100-Word Reviews: New Era (Pt. 1)

now playing: Heavenly - Lust for Life

When I first discovered a few tracks by Derdian in 2006, I was excited because I'd never heard Italian power metal before. I'm sad to say that the rest of their 2005 debut New Era (Pt. 1) almost makes me wish I'd kept on not hearing it. The entire thing suffers from lack of production value. The keyboard sounds like an 8-bit MIDI, and not in the cool Anamanaguchi way. The choirs lack power. "Eternal Light" is a pretty solid track, but it still sounds weak. You can check out their MySpace, but I would recommend against buying the album.

100-Word Reviews: Beyond the Obvious

now playing: Murder By Death - That Crown Don't Make You a Prince

I have a love-hate relationship with Lockport-based Jinxed's only album, Beyond the Obvious (2004, One Eleven Records). It has some of the best lyrics I've ever heard in its genre, including the only song I know of to use "iniquities" in a chorus, but the instrumentation might as well be interchangeable. Though the songs are simple, there's a twinge of Take This to Your Grave-era Fall Out Boy that keeps me coming back. The band dropped their drummer, reformed as Mariday, and are still making songs today, but I definitely prefer Jinxed's sound. Pick up Beyond the Obvious on Amazon.

100-Word Reviews: ZOMBIES! ALIENS! VAMPIRES! DINOSAURS!

now playing: hellogoodbye - Baby, It's Fact

This is the way May begins; not with a bang but a whimper. I really dropped the ball on this one, guys. I've been feeling ill lately (I'm pretty sure it's not swine flu), and that's compounded by the new job I just started (not music-related in the slightest) that's giving me hours wherein if I'm not working, I'm sleeping. I am still working on the Bamboozle review, slowly but surely; I hope to have that up by Wednesday or Thursday. Let's try to get things rolling again with a 100-Word Review.

hellogoodbye's ZOMBIES! ALIENS! VAMPIRES! DINOSAURS! is both the best-titled and the cutest album I've ever reviewed. Not "cute" like Cute is What We Aim For; legitimately adorable. From track one straight through to track eleven, every song is a catchy little ditty that could easily be used to describe any number of young love scenarios. Swinging back and forth between upbeat dance and slow ballad, the songs on this album show that hellogoodbye had a good thing going. The keyboardist and drummer split in late 2008, leaving founder Forrest Kline stranded, but far from hopeless. Check it all out here.

100-Word Reviews: Heart Full of Fire

now playing: Brother Firetribe - Who Will You Run To Now?

Well, that took a little longer than I would have liked! But I am back 100% now, and don't think my triumphant return will only be heralded by a paltry 100-Word Review (even if today's selection is pretty great). Keep your eyes on this blog tonight for part one in my four-night review of Coheed & Cambria's live opus Neverender.

The unusually-named Brother Firetribe, side project of Nightwish's Erno Vuorinen, play what they call "tennis metal", which apparently means "as 80s as possible". Heart Full of Fire, released in 2008, wastes no time in showing all the best 80s cliches in one massive sonic blow to the head. Even though their songs would stand perfectly well in that decade on their own, that didn't stop them from covering Mike Reno's "Chasing the Angels" as icing on the neon zebra-print cake. Unfortunately, it covers the bad cliches, too; the overproduction makes the album sound overall overwhelming. Still, it's solid, feel-good metal.

100-Word Reviews: Light From Above

now playing: Odd Zero - Admire the Liar

Florida's Black Tide, showing some clear inspiration from Iron Maiden, put out Light From Above in 2008. This is another band that got a lot of their popularity from Rock Band; "Shockwave" and "Warriors of Time" are face-meltingly difficult on guitar and laden with more solos than I know what to do with. The whole album, save the cover of Metallica's "Hit the Lights", is like this, combining blistering guitar with thunderous drums and rumbling bass all over clean vocals that make you wonder just where these guys have been. Black Tide is playing Warped this summer; get tickets today.

100-Word Reviews: Bang Camaro

now playing: Taxpayer - Creatures of Habit

Boston-based Bang Camaro are the cockiest of cock rock and I love them for everything they do. With 22 members, 70% of them vocalists, it's hard to take a step in Boston and not run into a band associated with them. But I think my favorite part is their touring policy: If you're in town and know the songs, you can rock on stage as a member of Bang Camaro. I got to see a performance with a smaller cast at the Rock Band release party back in 2007; it rocked my face off. I suggest you do the same.

100-Word Reviews: Falconer

now playing: Falconer - The Past Still Lives On

200 pixels does not do the album art justice for Swedish power/folk metal band Falconer's 2001 self-titled debut. This would be a great album to experience live just to sing along with the band in songs like "The Lord of the Blacksmiths" and "Heresy in Disguise". The Swedish bonus track, "Per Tyrssons Döttrar I Vänge", brings the folk elements to the forefront. While not every song on this album shines, its hard-hitting riffs and booming double bass, coupled with the use of an anvil as an instrument, make for an incredibly strong example of what power metal can really be.

100-Word Reviews: Vampires

now playing: Coheed & Cambria - Welcome Home (Live at Neverender)

One thing before today's 100-Word Review: There's a review proper in the pipelines. You see, Coheed & Cambria's live magnum opus, Neverender, dropped today. And I've been waiting for it for quite some time. So keep your eyes open for that.

Switzerland's DJ Bobo is a unique person, probably most famous for his song "Chihuahua", used in a modified form for the trailer to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. This album is a dance-pop concept album about a vampire in love with a human, or maybe an angel; I'm not quite clear on that. "Vampires Are Alive" was his entry in 2007's Eurovision; he got a lot of ridicule for that, but I disagree. This album is a fun little distraction. I still spin it up whenever I want to dance or just goof off. Musically, it's not much. But it's definitely fun.

100-Word Reviews: Orchids and Ammunition

now playing: Depeche Mode - Stripped

Most of us know San Francisco's Drist from Guitar Hero; "Decontrol" and "Arterial Black" were featured as bonus songs. Both songs come from Orchids and Ammunition, which is sadly a middle-of-the-road album. Most of the strong tracks come in the first half. The rest of the album, helped by 13 minutes of guitar feedback at the end, spoils the experience for me. I do like their cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" (possibly better than the original), and the prominence of guitar solos is a plus. I hope Science of Misuse, due out in the next couple months, impresses me more.

100-Word Reviews: Voxtrot

now playing: Styx - Renegade

In an effort to get me off my ass and start posting some more, I'm pleased to announce a new feature of Ombrophilia: 100-Word Reviews. I hope to post a couple of these each week. Albums reviewed in this fashion will be those that I enjoy, but they're a bit too far in the "old news" file to devote a full review to. (Cut me some slack; I'm still working on climbing to the cusp of new music.) But anyway. The first 100-Word Review coming at you is Austin, TX indie band Voxtrot's 2007 self-titled album.

A lot of the songs on this album are cute, and that is really the best word for it. The album is infectiously poppy ("Stephen") while retaining the indie aesthetic ("Every Day"). A sprinkling of piano, tom-heavy drumbeats, and strong bass lines blend with electronic sound effects and skillfully simplistic guitar to create a solid bunch of songs that should honestly be more popular than they are. It’s like the Sounds and the Sterns got together and had a kid that only got the best genes. Voxtrot is playing two reunion shows at SXSW this week if you're interested.