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INTERVIEW : Impending Doom
A short e-mail interview conducted with David from Impending Doom.
Author: JoshIVM
April 8, 2009
February 20, 2009
INTERVIEW : The Red Baron
An interview with Phil Porto of The Red Baron. The new album, My First Love, releases April 7th on Blood & Ink Records.
February 17, 2009
INTERVIEW : Corpus Christi
An interview with Jarrod Christman of Corpus Christi. Their Victory Records debut, "The Darker Shades Of White", releases today.
January 15, 2009
REVIEW : Wrench In The Works - Lost Art Of Heaping Coal
Band: Wrench In The Works
Title: Lost Art Of Heaping Coal
Label: Facedown
Release Date: 08/19/08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Dust Over Time Test
02. Tonight Is War
03. Our Time
04. Brokenness
05. One Foot Out Of Hell
06. Pale Fire
07. Death Letter
08. Loaded Gun
09. Faith As A Virus
10. Lost Art Of Heaping Coal
I first brought this band to your attention back in March ’06 and then reviewed their last album “Prodigal Transmission” in August ’06. The album got a fair rating but definitely had plenty of room for improvements.… Continued →
REVIEW : The Rekoning - The Road Less Traveled
Band: The Rekoning
Title: The Road Less Traveled
Label: Strike First
Release Date: 01/06/09
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Intro
02. I Believe
03. Road Less Traveled
04. Take Me Away
05. Necessary Violence
06. Paved With Gold
07. Lifetime Away
08. Say What You Will
09. Home Again
10. Anchor
11. Prison Break
12. Constituents
13. Sheep’s Clothing
14. Ain’t Seen Nothing
The Rekoning seemingly came out of nowhere to sign with Strike First. I would bet most people were unfamiliar with this 3 piece from Riverside, CA.… Continued →
January 14, 2009
REVIEW : xDeathstarx - The Triumph
Band: xDeathstarx
Title: The Triumph
Label: Facedown
Release Date: 11/25/08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Seven
02. Represent
03. Scars
04. Die To Remain
05. True Believer
06. Bullet
07. Suffocate Faster
08. Walk Away
09. The Triumph
10. Red Asphalt
I have to start this off by saying xDeathstarx’s 2007 debut on Facedown, titled “We Are The Threat“, has been one of my favorite discs from the label in recent years. It’s been played on a regular basis since I received the disc.… Continued →
REVIEW : Hope For The Dying - Hope For The Dying
Band: Hope For The Dying
Title: Hope For The Dying
Label: Strike First
Release Date: 11/25/08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. City Of Corpses
02. A Beautiful Day For Vengeance
03. Into Darkness We Ride
04. Our Fallen Comrades
05. Where We Are Going We Don’t Need Roads
06. Would The Angels Say
07. In Loving Memory
When I heard that the folks at Facedown were finally reviving the dormant Strike First Records I was excited to see what new talent they would pick up. The initial announcements were all familiar names and most of them positive for me.… Continued →
September 19, 2008
REVIEW : Trenches - The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole
Band: Trenches
Title: The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole
Label: Solid State
Release Date: 9/16/2008
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Calling
02. Eyes Open
03. Sacrament
04. Trip the Landmine
05. Pathways
06. Bittersweet
07. Call It Correct
08. End
09. Ocean Currents
10. Cornered
Everyone who is familiar with Solid State Records knows who Jimmy Ryan is. In fact, most people who are into metalcore will probably know he is as well. A few years back he was the frontman for the popular metalcore act Haste The Day.… Continued →
August 31, 2008
REVIEW : War Of Ages - Arise And Conquer
Band: War Of Ages
Title: Arise And Conquer
Label: Facedown
Release Date: 7/22/2008
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. All Consuming Fire
02. When Faith Turns To Ashes
03. Through The Flames
04. Salvation
05. Sleep Of Prisoners
06. Wages Of Sin
07. Yet Another Fallen Eve
08. Generational Curse
09. The Awakening
10. The Deception Of Strongholds
At this point War Of Ages have become nearly veterans in the melodic hardcore game, with Arise & Conquer being their fourth full length (if you count the re-write of their debut as a new one).… Continued →
REVIEW : Take It Back - Can't Fight Robots
Band: Take It Back!
Title: Can’t Fight Robots
Label: Facedown
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Standing On The Edge Of Hope
02. Times Have Changed
03. Together, Burning Bright
04. These Days
05. Lights In This Town
06. A New Day
07. The Truth
08. Knees To The Earth
09. Time Waits For No Man
10. A Struggle To Stay Standing
11. Act Your Age, Not Your Shoe Size
12. All That Keeps Us Strong
I first posted about Take It Back! on IVM in April of ’07 when I stumbled across their Myspace and highly recommended everyone to check them out.… Continued →
REVIEW : Family Force 5 - Dance Or Die
Band: Family Force 5
Title: Dance Or Die
Label: Transparent Media Group/Tooth & Nail
Release Date: 8/19/2008
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Dance Or Die
02. Get Your Back Off The Wall
03. Rip It Up
04. How In The World
05. Fever
06. Party Foul
07. D-I-E 4 Y-O-U
08. Share It With Me
09. The First Time
10. Wake The Dead
11. Radiator
Family Force 5 have returned with a new album after releasing and touring on thier very successful debut album Business Up Front, Party In The Back.… Continued →
August 16, 2008
REVIEW : The Showdown - Back Breaker
Band: The Showdown
Title: Back Breaker
Label: Solid State
Release Date: 8/19/2008
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Titanomachy-The Beginning
02. Hephaestus-The Hammer Of The Gods
03. Aphrodite-The Disillusionaire
04. Achilles-The Backbreaker
05. Prometheus-The Fires Of Deliverance
06. Cerberus-The Hellhound Awaits
07. Odysseus-A Song Of Hope
08. Aries-I Am Vengeance
09. Infernus-You Will Move
10. Nemesis-Give Us This Day
11. Medea-One Foot In Hell
I am sitting here preparing to listen to the new album by The Showdown, an album I have been waiting to hear for quite awhile.… Continued →
June 27, 2008
REVIEW : Burden Of A Day - Blessed Be Our Ever After
Band: Burden Of A Day
Title: Blessed Be Our Ever After
Label: Rise
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Blessed Be Our Ever After
02. Pt. 2 Sometimes They Do
03. Sorry Seacrest It’s Casey’s Countdown
04. The Smile That Kills
05. It’s Lonely At the Top (Or So I’ve Heard)
06. My Shelter
07. Battle For Hoth
08. Umbrellas
09. Monsters Among Us
10. White Coats And Their Medicine
11. I’m Only Laughing on The Outside
Blessed Be Our Ever After is the Sarasota, Florida natives debut release on Rise Records since leaving their former label Blood & Ink Records.… Continued →
REVIEW : Andy Hunter - Colour
Band: Andy Hunter
Title: Colour
Label: Nettwerk Music Group
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Sound Pollution
02. Stars
03. Shine
04. Miracle
05. System Error
06. Smile
07. Technicolour
08. Together
09. Fade
10. Sapphire
11. Out of Control
12. You
It has been 3 years since Andy Hunter released an album and as with most people I believe that’s far too long. He’s kept himself busy of course but this is just too long to keep fans waiting. Finally he emerges with Colour which shows him branching out and trying some new things musically.… Continued →
REVIEW : Soul Embraced - Dead Alive (2)
Band: Soul Embraced
Title: Dead Alive
Label: Solid State
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. To End It All
02. Breaking Point
03. Curtain Of Deceit
04. The Devil’s Reflection
05. Everything Reminds Me Of You
06. La Fin Absolue Du Monde
07. Crawl
08. Into Darkness
09. Judas I’ve Become
10. Bloodstained Nevada
11. Kill This
12. In Memory
13. Dead Alive
It is the year of metal at Solid State Records. They announce all in one year that Soul Embraced would return, they signed The Famine made up of original Embodyment members, and also that almighty Living Sacrifice was back!… Continued →
REVIEW : Means - To Keep Me From Sinking
Band: Means
Title: To Keep Me From Sinking
Label: Facedown
Release Date: 5.27.2008
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Awareness
02. Breaking In
03. Somewhere Up Ahead
04. Blackout
05. Steadily
06. We Dwell In Possibility
07. Burned Into Me
08. Refuge
09. What We Seek
10. Of Dread And Dreams
Means, one of Facedown’s rising acts, are back with their sophmore release. I am a huge fan of their debut Sending You Strength and have listened to it quite a bit. Unfortunately in cases like that the bar is set extremely high for the band to top it with their second release.… Continued →
REVIEW : The Wedding - The Sound The Steel
Band: The Wedding
Title: The Sound The Steel
Label: Brave New World
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Receive
02. Return
03. Renew
04. Reveal
05. Redeem
Losing a vocalist can quickly be the death of a band. The Wedding I’m sure hoped this wasn’t going to be the case upon hearing Kevin’s decision to step down. Thankfully and unexpectedly for me, they enlisted former Letter Kills vocalist Matt Shelton. Being a big fan of Letter Kills I was pumped to hear the news! This EP is a debut of the new lineup and it shows that the band has indeed weathered the storm quite nicely.… Continued →
REVIEW : Since October - This Is My Heart
Band: Since October
Title: This Is My Heart
Label: Tooth & Nail
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Emily
02. My Heart
03. Beautiful
04. Disaster
05. In This Moment
03. Guilty
07. World To Me
08. Live To Die
09. Follow Me Down
10. Waiting
11. Everything
Since October is a band we’ve covered on IVM long before they signed with Tooth & Nail. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly they won a new band contest we ran way back. Brandon can either confirm that or tell me I’m way off.… Continued →
REVIEW : Secret & Whisper - Great White Whale
Band: Secret And Whisper
Title: Great While Whale
Label: Tooth & Nail
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Blonde Monster
02. You Are Familiar
03. Vanishings
04. XOXOXO
05. The Actress
06. Spider Besider
07. Looming Moon
08. Attacker
09. Anchors
10. Werewolves
11. Lovers
12. Great While Whale
You probably know the story by now. There was a band named Stutterfly who lost their vocalist. They replaced him with Charles Furney and due to how much his vocals affected their sound, they opted for a new moniker.… Continued →
REVIEW : Kingston Falls - Armada On Mercury
Band: Kingston Falls
Title: Armada On Mercury
Label: Facedown Records
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. The Christening
02. Armada On Mercury
03. Too Hot For Cold Feet
04. On Contentment
05. The Great Divide
06. Freakin’ eXtreme!
07. The Illusionist’s Dream
08. Songs & Fables
09. Curse of Might
10. Dry Skin (Moz Def)
11. Sand Castle Karma
12. Too Bad About Your Situation
Kingston Falls in the past few years have lost a vocalist and been bumped on to Facedown from its imprint Strike First.… Continued →
REVIEW : Stronger Than Hell Tour (Allentown, PA)
A few friends came into town this past weekend so that we all could hit up the Stronger Than Hell Tour in Allentown, PA. It is quite amazing how all the details came together because these friends are limited to Saturday shows which never seem to work out. Oddly enough for once things did work out and all of them could go, so we met up on Saturday afternoon and drove just a bit over 2 hours to what hopefully would be an extremely enjoyable show.… Continued →
June 16, 2008
REVIEW : Jadon Lavik - Roots Run Deep
Band: Jadon Lavik
Title: Roots Run Deep
Label: BEC Recordings
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Come Thou Fount
02. Blessed Assurance
03. Tis So Sweet
04. My Father’s World
05. I Surrender All
06. Wondrous Love
07. Turn Your Eyes
08. I Need Thee
09. Take My Life
10. What a Friend
11. Amazing Grace
I love hymns. To me, there is no way I’d rather worship than to sing those timeless songs. I realize the praise & worship movement is all the rage now but they will never have the same impact on me.… Continued →
April 6, 2008
REVIEW : With Blood Comes Cleansing - Horror
Band: With Blood Comes Cleansing
Title: Horror
Label: Victory
Release Date: 1.22.08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Intro
02. Hematidrosis
03. Condemned
04. Forsaken
05. Filthy Stains
06. The Suffering
07. Blood And Fire
08. Abaddon’s Horde
09. Horror
10. Carinverous Consumption
11. Damnation
12. Eternal Reign
Members/Duties:
Dean Atkinson: Vocals
Jeremy Sims: Guitar
Scott Erickson: Guitar
Dennis Frazier: Bass
Matt Fidler: Drums
I can’t tell how you much I was anticipating the new release from With Blood Comes Cleansing!. Their debut on Blood & Ink had been one of my favorite discs in 2006.… Continued →
REVIEW : Stellar Kart - Expect The Impossible
Band: Stellar Kart
Title: Expect The Impossible
Label: Word
Release Date: 2.26.08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Innocent
02. Automatic
03. Jesus Loves You
04. The Right One
05. Sunshine
06. Pray
07. Shine Like The Stars
08. Eyes
09. I Give Up
10. Letters
Members/Duties:
Adam Agee: Vocals, Guitar
Cody Pellerin: Guitar
Jordan Messer: Drums
Brian Calcara: Bass
What can I say about Stellar Kart that hasn’t already been said a million times. They pretty much do the same thing each album. They need to work with a new producer.… Continued →
REVIEW : MyChildren MyBride - Unbreakable
Band: MyChildren MyBride
Title: Unbreakable
Label: Solid State
Release Date: 2.26.08
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Faithless
02. On Wings of Integrity
03. The Machinist
04. HEADSHOT!
05. Boris The Blade
06. Severance
07. Versus
08. Waves Of Oppression
09. Circle The Sky
10. Choke
Members/Duties:
Matthew Hasting: Vocals
Kyle Ray: Guitar
Robert Bloomfield: Guitar
Brian Hood: Drums
Joe Lengson: Bass
I have been a fan of MCMB and always had figured they’d end up signing with Solid State. In fact I wondered why they hadn’t already.… Continued →
REVIEW : Common Yet Forbidden - Struggle
Band: Common Yet Forbidden
Title: The Struggle
Label: Bombworks
Release Date: 9.7.2007
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. The Struggle
02. The Prodigal
03. Lake of Fire, Wake of Souls
04. Saints O’ Saints
05. Face of the Father
06. We Only Chase Wind
07. Anthem
08. Dead Alive
09. Still We Remain
10. Riff List (Instrumental)
Members/Duties:
Carl: Vocals
Chris: Guitar
Phil: Drums
Jordan: Bass
Common Yet Forbidden’s debut is probably one of the first releases on Bombworks that will appeal to the new wave of metal fans in America.… Continued →
REVIEW : Besieged - Atlantis
Band: Besieged
Title: Atlantis
Label: Blood & Ink
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Balkanization
02. The Author
03. Guttersnipe
04. Written Promises
05. A Cold Winter Kiss
06. INRI
07. The Years Between
08. Moustache Pete
09. The Fall Of Man: The Rise Of Self
10. They Shake The Earth
11. Carved In The Walls
12. Atlantis
Members/Duties:
John: Guitar
Tyler: Bass
Mattie: Vocals
Chris: Guitar
Josh: Drums
I had my eye out on Besieged since they were independent and put out their self-released EP. They had an interesting mix of metal vocals with a more melodic metalcore sound.… Continued →
REVIEW : Anberlin - Lost Songs
Band: Anberlin
Title: Lost Songs
Label: Tooth & Nail
Release Date: 11.20.2007
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. The Haunting
02. Uncanny
03. Like A Rolling Stone
04. A Day Late (Acoustic)
05. Enjoy The Silence
06. Cadence (Acoustic)
07. Downtown Song
08. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
09. Dismantle. Repair. (Acoustic)
10. The Promise
11. Naive Orleans (Acoustic)
12. Inevitable
13. The Unwinding Cable Car (AOL Sessions)
14. Creep (AOL Sessions)
15. Baby Please Come Home
16. Ready Fuels (Demo)
17. Driving (Autobahn) (Demo)
18.… Continued →
REVIEW : Air Five - Write My Story
Band: Air Five
Title: Write My Story
Label: Audio Frenzy
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Write My Story
02. I Wanna Go
03. I Will Carry You
04. Please Don’t Change
05. Here’s Me Letting Go
06. One and Only
07. Love You More
08. All I Need (10,000 Miles)
09. Hold My Hand
10. Open Season
Members/Duties:
Ben Peeples: Lead Vocals, Guitar
Michael Segarra: Bass, Vocals
Taylor Carroll: Drums, Vocals
Air Five is another band that I just ran across while doing my endless scouring of the internet for new bands to cover.… Continued →
March 27, 2008
INTERVIEW : High Flight Society
Part I
Part II… Continued →