31 Albums From 2013: Day 7

Bear is a new addition to the Basick Records lineup and their album 'Noumenon' fits right in to the progressive yet aggressive vibe the label is famous for promoting. The best way I can describe Bear's sound would be to say they are a less chaotic Dillinger with a Djent undertone. I don't even know what I just said there! Listen and bang your heads!

31 Albums From 2013: Day 6

The Dillinger Escape Plan is a band that I have a ton of respect for. Their sound is completely their own and each member is extremely talented. One word that I can use to describe their style would be "harsh", which requires me to really be in the mood to listen to these guys. I haven't honestly given this album a fair chance as I haven't been in that mood, but from what I have listened to, they seemed to have kept their core sound while adding in a bit more melody, like in the title track "One Of Us Is The Killer", which I do appreciate.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 5

I am dubbing 2013 the year of the falsetto. For some reason, a lot of bands decided to over use this singing trick and I'm not sure why. Dead Letter Circus' album 'The Catalyst Fire' would have made it a lot higher on my list if it wasn't for this reason alone. The music is really good, it's almost like Karnivool light, and the singer is good when he is using his actual voice to sing. For me, falsetto is something that should be used very sparingly if at all but this singer does it in just about every song which gets to be much real fast. I suggest giving this album a listen, but in short bursts as to not get annoyed as quickly as I did.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 4

The almighty Sabbath returns with their first full length studio album with Ozzy at the helm in a long time. When I first heard about this release, I was both excited and weary. When bands reunite and write new material after many years of not, usually one of three things happen: 1. they try something new in an attempt to sound current (and almost always fail), 2. they stick with what they know and come off sounding dated, or 3. they find a happy medium between the two, which is a rarity. Unfortunately, they not only stuck with what they knew, but basically just copied themselves and wrote songs that sound very similar to other Black Sabbath songs. For people who wanted the same ole Sabbath, they certainly got it! I would have liked a little spice thrown in their, but that's just me. I was also disappointed to find out that drummer Bill Ward was not part of this recording. Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave did a good job staying within the style that Bill had created, but it still isn't the same with out him. Give it a listen, it's not bad, just nothing new.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 3

Means End is a new band to the (I hate using this term) Djent genre featuring two members who are veterans of this sound already, the ex-drummer of Uneven Structure and ex-vocalist of Vildhjarta. Even though the album does stick within the (here I go again) Djenty style, they do try to mix it up a bit by mixing in some classical elements, like in the song posted below, 'Nox Aurumque'. This song alone got them on my list and I hope as they grow as a band, their sound will as well and I look forward to hearing what's next from them.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 2

Day number two's album is one of those ideas that sound great on paper but unfortunately the final product didn't completely deliver.The biggest issue I have with it is instead of having full bands play the songs on 11 of the 13 tracks, they had various singers and guitarists perform over tracks recorded by a mystery group of musicians (I couldn't find any info on who they were) who honestly didn't do that great of a job with most of the songs. The only tunes that I found some enjoyment in are 'Black and White' sung by Sevendust frontman Lajon Witherspoon and 'Billy Jean' featuring Corey Glover of Living Colour and completely becuase of their vocals. Guitarist Bumblefoot did some great work on 'Beat It', but unfortunately the horrible vocals made the song unlistenable for me. Why the hell am I featuring this album if I'm criticizing so much? Two reasons: I at least appreciate the idea of this album as doing metal versions of MJ songs is a good one, and track 11. This song is what redeemed the whole thing for me. The band Icarus Witch (who I knew nothing about before this and after some research on them afterwards, can't say I'm normally a fan of their power metal style) did their take on 'They Don't Care About Us'. This song really is a great version of the tune and solidified my thought that each full band should have done the songs rather than a studio band. Sevendust and Living Colour would have killed the tunes that their singers did! The last song of the album is a re-recorded version of 'Smooth Criminal' by Alien Ant Farm, which I have always enjoyed, so it at least closed out the album on a high note. Overall I would say preview all the tracks and download what you like rather than get the whole album, but you may find something on here you like.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 1

I'm going to kick off my list with a double hitter from Serj Tankian! 2013 was a busy year for the System of a Down vocalist who released not one, but two albums that truly pushed boundaries for him.

The first of his releases this year was 'Orca', a 4 act symphony that was composed using "non-traditional approaches to classical music" according to Tankian. Doing a symphony wasn't a total stretch for him since he did a symphonic version of his solo album 'Elect The Dead', but to go 100% instrumental was a suprising move and I think he pulled it off well.

The second release, 'Jazz-Iz-Christ' is, according to Tankian himself, "a combination. There's some classic jazz, dance-y stuff, and progressive things. It's all over the place, but it's jazz instrument-wise. It's for a modern listener who appreciates jazz overtones." I think that about sums it up! Another great take on something I'm sure most didn't expect.

Both albums are solid releases. I haven't found myself going back to them often, but I truly respect the man for doing things his way and I hope he continues to explore other genres like he did with classical and jazz. Bring it on Serj!