A Chronological History of my Music Library

A week after my last release and just under three years since "The Interzone Mantras", The Tea Party released their seventh album "Seven Circles" on August 17, 2004. The Tea Party continue to play their unique blend of world music and hard rock, but this album has a lighter, more positive vibe with less of the dark themes and styles seen in their previous works. Not sure how I feel about that, but let's not judge before we listen! The album kicks off with it's lead single "Writing's On The Wall" and right away Jeff Martin is cueing up the main riff and once the rhythm section comes slamming in we have quite a heavy and cool main riff with some catchy and cool guitar by Martin driving things. Martin sings a loud and epic verse that matches the mood pretty nicely and things quickly move into the hard-hitting and pretty catchy chorus with Martin sounding pretty good on guitar and vocals. This is a short and slightly repetitive song, but it's h...

On the same day as my last release and just 16 months since their last album "Revolutions Per Minute", Rise Against released their third album "Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" on August 10, 2004. With their third album comes their third lead guitarist as well as Todd Mohney isn't around for long and is replaced by Chris Chasse. This was Rise Against's major label debut and with that comes a slightly more pop-y and radio-friendly vibe, but these guys are still largely punk rockers. Let's check out their latest! The album kicks off with "State Of The Union" and it just might be my favourite song by Rise Against! They jump right into a hard-hitting and heavy main riff with Chasse playing some cool guitar and Tim McIlrath screams this whole song, and he sounds great doing it! Tim usually keeps the screaming to shorter bursts, but he sounds super heavy and awesome screaming the whole verse and chorus! After a couple fantastic rounds they even bre...

Three weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when Alter Bridge released their debut album "One Day Remains" on August 10, 2004. But who is Alter Bridge? They are a four-piece alternative rock/metal band from Orlando, Florida and they are 3/4 of Creed! Creed recently broke up as singer Scott Stapp battled addiction and the relationship between him and the rest of the band deteriorated. The rest of Creed (guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips) formed a new band called Alter Bridge with new lead singer Myles Kennedy. Alter Bridge plays a similar style of rock as Creed, but they are definitely a bit heavier with some songs balancing the line between rock and metal. Let's see what Alter Bridge is all about! The album kicks off with "Find The Real" and they dive right into a pretty heavy and cool main riff with Tremonti leading the way with some pretty sweet heavy guitar. We hear Kennedy for the first time and he h...

A week after my last release and a very long five years since their debut "Calculating Infinity", The Dillinger Escape Plan finally released their second album "Miss Machine" on July 20, 2004. On their debut lead guitarist Ben Weinman also played the bass, but Dillinger expand to a five-piece on this album with Liam Wilson joining as their new bassist. There's also a big change as lead singer Dimitri Minakakis is no longer with the band and he is replaced by Greg Puciato. This album is much more varied in style and more experimental than their straight mathcore first album and with Puciato in the fold there is also singing now mixed in with the screaming we've come to expect. This is a lot of change for Dillinger that results in an album that almost sounds like a completely different band! Let's check it out! The album kicks off with "Panasonic Youth" and we hear Puciato right away as he screams sharply overtop some typically erratic and offbea...

On the same day as my last release and two years since their last album "Nothing", Meshuggah released an EP titled "I" on July 13, 2004. This EP is just one song, and it's exactly 21 minutes long! It's in the same organized chaotic style that Meshuggah are known for, but they've never recorded a song this long before. Let's see how prog-y Meshuggah can be! The only song on the EP is the 21 minute title track "I" and they dive right into a super speedy, almost thrash-y riff with Tomas Haake playing some sweet fast drums and Fredrik Thordendal and Marten Hagstrom syncing up for some slightly offbeat guitar that is pretty impressive that the two of them can stay synchronized in this odd time signature. Jens Kidman eventually comes in with one hell of a long, high scream that sounds super impressive! Then they snap into a "typical" Meshuggah main riff with Kidman yelling overtop of some hard-hitting and heavy guitars. They shift smoot...

Two weeks after my last release and two years since their debut "...And Life Is Very Long", The Acacia Strain released their second album "3750" on July 13, 2004. Bassist Karrie Whitfield is no longer with the band and he is not replaced as lead guitarist Daniel Laskiewicz also plays bass on this record and they reduce to a five-piece. The Acacia Strain are still playing the same super heavy style of metal as their debut, let's check out the latest! The album begins with a short song called "Carbomb" and after some indistinct chatter they slam very heavily into a pretty brutal breakdown that hits HARD! Laskiewicz's guitar sounds super heavy and awesome and Vincent Bennett's screams sound even clearer and heavier than last album! This song is only 1:17 long, but it's a fantastic way to kick things off! Up next is "Brown Noise" and it's got another super heavy, but this time pretty simple, main riff driving things and Bennett co...