious groove metal influences.This EP never gives up or goes easy, opening track 'From The Ground' instantly shows off everything All At Sea are about, the guitars constantly driving out dirty, groovy ass riffs that never stop throughout this EP, and like every track on this album, All At Sea deploy these unique yet monstrous breakdowns that are smoothly executed. These instrumentals are supported amazingly by the vocals of Jack Tyreman who, if I had to draw any comparisons, sounds like an awesome blend of Paul Williams [Desolated] and Randy Blythe [Lamb of God].

I finished this 5-track EP desperately wanting more. You really have to check out this band to hear the potential they have, could easily see these guys rising out of the underground scene very quickly.

8/10

HARDCORE / GROOVE METAL

FAV TRACKS: - From The Ground -
LEAST FAV TRACKS:

Parkway Drive - Ire

Aussie Rockers Aim High But Fall Short

Since their formation in 2003, Byron Bay's Parkway Drive have proved themselves to be absolute behemoths in the metalcore genre. Breaking into the Australian mainstream with their second record, 2007's 'Horizons' and their 2010 full-length 'Deep Blue' saw them chart in the USA, UK and many European countries. Parkway's music has always been easily identified for it's breakdown heavy songs and usually aggressive and conceptual lyrics.

With 'Ire' Parkway Drive have attempted to expand on and even move away from their metalcore style, opting for a more heavy metal influenced sound. This was immediately established back in August when they released lead single 'Vice Grip' a track which is very groove-heavy and features instrumentals and backing vocals that sound like they were picked straight out of the 80's, unfortunately the track just repeats itself over and over and when it sounds like the track is building up to something epic, it just falls horrifically flat. There is a theme on this album of tracks that have potential to hit harder than they really do, opening track 'Destroyer' particularly falls victim to this as it slowly builds from the start to a grand and heavy opening, but never fully takes off.

If there is one redeeming factor on this album, it is definitely Winston McCall's vocals. The lyrics are as sharp and aggressive as ever and the heavy poetry is delivered with such strength and sincerity by McCall, who sounds more inspired than ever, you need to hear 'Dying To Believe' to hear the sheer class of his voice right now.

'Ire' is an album that has been released with high expectations from both the band themselves as well as the fans and media. Long time fans may be disappointed by this shift of sound and weak delivery of new influences, if there is any homage to their old sound, it's 'Dedicated' which is without a doubt the heaviest track on this album. An album which overall is lyrically and vocally impressive, but is let down by boring song structure and a repetitive nature.

4/10

HEAVY METAL / METALCORE / MELODIC METALCORE

FAV TRACKS: Dying To Believe

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Vice Grip 

The Front Bottoms - Back On Top

New Jersey's Resident Indie Band Make Major Label Debut

To many fans, The Front Bottoms have always been a charming, simple and quirky indie/emo duo, a lot of their songs are praised for their repeatable lyrics and their ability to write such well-loved songs whilst sticking to a low-budget production and minimal musical quality. The Front Bottoms have always stuck to this which has left some fans happy that they've stayed true to their ways, but some fans wanting to hear more.

'Back On Top' sees The Front Bottoms major label debut, something that has got many fans worried, a lot of fans hoping that they wouldn't change from their depressing yet witty lyrics, simple yet effective instrumentals and simply produced music that's been the staple of their charming sound. Even though there are tracks on here that do seem to overproduced, 'HELP' shows a side of The Front Bottoms that a lot of fans, including me, don't want to hear again. Sella's voice sounds glitchy and the rather bland lyrics are repeated over and over for most of the track, making 'HELP' without a doubt the weakest track on the album. Sella does seem to fall flat on a few tracks on this album, whether it's production letting him down (HELP) or just generally boring, 'Laugh till I Cry' has a catchy enough chorus but is let down by the boring and forgettable verses.

Negatives aside, The Front Bottoms have managed to once again pull me in and engage me in such a charming and relate-able way. I'm totally stumped on which track is my favorite between 'Summer Shandy' a very weezer-like track with the fun, repeated lyrics and happy mid-tempo charm. Or 'West Virginia' a very melancholic and angsty track delivered in true front bottoms style with the simple yet effective guitars and sing-a-long friendly lyrics.

Even though this record does seem to fall short with the lame lyrics and slight over-production, The Front Bottoms still manage to connect with their audience in a way that very few bands in the genre seem to be able to do. And the duo still manage to come across as the small band that we fell in love with back in the day no matter what label they happen to be under.

6/10

INDIE ROCK / EMO / FOLK PUNK / POP PUNK

FAV TRACKS: West Virginia - Summer Shandy
LEAST FAV TRACKS: HELP
      

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Harmlessness

Emo Revival Leaders Create A Life-Affirming Masterpiece Of A Record

The World Is a Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die are an emo revival band, who really gained commercial and critical success in the emo revival scene after their 2013 debut album 'Whenever, If Ever', after the overwhelming praise for this album, constant rotations in the line-up (Including the loss of lead vocalist Thomas Diaz) and a string of average at best EP's, there was a real worry that Twiabp wouldn't be able to live up to the high standards set by their stunning debut.

But the Connecticut nine-piece have totally smashed expectations and, with 'Harmlessness', have created an album that is engaging from start to finish, with every song bringing in something fresh and exciting to listen to and has surpassed previous record 'Whenever, If Ever' in every way possible. With original lead vocalist, Thomas Diaz gone, David Bello has stepped forward to take the reigns, which is something I'm very happy about, as much as I enjoyed their previous album, I felt that sometimes the overuse of Diaz's emo whines made the album drag on towards the end and became rather dull. Hearing Bello's much stronger voice was always a breath of fresh air to me, and continues to be in this record. But Bello is not alone on the vocal front, he is accompanied by keyboardist/vocalist, Kate Shanholtzer-Dvorak, who also has a much bigger role on this album.

Bello and Shanholtzer work together perfectly on this album and create an amazing balance in their vocal sound and the emotions they deliver. The track that they really shine in is lead single 'January 10th 2014' a track which is beautifully introduced to us by interlude, 'blank #11'. 'January 4th 2014' presents the story of Diana, the Hunter Of Bus Drivers, the lyrics in this song are controversial yet delivered so stunningly and engaging. The instrumental support on this track is also immense, all four guitarists playing their own part to the stories yet working together so elegantly whilst Steve Butterey controls the tempo changes to pinpoint perfection on the drums. My words simply can't do this masterpiece of a track justice, you have to listen to this song to truly believe it's beauty.

The instrumentals are a key part throughout all of this album, showing off a very strong post-rock style, and by mixing this with their usual formula of massive emotional instrumentals building to a huge climax they've managed to completely raise the bar in the emo revival genre and surpass the heights of their previous effort. The World Is' musicians have worked wonders on this record, making what could just be a generic indie-pop song, 'The Word Lisa', and playing around with it instrumentally to create that unique, dreamy sound that you'd expect from classic Twiabp. Another instrumental success in this track, has to be the low-fi opener, 'You Can't Live There Forever' which begins with a very mellow, teen suicide-like, opening. Although the general sound of the vocals and instrumentals sound very toned down in this opener, it still manages to build to a grand finish, beginning with the introduction of acoustic guitars and violins, before the drums become more prominent, with keyboardist/vocalist Kate Shanholtzer-Dvorak harmonizing alongside the instrumentals.

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have a record that is nothing short of a masterpiece, every track contributes amazingly to the record's epic climax. I was left speechless by the end of this work of art.

10/10 

EMO / POST-ROCK / MEME-ROCK

FAV TRACKS: You Can't Live There Forever - January 4th 2014 - The Word Lisa

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Shitty Greg