| Review: 'Goldkinder' - We Butter The Bread With Butter [Album] |

'An enjoyable album that demonstrates a clear step in the right direction for the band.'

We Butter the Bread With Butter have had a busy year in 2013 since their exposure to British metal fans on   tour with Scottish post-hardcore group, Yashin in 2012, following up from this with their latest album 'Goldkinder'.

'Goldkinder' released on August 12th in the UK is WBTBWB's first album to take a step away from the constant growl and scream vocals that featured on the previous albums, instead focusing on a more melodic, hardcore sound. Whilst fans of the band may be left wondering why the sound has been taken down a notch, after listening throughout the album it's evident that the band has kept the sound just as powerful. The band have  instead polished the sound more then was done on older albums such as that in 'Der Tag an dem die Welt unterging'. 

The album starts off with the track 'Alles Was Ich Will', where a raw guitar picks a riff before the band kicks in with a tune that sounds reminiscent of a marching band with balls. Paul Bartzsch's vocals tear through this song with a wide range of high screams to the growls you'd expect from WBTBWB. This eventually leads into a choir-like chorus along with a blending synthesiser that allows 'Alles Was Ich Will' to hook in new listeners and subdue them with their German ways.

Next track on the album that is a clear winner is 'Meine Brille', surprisingly this track was WBTBWB's first playing on BBC Radio, featuring on the Radio 1 playlist. This song starts off with a slow string, synth and drum intro before the heavy guitar ploughs through. The vocals have a creepy edge to them, mixing into the atmosphere prepared in the intro. Marcel Neumann's guitar playing and synthesiser skills however are what gives this track the edge and power it deserves.

One other track that stood out to me was 'Ohne Herz', beginning with a catchy synthesising riff, before the band's clear metal sound push into this song. The keyboard is a important aspect and this is a key factor for how the band have taken a push towards a more melodic and atmospheric element to the album. The lyrics to 'Ohne Herz' are beautiful with lines roughly translating to:

'I would give it to you again but I can not live without a heart. 

One breath, come go with me, there's no way back to the last step and I hold you tight.'

The band has therefore taken this album much more seriously compared to previous albums where songs were more comedic and light-hearted, featuring themes such nursery rhymes. It's nice to see how they have developed as both musicians and men when listening to 'Goldkinder'.

The album itself does however last slightly too long for a hardcore album, totalling 51:03, which to new listeners may put off some people midway through the album, however to fans the songs act as a powerful punch to the jaw keeping you on edge. On another edge, whilst this album is still strong, the band do not bring anything incessantly unique to the genre that may push away some potential listeners. This could easily be corrected if the edge of Neumann's keyboard was slightly more exposed with synth solos.

Overall however this album does deliver and stand up on it's own, bringing listeners an enjoyable album that demonstrates a clear step in the right direction for the band. I would rate the album 80%.

KEY TRACKS - 'Alles Was Ich Will', 'Meine Brille', 'Ohne Herz' and 'Fall'

FOR FANS OF - We Came as Romans, Crossfaith, Rammstein, Abandon All Ships.

Download 2014 Headliners Announced.

Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park and Aerosmith Set To Grace Donnington's Stage for Download 2014.

Fans of the festival seem to be polarised by the current announcements, many saying that they do not suit the history of Download. Download Festival however has never been a purely metal scene, opting for the alternative and modern rock scene. If you want a dedicated metal festival with 'br00tal' headliners and acts you're better heading off to Bloodstock. As Download festival organiser, Andy Copping said:

"Download has never been a metal festival... it's a rock festival and always has been"

Rock fans have awaited these announcements anxiously since the close down on Rammstein's set earlier this year at Download 2013, and it's fair to say that fans of the festival are left a little confused. 

With announcements being released every morning over the past three consecutive days, the headliners are support now stand as:

Friday 13th June - Avenged Sevenfold w/ support from Rob Zombie.

Saturday 14th June - Linkin Park w/ support from Fall Out Boy.

Sunday 15th June - Aerosmith w/ support from Alter Bridge.

Speculation was forming around Avenged Sevenfold to perform as a headlining act with their recent release of 'Hail To The King', an album that tones down the band's previous sound to one of a more hard rock sound. As well as this, Linkin Park have revealed they will be performing their début album that sky-rocketed their career into the limelight 'Hybrid Theory' in it's entirety. 

I can't wait for Download Festival personally as I love all of the headlining acts, especially Aerosmith (as they are my favourite band) and I'm so glad that they are back to show the other bands how to put on a show. 

Roll on June 2014.

Tickets for Download Festival 2014 can be purchased from the links below:

http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets

Scream Like You Mean It; Hardcore Music Examined

An Overlook of the Hardcore Scene From 2003.

In the past ten years we have seen the rise and fall of hardcore artists, however despite this, hardcore seems to just keep hitting back; bringing heavier breakdowns back with it. 2003 seemed to be the year in which hardcore music started to increase it's commercial popularity. One strong example of this being Avenged Sevenfold's third album "Waking the Fallen" which incorporated strong metal riffs with scream and harmonising vocals, blended it all together and brought out a masterpiece. This album is still regarded as the band's breakthrough album, receiving strong support, even getting them onto the Vans Warped Tour for the first time in 2004. The following Avenged Sevenfold albums saw a decline in the hardcore style, into that of a more metal/heavy rock sound; a direct result of singer M. Shadows damaging his voice whilst touring.

Hardcore music was beginning to spread, Britain was soon catching onto this revived style. In Sheffield, local lads formed the group Bring Me The Horizon and showed the world all you needed was guts, some loud guitars and the power to growl. Their 2004 debut EP "This Is What The Edge of Your Seat Was Made For" was praised by critics and peaked at #41 on the UK Album charts. Their follow up album of "Count Your Blessings" received average reviews, claiming "lack of originality". This did not stop the band however from taking the award from Kerrang for "Best British Newcomer" in 2006. The band however polarised listeners of the hardcore genre, with half describing it as a band for a population of 15 year old scene girls, whilst others saw it as the next big thing.
Whichever way you look at the rise of Bring Me The Horizon, there is no doubt in saying that they were blowing up big, and crowds at their gigs were growing in size. Suicide Season, their follow up album in 2008 which took the mainstream metal's attention through songs such as "Diamonds Aren't Forever" and "Chelsea Smile". Through this album Bring Me The Horizon took their first headline tour of the US as well as featuring on the 2008 Warped Tour. The following year they toured alongside Thursday, Four Year Strong, Pierce The Veil and Cancer Bats. However the following two albums "There Is A Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret" and "Sempiternal" both saw a decline in the deathcore style that the band was most notable for up until now, however these two latest albums were albums that bridges gaps to mainstream music. Following both albums the band headlined Reading & Leeds festival in 2011 and 2013, also headlining the UK's Warped Tour on November 10th at Alexandra Palace (a performance I attended and was one to remember.).

Other hardcore bands were starting to pop up out of the UK as well, While She Sleeps, Asking Alexandria, Bullet for my Valentine, Funeral for a Friend to name a few. Asking Alexandria however were an anomaly in the way that they secured their position at the forefront of modern post-hardcore. Forming in York, the band pulled together a five piece metalcore band and decided to go big, flying out to America. It was here that they bluffed their way through to venues and tour promoters, claiming to have done many tours back home in the UK and were a success; the reality was quite the contrary. Despite this though, they managed to focus all of 2009 on recording their debut studio album "Stand Up And Scream" and touring the USA. Through this new-found fame they were able to tour with bands including Alesana and Enter Shikari.
Following their fame in 2009, the next year seemed to be an increased amount of touring. 2010 saw Asking Alexandria perform their first ever headlining tour on 2nd March 2010, scheduled to take place in North-America, with support from We Came As Romans, From First to Last, Our Last Night and A Bullet for Pretty Boy. Their second album "Reckless and Relentless" was released in 2011 and took a much darker overlook to the lifestyles that the band (most notably Danny Worsnop and Ben Bruce) had experienced through over-indulgence with sex, drugs and alcohol. Scoring 80/100 from Alternative Press, Revolver and Rocksound, Asking Alexandria were establishing themselves as a strong band, with UK tours featuring other metalcore stars Of Mice & Men and Chelsea Grin. Asking Alexandria seemed to explode in 2013 with their shows turning into that on a mammoth scale, they played a UK tour with support from French Deathcore stars Betraying the Martyrs, fellow British lads While She Sleeps and American Horror-metalcore band Motionless in White. Their largest venue, Brixton's very own O2 Academy sold out and the whole concert was filmed for a live DVD; no release date has been shown yet, and I wait in anticipation still as I was one of the many fans in the crowd moshing to the music. In June though Asking Alexandria performed at the Rock AM Festival in Germany to their biggest crowd to date, and people were flooding in their masses to see them live. Hardcore was back to stay.

Hardcore was not just developing in the UK and America, Europe was seeing a rise in the number of metal artists to become successful. One example of this can be seen in German Deathcore stars We Butter The Bread With Butter. Initially starting out as a joke between guitarist Marcell Neumann and ex vocalist and drummer Tobias Schultka. As a small deathcore group in Germany, gigs were hard to come by, however through larger bands' tours they gained popularity. WBTBWB have toured with the likes of A Day to Remember, Callejon and The Parachutes. The band were notable for a highly comical sound, sometimes their music can be hard to be taken seriously (just listen to "Extrem" from their album "Das Monster Aus Dem Schrank", it's hilarious). However they gained popularity through shows being played, and their gigs began to start filling out and selling out. In November 2012, they embarked to the UK to support Scottish post-hardcore rockers Yashin on their UK tour. These German rockers showed these Scots a thing or two about how to put on a gig, with strobe lighting on their jackets and inside the bass pedal, not to forget the huge exercise balls that they got kicking around the venue. Recently however they toured alongside Devil Sold His Soul in the UK which further increased the band's recognition after the release of their 2013 album "Goldkinder" .

It is when I look at all of this, and the short space of time that just the small selection of bands, I think it is apparent to see that the hardcore and metal scene will continue to thrive for a good period of time now, as it keeps getting refreshed in different ways.

A Brief Look at Progressive Rock & Metal; Signs of an Evolving Musical Future.

Prog is back in the music scene, and it's here to stay.

Evolution of Prog-Rock shows strong musical development, from Rush to Dream Theatre and Chiodos.

Since rock n' roll hit the ground running in the 1950's, listeners have experienced many branches of rock spiralling off into many different directions; some more popular than other. However one genre that was the most hidden from the masses seemed to be progressive rock, a genre that took the bucking bronco of rock and took it for a ride. However it is a genre to which music critics would often view the music as "pretentious", "excessive" and "overblown", due to the length of albums released by prog-bands.

Prog rock had humble beginnings when it emerged in the 1960's, originating in the UK. The UK's first prime example of prog rock came with Jethro Tull, a blues band with a twist. Ian Anderson fronted the band utilising his strong vocals with the ambience of his flute and guitar playing. With many songs featuring Anderson's acoustic sound leaking through the song,  the guitars return loud with their sound firmly driven by the pure tenacity of overdrive on the amplifier. Jethro Tull's track that has gained most of the fans' adoration has been "Aqualung" off the album of the self-title. Kicking in with a deep guitar line, the band quickly identifies themselves as a force to be reckoned with. With beginnings in the progressive rock culture quickly catching popularity, many new bands started to quit the day jobs, grab their instruments and take to the roads in search of fame and fortune (and maybe a littl


e LSD along the way).

Spawning from UK's early prog scene, the revolutionary music styled jumped the pond and hit the shores of America with Blue Oyster Cult emerging in 1972 with the debut self-titled record. The band is most famous though for their prog-psychedelia influenced song "Don't Fear The Reaper", from the 1976 album "Agents of Fortune".  Starting off as a mellow rock song, the song erupts into a echo induced bridge, with a matching guitar and drum solo too.  Prog was breaking boundaries and it's influence went further afield hitting Canadian soil most famously for the band Rush.

Rush forming in August 1968 have been acclaimed as one of the most influential prog-rock groups, with their music spanning 42 years, they have achieved massive praise for their revolution of the genre. This is due to their predominant bass lines and technical drum playing - a winning combination in the form of Geddy Lee and Neil Peart. Whilst Rush may have received criticism due to Lee's vocals, their music went on to inspire further generations with his bass style, along with his virtuosity of music. This can be seen most apparent in live performances on songs such as "Tom Sawyer" where Lee will multi-task playing bass, keyboard, utilise effect pedals and sing. As a whole the band seem to be most famous for their albums "Moving Pictures" , "Hemispheres", "Permanent Waves" and of course the jaw-dropping "2112". If you want to get a taste of Rush's genius, grab your headphones and immerse yourself in "YYZ", an instrumental riff-fest that leaves your ears deafened and your mind blown; a truly wonderful band.

Back in the mother land prog rock was standing tall and proud with many bands striking up across the UK.

The 1970's soon became the definitive decade for prog, also referred to as the first wave of progressive rock. Whether it was the keyboard solo skills of Yes throughout Roundabout on their 1971 album "Fragile", or the powerful kick from Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" , even to Rainbow's 1975 début album "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow".  It was a rich and prosperous time for prog bands in the 1970's. 

Lyrically, many songs had very abstract plots and this was heavily influenced by the drugs the bands were taking at the times. Artists were frequently noted to communally take LSD and write music in their induced state of mind, sometimes even placing meanings in their song titles - a highly recognisable one being "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" - note Lucy Sky Diamonds. One notable reflection of this can also be seen in the use of lighting within live performances by these bands, Pink Floyd have a notable reputation for their use of extreme lighting in performance, simulating the effects of drugs to gig-goers.

With the decline of prog rock in the late 1970's, we saw key significant bands of the genre disbanding, the one to hit the hardest to followers of prog-rock is often viewed as Robert Fripp disbanding King Crimson in 1974, which had repercussions affecting other bands, in which they either suffered members leaving, or all together band closure. This can be seen with bands such as Yes, Van der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant and U.K. These were hard times for prog-artists, with bands having to step their game up if they were to retain their pride and glory.

The 1980's saw the return of prog-rock and the introduction of new bands, predominantly influenced by their predecessors. A key band to have formed under the second wave of prog is Dream Theatre, a Boston based prog metal group. The band took direct influence from artists including Rush, Yes (a band they would later go on to tour with), and Pink Floyd.  This influence is reflected in bassist John Myung's intense bass playing style, which is greatly demonstrated throughout the album "Octavarium" , evident greatly in the song "Panic Attack".The use of symphonic keyboards and high reverb within their playing style mirrors the sound of initial prog-rock to the aspect of Jethro Tull. However Dream Theatre's key musical style is shown through the speed metal that John Petrucci employs into the band's songs. Guitar solo's are therefore a prominent element of most Dream Theatre songs, my personal favourites being that of "Constant Motion" and "Panic Attack". 

In the past 20 years though we have seen an emergence in new age prog-rock and prog-metal, mainly bands originating from the UK. One of the best examples to come out of new age prog-metal is Porcupine Tree. The band started out with guitarist and lead vocalist Steven Wilson as a joke with friend Malcolm Stock regarding the band's origins. The band gained recognition when Wilson sent out copies of his initial 80 minute long cassette "Tarquin's Seaweed Farm" to the magazine "Encyclopaedia Pyschedelica" which gave the band positive reviews. The initial album "On The Sunday of Life" was a highly psychedelic-influenced album featuring music that many described as "trippy as fuck". 

With tracks on it such as "Linton Samuel Dawson" (note the title's reference to drugs), Porcupine Tree was basing itself around psychedelic and ambient rock.

It was with their 1996 album "Signify" where the band started taking the music towards more structured prog-metal songs and evolving into increasingly heavy music. A stand out album for me personally was "Deadwing" and "Fear of a Blank Planet". Wilson started making tracks heavier, with tracks such as "Open Car", "Fear of a Blank Planet" and "Anaesthetize" displaying the level of music complexity that the bands wish to demonstrate throughout the tracks. Each track opens with a humble beginning before escalating into a punchy guitar riff and strong drum beat. Coming from a musician's point of view, the thing that distinguishes Porcupine Tree from other prog-rock groups is that of the conflicting time signatures that the band plays in during songs. A prime example of this is shown in "Fear of a Blank Planet" in which the drum beat stays in 4/4 whereas during the chorus, the guitar shifts to 3/4, producing an eerie, lingering effect with the sound.

The band is currently at a crossroads, with Wilson pursuing a solo project of his own, with Porcupine Tree on hiatus for the time being.

As for recent prog-metal, there have been a number of bands to emerge into the local hardcore scene, with the likes of Between The Buried and Me, 30 Seconds to Mars, Opeth, Buckethead and Chiodos. Chiodos are a personal favourite of mine, having formed in 2001, gaining popularity with their first and second album "All's Well That Ends Well" & "Bone Palace Ballet" as it incorporated many aspects of post-hardcore into the mix. Craig Owens' diverse vocal range with low and high screams accompanied by his high vocal range, combined with Bradley Bell's piano and keyboard playing skills, they breached into new musical territory. In "Bone Palace Ballet" where for a number of songs including "Two Birds Stoned at Once", "Is It Progression If a Cannibal Uses a Fork?" and "I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard" an orchestra is included adding a level of tension to the atmosphere presented on the record. 

Many critics are referring to as bands such as Chiodos as new-age prog, prog-hardcore or electricore and increasing number of bands are experimenting with concept albums in recent years (like 30 Seconds to Mars' "Love, Lust, Faith & Dreams") and progressive rock is starting to make an emergence back into popular rock music. Is this the third wave of prog? Where does prog go from here? Is there a safe future for prog? Who knows, all we can say is that it will keep evolving, if it is unsuccessful it will rise back up from the ashes in a new form.

To finish as Chiodos wrote;

 "We build ourselves, where monsters used to hide."

Revival of Classic Rock; Can It Dominate The Pop Music of Today?

"Twerking" comes into contest with rock in 2013.

In recent years we have seen the rise of many artists from all genres gaining popularity; but not for all the right reasons. The most provocative example to explode out of the music scene recently has to be Miley Cyrus with her "performance" at the VMA awards, and her latest album "Bangerz". This album is most notable for the key single of "Wrecking Ball" and its own music video causing controversy left, right and centre. But that's what the public wants isn't it in today's society; a once joyful Disney actor flaunting her naked body on a wrecking ball.

To a listener of many genres and artists, predominantly from the 1970 onwards, I understand the appeal of the modern day pop hits. But I personally miss the evolutionary sound that rock 'n' roll had in the past. There seems to be a lack of passion for the music and not enough of the "make or break" attitude. Artists referred to as "shock musicians" seem to be going against the norm' in extreme measures for popularity - need we bring up Lady GaGa's antics?

However late 2012 and 2013 seem to be the years where old rock has made its return with tremendous effect, with Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Motorhead and even David Bowie all releasing albums and cranking your speakers up to eleven once again. These albums are pushing rock back into the mainstream and showing people that rock's heartbeat is still pounding at the forefront of the charts today.

David Bowie's album "The Next Day" released March 8th 2013, was the talk of the world for all the right reasons. Bowie had kept his upcoming artists in secrecy for years, bursting out and rocketing to the top of the album charts all across the globe. The album reached #1 in 20 countries including the UK and the USA and #2 in nine others.

When artists from 40 years ago are still producing music that is getting so many positive reviews, it gives me as a musician a level of reassurance that there will always be the spirit of rock n' roll alive in society.

However don't take what I say as fact, go out and listen to some of these artists' music and compare it to the chart music we are faced with today and compare it, you may very well be pleasantly surprised. Comment any bands you're liking at the minute and there may well be a feature on them in the future.

In conclusion as Aerosmith's track said, "Let the music do the talking."

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