The Dillinger Escape Plan : One Of Us Is The Killer Album Review

Energetic yet spastically controlled chaos are just a few words that come to mind when describing The Dillinger Escape Plan’s new album: One Of Us Is The Killer.  Ben Weinman’s style of guitar playing is very prominent, upfront aggressive and technical on this album. At one point he makes it sound like a hoard of angry bees swarming while Greg Puciato growls along. Each of their albums matures throughout their career, but while some stand out more than others, it can’t be denied that as a metal band, they are moving forward.  The song When I Lost My Bet has a video that showcases just how wild and imaginative they are. To truly fully experience Dillinger, you should see them live. The energy packed into each song comes out in the form of climbing amps and jumping off, to knocking equipment over, to all out running around like a lunatic. To me, the standout tracks are the title track One of Us Is the Killer, When I Lost My Bet, Prancer, and Nothing’s Funny. I like how they can go from complete all out speed and aggression, to a slowed down groove that Puciato sings along to. I actually heard one person say the songs on this album gave them anxiety because they were so loud and aggressive which to me is a pretty cool review of the album.

Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood

Children Of Bodom’s new album Halo of Blood is Bodom doing what they do best; fast, technical metal with a gruff vocal approach. Children Of Bodom is a Finnish Extreme Metal band who got their name from the mysterious Lake Bodom murders in Finland that happened in the 1960’s.  I am definitely enjoying the album. The song “Dead Man’s Hand on You” has a great opening with keyboards and the slow tempo is not typical of them, but was a great mid paced song that added a doomy atmosphere to the album. It gave you a break from the break neck speed of the other songs. For me the stand out songs, besides the above mentioned were the title track “Halo of Blood” and “Transference” which has a cool video to go along with it if you check out their website. If you’re familiar with Children of Bodom, this album won’t surprise you too much, but has some more mature qualities that their last album Relentless Reckless Forever lacked.  I would suggest checking it out if you’re a fan of technical, crazy fast speed metal with a death metal flare.

Killswitch Engage- A New Beginning

Killswitch Engages new album, well not so new, it came out April 2, 2013 with their new, but old singer Jesse Leach is indeed a new beginning. They came out with a purpose, something to prove. Each listen to this album showcases their determination to stay a powerhouse in the metal scene. The album seems focused, but defintly has that raw energy the last album lacked. The song “In Due Time” will have you addicted within seconds and I’m sure on repeat. The chorus is as catchy as they come. Jesse was there for killswitch’s first album and it’s kind of bittersweet that after Howard Jones departure, the band has come full circle with the return of Jesse. In the song “the new Awakening” he sings the line “I would rather burn than fade away” and on Disarm to Descent they show no signs of burning out.