Author: Rob J

Wage War hit the metalcore scene with a ferocity in 2015 with the release of their debut album, “Blueprints”. Prior to this, they were known as Empires and had an ep called “The Fall of Kings” which is quite impressive! The first two albums, “Blueprints” and “Deadweight” were very well received by fans of the genre, however the third, “Pressure”, which was released a little over 2yrs ago, had something of a mixed reception. While ardent fans of the band’s previous material thought they were getting too poppy or mellowing out, others applauded some of the new directions the band was branching out to.… Continued →

Relent has been around and making music longer than most realize; most likely myself included. A 2 song ep in 2016, the Heart Attack ep (2019), the re-release of the Heart Attack ep (2020), with 2 new tracks, and now a full length, aptly titled, “Heavy”. And yes. Yes, it is. From the first listen to these guys a number of yrs ago, I was hooked. I’m a sucker for downtuned guitars with well constructed grooves, thunderous drums, and a mix of rapped/sung/screamed vocals. So this band has really checked all the boxes for me since day 1.… Continued →

Hard rock/metal band DIRE has announced their new album, “Volume II” is set to drop October 29th. Fans of hard rock, metal, and metalcore are sure to like what these guys put out. Pre-orders are up now at their site HERE. Check out the video for “Oblivion God” below.… Continued →

We Are PIGS has dropped the track “Kids” featuring Brian “Head” Welch and J.R. Bareis (of Love and Death) as well as Morgan Lander of Kittie. The song addresses issues facing this generation and offers hope for the future. A portion of the sales from the track go to We Are Moving the Needle and The Whosoevers. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you find your digital music.… Continued →

Graves End is a metalcore/metal band based out of NJ that is sorely undernoticed/underappreciated. This song is the second single released by the band, with the next planned for November. Fans of metalcore will surely love this. Check it out below!… Continued →

Today, Thumper Punk Records released a video/audio of a project titled “Covering Legends”. The video features punk artists from various bands (see below) covering  Officer Negatives “Don’t Turn Away”, Dogwood’s “Feel the Burn”, and The Crucified’s “Your Image”. Check out the video below and get the download, available HERE. Officer Negative – Don’t Turn Away Jet Wilson of CPR (vocals) Peter118 (vocals) Albert Padilla of Reliance AZ (guitar) David Robledo of The Hoax / Heart Like War (bass) Aaron Wells of True Liberty Dogwood – Feel The Burn Sef Idle of False Idle / uniSEF / The B-Listers (vocals and guitar) Ron Ruhs (guitar) Luis Carlos Medeiros Jr.… Continued →

Living Fire recently dropped a new ep, titled “Mercy Between Love & Hate”. This release was different than what I was expecting, but a in a really good way. The new ep shows the guys leaning in a much more hard rock/nu metal direction and they pull it off quite well. I’ve given the release a number of listens since it dropped and have yet to find a song I feel the need to skip or that feeling of wearing any of it out, so, to me, this release has great listenability (yes, I just came up with that, shut it, haha) as well as repeatability.… Continued →

Today P.O.D. dropped the 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition of their highly acclaimed 2001 release, “Satellite”. The album contains 27 tracks, including a few rarities, remixes, and 4 unreleased demos. Available now wherever you buy/stream music or 2 disc cd.… Continued →

Empty, who had a rather impressive debut release, “Hope & The Loss Of It” on Solid State Records in Sept of 2019, have announced a followup will be released thjs Fall, again, with Solid State. The album, “Made Of Fire” is set to drop October 22nd.… Continued →

Convictions has dropped a new music video for their newest single, “Wreckage”. The song is off the band’s upcoming release, “I Won’t Survive”, out this Friday. Check out the video below. Will you be getting this album?  … Continued →

Hard rock/Metal band, DIRE, has dropped a new song, “Oblivion God”. The track has a great mix of heavy and melodic sound that work together quite well. See what you think in the video below!… Continued →

WOW!!!! I guess it was sometime last year or maybe the year before I first came across these guys. When I did, the first material I heard of theirs was really heavy hitting stuff, really good, really promising. Then, at some point things seemed to get far more melodic and tame. At the end of 2020 however, the band released a new track called “Your Misery” (see the video below). This track took everything I’d heard from them to this point and blended it PERFECTLY. “Your Misery” has its melodic feel to it, but it also punches you right in the face with how heavy it can get.… Continued →

The long wait for the announcement of a new Convictions album is over! Yesterday, the band announced their upcoming album, “I Won’t Survive”, is set to release on 5/7/21. In coordination with the announcement, a new single/video for the song, “The War That Followed Me Home” was released as well (check it out below). Preorders available HERE.… Continued →

The guys in Love and Death will not only be releasing a very long awaited follow-up to their  2013 debut release, “Between Here and Lost” this week, but will also be performing a livestreamed show with some special guests (Lacey Sturm, Matty Mullins, and Keith Wallen)! The wait for the new album, “Perfectly Preserved” is finally over! Check out the videos below! Grab a ticket for the coinciding show this Friday and check it out! Pre-orders HERE. Livestream tickets HERE. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=263595425136980&id=100044595722225… Continued →

Earth Groans is a metal band with an explosive, thundering sound that grips its listeners with their sound. Interest in the band in the past few years seems to have skyrocketed among fans of the genre and for good reason. So when you hear news of something new from them headed your way, you pay attention.   In a rather ambitious endeavor, the band has chosen to cover a song from the one and only Deftones. “My Own Summer” was the first single of the Deftone’s second album release, “Around the Fur” and was in instant hit and an instant classic.… Continued →

One of Thumper Punk Records’ newest bands, Doulos, have released their debut ep, “The Middleman”. These guys border on punk, harcore, and street punk. I was able to see them a few years ago and have eagerly awaited this release and there’s no question, it was well worth the wait. Make sure you give this ep a listen, you won’t wanna sleep on this one!  … Continued →

Rockfest Records’ nu metal band, Relent, have released a new song, “Think You Got It” and are currently in the studio recording the followup to their debut release, “Heart Attack”. The band delivers their hard hitting style once again and continues to build the anticipation for their sophomore release. Check out the lyric video below and let us know if youre ready for more from these guys.  … Continued →

Hard rockers Islander have released a new song and an accompanying video for “The Outsider”. The past few singles they’ve released have been a bit more on the mellow side, but this one shows the band still brings it. Check out the video below and leave your thoughts.  … Continued →

It’s always a pleasure to find a new band to listen to and many times I find myself wondering how I’m only now hearing about them, especially when they sound so good.   Windvent is a progressive post-hardcore band from Chihuahua, Mexico. They have a very heavy, yet melodic sound. The guitarwork is incredible and the vocals range from sounding like Mouth of the South to Lifelong, and also feature some really great sounding cleans. Excellent lyrics! The band released a few singles in the past year or two and have a full length release, “Relief” that dropped in 2018.… Continued →

I was going to write a little intro to this list of mine, but in the end I figured I’d just let it speak for itself. Alot of great music dropped despite all the year brought us and these are my top 20. Let me know what you think!     20. Everything In Slow Motion – “Influence”. (Rock/Hard Rock) Released 10/16/20 on Facedown Records. Influence was the band’s first release since the 2016 ep, Laid Low. While it didn’t feel like a whole lot of new ground was covered, that is a good thing, especially considering their sound.… Continued →

Metalcore band, Then It Ends have emerged onto the scene lately with track after track of heavy hitting songs that have been met with a pretty positive reception. This upcoming Friday, the band will release it’s debut album, “Restored” on Flourish Records. To get a feel for what you’re in for, be sure to check them out HERE.… Continued →

In case you weren’t aware, Wolves At The Gate will be releasing a new ep on Solid State Records on October 9th, called “Dawn”. The ep will feature 6 alternate versions of songs that appeared on their most recent release, “Eclipse”. Check out the track below, and presave the new ep HERE. Who plans on picking this up?… Continued →

The punks in Slick Shoes made their triumphant return this past week with a new release on Tooth & Nail Records called “Rotation & Frequency”. Listening to this album, it’s clear the guys are still in prime shape, 17 years after their last studio release. If you liked these guys before, you’re in for a real treat. You can grab this album at any digital retailer or right HERE. If you’ve already given a listen, tell us what you think!… Continued →

Collington has released a new song and video called “Vagrant”. This track is very acoustic based and laid back, yet smooth and melodic. If you’ve given a listen to Collington before and like what you’ve heard, chances are you’ll be into this; if you haven’t heard his stuff before, there’s no better time to start than right now. Check out the song/video below and listen to it or even better, pick it up HERE.… Continued →

Jason Wisdom has a real talent for putting out really great music, whether it be in Becoming the Archetype, Death Therapy, The Reversalist, among others. This past week Death Therapy teamed up with Impending Doom frontman, Brook Reeves to deliver a cover of “Reject” by Living Sacrifice. The song has a real industrial metal feel to it that works really well. It’s a great cover, sure to please. Check it out HERE or below and let us know how you’re liking this.… Continued →

Earth Groans will be releasing their 2nd ep of 2020, “Waste”, on Solid State Records, October 23rd. As of now, you can place preorders and presaves HERE. The first single, “Shatter” dropped this past Friday; you can check it out below. Who’s looking forward to hearing more from these guys???… Continued →

Cast the Dragon has released their latest album, “Annihilate the Adversary” on Thumper Punk Records on Sept 18. The album makes for a great listen, full of energy and a message of hope. Dark, brooding punk rock with a hint of gothic elegance woven throughout 15 blistering tracks.  Joshua Lory’s baritone vocals interplay with anthemic guitars, haunting keyboards and punishing drums.  Uncompromising lyrical content focused on keeping God at the center of all things through Jesus/Yeshua our Messiah.  The band’s full tilt sound is reminiscent of The Damned, TSOL, Misfits, Grave Robber and  Scaterd Few.… Continued →

If you haven’t started listening to GFM by now, man…get on board already. Really well executed hard rock by these three sisters and hearts set on God. The trio just released their newest ep, “Operation Take Over” at the beginning of the month and have now dropped a music video for the track, “Smile”. Check it out below and leave your thoughts.… Continued →

Last month, Skillet re-released their most recent album, “Victorious” and dubbed it “Victorious: The Aftermath” (get yours HERE). The re-release features 3 new tracks and reimagined/remixed versions of previously existing tracks. One of the new tracks, “Dead Man Walking” was just given the lyric video treatment. Seems very reminiscent of what you’d hear off the “Rise” album. Check it out below and see if you agree.… Continued →