Primetime Failure from Germany are in no way strangers to the pages of this webzine. I am glad that the guys still play and this is their brand new release containing 6 songs. Primetime Failure play some kind of mixture between melodic punk, pop punk and post punk, at least I find that on this release. The song called Not Well is definitely more of a post punk song, with great, dreamy melody. On the other hand, Man Against Self is more fast straightforward punkrock song, leaning more into nineties melodic punk waters, with nice tempo change and great vocal/backing vocals harmonies throughout the whole record. Lyrics are personal and quite dark and sad, dealing with depression as I understood it but leaving a bit hope at the end between the lines. Comet Trails is again on a different path, being pop punk song with a bit socially engaged lyrics if you listen to them carefully. Also, this time has nice chorus and I can’t resist the feeling that whole record is a bit dark and I love it. For me THE song on this record is Orphanage Bears, made my eyes a bit moist, like something fell into my eye while listening. I also love the diversity in songwriting, making it a worth listening, not just another skatepunk band, but really original and band with a strong personality, so to say!
German punk rock veterans Betontod released their brand new full length whose title means We’ve Only Just Started! I must admit this is the first time I have listened to this band and I liked what I heard. This one contains thirteen songs of punk and rock songs most of them being in German language which is not a problem for me, because I am fluent in German since my high school days. Some of the songs I liked more, some less, so the opener All die schonen Menschen(All The Pretty People) didn’t work out for me a lot. But, there are couple of hits after that, one of them being Du killst mich(You Are Killing Me), having an anthemic and catchy chorus just made for singing along at gigs. You can also hear a little keyboard work in Alles fur den Content(All For Content). If you are looking for fast and raw punk here you won’t find one. But, if you love more rock side of punk with quality songwriting, you will love this one. Most of the songs have anthemic and grand choruses, lyrics are smart and personal, but well written too. As couple of my personal highlights I must also name the title song, also beautiful Fur dich(For You), Keep Calm And Carry On and Vielleicht sind wir die Letzten(Maybe We Are Last). I like this album.
Ethereal Tomb are hailing from Canada and they were formed in 2021. This is their third full length opus and it contains eight songs. The music of Ethereal Tomb is very heavy, very harsh mixture of doom metal and sludge with slow rolling thundering drums, double bass, smart use of samples which rules in my opinion at the start of the album, there are also tortured vocals screaming about suffering, death, hate and similar lyrical themes. If I must compare it with some band it would be EyeHateGod minus punk influences, but it kept originality not simply copying some band in the scene. Ethereal Tomb are more metalized than aforementioned band. The songs are not long as it usually could be case in this genre, so that is another plus for this record, because it doesn’t get boring for a second. Life is hard. Be harder. If you are fan of gritty, harsh, bleak and hopeless sludge doom metal with occasional slight guitar melody, check out this beauty. My personal favorites on this one are Abandon Suffering, Unbecoming and Death Of The Indian. Gotta love raw emotions these guys deliver in your face!
