Pellinore "Memento Mori/Hell Mouth"

Not unlike bands ranging from Ringworm and Integrity to Converge and His Hero Is Gone, Pellinore is a gritty, pissed-off, often hyper-speed hardcore/punk band that doesn't fuck around. Their latest record, Memento Mori/Hell Mouth, is an 11-song compilation of two previous EPs that lasts just 16 minutes, but the band makes good use of the time by playing either really fast or really hard. While the straightforward blasts of hardcore/punk are the foundation of the material, there's plenty of chunky, metallic passages to keep things interesting and consistent dissonant textures to round out the sense of controlled chaos. With all the grit and super fast tempos, Pellinore's songs often sound like they're on the verge of unraveling in the whirlwind of intensity, but they always stick together and, in turn, end up having more character. The throaty, snotty shouting is a perfect fit for the music, bringing a nasty attitude to nasty (in a good way) songs. Enjoyable.

Not as fast as most, but longer than most: Pellinore - Gnarwhal

You can pick this up for a mere $6.50, so why not go for it?

Crime In Stereo "Is Dead"

Crime In Stereo has come a long way in the last five or so years, growing from a youthful, bitter melodic hardcore act that listeners could count on to call out the lamest of music trends into a deeply personal and refined unit on Is Dead. While I don't feel especially comfortable saying the band has collectively "grown up" (that could imply blandness and a lack of energy, neither of which rears its ugly face on Is Dead), some might call it that. I'd rather say the band has collectively evolved and progressed to write richer, more diverse material.

First and foremost, Is Dead simply isn't as fast and in your face as the band's previous records. It's not so much "split with Kill Your Idols" material as it is "split with 2001-era Brand New" material. It's actually pretty tender, favoring heartfelt singing instead of shouting, and interjecting the generally up-tempo noise with a lot of softspoken, softly played passages and verses. While there's a Brand New influence that's hard to ignore, Crime In Stereo does it justice without sacrificing their character. Not-so-subtle hints of the band's past -- the whole first song, "XXXX (The First Thousand Years Of Solitude)," the speedy first verse of "...But You Are Vast," and the airy, Long Island-bred guitar lead in "Nixon" -- blend seamlessly with the band's newfound penchant for pop, creating something of a Lifetime and Brand New hybrid.

Sound good? It should. And it is.

Crime In Stereo gradually puts on the brakes, eventually reaching the relaxed pace, noisy reverb and industrial backbone of "Unfortunate Tourists." The minimal "Orbiter" is a near tear-jerker, with somber string picking and seriously fatigued singing. Both songs have fittingly gloomy lyrics, too; "Orbiter" repeatedly comes back to the line, "How could you do that to me?" And it makes me wonder how you could do that to him. These songs are unlike anything the band has done before, and take Crime In Stereo's experimentation to its extreme.

Is Dead isn't so far-removed from hardcore that hardcore listeners won't be able to identify with it, but it's not as exclusive as Crime In Stereo's past work. And as much as I love The Troubled Stateside and still enjoy Explosives and the Will to Use Them, I wouldn't have Is Dead sound any other way.

Try and tell me you would:

Crime In Stereo - ...But You Are Vast
Crime In Stereo - Orbiter

Get it straight from Bridge 9.

Skeletonwitch "Beyond the Permafrost"

Something like 3 Inches of Blood without the annoying (but admittedly fun) high-pitched singing, Skeletonwitch is a modern-day metal act with its collective feet planted in classic sounds. The band's second full-length, Beyond the Permafrost, is fast, straightforward and tight, mixing a ripping thrash foundation with elements of melodic death metal and black metal. While the vocals consist of demonic, raspy screeches and a few hellish growls, and the blackened guitar melodies are cold and sinister, the record still finds a pretty unique balance between these evil sounds and fun, throwback energy. It's skillfully played -- especially in terms of the guitars -- and it has character.

None of Beyond the Permafrost's songs strike me as particularly memorable or standouts, but there are some slick harmonies, subtly catchy choruses and blazing solos to be heard. Everything gels together well, too, helping these Ohio natives sound as authentic as their peers. The punchy, high-octane thrash is the record's real draw, but there's plenty of well executed variety to boot.

I'm not crazy about the production, so just listen loud: Skeletonwitch - Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery

Purchase this one from the Relapse store.

Born of Osiris "The New Reign"

Born of Osiris' debut, The New Reign, is a sweet reminder that complex metal doesn't have to revolve around guitar noodling, frantic tempo shifts, mangled time signatures and tons of parts pieced together to form, more or less, a song. It's more along the lines of a Meshuggah or A Life Once Lost record; the guitarists opt for difficult chugging patterns and buzzing, bent riffs instead of incessant noodling, the drumming is rooted in double bass-fueled, stopping-and-starting grooves rather than jarring tempo shifts, and the hoarse screaming and growling serves as an additional texture, not a spectacle. The New Reign has a certain restraint that makes its complexity so much more tasteful than your everyday Dillinger Escape Plan or Between the Buried and Me ripoff band. Plus, it's ultra precise and accessible, through and through. Mad points for that.

The eight songs are mostly between two and three minutes long -- a welcome average that leaves me yearning for more -- and accented by just the right amount of guitar melodies, fretboard wizardry and electronics. The keyboards bring anything anything from a contemporary progressive texture to an operatic atmosphere to the songs, but they're never cheesy, abused or overused, another testament to Born of Osiris' restraint and graceful songwriting.

The New Reign is certainly a promising metal record and, despite all the chugging, much more than just another record to call "deathcore" and forget. Awesome stuff. Very much recommended.

This is how we do it (I mostly just felt like saying that): Born of Osiris - Empires Erased

I'll admit it, $12.50 is a bit steep for an eight-song MCD. But after hearing this, I'm pretty sure I'd put down the cash myself.

Soldiers "End of Days"

At this moment, there exist exactly way too many incarnations of the touring breakdown. The toughguy brand of hardcore has -- since inherently never progressing -- regressed to the point of parodying itself. Indeed, there was a time I would have tolerated a band like Soldiers, who admirably manage to squeeze in brief musical interludes between mammoth moshparts. That time was the approximately six-week period when embryonic me could still call itself earless.

Soldiers don't lack talent entirely. Besides excelling at instigating fights between posturing meatheads, they're obviously talented at interacting with today's youth. Luring homeward-bound sixth graders with their adult cool (i.e. cuss words and cigarettes), these purveyors of mosh schemed around their collective inability to read or write, compiling page after page of (adolescent) rage. And while pinching lyrics from middle schoolers' diaries might appear to contradict the proclamation, "If there's one thing that I'll never give up, it's my fucking pride," it highlights Soldiers' wonderful sense of irony.

It may have been a calculated maneuver on Trustkill's part to "forget" to include liner notes and lyrics with my promo copy of End of Days, but my keen, fully-developed ears enable me to transcribe additional lowlights on my vomit-drowned keyboard: "Fuck you, I fucking hate you. I hope you die, I hope you fucking rot. Fuck you, you're fucking soft." Especially impressed by the final portion of that segment, Soldiers opted to feature it on their MySpace banner.

Especially unimpressed, however, I rejoiced when the demolition crew screaming over its power tools ceased emanating from within my speakers. Unfortunately, those subsequent minutes of blissful silence became my bane: the wasted minutes I should have been spent retrieving a razor blade, before the peace dissolved into the single worst rap I've ever encountered. Despite a legacy of bad judgement, the inclusion of this track trumps all. Over a monotonous bassline and the default "spooky" synth-effect, a wavering high-pitched whine, Soldiers manages to embarrass listeners in rooms of one. There's no semblance of flow, just a gruff-voiced anger-monger stumbling over syllables. And every line is an opportunity to usurp just-moments-prior established benchmarks of abysmal lyricism: "I should have known that you're a joke because you act like a clown"; "And I'm tired, so fuckin' tired I need a break / Break the bastard in two if your life's at stake."

For those who insist the world can never have enough Throwdown and Terror albums, End of Days swells the ranks of the indistinguishable.

An Audio Guide to Feeling Uncomfortable: "Smoke and Mirrors (+ Bonus)"

Bad music, unlike bad cinema, isn't fun. Purchase thirty minutes of discomfort at Trustkill Records.

Quips "Take Two"

If only it was as easy to cross species as it is to cross genres, cute epithets like "pig-fucker" might be more frequently substantiated, and new doors of artistic expression would open. Philadelphia quartet Quips go the more socially acceptable route, easing out a smooth, folksy blend of Queens of the Stone Age and Dinosaur Jr.

Take Two rocks like a glider undisturbed amidst a duststorm, a den of melody humming inside each grinding, gravel-bejeweled cut. The crooning vocals carry a J. Mascis vulnerability, and the songs swell from ditty to daunting, then dwindle away. Though the well-crafted, crowd-swaying riffs wear a mask of distortion, the hook laden Take Two is nothing if not soothing. The predominantly plodding tempos and sugary choruses, however, aren't conducive to the distinctive edginess fostered by the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel.

Reprising rock's finest era, Quips are a 1990's history lesson for the prepubescent and a pleasant delight for grungy fogeys.

A '90s Revival - "Over the Top"

Check it out at Translation Loss Records.

Ambitions "Stranger"

Between Ambitions' Stranger and Crime In Stereo's Is Dead, Bridge 9 is having one hell of an autumn season. While Is Dead takes the label (and Crime In Stereo, for that matter, but we'll talk about that another day) in a more-restrained-than-usual direction, Stranger focuses on the fast speeds and fiery intensity that listeners likely expect.

Featuring members of With Honor, Ambitions spices up that band's style of modern, melodic hardcore with a broader variety of tempos and textures and, more obviously, singing that'll remind listeners of Ignite's ridiculously good Zoli Teglas. The bulk of Stranger fuses fast, guitar-soaked verses with more accessible and catchy choruses, but Ambitions does take some chances, experimenting with D.C.-style post-hardcore and melodic punk rock. "Fact Remains" is a driving, slowed-down song with punchy, palm-muted guitar riffs. "Rapid Succession" shifts between airy string picking and flowing, tom-heavy drumming during the verses and booming grooves. The relatively lengthy "Culmination (Of My Life's Work) is the record's least traditionally hardcore song, complete with a quiet middle section and mid-paced, driving tempos.

While Stranger's vocal hooks aren't on par with those of Ignite, they're good, and the supporting guitar melodies are tasteful and effective. Ambitions is, in the end, just good at writing memorable, melodic hardcore with a solid balance of intensity and complex songwriting, and that's what Stranger offers. I'm posting one of the band's more straightforward songs, but keep in mind that Ambitions isn't afraid to try different things.

Short and sweet: Ambitions - Postscript

Grab this one straight from Bridge 9.

Rosetta "Wake/Lift"

There's been a pretty sizeable wave of Isis- and Neurosis-inspired post-metal and post-rock (whatever those terms really mean) sweeping the nations for the past two or three years. And for the most part, the bands that comprise it are uninspired and insipid. Rosetta is an exception.

Any kids who've heard some Pelican, Isis and Neurosis records can hammer out long, repetitive songs of delicate buildups, pounding crescendos and slow, violent sludge metal. But that doesn't make the songs good; usually, they wind up being so boring that you wonder why you're not just listening to the group's much better peers. Wake/Lift, on the other hand, has an air of experience and a sincere energy, bumping Rosetta's music far from the land of amateur. Sure, there's the familiar lot of ambient, atmospheric passages slowly building and blossoming into pounding crescendos, and plenty of gruff screaming to texture the heavy parts, but it's uniquely powerful and emotive, and musically lush. It doesn't take long to get a feel for Rosetta's attention to detail, as the vocals have to rip and claw their way through layers and layers of guitars and tasteful electronics just to have a presence, and the recording emphasizes a thick, full-bodied sound.

Some songs admittedly drag and, if you're comfortable and tired, Rosetta might lull you to sleep. (Don't worry, you'll be snapped out of it when one of those metallic explosions strikes.) Still, Wake/Lift one of the more memorable and powerful records the genre's produced.

Listen: Rosetta - Wake

Snag this record here.

Disnihil "self-titled"

A lot of Chainsaw Safety's recent releases have stayed under the proverbial radar, but they're of consistently high caliber. So it's telling that Disnihil's self-titled effort basically tops them all. A stripped-down, crusty and ominous hardcore record, comprised of eight two- or three-minute songs that hardly slow down, Disnihil comes with an aura of disdain and bitterness. Fast, driving, d-beat-oriented drumming drumming anchors the biting, moderately heavy chord progressions, and the tempo only slows for the album's deceptive introduction, a couple lurching breakdowns and the occasional groove. The throaty shouting is expectedly intense, adding another level of scathing texture to the record's already gravelly sound, and wholly comfortable amongst the elements of crust, hardcore and thrash-y metal. This is pretty rad.

Disnihil - Markings Consistent with Butchery

It's only eight bucks, so get it if you dig it.