Emmure
Straight from Queens, New York bruisers Emmure have been pulverising audiences with their brand of hardcore/metal since their inception in 2003. With a string of successful tours on this side of the Atlantic over the past couple of years (more recently their impressive stint on last year's Never Say Die Tour with Parkway Drive), they'll return to these shores in May on the 'Mosh Lives' tour to promote their current release 'Speaker Of The Dead'.
Expectations for this - their forth album - have been mixed if chatter around the internet is to be believed. The bands previous offering, 2009's 'Felony' appears to have split their fanbase, with older fans almost shunning the album in favour of 2007's 'Goodbye To The Gallows' and 2008's 'The Respect Issue', classing it as almost Nu-Metal.
On the other side of the coin newer fans lapped it up, and lap it up they did. 'Felony' debuted at #60 on the Billboard Top 200 selling roughly 8,000 copies in its first week in the US. This might not come across as a staggering amount to some, but in an industry dominated by pop idols and the like, for a band of Emmure's calibre this is a big deal.
Previous albums aside, the real question is this; "Is 'Speaker Of the Dead' any good?"
The answer is yes, very much so!
Album opener 'Children Of Cybertron' sets us off with the heavy breakdowns that Emmure are now very well known for… a few tracks later and the pace has not let up a single bit, as the albums blasts through first single 'Demons With Ryu' and current video favourite 'Solar Flare Homicide', the latter a seriously aggressive ode to revenge and suffering.
As you verge into the second half of the record, you find yourself greeted by the almost Southern rock intro of 'Bohemian Grove', just one of the albums many highlights. 'Last Words To Rose' is another impressive number, enriched in the melody and style that made debut album 'Goodbye To The Gallows' a firm favourite with fans.
Still not losing momentum, the album powers through the final third with the same vigorous pace as the rest, the only slight disappointment being album closer 'Word Of Intulo', a chugging one-riffed snippet of a song that comes across as an unnecessary filler; as heavy as it is, it's a bit of a cop out compared to the rest of the album.
As far as musicianship goes, Emmure are starting to really hone their capabilities, tey sound like a band that are finally settled with each other as musicians, and this comes across in the maturity of the album compared to previous efforts. Vocally, this is probably Frankie Palmeri's finest work to date. Sure, the standard bitterness and betrayal towards the opposite sex that he's know for still remains - albeit not as blatant in places - but it's his delivery and range that impresses, going from his trademark half-talked singing to earth shaking scream in the blink of an eye.
Overall 'Speaker Of The Dead' is a welcome return to form for Emmure. Of course, with every band there'll be the diehard fans that will instantly say it's not as good as their debut, but this will certainly give it a run for it's money.
Verdict: 4/5
Stand-out tracks: 'Solar Flare Homicide', 'Bohemian Grove', '4 Poisons 3 Words', 'Last Words To Rose', 'My Name Is Thanos'
Andi Conway