Eighteen Visions, Atreyu, Bleeding Through, A7X

[Nicholas2.0]

After seeing the latest videos for the first three bands on the front page of Launch's "New Videos" page and after seeing 18V's and Atreyu's latest singles toward the bottom of the Active Rock chart (Atreyu "Right Side of the Bed" 45-44, 143 spins; Eighteen Visions "I Let Go" N&A: 81 plays, 10 stations, 1 add), I decided to make a topic for my favorite four metal bands of the past eight months.  They're not "new-metal" at all.  They're part of a new breed of American metal.  I don't know if they all qualify as "metal-core" (metal + hardcore) or not, but that's what I call them.

In terms of being radio-friendly: Eighteen Visions would be first, followed by Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, and Bleeding Through.

Here are links to all their videos so far, in reverse chronological order:
Eighteen Visions
"I Let Go"
(check for quick cameos from M. of A7X (at 1:23) and Brandon of Atreyu (at 1:21 & 2:00).  And apparently someone from Bleeding Through is in the video, too, but the cuts are so quick that I haven't recognized anyone yet.  Also people from other bands are in it too, but no one whose music I'm familiar with.)
search.launch.yahoo.com/launch/search/?m=video&p=Eighteen+Visions&x=18&y=4
"Tower of Snakes"
www.trustkill.com/multimedia/videos/
"Waiting for the Heavens"
www.trustkill.com/multimedia/videos/
"You Broke Like Glass"
www.trustkill.com/multimedia/videos/

Atreyu
"Right Side of the Bed"
"Lip Gloss and Black"
"Ain't Love Grand"
search.launch.yahoo.com/launch/search/?m=video&p=Atreyu&x=15&y=7

Bleeding Through
"Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire"
search.launch.yahoo.com/launch/search/?m=video&p=Bleeding+Through&x=20&y=9
"On Wings of Lead"
www.trustkill.com/multimedia/videos/

Avenged Sevenfold
"Unholy Confessions"
search.launch.yahoo.com/launch/search/?m=video&p=avenged+sevenfold&x=9&y=11

I don't expect much (positive) feedback, the music running a little harder than most people here tolerate, but let me know what you think.

[crash46]

I actually sought out some of these videos on Launch a couple weeks ago, and could only come up with the one for "Ain't Love Grand". The rest of 'em must be some recent additions.

Atreyu was actually the last of these four to score a favorable impression with me. The hooks were all there, but I first thought that Brandon tried way too hard while doing that scream. I hate to criticize screaming here where we have so many people that like to dump on songs just for having screaming, but that was my first impression. I like it just fine now though, and being on spring break next thursday with these guys heading to Pontiac, I know enough of their songs; I might even consider going.

Of course you already know how I dig A7X, first from the two song sampler I picked up, then from you sending me the album, and even more when 89x added "Unholy Confessions" and stuck with it for about 2 months. The station is doing this all-request hour deal now, and they've played all this obscure, non-radio friendly stuff like Ministry and Anthrax and "All In The Family" from Korn, so one of these days I'll call up and see if they'll play some A7X too.

18V doesn't seem all that metal-core to me from the songs I've heard, not that it's a problem. The chorus for "I Let Go" sounds like a Foo Fighters chorus. They kicked some ass when they opened for Lostprophets last summer. Are there any songs that have spoken word intros? I remember that one, whatever it was, being a standout from the show.

And "Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire" from Bleeding Through is a fuckin' awesome track. It rocks so hard in every conceivable way, and the sound of the keyboard rules. But yeah, I doubt if I'll ever hear anything from them on the radio.

[Nicholas2.0]

crash46 said:

I actually sought out some of these videos on Launch a couple weeks ago, and could only come up with the one for "Ain't Love Grand". The rest of 'em must be some recent additions.

"Lip Gloss" has always come up every time I've looked for it, so I don't know what that's about. Same for A7X. But "I Let Go," "Gun Fire," and "RSotB" all came up in the past two weeks. (Which is weird because "RSoTB" was made before the album even came out last June and "Love Lost" premiered in like, September or October.) Anyway, since alphabetically, they all come up on the first page of "new videos" on Launch, I decided to start up a topic.

Atreyu was actually the last of these four to score a favorable impression with me. The hooks were all there, but I first thought that Brandon tried way too hard while doing that scream. I like it just fine now though.

Oh, I thought I'd told you that it was two separate people. Brandon is the drummer and does all the melodies. Alex is the frontman and does all the screams. Yeah, he took a few listens to get used to, but with music and melodies that strong, it was inevitable that I'd come around. Hell, they made Bleeding Through easier to swallow.

89x added "Unholy Confessions" and stuck with it for about 2 months.

God, I can't imagine a local (Alt) station adding this. I'd probably cream myself if I ever heard this on radio in regular rotation.

18V doesn't seem all that metal-core to me from the songs I've heard, not that it's a problem. The chorus for "I Let Go" sounds like a Foo Fighters chorus. They kicked some ass when they opened for Lostprophets last summer. Are there any songs that have spoken word intros? I remember that one, whatever it was, being a standout from the show.

Yeah, they really polished up their sound for Obsession in hindsight. If you heard their previous album, Vanity, you'd be like, "How could this have come only two years earlier?" Obsession is almost annoyingly scrubbed and compact, like the first Linkin Park album. Sometimes you wish the songs would just continue for another minute. "Tower of Snakes" is the heaviest song on the album and as an appeasement to their fans, they saved it for last when I just saw them, and played none of the three (power) ballads on the album.

I don't know about spoken word per se, unless it was something really old. I'll listen to Vanity again and see if there's something that you could be thinking of.

And "Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire" from Bleeding Through is a f**kin' awesome track. It rocks so hard in every conceivable way, and the sound of the keyboard rules. But yeah, I doubt if I'll ever hear anything from them on the radio.

The radio/video edit is so annoying. It's a minute shorter: the spoken word intro is gone; just the intro ambience segued into the drum-crack count-off. Also they cut out a huge chunk right in the first 1/3 of it, I'd estimate. And of course all the swears are gone, too.

Thanks, Steve. If no one else replies, I knew I could at least count on you to come in and "humor" me, especially since I sent you a CD full of nothing but these four bands at Christmas time.

[The Human Strobe]

I don't know if you two have heard of them, but you'd both love Converge.

Also, Cave In's first album is very much in this way of sound. Between the Buried and Me are another great band of this nature.

I wonder if this sound best brought to the forefront by Dillinger Escape Plan will ever really reach a mainstream audience. Its the sort of music that doesn't really have to, but between Dillinger and Slipknot, I'll take Dillinger any day.

[Nicholas2.0]

Leo said:

I don't know if you two have heard of them, but you'd both love Converge.

Also, Cave In's first album is very much in this way of sound.  Between the Buried and Me are another great band of this nature. 

I wonder if this sound best brought to the forefront by Dillinger Escape Plan will ever really reach a mainstream audience.  Its the sort of music that doesn't really have to, but between Dillinger and Slipknot, I'll take Dillinger any day. 

I'm aware of Converge and will get around to buying You Fail Me eventually. I'll go from there. I only just saw a TV ad for the album last weekend during Headbanger's Ball.

I've read for about a year now how Cave In's earlier stuff was in this vein, but seeing as how I never heard their latest stuff enough to remember it, they are low on my priority list.

Between the Buried and Me is a name I'm very familiar with, but know none of their music.

And Dillinger is so chaotic and tuneless (and yet still listenable) that I doubt I'd ever enjoy a full album by them. In small doses they're fine.

The bands that put actual melodies in their songs (and still leave with their integrity in tact) I think, could connect to some degree on Active Rock.

[The Human Strobe]

Cave In's last album Antenna had a lot of influence between Radiohead and Failure. Its a beautiful album and very underrated in my opinion.

I think you'd really appreciate Until Your Heart Stops though.

[friday]

Well, I remember I mentioned to you, Nick, when I sent those guesses for your top songs game that I didn't really care for Atreyu. But, while I don't have time right now, I'm gonna give a listen to each of those songs you recommended, as well as "Someone's Standing On My Chest" from a Victory Records sampler CD. Mainly because, like I said, they're the only Victory artist so far that I haven't liked, and that just seems weird to me. I think the reason was the same one crash said. It's just total screaming, with not much of a break to comprehend what's going on. But Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, Hawthorne Heights, and others all have favorable impressions for me, and I wouldn't mind including them on that list.

[halo19]

Funny that it's mentioned, because I had a limited taste for metal before I heard Dillinger Escape Plan. I don't think they'll ever be popular, but they will be influential on those who have heard enough from them. Also, bands who change singers on each albums aren't generally popular, and Mike Patton apparently wasn't enough to get them a hit for the Irony Is A Dead Scene era. However, I love them more and more with each listen. There is singing in some of their songs (i.e. the bridge of "Baby's First Coffin").

I guess I'll have to listen to them again, but last time I gave a listen, Hawthorne Heights sounded to me exactly like Thursday. Speaking of which I am still thinking of buying Full Collapse because I love everything I've heard from it.

I haven't heard a whole lot of Atreyu, but I enjoyed "Lip Gloss and Black". I really love A7X's songs that I've heard; I hope they blow up on Active Rock. I'm not sure I'd consider these bands Alternative and I'd like to hear some less faceless stuff on the former format as well.

[Nicholas2.0]

friday said:

I'm gonna give a listen to each of those songs you recommended, as well as "Someone's Standing On My Chest" from a Victory Records sampler CD. Mainly because, like I said, they're the only Victory artist so far that I haven't liked, and that just seems weird to me. I think the reason was the same one crash said. It's just total screaming, with not much of a break to comprehend what's going on. But Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, Hawthorne Heights, and others all have favorable impressions for me, and I wouldn't mind including them on that list.

Well, unfortunately for you, Victory Records has a whole lot of stuff that you wouldn't like.  (Hell, I don't even care for a lot of their bands.)

Funny you mention "SSoMC" again, because I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what song the hard guitar riff in the new Garbage song reminds me of.  While it isn't the exact song I was thinking of (if there even is one), the breakdown in the middle of the song where it gets all slow and heavy for a bit, right before the guitars drop out, and Alex starts singing (saying?) "How do you gauge loneliness" a lot: The Garbage riff reminds me of that riff.

I know their screaming isn't for everyone, but it's not like it's randomly arranged and untrained.  The "hooks" are in the music and in its sheer intensity.  I think, anyway... I find the melody of the rolling guitar outro (enhanced with the straight triplets on the double bass drum) stuck in my head all the time.

[crash46]

halo19: said:

I guess I'll have to listen to them again, but last time I gave a listen, Hawthorne Heights sounded to me exactly like Thursday.

That's funny, my first impression of Hawthorne Heights was that they sounded exactly like Taking Back Sunday. At least in the song "Ohio is for Lovers", which has come on a couple times on Launch, and at Target. I'm still pulling for them to hit the top 50 though, since it's not bad, and there just aren't too many bands from Ohio (my home state) that I can think of that have had any kind of chart success.

[Matt4319]

I think I could get into Eighteen Visions. Perhaps uncoincidentally, they're probably the only band of these 4 that could make some significant noise on radio. ("I Let Go" is #55 on Active Rock, but I think it could be a top-40 Alt hit if pushed there. I mean, Rise Against made it...)

Atreyu had a top-85 hit on my chart with "Lip Gloss and Black", and I like "Right Side of the Bed" better.

The two Bleeding Through songs are a bit too heavy for more than occasional listening by me. I didn't dislike them though.

I could take or leave "Unholy Confessions", unfortunately.

[Nicholas2.0]

Matt4319 said:

I think I could get into Eighteen Visions.  Perhaps uncoincidentally, they're probably the only band of these 4 that could make some significant noise on radio.  ("I Let Go" is #55 on Active Rock, but I think it could be a top-40 Alt hit if pushed there.  I mean, Rise Against made it...)

It's really a crime that Eighteen Visions aren't connecting more significantly (on Alternative, but especially not even with Active Rock) with this album.  Obsession is a well-crafted album with hooks and potential hits packed all over it.  Every song could be a single.  As I may have mentioned earlier, "Tower of Snakes" is the heaviest song on the disc and it's comparatively tame to the other bands.  I mean, if they polished up their sound and song structure this much, then they obviously want at least some big-time attention.

Atreyu had a top-85 hit on my chart with "Lip Gloss and Black", and I like "Right Side of the Bed" better.

Atreyu's new video for "The Crimson" premiered on last week's Headbanger's Ball and Atreyu were the guests.  I like it because it's Atreyu, but was a little disappointed in the video because it's kind of boring. I was also a little put off because it sounds like they remixed the song slightly. And since I'm already so familiar with it, that's pretty unsettling and will be hard to get used to. You can watch the video (and any other Victory band's videos, for that matter) here, as Launch doesn't have it yet:
www.victoryrecords.com/StartFrameset.asp

[Matt4319]

Nicholas2.0 said:

It's really a crime that Eighteen Visions aren't connecting more significantly (on Alternative, but especially not even with Active Rock) with this album. Obsession is a well-crafted album with hooks and potential hits packed all over it. Every song could be a single. As I may have mentioned earlier, "Tower of Snakes" is the heaviest song on the disc and it's comparatively tame to the other bands. I mean, if they polished up their sound and song structure this much, then they obviously want at least some big-time attention.

Heh. This just in -- "I Let Go" goes for Alternative adds April 12th.

[Nicholas2.0]

Matt4319 said:

Heh.  This just in -- "I Let Go" goes for Alternative adds April 12th.

w00t. I was concerned because "I Let Go" had fewer spins last week than the week before, but this week (3/11) has 20 more. It's also encouraging to see Atreyu up to #41, because I thought it had lost its bullet a week or two ago.