Geoff

Pretty solid. I'm actually not sure I've ever heard this band before. Might check out the debut?

Kinda solid tune, but sadly - much like this song - these new albums are just a collection of really, really poor sounding demos. I understand the desire to hear music from bands like this, but I don't understand releasing such terrible quality recordings as it does no one any favours. To be 100% honest in the case of Taz, I'm almost thankful that I don't actually think most the songs are very good anyway... but it truly just doesn't matter as the sound quality is so shit there's no way you're playing something like this regularly, surely, even if you're a fan of the band? Production Matters.

I do not like that one single bit.

Sadly I’m not really hearing anything in these new songs that I haven’t heard in recent releases. None of it’s horrendous… just “dull,” for lack of a better word.

I don't really know my history with this band but I listened to this and thought it was a pretty scrappy affair. Vocals don't really hold up for me and there's a lot of pretty weak tunes, imo. I thought 'Missed her by a minute' was pretty solid and I also found myself just enjoying 'I've Got A Feelin'I've Got A Feelin,' unexpectedly. Not really my jam overall

Hmm, very promising. I like that plenty.

Not as much info about on 'Vanitas' as the 'Iceman' album. I notice Vic Lecar is one of the guitarists. Looks like he's done a few other things, but I remember the rather underwhelming Vic Lecar's Blue Moon project he did in the early 2000's.

Very good. Ah yes, Big Talk... I remember that now. I have heard those tunes and I think the songs were very good, but those demos floating around were super poor quality, weren't they? Hope they can still be polished too!

Super old news, but just came across this interview today. Bowled over by his comments on a drum machine around the 27min mark, saying how he prefers the machine to a real drummer so much. Would have never thought in a lifetime I'd ever hear words like that from a rock fan, let alone actual musician. I assume it's a consequence of him being - if rumours are true - very hard to work with? It's funny, as I roll through my year by year ratings (on 1991 at the moment), I was going to make a thread about albums that drum machines not destroyed, but took away from in a great capacity. Three off the top of my head being Steve Plunkett's 'My attitude,' Lee Aaron's 'Bodyrock' and the Without Love 'Trouble' album, which allegedly had a real drummer... but that's a machine for all money, innit?

Someone? Surely every hates that song?

This one sounds pretty cool; And I don't love this song, but good production and a good sound for this one. Would love to hear the rest of it;

lol. Just checked what made me post the above and it was this link- https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/possession/3540372837 Where it suggests their song themes are about demonolatry, which is the worship of demons, apparently. But I guess they could sing about these themes and still be christian, I guess? The first question I wanted to ask in this thread, though, and what I think every time I see this question come up about a band is why the original poster wants to know. Genuine curiosity about where the question about whether they're christian or not originates from, and why.

That's pretty kickin'.

A few of the more choice cuts from the year so far;

Absolute monster track from their 2023 album; I hope the song has been spoken about elsewhere on the forum this year because the riff is just outer-worldly and I'd hope it's being shared adequately. Elsewhere, the new album, 'Hope Is a Cult,' is a solid unit.

Lol. Cool, guess that answers my question.

Yeah, I think they lost my interest pretty quick if I recall correctly. After a promising start…

A few I've heard and like, a few I've heard and not liked, and a few I need to check out. Ones that stand out most of all is I can't believe I've missed the dropping of another Motion Epic album... always late to the party with these guys, whom I love. But the other main one is Cavo. Have they been having a whole career I'm not privy to? Looks like they at least have a lot of single songs I never knew about. Heard the title track to this one and it's definitely the most wanted on this list. Must check that one out. The Maine never disappoint. All Time Low and Asking Alexandria doing what they do well. Couple of killer cuts on the Saliva one, and probably a bit better than I expected. Caskets super solid but a fair way off the previous great album, and I think I might have reached my limit with Escape The Fate. Haven't been into the last few albums much at all, and couldn't find anything I liked on this one at all. It's not like they've drastically changed... just struggle to find songs I really dig anymore. Some pretty cool albums / EPs I'd add to the list this year would be; The Word Alive - Hard Reset Hot Milk - A Call To The Void Holding Absence - The Noble Art Of Self Destruction Point North - Prepare For Despair The Band Camino - The Dark Atreyu - The Moment You Find Your Flame Nonpersona - Note to self From Ashes To New - Blackout Kala - Diary of a Depressed Creative This Is Falling - TIFwave Disciple - Skeleton Psalms Cyan Kicks - I Never Said 4ever Through Fire - Devil's Got You Dreamin' The Hara - Survival Mode nothing,nowhere. - Void Eternal All Faces Down - AWOL Dead Lakes - daydreamer Self Deception - You Are Only As Sick As Your Secrets Awake At Last - The Balance Solence - Hope Is a Cult

Really not sure what happened here as I keep tabs on these guys, but I feel like I missed their last album - 'The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood.' I am , of course, speaking of Ice Nine Kills. A band, like I say, I've kept tabs on, but never been overly into. So maybe I did skip the last album. Not entirely sure. But that won't last long. By pure accident I came across a reaction video to this song the other day and this album (if only for just this song) is now on my urgent hit list. This is huge - absolutely love this thing-

I thought I'd like these guys and even thought they'd previously released decent tunes, but I didn't like this one at all. Solid album, but not a keeper, imo. Checking out Wilmette asap, an older album from Landless (hoping that new song is released on an album asap, though!). Last one is pretty solid too.

Yeah, that's a very poor song. Is the album out yet, or has sometime in August turned to sometime after August?

Yeah, I initially dismissed this when I saw the thread, but this is pretty epic news, realistically. The debut is a certifiable classic in my mind. But the sound quality does leave a lot to be desire (even more so on the second one, which is also a great disc), and hearing them polished could be a thrill. I agree the remaster above does sound much improved. So colour me interested indeed! As for the third one, just trying to rack my brain if I've heard any of that before and I don't think I have. Will be super keen for that one particularly.

Yeah, I was wondering that the other day… is Pretty Maids still an active consideration for the chaps anymore? The solo stuff is generally nice, but it is not Pretty Maids.

Yeah, stuff like this is pretty pointless, especially, I assume, for music fans on a forum like this. Personally, I wouldn’t accept small amounts of money to even listen to 8 of those albums, let alone rate them in a way that could possibly be seen as overrated. And the two you could pay me to listen to are, to me, extremely average at absolute best (Kiss & Van Halen).

Nice. I like that.