Here we come again! Welcome back to the Breaking NewGrounds series -- the 4th installment! This weekend we are going to enlighten you on 3 rising rock acts: an emocore Bullet For My Valentine, post-grunge Hinder and rolling Allele.
Bullet For My Valentine
Looking at all those musical giants like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Testament, haven't you ever caught yourself thinking that they could be you? Well, fellows from Bullet For My Valentine have, and they're not trying to hide it. Having started by playing Metallica and Nirvana covers in 1998, the band became one of UK metal's hottest prospects within a year of releasing just one mini-album and a limited edition single...
Although the band had split up several years ago -- when the original bass player
Nik Cradle quit the group a few days before they were planning to record first demo -- the guys are still out there and rockin'! They have found a new bassist relatively soon and managed to get back together. The first 5 tracks EP was recorded in November of 2004, and on October 3th, 2005 they released their first full-lenght album "The Poison," produced by Colin Richardson.
This disc is a great improvement on an already brilliant EP, keeping the same style with great screams and guitars and improving melodically, lyrically and each song delivering a catchy chorus. Every song is amazing, but the main ones that stand out to me are "Tears Dont Fall," "Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow," "All These Things I Hate" and "The Poison." Not a single weak track! (read full review).
Audio:
01. Hand Of Blood
Videos:
01. Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do?)
02. Hand Of Blood
03. 4 Words To Choke Upon
Hinder
When these five guys from Oklahoma City appeared on the rock scene, they proclaimed that they want to bring back the good ol' days when Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith rocked and "Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll" was a way of life. "I loved all that shit," said a gravelly voiced lead singer Austin Winkler. "Four people singing and putting on a big rock show. We want to bring that back. It would be wicked if we could." Obviously it's a very good method to differ from all other bands when it comes to music!
The band released its debut effort, "Extreme Behavior," which was produced by Brian Howes (Closure, DDT), on September 27th. Listening to the songs on this album makes you think that Austin Winkler drunk a whole lot of shots of Jagermeister and smoked tons of Marlboros to work out soaring vocals. Guitar riffs and solos are probably the best part of the album, though sometimes dual lead guitars create a mess-up of sounds on the background (read full review). One thing to mention: the band is following steps of Nickelback in some way, so if you hate Nickelback, don't bother checking out Hinder either.
Audio:
01. Hinder Listening Party: Windows Media, Real Media
02. Get Stoned: Windows Media, Real Media
Allele
Being one of the latest rock acts on the scene, Allele are definitely not newcomers in a common sense. New name, same old guys, you know? This Jacksonville band was formed back in 2002 and its lineup include vocalist Wally Wood, guitarist Lane Maverick (who had previously been one of the first guitar players for Otep) and recently departed ex-Cold guitarist Kelly Hayes. If you curious what does "Allele" mean -- it's a term used in genetics, pronounced "Uh-Leel" and means "any of two or more alternative forms of a gene that occupy the same locus on a chromosome." Who said it should be something about music?! And I'll tell you there is something interesting about the band, besides of their music!
Fact #1: The guys are lucky! Having such an outstanding member as the ex-guitarist from Cold gives you some good opportunities... Here is an example: Corporate Punishment Records' president Thom Hazaert, being a dedicated Cold fan (he even sports a tattoo of the Cold spider on his hand), signed the band after only several meetings and presentance at their show.
Fact #2: The groupis not gonna be "sellout". The bandmates themselves don't think that people should expect much from them. "We're just starting off, so when people show up it's like 'Woo.' You don't really expect anything. You honestly expect no one to be there. You're expecting just to show up and hope people show up," Wood says, then commenting on performing: "We'd be happy just to pack clubs. I humbly think that we won't become an icon thing. That's rare." Is this exactly what you call "not being sellouts"?
I'm not sure it's a good way to start things off, because you have to be ambitious and talented guy to make it big, and the complete lack of anything like that in entire band... that's definitely strange. Oh, and by the way, Allele recorded their debut LP "Point of Origin" -- which is in stores for a couple days already. Despite everything stated above, it's a good emotional release which shows many sides of this complex ensemble. Wood's vocals are really harmonized well on the album, the guitar work is great and Autenzio has some great drums that really make the songs interesting.
You can check out some MP3s from their new album on the MySpace page, as well as on their official website. Click here to launch the band's media player/e-card.
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