Burn Season - Burn Season (2005)

 Cost: $1.00

The only positive things I can say about metalcore hunting in bargain bins are the cheap cost and it being a way to pass time while browsing.  Even if I succeed and find something, it's only going to be mediocre at best, as hybrid genres are doomed to be.  If I fail, it's spectacular failure, and this is one such example.  Bought this based on the look of the cover and the band name, and I can't remember now if I got it with some other stuff and I was being trigger happy, or I found nothing else and was trying to show something for my efforts.  This is modern hard rock ala Nickelback, just with nu-crap elements and occasional harsh vocals to make it more extreme.  

Vegan Reich - Vanguard (1995)

Cost: $1.00

Surprised to see this here?  I sure am!  Not going to waste any time discussing their beliefs or the hardline movement since I couldn't care less.  I initially bought this solely as trade fodder, although I was intrigued that the bio/notes on the back cover mentioned Metallica and the Cro-Mags.  I was even more weirded out that as of this writing, the band is on Metal Archives!  This compiles the band's two early '90s EPs and a comp. track, all at a whopping 17 minute total.  The EPs are total crossover at a fast but not hyperspeed pace, with vocals I can appreciate since they aren't just ultra-forced barking.  They have an odd sense of melody at times, and are cleaner and less choppy compared to say, early D.R.I.  Unfortunately the last and earliest track here, from an Animal Liberation Front compilation, is just jangly punk.  Crossover isn't a favorite style of mine by any means, but this is done very well for what it is, so I may just hold on to this for now.

 

2022 update: I know I'm quite late mentioning it, but I'm not really surprised that the band has been removed from Metal-Archives...There are absolutely some metal influences here, but they strongly leaned towards the punk side of crossover.

Dismay - In Doubt (1995)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Was not familiar with this band at all, and I ended up buying this almost solely because it was on We Bite (and maybe to a tiny extent, because the band name had potential).  Now, I realize We Bite was primarily a punk/hardcore label, but I did like a few of the metal and crossover releases they put out (Erosion, Death in Action, even the Eisenvater stuff was interesting in all its weirdness), so I bought it just in case.

Slow, groovy hardcore here.  It's quite heavy due to the thick guitars, and that may hold some appeal for more tolerant metalheads (I can see fans of the New Orleans sludge scene enjoying this the most due to the similarities in tempo and simplistic riffing), but I wasn't really into it.  I only recall one point during the album where they play fast (during "Uncivilization"), and it sounded like regular hardcore.  The vocals aren't as angsty and forced as typical HC vox, but I can't say I liked them, either.

As Hope Dies - Legions Bow to a Faceless God (2003)

Cost: $0.49

This CD is available for trade.

You may wonder why I cover so much metalcore when it's obvious I don't care for it.  IT'S BECAUSE OF GODDAMNED RELEASES LIKE THIS.  Aesthetically, the band is doing everything possible to convince me they are generic metalcore--there's the whole phrase-as-a-bandname thing, a cursive script logo, an absolutely dreadful thanks list, and an album cover in rust/sepia tones.  Yet the music is primarily furious Swedish melodic death worship.  There are breakdowns, and a few more hardcore influences show up in the second half of the album, but the CD is overwhelmingly melodic death metal based.  Even the main vocals, which are by and large the abysmal failure of many a metalcore/deathcore band, are a raspy black metal style here.  Ultimately, it feels more comfortable to just classify this as melodic death metal, but I've noticed online that the band is the subject of many a genre dispute.  Are they worth arguing about?  No.  Would I prefer to listen to a pure death metal band over this?  Yes.  Do I still find this preferable to almost any other post-'80s -core band out there?  Absolutely.

Nehemiah - Lenore (2005)

Your typical metalcore band, not very interesting.  I noticed there are two vocalists in the band, but they're not utilized in any special manner.  They have pretty similar singing styles, making it hard to tell them apart--it's not really a case where one handles the lows and the other the highs.  There are plenty of metalcore bands where one singer is able to cover all of the ranges used here, so it's a bit puzzling.  There are some quick trade-offs in the vocal lines and sometimes the vocals are doubled up, but again, they're so similar, I would have just assumed it was studio editing and not a separate person.

My point is this--for the purposes of this recording, having the second vocalist serves no point.  Similarly, for the purposes of this blog, Nehemiah serves no point.  This is a genre I already have no love for, and this does nothing to change that.