Undivided - "The Way Things Are"

Undivided are a hardcore/metal outfit from Rockland county,NY and "The Way Things Are" is their current full length album, released in the summer of 2014. Undivided serve up a seething, angry brand of hardcore. The band flawlessly melds street tough New York grooves with upbeat, punk-fueled thrash metal. A huge part of what has always set Undivided apart from the hardcore "norm" are the call/response vocals with frontman Dante's snarling rage filled voice and bassist Max's attitude filled screams complimenting each other perfectly. Album openers "World Of Delusion" and "Forgive Me Father" are great examples of how well Dante and Max handle their respective vocal duties all while squeezing catchy, heavy riffs out of their 6 and 4 stringed instruments respectively. Speaking of 6 strings, another weapon in Undivided's arsenal that displays their originality is the absolute clinic that shredder Nick Koykas puts on. Blazing solos sear through the speakers on tracks such as "Before I Die", "You Can Trust Me" and the aforementioned "World Of Delusion". One word that comes to mind while listening to this release is "solid", the band plays with much precision, all the riff changes and tempo shifts are extremely tight as evidenced in tracks like "It's Never Enough", "No Reason To Suffer" and the gritty, pavement pounding anthem "Every Inch Of Hatred" with it's riffs absolutely dripping with NYC underground, subway grunginess. "Blame Yourself" is a quick 1:35 shot of old school punk with it's infectious riffs and classic verse-chorus-verse formula which makes you want to chug a 40 oz. and jump in the circle pit! "Role Model" is absolute classic Carnivore worship colliding head on with Madball groove and thuggish style. The bass driven riffs and Dante's vocals recall early Peter Steele while the bridge sounds like something Freddy and the boys would have come up with on the "Demonstrating My Style" album, this song as well as "Every Inch Of Hatred" perfectly showcase Joe Dooling's sense of swing behind the drumkit. Lots of drummers can groove, but Joe is consistently "in the pocket" and he is really the backbone of this bands style. "Fiending On Friday" is a slow, churning tune, here Undivided deliver sludgy riffing in the vein of Crowbar while Dante and Max weave a tale about addiction. Album closer "Don't Even Think About It" recalls early Biohazard. Fast and thrashy verse and chorus meets a classic, moshpit friendly hardcore breakdown rife with inner city attitude and as heavy as a manhole cover. All in all "The Way Things Are" is Undivided showing us how it's done old school style. There's no pig squealing vocals, no ridiculous 1 note breakdowns and no plastic scene boy imagery. This band is and always has been the real deal, they are what true hardcore is meant to be, pushing the limits, mixing it up and showing tons of originality. If you are sick and tired of the nonsense that kids who work at hot topic are telling you is "hardcore" then you need to add "The Way Things Are" by Undivided to your music library. Hit the band up at www.facebook.com/undividedny hit the "like" button and ask how to get a physical CD, or if you'd rather have the MP3's you can download the album off iTunes as well.

Winter Nights - "An Endless Apocalypse

Winter Nights are a 4 piece, melodic death band from NYC who have recently released their debut full length album "An Endless Apocalypse". After the symphonic, string arrangement intro "Uprise and Fall" sets the dark, grim mood for this disk, the album's title track blasts into hyper-gear with frenzied tremolo picking and furious 

blasting on the drums. This track showcases a plethora of riffs and tempo changes accompanied by deep, growling vocals. The groovy break at the midway point, with it's melodic lead guitar lines, show Winter Nights to have more in common with the contemporary Scandinavian sound than with any of their New York peers musically. "In Nuclear Winter" has a more of a viking metal vibe throughout, with it's evil double-timed riffing and the bass-line break with it's spoken verse. This sounds like the lost track Amon Amarth forgot to put on their debut album "Once Sent From The Golden Hall". "A Dark Awakening" is another mead chugging, viking metal anthem. Neck-snapping rythms and pounding drums pulsate throughout this track. I hate to use the overused word EPIC here, but the break that begins at 3:10 is exactly that, a perfect tribute to the gods looking down on us from valhalla. The almost 7 minute "Winter Nights" creeps in with it's mellow intro, but quickly brings the heaviness with it's catchy verse and chorus riffs. There is an old school Swedish metal vibe to this song, think early In Flames meets modern Hypocrisy, very catchy and very brutal while still keeping tons of melody with frontman Jeremy's snarling vocals painting a hellish landscape. "The Doomsday Code" is another neck snapping riff fest, if I had hair, I'd surely be windmilling my locks along to this track. I get a bit more of a thrash and power metal vibe from this track, the tight guitar attack calls to mind early Iced Earth and stands toe to toe with some of Jon Schaefer's best riff work. "The Pledge" is one of the most powerful tracks on this release. Unrelenting guitar lines are delivered with blazing speed and the drums gallop along with a sense of urgency. Complicated tempo changes give way to progressive passages and the band shifts their timing seamlessly from riff to riff. If Chuck Schuldiner ever jammed with Amon Amarth, the audio result would be something eerily close to "The Pleasures Of War". This track is pure, classic death metal combined with a modern day, Swedish attitude and some mid 80's thrash thrown in to boot. The guitar solo in this track is especially face-melting and it's almost impossible not to bang your head to the riff behind it. "Deceptive Dreams" closes the album out and in my opinion this is the track where Winter Nights throw all their cards on the table. There's a bit of everything, clean intro, screaming leads, catchy guitar lines, anthemic riffs, frantic black metal and more tempo changes than you can shake an empty mead horn at. If ever there was a heavy metal soundtrack to a viking clan raiding, pillaging and burning a town down to the ground, this song and as a whole this album would be it. If you like your death metal melodic, then "An Endless Apocalypse" needs to be a part of your music collection. This band may hail from the streets of NYC, but after listening to this album I'm convinced Winter Nights sailed here from Scandinavia in a giant ship to claim New York as their raiding territory! You can find Winter Nights online at www.facebook.com/winternightsofficial and hit them up for a physical copy of "An Endless Apocalypse". You can also find them on Twitter, Youtube, Bandcamp and Reverbnation as well.

Horn Of The Rhino - "Summoning Deliverance"

 Hailing from Bilbao, Spain. Horn Of The Rhino are hardly newcomers to the scene, with it's latest release "Summoning Deliverance" being their 5th full length album. This trio has been honing their sludgy sound and shaking the foundations of the earth with their brand of doom for the better part of the last 7 years, and long time listeners will be quite pleased with their latest slab of down-tuned, filthy swamp metal. One look at the apocalyptic artwork adorning the cover of "Summoning Deliverance" gives the listener the ultimate indication he's in for one hell of a heavy ride before "Exvenhstench", the albums searing opening tracks starts pummeling us with it's fast. High On Fire styled buzzsaw riffs. Horn Of The Rhino waste no time going straight for the jugular with this lead-in track, galloping Motorhead-ish slams give way to sludgy breaks and an epic, thrash fueled bridge. This is surely the faster side of Horn Of The Rhino, a neck breaking, freight train of a song made even heavier with great demoniacal vocals throughout. "Onward Through Domination" slows things down, showcasing Horn Of The Rhino's even darker side with it's plodding riffs slowly lurching forward under frontman Javier Galvez' amazing vocal crooning that can only be compared to classic Chris Cornell and must be heard to be believed. One thing this band has always been able to accomplish is showing you can be heavier than a mountain playing low and slow and a 3 piece is more than capable of shaking the walls with the power of it's riffs. "High Priest" is a mid paced, foot stomping anthem chock full of great stoner metal guitar pieces and manic vocals that toe the line between death, and the unholiest of black metal. "Their Tombs" is an over 8 minute epic, with lots of tempo shifting, verses and bridges build up slow and climax into fast thrashy parts, seemlessly moving from the sledgehammer to the chainsaw. "Deliverance Prayer" gives us more of Javier's bluesy, smoky singing over some of the dirtiest riffs this side of the swamps of Louisiana. If Soundgarden jammed with Eyehategod, I would assume the resulting jam session would sound something like this...but this would still be even heavier. The verse riffs in "Grim Foreigeners" sound like a fully loaded gatling gun emptying round after round into whatever gets in it's way. It's catchy chorus riffs let you up for air just long enough to relentlessy pound you again and bring us to an ending full of almost hardcore breakdowns and evolve into a melodic, atmospheric ending. "Builder Of Carrion Effigies" gives us more up tempo structures, with it's hyper punk feel, combined with more High On Fire attitude. With this track being the 2nd of the 2 longest tracks here clocking in at just passed 8 minutes, Horn Of The Rhino serve us up a disk that is a little less long in the tooth and certain tracks such as "Builder Of Carrion Effigies" show the guys play faster than they have on any release prior. That being said, album closer "An Excess Of Faith" sends us out with hot, tar covered, Sabbath worshipping riffage. Eerie vocals, dissonant chords, thundering drums and droning bass leave us feeling as if we have just experienced the audio version of the hell depicted on the cover of "Summoning Deliverance". There is an awesome bonus cut offered on this disk, but I wont give it away, so you will have to buy the CD and enjoy the surprise. Horn Of The Rhino have served up yet another mammoth of an album, and just when you though it couldnt get any heavier, they prove us all wrong. This is a pure riff-fest, an album that would bring a smile to doom and sludge forefathers like Tony Iommi and Kirk Windstein. You can find HOTR on facebook and at www.hornoftherhino.bandcamp.com hit them up online and grab yourself a copy of "Summoning Deliverance".

Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators - "World On Fire"

 "World On Fire" comes in hot off the heels of the band's 2012 debut "Apocalyptic Love" and is a whopping 17 whole tracks of awesome rock n roll. Fans of the debut will be pleasantly surprised to hear a more charged up, driven band with "World On Fire". The bulk of the tracks here are more uptempo, harder hitting and overall more reminiscent of early Guns N' Roses as well. With tracks like "Automatic Overdrive" and especially the blazing title track, Slash and co. pound our eardrums with relentless riffing, screaming solos, soaring vocals and a slamming rythmn section. The band sounds as if they are getting extremely comfortable with themselves and there is a definite cohesive chemistry between these musicians. There are so many big hooks and grimy, sleaze rock riffs in tracks like "Dirty Girl" and "30 Years To Life". The guys obviously had a huge creative streak going this time around, dishing up a huge album filled to the brim of the disk with 17 songs, "Too Far Gone" being one of the album's stand out cuts with it's super catchy chorus and heavy main riff. "World On Fire" isnt all heavy-handed rock though. Mellower tracks like "Battleground" let the listener up for air a bit and round out the album with lots of beautiful melody, clean guitar pieces, and the amazing vocal range of Myles Kennedy. I could definitely see "Bent To Fly" being a gigantic single, that is, if the radio still played great rock music and MTV still showed music videos. It's epic chorus and almost Lynyrd Skynyrd like vibe on the verses with Slash's smooth acoustic guitar strumming make it a song to keep going back to. This album reminds me alot of Slash's Snakepit's 1995 debut "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere", it's got the loose, fun, feeling of a great rock album and much like the Snakepit debut, "World On Fire" from Slash's current band treats us to to an absolutely crushing instrumental track. "Safari Inn" is a heavy, funky, bluesy guitar driven opus. Slash lets it all hang loose on this one and there's everything in it that the old school GN'R fan has always loved Slash for with it's heavy riffs and frenetic soloing. All these years later Slash still has his signature, unmistakeable guitar tone, flawlessly transitioning from weighty, dirty riffs, to sleek, clean licks, to vicious, screaming leads that pierce through the music like a hot knife. "The Unholy" is a very insteresting cut. It is slow, brooding, moody and extremely dark. This track is a little more grungy than the traditional styled rockers on the rest of the disk and Myles Kennedy helps add to that mood by invoking shades of Chris Cornell vocally during the song's ominous verses. "Withered Delilah" really showcases the talent of The Conspirators. Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz are a solid bass and drum combo and they musically strut their stuff as the backbone of this song. "Shadow Life" is chock full of mean groove and nasty guitar licks that sound as if Slash culled them from the filthy gutters of California. The stomping, tribal beat and swaying riffs ooze forth from the speakers with street bred swagger, obviously our favorite top-hatted axe slinger hasnt forgotten his rock roots. If you love classic GN'R, Snakepit, Velvet Revolver and anything else Slash has done, you are going to absolutely worship "World On Fire" as there is a little bit of each of those bands styles here, but with Myles and the Conspirators helping to add their own fresh twist on it. Since 1996 Slash has made it abundantly clear he will never return to GN'R, and honestly if he keeps releasing material of this caliber, real fans of Slash and rock music in general will be too busy crankin this stuff up to care if he ever gets back with Axl again or not. Go get this album, you know you miss great rock and roll as much as I do, Guns N' Roses are the band who molded me in my youth and made me the music lover I am today, this album is a breath of fresh air, it's musical evidence of an old school hero climbing to the top of the mountain yet again, with a new bunch of amazing musicians. Grab a copy of "World On Fire" and crank that sucker loud, you wont be disappointed.

Sacred Ash - "Beneath Blackened Skies"

 Sacred Ash are a 5 piece thrashing power metal band from Westchester,NY and the 4 song EP "Beneath Blackened Skies" is their current offering. Those of you reading this who remember when there used to be awesome metal shows at Popeyes Pub, thrown by Lou Kemia Labs, FYC Records and Tainted Entertainment should recognize guitarist Christian Rush, bassist Anthony Rendina and drummer Anthony Casario from the young upstart band Thrashed. Shortly after disbanding Thrashed, these 3 added a new vocalist and second guitarist and formed a whole new beast now known as Sacred Ash. "Pure Evil" kicks this 4 song ride off into high gear with tons of old school heavy metal flair. With speedy riffs that recall "Kill 'EM All" Metallica and catchy hooks reminiscent of Iron Maiden, Sacred Ash show that while they may be relatively new to the scene, they have their roots firmly planted in classic heavy metal soil. This song rages onward, showcasing slick bass lines, uptempo double bass drumming and face melting guitar leads, everything that a headbanger from the old guard wants in their music. "Destiny Calls" starts up with choppy, tight riffs that recall 80's era Megadeth and builds into huge powerful verses and choruses that give the listener a 'horns in the air vibe' akin to Helloween and early power metal acts of the like. The break that starts at 3:08 plods and trudges along with an Anthrax-y stomp and is layered perfectly with melodic guitar fills before going off into a pure shred-fest. "Defiant To The End" is a mid tempo neck snapper that gallops about in the vein of 3 Inches Of Blood. This tune is chock full of dark riffs and nasty hammer-on's that would make Marty Friedman proud. Dan DeVita leads the charge on this track with his vocal styling, he treads the line between thash and power metal, raspy and throaty when he needs to be, and soulful without breaking into a high falsetto register when the music behind him gets more epic, overall I'd say he has more in common with John Wooten of Widow than with Rob Halford or similar screechers. "The Serpents Rise" closes out this disk with more memorable verses and choruses that pull the listener in and get your head nodding along to it's Iced Earth-ish riffs. The solo break once again showcases Mr. Rush's talent with it's running acrobatics and harmonies culminating into a Herman Li-esque whammy bar dive before turning around once more to take us out with that unforgettable chorus. All 4 tracks on "Beneath Blackened Skies" are 100% kick ass and this band is 100% pure metal to it's core. There's no incomprehensible gurgling vocals, flat brimmed baseball caps, huge ear gauges or uninspired breakdown after breakdown nonsense here. This is heavy metal for the beer swilling air guitarist whose walls are adorned with Metallica posters and whose denim vest is covered in NWOBHM patches. Thrashers from the old guard and new metalheads just discovering the Big 4 take note, Sacred Ash are here to bring true metal to Westchester and beyond, and if "Beneath Blackened Skies" is any indication, then the future looks bright for this band indeed. You can find Sacred Ash on facebook at www.facebook.com/sacredashband and you can follow them on twitter at www.twitter.com/sacredashband as well. The band also has a youtube channel where you can see a pro shot video for "The Serpents Rise" as well as a demo recording for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme which the band have a petition you can sign in hopes for the song to be used in the forthcoming MMPR movie, so sign it and help them out! You can hear cuts from this EP and much more great underground metal Monday mornings from 10am to 1pm EST at www.brutalexistenceradio.net.

Castrofate - "Castrofate"

 Castrofate kick off their self titled and 5th overall album with their namesake song "Castrofate". Distorted, galloping riffs, accompanied by soaring lead guitar set the tone for this classic Metallica styled thrash fest. Those familiar with the band know Castrofate hold Metallica in high regard and the Bay Area metallers are a huge influence on Castrofate's sound, although Castrofate are very adept at taking their influence and putting their own original spin on it as evident on their past albums and in this newest release as well. There's everything the old school thrash metal fan wants here, catchy verses, anthemic choruses, ferocious riffing and lots of "Venom"-ous speed. "New Religion" rages along with tons of frantic guitar picking more akin to early Exodus and infectious verses that have an almost surf rock meets thrash vibe, not unlike something you'd hear in Municipal Waste's repertoire of riffery. Frontman Dan Castro and drummer Dima work extremely well together, fusing together pulsating rythms with chugging, militant stomps and keeping the listener on our toes with lots of frequent changes in tempo and vibe on "Chemical Scythe", a song which should go over well with those of us who liked the direction Metallica went with their latest offering "Death Magnetic". Lots of bouncy, modern groove with an underlying helping of the classic west coast thrash sound mixed in. "Shattered Soul" is Castrofate's version of the classic thrash ballad. Melancholy lyrics, sung over smooth, clean chords with a heavy chorus that pounds through the speakers and punches the listener in the gut with emotion. Add in the epic lead guitar section and Castrofate serve up the goods beyond worthy enough to keep the torch burning that Testament handed down when they wrote their classic "The Legacy". There's a great pro shot video for this tune up on youtube, so go check that out here www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-7w7vNLlWY "United" lifts the mood with it's motivational lyrics and epic music. "Stay strong and have each others back" is the message here as Dan harshly barks his words over a thunderous, swaying verse and chorus that sounds like it was written for a viking march...do I hear a little Amon Amarth influence creeping around? "Banished To Earth" opens with a creepy riff and a bit more of a technical or even progressive vibe. This tune definitely has some Alex Skolnick influence in it and Dima does a great job behind the kit adding lots of great fills and helping to build onto the overall paranoid ambience of the song musically. Dan steps away from the mic and lets his axe do the talking for "Silent Obscurity". This one has a great straight up rock and roll vibe with it's main "verse" riff recalling early Danzig. This track sounds like 4 guys jamming in the garage on great riffs and having fun doing so, slowing things down in the middle for a couple beautiful chords then taking us off with a classic Maiden-esque gallop. "Shark Sustenence" closes the album out in frenzied fashion, this one is a classic lesson in speed metal ala Metallica's "Damage Inc." or the Exodus classic "Strike Of The Beast". Castrofate hit yet another homerun for thrashing heavy metal with their new self titled album, these guys prove their all about keeping it heavy and waving the flag for the old school sound. This is metal for the old guard who like their metal straight up with no filler, and for the new kids just falling in love with the classic Bay Area sound. Headbangers, horn throwers and circle pitters will thrash out this album over and over again in between spins of their favorite Anthrax and Slayer albums and you can order your own copy by visiting www.castrofatepictures.com and grabbing one for only $5. You can also get t-shirts and copies of their earlier releases while they last. Please give the band a "Like" and keep up with their current goings on and upcoming live gigs at www.facebook.com/castrofate. You can hear cuts from this album and other awesome underground bands every Monday morning from 10am to 1pm EST at www.brutalexistenceradio.net.

Thermit - "Encephalopathy"

Thermit are a 5 piece, power thrash unit from Poland and Encephalopathy is their current 6 song offering. Musically, Thermit pack the punch and intensity of classic 80's thrash metal, with lots of double bass drumming, fast guitar picking and tons of circle pit friendly riffs. "Zombie Lover" opens this disk up with the ferocity of classic Exodus and the songwriting savvy of Metallica during the Cliff Burton era. While Thermit's love for thrash is blatantly obvious, the band also mixes in elements of classic metal in the vein of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate with their frequent use of dueling guitar harmonies and smooth melodies that the band seemlessly weaves in between their crunchy, Megadeth like riffs. Other than their blazing, melodious guitar work, the huge thing that makes Thermit stick out from the thrash pack is the vocal stylings of Trzeszcz. On the track "Second" in particular we hear a vocalist with amazing range. Rather than the typical thrash metal barking and screaming style, we are treated to the stylings of a frontman more akin to Rob Halford, King Diamond or Cam Pipes from 3 Inches Of Blood, further pushing the power metal envelope and bringing a nice mix to Thermit's own unique brand of metal. "Now You See" is an intense track, that begins with beautiful acoustic guitars and grows into a throbbing stomp with lots of tight, fast guitar riffing reminiscent of early Iced Earth and "Master Of Puppets" era Metallica with a touch of Slayer thrown in for good measure. "Other Man" sounds as if it was written way back in 1986, full of amazing lead guitarwork and harmonies that will bang the heads of Iron Maiden fans and vicious verses that will snap the necks of anyone within ear shot. "Holy Bomb" rounds out the first 5 original cuts on Encephalopathy with lots of high pitched, hair raising vocals, groovy, trudging riffs and at the 2:50 mark showcases a drum and bass section tight enough to be compared to Rex Brown and Vinny Paul of Pantera fame. Track 6 gives us "Thermitallica", a 10 minute mix and mash up, or "Mosh up" of Thermit melting together some of our favorite Metallica moments in medley form. From "Battery" to "All Nightmare Long", "Damage Inc." to "Holier Than Thou", "The Shortest Straw" to "Disposable Heroes" and more, Thermit does an incredible job with their own take on a Metallica medley, and with a hilarious ending! Thermit assault the senses in an old school way, rapid fire riffing, warp speed drumming, thick grooves and a vocal onslaught of glorious power metal caliber. Encephalopathy is metal for the beer drinking, leather and denim clad warriors of the world. If you love to headbang, if you know what REAL moshing is, if you play air guitar along to the six string axe slingers you worship, if your vest is covered in band patches and beer stains, then Thermit is the band you NEED to hear and Encephalopathy is a disk you NEED to add to your collection immediately!!! You can find the band online at www.facebook.com/thermit and you can grab CD's and shirts from them at http://www.thermitmetal.8merch.com/services/store.