Review of Modified's self titled

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1. Die To Resist

2. Cruel Temptation

3. A Part Of Me

4. Running From Myself

5. Threetwoone

6. Selfless Lies

7. Running Up That Hill

8. When I Wake

9. Unfinished Game

10. Hollow

11. December

The first song on this album, Die To Resist, had me surprised. The main riff is really catchy and the band was actually a lot heavier than I was expecting. The next song is hands down my favourite. Cruel Temptation has a great mix of heavy and soft guitar and I really liked the chorus with the way the guitar flowed with the vocals. The beginning of A Part Of Me brings piano, guitar, and drums, in one by one quite nicely. The solo in this song is pretty wicked. Running From Myself had a nice intro, I really like how heavy the guitars sounded. It may just be me but the chorus of this kind of had the same guitar as Cruel Temptation, either way I like this song. The vocals in Threetwoone is what stuck out to me the most, they really made this song catchy. The next song was really heavy for the album and also had a melodic feel which was great. I thought the keyboard outro was nice a calming. The keyboard and guitar intro of Running Up That Hill and I liked the galloping guitar riff as well. The solo bit in this song as well as the part after reminds me of Sonata Arctica and their style. When I Wake has a great mix mellow and heavy, they mesh well. The guitars in the next song, Unfinished Game, feels really old school rock, especially the first riff, and I thought was pretty cool. I am quite sure I heard a very metal scream from a male backing vocals, would love to see more of that out of these guys. Hollow is probably another favourite on this album and I liked the way the guitars are laid out, it felt really groovy and heavy. The last song on the album, December, was really mellow. I kind of like that the album ended with this song. It’s a nice little ballad and I liked the vocals on this song.

I have never heard Modified ever before, and I am ashamed of myself since they’re local, but they are a very solid band. I’m usually really picky with my female vocalists but I really liked Tricia’s style, I’d definitely say she’s one of my favourite female vocalists. This album is definitely a must buy if you like hard rock and heavy metal, especially if you fancy female vocalists.

Elimination week one: Adrenechrome vs Left Hand Creation

This round and poll ends July 2nd at 12PM

Adrenechrome vs Left Hand Creation
You can only choose one
Adrenechrome
Left Hand Creation
See Results

Review of Whitechapel's self-titled

1. Make It Bleed

2. Hate Creation

3.(Cult)uralist

4. I, Dementia

5. Section 8

6. Faces

7. Dead Silence

8. The Night Remains

9. Devoid

10. Possibilities of an Impossible Existence

Having spent several years lauded as one of the frontrunners in their genre, in 2012 Whitechapel stand as a defining force in contemporary heavy music. Building dramatically on the trademarked bludgeon of their first three releases, with Whitechapel the Tennessean sextet have inarguably delivered their most intense, dynamic, and downright hostile record to date. Drenched in atmospheric darkness, the record is also rife with gripping melodies that drag the listener in to the tumult, willing or otherwise, and across its ten tracks it is infused with an emotional depth that pointedly separates the band from the plethora of two-dimensional mosh-starters that have sprung up in their wake. "These songs are some of the best material we have released to date, and the whole vibe of the record compelled us to self-title it," states guitarist Alex Wade. "With every record we strive for something different – we're always going to stay true to what Whitechapel is, but we want to evolve and do something that is fresh and engaging both for ourselves and for the people who support us."

I must say that this album was better than I was expecting. To start the album we have Make It Bleed, which starts with a piano intro. I liked the melodic riff at the beginning and much of this song is fast paced plus the solo is a nice touch. The next song, Hate Creation is pretty much just your heavy, fast pounding riffs but the part that caught my eye the most was the slow bit. Whitechapel really grabbed my attention with (Cult)uralist with its awesome groove that it has, I really liked the chugging and the riff at the beginning. I, Dementia keeps my attention with the groove behind it as well and while I did like the intro I kind of disliked the electronic sounds. Section 8 was on the Recorrupted album for those of you that remember that release. I don’t really like how this song flowed until the fast paced stuff kicks in, the breakdown near the beginning was just so boring. The breakdown in the end was interesting with the guitars, which made up for the one in the beginning. Things get more in your face with the song Faces, funnily enough. This song is very heavy and hardly gives room to breath with out fast and heavy it is for the most part. Dead Silence is very well rounded with its mixture of melodic and heavy feels and the outro of this song is an acoustic diddle which leads into The Night Remains. Again, Whitechapel pulled something out of their bag of tricks that I did not know they had them in them. The Night Remains brought me dark and black riffs that I hear when listening to black metal bands, when it comes from a band like Whitechapel it turns my head. Devoid is just a piano intro which leads into a breakdown and ends with a melodic bit, it was an alright instrumental. The last song Possibilities of an Impossible Existence is really beefy on the bass and also has the best mixture of heaviness, chugging, and melodic riffs. The album ends with a nice piano piece.

Not being too much of Whitechapel fan, I did enjoy this album. My three favourite songs are definitely (Cult)uralist, I, Dementia, Face, and The Night Remains. The only thing that really bugged me was how much crash symbol there was. I’ve never heard it used repeatedly for so long ever, but I guess that’s just the hardcore element of the band coming through. All in all this album is good and if you like Whitechapel I recommend picking this up

Spotlight: Rubber (Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick, Roxane Mesquida)

This is the first review of movies suggested to me to review from Netflix. If you would like me to review a movie that is on there, comment this post with the name of the movie!

“Rising from a sandy grave, lost in the desert, an inanimate tire comes to life and learns to roll on his own. Making his way toward a nearby, sparsely populated town, the tire gains telepathic powers enabling him to blow up anything, or anyone, that stands in his path. Soon he falls for a mysterious brunette in a passing car and must face the town’s sheriff. Alone and desperate, he searches for companionship and the means to quench his lust for destruction.” http://horrornews.net/31304/film-review-rubber-2011/

Stephen Spinella (Milk, Bubble Boy, Cradle Will Rock) as Lieutenant Chad

Jack Plotnick (Wrong, Girls Will Be Girls, Straight-Jacket) as Accountant

Roxane Mesquida (Kaboom, The Last Mistress, Sex Is Comedy, The School Of Flesh) as Sheila

Wings Hauser (Kingpin, Watchers 3, Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time) as Man in Wheelchair

Ethan Cohn (Cry Wolf, Heroes, Lady In The Water) as Movie Buff Ethan

Charley Koontz (Community, Wrong, Awake) as Movie Buff Charley

Hayley Holmes (The Guild, Just Peck, Trapped In TV Guide) as Cindy

Haley Ramm (X-Men: The Last Stand, Yours, Mine And Ours, Flightplan) as Fiona

Daniel Quinn (Hancock, Wild A Heart, Scanner Cop) as Dad

Devin Brochu (Hesher, In The Valley Of Elah, Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past) as Son

Courtenay Taylor (Geezers!, Supreme Comander) as Deputy Denise

James Parks (Kill Bill, Death Proof, Red State) as Deputy Doug

First scene where the car drive down a path hitting chairs and a guy comes out of the trunk to go on about other movies and how Rubber is a "no reason" movie as well is perfect. When the wheel learns to roll and it falls over repeatedly its rather funny, as well as when it learns to run over things. Then the movie gets even cheesier with the super power the tire has, when the tire starts sounding like its going reving up and then whatever object in front of it blows up. It'd be more interesting if the tire rammed it at full speed because a wheel with super powers makes no sense at all. A wheel running people over and burning out on faces and stomachs would have made it better. Although, the close ups on animals exploding are brutal and even more so when humans share the same fate. I've never seen a tire drink from a puddle, watch television, have a shower, or swim in my life until now. I thought when the cops discuss the type of tire that it was pretty hilarious. When I thought the tire was cheesy, the tricycle brought me a whole level of cheese but with more cheese brings bigger explosions, apparently. The army of wheels was worse than that movie Maximum Overdrive and ending it with the wheels marching towards Hollywood was a good ending but I wish they showed the massacre.

The acting in this movie is alright, but what got me the most is the cinematography. I really liked the camera shots they had throughout the whole move. If you like super cheesy killer movies I suggest you watch this movie.

Preliminary Voting (Top Eight Advance)

Here you have it, the fifteen bands who signed up. I would like to run through the rules:

1. Top eight voted bands advance

2. You can vote for more than one band
3. You can only vote once, don't forget to vote for all your favourites

3. CAPCHA is in place so no bots are involved

4. Poll closes June 25^th

Which bands do you want in the tournament?
You can pick all your favourites
Accursed Spawn
Adrenechrome
Among The Echoes
Besegra
Dead 3 Days
Devoked
Enter Euphoria
Esoteric Doctrine
Fallen Legion
Left Hand Creation
NitemarE
Pagan Ritual
Placentophagia
Soul Auction
Vesperia
See Results