Opeth - 'Will O The Wisp'

When Opeth has an album on the way, the metal world can't help but to stop and stare. Sorceress is out at the end of the month and promises to be the band's heaviest effort since 2008's Watershed. The title track 'Sorceress' seemed to combine the jazz flavors of 2014's Pale Communion with the band's heavier and experimental moments. The next single 'Will O The Wisp' shows the album is much more diverse than what you may expect.

'Will O The Wisp' is an acoustic track inspired by Jethro Tull's 'Dun Ringill', as frontman Mikael Akerfeldt told Team Rock. Speaking of the song's composition itself, he claimed: "I wanted to do a song with my capo really high, so it's up on the fifth fret. It makes the guitar sound really glittery. I just wanted to go for a simple, catchy vocal melody. It has a slightly positive vibe to it, but the lyrics are really, really dark. It's a beautiful song, I think. I'm really happy with that one."

The song does live up to Akerfeldt's description. It's acoustic instrumentation is bright and warm with an almost baroque vibe to it. The lyrics are upbeat yet hold a dark message to them: the pre-chorus and chorus regally chant, "You're stuck to the failures of your life / Marred with the sorrows of your strife / And time it waits for no one / It heals them when you die / And soon you are forgotten / A whisper within a sigh." The song progresses, eventually gaining a beat and closes our with an electrifying blues solo. The solo feels oddly mature - it's not very metal or wild in any way, it's just an expressive, beautiful guitar solo that feels right at place among the end of the track and acoustic guitars.

Opeth are masters of their craft. Whether it be the demanding jazz metal of 'Sorceress' or the stark acoustic beauty of 'Will O The Wisp', they can handle anything they tackle. Sorceress is bound to be an incredible album and definitely a standout in their discography. Now, we play the waiting game.

Rating: 90 / 100

Skylar Grey - 'Come Up For Air'

Skylar Grey is like the silent mastermind behind many of pop's biggest hits. It's always a welcome treat, as a result, when she uses her expertise for her own projects. Her latest album Natural Causes is due out on September 23, and she's shared the next single from it, 'Come Up For Air'.

Skylar Grey always has a certain swagger in her music. 'Come Up For Air' has all of that channeled through the powerful beat with a phenomenal snare sound. The song is produced by none other than Eminem, with whom she has worked with in the past, so it's only appropriate that the beat is produced to perfection. Her silky vocals sweetly flow in a longing way - according to Grey, this track is a break-up song in which the narrator is still in love, so much so that they will wait forever for the other half to return, even until death. The instrumental is minimal, the drum beat being the primary element. The song also has a low bass synth and reverberating keys that provide for a dreamy atmosphere. Background guitar also adds some character to the end of the track.

Skylar Grey best attribute is her songwriting ability, and while this song may not be the most subtle, it's still heavy hitting. The calmness of the vocals are heartbreaking in of itself, as if she really does have the patience to wait an eternity for her partner to return. It's particularly powerful in the bridge, in which she sings, "And even if this really is the end / I'm sure I'll be alone until I'm dead / Cause no one else will ever quite compare / To them it wouldn't be fair... If you're my Jack then I'm your Rose / And I promise I'll never ever let go," all the while she retains the same patient and calm vocal style, and that's really dark and just plain sad.

'Come Up For Air' is a pretty and beautiful song; the only thing it's missing is an emotional peak or climax - a release. It ends feeling just as restrained emotionally as the beginning, but it's darkness lies in that fact, and that's the character of the track. Skylar Grey seems to be taking a less upfront approach to Natural Causes and a more natural approach. This song is a quiet one, but it's message is all the same, if not stronger than if it was more upfront. Her album has a lot of potential, but the direction isn't clear just yet. The wait's only another few weeks, though. That mystery will be solved soon enough.

Rating: 85 / 100 

Memphis May Fire - 'Carry On'

Memphis May Fire are pretty much the good-boys of post-hardcore. That's not a bad thing, though. Their music always has a touch of God in it, often meaning very personal and uplifting messages come with it. With a new album on the horizon (details here), it's time to tap into what kind of sound the band will venture into next.

The first single from the next record (entitled This Light I Hold) is 'Carry On'. It's nothing special instrumentally, but it's a pretty rocking MMF track. It almost sounds like a lite-version of their previous effort's - 2014's Unconditional - 'No Ordinary Love', with the cleaner verses traded out with more brutal screaming but the downtuned riffs and blasting kick drums staying present. The chorus highlights vocalist Matty Mullins' aggressively clean vocals. The bridge takes a short reprieve, the instrumental fading to something quieter and Mullins delivering another motivational message. The song explodes once again into the final chorus with a more positive composure to it.

While everything may seem pristine on the surface, that really isn't the case with this track. It's not another version of Challenger (the main concern with their last record) but if this track indicates what the next album will hold, it's going to be a bit underwhelming. This track doesn't really have any meat to it. It's heavy to start with but it loses all of that momentum as it progresses. The third verse is almost cringey. The second verse is screamed and the lyrics are... passable, but then a quieter clean verse comes in with Mullins preaching about selling your values for profit: "Sell your soul for platinum / Sell the truth for gold / You can be the next big thing / If you turn your back on what you know." 

The problem is that this song lacks any subtlety. It's very much to the point, without even trying to find a way around directly saying what the song means. The bridge blatantly says: "I will never be like you / I'm not a puppet on a string / I'm not one of your machines / I'm not doing this for you / I'm not doing this for me / It's bigger than what you choose to see." It literally sounds like he's in an exasperated argument with someone. Not in the way of an internal struggle or a falling out, but as in a petty couple of teenagers having an argument. The writing of this track really is almost laughable.

This Light I Hold isn't off to a hot start. 'Carry On' is a pretty underwhelming track written without any sense of metaphor or subtlety. If you're going to speak of religious teachings, you can't simply state what you want to get across. Memphis May Fire was good at this before, and even when things weren't subtle there were other elements of songs that would make it powerful. 'Cary On' is just so painfully standard - you can see the potential it could have and end up disappointed when it doesn't go anywhere. Let's hold the album holds out and is miles better than what the single reveals.

Rating: 59 / 100

New Arcades - Where We Were Before (ft. Sarah Bird)

Synthpop is a new wave of 80s revivalism. It's been on the rise ever since CHVRCHES brought it back in 2013. CHVRCHES, however, always had a taste of modern in their music. There are many other artists how harken back to the 80s album by the books. New Arcades sounds like this, but there's promise in their music.

Sparkling synths and electronic drums are the signature of the English duo's new song 'Where We Were Before' featuring Brighton singer Sarah Bird. The track is very classic feeling, the bright splashing synths sound like an old movie where a boy and girl in love run through puddles in a rain storm. It's nostalgic, for sure. It's instrumental is pretty standard beyond that, but does a good job of supporting Bird's longing vocals. It's a love song, and that's evident through both the instrumental's mood and the lyrics. The boys of New Arcades handle the vocals in the verses, speaking of the stories of a past love: the second verse chants, "I said I wanted to have something that would make us feel alive," before Bird and the band transition between the choruses and pre-chorus: "Now everything falls into place / Like where we were before / I tell myself that we won't break / The voice I'm hearing is yours."

Beyond the obvious components of the track, there really isn't much else to explore. There's a little guitar in the bridge, but it sounds more like a gimmick than an honest component. It gets buried in the mix for the outro before it can become something big and worthy of stirring up a new emotion, hidden beneath the standard synths that loop throughout the song. This band has such a solid grip on the elements of electronic music and the vibes of the 80s. They don't seem ready to tread away from the same synths and sounds and into something unique.

New Arcades has a lot of potential, but their not quite there yet. Their music captures 80s soundscapes and nostalgia perfectly, but not in a unique way. It's a style we've heard before and all too many times. They bring in partners from their local music scene to spice things up, which is a good thing, but their core has not changed. By the time they hit their first LP, hopefully they'll find their niche. For now, their music will keep being the old nostalgic inducing electronic music that many cherished so well. I guess there's not so much wrong with that, after all.

Rating: 70 / 100

Touché Amoré - 'Skyscraper'

At the forefront of melodic hardcore is Touché Amoré, and their fourth record is just on the horizon. Stage Four is the follow up to 2013's Is Survived By, and it's bound to be something special - it's a very personal record for vocalist Jeremy Bolm, who lost his mother to cancer in 2014. This album will be full of those emotions he experienced.

The band has shared the song 'Skyscrapers' from the record. The song is an ode to New York City, in all of the most heartbreaking of ways. It's not a very intense track as far as its sonic soundscape goes; it begins with rolling drums and reverberating clean guitars. Jeremy Bolm and guest vocalist Julien Baker sing somberly as moments of guitar punch through. Bolm is the real focus of the song, despite the female guest. While the harmony is interesting, it's more captivating to hear the longing in Bolm's voice as he signs "To live there, under the lights" is its own gift.

The song builds up to a big climax at the end, harmonies of vocals and screams ultimately taking it out with a bigger instrumental complete with crash cymbals and tremolo guitar sounding high in the background. Bolm's clean vocals make this track sound like a heavy Ariel Pink song. It's a bit odd, but it's not the vocals that make the track. The meaning sends it a lot further.

The music video makes the song even more real and somber. It pictures Bolm traveling through New York pushing around an empty wheelchair, seeing sights in black and white. As the song climaxes, all of the color starts to surround the scenes, as if it's an acceptance. I like to think the empty wheelchair is a symbol for his mother, and that makes this song being sung from her perspective - Julien Baker's female vocals are his mother singing the message too. Perhaps she always had dreams of living in the big city and living under all of the grand lights, but passed away before that came true. Bolm walking through the city with the empty wheelchair is his way of finally taking her there. The way the color changes from the beginning to the end shows how this sad activity of pretending his mother is there with him becomes more of a comforting thing, as if he could do one more thing for his mother to make her happy.

Touché Amoré knows how to play with your emotions. This song is one of the few cases where I can say that the music video makes the song even better. As for the track itself, I'm not the biggest fan but I like the message and the story is sweet. Stage Four seems to be building up to be a very emotional record; anger, sadness, regret... we can't say for certain, but the prospect of it is exciting. Nothing drives music better than emotion, and the loss of Jeremy Bolm's mother is bound to be channeled through his music. It's going to be a big record.

Rating: 78 / 100

Music Video Rating: 90 / 100

The Naked & Famous - 'Laid Low'

There's no one who blends indie rock and electronic pop quite like The Naked & Famous. Their style is unmatchable in its swagger and energy. Their third record Simple Forms is due in October, and serves as the follow up to 2013's In Rolling Waves. Simple Forms seems to be taking a more upbeat direction than the somber tones of its predecessor. The second single from the album 'Laid Low' promises a big album is on the way.

Right from the beginning you know something different is on the way. It has a huge drum beat that serves as a highlight in itself; it's big and upbeat, exactly what the track is going for. The synths build a chill atmosphere as the synth riff brings in the lyrics. The choruses are subdued with reverberating synths with vocalist Alisa Xayalith sounding powerful, begging for saving: "Know that you can take me home / I'm learning to live with ghosts / the limbs I miss the most." The song's climax comes with several vocal lines singing at the same time on top of an explosive instrumental, building up before it concludes.

The song itself is about becoming tired of life, and missing what you had in the past when life's bringing you down. The lines "Laid low by heart ache / I'm trying to stay afloat." The way the song explodes at the end feels compassionate and so final; like you finally got what you've wanted through the story of the song. The lyric video shows a variety of scenes, the main focus is a woman running from a car. Like a deer in headlights she runs from it - that feeling of standing out and being afraid capturing what the song wants to be saved from. A variety of other scenes, including a burning rose, also make up the video, providing metaphors for love and the monotony of life.

The Naked & Famous have a big album in store. The previous single 'Higher' also has a similarly upbeat sound to it - this album's going to be fun. Simple Forms is out in October, but 'Laid Low' will be on repeat for the month to come yet. The hype couldn't be bigger. New Zealand's finest electronic group is about to make 2016 their own.

Rating: 85 / 100

You Me At Six - 'Night People'

English alternative rockers You Me At Six have returned this year to follow up to 2014's upbeat Cavalier Youth. For 2017, they've promised Night People (tour details + more here) and have shared the first song from the record. The title track 'Night People' has a lot of swagger and promises some jamming.

The song is the opening track on the record, and, as any good opening track should, it brings the hype. It has this cool rock n' roll vibe to it. It kicks off with an effected vocal sample of the chorus, which confidently chants: "We are night people, roaming these streets / Night people, we get what we need." There's a big call-to-arms sound in the track too, the riff playing very upbeat and and the gang vocals in the background screaming their "woah"s. The drum beat carries pretty well too, though mildly understated among the rest of the song's elements.

While the song itself is good, it does raise the question of You Me At Six's future. Their sound has become the standard alternative rock/pop punk sound since Cavalier Youth, and 'Night People' doesn't sound much different. Lots of other bands in their same kind of "scene" area have shown evolution; the most prominent example is Bring Me The Horizon. Sempiternal brought about a compositional, unique, and mature change in the band. They veered away from the "scream and sound edgy" tone to something that had a lot of substance and meaning. You Me At Six is not at all the same band, but the key to any band is evolving. Their falling into this standard sound that will soon become bland. Their previous efforts show a lot of promise and talent; they have what they need, but they can't yet materialize their talent into something that has substance.

Night People won't be losing any of their big rock vibes, and may even be treading into some of their older sounds, too. But this band needs a change to vamp things back up. They can only get by with this upbeat rock sound for so long - they're going to start losing their purpose. They have the talent and the means of evolving, it's just getting to that point that they haven't quite gotten to yet. 'Night People' is a fun song, but fun music will only take you so far. Let's hope the album is a bit more unique.

Rating: 70 / 100

American Football - 'I've Been So Lost For So Long'

Who'd have thought American Football would be releasing music in 2016? Most people would've thought they were a done deal when they called it quits in 2000 after a mildly short but successful career with the eponymous debut in 1999. But, lo and behold, here it is. The band will be releasing a second, new eponymous debut (yes, another American Football) in October. You can read up on that here, but the first single from the album is worth words alone.

After being absent from the studio as a group for so long, it would be easy to expect that there would be a loss of quality, or even identity. The band has been reunited since 2014, playing shows here and there since then. Yet here we are with a new single, a song titled 'I've Been So Lost For So Long', and it sounds as fresh as the first record sounded. The formulas are all the same, but there's still something that's still familiar about it. Everything you loved about the first album is still here.

Sure, they haven't recorded together as a band, but they've mostly all been pursuing music still in the time since they became inactive and now. By no means are these musicians rusty; if anything, they've honed their skills and found their niches. 'I've Been So Lost' is a surprisingly intricate track, but the performance of it makes it sound almost easy. It takes musicianship to make a song like this not only stay true to the identity of the band, but also sound so blissfully basic.

That being said, this song is intricate in its performance, not in its production. It's barebones as it can get - there doesn't seem to be much layering going on at all. It's a cleanly tracked with two guitars, a bass track, drum track, and vocal track song. No tricks or background noises anywhere. It's honest-to-heart math rock. No strings attached.

The old habits of the band are still here - the reverberating guitars and ever-shifting time signatures are all still present, and its what makes this track so intricate. The strumming pattern is relatively simple, but there's two different strumming patterns that don't necessarily follow each other, but they work together almost seamlessly. The time signature change in the choruses are also pretty odd, and its impressive that it flows so fluidly when switching between the verse and chorus.

17 years has brought some changes, though. Better production will have some complain that the track may lose some rawness that the originals had. It seems doubtful that better production techniques will ultimately make the track less of an enjoyable experience, but it may miss that extra touch if you were a hardcore fan of the band's previous work. Age is also a factor with Mike Kinsella - his belting antics from the previous works may not be so crisp anymore; he's 39 now - at the time of the former record, he would've been 22. There's no belting or uber-emotional moments on this track, but its yet to be seen if it'll return on the album. This track isn't meant to be anything overly dramatic though; it's fine being subtle.

American Football is finally back, and their new single shows a lot of promise. American Football II (for lack of differentiation from the former) has a lot of potential if 'I've Been So Lost' is any indicator of the work to come. It's honest and intrinsically an American Football song, but also shows growth and maturity. They're not the same band as they were in your teenage years (unless you're a teenager, of course). But maybe it's better that way. Perhaps the band has grown with you.

Rating: 80 / 100

BANKS - 'Mind Games'

BANKS, the queen of pulsing synth chords, is back. Her sophomore record The Altar is approaching, slated for release on September 30, and she has released the next single from the record. 'Mind Games', a big track with a demanding message.

Beginning with vocals processed through a vocoder, the track hauntingly builds into a quiet somber piano under BANKS' pleading vocals. The chorus is brought in with a more threatening synth beginning to swell as BANKS becomes more passionate in her words and delivery. The entire song swells and flows into one big climax before ending on a quiet note to end it out on. The quiet reprieve almost sounds like a defeat, and given the message, it's pretty heartbreaking.

In the track, BANKS signs of a relationship in which she was used. The song begins with her woefully recalling, "That you would love me better if I could unscrew all of your moods that make me wanna run away," the message already clear and understood as the track begins. It goes on to speak of the nature of an abusive relationship; she wants to leave, but in her eyes, her partner is perfect, and if she leaves, "I’m scared I won’t find other muses / Cause I know you like golden days." The choruses plead: "Do you, see me now?" It's the final straw - this song is the breaking point.

BANKS' new album is progressively becoming more and more developed. 'Mind Games' is a big track, and an important one, for sure. The Altar is building up to be a very personal record for her. BANKS isn't holding back.

Rating: 80 / 100

Metallica - 'Hardwired'

It's 2016, and we finally have a new Metallica album on the way! The double LP Hardwired... To Self-Destruct is due out in November (details here), and ahead of it's release we can expect some new music from the record to hit radio. The first new music shared from the record was the single 'Hardwired', a riff-filled track harkening back to Metallica's origins.

The first thing you hear from this track is the blistering palm-muted guitar and big snare hits. Right from the get go, this song's big and up in your grill, and that's before the really riffing even comes in! As the riff kicks in, we get the drums picking up the drive in thrash nature. James Hetfield barks angrily over the thick instrumental, as to be expected from a good 'Tallica track. The bridge features a short tremolo solo that wildly flails atop the big riff.

That's about as much praise as you can give the track, though. It's not terrible, but as a whole, just uneventful. After the hype of the intro comes a big riff... that repeats for the entire song. The solo doesn't help much, because its just flailing all over the frets. Hetfield sounds very underwhelming in the scheme of the track, too, no grit to support the angry message, which is send through the words, "We're so fucked, shit out of luck / Hardwired to self-destruct". There's angst there, definitely taking them back to their roots, but without the creativity of what made old Metallica so grand and powerful. It's like a light punch - its stunning at first but you won't have any trouble brushing it off after a few moments.

Metallica's new album has a lot of potential. If they riff as big as 'Hardwired', a true metal behemoth may be on the horizon. But, if 'Hardwired' is to say anything about how creative they were, there may be a flop. Let's see how this one plays out - and hope it's not as bad as the cover art for this single. We'll be waiting, Lars.

Rating: 55 / 100