Sonic Boom 6 are one of the few non metal bands that have managed longevity, both in terms of my interest in them and actual career length, and sticking true to the punk, DIY ethic of the band, I venture to the new MK punk centre, the Crawford Arms. 

It’s the first time ever been here before and to be honest I like it as soon as I walk in and see real Ale at £2.80! We get into the venue about halfway through main support act Knockout’s energetic early 90’s skate punk. An enjoyable set for what it was, especially for the one-man stage invasion during a cover of Madness’s ‘It Must Be Love’. 

To be fair though, the whole crowd is hear to see the headliners, and the instant they take the stage the front goes crazy just like 2003 at the Pitz. I feel like I’m 14 again and all the energy from the crowd is mirrored on stage, with Barney jumping around and Laila doing her trademark boxing moves. Between song banter about the shithole estates in MK and old times at the Pitz are laughed at by the crowd, even if I do feel like I may have been one of only a few who was actually at those gigs. We are treated to two new songs tonight, which prove that SB6 will be continuing to produce quality tunes for many years to come. Personal highlight of the night was the ‘Sound of the Revolution’, which is just pure energy distilled into music form. A shame the set was so short, or at least felt like it, but a welcome return for the SB6 to MK and hopefully they will coming back soon!

 

Carl Sucharyna Thomas

So, There For Tomorrow, a pretty pop-rock band signed to Hopeless Records. Some of you will undoubtedly make your mind up from that sentence alone. I endeavoured to approach this, their second album A Little Faster, with the same open mind I do with all music, but ultimately I think I will have reached a similar conclusion to those who don’t.

Essentially what I look for in music is some weight. I like my music to be heavy either in a sonic sense or an emotional sense; heavy in the way that it crushes you with brutality or heavy in a fix-an-anchor-to-your-heart-and-soul-and-sink-them fashion. Alas, There For Tomorrow do not succeed this. Simply put this is what happens when you take a potential boy band nucleus that grew up listening to Green Day and The Ataris et al, give them some guitars, and have them write an album that’s desperate to be earnest instead of fun. Most of my disliking for this album surrounds the flimsy and sincere vocals that sap anything engaging from the music that backs them. I really don’t care how pure your voice is and how many notes you can hit, why don’t you try singing with some actual conviction? What is clearly intended to be awash with emotional outpouring ends up flailing and drowning in a sea of mediocrity and indifference.

A boy band with guitars; yeah I know its lazy journalism, but this is a lazy attempt at original and meaningful music. The thing is, it’s not even that its bad music, it’s just that it’s so unnecessary. In no way could or should this music be essential listening, so what’s the point? There are plenty of REAL emo bands that do this better, mostly from before emo was a bad word and a bastardized term.

So lightweight it could float away in a breeze, and frankly I wish it would!

Stuart Morgan

All Time Low were formed all the way back in 2003 while still in high school, but for a lot of people they will have really entered their consciousness last year. It seems that this, their third album Nothing Personal, has brought them a new found glory... oh dear, I do apologise. Basically, they’re just another pop-punk band, but unlike their label mates and fellow review subjects There For Tomorrow they’ve chosen to indulge in the catchiness and fun of their genre, rather than attempt to capture some kind of pseudo-emotional integrity, which is to their credit.

Imagine all those Blink-182 alikes that were riding the crest of that particular wave in the late ‘90s and early 00’s. Yeah, they sound just like that. There really isn’t a lot more to say really. I had kind of assumed that the market for this sort of sound had dwindled, and that the kids who loved pop-punk are now on an emo comedown from the saccharine sweetness of bands like All Time Low, but it seems that there are more to take their place.  It’s a bit like if you ever have the unfortunate experience of going to the Bristol Bierkeller on a Friday night where you realise that despite sounding decidedly dated, some people still bloody love Disturbed. They should never have loved them in the first place of course, but that’s a rant I’ll save for another day...

So... All Time Low. The album Nothing Personal. In summary, if you like pop-punk you’ll love it (although you should probably take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask why), and if you don’t you won’t. It really is that generic.

Stuart Morgan.

With an exciting slew of releases I’m taking this opportunity to round up the best of the new, young Folk Metal crop from the mighty Napalm records! 

First up we have Dutch warriors Heidevolk with their third full length ‘Uit Oude Grong’ (From Old Soil in English). Resting comfortably in the more traditional Heavy Metal camp of the folk metal scene, they sure can stir up a good chant along! High quality dual clean vocals, supplied by Joris Boghtdrincker and Mark "Splintervuyscht" Bockting, help to separate them out from the crowd a little, and I find echoes of Moonsorrow’s haunting chants within their croons. ‘Ostara’ is the kind of chest beating pub anthem that is sure to go down a treat come the summer festivals, and one that will always find a warm reception with this reviewer! But they are not content to just sit in one place, and the album veers from driving, thrashy folk metal (‘Dondergod’), blasting furry and epic power balladery (‘Gelders Leid’). As with all good folk metal albums, there is the right balance between the more ‘traditionally’ folky numbers (‘Alvermans Wraak’) and the more balls out metal (‘Vlammenzee’). A success for Heidevolk and Napalm! Skål! 

Having had all the members but Cris J.S. Frederiksen quit a year after releasing their first album ‘Ravnenes Saga’, it is a wonder and a joy that Svartsot are still here! But you can’t quell the Heathen fire, and sure as the sun shines, Svartsot are back and in a triumphant mood on ‘Mulmets Viser’ (Song’s of the Darkness in English). First thing to say about the album is that I really like the artwork! Of the three albums it is by far my favourite; a warm and amusing cover that still allows for the hope of a little magic within. Opener ‘Aethelred’ is a soaring call to arms, that isn’t quite held up by follow up track ‘Lokkevisen’, but is quickly re-gathered and thrust back in your face by ‘Havfruens Kvad’. Pub chanting and flutes are the order of the day with Svartsot, and you’re never far from a charming little motif or a rousing riff and chant section, as on ‘Hojen Pa Gloedende Paele’. Battlelore and Korpiklaani are probably the musical counterparts of Svartsot, which is no bad thing at all! But there are also some more Amon Amarth style riffs scattered about this album, featuring prominently on ‘Laster Og Tarv’. And then something epic happens; ‘Den Svarte Sot’ is a gem of a slow burning folk song. A great way to break the album up! ‘Jagten’ keeps the interest up in the latter stages of the album with some interesting build-ups and breakdowns, but the album looses some of its pace and as it winds up, it is slower than I would have liked. All in all, ‘Mulmets Viser’ is a very good return, just maybe could have done with being a little shorter! 

A band titled as ‘Epic Viking Doom Metal’ boasting an album simply called ‘The End’!?! How awesome is that!?! Are Ered Altor pretenders to Summoning’s glorious throne? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and we are dealing with a completely different beast? After a truly epic intro, ‘Myrding’ lays out Ereb Altor’s shop pretty well. Sounding like Candlemass smashed together with some heavy as hell down tempo Viking metal riffs and an added bit of synth, the two members, Crister Olsson and Daniel Bryntse (also of Isole) have forged a new and impressive subgenre of their own. I’m liking some of the more medieval sounding lead lines that are present on the album, especially at the beginning of ‘Our Failure’. The main thing I like about this album is that it is a stark contrast to the other two releases on offer, but is still equally compelling, if not more so. It shows that the Folk/Viking/Pagan genre still has new and interesting things to offer the wider metal community. It’s not all people in fur dancing around to Sea Shanties and does have a more serious side that isn’t the more black metal edged stuff. The huge three parter ‘The End’ is a good 20 minutes or so of quality Viking power, a great way to end/ take up half an album! 

A quality three albums then, from one of the most prominent of the European Folk/Viking/Pagan labels out there. Keep em coming!

 

Carl Sucharyna Thomas

 A solid and entertaining debut from a band that shows a lot of passion and promise. If you like your Black Metal epic and dense, this is a must for your collection!

 

 

 

Carl Sucharyna Thomas