Swedish punk rock legends No Fun At All are back with their seventh full length opus, first one in four years. It is long awaited and contains 12 songs. What to say? This one has old school NFAA vibe, but also what surprised me is a new hardcore aggression and energy that stems from the songwriting on this record. I was surprised with Tear Me Down, song that hits in the head with hardcore raw energy, combined with Ingemar´s melodic singing and gang sing along backing vocals. Every Single Screen and See The Splendor are more old school melodic punk No Fun At All songs, with strong main melody, cutting guitar work and anthemic choruses for you to hum and sing along to. Another song that stands out is Smart You Out, mid tempo punk anthem about unrestricted freedom. Also, Wonderland is a bit Bad Religion influenced song, especially in the second half of the song. Dead And Gone is sure going to be concert favorite for many of us, I think this is a sure hit. Of all the songs it is really hard to choose highlights and favorites, but I have tried, so those above are mine. You listen to this new opus of this legends and catch them play live somewhere, I saw them live twice and their show is awesome.
Romanian bands are something special. This magic country that gave us Vlad Tepes and shrouded in Carpathian fog provides yet another superb opus to our black metal hearts. This time it is Wormgod from Bucharest area. This duo gave us their first full length although the band has been in existence since 2009 releasing one demo and single, but it has been nine years of ominous quiet and then this jewel. What to expect on this one? Well, you can bet that these nine hymns are excellent and I recommend them to any fan of melodic black metal with lots of atmosphere and melancholy in the song structures. This album reminds me a lot of nineties black metal and the reason why I love this music, the mix of aggression and melody, melancholy and battle. From the all out blast beat epic melody of My Blood, across more mid tempo and atmospheric The Blossom Of Fear which is one of my personal favorites, to epic Failure’s Reign and Olden Crusade, this one is a black metal opus par excellence. There are some a bit more modern parts, I would dare to call them post black metal in some song structures but that parts bring more eeriness and haunting feeling. Lyrics are, as you can see in English language and they deal with more personal side of hauntings, dealing with demons and darkness. Vocals are excellent, screamed but not too over the edge, fit just great in the songs. This is one of the better black metal releases this year.
Cigar are back with their first release for Fat Wreck Chords and it is a blast. I must admit that I didn´t know about this band until PRH 19 when I was surprised and blasted by their music. For those who don´t know, Cigar are a trio and play ultrafast and energetic melodic hardcore punk, with lots of technicality but enough to keep it simple and sounds like a natural progression of nineties skate punk hardcore to new millennia. These ten songs offer a perfect storm, like listening to Reign In Blood, every song counts and every second rules. There are metal influences like in excellent Legacy of the 7 Plies, for which an awesome video was made. Rami´s vocals are superb, dramatic and shouted at moments yet keeping melody in line with otherworldly guitar work, fantastic bass lines, so prog and technical but also making it sound so easy, and believe me it´s not. Drummer is a beast with all rhythm changes, fast charges, even grooves in some parts. We Used To is another song that was chosen for a single and video, it is a nice ode to the past and future with such sweet lyrics and melody. Absolutely a highlight. One of the songs I should also mention is In Armor, battle anthem about not giving in no matter how hard it is, song that I listened to over and over again. Classic You(first single) and Move On are killers too. Damn, that is already more than half of the album. So, into blistering fast melodic hardcore punk? Go get this one. And go see this band live. It is an experience you will not forget.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 