- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
- 2
- 38
Various Artists - Where The Action Is
Century Media - 8271-2 - 2005/2006
By Brandon Strader
It looks like we've got bands from two different labels here. We've got a handful licensed from Abacus Recordings and a couple from Century Media. They're all united in that they seem to be either the same hardcore / metalcore type stuff that labels seem to be so overly fond of lately, or catchy rock type stuff.
Starting off the disk with a short little number is Sick Of It All with the song "Take The Night Off" from their album, Death To Tyrants. Wow, great use of the "F" word in the layered vocals in the chorus. The riffs are pretty generic and the vocals are your run-of-the-mill hardcore vocals... No leads or solos, or any melody that you could hum along with, though the track is as heavy as a brick and is so short, it's gone before you even knew it was on. Plenty of rebellious hate to go around, if you haven't got your fill already... If you're looking for some good metalcore, well, maybe look somewhere else.
Next we have Backyard Babies with some old-timey rock 'n' roll with the song "We Go A Long Way Back" from the album, People Like People... It sounds like something AC/DC could have played if they were a bit more generic, calmer, and had less of an affection for women. A largely audible "F" word from a catchy rock band? Who would have thought of such a thing... I thought this stuff was meant for the radio! But then again, I remember my old days of radio listening, I quite enjoyed hearing "beep" every time a profanity was uttered. In fact, all my friends and I used to sit around and actually sing the beeps along with the music. We also immitated car alarms and a lot of other childish things. Eventually we grew up into adults who said "beep" rather than profanities, and for that we were successful parts of society, despite the odd look now and again. Ahh beep you!
Ignite comes up next with their song, "Bleeding" from the album Our Darkest Days. This song is short as heck, but it's the best so far out of the first three. The clean vocals sound very clear and well-performed, and there are no screams. The song seems to be more on the major scale than minor, as it really sounds more uplifting rather than grim, plus there's a lack of double bass and the song isn't quite heavy or thrashy enough for metalcore, thus we must conclude that this is hard rock! It's a pretty nice song, but like I said earlier, it's short as heck clocking in at just 2 minutes.
Did I speak too soon? Of course I did. The new best song so far is now Maroon's "Wake Up In Hell" from their album When Worlds Collide. I really hope Powerman 5000 didn't influence these guys at all. Funny you can't tell what these screamers say most of the time but when they toss out an "F" word, it is so easy to hear. The song features some stunning guitar leads and a solo! What a surprise, indeed. Also there are some clean vocals, and an apparent Killswitch Engage influence here. Now that you mention it, they seem to be somewhat of a KsE clone or something. They also have some hardcore breakdowns here, with the vocalist repeating over and over, "Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell!" and on and on... If they programmed his voice into alarm clocks, they'd totally make a ton of cash. If you like Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, then check these guys out. They're like a hybrid of the two.
Sworn Enemy comes up with "Scared of the Unknown" from their album The Beginning Of The End next, but this track was also included as a music video. You can find the review of it at the bottom.
And last but not least (or is it?) comes Manntis with the song "Weathered Soul" from their album, Sleep In Your Grave. I know what you're thinking, "Hey, aren't they those dudes who were on Battle for Ozzfest and like, lost?" Why yes indeed, they are, but that didn't stop them from inking a sweet little deal with Century Media before they lost. I almost guarantee the dudes at CM Headquarters were shaking in their boots excitedly expecting to get some huge publicity from these guys winning, all I can say is "Sorry!"... but at least you signed a mediocre hardcore band that may bring in a few bucks, and that's always good... or is it? Manntis puts forth a lot of three-note tremolo pummeling. The leads between the pummeling are pretty cool, and they do actually have some nice dual guitar rhythms. The screamed vocals are pretty nice, and noticeably took a lot of mouth movement to get that certain sound, haha... This guy sounds like he's had a ton of coffee and just needs to yell at people. There's a solo in here amongst the pummeling near the end, that is actually pretty impressive and uses a 'wah-wah' type effect. It seems like a lot of the song is just pummeling though.. Sure, it's fun and makes people want to bounce and fight, and for that I guess it's alright, but there are so many bands that do that already and these guys just slip in under the cover and will probably never be recognized, despite Century Media's massive ad campaigns.. Too bad for you, CM, if you want to sign and promote some bands that will go nowhere, at least show some dignity and sign some tr00 black metal bands.
Also occupying a cozy little bit of space on this compilation are the videos for Manntis's song, "Axe of Redemption" and Sworn Enemy's song, "Scared of the Unknown", which has been reviewed above. The Manntis song is pretty standard, featuring the hardcore breakdown, hardcore riffs and hardcore screaming. Though to not sound too harsh, I must admit, there are some cool guitar riffs and leads in the song, though when the close-up shots of the fretboard show you how it's played, they really seem a lot less impressive! Live footage, or at least seemingly live footage, has been chopped together to make this little music video. Nothing interesting, conceptual, or artistic about this video at all, and usually hardcore fans agree: the live experience is always better than any video. The Sworn Enemy video is different. It shows shots of the band playing, of course, mixed with some shots of trees and a cemetary, with the vocalist walking through this cemetary whilst he screams, and also some "mystery man" also appears in the video. He doesn't look much like a metalhead, perhaps he is simply an extra. There's also a little kid, also an extra. I wish I could get paid to walk around in a cemetary for a video, it would give my life meaning! There are also some shots inside of what appears to be a shabby religious building of some kind. The lyrics basically tell my whole life story, stating 'Scared Of The Unknown, prepare to be alone'. Sweet.
So there you have it, a compilation which deserves a few words reviewed in way too many.
Sick Of It All - 5/10
Backyard Babies - 6.5/10
Ignite - 7.5/10
Maroon - 7.5/10
Sworn Enemy - 6/10
Manntis - 6/10
Overall Score: 38.5/60
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Sick Of It All Website
Official Backyard Babies Website
Official Ignite Website
Official Maroon Website
Official Sworn Enemy Website
Official Manntis Website
Official Century Media Website
Official Abacus Recordings Website
Century Media - 8271-2 - 2005/2006
By Brandon Strader
It looks like we've got bands from two different labels here. We've got a handful licensed from Abacus Recordings and a couple from Century Media. They're all united in that they seem to be either the same hardcore / metalcore type stuff that labels seem to be so overly fond of lately, or catchy rock type stuff.
Starting off the disk with a short little number is Sick Of It All with the song "Take The Night Off" from their album, Death To Tyrants. Wow, great use of the "F" word in the layered vocals in the chorus. The riffs are pretty generic and the vocals are your run-of-the-mill hardcore vocals... No leads or solos, or any melody that you could hum along with, though the track is as heavy as a brick and is so short, it's gone before you even knew it was on. Plenty of rebellious hate to go around, if you haven't got your fill already... If you're looking for some good metalcore, well, maybe look somewhere else.
Next we have Backyard Babies with some old-timey rock 'n' roll with the song "We Go A Long Way Back" from the album, People Like People... It sounds like something AC/DC could have played if they were a bit more generic, calmer, and had less of an affection for women. A largely audible "F" word from a catchy rock band? Who would have thought of such a thing... I thought this stuff was meant for the radio! But then again, I remember my old days of radio listening, I quite enjoyed hearing "beep" every time a profanity was uttered. In fact, all my friends and I used to sit around and actually sing the beeps along with the music. We also immitated car alarms and a lot of other childish things. Eventually we grew up into adults who said "beep" rather than profanities, and for that we were successful parts of society, despite the odd look now and again. Ahh beep you!
Ignite comes up next with their song, "Bleeding" from the album Our Darkest Days. This song is short as heck, but it's the best so far out of the first three. The clean vocals sound very clear and well-performed, and there are no screams. The song seems to be more on the major scale than minor, as it really sounds more uplifting rather than grim, plus there's a lack of double bass and the song isn't quite heavy or thrashy enough for metalcore, thus we must conclude that this is hard rock! It's a pretty nice song, but like I said earlier, it's short as heck clocking in at just 2 minutes.
Did I speak too soon? Of course I did. The new best song so far is now Maroon's "Wake Up In Hell" from their album When Worlds Collide. I really hope Powerman 5000 didn't influence these guys at all. Funny you can't tell what these screamers say most of the time but when they toss out an "F" word, it is so easy to hear. The song features some stunning guitar leads and a solo! What a surprise, indeed. Also there are some clean vocals, and an apparent Killswitch Engage influence here. Now that you mention it, they seem to be somewhat of a KsE clone or something. They also have some hardcore breakdowns here, with the vocalist repeating over and over, "Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell! Wake up in hell!" and on and on... If they programmed his voice into alarm clocks, they'd totally make a ton of cash. If you like Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, then check these guys out. They're like a hybrid of the two.
Sworn Enemy comes up with "Scared of the Unknown" from their album The Beginning Of The End next, but this track was also included as a music video. You can find the review of it at the bottom.
And last but not least (or is it?) comes Manntis with the song "Weathered Soul" from their album, Sleep In Your Grave. I know what you're thinking, "Hey, aren't they those dudes who were on Battle for Ozzfest and like, lost?" Why yes indeed, they are, but that didn't stop them from inking a sweet little deal with Century Media before they lost. I almost guarantee the dudes at CM Headquarters were shaking in their boots excitedly expecting to get some huge publicity from these guys winning, all I can say is "Sorry!"... but at least you signed a mediocre hardcore band that may bring in a few bucks, and that's always good... or is it? Manntis puts forth a lot of three-note tremolo pummeling. The leads between the pummeling are pretty cool, and they do actually have some nice dual guitar rhythms. The screamed vocals are pretty nice, and noticeably took a lot of mouth movement to get that certain sound, haha... This guy sounds like he's had a ton of coffee and just needs to yell at people. There's a solo in here amongst the pummeling near the end, that is actually pretty impressive and uses a 'wah-wah' type effect. It seems like a lot of the song is just pummeling though.. Sure, it's fun and makes people want to bounce and fight, and for that I guess it's alright, but there are so many bands that do that already and these guys just slip in under the cover and will probably never be recognized, despite Century Media's massive ad campaigns.. Too bad for you, CM, if you want to sign and promote some bands that will go nowhere, at least show some dignity and sign some tr00 black metal bands.
Also occupying a cozy little bit of space on this compilation are the videos for Manntis's song, "Axe of Redemption" and Sworn Enemy's song, "Scared of the Unknown", which has been reviewed above. The Manntis song is pretty standard, featuring the hardcore breakdown, hardcore riffs and hardcore screaming. Though to not sound too harsh, I must admit, there are some cool guitar riffs and leads in the song, though when the close-up shots of the fretboard show you how it's played, they really seem a lot less impressive! Live footage, or at least seemingly live footage, has been chopped together to make this little music video. Nothing interesting, conceptual, or artistic about this video at all, and usually hardcore fans agree: the live experience is always better than any video. The Sworn Enemy video is different. It shows shots of the band playing, of course, mixed with some shots of trees and a cemetary, with the vocalist walking through this cemetary whilst he screams, and also some "mystery man" also appears in the video. He doesn't look much like a metalhead, perhaps he is simply an extra. There's also a little kid, also an extra. I wish I could get paid to walk around in a cemetary for a video, it would give my life meaning! There are also some shots inside of what appears to be a shabby religious building of some kind. The lyrics basically tell my whole life story, stating 'Scared Of The Unknown, prepare to be alone'. Sweet.
So there you have it, a compilation which deserves a few words reviewed in way too many.
Sick Of It All - 5/10
Backyard Babies - 6.5/10
Ignite - 7.5/10
Maroon - 7.5/10
Sworn Enemy - 6/10
Manntis - 6/10
Overall Score: 38.5/60
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Sick Of It All Website
Official Backyard Babies Website
Official Ignite Website
Official Maroon Website
Official Sworn Enemy Website
Official Manntis Website
Official Century Media Website
Official Abacus Recordings Website
