Wednesday 30 January 2013

FIRST IMPRESSIONS; IN DUE TIME by Killswitch Engage



They're officially back now! And by the hammer of Thor do they sound magnificent.

In Due Time is this first single to surface from upcoming April 1st release Disarm The Descent, and it will blow your puny mortal mind. You're just gonna have to listen and witness the aural beauty that is riffage and solo heaven. Oh, and welcome back Jesse Leach. Damn son, you sound fine.

Initial Score; 
9/10

Now for the patented Excite-O-Meter on new album Disarm The Descent, which I'll eventually convert into a non-text format so it doesn't look shit. 

                                                                                                                        |DTD|
:( __________ :/ ___________ :| ____________ :) _____________ :D

FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS EVERYWHERE

Tuesday has dawned with some exciting news - new festival line-up announcements! These come from some of the UK's smaller rock/metal festivals.

So, first up, GHOSTFEST 2013 revealed their first billing, and it's pretty killer.
Headlining Ghostfest, which takes place on the 29th and 30th June at Leeds University, are The Devil Wears Prada, to be joined by: The Acacia Strain, Bury Your Dead, Veil Of Maya, iwrestledabearonceHarm's WayVanna, OdessaMalevolenceChronographsTwitching Tongues and Departures. Tickets are bargain price at £37.50, while day tickets are £25. Get them from Impericon now on pre-order, while general sale starts Monday February 11th.

Next up today was HIT THE DECK. which announced the following slew for its 2013 edition; Attack Attack! (the American one), Sonic Boom Six, Rolo Tomassi, Canterbury, Jonah Matranga (acoustic), Walter Schreifels (acoustic), Empress, Evarose, The James Cleaver Quintet and Natives. They join a line-up headed by Don Broco, We Are The In Crowd, Never Shout Never and We Are The Ocean. HTD takes place over 2 days, on April 20th in Bristol and on the 21st in Nottingham, and tickets are around £25.

Combining this with the stunning announcement of the legendary Black Flag for Hevy Fest, things are looking sexy for the small festival scene this year. 


Monday 28 January 2013

ALBUM REVIEW; CONDUIT by Funeral For A Friend

Funeral For A Friend
Conduit
8/10

No messing about here - an energetic and awesome half hour divulging in FFAF's hardcore punk side.

Welcome back FFAF. Almost 2 years since previous album Welcome Home Armageddon, the Welsh rockers return with an album overflowing in glorious punk rock that mixes in the tried, tested and approved melodic side they're well known for. And with only two songs over 3 minutes, there's no FFAF faff, just undiluted headband opportunities.

There are all sorts of different notable influences on Conduit, such as metalcore-esque riffs on tracks such as Grey, Best Friends and Hospital Beds and ___, the obvious driving punk influence and even heavy metal touches - Sun-Less's primary riff is a perfect example of this. But, being the band they are, the is emotive melody a-plenty. Thankfully, this doesn't detract from or dilute the tone that the album carries, far from it. In classic Funeral style, it merely adds to it, and in doing so strikes up a wonderful balance that has always marked the band. 

Conduit stays generally away from the screamed side of vocals that they've explored in the past, propping instead for gritty, rough tones that coexist with the aforementioned melody. Special mention must also be given to new drummer Pat Lundy, formerly of metalcore outfit Rise To Remain - his touch on the album is noticeable, with the drums prominent, rapid fire and giving an undertone very much of the metal variety. Guitar work is top notch too, with obviously good work having been put in to make the riffs heavy and the choruses epic. 

This is a fucking great album, that should go down an absolute treat live. It's no-nonsense hardcore punk that will punch you in the face and leave you smiling afterwards. 


COMING THIS WEEK ON theNOISE

UPDATE: Link to Opposites now added. Check the photo caption. 

Okay, so, a few reviews coming your way over the next few days;

  • Arc by Everything Everything
  • Opposites by Biffy Clyro
  • Conduit by Funeral For A Friend
  • Bored Of Idiot Chatter by self-proclaimed 'mellow-rock' man Stuart Newman
  • Potentially some other albums that I would have considered for the 2012 awards season but never got round to doing in full. Depends how long these others take.
I happened to notice that both Biffy and FFAF's albums are up on Amazon's MP3 site for £4.99. Bargain if you ask me, considering that Opposites is a double album and all. Or, you can listen to them on Deezer;

Conduit

Opposites 

UK TOUR NEWS; KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

With the new album Disarm The Descent due on the first day of April (incidentally I just know it's going to be amazing), Killswitch Engage are taking to the road in the UK. So far only 4 dates have been announced, looking something like this;

  • May 2nd: Manchester Ritz
  • May 3rd: Glasgow O2 ABC
  • May 4th: Birmingham Institute
  • May 5th: London Shepherds Bush Empire
You can check all your usual outlets to find them from Wednesday morning onwards (30th January), but if you're a lucky sod on the O2 Priority scheme or whatever it's called, then you can get them RIGHT NOW. 

In the meantime, feel free to enjoy the teaser for the album, with new material contained within.


Sunday 27 January 2013

CALLING NEW BANDS

New Year, new you? If you're in a band that is looking to get itself out there, with a new EP, single, album  or something that wants reviewing? Look no further.

I'm absolutely always on the look-out for new rock/metal/everything in-between. So, get in touch with me in any/all of the following ways if you are any of the above:

  • Twitter; @yesthisisnoise
  • Email; yesthisisnoise@gmail.com
  • Google +Tom Castle (ooh, there's a link for that)
  • Facebook still in the works.
Go on, send stuff in. I'll be nice.

Friday 25 January 2013

UPDATE: FALL OUT BOY REUNION AND IT MIGHT BE LEGIT.

UPDATE: 26/1 - Sadly, it doesn't appear to be true. Joe Trohman took to Twitter to deny it, so we can all revert into disappointment.

I noticed that on Twitter, #FallOutBoy was trending, and I thought to myself 














Sorry, I briefly channelled Louis Armstrong for a second there.

But anyway, I found this article on PropertyOfZack, which claims that "several trusted sources" have confirmed that Fall Out Boy are only going and reuniting this year. Which, incidentally, I predicted. Except I was joking, although there were optimistic undertones. But if this is true, I will totally lose my shit because FALL OUT BOY ARE COMING BACK HOLY SHIT

I need to compose myself... But this, IF TRUE, is the most exciting thing I've heard so far this year. EVERYTHING CROSSED. Yes, even those bits.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS; ONE WAY TRIGGER by The Strokes


So, The Strokes are back! Good news, eh? Nah.

I'm really, really not taken with One Way Trigger. Carried by an irritating synthesiser beat that sounds like Mario taking a tropical holiday while on Ritalin and squeaky falsetto from Julian Casablancas (I maintain that the best his voice has ever sounded is in his collab with The Lonely Island, Boombox) that lacks substance...this new sound is annoying.

So I give this a preliminary
4/10
And therefore, it's time to apply the super scientific Excite-O-Meter to judge how excited One Way Trigger makes theNOISE ahead of the as-yet-untitled 5th Strokes album:

                       |
:( __________ :/ ___________ :| ____________ :) _____________ :D

Which is to say, distinctly meh. Let me know what you think!

Wednesday 23 January 2013

MOVE OVER, SPOTIFY. A YEAR'S FREE MUSIC BECKONS...

I feel like I should have heard of this before...

Hands up, who knows what Deezer is? Ok. Those of you with your arms very much not in a vertical position, take heed. Deezer is a music streaming service, much like our venerable fave Spotify - 20 million + tracks etc - but they have just launched a year's free music subscription. A YEAR. 12 MONTHS. 

Goodbye social life. Not least of all because I can't access Spotify because my account is UK-registered and I'm not in the UK...and I don't have a Spanish card to change my deets. So hello Deezer, gissa hug. It was set to be a little obstacle in my reviews process, so it comes at a good time.

What you need to do is head over to Deezer's site, sign up and you're away. Easy peasy.




Tuesday 22 January 2013

FIRST IMPRESSIONS; NOW by Paramore



And thus arrives the moment so many of us have been waiting for, new Paramore material - Now is streaming on the band's own website, where you can also pre-order the upcoming self-titled 4th studio album.


So, first impressions. 

It's different. There's something decidedly quirky about it, and it definitely sounds like we're dealing with a changed beast here. But it's certainly a grower, I've listened to it a few times now and I like it much more than the first listen. So give it a play, mull it over, then repeat, because it's a good track and sets an interesting tone for Paramore in April...

So I'm gonna implement a quasi-ratings system for first impressions, which isn't a review, but more a excitement-o-meter.

Initial rating; 7/10
Excite-O-Meter for Paramore

                                                                                                |
:( __________ :/ ___________ :| ____________ :) _____________ :D

Meaning moderate excitement, as it stands. It may well increase.

Thursday 17 January 2013

YOUR DEMISE + FREE STUFF = ALL OF THE WIN

Now that is cool artwork.
So, their new track Karma premiered on Radio 1 a little while ago, and now you can get it for freesies because Your Demise are lovely chaps like that. 

By clicking this seductive link (Trust me. It's unassuming on the outside, but with golden treasures on the inside) you will be whisked away to Impericon's website, where you shall be able to download Karma, as well as pre-order a variety of bundles for the EP aforementioned track comes from, Cold Chillin'

If this track is anything to go by, and also judging by the reviews it's already garnered from real rock press, it's a monster. In a really fucking good way. Oh, and there's a video too, available on the same page as the download. To keep you busy while you wait until the release (February 7th) the band have quite literally just put out a couple of teaser videos. Bonsoir.







Wednesday 16 January 2013

HOLY MASSIVE DOWNLOAD ANNOUNCEMENT BATMAN!

More than 30 bands were promised for the latest Download Festival line-up announcement, and more than 30 have been delivered. A titanic 37, in fact. And so now, courtesy of Metal Hammer for alphabetising them, here are all 37 in their respective glories.

Airbourne
Amon Amarth
Asking Alexandria
Black Dogs
Buffalo Summer
Cancer Bats
Converge
Down
Earthtone 9
Enter Shikari
Five Finger Death Punch
Goldsboro
Hacktivist
Hardcore Superstar
Heaven’s Basement
HellYeah
The Hives
Huntress
I AM I
In This Moment
Jimmy Eat World
Korn
Last Witness
Limp Bizkit
Motionless In White
Parkway Drive
The Sword
Three Doors Down
UFO
Vision of Disorder
Walking Papers
Young Guns



Don't try and tell me there isn't a single band in that list that makes you happy enough for a little bit of wee to come out. I DARES YE. And there's no BVB, so yay. 
Here's the official poster, to remind you of the rest of the freaking awesome line-up.


Monday 14 January 2013

FU-NEW-RAL FOR A FRIEND.

Did you see the awesome thing what I did do there?

Do you want to spend 11 minutes listening to brand new FFAF? Of course you do. You'll want to click play below and hear a minute from each of the 11 tracks from new album Conduit then. Enjoy.

BMTH; ALBUM NEWS, LINEUP CHANGE, TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

3 big bits of news from the Bring Me The Horizon camp for you today.

Jordan Fish: the guy on the right.

  1. Their new album Sempiternal will be out April 29th, and if you wing it on over to bmthofficial.com you can pre-order the badger. Here, badger means album, in an unnecessary metaphor. 
  2. Ladies and gentlemen, Jona Weinhofen has left the building. In a revealing statement earlier today, the band said "Bring Me The Horizon are Oliver Sykes, Lee Malia, Matthew Kean, Matthew Nicholls and Jordan Fish. Jona Weinhofen is no longer in the band." and so far, the loveable Aussie has said nothing on the matter. The only thing I've seen regarding the matter is Jona's Tumblr, in which he has taken 'Bring Me The Horizon' out of his description, leaving only 'I Killed The Prom Queen'. If I had to take an educated guess, I would say that he has switched focus to IKTPQ, but that is merely my speculation. I'll update when I know something. But new six-stringer Jordan Fish, of the band Worship, is part of BMTH as of now, and so will play in all the tour dates I'm about to tell you about.
  3. Guess what? Tour dates! You'd never have known if I hadn't told you, I bet. They're playing 8 dates from April 29th through May 7th as follows;
    APRIL
    29 - MANCHESTER Academy II
    30 - NEWCASTLE University 
    MAY
    01 - INVERNESS Ironworks
    02 - GLASGOW ABC
    04 - PORTSMOUTH Pyramids
    05 - CARDIFF Solus
    06 - WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall
    07 - LONDON Koko
    (Thanks to rocksound.tv for the formatted tour dates)
So there's todays BMTH update. 

Friday 11 January 2013

NEW BULLET FOR MEH VALENTINE

So, the Welshmen released the video for their new single Riot today, taken from forthcoming album Temper Temper.
I really can't seem to like their new stuff. granted, I was never a particularly avid fan, but they did have some bloody great songs. But this, as well as previous single and album title track Temper Temper, are pretty pants. 

A photo of me after listening.
Riot is pretty diluted as far as metal goes - the lyrical theme of urban rebellion has been done to death, and the lyrics themselves break down no boundary walls (pardon the pun. Actually, don't) by merit of being predictable and unimaginative; Here come the sirens, here comes the law / Run from the sirens, run from the law for example. Oh, and the inclusion of the word fucking in the verse just seems crow-barred in for the hell of it, there's no strength behind it. And the chorus. RIOT! WHOAH-OH-OHH! (repeat) It's just boring, guys. And my last beef with the song comes from the 'riff', which is just a dull open, palm-muted chug with a little twiddle. The solo's ok, but that's about it. 


So be interesting again, BFMV. I've had it with this edgeless metal. Temper Temper is pretty poor for many of the same reasons too.


Thursday 10 January 2013

DOWNLOAD LOW-DOWN...

Pssst. *nudge* hey, you there. Yeah, you. Word on the street is that something BIG is coming on the Download Festival front, next week. 30 bands at least they say...












Sorry Willy, that's all I know. And something tells me you're being insincere.

So, Noiselets. Who do you think is going to be in this behemothic announcement? I'm lobbying for Marmozets, Gojira, Parkway Drive, Deftones, Rolo Tomassi, Enter Shikari...just off the top of my head. Time will tell. If you've got anyone you'd absolutely love to see, then let me know in the comments. 


I sort of expect Black Veil Brides to be present. It would be an unsurprising disappointment.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

EVERYBODY DO THE BOWIE

Just take a moment to bathe in the sound of perfection that is David Bowie's voice. It's like having your ears and your mind caressed with downy feathers.

Being the top bloke that he is, for his 66th birthday we received new single Where Are We Now?, the first new Bowie in a decade, along with the announcement of a new album. Which is just bloody awesome news.

Said album, The Next Day, will reach UK shores on March 11th. In the meantime, enjoy the aforementioned new single in it's beautiful glory. And it really is rather lovely, with the lightly wavering, tender side of his voice on parade. Enjoy.


IMPRESSIONS: SHADOW MOSES by Bring Me The Horizon

It's now streaming officially, after the various radio rips from the first play on Radio 1 last week.

First impressions, it's pretty good. The development of their sound has clearly continued, with former Cookie Monster Oli Sykes' vocals approaching singing, whilst still being obviously him. Bookended with ethereal electronic beats, chock-full of chugging riffs and with a chorus custom-made for being chanted live, it's BMTH doing what they have shown they're able to do well. 

My criticism of it however, also comes from the above mentioned chugging riffs - it's all a bit samey. There's too much open-string that I can see turning into a scenario where everybody assumes the crab position and headbangs. I'm not denying it has its' place within this side of metal, but I hope there's a bit more variance in the riffage on the rest of the album. Because crabbing is annoying. 

Crabcore, ably demonstrated by my associate from
 Attack Attack.
Photo credit http://instagram.com/p/TuVaBpnz7t/

Despite my criticism, I can't deny I'm looking forward to Semptiernal, it's going to be huge whether we like it or not.



Leave your opinions in the comments below!

And just because I can:


Monday 7 January 2013

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE; NEW ALBUM TITLE, RELEASE DATE AND NEW SINGLE

Holla. All at once, KsE have announced the various important things we wanted to know ahead of the new album. Firstly, it's called Disarm The Descent, secondly it's released on April 1st, and thirdly, their new single will be out February 3rd, entitled In Due Time. How appropriate.

Vocalist Jesse Leach said that “It is with a grateful spirit that we prepare for this record’s release. From the music, to the lyrics, to the artwork, we are all proud of what we have accomplished. To me this is by far my best vocal performance, much thanks to Adam’s guidance and faith in my abilities. I am very grateful to be where I am in life, back in an amazing band with a record we are all excited for the world to hear. Thanks to all the fans for their warm welcome back and their undying love for Killswitch Engage.” (words from Metal Hammer's site)

Hells to the yes.

NEW YOUR DEMISE TRACK 'KARMA'

Peoples, peoples, peoples hear ye! The delightful mentalists that are Your Demise have a new EP, Cold Chillin', on the way, and the first track Karma from said EP is getting airplay for the first time this very evening (January 7th), on Radio 1 between midnight and 2am.

Should you miss it, you will be able to listen again on Radio 1's website after the show has broadcast.


Saturday 5 January 2013

WHAT DO WE WANT? PARAMORE! WHEN DO WE WANT IT?


...Now!


See what I did there?




Paramore's new Single Now will be released on January 22nd, ahead of the release of their upcoming 4th studio effort Paramore, out April 9th. I'll be all over this when it's out, expect a review shortly after!

Wednesday 2 January 2013

IT'S NEW BRING ME THE HORIZON TIME

First up, welcome to 2013!

Ahead of the upcoming release of fourth studio album (third if we disown Count Your Blessings) Sempiternal, which comes out who knows when this year, Bring Me The Horizon's brand new single Shadow Moses will drop next week, with an exclusive radio premiere on Daniel P Carter's BBC Radio 1 show, 1-4pm, this Friday (January 4th).

Get it? Meme made by theNOISE, photo credit Simone
Joyner/Getty Images Europe





















In the meantime, you could watch crackly live footage of the song on Youtube, or enjoy the official preview below. I'm really fucking excited for this, and I have a feeling Sempiternal could be one of the albums of the year (big talk on January 2nd). Say what you like about BMTH, they've only got better and previous album There Is A Hell, And It's Writing Out This Album Title In Full was really, really good, and the clip of Shadow Moses sounds incredible.