Title: THE MORNING AFTER - You Can't Hurt Steel
Description: THE MORNING AFTER - You Can't Hurt Steel
Description: THE MORNING AFTER - You Can't Hurt Steel
metal4life - July 21, 2009 07:31 PM (GMT)
THE MORNING AFTER
You Can't Hurt Steel
Rising 2009
And so it continues folks..you see it seems everyone loves 80s hair metal again now. Where were they in the 90s when this style of music was getting shat on from a very great height? I mustn't be cynical but this NWOHM (New Wave of Hair Metal) is starting to wear a little thin on this particular reviewer. Not to say I don't like some of the music being played and the sentiments but these bands are popping up left right and centre. I suppose it's better than metalcore though.
However this brings me on to TMA which happen to be a young band mixing Metalcore and Stadium Hair Metal to invent Glampowercore if you like. Now I am not the greatest fan of glam ever and I hate metalcore pretty much and so to mix the styles should be pretty much a match made in hell as far as I'm concerned. However I will concentrate the review solely on the songs on offer.
The band's guitarists show commendable talent for old school riffing and melodies and this manifest's itself immediately in the opening number. However the "oh oh" metalcore elements soon rear their collective ugly heads and I'm left with a screwed up face again after having a grin to begin with. These bastions of my pain are the useless metalcore howls and the pointless thud thud, flow breaking breakdowns which invade almost every song. The clean vocals whilst not really great are ok and can carry a melody, but it's the guitar shredding which is most impressive in this band. These boys have practiced hard on their guitars and know their way round a scale or two.
The choruses are somewhat catchy punctuated by manly Crue style gang shout-outs which add a muscular feel. I guess this band is trying to teach the kids of today that it's ok to play with melody and have long fluid guitar solos without being corny or dated and yet they still cater to those same kids by including some of the aspects that they are fully well used to such as screams and other regular core elements. However where does this leave the older boring farts like yours truly? We either have to like it or lump it I guess. TMA make no bones about it really. They do what they do pretty well with a large portion of great old school melodic shredding and one foot firmly in today's modern metalcore scene.
The problem is I am not sure if either camp is really able to handle it to be honest. The old fart brigade will be appalled at the elements I've already mentioned and the kids will take some winning over although having said that a band like Dragonforce has a fan base predominantly around the 16-20 year old mark and even I like them thanks to having no core elements so there is hope for TMA.
Finally I will once again say that the guitar playing on this album is very good and can stand up to the young shredders of today. The songs are not bad and fairly catchy but could do with a little more in the way of substance. They sound a touch throwaway at times. The production is also very much up to par and affords the band enough power and clarity to shine in today's scene. A reasonable effort and if you enjoy bands like Dragonforce, Children of Bodom and Bring Me the Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine then The Morning After will sit quite well with you.
© Pirage Forsi
Rating *** (3.0/5.0)
Download @ Amazon
You Can't Hurt Steel
Rising 2009
And so it continues folks..you see it seems everyone loves 80s hair metal again now. Where were they in the 90s when this style of music was getting shat on from a very great height? I mustn't be cynical but this NWOHM (New Wave of Hair Metal) is starting to wear a little thin on this particular reviewer. Not to say I don't like some of the music being played and the sentiments but these bands are popping up left right and centre. I suppose it's better than metalcore though.
However this brings me on to TMA which happen to be a young band mixing Metalcore and Stadium Hair Metal to invent Glampowercore if you like. Now I am not the greatest fan of glam ever and I hate metalcore pretty much and so to mix the styles should be pretty much a match made in hell as far as I'm concerned. However I will concentrate the review solely on the songs on offer.
The band's guitarists show commendable talent for old school riffing and melodies and this manifest's itself immediately in the opening number. However the "oh oh" metalcore elements soon rear their collective ugly heads and I'm left with a screwed up face again after having a grin to begin with. These bastions of my pain are the useless metalcore howls and the pointless thud thud, flow breaking breakdowns which invade almost every song. The clean vocals whilst not really great are ok and can carry a melody, but it's the guitar shredding which is most impressive in this band. These boys have practiced hard on their guitars and know their way round a scale or two.
The choruses are somewhat catchy punctuated by manly Crue style gang shout-outs which add a muscular feel. I guess this band is trying to teach the kids of today that it's ok to play with melody and have long fluid guitar solos without being corny or dated and yet they still cater to those same kids by including some of the aspects that they are fully well used to such as screams and other regular core elements. However where does this leave the older boring farts like yours truly? We either have to like it or lump it I guess. TMA make no bones about it really. They do what they do pretty well with a large portion of great old school melodic shredding and one foot firmly in today's modern metalcore scene.
The problem is I am not sure if either camp is really able to handle it to be honest. The old fart brigade will be appalled at the elements I've already mentioned and the kids will take some winning over although having said that a band like Dragonforce has a fan base predominantly around the 16-20 year old mark and even I like them thanks to having no core elements so there is hope for TMA.
Finally I will once again say that the guitar playing on this album is very good and can stand up to the young shredders of today. The songs are not bad and fairly catchy but could do with a little more in the way of substance. They sound a touch throwaway at times. The production is also very much up to par and affords the band enough power and clarity to shine in today's scene. A reasonable effort and if you enjoy bands like Dragonforce, Children of Bodom and Bring Me the Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine then The Morning After will sit quite well with you.
© Pirage Forsi
Rating *** (3.0/5.0)
Download @ Amazon