Phinehas

The Bridge Between

metalcore/acoustic

release date: January 21, 2013

 

1. Panhammer

2. Well If the Earths Are Stopped, Then the Fox Faces the Hounds

3. David And The Gate

4. A Pattern In Pain (Acoustic)

5. Endkindler

6. Crowns (Acoustic)

7. The Wishing Well (Acoustic) feat. Ann Marie Flathers

Downoad/Support
Facebook

 

   I am usually a little skeptical of metal bands that turn to doing acoustic releases. To me, it is a desperation sign to try to prove their musicianship. More often than not, I am usually bored with the outcome. Phinehas, however, has never heard of the word boring. It has been roughly a year and a half since we have heard anything new at all from them. In this day and age of music, that is almost unheard of, with bands pumping out new songs annually. And here we have "The Bridge Between EP" from the pioneers of mustache metal!

   "The Bridge Between" opens with the same crushing attack that "The Godmachine" left us with, the same powerful screaming, harmonizing cleans, thunderous drums, and quitar work that sounds like Jason Combs has 15 fingers, with a few breakdowns sprinkled here and there. That is simply because the first three tracks are B-sides of "The Godmachine". Stereotypically B-sides are thought of as songs that did not make the cut, but with these three incredibly strong tracks I could not help but ask myself, "Why in the world were these not on The Godmachine"!? But that is fine with me, because they are now new to my ears. What I love about Phinehas is that they have their own style of belting clean vocals to go with their brand of metalcore, or may I say, mustache metal. 

   After "David and the Gate" is where I really became impressed. That whole skeptical thing with metal thing going acoustic thing, yea... well that was an immediate lost thought. Sean McCulloch was able to tweak his voice with adding a little range to mix with the acoustics to make such a beautiful arrangement. He did a superb job and really impressed me with how unforced he sounded, which is a downfall with a lot of bands that go acoustic.

   "A Pattern In Pain" is one of their originals that they revised acoustically, along with "Crowns" and "The Wishing Well". And with all of these songs, they brought a raw emotion and passion that I have not heard in a long time. And with just under 3 minutes in, the 15 fingered man again takes his turn at his wonder and swoops you away to the end of the song. "Endkindler" is the only new material. It follows up nicely to the first acoustic track, flows perfectly, keeps the emotion living, and does not stick out and make it obvious that it is the only new track. Perhaps my favorite song and catchiest of the EP is "Crowns". It is so real, upbeat, yet, calm with emotion, and just flat out amazing. Since I have heard it, I have hummed "Kings of earth, bow down, and lose your crowns" endlessly. The EP ends out with "The Wishing Well". This song is the "softest" of the acoustics. It's flowered with piano which is a beautiful way to end out the EP.

   I have not been able to get enough of these 7 songs. It is almost like they are teasing us until they release their new full length. Which seemingly, and clearly, I am eagerly anticipating. Phinehas fans have patiently waited for new music, and I know for sure this has satisfied their curiosity to what all the EP talk was about. And for the newcomers, and those who have not thoroughly been Phinehas followers, will enjoy this to, and hopefully grow an appreciation for their successful delve outside of metal.



5/5

 





Your Past, My Present

Trials And Tribulations

metalcore/post-hardcore

release date: January 18, 2013

 

1. The Summoning

2. A Conversation With Immortals

3. Trials And Tribulations

4. Kingdoms

5. Blood And Sand

6. Viles

 

Download/Support

Facebook

 

   Coming into this EP I have not heard much of Your Past, My Present's music, except for the few song leaks of this EP they were releasing on their Facebook, via Youtube, until the release. From those few songs I heard I immediately became a fan, and highly anticipated this EP.

   The first thing I said to myself as soon as I started listening was... "Good Lord... them vocals". On the opening track, right after the opening crush of a breakdown, vocalist Matt Fortner immediately slapped me in the face with an amazing display of highs (the kind of highs that belong in some technical deathcore). The song from there continues to touch all elements... from the thumping riffs and breakdowns, to the cleans, even the electronic edit touches of today's metalcore and post-hardcore genre. The feeling of this song of an opening track was perfect, and had me stoked to hear what else this had in store for me. The second track, "A Conversation With Immortals" kept the momentum flowing smoothly. This track has a more progressive metalcore feel to it. They nail the progressive sound really well, and I prefer it much more than the post-hardcore elements of the EP. The cleans in this song were also really well used; really to the point where I favor them more than the opening track. After this song was over, I was almost sure that this was never going to slow down and there would not be a weak track on the EP. Then the next song started... not that I am not a fan of songs that tend to slow down the heavy and go for the more emotional feel, nor am I not a fan of some electronic touches in metal, and lastly it is not that I am not a fan of cleans or all clean songs either. All of these things are what make up the title track. For me, off pace songs are good ways to stretch your musicality. For most albums they are a good finishing touch, and with that I believe for such songs, song placement is crucial. As the third song and dead center of the EP, I believe it was not the best place. It abruptly slowed the momentum and cohesive flow, and probably would have better fit as second to last or the ending track. I also did not think it hit an emotional level that the song could have reached.

   With "Kingdoms" the EP picks up where "A Conversation With Immortals" left off, but does not stick out. "Blood And Sand" fades in, and after about half way through I noticed a change in this song's and the previous in the cleans compared to the first half of the EP. They sounded different, they now sounded like a more mature metalcore band with these cleans, than the post-hardcore cleans that were displayed in the first few songs. This works way better with the sound they were portraying, but... "Viles" then switch them again, back to the sound of the opening track. Not at all a bad thing anyways. They perform both vocal styles well, and neither feel forced, over-used, or out of place. With that, the EP ends on a very good note leaving me with vicious screams and a heavy breakdown.

   Your Past, My Present did indeed impress me with this EP. It fell short of perfect, which is expected of a debut EP, but that only means there is room to get better. And I look forward to hearing this bands "better" after this enjoyable little snippet of their talent. Other than a small amount of inconsistencies, it had superb production, spectacular vocals, and good all around play in the other instruments as well. This is definetly music that I want staying on my iPhone for a while. 

 

3.5/5

 

Love And Death

Between Here & Lost

Alternative Metal / Hard Rock

release date: January 22
 

1. The Abandoning

2. Whip It

3. Watching The Bottom Fall

4. By The Way

5. Meltdown

6. My Disaster

7. I W8 4 U (feat. Mattie Montgomery)

8. Fading Away

9. Paralyzed

10. Chemicals

11. Bruises

 

     It is inevitable that when you think of Love And Death, you picture a dread-headed Brian "Head" Welch, formerly of Korn. In case you have wondered for years where all the energy went in Korn, look no further. This album is filled with answers to where their sound has disappeared to. If you have ever seen Love And Death perform you will certainly understand all the emotion left with Welch. My mind is still flooded with memories of seeing Brian on stage sprawled out on the floor crying his lyrics, screaming to God. That same passionate energy has spread throughout the young band that he has built around him (JR Bareis - Lead Guitar, Michael Valentine - Bass, Dan Johnson - Drums).
     This is Brian's second full length since Korn, and the band's first as a whole together. I was a huge fan of Brian's solo album, "Save Me From Myself". For me, it built a respect for him as a solo artist. But this album made it clear to me that he is no longer the name of his music, but a part of a band... a good one. "Between Here & Lost" has an overall tight sound. It has some of the same tendencies as "Save Me From Myself"; the heavy riffs, the mix of Brian using his grungy singing voice and clean vocals, and bellowing yells. All of those were evident right off the bat with the opening track, "The Abandoning", which is the perfect song to set the pace for this record. Next up is "Whip It"...and yes, "Whip It" as in the Devo song. Personally, this song is actually one of the stand outs on the album. They managed to do a total transformation of this song, to where it sounds nothing like the original. In most cases when a band does this, it is a total failure and leaves you with a horrible feeling. But for L&D it did wonders. They managed to make an 80's pop song into a good experimental hard rock song. The whole album flows together perfectly, and not one song really feels out of place. One thing is for sure, JR has picked up everything he could learn from Brian's guitar style, replicated it, and took it on as his own, and really is the stand out performance on the album. In "Meltdown" you find the band experimenting with a softer interlude backing Brian's whispers, with background vocals (screams) reminiscent of 30 Seconds to Mars. There is even a guest vocal performance for all the metalcore heads out there, specifically of the Christian scene. For Today's Mattie Montgomery is featured in "I W8 4 U", and fits in smoothly. Mattie's vocals are powerful, and he brings that sheer power to this song, making it the clear front runner to be everyone's favorite track on the album. Brian's writing style is a clear reflection of his life and all his struggles he has overcome; making themes of this album such as addictions, depression, and loneliness, among other struggles that go hand-in-hand, evident in songs such as "Paralyzed" and "Chemicals". The album ends out in an emotional rollercoaster with "Bruises", which is the most appropriate place for this song.
     It's honestly a shame that whatever Brian does he will never lose that Korn tag. He was clearly the glue to that band with his signature sound, but he has moved on in his life with a band that brings light to the world through his experiences. If there was any shortcoming with this album, it's the fact that the only thing I could remember of this album first listen through was the vocals and guitar work. The other instruments were unintentionally overlooked. Also there are a few weaker tracks on the album (i.e. "Watching the Bottom Fall", "By The Way", and "Fading Away"), but with any release you're going to have songs that stand out more than others, and the other tracks certainly make up for it and give the album plenty of sustaining life.
     Love And Death is full of talent and still relatively young, but with the cohesiveness of this album it is really hard to tell. This is definitely a good album, that is for sure. It left me wanting a few more songs, but until their next release, "Between Here & Lost" will serve all my alternative metal needs just fine.

4/5