SparkleDrivenFairytale Releases Debut Track From Upcoming EP

It's been a long time coming. Alternative rockers,SparkleDrivenFairytale, releases one of their upcoming tracks online. It will be a good 6 minutes spent.

Catch the intensity here:

Last Lullaby goes from really familiar ground to a very nice build up at the 5.18 mark really made the song for me. And I can't help but notice all the ambient guitar work that's twirling and swirling at the back really creates intensity and depth for an otherwise pretty generic alternative rock affair. Definitely worth checking out if you're sick of masturbating guitar wannabes and wanna hear some proper songwriting.

When you're done crying from all the heartbreak this song serves you on a platter, take some time to check these hardworking dudes on their facebook page: www.facebook.com/sparkledrivenfairytale

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Simon Yong - Alien Stole My Whiskey

I'm not so much of an expert on guitar albums. So I won't draw any comparisons to any other solo guitarists throughout this review.

In fact, I think I won't be able to, because Alien Stole My Whiskey is such an enjoyable album that it stands on its own just by sheer energy and creativity.

From the get go, Alien invites the listener with the enticing Blood of Raven. Calm and collected, almost ambient. It's obvious that it is just aural foreplay for the next track which is a total firecracker.

An Ancient March With The King's Pipers is an epic instrumental piece. Mixing all sorts of instrumentation and effects, Alien Stole My Whiskey is far more than just a guitar wankery showcase. In keeping up with the theme of continuity of the album, Seismic Waves picks up where Ancient March left off. Exploding with an intro riff and sweeps you off your feet with its melodic goodness.


Tracklist:
  1. Blood of Raven
  2. An Ancient March With The King's Pipers
  3. Seismic Waves
  4. Listen To The Sun
  5. Namibian Waltz
  6. The Gardener
  7. Kyra
  8. Alien Stole My Whiskey
  9. Blood of Raven (Reprise)

Violins, keyboards, pianos, drums and bass plays almost the same level of prominence on this album as guitar. Each having a beautiful spot in the mix to blend and weave a blanket of sound. Seismic Waves, The Gardener  and Listen To The Sun are perfect examples of the aforementioned fusion of instruments. Melodic and precise, Simon Yong knows what he is good at and takes no time to flaunt it.

As enjoyable as this album is, Kyra got me bored after all the flexing in the album. It does serve its purpose to show the more delicate side of Simon's chops but it feels abit disjointed from the overall theme that seemed to be going on with the rest of the album. And the fact that this sounds like the obligatory track that every solo guitarist album has to have, has got me neither amazed nor disappointed about it. In short, too typical and breaks the flow of an otherwise intense album of riffs and build ups.


Alien is an amazing guitar album that deserves to be listened to by guitar enthusiasts as well as music lovers alike. The songwriting keeps you glued from start to finish and the musical prowess of everyone on the album maintains a level of badassery that many wished they possess. Sure, there are rough edges here and there, and it could have been made better but it also makes Alien a far more personal album by bearing its flaws.

5 out of 7 Sins
Pros: Brilliant musicianship and composition, seamless fusion of instruments
Cons: Album could be longer, Kyra is a wet blanket, wish Blood of Raven was a full song rather than a filler

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AFI Is Back!

It seems like forever since the band's last release in 2009. Crash Love didn't make much of an impact as Sing The Sorrow (2003) and Decemberunderground (2006) did. Furthermore, the band's vocalist, Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget were busy with their Electro side-project, Blaqk Audio. Adding to that, Havok also starred in a film (Knife Fight) and wrote a novel (Pop Kids). Yes. The band members just can't stop doing something. That leads us here with two of their latest singles, 17 Crimes and I Hope You Suffer.

Hunter Burgan, Davey Havok, Adam Carson & Jade Puget
Burials, AFI's ninth full-length album, will be released later this year and with two singles already out on iTunes and streaming everywhere on the internet, AFI has certainly promised the fans that they are seriously back.

17 Crimes did not come across as something attractive at first but it grows on you... like a parasite (which you wouldn't want to let go). It might sound like something from Crash Love at first but once you get hooked in, it can safely be included in Sing The Sorrow's B-sides. Truth be told, AFI will never go back to its roots. They keep evolving and discovering new avenues of creativity.

Listen to 17 Crimes:



I Hope You Suffer is by far the most different AFI has ever been. Though some may say that it draws influence from Decemberground because of its electronic sounds, it does draw some new industrial-like influences into it. When I say different, I didn't mean it as an entirely new band. You can't miss Havok's seductive vocal intro leading into an aggressive chorus. Other than that, the signature AFI gang vocals at the bridge of the track reminds us that this is the same band we've grown to love.

Personally, I'm in love with this track. It's a sound that they have never done before but still retains the core AFI sound. Adam Carson really hit it right in this one with the intense drumline that pretty much carries the song from start to end.

Don't take my word for it, listen to the I Hope You Suffer and you'll understand:



Burials will be available on October 22, newly signed under an urban label, Republic Records.

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New Track From Russian Circles

2 years. That's all it always took for Chicago-based instrumentalists, Russian Circles, to premiere a beast track. They have always been consistent in delivering new material since their debut, Enter, back in 2006. Every single album seems to have its own thematic feel and character.


Deficit is a monster mash of everything Russian Circles. Long, exaggerated feedbacks, heavy drum beats, haunting synths that seem to just weave in and out of the intensity, riffs that seem to speak their own beautiful language and no vocals. Everything is spot on in this track, the production of the track sounds way better than anything from Empros and I can only expect great things coming from Memorial (out October 29).

Listen to Deficit here:

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