Tracks :
1. Tied to This Chair
2. When Dreams Take Over
3. My Nasty Breathing Habit...
4. Frostwyrm Part I
5. Frostwyrm Part II
6. Fatal Error Semi-Colon BlueScreen
Tracks :
1. 20:24
2. Dry Bones
3. Searching
4. Not My Own
5. Reign
6. Deadweight
7. On The Shoulders Of Giants
8. Having Eyes To See
9. Nothing Makes Us Move Like Fire
10. Abandon Ship
11. State Of Affairs
12. A broken Vessel
13. Outro
Sevenskies is a metalcore band from Cairns Australia and Nobodies is their debut ep. Although these guys may have come from Cairns, they have now relocated to Brisbane. “Yesss!” people scream as miniradman comes back with some Australian metalcore. When people read or hear the words “metalcore” and “Australia” in the same sentence people immediately show the whites of their eyes as they realise that they will be hearing some good stuff. They think of the giants such as Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen, what many foreigners might not know is that this is only the tip of the iceberg and there is way more where that came from. It’s bands like Sevenskies that make this happen and is one of the many Australian bands that we should thank for carrying on this wonderful tradition.
Australian metalcore has the tendency to sound more mature and grownup than it’s American or European counterparts. They are more serious, and this is something that Sevenskies has seemed to have taken on board. They don’t try to sound overly fast or overly br00tal with their solos or anything. They just try to play it nice and safe, and besides, there aren’t many Australian bands out there who go all out so these guys fit in so well. To be completely honest, Sevenskies reminds me of a young Parkway Drive as far as musical techniques and vocals are concerned. This doesn’t mean that these guys are a huge rip off of Parkway Drive because that couldn’t be further from the truth. They have thrown in their own sounds to mix things up and anyone who knows, being compared to Parkway Drive should be taken as a massive complement.
Although these guys might have a metalcore style song structure, there is something about their music that sounds like hardcore. Hardcore is probably their biggest influence in their music and this is definitely evident in their vocals work. They don’t have many highs or lows, it just sounds like your ordinary, typical hardcore vocal work which is how hardcore vocals are meant to be done, none of this post-hardcore stuff that people think are real hardcore vocals, because it’s not. Also these guys don’t seem to appeal to emotion as much as many other bands out there. Metalcore is usually stereotyped as being an “emo” genre. Although this is wrong in most cases, this is another thing that leads me to believe that these guys are more hardcore than metalcore. It just shouts of hardcore, the vocals, the guitar tuning and they certainly have that “in your face bitch” hardcore style of attitude.
But I do ask a question. What is something that metalcore and hardcore have in common? Breakdowns! Of course, this band hasn’t made the stupid mistake of boring breakdowns or leaving them out all together. They use two styles of breakdowns in this ep which is quite a lot considering that this is only a 13 minute ep. I know songs that go for longer than this! The first style they have used is you typical hardcore style breakdown. Mid paced, notes are sustained for quite a long time and there is a relative heaviness in there somewhere. The other style that they have used is metalcore ones. Now these are quicker, more abrasive and the notes aren’t sustained for as long. The combination of these two contrasts really well but there is something missing. Usually, in every good ep/album, there is a single breakdown that just seals the album. It can literally make your day!
I think the real highlight of this ep is definitely their song writing and it’s this that makes Australian metalcore so enjoyable to listen to because not many bands around the world that can do it like Aussies do. Like I’ve mentioned before, these guys don’t go for all out brutality like many other bands from around the world. And this is probably another thing that makes their song easier to write and when something is easier to do, you tend to enjoy it more than something you don’t like, and things that are enjoyable to do are usually done better. I think that this is quite an important factor in Sevenskies case because they have excellent song writing. This is essentially what makes these guys just that little bit better than your average, everyday metalcore band. Everything in this ep is where it’s supposed to be, and it all fits together like a perfect little puzzle.
I don’t usually think that production of and an album is something to jump up and down about but as soon as I heard the tuning and distortion of the guitars on this ep, it made me smile. There is something about them that just sounds so filling. It’s they guitars themselves that make up the entire atmosphere and if you think they sound good then, wait until the breakdowns, they are amazing. It’s just another thing that makes this ep so enjoyable to listen to.
Overall, this is a pretty good ep which is always something to be proud of if you consider that this is a debut release. What makes it better is that this is from Australia which automatically gives this the stamp of approval for many metalcore fans. It’s bands like this that carry on the Australian tradition and it’s bands like this who we turn to when something like I Killed The Prom Queen go belly up. I’m sure that this will appeal to many metalcore, deathcore and hardcore fans out there purely because of their hardcore style attitude which is the “fuck you, in your face bitch” kind of atmosphere. In this entire ep I believe that the track “what the thunder said” is easily the best and it represents this band very well. I think it mainly displays their song writing capabilities really well. So I’d recommend that song for anyone who is looking for a taste of Sevenskies sound. Sevenskies is definitely one of those bands that you would want to keep an eye on in the future because who knows, they could be the next biggest thing to come out of Australia! I give Nobodies a 15/20. Hardcore or metalcore, who cares, they are both moshable!
City of Sirens is a metalcore band from Australia, Melbourne to be exact and for all who don’t know. Melbourne is the home town of metalcore giants Parkway Drive. That being said, everyone knows that Australian metalcore has the reputation of being gold standard which is renowned all over the world. People know that when the words metalcore and Australia are put in the same sentence, it equals some top notch music. And I can tell you right from the beginning that City of Sirens are definitely not an exception to this rule. In fact, it’s bands like this that makes Aussie metalcore so special and keeps the tradition alive. I have a feeling that this band will explode onto the world stage, and could be the next Parkway Drive or I Killed The Prom Queen.
These guys released a short EP in 2010 which was unfortunately not so good. It was in definite need of a little bit of TLC, and this was mainly due to the extremely poor recording quality of their EP. I think the word rubbish accurately describes how repulsive the previous recording was, it was literally fit for raw black metal. But, City of Sirens have put a neat little bandaid on this conundrum that they were previously faced with. With high quality recording of course, in fact, it’s a lot higher than what some mainstream bands put out. The result of this is some of the best metalcore to ever flow through your ears. They have chosen to re-master two tracks from their original EP which were Without a Second Thought and Oceans, two tracks that were previously scrawled by the appalling recording quality.
I think that real highlight of this band is their song writing. It’s the best I’ve heard in a long, long time from any band anywhere else in the world. They put a lot of the mainstream artists to shame when it comes to this. The structure and framework of their music is absolutely perfect and unrivalled by any other band. Everything from the vocals to the drumming to the guitar work is in place and perfectly in time. Not to mention how it’s all put together. The transitions are smooth and don’t disrupt the momentum of the music, also the way they have layout each track seemed to have a little bit of thought to it. It’s just perfect, it’s the only word to describe such a thing. And it’s even better if you contrast their EP with this demo because they have greatly improved their sound all thanks to recording quality.
They also like to build tension in their music as well. Both tracks feature a relatively calm, relaxing start and end with a breakdown. We all love breakdowns and the breakdowns here are nothing to be ashamed of either because they suit their music perfectly. They are perfect breakdowns, put in the perfect place at the perfect time. Not only this but, they use more their one type of breakdown. Fast hardcore style breakdowns and heavy deathcoreish style ones. This just adds a little more perfection to their music.
The next thing that they have done in their music is implement emotion. There is no such thing as perfect metalcore without emotion because it’s this emotion that keeps us coming back for more. There seems to be a strong emotional connection when listening to this album. The music is so uplifting at times that I think it’s the type of thing that could make your day and I mean that with no exaggeration at all. It’s so simple, but for some reason it’s so hard to pull off for many bands. It’s this simplicity that really emphasises their music because it’s makes it so powerful. You can literally feel the music take control of you. And trust me, being controlled by this album is definitely a pleasant experience.
Overall this could be the next big thing to come out of Australia. I’ve never seen a band with so much potential up their sleeves than these guys. I have a feeling that their debut album which WILL be recorded in the same quality as this will be the next biggest thing to come out in metalcore. The biggest thing to hit the shelves since I Killed The Prom Queen. I recommend this to all metalcore fans out there and especially to fans of I Killed The Prom Queen and Parkway Drive. This is guaranteed to satisfy anyone that is remotely into metalcore, melodic hardcore and post-hardcore. There is one let down though, it’s too short! We want more! I cannot wait to hear what these guys bring out next because I think it’s going to be huge! I give City of Sirens’s 2011 demo a 19/20.
War Upon Worship is The Furor’s third studio album which was released under the Australian label Prime Cuts Music.The Furor are trying to make it big in Australia, metalcore/deathcore territory, but there is a catch, these guys black metal. Although black metal isn’t big in Australia, there is no doubt in my mind that there have been some excellent black metal that has come out of Australia. Some notable bands are Abominator, Bestial Warlust and, of course, Destroyer 666. Apart from that, the Australian scene isn’t as extensive or popular as the American or Transylvanian scenes. But don’t let this fool you, there are many, many black metal bands in Australia. They just haven’t been found yet. So the question is, could The Furor be added to this list of legends?
The Furor and be described as being blackened death metal in the sense that they play as aggressive as many death metal bands. But the thing is that they have almost none of the other characteristics which create death metal. They don’t have the same song structure, vocal techniques or distortion in their guitars. These guys lean towards the likes of Marduk as far as their music is concerned. They have similar song structure and musically techniques. So it’s a safe thing to infer that these guys have been influenced by Marduk in one way or another. Like Marduk (old Marduk that is) these guys are nonstop brutality all the way. There is absolutely no stopping the aggressiveness of this album and the fascinating thing about it all is that they carry this momentum throughout the entire album, not just one or two songs. This is quite rare, and when bands do this, and do it right, I applaud them.
Another thing that should be pointed out about this album is the atmosphere utilized in their music. For some reason, bands such as Endstille, Infernal War and even Marduk use the exact same style of atmosphere. Now I don’t know if this is just down to coincidence or if there is a little alliance forming here. The thing is that The Furor doesn’t include this into their brutal sound, which is something out of the ordinary. Now I’m not trying to imply that the atmosphere that Endstille or Infernal War or Marduk is bad, not at all, I’m just saying it’s good to having something different. I mean, there are already many bands that do this, why follow suit? Rather going for a swaying atmosphere that many brutal black metal bands tend to aim for, their music is supported by a more “complex” atmosphere. The swaying atmosphere is just what the name implies. The atmosphere sounds like is it swaying from high to low pitch, which is brought about by the guitars. Now this sounds quite simple (it sounds simple, but playing it might just be a different story), The Furor have chosen to use the same guitar distortion/tone except there is no swaying and the riffs are more complex. Even though I believe that they both sound pretty good to the ear, I just think that this style is something different.
For all who know anything about extreme metal, know that blast beats play a huge part in making their music extreme. It’s almost essential for an extreme metal band, and more so, typically with black metal and death metal. Well what do you know, a band labelled as blackened death metal! Of course it’s going to have blast beats. And I must say, they are some of the best I have ever heard. Many bands (usually black metal) typically emphasise their blast beats by changing the pitch of the skins on the drums. Now depending on what sound they are trying to aim for, depends on what style they use. But many bands tend to use a higher pitch, but the only problem is that it tends to overpower the rest of the music. Now this is a little dire because it might seem like they are hiding something behind a wall of blast beats. The thing I like about The Furor’s sound is that their drums aren’t overpowering at all. They don’t seem to have that really high pitched drumming. This creates a sort of humming in the background, which creates another element in their atmosphere, which lets the rest of their music take centre stage. I don’t think that the blast beats could have been more spot on!
Another interesting about this band is their guitar work, this might just be a coincidence but for some reason, black metal isn’t big on guitar solos but there are a few exceptions to this (eg Infernal War and many black thrash bands out there). The solos here are amazing, they can either slow and ambient to extremely fast and aggressive. The best thing that I like about them is the way they have implemented their solos into their sound, they have the fast ones during the fast parts in their songs and the slower ones during the slower parts in their songs (which don’t last for very long). Their solos aren’t the same as metalcore or some thrash metal solos. The ones here are not melodic at all, there is so music shredding going on here, complete utter mindless shredding. Also, they don’t last for 10 minutes like many other solos, they are short and sweet and they usually appear three or four times throughout a single song.
But they do have some drawbacks. I think the lack of song structure is where they fall down quite a bit. This whole album just seems like mindless shredding of the guitars and banging of the drums. Although this is still great black metal, it would be good if they had put a little more thought on how they organised their music. Their song structure is extremely messy and lacks any evidence of tightness within their music. But then again, this could be the first technical black metal band. Because their song structure, I think resembles technical death metal more than your typical black metal band.
But there is one, major fault that this album has, and something every band in the world tries to avoid but some fail. And that is, yes ladies and gentlemen REPETITIVITY. There is so much repetitiveness going through the veins of this album. I reckon that you could just make this whole album into a single track and no-one would notice. Yes, they have kept their momentum going throughout their entire album which is a good thing, but at what cost? There are no; vocal changes, changes in their atmosphere or changes in music techniques. I think that the only thing that might not seem as linear is the tempo, there are a few tempo changes throughout their music which keeps it from being as plain as cereal.
Overall, this isn’t bad album. These guys have created a few moments in this album that are worth savouring. These guys are as brutal and as ruthless and any black metal band from anywhere in the world so it’s not fair or right to discount the fact that they are from Australia. Because as I mentioned before, Australia has produced some excellent black metal, and metal in general. These guys are worth giving a shot if you are a fan of extremely brutal black metal. Or if you just like extreme metal (the most extreme of the extreme) because this will easily satisfy. I’d also like to recommend this to fans of Marduk and Infernal War because whoever likes those, are bound to like this. This might just give you a little break from the generic brutal black metal sound that is ever so needed. I recommend the track Hammers Of Masters for first time listeners because this is the track that summarises everything about this album (the good, the bad and the ugly). In conclusion, this is not a perfect album, but they do have a couple glitches that affect them quite a bit. I give The Furor’s third album War Upon Worship a 14/20.
