Chevelle’s haunting, booming, and vitriolic sophomore release opens with a song about three brothers called "Family System" Given that the three Loeffler brothers comprise Chevelle, it's easy to imagine the source of the song. Singer/guitarist Pete, drummer Sam, and bassist Joe have an intuitive gift for melding melody and intense, brutal passion in a manner that recalls at various times Live, Taproot, and Tool. From the brutal plea of the dynamic "Forfeit" to the bombast of"An Evening with El Diablo," Chevelle’s earnest, less then groundbreaking modern rock captures an intensity that almost makes up for a sometimes cookie-cutter musical vibe. --Katherine Turman ... Read more

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Asin: B00006GO98
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Indie Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock   

The 11 tracks of Chevelle's Point #1 pour out more passion in 42 minutes than most people will experience in an entire year.It is an album that will brand you.Not because of offense or unashamed shock tactics, but because the emotion offered batters into the soul and causes it to shudder in resonance with the writhing of the music.Applying simple and poetic reasoning, Pete Loeffler's lyrics exhibit the tension between life's paramount questions and heaven's inscrutable answers.The dualistic nature of his vocals (reminiscent of Tool's Maynard James Keenen) displays a trembling meekness that often abandons itself to full-throated roars of aggression.This meticulously rhythmic debut carries the fingerprints of Steve Albini's recording genius.The production is just raw enough to preserve the unfeigned vexation from which it was born, yet clean enough for each lashing expression to communicate its full fervor.Dynamics crest and fall as the storm-tossed melodies cut through a raging sea of edgy guitar and undulating drums.Leaving a curiously enjoyable lack of resolution, the weight of these songs beckons the listener to repeat play.It gets better every time.--Israel Button ... Read more

Asin: B00000IP2T
Subjects:  1. Indie Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock   

At the vanguard of hardcore’s evolution stand five Long Island-born straight-edgers who sport a progressive approach to punk rock on this fantastic second album. Frontman Daryl Palumbo's lyrically adventurous songs ("The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports," "Trailer Park Jesus") wage war on cultural orthodoxy, his rocky, undulating vocals morphing between a raw-nerve croon and a tortured shriek that's sharp enough to cut glass. The band differ from their nu-metal and conventional hardcore peers in the arrangements: tracks like "Mu Empire" and "Cosmopolitan Bloodloss" combine Faith No More-style sweep with a complex, post-hardcore structure that puts Fugazi to shame. "Ape Dos Mil" reins in the pure noise as guitarists Justin Beck and Todd Weinstock turn down and wring shimmering walls of ambience out of their instruments and Palumbo weaves a tale of obsessive love. Glassjaw are a thoroughly uncompromising band, as fearlessly individualistic as At the Drive-In and every bit as good. Worship and Tribute presents the new hardcore heroes-in-waiting. --Louis Pattison ... Read more

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Asin: B000068VSV
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Emo    3. Pop    4. Rock   

The Lostprophets CD booklet proclaims: "6 bored kids = melody-aggression-emotion-energy-intelligence." What it doesn't say, but should: "If you like Incubus, you'll like Lostprophets." The British outfit mines much of the same territory as their more thoughtful nu metal, new millennium brethren, mixing an earnest Incubus hippie vibe with Creed-like sincerity and dash a of Faith No More oddity and syncopation for a commercial, if not groundbreaking, sound. Vocalist Ian Watkins has personality and passion and the band's playing is crisp and dynamic. Turntables, loops, and keyboards lend depth and hip-hop flavor to the melodic, tightly wound rock. The 11 songs here are all uniformly strong and intense, if not always deep and unique. --Katherine Turman ... Read more

Asin: B00005QG8W
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Pop    4. Post-Grunge    5. Rock    6. Wales   

You wait all your life for an Armenian-American nu-metal band from Los Angeles with an incomprehensible name and along come a thousand at once. The Apex Theory not only share System of a Down's hometown and ethnic background, the quartet also seems to have mastered the art of setting potent sociopolitical messages to freeform wailing guitars and angry tribal rhythms. The noisy exotica of "Shhh... (Hope Diggy)" is truly something to savor, while the aural assault of "Mucus Shifters" goes some distance in matching System's manic intensity. But it's the cluster of tracks at the end mixed by Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Curve) that truly sets the Apex Theory apart. Part foreign fantasy, part unadulterated white noise, they are the sound of a band forging a path uniquely their own. --Aidin Vaziri ... Read more

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Asin: B00005MK9T
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Emo    3. Pop    4. Post-Grunge    5. Rock   

Judging by this 12-song debut, the powerful, heavy, and distinctive nu-metal band Adema have the songs, sound, and connections to succeed. Where pull in powerful places is concerned, singer Mark Chavez is the half-brother of Korn's Jonathan Davis, but Chavez and his cohorts have the goods to go the distance on their own musical merits. Drummer Kris Kohls, a veteran of Videodrone, bashes with Tommy Lee-like power, while Chavez's wide-ranging vocals are appealing, distinct, and intense. From "Giving In," which tackles alcoholism, to the ironic bitterness of "Close Friends," to the epic closer "Trust," Adema create a soundscape that is modern, heavy, and aggro--without being juvenile. With stellar production skills, topical lyrics, and a vibe that's current without being too trendy, Adema have promise to burn. --Katherine Turman ... Read more

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Asin: B00005NH0D
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Post-Grunge    3. Rock   

Nu metal might be the movement we should thank for flushing out some of rock's hoarier old clichés, but with the rock & roll ranks beginning to resemble a Marine roll call, what with all those bulging biceps and close haircuts, it's comforting that the self-titled release from Los Angeles's Boy Hits Car is able to reconcile the savage razor's edge of Papa Roach with some of the flamboyancy of alternative music. Their second album offers a number of pleasantly contrary moments, not the least of which include "The Rebirth" (which summons recollections of the Screaming Trees) and "As I Watch the Sun F**k the Ocean" (recalling Jane's Addiction). While the band falls short in spots, their bit-of-this, bit-of-that dynamic works surprisingly smoothly throughout, as rolls of heavy riffage break over flute, bongo, and tabla. Boy Hits Car might be a little too off-center to topple the likes of Papa Roach from nu metal's zenith, but this fine album is a reminder that an alternative take on a genre can restore faith in the definite article. --Louis Pattison ... Read more

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Asin: B000056CAD
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Grunge    3. Pop    4. Rock