A Chronological History of my Music Library

It's a double release day, and they're both new bands! Another band joins my library when Parkway Drive released their debut EP "Don't Close Your Eyes" on June 1 2004. But who is Parkway Drive? They are a five-piece metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia consisting of lead singer Winston McCall, lead guitarist Jeff Ling, rhythm guitarist Luke Kilpatrick, bassist Brett Versteeg and drummer Ben Gordon. Parkway Drive play a pretty heavy style, even for metalcore, with lots of hard-hitting breakdowns, plenty of fast and crazy metal and McCall bringing some extreme vocals at both ends of the spectrum. Let's see what these surfer-metalheads are all about! The albuk begins with a song just called "..." and it's just a woman repeating "I don't wanna die", starting with a whisper and ending with a high shrill yell. A weird little intro before we reach the first real song "Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em" and now ...

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when Misery Signals released their debut album "Of Malice And The Magnum Heart" on June 1, 2004. But who is Misery Signals? They are a five-piece with both Canadian and American members, but formed in Wisconsin and are one of the first bands to play progressive metalcore! They consist of lead singer Jesse Zaraska, lead guitarist Ryan Morgan and his brother, drummer Branden Morgan, rhythm guitarist Stuart Ross and bassist Kyle Johnson. Misery Signals combine the heaviness of metalcore with the smooth segues and longer songs of prog and given that, who better to produce them than Devin Townsend! I can't wait to hear what these guys sound like, let's dive in!  The album kicks off with a short intro track called "A Victim, A Target" and it's got some fairly basic guitars keeping the pace while Branden plays a cool drum beat in the background. Zaraska comes in and shows us his epic screaming style that ...

Two weeks after my last release and almost three years since their last album "Iowa", Slipknot released their third album "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" on May 25, 2004. Slipknot still have that crazy nu-metal energy, but they also show some different faces on this album, including guitar solos, acoustic guitars and Corey Taylor singing a lot more (while of course still screaming plenty). Let's see what the latest from Slipknot has to offer! The album fittingly starts with "Prelude 3.0" and Craig Jones plays some trippy, distorted keyboards to start us off. Chris Fehn adds a cool light drum beat and one of the guitarists (could be lead Jim Root or rhythm Mick Thomson) plays a light guitar riff and this all combines for an atypical but trippy and interesting opener. Taylor eventually comes in with some quiet singing that is almost talking and after a minute and a half things finally get Louder with the other guitarist coming in and Joey Jordison addi...

It's a double release day! Two years since their last album "Alive Or Just Breathing", Killswitch Engage released their third album "The End Of Heartache" on May 11, 2004. Killswitch have some major line-up changes since last album, starting with the departure of lead singer Jesse Leach. Leach is a pretty awesome screamer, a decent singer, but most certainly a transformational one that will be missed for sure. He is replaced by new singer Howard Jones and he also is a great screamer, while being a better singer! Also, Killswitch expands to a five-piece as Joel Stroetzel goes from all guitars to just rhythm guitar and the lead guitar is now played by Adam Dutkiewicz, their drummer! That's a drastic shift I've never seen before: drummer to lead guitarist! Justin Foley joins the band as their new drummer and this is quite the different look now! Killswitch are definitely still metalcore, but they lean more melodic and radio-friendly on this album. Let's...

Three weeks after my last release and just 15 months since their debut "Valley Of The Damned", DragonForce released their second album "Sonic Firestorm" on May 11, 2004. DragonForce have a completely new rhythm section on this album as original bassist Diccon Harper and original drummer Didier Almouzni are both no longer with the band. Replacing them is new bassist Adrian Lambert and new drummer Dave Mackintosh but they don't let a new rhythm section slow them down as DragonForce continue with their super speedy, power metal style. Let's see how the latest sounds! The album kicks off with "My Spirit Will Go On" and one of Herman Li or Sam Totman starts us off with a pretty epic guitar riff. The other guitarist comes in shortly after with a nice chugging and fast riff and Mackintosh and Lambert join in and do a nice job aiding with the build-up before they finally slam into a typical(ly sweet) main riff that is super fast and of course pretty damn e...

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and just a year since "The Blessed Hellride", Black Label Society released their fifth album "Hangover Music Vol. VI" on April 20, 2004. For the first time on a BLS album Zakk Wylde gets some help on bass with James LoMenzo playing about half the songs, John DeServio playing bass on four songs and even one song with Mike Inez from Alice In Chains! This album is unlike any other BLS album in that it's largely acoustic based, but not entirely. There are still your expected electric guitar solos, but most songs have either an acoustic guitar or piano base to them. Let's check out the softer side to BLS! The album begins with the song featuring Inez and it's called "Crazy Or High". Zakk leads the way with a cool acoustic riff that has some nice faster bits to it and he also overlays some slow, epic electric guitar overtop. Wylde sings a soft verse that nicely matches the mood and he ...