theworldinfernofriendshipsociety Blog and Journals

Much laboring has come with this blog, mostly because, for once, I actually had a difficult time choosing only 10 albums. For me, this has been a stellar year for music: new sounds, familiar melodies, and many albums that I've poured my heart into whilst listening to. Hell, I couldn't even arrange the top 6 albums into any sort of logical order because, at one time or another, each was the best album of 2006.  But I've narrowed them all down to just 10 (such a succinct number!) in order to both share my musical tastes and to recommend new music to you.

Enjoy. The countdown begins!

#10: Ambitions - Question EP

I heard Matt Fox (Shai Hulud) had a new project and I immediately jumped on. Zombie Apocalypse had proven to be glorious on many levels (speed, complexity, and zombie subject matter), so the thought that he was possibly penning more music was exciting.

But even before I first gave this EP a listen, I found out that Fox just played for Ambitions live. Hmmm. My expectations lowered (unfairly) and that made this 7 song EP that much better when I heard.

Question is full of melody, speed, and passion. My first thought after spinning it a few times was, "Holy shit, this sounds like Dag Nasty. But better." Blasphemous, I know, especially since the Dag means so much to me. But it's hard to refute this: the layered melodic vocals, combined with nifty guitar work keeps this EP interesting (and fun!) and seems to build upon the melodic hardcore sound Dag Nasty perfected in the late 80s. Vocalist Jay C. does seem to remind me of Dave Smalley, but his voice is stronger, more refined, and hot damn, if he can't hit some sah-weet high notes.

Check it out if you like catchy-as-hell punk rock with a punch. I'm excited to hear more from these guys.

#9: Much The Same - Survive


I heard Much The Same's song "Wish" on some comp not too long ago; the band's uncanny resemblance to Millencollin initially piqued my interest. While their debut album, Quitters Never Win, was a fairly solid melodic punk outing, this year's Survive crushes it like a steamroller.

The Millencolin resemblance has dwindled, as vocalist/guitarist Gunner McGrath's voice is truly what excels on this album; it's clear, strong, and his range is impressive. This is evident in the opening track, "Betrayal," which alternates between hardcore-influenced heaviness and Bad Religion-toned melody. In a scene where too many "punk" bands sing and the intensity is lost, it's refreshing to listen to a band who can still pen a fast and furious song that has you singing along with it at the same time. Hell, this album makes me want to grab my deck and hit the streets. So I assure you this is a great skate album.

Check out the Dag Nasty-esque "American Idle," about the regret one feels upon realizing that political apathy does effect other people. (Note: Dag Nasty sound-alikes will abound in this blog. Fuck you. I love them.) The song opens with a thrashy muted riff and sets the pace for the rest of the song. "But to my dismay, I still feel responsible," Gunner sings, amidst melodic guitars and group vocals. "Didn't take my duty seriously, and now this feeling won't go away." He hits a high note before the songs jumps into a catchy solo, leading way to a breakdown that actually isn't any slower than the rest of the song. (A wonderful writing feat, for sure.)

At times, some of the lyrics felt a bit awkward (See: "For Those Left Behind"), but themes of betrayal, friendship, political responsibility, and hopefulness carry the melodic punk well. The two highlights of the album sit back to back in the second half: The one minute, nine second hardcore, "Living a Lie," which flows right into one of my favorite songs of the year: "Stitches." The latter addresses someone's lack of self esteem over lightning-fast leads and a driving rhythm section. (Short songs rule, ok?) "Stitches" has everything I like about melodic punk rock: Speed, tempo changes, catchy vocals, and the inspiration to tear shit up. I normally don't like drop-tuned tracks, but, much like the rest of the album, the band knows how to arrange songs and chords to not sound so processed. (Drop D tuning tends to imply a shitty band. See: nu-metal)

Get into this album. If you like Lagwagon, No Use For a Name, and Millencollin, this shit is golden.

#8: The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red Eyed Soul


This is, easily, the best band you've never heard of. (Unless you're of the Freakpowertix persuasion!) One of the most entertaining live shows I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing, the band is truly unclassifiable. (It's true. That's what my iTunes tells me.)

How do I describe this wonderful group to you? It's a punk cabaret. It's jazz, swing, and everything happy and amazing about music. This is music that is both passionate and technically creative.

What? Still don't get? Let's start at the beginning. The drums for "Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater" begin to pound. Feel those skins rumbling? A guitar line, a pick scrape, and then the party comes. Full group vocals. Horns. It's a dance party, we're all smashed, and goddamn if everyone doesn't look absolutely gorgeous! This is punk rock like you've never heard it.

"The Velocity of Love" is slower yet just as grandiose. Jack Terrycloth croons to us about this circus of love and relationships. And is that an accordian in "Your Younger Man"? What the hell is this?

This is what you've been missing out on. The most subversive band in punk rock (they actually practice what they preach!) has been hiding out on the east coast for years now. So what are you doing sitting on your ass in front of a computer? Get out and find a way to get this album so that you, too, will soon know that "Only Anarchists Are Pretty."

It's true. Really.

#7: Mastodon - Blood Mountain


It took me a few months to fully get into Mastodon's previous release, the epic Leviathan. (And yes, it was about Moby Dick. And yes, it totally fucking slayed.) Their brand of progressive, technical metal coupled with thrash and bits of melodic death metal was almost too weird for me. (I then remembered that I listed to Fantomas and if I can willingly listen to Patton's bizarre creations, than this was child's play.)

This was not the case at all with Blood Mountain. Right off the bat, "The Wolf is Loose" lept at my throat and my attention was held rapt for the duration of this massive metal opus. The theme this time around is...well, I'll let bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders handle this one:

"It's about climbing up a mountain and the different things that can happen to you when you're stranded on a mountain, in the woods, and you're lost. You're starving, hallucinating, running into strange creatures. You're being hunted. It's about that whole struggle."

Not sold yet? Then you're missing the main element of why I've enjoyed this album so much. The band successfully molds many forms of musical expression: sludge (a la Neurosis and The Melvins), thrash (think early Slayer, mid-career Metallica, and Rust in Peace Megadeth), tech metal (such as.....fuck. I don't even know. Perhaps some of the aesthetics of Atheist and Cynic), and melodic singing. It's no coincidence that Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age guests on "Colony of Birchman." In many ways, Troy's melodic singing voice resembles him.

The first "single" (if you can even call it that), was "Crystal Skull," and what a superb choice. Opening with a melodic death metal riff, it soons spirals into heavy atmospherics, technically dual leads, shouted vocals and, midway, a terrific breakdown of pummeling riffs and catchy licks. This, in turn, leads into the spacy "Sleeping Giant," which opens with some gentle distorted arpeggios. The mood is of awe, as if in the presence of some magnificent and gentle beast. The space-rock lead that comes in at 1:10 is one of my favorite parts of the album and really highlights how terrific the musicians are in this band.

But the supreme highlight of the whole album is "Capillarian Crest," which, to me, is one of the best-executed show off songs any metal band has ever penned. (Mostly because it's a fantastic song, guitar theatrics aside.) It reminds me of "Megalodon" in the sense that it starts of slower, with heavy stacatto riffing. But this soon gives way to an awe-inspiring midsection of harmonized guitars playing at different speeds: the rhythm is playing slower notes while the lead guitar swims around open string hammer-ons and mini-sweeps. It's jaw-dropping, really; as a guitar player, it's one of those passages of music that either makes you want to practice 24/7 or give up playing guitar forever. The slower, melodic break after this goes straight to a tech-thrash session and by this time, I realize I will never write a song this supreme.

This is really the theme for the whole album. I don't skip tracks at all; the flow of the album seems so calculated and intentional; the songwriting is ace; and the vocals are unique enough to keep me interested. Metal is exciting again.

#6: None More Black - This Is Satire


Never have I been so stoked that Kid Dynamite is, as singer Jason Shevchuck has said, a dead horse.

That's entirely due to the fact that None More Black is just so fucking on it. Seriously. Have you listened to this band? Combining the best of punk rock, blues, and good ol' rock n' roll, these guys can belt out a fine tune.

A bit of a departure sound-wise from File Under Black, the band relies less on melodic speed songs and more on quality songwriting. Jason has never sounded better; I feel that he's found his voice after all these years and it's singing scruffy songs about his disillusionment with punk rock and himself. Backed by guitars and bass full of soul, it's hard to deny what an amazing record this.

I can't stress enough how much I love this album and I feel that being too wordy about it will lose my point. Get it if you like punk that's catchy, rough, and soulful.

#5: No Trigger - Canyoneer


One of two albums this year that I feel has been utterly ignored by pretty much everyone I know, I easily vote this as The Most Fun Album of 2006. (Fuck, I would love to tour with these guys so bad.)

The band plays melodic hardcore just as it should be played: Fast, loud, catchy, and with just enough of a sense of excitement that, while listening to Canyoneer, you just want to be standing front-and-center at a No Trigger show, screaming the words at the top of your lungs. As I promised, the band channels Dag Nasty (see?), Strike Anywhere, and early Rise Against. (For the record, I don't think they sound just like Strike Anywhere. I can see the resemblance to Thomas' voice, but really, they don't sound the same.)

Lyrically, the band covers a range of social, political, and personal issues (and with a good balance between the three). Tom Rheult sings with an aggressive yet melodic style; at times, his voice perfectly matches the breakneck speed of many of the verses throughout the album. However, it's when he sings choruses and bridges that I find No Trigger setting themselves apart from their contemporaries. (See: The final chorus in, "Owner Operator." SOUNDS LIKE A PARTY TO ME!)

The band is well-produced (does not mean over-produced!!!), but the credit really belongs to the songwriters, who have crafted one hell of an album. (Definitely one I'll be revisiting for years to come.) If you haven't heard this album (chances are you haven't), then do yourself a favor and find a way to grab a copy. (I recommend the vinyl version. Clear vinyl!!!!)

#4: Ignite - Our Darkest Days


This is where my list gets especially hard to organize, mostly because the top 4 albums this year were all so worthy of the #1 position. But resting here at #4 is Ignite's Our Darkest Days. It had been a while since their previous effort and when I first new material, I was lucky enough to hear the album as a whole. (Which is exactly how it should be heard!)

This is such a monumental melodic hardcore album and, in every respect, they've set the bar pretty damn high. (And not just for themselves, but for the scene as a whole.) While some people feel this album suffers from overproduction, I think Ignite has never sounded better.

The album opens with "Intro: Our Darkest Days," which feels like a faster version of the intros A.F.I. used to have on their albums: catchy and epic. It flows excellently into the first single, "Bleeding." By the time the first set of gang vocals are over, we know we're in for a new Ignite, who sound virtually nothing like they used to.

But that's a good thing! Zoli Teglas has never sounded so large and so powerful. His voice dominates the album through and through, registering vocal ranges I'd only see him pull off at shows. (And even that was a rare occurence.)

And make no mistakes: This is a hardcore album, without a doubt. The speed, the structure, the gang vocals; it's all there. Ignite just chose to manipulate the form and add a ridiculous amount of melody. Fuck, ridiculous isn't even strong enough of a word. I haven't heard a punk album this catchy since Against The Grain came out over 15 years ago.

"Let It Burn" is a perfect example. Lamenting the death of Zoli's niece to a drunk driver, the song starts with a simple, lower-range vocal line, but soon bursts into a spacious verse that has Zoli truly showing off his ability as a legitimate singer, not just some dude who yells for a punk rock band. The chorus....OH GOD. SO FUCKING CATCHY. How the hell do they do this? It all crescendos into one of my favorite breakdowns of all time. The drums and guitars mute and then burst forth in energy. LET IT BURN! the band screams, as a heavy riff brings them to LET IT BLEED! Pure hardcore bliss.

The album's highlight, though, is in "Know Your History." Perhaps one of the fastest songs the band has ever written, the insightful and clever lyrics deal with our President's inability to understand basic history. "You send the poor to fight, then praise the religious right. Sacriligeous blasphemy!" The song is brutal in it's speed and spot-on in it's vocal delivery. A classic Ignite song for sure.

The only problem I have with Our Darkest Days is the inclusion (again!) of their "Sunday Bloody Sunday" cover. It interrupts the flow between "Strength" and "Live For Better Days." BOO. TAKE IT OFF.

That being said, I pretty much feel the album is otherwise flawless. Every song brims with energy and passion. Get on it!

#3: Converge - No Heroes


The best thing Brett Gurewitz has ever done for Epitaph was sign Converge. One of my favorite hardcore/metal acts of all time, they consistently impress me, both as a musician and a human being. Mr. Brett should be proud to have released this album.

I enjoyed You Fail Me, but it certainly didn't come close to being better than Jane Doe. But, as blasphemous as this may be, I think No Heroes did it. Yeah. I think I like it more.

I know. I know. Heresy. But hopefully this will explain why.

The album opens with four tracks that all clock in at under two minutes. Very odd for a Converge album, but holy hell, does it work. The first 7 minutes are so intensely brutal that you have to shake off the feeling that you've just been bludgeoned with a musical sledgehammer. The breakdown in "Hellbound" truly is hellish; the dissonant punk chords in "Sacrifice" are terrifying behind Jake Bannon's unintelligible shrieks.

And then there is Vengeance. What. The. Hell. Quite possibly the most brutal Converge song ever written. (And less than a minute long!) Drums open to an almost grindcore-y thrash riff. And then the breakdown hits. Pure double bass riff intensity. And then it's over and you wonder what you've just been witness to.

There's a perfectly timed instrumently break after this ("Weight of the World"), which flows right into the metallic "No Heroes." The "single" for the album, the song showcases Kurt Ballou's chops and interesting guitar riffs. Combining an alternate heaviness with some great high-end riffs, the best part is at the end when Bannon screams, "In my world of enemies, I walk alone."

The paramount of Converge's musical complexity and intensity, however, sits mid-album. The monumental opus "Grim Heart / Black Rose," feauring Jonah of Only Living Witness, is like no other Converge song in existence. It's so much more atmospheric and spacy than what we've heard before from these guys and Jonah's vocals compliment it perfectly.

I personally like the first half of the album more than the second, but the whole group of songs are a cut above their contemporaries and themselves. In many ways, I found the songs to be instantly rewarding. I didn't have to give the album 30 spins to fall in love with it. For this, I enjoy it more than Jane Doe. You should enjoy it too.

#2: Murder By Death - In Boca Al Lupo


I became obsessed with Murder By Death by complete accident over three years ago. A friend had said that if I was looking for a Pantera-influenced hardcore band, I should check out A Perfect Murder. I must have suffered from a form of temporary dyslexia, because I picked up Murder By Death's Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left of Them?

Hmm. Texas Chainsaw Massacre reference. Not bad, I thought as I popped the CD into my discman. And then I hear piano. Soft crooning. Country guitars. What the fuck?

It wasn't long before I found myself enamored with a country/folk/rock concept record about a small southwestern town runover by oil barons. I've gone through 2 copies of the album already; the band is one of my top listens on my iTunes. And boy, did I have high expectations for this album.

In Boca Al Lupo is a rough concept album about the 10 circles of hell, a topic I'd already been interested in during my study of theology in college. So, naturally, I felt that I'd atleast start off on the right foot. However, I was still completely taken by surprise by the album. First of all, it's so much more...upbeat. Who Will Survive... excelled at slow, depressing jaunts into personal demons and subjects. ("Three Men Hanging," anyone???) And when "Boy Decide" first blasted out of my speakers, I found myself scratching my head and saying, "What the hell?" Where's the lonely acoustic guitars? The mopey vocals I'd come to love?

The flamenco-influenced "One More Notch" didn't help. Neither did the pirate song, "Dead Men and Sinners." And "Brother," was almost a folk-punk song!

It wasn't until halfway through the album that it suddenly clicked. Before I even began to play, "Raw Deal," I found myself restarting the album. Holy shit. These songs were great! Hell, even better than the last album.

Those slow, depressing songs? All on the second half of the album, where singer Adam Turla seems to channel both Johnny Cash and Tom Waits.

I soon put the pieces together. Sin permeated the first half of the album; songs like "Sometimes The Line Walks You," swaggered with rock n' roll boasting. But at the halfway point, we hit punishment. "Raw Deal," the Radiohead-esque song about guilt, softens the mood. "The Big Sleep," my new favorite MBD song, combines a country-influenced guitar with Sarah Balliet's cello providing the impending doom of the characters' death by the electric chair.

The album is about creating atmospheres and this Murder By Death do extremely well. Listen to the end of "The Big Sleep," as the horns announce a steady march to death, like the soundtrack to an Ennio Morriccone film. When the instruments stop and the feedback rings out, does it not sound like a flatlined heart monitor?

"Shiola," which sounds like a long-forgotten Johnny Cash song, utilizes a single guitar to recreate an aura of loneliness; and, in the album's final moments ("The Devil Drives"), the redemptive gospel choir lifts the listener to have hope; for maybe we can all just start again.

In many ways, this album is such an intelligent progression for the band. In Boca Al Lupo is the unwritten soundtrack to a thousand films that have never existed; there's a drama to the songs and the performance, unlike any band I've heard of. This is timeless music because even when they may be singing about a time hundreds of years ago, I can still feel as if they're talking about me.

And with that, here is my favorite album of 2006....

#1: Crime In Stereo - The Troubled Stateside


What sets this album apart from the other nine I chose as my top 10 is progression. It's hard to create a wholly original and thought-provoking body of music. I find it difficult myself when I try to write songs. Too much of it sounds like something that already exists.

Crime In Stereo succeeds where so many others fail; they've created a melodic hardcore album that borrows only slightly from the past and runs confidently into the future. That is, with a sound you won't hear anywhere else.

Opening with the blistering, "Everything Changes/Nothing is Truly Lost," my immediate reaction is from the guitar tone: No one has it. Dense but not too thick with a higher-end register, it catches my attention. Kristian Hallbert's vocals were the second thing to pop out at me. Throughout the course of the minute-long intro, he sings, talk-sings, and screams, all with such seemless effort. You can detect a slight accent in his speech, but it only adds to his unique vocal style. The song itself is fast, with a small breakdown in the middle, but it's a great start to the album.

And then "Bicycles For Afghanistan" hits the stereo and you're left in shock. He can sing! At times a bit rough and sloppy and at times perfectly clear, it's like nothing you've heard before. These two songs are like a modern, progressive form of youth crew, a genre of hardcore not known for...well, progression.

This is exactly why this album stands out so much. Drawing from a variety of influences in punk rock, (Dag Nasty again hahaha, Silent Majority, Lifetime, and Embrace), the album really doesn't sound like anything that any band is doing these days.

Case in point: "Gravity Grace," addressing the poor healthcare situation in the US, is a slow, progressive "ballad." (I use that word loosely.) The reverb, the vocal melodies, the guitar riffs: none are typical punk rock and you'd never find a song like this on pretty much an album of this sort these days. The album closer, "I, Stateside," is epic like Propagandhi (and lyrically, seems to resemble that band as well). Stacatto riffs, group melodic vocals, and a long, atmospheric outro, it's easily the best song on the album and my favorite of the year.

However, the real gem of "The Troubled Stateside" is the lyrics. I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wrote lyrics that are as heartbreaking, uplifting, insightful, or subversive as those that Crime In Stereo have penned. A few highlights:

So I wanted goals. I saw all I needed was:
-a home with a view of something beautiful
-a woman that I trusted
-the friends that I grew up with

But it was asking too much for us to pray things stay in exactly the same way?
-"Bicycles For Afghanistan"

This world has other sorrows than love.
-"Bicycles For Afghanistan"

And it's not a bad life. Working 9-5, weekend gardening and cheating on your wife. But if you find yourself broken in the slow mercury of days, and have the courage for the traffic, I know a secret to escape: just be who it is they want. It's easy to find your way.

I can't help feeling like there's never enough friends or any friendly faces, just a bunch of clever ways to say "Jesus Saves'
-"Sudan"

It's safe to say there are darker things in the streets these days than kids with guns and moms on drugs, things that we don't let on. And if you're "free", then take to the city streets with your God-given speech, screaming, "Fuck the police." You can see the state getting armed for the new class war. Perpetuate divide and say that it's the law. There are blacker things living deep in all our hearts, darker things in our hearts than we let on.
-"Abre Los Ojos"

So we're all going to hell, but with one hell of a plan. Presented in folded flags, embedded in foreign sand, written upon the dead skin of a dried-up land it began: "We'll fix the fat and the ugly with incisions. We'll stash the gay and liberal up in New England. We'll keep the black and poor in (or under the constant threat of) prison. And they'll all feel blessed just for being a part of the vision..."

God please save these troubled states.
-"I, Stateside"

I know I basically just posted the whole album, but I fear taking everything out of context. Lyrically, the songs are so articulate and subversive that no one even comes close to beating these guys out for album of the year.

So check it out. It's received hundreds of plays this year and I expect to listen to it hundreds more times in the coming years.