"Escape the Fate - Ungrateful" Review by Dom

Overview: Escape the Fate make an un-great-ful album.

Ungrateful is the fourth studio album by metalcore band Escape the Fate and the third album with lead vocalist Craig Mabbit who was formerly the vocalist of Bless the Fall. This album sees the band at their heaviest since their debut Dying is Your Latest Fashion with singer Ronnie Radke in 2006.

With many fans being left disappointed after 2010's self-titled album this album cranks up the heaviness for better and for worse. In some songs the heaviness seems forced and not genuine. We all know that Mabbit likes to sing like an R&B star but it doesn't always mesh well. "Live Fast, Die Beautiful" talks of how girls try to take advantage of Mabbit's fame which is fine and dandy but who considers him famous? Altpress and people up to and around the age of 20 know who he is but he could walk down a street without anyone saying something to him. "Risk it All" is an interesting track, where, as the title states, they are risking it all but it makes me wonder what this "all" that they're talking about is. They just signed a new record deal with Eleven Seven Music who's roster boats the likes of Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool and Papa Roach. But what's really the question is: Do they think that this album is risking anything? The short answer is, it's not. It's a rather generic album, with heavy songs where you'd expect them(beginning and end), softer songs where you'd expect them(in the middle to break up the album) and not the most inventive lyrics. "One for the Money" is possibly the corniest and dumbest. The chorus consists of the age-old phrase that nearly everyone is familiar with, "one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go." What the band does to spice this chorus up is add a gratuitous amount of "motherfuckers" in it which just comes off lazy and idiotic. The bulk of the songs are just plain forgettable, not standing out for being good but also not for being terrible with the exceptions of "Chemical Love" and "Desire", those tracks just plain suck.

Now, the positives. The lead single, "Ungrateful" is a great track, it's heavy as hell, the chorus is well-sung and catchy and the lyrics are actually pretty solid. "You're Insane" is another good one, it's not as heavy but Mabbit's clean vocals really shine on the track and it also has a good solo in it, yes a guitar solo. "Fire it Up", the closing track of the album really fires you up(2 puns in this review is 2 too many). It's a great track with a great solo, chorus and a hell of a breakdown to close the track and the album itself. My other 2 positive standouts are "Until We Die" and "Forget About Me", both of which I wasn't crazy about the first listen through but after listening to the album front to back 3 times these songs really grew on me, with good vocals and not being as corny as some other tracks they truly deserved their spot on this album.

NOTE: I know there are 2 bonus tracks on the deluxe edition, I haven't heard them therefore I cannot comment on them.

Overall: This album isn't great, I'm not sure I could call it good either, it's a few steps up from their self-titled album and This War is Ours but doesn't even come close to touching their debut album. Ungrateful showed me that the band has the capacity and the potential to write some pretty good tracks and perform them well. Hopefully in 10 years we can look back on this album as the stepping stone that brought the band to make great albums. After their self-titled album I had given up on them, declared they'd never make good music again but this album proved me wrong and I'm happy that it did.

Rating: 4/10

Bands I've Seen Live by Dom

3 Inches of Blood (2)
The Acacia Strain
After the Burial
Alesana
All Shall Perish
All That Remains
All Time Low
Ankla
Anthrax
As I Lay Dying
Asking Alexandria (2)
Atreyu
Attila
Balance and Composure
Behemoth (2)
Betraying the Martyrs
The Black Dahlia Murder
Black Tide
Black Veil Brides
Bless the Fall
Bon Jovi (2)
Born of Osiris
Bullet for My Valentine
Cannibal Corpse
The Casualties
Chelsea Grin
Chimaira
Chthonic
Circus Diablo
Close Your Eyes
A Day to Remember (2)
Daath
Decrepit Birth
Dethklok
The Devil Wears Prada
DevilDriver
Diamond
Dirtfedd
Disturbed
Dr. Acula (2)
Emmure
Enter Shakari
Exodus
The Faceless
Far From Proper
Five Finger Death Punch
Fleshgod Apocalpyse
For All Those Sleeping
For Today (2)
Four Year Strong
The Ghost Inside
Go Radio (2)
Godsmack
God Forbid
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Green Day
Gwar
Hatebreed (4)
Hatesphere
Heaven and Hell
High on Fire
I the Breather
I Wrestled a Bear Once
Infernaeon
In Flames
In This Moment (3)
Iron Maiden
Jake Owen
Jason Casterlin/The Woodcocks (2)
Job for a Cowboy
Joe & Box
Judas Priest
Kenny Chesney
Killscreen
Killswitch Engage
Kingdom of Sorrow
King Conquer
Korn (2)
Lacuna Coil
Lamb of God (2)
Lordi
Machine Head (2)
Marilyn Manson
Mastodon
Mayday Parade
Megadeth (2)
Memphis May Fire
Metallica (2)
Mobile Death Camp
Modern Day Escape
Motionless in White (2)
Motorhead
Muse
Mutiny Within
Nevermore
Nile
Norma Jean
Outasight
Ozzy Osbourne
The Paramedic
Pierce the Veil
The Ready Set
Red Fang
Rise Against
Rob Zombie
Rush (2)
Set Your Goals
Sevendust
Shadows Fall
The Showdown
Sirena
Slayer (4)
Sleeping With Sirens
Slipknot
Static-X
Straight Line Stitch (2)
Suffocation
Suicide Silence
The Sword
Ted Nugent
Ten After Two
Testament
That's Outrageous!
Thin Lizzy
Through the Eyes of the Dead
Tim McGraw
Times of Grace
Transit
Trivium (2)
Underoath
Unearth
Upon a Burning Body
Van Halen
Warbringer (2)
We Are the in Crowd
We Came as Romans
Whitechapel (3)
William in Control
Winds of Plague
With the Punches
The Wonder Years
The Word Alive (2)
Wretched
Yellowcard
You Me at Six


Total: 145

"Kid Cudi - Indicud" Review by Dom

Kid Cudi tries his hand at self-producing an album in its entirety. Indicud is Cudi's third album, fourth if you count his rock album under the name WZRD. The album is pretty ambitious, Cudi has always been ambitious but this album is a level higher. Some spots it definitely works well, and in some it falls short by a mile.

Firstly, the production is good, not amazing. He really missed some production from GOOD Music leader Kanye West on this project along with the arsenal of producer the label has. Overall the production is just good, it doesn't stand out much, for better or worse.

Negative: Let's get the bad out of the way first. As I said earlier, this is an ambitious album, I mean ambitious to the point where Cudi pulls Michael Bolton out of the woodwork for a 9-minute long track. Now I can handle 9 minutes of Cudi, but Bolton did not belong on this track, it was just weird and did not belong at all. There are also 3 instrumental tracks on here which, knowing Cudi they'd at least be interesting and they all are. "The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi" opens the album out pretty wonderfully with an eerie ambiance leading into a great industrial style beat. Unfortunately "New York City Rage Fest" and "Flight of the Moon Man" don't follow suit and fail to hold any interest. "Unfuckwittable" and "Cold Blooded" are laughably corny and not very good songs.

Positive: Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the good. "Just What I Am" was the first single and it was a warm welcome back into the Kid Cudi we all know and love, with an infectious hook and great beat, you can't go wrong with it; the same goes for the other singles, "Immortal" and "King Wizard". Possibly the most anticipated track on this album was the sequel to "Solo Dolo" from Man on the Moon: The End of Day which features Kendrick Lamar and the track does not disappoint one bit. The weirdest feature on the album is definitely Michael Bolton, but the weirdest feature that worked came from a band named Haim. They're a soft rock band consisting of 3 sisters. They're featured on the track "Red Eye" which oddly enough doesn't feature prominent vocals from Cudi until almost 3 minutes into the track and for some reason I love it. It's smack in the middle of the album so it fits as a nice break from Cudi's vocals and the girls' voices are beautiful, definitely a stand out track. "Lord of the Sad and Lonely" sees Cudi getting back into his depressed mind reminiscing of songs like "Trapped in My Mind" and "Soundtrack 2 My Life". The track "Beez" is an interesting one as it sees Cudi again taking a backseat on vocals and letting RZA of Wu-Tang and solo fame take over. I've heard a lot of people not like this track but I just don't see it, it's one of the better produced tracks, RZA tears the beat up like no one's business and Cudi's vocals compliment the track so well.

Overall: An ambitious album from an ambitious artist, I call him an artist cause it almost sounds insulting to say that Cudi is just a rapper. The production isn't top notch, lyrics on some tracks are below par, even for Cudi. The features (with the exception of Michael Bolton) all do a fantastic job. I forgot to mention how good the track "Brothers" with A$AP Rocky and King Chip is, seriously check that out. And Kid Cudi sounds just as good as ever. While this album is easily the worst of his first 3, it's not because the album is bad, it's because he set the bar so high with Man on the Moon: The End of Day and Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.

Rating: 7.5/10

"I Am Not a Human Being 2 - Lil Wayne" Review by Dom

This review is gonna be short. You know who Lil Wayne is, don't lie. This is his 10th album and the sequel to 2010's I Am Not a Human Being. The production on this album is alright, it's mostly production you'd expect to hear except for once, it's all commercial sounding, not one is very different from the next. Secondly, this album is just awful. Even the biggest Wayne fan can't think this is any type of good. People though Tha Carter IV was bad, this is just a whole new level of bad. If you were hoping for the next Carter III then don't even listen to this, not even on YouTube or illegally, this is so bad it deserves to not be stolen. You might ask, "Dom, why is this so bad?" The answer is because these lyrics are just ridiculous. If this was labeled a comedy album then this would be the greatest comedy album since Chris Rock's Bigger & Blacker, but no, it's labeled a serious hip-hop album, therefore it's god awful. I'm just going to list some of my favorite lyrics and you tell me if this is any good. Please excuse the language.

From "Days and Days (featuring 2 Chainz)": "These niggas think they hard, these niggas just nipples.", "She swallow so many nuts, you fuck around, find a squirrel in her throat."

From "Romance": "They say the best part of waking up is breakfast after a nut."

From "Rich as Fuck": "Six feet deep, dick shovel in dirt, R.I.P. – rest in pussy."

From "Beat the Shit (featuring Gunplay)": "Dick-in-the-booty-ass nigga"

From "Wowzers": "My tongue is a Uzi, My dick is a AK, My tongue is a Uzi, My dick is a AK, My tongue go brrrrrr!, My dick go pow!, My tongue go brrrrrr!, My dick go pow!, Bitch!"

That's just a sample. If anything, you can listen to this if you just wanna laugh for just over an hour. Also one lyric that pissed me off comes from "Hot Revolver" where he takes the beginning of "Basket Case" from Green Day and sings/raps it in the same way over the atrocious beat he rides over. The few pros are the opening track which has Wayne rhyming, albeit badly, over a piano and a few tracks are bearable enough to be called enjoyable but not any more than an on-the-surface level, there is not though provoking lyrics nor any lyrics that make you think at all.

Rating: 2.5/10

"Killscreen - Non-Fiction - EP" Review by Dom

Formed in 2008 Killscreen is a pop-punk band from Beacon "Tree City", New York, the same area that fellow pop-punk band With the Punches comes from. Non-Fiction is the band's second EP following 2012's All in Your Head - EP, which was a solid EP that lacked the proper production to really make it a force to be reckoned with. That's not to say it isn't without good songs, fan favorite "Fireworks" seems to come to mind as does "E.W.I." and "See You Next Tuesday". This new EP comes out less than a year after the first, which some may call rushed but 20 year old guys are ambitious. The band is comprised of Juan Espinosa (Vocals), Kyle Cullen (Guitar/Vocals), Dan "D-Wright" Wright (Guitar/Vocals), Tyler Derken (Bass) and Alam Virk (Drums).

1. Loopers - Right off the bat the first thing you notice is the production, it's much better on this EP, with a clean, composed and focused sound the track quickly sticks in your head and forces you to sing along even after just the first listen. What else jumps out at you is the progression that Juan has made as a vocalist, his vocals sound stellar on this track.

2. Scranton - Starting with some harsher vocals courtesy of Kyle the song moves into a more fun, uplifting song about your love being too far away from you. The sincerity of Kyle's lyrics in the track is enough to pull emotion out of the most stubborn of people.

3. Falconer St. - An ode to hometowns and that one street we all grew up on. You could almost rename the track "Your Hometown Address" as the track brings up your memories of home, old friends and most importantly happier, better times.

4. Letters - A sweet love song with a nice featured verse from Tessarose Talaber that is heartfelt and sincere, not much more could ask for.

5. Non-Fiction - The aptly placed title track is a track that pretty much says: "I'm here, I mess up daily, but I'm not going anywhere." The track is a great closing song that leaves you in a good mood that leaves you determined and productive, and a song that makes you want to keep trucking through life when it gets hard as clearly evident by the end of the chorus: "The sun pulls me up in the morning, reminds me that a new day was made for me."

Vocals: Juan's vocals took a huge step in the right direction, with an accessible sound with conviction coming out on the right words there's nothing to complain about. Kyle's harsher, sometimes screamed vocals give the tracks that need it a certain grit that really helps songs along that need more aggression.

Music: The music for the most part is your standard pop-punk feel, light, uplifting feeling, yet fast enough to get your blood flowing and your limbs moving.

Pros: Good ol' fashioned pop-punk fun, great vocals, great lyrics, and great catchy songs.

Cons: I'm hoping for an acoustic version of "Letters" which would take the song to the next level for me, also with Tessarose on the acoustic as well. Also I think there's room for a more screamed aggressive song where Kyle takes the wheel and also a surprise breakdown thrown in, which in retrospect isn't a con for the album, more like a hope for the next release.

Overall: This band has the potential to be the pride of the Hudson Valley musically and the potential to be the next Wonder Years if they play their cards right. When looked back on I think this EP will be where future fans see that the band really formed their sound and their style.

Rating: 4.5/5

Notes: If you're in the Hudson Valley the band plays shows regularly. Follow them on Twitter(@killscreenNY) and Facebook(KillScreen). Also head over to BandCamp to download this EP for free/name your price(link below) and over to iTunes to download the All in Your Head - EP for just $4.95!

BandCamp: http://killscreenmusic.bandcamp.com/
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-in-your-head-ep/id536236940

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Review by Dom

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This review is coming from someone who saw the film but did not read the book, so my only impressions of the story as a whole come from the movie. I had high hopes for this knowing that it was getting a lot of praise and also finding out that the author of the book wrote the screenplay and directed the film.

The story revolves around Charlie, played by Logan Lerman in his first major lead role and he does a great job. You latch onto his character and you really connect and feel for him throughout it. Charlie is an outcast who befriends his English teacher(Paul Rudd) and a senior named Patrick(Ezra Miller). Patrick is the standout character, he's likable, he's funny, he's an ass but in the best way possible. Emma Watson plays a senior girl who becomes Charlie's love interest, Sam. Like Charlie, Patrick and Sam have their fair sure of rather dark secrets. The movie chronicles Charlie's freshman year and his friends' senior year. Through Patrick and Sam he meets a few other friends and one who he dates and breaks up with in one of the funniest moments of the movie.

Seeing Emma Watson outside of the Hermione Granger character was rather refreshing as she played a high school senior all too well. Ezra Miller did a great job with the character of Patrick who needed a strong actor to play him and he knocked out of the park. Paul Rudd took a backseat role in this film as he helped Charlie and gave him books outside of class to read and was Charlie's first friend. Rudd also delivers one of the most well-known lines from the book that was definitely made for teenage girls' Facebook statuses. Rudd does a great job shifting from his normal every day funny guy to being a mentor of a character. The supporting cast does a great job too, whether they're bullying, or getting Charlie high when he doesn't know it they become a lovable group of characters.

The ending is a little odd, it seems to wrap up too fast and really makes you want more, even just an epilogue, maybe 15 more minutes of movie which would set the movie at a solid 2 hours, which isn't long, especially when you're immersed in the story. The great thing about this movie is that it makes you think of your high school days and think: "Did I have a mentor-like teacher?", or that one person that you fell in love with the moment you saw them, or that one friend that may have saved your life, and hopefully these are all good memories.


This was a very enjoyable movie, it went in directions that I didn't expect and had much darker tones than I had expected. While it was good there are definitely some flaws. The thing that irked me throughout the entire movie was Emma Watson, she's a good actress don't get me wrong, but her American accent was just not good, I could hear British accents coming out. What's worse is that there was a clear way to let her use her accent, there's a point where they're talking and one of the characters talks about her moving, all they had to say was "She moved here from England" and she can use her natural accent. Secondly the movie (Mild Spoiler Alert) has a relatively happy ending yet it leaves a sad feeling with you and for me at least, this feeling did not go away for a while. Thirdly, the high school bullies are so incredibly cookie-cutter and unreal. This is one of those films where you look back at your high school years and think "Yeah, that never happened, ever." but they usual staples are there, you know the tripping in the cafeteria, things like that. Besides those 3 things, the movie is pretty solid.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Perks, it has depth, a lovable core group of characters, good actors to portray them and an intriguing story. While there are some flaws within the film it doesn't detract too much from the film or the story.

Rating: 8/10

"Metallica - Career Discography" Review by Dom

This is something I've wanted to do for some time now, pick an artist do a short review of their albums and give the artist a rating. I though why not start off with my favorite band, which makes me biased but still, so here it is, the career of Metallica.

Kill 'Em All(1983) - A straight up no BS thrashterpiece that paved the way for 80's thrash bands. 9/10

2. Ride the Lightning(1984) - In my, oh so humble opinion, this is truly Metallica's magnum opus. It exceeds all levels of thrash, metal and velocity. Every track is pure fire. 10/10

3. Master of Puppets(1986) - Many consider this to be one of if not the best metal album of all time, I agree with it being one of the best. It's phenomenal and an ear opening experience to listen to, only reason it's not the best is because Ride came first. 9.5/10

4. ...And Justice for All(1988) - The loss of Cliff Burton changed the dynamic of Metallica, Jason Newstead was by all means a suitable replacement but he wasn't Cliff. This album is very good, and gave the band its real first mainstream success with the track "One". This album is a transition from the straightforward thrashing into what the band would become. 9/10

5. Metallica(AKA The Black Album)(1991) - This album, if you haven't heard it, you haven't lived. This is one of the quintessential metal albums of all time. It's heavy yet commercial enough that it reached a worldwide audience and spawned a 4 year world tour. 9/10

6. Load(1996) - Ah, the album where most fans jumped ship, I think had I been alive and into the band to see this transition I would've probably jumped ship as well. I wasn't a big fan at first, it leans more toward hard rock but there are some very good songs on here but for me, this is the first album that's not fantastic. 8/10

7. ReLoad(1997) - The continuation of the previous album and this album continues the downward slide. This album gets a ton of hate from fans and critics alike but there are some diamonds in the rough. The first half of the album is a solid set, the second half, not so much. 7/10

8. Garage Inc.(1998) - A double disc album of covers of the bands influences. Sounds boring but there's a bit of a range in the track selection and it's a good enjoyable listen and provides some old songs with a good ol' Metallica twist. 8/10

9. St. Anger(2003) - 5 years fans waited for new Metallica music, 6 years for original music and this is what they got. Looking back I see why it was hated, but after listening to it multiple times it's grown a lot on me. It's a raw sound, full with some heavy good music that was better than what came out 6 years prior. 7.5/10

10. Death Magnetic(2008) - Another long wait for the fans, this one proved to be more worth it. This saw the return of thrash into the band, it's a modern take on the genre full of full throttle thrash with a couple songs to pump the brakes a little and this was a great return. 9/10

11. Lulu(2011) - A collaborative album between the band and Lou Reed of Velvet Underground fame and this was just awful, truly unlistenable, and this one goes on Lou Reed, it was his vocals that trashed this project and a waste of Metallica music. 2/10

12. Beyond Magnetic - EP(2011) - This EP came out mere months after Lulu and this proved that Metallica was not at complete fault for that train wreck of an album. Only fault on this is that it sounds like tracks that just didn't make it onto Death Magnetic, at the same time, they're still good tracks. 8/10

Overall: The band has released monumental albums, with a couple that weren't amazing and one that wasn't to blame on them they've had a respectable career. Supposedly they're writing for their next album due out in 2014, we'll see where that takes the band.

Final Rating: 8.5/10