Kanzler & Sohne: Durch Die Wande

So I guess rap metal is a thing again? Thee was always a distinction for me between rap metal and nu metal, and though Kanzler & Sohne certainly borrow from both, I feel like Durch Die Wande definitely falls more within the rap metal polemic. Rage Against The Machine is clearly really important to these dudes, but so is Limp Bizkit, and here and there you will hear a touch of Korn. Just because this music isn't for me doesn't mean that it's bad. Rather it just shows us that we are witnessing an interesting cultural phenomenon and Napalm Records is helping this band use that to their advantage.

There is something vaguely (And wonderfully) militaristic about Durch Die Wande. It's a record that uses the German language to its fullest extent in order to get music that is punishing and angular. The bouncy riffs flow nicely into each other and have an exciting sense of rock and roll magic driving them forward. The drive of Durch Die Wande is impressive to say the least, and the pummeling, balls to the wall assault of some of these songs is hard to deny. Sure it may not be metal in the 'trve' sense, but I get the impression that Kanzler & Sohne don't care about that. They just want to turn it up and have a good time.

Durch Die Wande is an interesting cultural statement and one that I think will be examined closely in years to come. It's a record that expands on the German metal sound and rather than adhering to tradition like so many of their peers, Kanlzer & Sohne put up a hearty middle finger to the world. There is something strangely addictive about what they are doing here, and though at times it might feel douchey, over the top or just plain wrong at least they are producing something, what the fuck have you done?

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/kanzler.soehne

Rise of the Northstar w/Hightower and Inner Reflections in Paris (@Le Divan du Monde, 23/01/2015)

One of my personal goals as a writer for Two Guys Metal reviews would be to show that the French heavy music scene is one full of talent, deserving our close support and appreciation. So it was to my great surprise that I showed up at the doors to the Rise of the Northstar release party to find a horde of fans queuing behind a door marked with a sign stating "FULL". This comes off as an even more impressive accomplishment for the band, considering the largely DIY route they've adopted for a majority of their career, earning themselves a solid reputation and fanbase as well as millions of hits on youtube even before their recent well-earned contract with Nuclear Blast.

Inner Reflections setlist

First band on the bill tonight was a French band named Inner Reflections, who started off the evening with their hard-hitting modern metal songs. This bands' sound is mainly based around a melodic form of metalcore, complemented with various thrash and groove metal influences.
Armed with a solid, well balanced set of songs as well as an great amount of stage presence, Inner Reflections delivered a very solid show that got the crowd going wild only a couple of songs into the evening. With their great groovy riffs and occasional melodic leads, the band seemed determined to make the utmost out of their opening set, which they undeniably pulled off. The vocalist didn't hesitate to jump into the crowd to up the ante in the pit while delivering his powerful screams for one of the last songs of their set. Overall, Inner Reflections put on a great show, earning them some well-deserved praise from the audience.

Next up on stage was the punk rock band Hightower. Musically speaking, I must say that I was most impressed by this bands' set; having grown up to the sound of punk rock, this bands' dose of energetic and melodic punk rock amongst the likes of A Wilhelm Scream and Hi-Standard struck a chord in me. 

Unfortunately for them, one could not help but feel like their set was unfortunately badly scheduled. After being called up under short notice following The Great divide's cancellation, the band ended up playing in between 2 extremely heavy metal and hardcore acts, for fans that were eager to keep their blood pumped before the headlining act. It is on that account that I will put aside the bands' blitzkrieg style set and overall unpleasantly cold attitude. With virtually no breaks and no acknowledgement to their audience whatsoever, the band rushed through their set, dropped the mic and before rushing off the stage. Far from getting a negative feedback, only a handful of people seemed to appreciate the bands' set while the rest of the crowd simply stayed unresponsive.
Despite this, band showed a considerable amount of stage presence and energy during their superb albeit rushed and grumpy set.
Visibly the bands’ clean singing and melodic hooks played at breakneck speed did not strike a chord like it did for the old punk rock fan I happen to be, which I can understand perfectly. Still, I for one do highly recommend checking out this band, for anyone looking for an effective dose of punk rock. I hope to see this band again soon in a more appropriate context and a better mood.

自在不羈

Then came the time for our headlining act to hit the stage. After setting up some nice stage props and decorations, the Parisian act met their loyal fanbase, sporting their signature Japanese badboy attire. Starting off their set with the epic opening guitar leads off their newest debut release, the band quickly got to business by delivering their devastating take on old-school New York hardcore mix with beatdown hardcore and thrash metal. Keeping things strong and steady, they then followed the song up with their latest single, the excellent title track "Welcame".
As for the other bands this evening, the sound was spot on, allowing every song to come to life, since it is visibly through the live rendition of their songs that the band is able to showcase their primary strength.
Having turned the venue into a gigantic warzone, the crowd was more than enthusiastic to scream and chant along to the bands' deadly effective hooks.
Over the course of their set, Rise of the Northstar visibly pulled no punches when it came to making the sold out crowd of fans at Le Divan du Monde go wild. With an airtight performance, insane energy and charisma from every member, Rise of the Northstar left no room for disappointment tonight.
What we got was over an hour and a half of pure adrenaline and energy brought by a spot on performance by the band.
Visibly taking nothing for granted, Rise of the Northstar pulled off a stunning show, further affirming their well-earned fanbase and their place as one of Frances' most promising hardcore/metal acts of the past few years.

Robin

Specil thanks go to Rise of the Northstar as well as their management for their extensive and much appreciated support.

Rise of the Northstar Setlist

Inner Reflections

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/InnerReflectionsOfficial

Hightower

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/HIGHTOWERMUSIC

Bandcamp

https://hightowermusic.bandcamp.com/

  

Rise of the Northstar

Official website

http://www.riseofthenorthstar.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/rotnsofficial

Bandcamp

https://riseofthenorthstar.bandcamp.com/

Rise of the Northstar - Welcame

One thing is for sure, Rise of the Northstar could not have picked a more appropriate name for their band. The band has been making big waves in the Parisian Hardcore scene since very early on in their career, starting with few demo songs posted on their myspace page and leading to extensive touring overseas and music videos reaching 1 million views. Their success story is an exceptional one, considering that they reached this far without any help from labels or management (that is before getting picked up by Nuclear Blast recently). Today we're here to examine the band's latest step in their promising career: the release of their first full-length album, produced by none other than Zeuss (Hatebreed, Madball).

RoTNS's sound is deeply rooted the Metallic Hardcore category, but with a stronger emphasis on NY-style hardcore influences.
One of the elements that help the band stand out from the rest is their imagery and lyrical themes centered around their love for japanese culture. Nevertheless, the comparison between RoTNS and Hatebreed seems almost inevitable, especially considering the fact that the band decided to spice up their sound with thrash metal influences with this release.
Every song on this album is a soundtrack to a warzone, armed to the teeth with heaviness that will make your jaw drop. Between the rap-metal verses and catchy gang vocal sections, the band makes extensive use of breakdowns and 2 step grooves to keep your blood pumping. Unfortunately, while the first few tracks seem to hint to a record with some diversity, the album quickly falls short in maintaining the listener's interest. The sharp modern metal production on the record, while lining the band up with some of the biggest names in modern metal, only helps to make their compositions appear stale in comparison. Unfortunately, some of the lyrics on the record also suffer from the same issue, appearing uninspired even by hardcore standards.

Overall, Welcame offers some killer left hooks hinting towards the bands' potential (eg: the title track, Samurai Spirit) but has a bit too many filler tracks and song ideas that could've used a little more work. My overall feel on this album as a standalone listening experience is unfortunatly one of slight disappointment with regards to their previous singles. However, there is no doubt in my mind that these songs will prove to be extremely effective in a live setting in opening up massive moshpits. Nevertheless, I'd recommend any fan of Hardcore, Beatdown and Metallic Hardcore to give this record a spin and to catch these guys' upcoming release party show next january! (details below)


Robin

Rise of the Northstar
Official website
http://www.riseofthenorthstar.com/

Next show @Le Divan du Monde, Paris (Album release show)
http://www.digitick.com/rise-of-the-northstar-guests-concert-divan-du-monde-paris-23-janvier-2015-css4-digitick-pg101-ri2777377.html

Warhound-Next Level

Warhound are the kind of super aggressive and gloriously heavy hardcore band that make the genre so triumphantly destructive. These guys understand the spirit of the music and with their new record Next Level they stand up as masters of the genre, lords of a type of music dedicate to expanding minds and crushing skulls. There is a certain glorious humanity to the music on Next Level allowing Warhound to really connect with the fans, roaring high and proud above their peers with music that, while starting to become refined, stil screams of the street. 

I think a large part of what makes this record so interesting is the use of hip hop ideas to give the music a certain blasting glory that few of their peers can touch on. Their is a certain magical groove that makes tracks like Anger immensely palatable. In a way, Warhounds sound reminds me of .downset. They understand how to make music that catches you with its groove and then drives on home with a hole slab of harsh vocals. There is something demonic about the thrashy attack of the vocals, they come out of the vocalist as if torn from a demon, they fit in perfectly with the soaring crunch of the bottom end and the pit enticing rhythms that will never end.

In short, Warhound have put out the kind of hard hitting hardcore hatred that will grab you by the throat and then beat your head into the wall. These guys have brought the pit into my dorm room with their stomping riffs and dedication to distortion laden licks that can crush your fucking skull. Warhound don't give any fucks, and this makes them all the better. Spit out from a gutter Warhound are not going to stop until we're all dead. So prepare yourself for some of the most triumphantly angry and bone crushing hardcore that will keep you going until your bones are a pulp.

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/WARHOUNDOFFICIAL

Gliding Soul-Traveling with Mr. Who

I am a firm believer in the idea that as the genre of nu-metal gets older it also is getting better. Gliding Souls' new release Traveling With Mr. Who is a fine example of this. It nicely combines rap and metal for a smooth and groovy ride. Solid songwriting and well executed vocals combine to create a joyful EP that has appeal to both metalheads and rap kids. The sheer riffage on this album is great and it provides the backbone of a crazy ride into a world of nu metal that is surprisingly enjoyable.

One of the key aspects of this album is the mixing of vocal styles. On one hand you have fairly bombastic cleans that are similar to those of Avenged Sevenfold. Then there are some more gritty rapped vocals which give the band a lot of their trademark groove. Finally, the growls show up on occasion for flavor. Together they form a mix that is the essence of the bands sound, a fusion between modern metal, nu metal and death metal, its an interesting mix to say the least one that Gliding Soul manages to execute well.

All in all this is a pretty solid release from a band who seek to give their subgenre of choice a good name. With a ton of groove and lots of tasty licks its easy to see how these guys could succeed on the modern scene. The production is also stellar meaning that the music can become even more poignant and moving. Well executed and finely polished Traveling With Mr. Who would appeal to many a fan of nu metal and modern metal and quite a few trve metalheads as well!

Check them out on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/glidingsoulpage

American Capitalist-Five Finger Death Punch

American Capitalist is the latest Five Finger Death Punch release. Prior to its release this record was hyped as “The album that will define the Five Finger Death Punch sound”. And I pray to god it does. The guitar is in that classic FFDP drop B and the solos have new reign on this album. The bass is unbelievably solid and the drums are aggressive and hectic. Finally the mix of clean vocals and growls is remarkable and the lyrics are intelligent and angry as always. On this release Five Finger continues to create amazing no bull heavy metal. From the starting words “I'm a red blooded rough neck son of a bitch /I'm a god damned American Capitalist” you know what this album is going to be, one of the greatest records of the year.

The guitar is the first thing to draw one in to any Five Finger Death Punch record and American Capitalist is no exception. The riffs are as brutal as ever on this latest disc. One of the most notable riffs is probably the one in The Pride which features hardcore death metal guitar. Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook team up to create a formidable death metal sound. The problem with these guys is that occasionally the riffs become to repetitive and the guitar gets kind of meh. Yet the overpowering might of the drop B tuning typically compensates for this. One of the interesting advancements of this album over previous releases is that here there is more solo friendly material. I feel that on this record the guitar solos get a lot more respect than on previous records. Now the solos are explosive and beautiful roaring waves icons and not hidden streams. Another interesting development is the addition of more acoustic intros, this makes the album feel a lot more intelligent yet loses none of that good ol' FFDP brutality. All in all the guitar work on this album is amazing, it features brutal riffs and explosive solos and even a few more acoustic bits.

The rhythm section is tight and spot on. The solid drum/bass synchronization is one of the things that makes songs like Menace so amazing. Bassist Chris Kael makes a great debut with FFDP and Jeremy Spencer continues to live up to his name. The rhythm players even get their own little solos on this record. For bassist Chris Kael its the intro to Generation Dead. For drummer Jeremy Spencer its at the end of the solo on American Capitalist. In both cases these guys show their skills to the utmost and prove they can do more than their repetitive but awesome synchronization. I do feel that the one thing that might add to the brutality to the music would be more aggressive drumming. Overall though the rhythm section of Five Finger is one of the greatest in modern metal.

Now on to the vocals, and boy can Ivan Moody rip it up. His growls and clean vocals are both top notch. The growls in 100 Ways to Hate are probably the key example of his down and dirty vocals. Conversely his clean vocals are demonstrated in the surprisingly light but awesome track Remember Everything. One of my favorite things about FFDP has perennially been the sheer anger captured in Ivan's growls. Take any one of tracks from the record (apart from Remember Everything) and the sheer aggression and hatred will blow you away. Yet once this horrible anger has blown you away the melodic clean vocals kick in and your mind is blown again by the sheer contrast. The vocals match these evil growls at the same time as the melodic vocals by having extremely angry but intelligent lyrics. Some of the words on this album can only be described as poetry. In short the vocals, melt your face and take you to a whole new level of metal glory.

In conclusion the new Five Finger Death Punch record is one of the greatest things you'll hear this year. With the sheer might of the guitar with its brutal riffs and shredding solos this album draws you in. The powerful drum/bass combination helps to make the album even more brutal. Finally the vocals are amazing with both growls and clean vocals that are top notched Five Finger can not be beat. My favorite track is probably American Capitalist I just love those lyrics. So go check out this record today. You won't regret it.

OVERALL 10/10

Rage Against The Machine-Rage Against The Machine.

 So this morning (Happy New Year by the way) I am reviewing pretty much the only type of rap I will listen to. And that is rap metal. And who is better at rap metal than Rage Against The Machine. This is a spectacular album perfectly blending the two genres of rap and heavy metal. There are metal standards on here, notably Killing in the Name Of one of the worlds best metal songs. The guitar work is excellent and establishes Morello as one of the greatest 90s guitarists (Also I like his guitar, which bears the slogan Arm The Homeless). There are decent bass lines and high powered drumming parts. The lyrics are so ferocious its amazing, it blows me away. The vocals are very good setting Zack de la Rocha as one of the few white men in the world who can rap.

The guitar is awesome with some of the best riffs that I have ever heard. They drive the music just as much as the drums, similar in vein to Iommi's killer riffs. The solos are intense and have a huge amount of energy (mostly anger) behind them. The guitar is a combination of Tony Iommi type riffs and thrash metal. It is pretty good as alternative rock guitar. Tony Morello is one of the angriest and skilled soloing guitarists that I have heard in a while. His guitar perfectly compliments the lyrics. He is a dark guitarist dedicated to taking away the machine that he rages against. The bass comes through a little but it could have more. The rhythm section is pretty tight though so I'm not complaining. The drums have really good parts and help to drive the music on to every angrier and more powerful heights.

The lyrics are very rap influenced but they keep their anarchic feel. Rather, the lyrics are rap in rhyme structure and sound but in content they are all about raging against the machine. In fact they are to some degree punk like. The perfectly epitomize what the band is about, rebelling against the system which they feel limits them and hurts them. This is perfectly seen in the song We Gotta Take The Power Back (which has a self explanatory title). Zack de la Rocha's voice keeps a very good rap feel while still maintaining some alt rock feel as well. He exudes anger from his every poor and wants to destroy the system because he is so filled with hatred. He is one of the biggest figures in the anarchic movement simply because of his raw and powerful energy.

Overall this is a really hard and rebellious album that showcases one of the most rebellious bands of the 90s, whose guitarists motto was Arm the Homeless. Anger is exuded from this album as an almost discernible odor. An anger so filled with energy that you can not resist it. I think this album blends rap and metal really well and it is simply awesome rap metal. There is great guitar on this album setting Morello as one of the greatest 90s guitarists, then there are good bass and drum parts. The lyrics are angry and protest the system. De la Rocha is one of the few white men who can rap and his words excrete anger (oh yeah). This is a rocking anarchic album that anybody who hates the system (or is feeling just prickly towards it) would like, and any metal fan would like.

Overall 8.5/10

Rage Against the Machine