Through Fire - All Animal (2019)

I bring you a review of an album that took me by surprise, actually. I knew that a new album from Through Fire was going to be released, as they released a new single entitled "All Animal", but I didn't know how soon it was going to be released. Nevertheless, I bring you the second studio album by Through Fire called All Animal, a grittier, more impactful take on their style, as created in Breathe. As I said in my previous Through Fire review, this album shows their true potential and makes you come back for more.

This album is a roller-coaster ride of emotions. All Animal contains some of the most powerful and one of the saddest songs I've ever listened to. The power and raw meat of this album is contained in songs like "Breaking Point" and "Wake The Dead". Both of these songs tell the story of standing in the face of oppression and to never back down. "Breaking Point" has some of the best lines I have ever heard in a song; I literally lost my mind over some of them. The action-packed, heavy-hitting songs take a break to allow the emotion to turn solemn towards the end of the album with the song "If You Love Me, Leave Me". A song telling the story of someone saying that they are a burden on their friends or significant other, and that if they love them, they should leave them, as the title suggests. This song makes me sad, because no-one should have to think like that. Everyone deserves someone in life. Everyone should have a "Superhero", no less. But besides this, nearly all the songs are powerful and inspirational.

In the end, All Animal is, all-in-all, a fantastic album that really plays with your emotions, in a good way. This album is one of the best albums I have listened to this year, because it has me drawn in by the numerous aspects of it: the backing tracks, the vocals, the ferocity. It makes for an amazing listen and I could jam out to these songs for hours. I love it. You might too.

Favourite Tracks: All
Rating: 10 / 10

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Survival Machines (2011)

This review marks the first album / band in this blog that has a woman has the proper lead singer. From husband and wife duo, Angelika and Randy Roswell, better known as Brighter Than a Thousand Suns comes Survival Machines, their debut and only full-length album released to date. This album comes before their departure from post-hardcore rock to pursue an 80's synth rock sound, which is showcased in their later material.

It's quite a shame that Brighter Than a Thousand Suns is not that well-known, because they have some great songs which are 100% worth listening to. With this album, that's definitely the case. However, there are some things that I don't get. Survival Machines contains 11 songs, which take just over half an hour to listen to, so it won't take a great amount of time away from you to listen to it. It also has some of the longest song names I've ever seen, like "A Creature Bred On Hunger Made Food For Hungry Gods". Yes, that's actually the name of the song. One of the things I don't get is the copious amounts of screaming featured in nearly all the tracks, besides the instrumentals and "The Riot Of Our Blood And Breath", the latter offering a calmer ending to the album. I fail to see how that's healthy for anyone's throat, really. You gotta take a break from it at some point. One of the greatest takeaways are the meanest backing tracks I've ever heard that are featured in this album, with the meanest being the backing track in "Crossing The Divide". The instrumental tracks, "Long Live Impermanence" and "The Search For Second Earth", offer a break from all the screaming showcased in the other songs, especially the latter as that is the more toned down one out of the two.

In the end, Survival Machines offers heavy-hitting, power-driven songs that get you energized. I would have liked to have heard less screaming, as too much of it can take away from the quality of an album. Overall, it was a head-banging extravaganza, but could have been better.

Favourite Tracks: "Crossing The Divide", "Long Live Impermanence", "The Search For Second Earth", "The Riot Of Our Blood And Breath"

Rating: 7 / 10

Skillet - Victorious (2019)

We're in for a treat with this. I want to say my mind has been blown with Skillet's tenth studio, and latest, album Victorious. Since "Legendary" was released all the way back in May, I had incredibly high hopes and expectations for this, and I am pleased to say that my expectations were majorly exceeded by the sheer quality and performance of all songs included. Victorious brings you material ranging from heavy-hitting ballads, such as "Back to Life", to calm and awe-inspiring songs, like "Anchor".

Once again, sticking to 12 songs to an album, Victorious is inspiring from start to finish, and mainly sticking to the Rock genre, unlike its predecessor Unleashed, which featured songs ranging from Metal to Pop. In terms of composition and performance, they have outdone themselves. Certainly, some of the songs in this album invoke a greater emotional response compared to others, with songs tackling subjects, such as depression. John Cooper explained "Victorious" as such:

"I wanted to write a song for people who suffer from depression. I wanted to tell them that they are not alone. This song is both simultaneously sad and inspiring. Hopefully, it can encourage people to transcend the dark places they live in."

By encapsulating such emotion in a song is a mean feat, but Skillet pulled it off. With all the songs, they're inspiring in some way, and that's what I like about Skillet: they care.

While the songs have an exceptional performance, it certainly feels a lot different to previous albums, like Unleashed and Rise. Some of the songs feel mainstream, with "Legendary" actually making it to mainstream radio. Don't get me wrong, the songs are great. It just feels a whole lot different to their previous material, and I think that's what takes away from it slightly. It's not the grittier, harder-hitting Skillet that panheads are used to.

At the end of the day, the long-awaited Victorious lives up to expectations, and manages to call back to their 2006 Comatose days, while leaving some songs for the mainstream audience to listen to. Fantastic material and a great listen.

Favourite Tracks: "You Ain't Ready", "Victorious", "Reach", "Anchor", "Back to Life"

Rating: 8 / 10

Metallica - ...And Justice For All (1988)

Heading into my first review about an album and band that falls solely under the Metal genre, and my first review about an album suggested to me by a friend, I bring you ...And Justice for All, the fourth studio album by legendary heavy metal band Metallica. With 9 songs lasting long enough to make the album over an hour long, this energetic, fast-paced, hard-hitting album shows to me that Metallica are as good as people say they are.

With heavy metal songs, you have to expect no breaks from the onslaught of guitars and drums that are coming your way, and when performed well, they can be amazing to listen to. Metallica definitely lived up to that in this album. I went in to this thinking it was going to be very scream-y like other heavy metal albums from the 1980s, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's not like that at all. The vocals are more toned down, allowing for easier listening, in my opinion. They're still jam-packed with energy, and that's what I like about it.

The backing tracks are also full of energy. The drums pierced through the guitars, creating a banging feeling in your head, which is something I like with songs like these. Hard-hitting, powerful songs get me going. The longest song on the album, "To Live Is To Die", has the most diverse set of instruments featured within it. It features an acoustic guitar at the beginning and at the end, and a violin sounding instrument around 5 minutes in, as well as your usual electric guitars and drums.

At the end of the day, ...And Justice For All is an album with an exceptional performance, and the hard-hitting music I've come to enjoy. It was very pleasant to listen to, with each track having a unique feel to it. Great album, great songs.

Favourite Tracks: All

Rating: 9 / 10

Monster Magnet - Mindfucker (2018)

Delving back into the realms of unfamiliarity, and my first album with an expletive as the album name to be reviewed, Mindfucker is the tenth studio album by Stoner rock and heavy metal band Monster Magnet. And with those genres, it makes the style of it similar to Clutch's Book of Bad Decisions, which is an album that I really enjoyed, but I don't think I can say the same about this one. With it being a kind of rock I don't exactly listen to, and some songs being dragged out longer than they should, makes this an album not exactly set up for the greatest review.

The least I can say is that I'm unimpressed. The album suffers from the same problems Rainier Fog has, thus letting me down. The song "Drowning" felt like it was going on for far too long, considering it is 7:21 in length. "Drowning" is also the only song to have a different, calmer style, whilst everything else is guitars and drums that sound like they're from 70s-80s. Some of the song's vocals, brought to you by frontman Dave Wyndorf, were oftentimes drowned out and made incomprehensible by the loud backing tracks featured in some of the songs. I went into listening to this with high hopes and they were not fulfilled. I hope that Monster Magnet's albums aren't all like this, otherwise that would be greatly disappointing.

To draw a conclusion, I was a fair bit disappointed. Mindfucker, in my opinion, was a mediocre performance with songs I couldn't connect to. I'm unaware of what Monster Magnet's other albums are like, but this one has set a low bar. Not the greatest album I've listened to, that's for sure.

Favourite Track: "Mindfucker"

Rating: 3 / 10

IRIS - Heart of an Artist (2018)

From YouTuber Will Ryan, better known as DAGames, and under the moniker "IRIS", comes his debut album Heart of an Artist, born out his own personal hardships in life. Now, this album was released in the May of 2018, and I had no idea it existed until I discovered it in September. "Better late than never", they say, and I can most definitely agree. This album is a rock-fest, filled with 10 amazing tunes, an intro, and an outro. When I first listened to this, I was blown away by the capability Ryan has as an artist, and not only that. I was blown away by how much passion and soul he put into the album.

I remember walking home from school, just jamming out to "Lost Now Found" and "You're Just Making Us Stronger" and still, they are arguably the 2 best songs on the album. At least, in my opinion. On the subject of the songs themselves, the majority of them are absolute bangers, with composition created with drive and determination. The most personal song to Ryan is "As The Lights Go Out" being described as one "close to my heart", and with that, it's a more relaxed piano-based song, rather than drums and guitar. This being said, Ryan did make a rock version of it and with everything else thrown in the mix, he added more emotion to an already emotional song. The album in its entirety is born out of his hardships in life and as a YouTuber, which is shown through the lyrics of each individual song. With the highs comes the lows, meaning there was 1 song that I'm not particularly fond of, which is "Castle That Never Dies". While I say "song", it's a story.

"The story is about my struggles and my friends and family being the characters in the story, but also represents that hardest thing I've ever had to write in my entire life... I hope not for this to be a favourite song... But a story that I can tell all of you."

Don't me wrong, it's not bad. It's another personal song written by Ryan, but the reason it's not my favourite is mainly due the fact it's not a song. I do like it, but it's not my favourite.

In conclusion, this deep, driven, heart-and-soul-filled debut album by DAGames / IRIS is one of empowerment, almost. Detailing your life experiences, allowing others to listen, allowing others to relate is something I will greatly respect. Can't wait to see what The Goliath's Throne has to offer.

Favourite Tracks: "Lost Now Found", "Too Dangerous", "You're Just Making Us Stronger", "Heart of an Artist"

Rating: 10 / 10

Through Fire - Breathe (Deluxe Edition) (2017)

I'd like to preface this review with an apology for my absence. I'm sure that I will be more active on here as I thoroughly enjoy writing these reviews, and I want to keep writing these for you. I have several albums in waiting, so stay tuned for those.

Starting off this month of reviews, I bring the deluxe version of Through Fire's debut album: Breathe. I first discovered this album and the band when Spotify recommended their rendition of Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts", and it's one of my favourite songs on the album. This album is filled with songs that, while sticking to the rock genre, create a whole variety of feelings and tones. Breathe proves that Through Fire has incredible potential for future albums.

When I first listened to "Jar of Hearts", it reminded me a lot about Skillet and their albums, which helped me know that these songs were going to be something I was going to enjoy, and I did. I soon learned that Through Fire had their own style and even then, it was impeccable. Some of the songs, like "Dead Inside" and "Blood On My Hands", didn't intrigue me as much as some of the other songs. I also prefer the extended version of the songs "Stronger" and "Breathe". Other tracks had me listening to them for ages. "Where You Lie" and "Damage" had me coming right back for more. With the release of their new album, All Animal, I released that the songs on this album are not as hard-hitting as those on the newer album, but that doesn't stop me and shouldn't stop you from head banging the day away listening to them.

In conclusion, Through Fire offers an amazing debut album jam-packed with songs that will make you go "woah". With an opening like this, Breathe is sure to keep you listening and should make you hopeful for their future material. All in all, a really good album.

Favourite Tracks: "Where You Lie", "Damage", "Jar of Hearts",

"Stronger - Extended Version", "Breathe - Extended Version"

Rating: 8 / 10