His Name Was Yesterday - "His Name Was Yesterday" CD

Hmm. New metalcore act opens here with the emo-ish "Where It Ends", which joins pulsing hardcore with more melodic breakdowns. To their credit, His Name Was Yesterday are capable of some punishing sonic assaults, at least when they're not being all sensitive and emocore. But I am skeptical of their need to comfortably fit in with their silly, juvenile metalcore brethren, with awful self-pitying lyrics and all the genre's teenage stereotypes firmly in place. Sonically, "His Name Was Yesterday" is clean and potent, but on closer listens seems rather lacking. "There is only sorrow" indeed, as this positive-message hardcore only makes my ears hurt. (His Name Was Yesterday)

His Name Was Myspace

East Of The Wall - "Ressentiment" CD

Couldn't get into this one, being all prog-metalcore with the requisite dual lung-shred vs. melodic vocals. To the band's credit, there are some really intense and technically-impressive passages here, mixing math-rock and hardcore, with almost jazzy precision. Instrumentally, EOTW are powerful and intense, and for that, I give them props. However, the lighter breakdowns remind me somehow of lame shite like P.O.D., though, and that's just not a good thing. It's those vocals, really. "Fleshmaker", for example, mixes the harsh/soft vox and displays the band's potent chops, but it all seems forced somehow. Like they're trying too much to cram it all into one song. Don't get me wrong, I adore beauty and melody as much as I require thorny aggression, but EOTW's collision of sounds and moods aren't fluid nor subtle to these ears. And the vocal stylings are stereotypical and just plain awful. No, thanks. Ditch the singing and you've got a superb album next time! (Translation Loss)

East Of The Wall site

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D.I.S. - "Critical Failure" CD

Solid and punchy aggro punk-metal from some scene veterans, the debut from D.I.S. delivers 10 hard and heavy gems on this brief 10-song, 26-minute assault. There are definitely signposts of genre-mashing here -- the urgency and raw, declarative vocals of hardcore, and the metallic guitar chug of Swedish "D-beat". Tracks like "Extend This Misery" are just crushing beatdowns, with pile-driving fists flying across the dirty club. "Bleed Forward" is punk on 'roid-rage, ending the melee with blood and shards of bone.
Most hardcore (as in NYHC) bores me with it's meathead jock mentality, but these guys synthesize it well with darker metal here. The lightning tempos don't step down, so the album's brevity is a strength. And, the production here is top-notch, capturing the band with crisp highs and punchy lows (didn't get any album credits, sorry, so I can't congratulate the producer). Smashes the shit out of most of their metalcore brethren. Unquestionably. (Deep Six Records)

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