Weekly Round-Up: 22nd March 2014

The eagle-eyed among you (or just those who pay attention, to be fair) will notice that this is the second such post this week, so it isn't strictly a "weekly" update. There is also only 4 bands featured as I haven't managed to get through the rest of the music yet, but still wanted to post an update.

Demon Hunter

Demon Hunter are a strange band - not even taking into account the odd misnomer -as they appear to take their influence as much from Cold's brand of Post-Grunge as much as they do from the likes of Killswitch Engage and Trivium and even from 90's artists such as Pantera and Skinlab. Add to that they are classified as Metalcore. To a point, this would be a fair description, but it is one that is far too narrow and likely to put people off listening to them. While it doesn't deliver anything that you haven't heard before, this is a confident album filled with massive hooks and even bigger choruses - All held together by the powerful vocals of Ryan Clark. Absolutely brimming over with memorable songs, varied enough to have a fairly wide appeal, but not so much as to ruin the flow of the album. I can't recommend this album highly enough.

Arch Enemy

I have been a fan of Arch Enemy since the Burning Bridges album ( ) and I have always felt that they were a band that really captured the sound, feeling and energy of the "Gothenburg Sound" - After all lead guitarist / mainman Mikael Amott was once a member of the style's pioneers, Carcass. It wasn't until Angela Gossow replaced original vocalist Johan Liiva though, that the band gained the popularity and relative mainstream appeal that they continue to enjoy today. That said, the last couple of Arch Enemy albums have left me a little cold. It felt as they had lost their way a bit as a band and both the song writing and vocals had begun to slip. Fast forward to early-March 2014 and the news broke that the band's vocalist (and business manager) Angela Gossow was stepping down. What made this news of particular interest was that she was in the enviable and unusual position of being able to (help) choose and recruit her own replacement. Enter (now former) The Agonist vocalist, Alissa White-Gluz. Now, I am quite a fan of The Agonist and especially of Miss White-Gluz' vocals, so I was quite excited by the news - and I was right to be. The new song is immense - very possibly the best song Arch Enemy have put their name to (it's been on repeat for half an hour this morning) and I can now say that, for the first time in over a decade, that I am really looking forward to a new Arch Enemy album and tour. Come on Bloodstock, make this happen.

Acheron

Turn the clock back 20 years and get ready to windmill your head. The opening track starts off with a startlingly Paradise Lost style guitar melody before veering off wildly into more old school Sepultura territory (pun not intended) with it's raw, Death Metal nastiness.Slow, seismic riffs meet widdling solos reminiscent of vintage Obituary with squealing Death Metal guitars and thrashing break-neck passages. Definitely an album for those of you who enjoy your (Blackened) Death Metal mid to fast-paced and crushing. Side note: For some reason track 3 "Raptured To Divine Perversion" reminds me of a (much) more brutal take on Judas Priest's "Grinder". Ahem.

Lacuna Coil

While I don't begrudge bands popularity, sometimes (most of the time) they are better when they are away from the "mainstream". Without the pressure to shift units, a band's true personality is allowed to shine. Lacuna Coil had there time in the limelight around a decade ago, but are now back where they belong. I was always more taken with their earlier, Paradise Lost influenced Gothic Metal material then I was with the more Alternative Rock/Metal of the later releases, but the band's 2012 album "Dark Adrenaline" was definitely a step back in the right direction - heavier than the albums that came before it, but not so much so as to alienate the fans they had picked up during their flirtation with the mainstream. Here we are in 2014 and from what I've heard so far, I don't really know what to expect from the follow-up. If I'm truly honest, I'm not convinced by the strange Nu-Metal sound of new single "Die And Rise", but we'll see what "Broken Crown Halo" brings when it is released later in the month.