Ewy "World Is Mine" (2020)

Ewy is an artist that showed up on my Spotify Weekly a while ago and hooked me in with his melodramatic voice, British accent and sad guitar playing, it all mad me reminiscent of Crywank, The Front Bottoms or even Park national which are all bands I quite enjoy. This isn't the only aspect of that makes this small indie folk punk artist so enjoyable though.

This record is special to me because of it's big emotional impact, it felt strangely personal which is the result of this album being written in lockdown, it's presence of which has undoubtedly affected all of us and is something we can all relate to. Other topics of this album include failed relationships and his disappointment in the world in general, you know, typical folk punk stuff.

In a total of 12 songs and 30 minutes Ewy manages to capture all these topics perfectly via his sad British voice, sounding more like a rant than singing, this isn't a bad thing though, this and his acoustic guitar cause for his perfect capturing of the folk punk aesthetic Ewy is obviously aiming for. With poppy influences on these songs and fun but unique lyrics these tracks manage to stay in your head for weeks on end. Especially 'Itch' and 'Jewelry And Teeth' do this intricate mix well, they're fun songs with a way deeper meaning when you actually look at the lyrics.

Not only is Ewy a really great artist he's also a really fun and nice person to hang around with, he's often active in his Discord Server and I've often hung around with him in voice chats, he's really cool and likeable person.

9/10

 Deftones "Ohms" (2020)

Deftones is a band that I got into very reluctantly, their sound didn't strike me as appealing the first couple listens, only a few months after I originally listened to Koi No Yokan I realised how genius their sound is and became entranced by it, their recent release of Ohms was more of what I already loved by the Nu Metal band. 

This record pulled me in with sludgy guitar and beautifully emotional vocals in the form of screams, this combination creating a gravitational force, like being thrown about in a sea of sound. This push and pull mechanic between the low distorted 8 string guitar and ethereal vocals makes sure this band never tires. This feeling is most beautifully shown in "Urentia" the third song on this record, it begins with a heavy assaulting riff, preparing you for a giant breakdown. Instead this song steers hard in the other direction going for a tender whimsical sound, later the opening riff begins but it holds an entirely different power, with some pop influences on chords. Suddenly the groups' main dynamic isn't contradicting at all, the vocals and sludgy guitar twirling around and perfectly complimenting each other, an odd balance in a stormy ocean of sound.

Something this record does more than any music I've listened is reach beyond, it is no longer just sound, the emotional pull between glimmering vocals and tugging sensation of the albums heavier aspects really do make it feel like you're in a whirlpool, Ohms is a delicate equilibrium. The sound holds their power in tension, like slacklining on a thread that could snap at any second.

9/10

 My Chemical Romance ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' (2004)

My Chemical Romance is one of those bands you listen as a teen, cringe at after a year and then come back to later on to wallow in it's nostalgia and find a new appreciation for it's edgy lyrics and emo/screamo influences. Although this album is MCR's second release they ditched a large part of the screamo that made up their debut album ''I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love''. 

With 12 songs, and interlude and 39 minutes of listening time this album is jampacked with incredible songs, personal favourites would be ''Helena", the first track on this record, it immediately sets the mood with dark tones and mystifying vibes. ''Give 'Em Hell, Kid'', which utilises this band's incredible instrumentals and Gerard Way's paralyzing vocals. And many other songs that I love, but the truth is, not a single one of these songs is lacklustre, all of them have their unique quirks and tones. Alt Rock, Emo, Post Hardcore and Punk Rock are all ways to describe this album and band but none of that quite does their revolutionary sound justice, thriving off of gnarly riffs and almost scary screams is something they excelled at, cementing their sound and the genre of emo. 

Shout along choruses, machine gun fast drumming, horror themes,  guitar with huge Metal influences, complex song structures and a generally raw feel created the incredible sound that is this My Chemical romance, even in songs that feel lighter like ''The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You'' we don't get given peace, we are still bombarded with catchy hooks and Metal tinged riffs, in a good way of course.

An album like this has so much you can say about it but I do not know enough about this record or it's history to write it all down for you, all I can say is that this 12 song masterpiece is a must listen to anyone

9/10

 grandson ''A Modern Tragedy Vol. 1'' (2018)

Since I've been getting into the groove of writing these album reviews it's about time to tackle one of my all time favourite artists, grandson. I discovered this EP not too long after it's release and since then I must've played it hundreds of times. With startling aggression and frustration pointed at the continuous recklessness and corruption in the many systems that guide how society in America works grandson delivers some shocking and electrifying lines. This EP was grandsons first uniform experience with writing music, he's brought out multiple singles in the form of Bills, Bury Me Face Down, Kiss Bang.. Etc. 

Ditching some but not all of the powerful Alt Rock sound he's created in the singles before the release of A Modern Tragedy Vol. 1 grandson embraces some Trap music, something I haven't been super fond of, grandson does it just right though. Shill cries, wondrous attitude, dark metaphors and massive hooks combined with unique drops, grandson and his guitarist and drummer do it all. grandson is one of those artists who isn't afraid to talk and sing about all the horrifying reality going on in the world which is something I adore, with tracks like Blood // Water which talk about all the political corruption in America, or Stick Up which screams at the gun violence going on. Despicable is a track which grandson himself has described as ''a ballad of self loathing'', a daunting track with gentle guitar crashing into a huge drop later on in the song, again utilising grandsons vocal chords. 6:00 a haunting track with explosive guitar taking the front spot, heavy riffs droning on as grandson tears himself up over police brutality, a song released in 2018 mainly focused around unjust killing of civilians. And last but not least we have Overdose, a track that ties the entire EP together with grandsons ghastly vibe, powerful messages and drops like dynamite. 

This Ep is a perfect showing of what grandson is about, from singing and making music about what needs to be said to a lot of personal frustration making this sound possible, grandson really knows how to capture a vibe. The aggression is something that fascinated me a lot when listening to this the first time, it told me to be weary, that this isn't just music created to become mainstream, it's reality. All in all this first EP was a great opening to show everyone what's to come in the future.

9/10

 AJJ ''Christmas Island'' (2014)

With Sean's tragic voice an this band's Folk Punk sound consisting of acoustic guitar, bass, drums and some electronic keyboard tunes they manage to put pure emotion an nerdy yet fantastic lyrics into song. Getting this album recommended to me by someone online at 4 am a year ago made this a surreal listening experience.

AJJ was my first dabble into Folk Punk, this band utilises it's key components of acoustic guitar, bass, and drums masterfully, but in this album they've strayed a bit from their roots, experimenting around with more electric guitar and synthesizers than before which turned out better than anyone could have expected. Sounds building up and having it all come back down on top of Sean's lyrics or gentle guitar picking, drums for keeping track and adding a bit of spice with brushes instead of sticks, and synthesizers keeping a friendly swooning tone. 

The first song on this record immediately sets the tone for a large portion of this album with lyrics like ''Find a nicer way to kill it'' which is a mean and angry (yet still positive) take on Temple Grandin's (the person) work to strive for a more humane way of setting animals up for slaughter. This cynicism is heard throughout your time listening to these songs.

The lyricism on this album is nerdy and near perfect, classic AJJ. They often touch on topics like poverty, humanity, religion, addiction and politics. This 30 minute record is no exception of that, managing to check the box on quite a few of them.

All in all I can describe this record as nothing short of emotional, meaningful and almost tragic with it's distortion on the synthesizers, guitar, and drums, forming a solid background for Sean to perform his wonders. I could go on about individual songs for another 400 words but that's not what this is about.

9/10

Bring Me The Horizon ''Post Human: Survival Horror'' (2020)

Having been a fan of BMTH for a few years and mainly of That's The spirit and Sempiternal hearing this EP for the first time scared me away a little. The massive blast beats, high energy sound wall and mix of Electronic, Metal and Pop influences were a little much in comparison to the other albums. Revisiting this 30 minute EP a month later changed my mind. I was on the edge of my seat listening to it, the Pop influenced hooks and Electronica around every corner combined with Mick Gordon helping on production and mixing this is I was very reminiscent of my dabble in the video game Doom Eternal.

This album length EP is BMTH's first try with their new formatting to releasing music, they were tired of the restrictions of albums and the suggestion of making EPs struck gold for the band. Post Human: Survival Horror is the first of apparently 4 EPs in the Post Human quartet. The first song Survival Horror perfectly embodies many peoples experiences with the global pandemic going around, they managed to capture pure frustration and translate it into music.

With dense synthesizers droning, heavy guitar riffs, blast beats, drums and samples galore this record keeps high energy while not forgetting about hooks and catchy melodies that stay in your head for weeks on end. They also remember to keep tuneful swaying bits in their songs, the perfect amount of time to really take in what you're listening to before the sound starts building up again and you find yourself completely immersed in it and Oli Sykes' screams. 

One certain track really stands out, the feature of BABYMETAL on Kingslayer, a song that could very well fit on the Japanese groups discography. Utilising their quirks and musical aesthetics combined with the rest of this EPs general sound makes this song the favourite of many. Furthermore Teardrops has made a name for itself in my head, it's catchy hooks and melodies won't leave my mind and they got me to listen this record more times than I can count.

All in all this album length EP is incredibly cunning, utilising many features for some unique sounds and voices while keeping it concise and cohesive, seeing this change in the band's direction is an exciting one, I'm curious as to what the other records under the Post Human banner will bring, I am hoping that they get their own identities and quirks instead of them being copies of each other with slightly different meanings, I have high hopes for the future.

9/10