July 3, 2009
Killswitch Engage CD Review10:04am by Stephanie Stevens
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
WWW.KILLSWITCHENGAGE.COM
RATING: 4/5
In 2004/2005 KILLSWITCH ENGAGE not only made me proud to live in the same State that they formed in but they gave me a appreciation for a band who could kill you sound wise with massive, in your face aggressive music; along with exploring the depths of the melodic singing elements in music that they are very well known for.
The album THE END OF HEARTACHE was a gem using that sonic blast of metal to catch your attention right from the get go of every song but it was that title track that solidified the cleverness, passion and commitment this band had to be diverse, brutal and to give the fans all of them in each song. The walk down memory lane for me was due to the face that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is once again alive and breathing new life into 2009 with the SELF TITLED newest album. With one quick listen through the whole disc you automatically see the depth and layering the band is producing to the music these days. It’s still an assault to the senses but not as in your face and brutal these days. The craft of developing textures, melody and intricate styling is making each song stand out on there own instead of meshing together. Than we have the vocals of Howard Jones who has brought delicateness to his screams and a lower stronger emotional value to his singing voice as you can see on STARTING OVER.
Overall KILLSWITCH ENGAGE went down a new path and came out with a diverse, styled solid defined album. THE RETURN creates a light of somber appeal with a desired and almost elegant melodic singing nature. It presents hope, yearning and beauty from the voice, to the music to the lyrics. The musicianship on TAKE ME AWAY is breathtaking, seductive, inspiring and a respected way to show a metal band opening gates of elegance. Then we have I WOULD DO ANYTHING my favorite track and a song that brings you back to the fierce, electrifying brutal music. This song shows they still have what they had the years when the learning and growing was raw and new to them. KILLSWITCH ENGAGE has made a record to be reckoned with and will see a heavy payback for the hard work.
June 30, 2009
Family Force 5 ‘Dance Or Die’ Music Video9:55am by Baconstrip http://www.thedailyrock.com/flv/FamilyForce5-DanceOrDie.flv
June 29, 2009
Eyes Set To Kill ‘The World Outside’ CD Review6:05am by Stephanie Stevens
EYES SET TO KILL-THE WORLD OUTSIDE
BREAK THE SILENCE RECORDINGS/SUBURBAN NOIZE
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/EYESSETTOKILL
RATING: 4/5
I’ll be the first to admit that I was never a fan of the front woman in the music world unless maybe they were in the “pop” culture but through the years the ladies have stepped up and showed more integrity and passion for what they were doing in the metal and hard rock world. The band EYES SET TO KILL are one of the bands that made me take a re- listen to what a female fronted band could create and prove and let me say they shut me up with the negative thoughts I had. From there I opened my mind to other darker and heavier bands in this genre. But for now it is all about the band EYES SET TO KILL that came to me about a year ago or so with their debut album REACH, with sisters in the band and a aggressive side to the band thanks to one of the male members this band had it all great melodies, powerful and punchy heavier styles and storylines that were so emotional and reality driven. THE WORLD OUTSIDE is the newest effort from the band and the sound hasn’t really changed since REACH. The one thing was the stories based throughout each song were not as appealing to me as the last record was but still on a few of the tracks it’s obvious that the soul of storytelling is still there. I do love the aggressive screams of Brandon are still alive and kicking but he has also added some clean singing on the track DEADLY WEAPONS. With this addition it really compliments Alexia’s singing range very well. This track is upbeat, catchy and very easily could be a solid single. RISEN brings you back to the first album with the ultra aggressive nature and mixture of melody driven parts. The titles track THE WORLD OUTSIDE and the last tracks COME HOME are the two songs that really moved me through the lyrical content. It brings out a lot of emotional value to the singing quality and the way the listener perceives it. Songs, which convey emotion on many levels and aspects in life, EYES SET TO KILL aren’t creating new music and they aren’t doing anything insanely impossible but they do bring the realness and passion to each and every song they put to disc. So if you’re a first timer to this band or loved them from the beginning this CD is another great disc to add to your collection.
EYES SET TO KILL
“Heights”
June 25, 2009
Michael Jackson, The King Of Pop, Dead At 507:08pm by Baconstrip
associated press:
Cancer Bats Live At Camden UndergroundLOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the “King of Pop” and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50.
The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.
Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.
6:59am by Adam
June 24, 2009
Interview With A Static Lullaby3:15pm by Stephanie Stevens
When I think confidence and integrity when it comes to the music scene I think of the Chino hills, California band A STATIC LULLABY. They are coming up on the 10 year status and through turmoil of labels and member changes the founders Joe Brown and Dan Arnold have never lost these two prominent things. The bands music has been ever changing their songwriting has been real honest and creative. They are who they are and that is what makes these guys a stellar and amazing band.
Through the years I have been a very big fan but it was only this year when I had the pleasure of seeing them play live on the Silverstein tour and now on their very own headlining tour.
With their latest effort RATTLESNAKE pretty much being the most aggressive and impacted thing in their career so far I was happy to be able to sit down with them to chat about the process of writing it and how they feel after the finished product is out. With Joe and Tyler in tow we headed backstage before their set to chat about the cover tunes, the future and if there is any regrets of what they have done thus far.
HEY GUYS! I SEE THINGS ARE GOING WELL FOR YOU?
JOE: Yea things are good
I KNOW ON RATTLESNAKE YOU PUT A LOT OF YOUR HEART N SOUL INTO THIS ALBUM. WITH YOU AND DAN SINGING, THROUGH THE YEARS HOW DOES THE SONGWRITING HAPPEN?
JOE: I write all the lyrics. I work with Dan on melodies and rhythms and stuff like that. So basically I get an idea in my head on how I want something and then we get together and then we go through on how I want the words to fit and then he just sings it the way I want him to. He writes a lot of the music and guitar and stuff like that. But Dane on this album contributed a lot on the songwriting.
DO YOU FEEL THROUGH ALL THE PERSONAL STUFF ON THIS ALBUM THAT IT IS WHAT MADE IT THE BEST ALBUM THROUGH YOUR CAREER?
JOE: I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I could do in my career. I believe that the album itself, to me is my favorite. I know it hits home when I sing it and I feel everything I was feeling when I wrote it. It is a good chapter in my life and proud I have this. I am just really proud as a band of what we can do and I believe every record is a step up from the last but RATTLENSAKE is defiantly my favorite.
WHEN YOU SIT DOWN TO CREATE AN ALBUM DO YOU GO BACK TO PRIOR ALBUMS FOR INSPRIATION OR WHAT NOT TO DO?
JOE: You never really have a conscious effort especially with our band and that is probably half the problem (laughing) we don’t do that. The only album I remember us saying well this is what we kind of want to do and that was the self titled album. That is because after we split with the original members it was Dan and I and we basically wrote our first album together. It was him and I in my garage so anyway we did the split with the band and we said ok let’s go back to doing what A STATIC LULLABY was!!! Let’s go back to making music we love. So then the next album came!! We are always
evolving and we are true to rock n roll, we are musicians we try to do the best of what we do. We love to write songs and playing heavy rock n roll and metal is the most fun we can have.
SO WITH THE NEW GUYS EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE IN FOR THE SELF TITLED THIS ALBUM THEY DID HAVE A BIGGER PART WHEN THE CREATING PROCESS TOOK PLACE.
JOE: Yea like I said earlier Dane really put in a lot on this new disc. For the first time ever this is the first time I can remember someone else giving something to a record besides me and Dan and it was great. The collaboration was great.
DO YOU THINK THE AGGRESSIVENESS ON THE ALBUM IS BECAUSE OF DANE’S CONTRIBUTION.
JOE: Well that is the thing. Dane is a bass player so when Dan would write a guitar part it would be written like it was for the bass line. It was played with different rhythm. So the songs were coming out heavier but we loved it. I was generally pissed off and I didn’t believe the lyrics I was writing could be played on a soft album because if you read the fuckin lyrics it was pretty brutal shit!!! It could make your hair stand up on your arm if you really think about it
GOING BACK THOUGH DO YOU REGRET ANYTHING THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN ON THE RECORD?
JOE: No (laughing) If I was to regret I would be in a lot of fuckin trouble (laughing) I would have too much regret for myself (laughing) I do like to make little notes to myself I call it little post it notes to my heart, I guess little life lessons and they say no regrets!!
NOW WITH THE BRITNEY COVER OF TOXIC DID YOU DO IT FOR THE ALBUM OR FOR THE FEARLESS COMPILATION?
JOE: That was on our album way before anything else that comp came out a while after. The funny thing about it was we did the song because we wanted to do another cover because of the success of LET GO. So we wanted to do it too have fun and it was a wonderful thing and then when Pop Goes Punk came out it just did amazing it was on MTV and the video did well. So that success of it has been great for us. I wish it did well for our album because it just wouldn’t be single sales it would be album sales because we are the most popular song on that comp album
WELL THE QUESTION I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU IS AFTER PUTTING YOUR HEART N SOUL INTO THIS NEW ALBUM DOES IT FUSTRATE YOU THAT THE COVER IS PRIMARLIY WAS IT MAKING YOU STICK OUT THIS YEAR TO THE PUBLIC?
JOE: It doesn’t frustrate me but I get what your saying but still it doesn’t and the point was we wanted to do it, we really thought it would be a good thing to do. To get someone to drive to your album by listening to a pop song, they are going to hear our songs regardless. So then they can be the judge of it for themselves but the planning between the two releases wasn’t correct so that is just what it is you know.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ANYTHING NEW FOR RECORD 5?
JOE: We have been doing this for 10 years now, we get in our moods where it is touring touring touring but when we go home this next time everybody has some family things they need to sort out but we are going to write for sure. I am really excited to write just because of where RATTLENSAKE was and it is a statement. After writing that album it gave me a breathe of fresh air
WITH THIS LINEUP YOU HAVE NOW HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE OR IMPACT DOES THESE MEMBERS GIVE THE LIVE PERFORMANCE AND THE PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP LEVEL ON THE ROAD?
JOE: Well Dan and I have been together forever. I was 14 when I started playing with him. I guess as a whole I’m just happy to be able to play with such great musicians and I think the overall show and presence we bring to the stage is great we connect with each other and the crowd and that is beautiful. The live show can get loud at times sometimes I’m the one that goes crazy and then Dan has his moments. They are all great guys and now I have the pleasure of not having to deal with what I dealt with previously
SO WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING AGAIN DID THESE GUYS JUST FALL IN TO PLACE?
JOE: Dane was in Berkley music in Boston and he tried out for us and came out to California and worked on the self titled with us and then Tyler was a drummer in another band and we had lost our drummer so we stole him (laughing) from another band so he came aboard when we were on tour for the self titled album. The rest is history
TYLER HOW IS IT WORKING WITH MR. JOE BROWN?
TYLER: It is amazing I couldn’t be happier
YOU DON’T WANT TO QUIT YET?
TYLER: No
JOE: I can make him want to
TYLER: (laughing) yea he knows how to push my buttons
JOE: I push his buttons rarer then others
TYLER: Yes Dan on the other hand just doesn’t know how to stop (laughing)
JOE: OOOO he is a button pusher…(laughing)
I KNOW YOU MUST HAVE HEADLINED BEFORE BUT HAS THIS BEEN YOUR FIRST MAJOR ONE?
JOE: Sweetheart we have been a band for a long time so we have done big ones and little ones but we haven’t headlined in like three years because we talked as a band and said we just want to support and get RATTLENSAKE out there because it is a whole new scene from when we started and I’m trying to understand it most of the time because I don’t!! So we went out jumped on tours to get our name out there and then do a headliner. We did this because we didn’t get Warped Tour or anything like that and we didn’t know if we were going to tour this summer so when we made the decision we all agreed to headline and then we get to play more songs for the fans and that is really all we wanted to do on this one.
PICKING THIS TOUR DID YOU HAVE FULL REIGN ON WHO WAS GOING TO MAKE THE PACKAGE OF BANDS UP?
JOE: Yea we picked the bands
TYLER: I mean there was some that were offered to us and we were on tour at the time when we got all the offers and we kind of left it up to our managers and booking agent to give us options
JOE: They sent us a list of bands and said what about these guys and we listened to them and then said what is their deal.
IS THERE ANY MAIN THINGS YOU WANT IN A PACKAGED HEADLINE RUN?
JOE: I like diversity. I think this tour there is diversity which is great. Tides Of Man is phenomenal, they are just a great great rock n roll band, they are not really heavy, I mean they are heavy but not intense, they are really great musicians and all the other bands kick it on stage and then we get on and finish it off
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’RE LEARNING FROM THE BANDS ON THIS BILL YOU WILL TAKE AWAY WITH YOU ONCE IT’S DONE?
JOE: I think Vanna is teaching me a lesson on life!! (laughing)
IS THAT A GOOD THING?
JOE: If your saying by the end of the tour what will we take away with us I think we will lose a lot more (laughing) Tyler might lose his mind by the end of the tour!!!!
AFTER THIS TOUR ANYMORE TOURING OR JUST GOING HOME?
JOE: Oh yea we are going to write
(As Joe rubs Tyler’s head) AND RUB HIS HEAD!!
TYLER: They gave me crap because I shaved it down to nothing
JOE: I didn’t say much..aww come on dude
TYLER: You know what you said
JOE: O dude don’t repeat that
TYLER: No, I won’t but you know what you said
WHILE YOU WERE ON YOUR PHONE CALL I ASKED JOE WHEN YOU DO WRITE FOR THE NEW RECORD IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SPECIFICALLY THROW IN TO THE WRITING PROCESS?
TYLER: I would say since I listen to more metal
JOE: Him and I want to sound like Lamb Of God
TYLER: Yes!! But my aspect towards our music I would say I would try to get more heavier parts out of us because Dan is a top 40 guy he listens to like anything that you will hear on the radio and Dane listens to very diverse amount of music and I try to but Joe can atest to this but like I said I listen to more metal so I tend to go back to just that all the time. So I think that is what I kind of bring out
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PERCENTAGE IS THAT YOU WILL GET YOUR WAY?
TYLER: NOW!!!! Since this past record
JOE: I don’t think the discussion of metal is going to be any question
TYLER: After RATTLESNAKE I would say a good percentage
JOE WILL WE HEAR MORE ANGRY LYRICS?
JOE: Hell yea it’s just going to be Tyler and I. It will be double bass and just me screaming
SO WE DON’T NEED THE REST OF THE BAND
JOE: Yea we are going for the tribal sounding A STATIC LULLABY (laughing)
(Laughing) CHANGE IS GOOD (LAUGHING) OKIE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ADD OR COMMENT ABOUT?
JOE: Yes!! You did a great interview and your questions were great and you did a really good job
DO I GET A STAR ON MY FOREHEAD?
JOE: YES YOU DO!!
Icon The Group ‘Sexy And Hood’ Music Video11:41am by Baconstrip http://www.thedailyrock.com/flv/IconTheGroup-SexyAndHood.flv
