Vapula

All That Remains-[This Darks Heart]-2004

Since Phil Labonte's departure from Shadows Fall in the late 90's, he has since gone on to fulfill his own musical ambitions with the band known as All That Remains. This band, while actually similar to Shadows Fall in many ways, proves to be a slightly less heavy and technical version of his past work. Teaming up with his fellow Massachusettsers or whatever the hell you call it, the band has recieved their own success as another band in what is known as the New Wave of American Heavy Metal....

Shadows Fall-[The Art Of Balance]-2002

In The Art of Balance, Shadows Fall has created a modern heavy metal album that is both brutal and highly musical, traditional yet forward-thinking. Songs like the complex "Stepping Outside the Circle" demonstrate not only crushing heaviness, but an impressive grasp on dynamics, melody, and arrangement. Brian Fair's vocals oscillate from articulate melodicism to sheer, throat-tearing menace, while Jonathan Donais' guitar work combines pounding, metallic crunch with careful virtuosity. Amidst...

Killswith Engage-[Alive or just Breathing]-2002

second full-length effort, Alive or Just Breathing, finds the band expanding on the crunchy metalcore sound they established themselves with on their 2000 self-titled debut. This is a pure metal album that seemingly has ignored any fashionable trend and instead relies solely on skill and expertise to sculpt some of meatiest heavy metal since the glory days of Metallica and Slayer. Injected into these chaotic hardcore/death metal hybrid songs is an undeniable sense of melody that flawlessly...

HateBreed-[Perserverance]-2002

he New Haven, CT-based Hatebreed got together in 1993 for the purpose of creating a "back to basics" hardcore band with heavy, metallic guitars, screaming vocals, and 30-second songs. Consisting of Jamey Jasta (vocals), Lou "Boulder" Richards (guitar), Chris Beattie (bass), Sean Martin (guitar), and Rigg Ross (drums), Hatebreed had the chance to play throughout the East Coast while sharing the stage with the likes of Entombed, the Deftones, Slayer, and Napalm Death. By 1997, Victory Records...

Lamb of God-[New American Gospel]-2000

The essential signatures of post-Pantera metal are in abundance on Lamb of God's inaugural album (though they had issued a disc under the name Burn the Priet). A veritable cornucopia of double picking and double-kick drumming, New American Gospel provides a mighty oak upon which gritty American metal's faith is maintained, effectively bridging the '90s' insistence upon drill-sergeant technicality and the old school's determined focus on riff construction. Both kick and snare beats are as...