Abysmal Dawn, death metal giants from Los Angeles are back with new e.p. with Season of Mist. This new opus contains four songs, two of them being their own, two being covers by In Flames and Candlemass. What I love about this band is how they manage to balance between technical super played death metal, brutality, aggression and melody in many guitar solos, themes and atmospheric parts, making them combination of best parts of European and American schools of death metal. Symphonic, almost orchestral parts are perfect calm in the storm of carnage and groove combined with blast beats. Vocals are brutal growled, but you can understand what is being sung, so that is another plus for this special band. Covers are great, but real value of this e.p. are two songs by Abysmal Dawn, so go get it and give it a spin or two.
Devil In Me worked their asses off to become one of the flagships of European hardcore punk scene and boy, does this new album sound great. I discovered European hardcore back in the mid nineties through controversial Lost & Found releases and bands like Ryker´s, Brightside, Right Direction, Discipline and so on were so sweet and great to me as a kid back then. They still are of course. Devil In Me are from Lisabon and this opus contains eleven songs done just in the way I like it, More street punk oriented Euro hardcore with roots firm in punk rock, yet with some moshing metallic parts here and there, also NYHC influences are unavoidable with some song structures. Vocals are awesome, bordering from angry screaming, hardcore shouter to some more melodic vocals like in fantastic Awake. In Loving Memory and Never Give In are also my personal favorites on this record, so when you read titles like these you will get the picture what these songs and this band is about. Gang backing vocals are just made for singing along while moshing and stagediving at gigs, I can only imagine how this band sounds live, hopefully I will see them and hear them play live one day soon. Until then, this is probably a candidate for top five hardcore releases this year which just started. Great one indeed!
Canadian hardcore legends Comeback Kid are back with their brand new album. I saw this band live only once at Punk Rock Holiday couple of years ago, and they delivered one fine mighty set there. Now, time for new record and this one contains 11 songs of relentless and merciless hardcore punk. What I always admire and love about this band is that they incorporate lots of melody in their songwriting besides sharp street smart hardcore guitar riffs. Andrew´s voice is screaming but fits perfectly to the songs, whether more melodic and anthemic parts of straightforward hardcore pummeling. Lyrically, Comeback Kid continue to deliver themes to which everyone of us can relate to. Songs like Face the Fire, Shadow of Doubt and Standstill are my personal favorites, you will just have to discover yours. Hardcore lives!
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