I KNOW A SONG THAT'LL GET ON YOUR NERVES #1

Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads. Often random and inexplicably there. That's what this is about - however random and/or embarrassing, I'll post the song that gets lodged in mah brain for no reason at all. I had Seal's Kiss From A Rose last week, so this is an improvement.

SINGLE REVIEW - AVENGED SEVENFOLD; 'CARRY ON'

AVENGED SEVENFOLD; CARRY ON

5/10

Slightly disappointing and uninspired radio-friendly metal.

An original song produced for the new Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 game, Carry On is very much an under-par Avenged Sevenfold. It's not a terrible song, it's simply not the same high-quality, riff-laden distinctive metal A7X can and do produce on their best days.

So many aspects of the song are just very average. The central riff is a pretty simple and tame one, and the music throughout follows an almost predictable chord progression - it lends it that slightly more radio-friendly/commercial edge, because you almost know when everything is going to happen, and how it will go. The chorus, the solo; quite predictable - focussing on the solo, you feel like it's a practice one that (lead guitar) Synyster Gates might use to warm up before a gig. Additionally, the vocals are almost plain annoying - while vocal chord damage limits M. Shadows' capacity for harsher growling/screams, they're a bit...whiny. Case and point in the chorus.

Far from their former brilliance, this is quite uninspired. It lacks that distinctive edge that has always set them apart from other metal bands. They proved with previous album Nightmare that, despite the tragic loss of drummer and the creative genius Jimmy Sullivan, they could create an excellent album.They're yet to re-attain the heights of the City Of Evil album, but here's hoping that Carry On is just a commercial blip, and that the Avenged Sevenfold bring out what they are truly capable of when they next produce music for themselves, not a game. 

SINGLE REVIEW - DEFTONES; 'LEATHERS'

DEFTONES; LEATHERS
8/10

They're back. They're still brilliant.

With bafflingly-titled* and much-anticipated new album Koi No Yokan slated for release on November 13th, Deftones gave us a first tasty morsel from that table in the form of Leathers. It's pure Deftones, in so much as it's spaced out, melodic, loud and heavy,  all at the same time. Therefore great.

A creeping, menacing ethereal synth/echoing guitar combo greets us, before a freight train of sound sweeps in. The unmistakable vocals of Chino; raw screams and dark softness, at all times delivered with the emotional depth that should nullify any claims** that he doesn't put his all into it. The dropped, growling guitar & bass combo - Sergio Vega, as Deftones' current bassist while Chi Cheng recovers from his near-fatal car crash, is doing a fantastic job - and powerful, precise drumwork; they all make for a great song, with the undercurrent of that intro all the way through. Make no mistake, this is an evil song. 

Leathers is Deftones at their best. The concoction of melody, crunching heavy-nicity and brooding evil that threatens to bubble to the surface at any point is what makes Deftones the brilliant band they are. The start lulls you into a false sense of security before the bulk of the song blasts in (it actually made me jump), and it swings and flows through deceptively softer sections to waves of big chugging noise. Sets an excellent tone for the rest of the album; just awesome.

Download Leathers for freesies from www.deftones.com

*It's Japanese for 'The Premonition of Love - I saw it on Deftones' FB, translated by a Japanese speaker. Thanks Hsin-Kai Wang!

**As far as I'm aware there are none such claims. It's for effect.

I'M ALMOST BACK BABY

I'll be back to the reviewing front tres soon; I've been quiet recently on account of 1. personal laziness (because listening to music then writing my opinion is SO difficult) 2. preparation to go abroad...which is happening the 27th. 4 days! ARGH.

But I'm queuing up a few reviews; One Wing by The Chariot, Gallows by, well, Gallows, Coexist by The xx, Battle Born by The Killers, and of course my most anticipated release of this year, The 2nd Law by Muse, which is out a week tomorrow. 

I'm also switching from a 0-5 star rating system to a 0-10 number system, because I think it's more representative.

And, I do plan to expand THE NOISE into Spanish upon my arrival, to open it up to everyone there. And then maybe French, because my housemate for the coming year is French and I'd like to brush up, and Catalan, because I'm going to Catalonia in Spain and they're veryyyyy independent. 

Hasta luego. EL RUIDO x

NEW STUFF FROM THE CHARIOT (THIS IS BECOMING LOUD MONDAY)

The Chariot are one of the most mental-sounding bands you are ever likely to hear. They are ballistic. They are fantastic. They have a new album out and I knew nothing about it until now. How did this pass me by? Review soon.

FEAST YOUR EARS ON NEW MARMOZETS STUFF. DO IT. DOOOOOO ITTTTTTT.

The mighty Northern noisefolk that are Marmozets are amazing. To say that I love them is like saying Stephen Hawking is about bright enough for a pub quiz team. They are BRILLIANT. You can check out a live review I did a few months back if you need convincing. But the point of all this is that they have a new single Good Days, w/ b-side Skin, coming out on October 29th via Venn Records (the lovechild of Gallows), which you can listen to right here on your computing device.

THE BEACH BUMS ARE BACK

I speak, of course, of Parkway Drive, which may be the best thing to ever come out of Oz. I only say may because I've never listened to I Killed The Prom Queen. I keep meaning to, honest. 

Dem crazy buggers from Byron Bay have a new album on the way (alliteration and rhymes. I'm on fire), entitled Atlas, which shall be available October 29th here in this here Kingdom that be United. Dark Days be its name, and so without further ado, here is your slice of really fucking heavy for the day.

WE HAZ THE SEXY MADNESS

M-m-m-m-m-m-mad-mad.

First and foremost - Muse are not going to win many new fans with their new stuff, I don't reckon. They will probably lose fans, given their departure from the styles of albums past. New single Madness has divided opinion between bland, generic pop-sounding beige-ness and a sexy electronic evolution of their sound with the sort of subtle wubbing to set your naughty bits a-quiver. 

My opinion falls on the side of the latter opinion. 

I love it. No, it's not what you might expect from them. GOOD. Thinking outside your box is essential to music for it to grow and evolve. Madness is as Chris described it in an interview - a simple bass hook, that draws you in. It's one sexy-ass mo-fo. End of. Here's the video, out today.

TRACK OF THE WEEK 27/8/12 - 2/9/12

A first, as I attempt to bring a little more coherence to this here blog. Every Sunday, I'll be picking my favourite new song of the previous week. And kicking things off is Manchester indie mob Everything Everything, with their new single Cough Cough. Taken from forthcoming album Arc, due out in January 2013, this is a stonking track that demonstrates EE's Wonka-on-acid take on indie whilst showing that they have, as every good band should, evolved their sound from their first album Man Alive. It swings between a punchy percussion-driven verse and an epic, sweeping chorus, with the characteristic crazy keyboard/bass rhythms and falsettos that make EE so distinctive. Bloody great.