Blood For The Master - Goatwhore review (or, the most metal Valentine's Day in recent memory.)

as the title said, Goatwhore's newest offering Blood For The Master dropped on Valentine's Day this year. sadly, i wasn't able to get hold of it until just today. i had heard one song from the album, Collapse In Eternal Worth, early on and thought "no intro? must just be a teaser or something." nope, that's how the song starts. about half a second of intro then the song kicks in.

after Collapse ends, the album just keeps going, not missing a beat. and when i say "not missing a beat", i actually mean "it just keeps kicking you in the gut after the first track knocks you down."

i'm actually finding it pretty hard coming up with things to say about it other than "brutal". it's just something that you'll have to listen to to understand.

late Valentine's present to myself, totally worth it. \m/

***RATING***- 4.5/5

Of, Monstrous Design EP review

local metal bands around here are somewhat hard to find; only 2 seem to exist: Of, Monstrous Design and Nothing Is Everything. the former just released their first EP, which i'm going to call a self-titled one as no official title has surfaced yet. oh well, onto the music.

the EP hits just as hard with its 4 songs as their 1 previously released song, Someone. i really like the consistency between the two and hope that the band keeps this sound through any and all future releases. all the new songs sound great, but my favorite would have to be Silence Is Golden but Duct Tape is Silver.

Of, Monstrous Design: i expect great things from you. don't disappoint me. 

***RATING***- 5/5

A Different Kind of Truth - Van Halen review

so far, A Different Kind of Truth is my most anticipated album release of 2012. (Marilyn Manson's Born Villain is rumored to be released in February, but nothing more than that has surfaced. sad panda.) anyway, after listening to the first single released (Tattoo) i was still pretty excited for the album but i really don't care for Tattoo. Van Halen finds themselves with Wolfgang Van Halen (Eddie's son) playing bass, Alex Van Halen (Eddie's brother) playing drums, Eddie staying on guitar, and David Lee Roth coming back to handle the vocal work; this bit being the best part of the new lineup. (because come on, Hagar was good but nothing compared to Roth, and Van Halen III just shouldn't have happened.

i'd have to say the best songs on the album are She's The Woman, China Town, Blood And Fire, Bullethead, As Is, The Trouble With Never, and Big River.

A Different Kind of Truth is a pretty good album. get it if you're a Van Halen fan at all, you'll like it.

***RATING***- 4.5/5