Disturbed - Believe
By Richie

What we have here is my most anticipated albums of 2002. Many people were eager to find out if Disturbed could repeat the phenominal success of their debut album, The Sickness. So Here we have Believe. Believe kicks off with the controversial Prayer, with its pounding double bass beats provided by Mike Wrengen and its heavy rhythmic Drop Tuned guitar and bass work provided by Dan Donegan and Fuzz. After we are greeted by the crushing main riff of the song, the unmistakable vocal work by David Draiman hits us full in the face. Chorus comes in the way of more melodic guitar work and more flowing singing comming from Draiman. The whole song is a mixture of the elements of what made the sickness such a hit in the way of the guitar work and the drum beats combined with a newer edge to it that hasnt been heard from Disturbed before. Very good way to start the album. Next we move onto the faster heavier Liberate which hammers your skulls with its sheer musical intensity. Liberate is very much vocal based as the guitars follow the extreme vocal melodies throughout the song slowing down only once during the bridge but never losing its intensity. Damn good song to mosh about and break shit to. Next up we get songs like Awaken and intoxication. Awaken has the definate musical stylings of The Sickness however Draimans vocals in the way of noise so far have not really carried on from the sickness. This is where Intoxication comes in where David mixes melodic singing with old style disturbed vocals. Also the music in Intoxication is more old stlye disturbed in these two songs more than anyothers on the cd. In Stark contrast to these songs we have Believe and Remember which in their stylings are completely different to anything disturbed has ever done. Musically they are both still heavy but they have an extremely melodic edge to them especially the title track. Remember again has the more melodic edge to it but it is a lot heavier in general than Believe is. The chorus is easily the most memorable part of the song due to Dans extremely impressive guitar leads and the way it just flows along with Davids more softer vocals. This is by far my favourite track on the album as it shows they were not afraid to go on new grounds and do somthing different and it turned out so well. These are all followed up by Rise, Mistress, Breathe, Bound, and Devour which again all seem to follow Disturbeds new thinking of 'the same but different' style wise. Rise has a kind of Tool feel to the vocals and a more old school metal styling to it. Then for the finale we are all in for a surprise. Darkness is a slow accoustic track which is extremely dark and haunting as the title suggests as David shows us just how versatille (sp?) a singer he really is. On a whole this album lived up to my expectations and blew them away. Disturbed recorded this with the intention of doing somthing different and they completely succeeded while never losing that Disturbed feel to the music. *****

All But None - Absolute

Local pop-punk heroes hailing from Canterbury have been going strong for over 2 years now and their latest release really shows how "mature" this band have become. This is their second release on Plastic Pig Records. Recently the band have been signed to Open Fire Records and will be recording an album sometime in the future which I can't wait to hear! "Absolute" opens with "Late Again" which has a smashing octave riff that leads to a very catchy verse/chorus etc. Second song "So It Seems" also features a class chorus and awesome vocals. One thing that I don't like about the songs is that they all seem a little too long. The band act as though they want to shove in as many riffs as possible! Not a bad thing but just a little observation! Fourth song "Toast" has to have one of the catchiest chorus's that I have ever heard! On the strength of that song alone I'd buy this CD alone! To sum up, we have 5 class pop punk tunes from a band that your are going to be hearing a lot more of in the upcomming year! 4 Ed's out of 5 ;)

StanXa - Yuck Fou
By Paul Priest (www.rawneverpromotions.co.uk)

They are good don't get me wrong, and tight, and compared to some bands I've heard at that age where they sound like a messy joke. These guys have a defined sound, and actual songs. But they are definitely young songs. Maturity will strike these guys well if they keep together though I think. I am hazarding a guess that this is most of the bands first effort at playing in a group though. "Whatever I do" is a typically teenage lament, about a girl he can't have. Musically, not punk, not grunge, not rocky indie, but kind of somewhere in between all three. I guess they have a certain Pixies element in the music on this first song, that jolly moving along guitar indie pop sorta sound. Second track "Deeper" however changes things, with a slow, broken person speed, angst-y sound. I guess there are occasional hints towards Nirvana, but with a vocal I can't really pin down, aside from thinking back to the 80s with bands like Psychedelic Furs. In fact the whole affair does remind of those 80's teenage film soundtracks. Maybe they are older than they are letting on. "Family Values" ups the tempo with its power chord driven punk rock, with older sounding influence, and then "Dearly loved..." drops the pace right back down again, after 75 seconds of jump around rock. At times, in the vocals a bit more than anything, this reminds me of James. Very instantly recognizable in the crowd of soundalike front men, and probably the best song on the CD, with a more epic feel, a little more variance in styles and more mature in its approach. "Becky" introduces some more new sounds, but still manages to remain as if it's all part of one big long song, which is the youth thing shining through a little, but they are developing, and have achieved more than a lot of bands have already. I've heard worse bands that StanXa, and I think for their school age, for their style and for what they are trying to get across, they are actually doing pretty well, and could certainly make a go of it in the future when the maturing process kicks in. A good start.

Finch - What It Is To Burn

First CD review of this site!!! And who better to review than my favourite band Finch! I've already seen these guys a couple of times live and they simply blow me away! Their debut album "What It Is To Burn" has to be one of the most stunning releases of last year. They have been described as so many genres ranging from Hardcore, Emo and even the dreaded Nu-Metal but these days, they fit until the banner of Screamo along with the likes of The Used, Thrice, Poison The Well and Thursday. This band should be even bigger this year with everyone starting to notice them! WIITB opens with "New Beginnings" (hmm...isn't that the title of the Blazin' Squad album...er...not that i know or anything) which is a great way to open the album. Loud guitars with a brusing riff and double bass drumming is the way to go! Then its on to first single "Letters To You" and its memorable hook of "I want you to know that I miss you." Good introduction for anyone that doesn't know the band. After that is "Post Script" with its harmonic guitar riff which is then followed by the first of two guest appearances from Daryl of GlassJAw fame. His vocals really add a new depth to "Grey Matter" and the dual screaming from Nate and Daryl is pure magic! "Without You Here" is probably my favourite song on the album. It's probably the slowest song as well but don't let that fool you! A really discordent verse leads to a soaring chorus of epic proportions! Then you get "Stay With Me" which is the pop-punk song on the album. It's really amazing how this band can mix up so many styles and yet create a unique sound. Daryl's second appearance on the album appears on "Project Mayhem". This is perhaps the weirdest song on the album as drum and bass type beats pop up. I'm not against that sort of thing but it just seems out of place on the album...probably my least favourite track. Then the songs get a little bit the same with "Untitled" and "Three Simple Words" But...following that you get Ender!! A really great song...a bit long tho...14mins i think...hmmm. Last track on the album is "What It Is To Burn" and this is the song that first introduced me to Finch! A really amazing song that keeps getting better everytime I listen to it! So after this long review I can conclude by saying that this was the best album of 2002 and should be in everyone's CD collection! 5 out of 5!!!!