Desensitized Pitchshifter
very noisy, 1 Feb 2008 this album is so far removed from the pitchshifter of today that its hard to believe that they are the same band. this is a much more metal sounding version of the thumping industrial that they create with a sound more akin to latter day killing joke. depending on if you like killing joke could influence whether or not you will like this album. personally i think its a great part of the bands history to see where they had been and it starts to hint at where they are planning on going. the songs are big and ugly and alot heavier that the rest of their output. the political influence is creeping into alot of the lyrics and the electronica is also creeping in but the backbone of most of the songs is the huge sloppy downtuned bass guitar of mark clayden and the big beefy riffs that also dominate the proceedings. if you ar a fan of the recent work and want to delve into the back catologue i would suggest starting with "infotainment" over this one as it is a slightly easier to digest version of the monster that came before it. death metal
				Sing The Sorrow A.F.I
disappointed, 6 Dec 2007 i hate to say this because i really wanted this album to knock me sideways but what it really did is give we a wet slap. all the bite and venom and spite has been totally sucked out the band. the lyrics are still cold and cutting but the actual sound of the band is awful on this album. the guitars sound muddy and the drums sound muffled. the emphasis is on davey and he has toned down his performance here for something a lttle more delicate which is all well and good but the music and the vocals for me just dont match up here and i felt bored whilst listening to it. i have struggled to get all the way through this album and if on the rare occaisions where i do listen to it i have usually given up by track 5. this is an example of a band trying to expand their sound and falling flat on thier faces. death metal
				Let It Happen M*X*P*X
too long, 6 Dec 2007 what we have here is the reason why punk bands dont release 70 minute long albums!!!! this album loses points, lots of points because it is about as twice as long as it should be. and because of this it gets very boring very early on and all the songs start to blur into one. there are a few highlights but i cant pick them out as they tend to blur into the next song. and the singing is awful and very whiney. i couldnt care less what the singer is going on about as his voice is awful and gets lost in the mix. im sure that MXPX have done something very good elsewhere but as this is all that i have heard i wouldnt recommend starting here. its awful. death metal
				DECEMBERUNDERGROUND A.F.I
approach with an open mind, 6 Dec 2007 ok then so here AFI have pulled the turn around of their career. personally i dont like sing the sorrow and thought all was lost but here they have convinced me that there is hope for them yet!!! the songs are tighter and the production is immaculate. what they have done is create the nastiest pop/punk album EVER! yes it is very shiny in comparison to the early work but the anger has returned and the fierce bite that made them so electrifing to listen to is back. daveys lyrics and vocal delivery is spot on. the bounce is back and the bang is back. what they have done is near perfectly marry the melodies to the explosive noise. the best example is "kiss and control" where tey manage to cram every element of their career into this one song from the goth to the punk to the indie to the hardcore sreaming...it truely is majestic. if you are new to the band you could start in a worse place and if you are an older fan then give it a few spins as i wasnt convinced at first but it creeps into your head and makes you go back and listen to it again. death metal
				Survival of the Sickest Saliva
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: a pleasant surprise, 22 Nov 2007 ok im not gonna lie, because of the nickelback connection i was very skeptical about these boys....and i was very surprised when they actually turned out to be pretty dammed good. this album for me and limited knowledge of the band seems to have a beefier production than the others and has a huge guitar sound. the nu metal feel of the songs has been caast aside but the feel still remains thanks to some severly down tuned sludgy guitar lines. the songs are firmly in the land of hard rock leaning towards a slightly older feeling style of metal. it is slower and groovier and feels like the band are having a bit more fun with this piece of work. the only thing that bugs me about this album and actually all of their work is how cringe inducingly poor and embarrassing the lyrics are. i mean they really are attrociously bad. it takes the shine off a very good album purely in the knowledge that i have just given money to a complete tool of a lead singer who seems to have a head the size of jupiter. "i always wanted to be president,i always wanted to be superman, i ended up a superstar now im better off than either one of them" i rest my case. BUT if you can get around that then this is a very good album with some cracking heavy rock songs on it. death metal
				Take a Look in the Mirror KoRn
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful: oh dear, 22 Nov 2007 here we have the reason why nu metal died!!! bands creating albums where the song titles are inter-changable as all the songs sound the same!!! i like koRn im not gonna deny that but this album is terrible!!!! picking highlights are a challenge as mentioned before they all sound the same. the pace is one dimensional and the lyrics are terrible even by jon davis's standards and Nas should be shot for his terrible appearance on a bland and lifeless song. their interesting take on metallica's one as a hidden track at the end is different and gives the album atleast a high point to go out on...if you can be arsed to skip through 5 odd minutes of silence to get to it. if you dislike nu metal this inst going to help the cause and if you are new to koRn i would suggest starting somewhere else. this is for completists only as it is a terrible album a million miles away from the highs they flew with "follow the leader" and "koRn". death metal
				Until the End Kittie
meh?!?!, 21 Nov 2007 ok then so first off a well done to kitie for surviving as long as they have but the real questions should be how and why? they struggle to offer anything new or relevant or even vaguely unique. yes ok the the girls can play....but they seem stuck in the idea of only needing one riff per song! and no matter how good that one rif is they need more than one to make a song!!! because of this the songs get a bit dull, the variety between the songs again they struggle to show variation....because when they do they start to shine. the girls voice also bugged the hell out of me....somewhere between a poor hardcore scream and sub-standard death grunt. its a shame because when they stop trying to be REALLY heavy and start writing some melodic stuff the album starts to make sense especially on "into the darkness"...and this is never more eveident on the bonus vocal mix at the end where they take the poor growling vocals off and just leave the clean singing voice it instantly became the best song on the album. the whole thing just made me want to go and listen to my ruin or tura satana or otep or walls of jericho to remind myself that yes women do belong in metal as these girls started to make me lose my faith. definately listen to the samples before parting with your cash. death metal
				Uncivilization Biohazard
guestlist anyone?, 9 Nov 2007 ok then so here we have biohazard showing off about how many influential and respected friends they have made over the years and delivering them all in a razor sharp collection of top notch hardcore songs with that distinctive biohazard twist. so who is here then? where to begin......pete steele,jamie jastsa,3/4 of sepultura,the dude from skarhead whose name i forget,slipknot,phil anselmo,roger miret of agnostic front,sen dog,kerry king and yes i think that is just about it. but in comparison to soulfly and "primitive" the guest do not dominate the songs they just pop up at the right time!!!!! sen dog was always gonna be a given considering that he has his own rock outfit and that he guested on the mighty "how it is" from an earlier album. but the rest of the guests just pop up all over the place and dont feel out of place and it keeps the album fresh and very energetic,that is where this album scores the best for me, the groove is there but everything is just so frantic and skull crushing,this album is worth owning for so many reasons....the best one being that the songs are phenominally good...i mean like all of them!!! if you like the other stuff then definately get this....if you want to hear hardcore done with a very different and distinctive twist then again this is the badboy for you. in short.....just buy the damm thing!!! death metal
				Front by Front Front 242
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: good stuff, 31 Oct 2007 ok so then if you dont like electronic music run away. if you like industrial...approach with caution as this isnt going to be to everybodys taste. its not that its extreme or anything like that, quite the opposite in fact. this album feels like "pretty hate machine" without the guitars or the aggresion. its a slow and subtle delivery of beats and moods. there is very little here to actually dance to but as a piece of work it is very effective as the songs creep into your head and leave you tapping your foot without you realising. this is effectively where EBM began and it does show its age in the sound and the production. the beats are straight out of the 80's and it does feel very dated, but it is a very good album even if there is very little variety in the songs on offer. that said though the opener "until death(us do part)" and the marvelous "headhunter v3.0" are still rocking tunes that could probably ignite a dancefloor at most goth nights to this day. if you like combichrist or VNV nation and want to see where it all began or just feel like a change of pace to something a little slower and groovier then this would be well worth giving a spin. but i would suggest trying to find the odd tune first to see if you are gonna like it before investing. death metal
				Darkest Days Stabbing Westward
career high, 24 Oct 2007 ok so a bit of history....up until this point in their career this band had been written off as mere nine inch nails and depeche mode copyists....then they released this monster of an album where all of the aforementioned statements were smashed into the dirt and they emerged with one of the best industrial rock albums to ever be recorded. the main parts were all present and correct. tortured frontman...check.....heavy guitar parts...check....lots of electronic bleeping and other assorted noises....check put the whole lot together and you have your basic industrial template. but what they did here that htey failed to do elsewhere was crank everything upto 10!!! the riffs were perfect, the slower songs just drip with atmosphere and emotion, and that is where this album scores heaviest....the emotional connection that hall makes through his voice and lyrics. he gives this usually cold and mechanical style of music a real human heart that you can connect to, relate to, and you do as he is singing about things that we have all been through and its evident to see merely from song titles such as "you complete me","waking up beside you","haunting me" and "desperate now". this is a very real and human album which is a rareity in the industrial world and because of that it stands out as one that is very catchy and hooks into your mind and pulls at your heart. a towering masterpiece of rock and industrial that has stood the test of time, instead of gazing at their shoes and listening to whinney tarts in checkers the kids should go back and check this out for real emotional power. if you are a fan of nine inch nails or filter or even the slightly more EBM stlye of front 242 or frontline assembly i think you will still find something here to like. go on give it a try and see how much of a shame it is that the band threw it all away with the next album and folded.