SINOCENCE – No Gods, No Masters Vol. 1

SINOCENCEHaving been slowly building a name for themselves via a couple of independent releases and live shows, it is with ‘No Gods, No Masters Vol 1.’ Northern Irish metal band Sinocence really come into their own.  You will have heard their many classic metal and alternative metal influences previously, but this band pull those influences together in a fashion that still makes their chosen sub-genre sound sharp and invigorating.

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SLAVE ZERO – Disambiguated Visionary

Slave ZeroLet’s not pretend here: along with ‘Abandon All Life’ by Nails, this is undoubtedly one of 2013’s heaviest releases. But then, we had been warned: prior to Slave Zero dropping this fifth offering, vocalist Graham V. Flynn claimed ‘Disambiguated Victory’ to be “heavy, unrelenting and unpredictable”.  It is certainly all of those things.   It’s also a brief lesson in how to make an intensely technical death metal record – one which branches out a little further with each passing track – but naturally, it won’t be to everyone’s tastes.

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AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE – Shoot EP

AHC Shoot EPUS hardcore/industrial metal outfit American Head Charge made a few waves with their 2001 album ‘The War of Art’, released on the American Records label [original home to The Beastie Boys and Black Crowes, sometime home to the legendary Johnny Cash and metal titans Slayer].  It’s opening barrage of tunes hit like a concrete hammer, while the shouty, uncompromising and scratchy vocals from Cameron Heacock bore a resemblance to Sick of it All’s Lou Koller (circa 1998).  A great combination of tough musicianship and hard-hitting material proved a winning combination…and then the band disappeared for four years.  Perhaps this was a little longer than they should have been away, since by the arrival of 2004’s ‘The Feeding’, the band were reported suffering from internal problems.  Not long after, they were missing, presumed gone forever.

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