Eyesore's Recent Purchases: Expanded Edition

I got a lot of new CDs I wanted to talk about, so I figured I'd try it all it one thread. So here's some quick, somewhat initial impressions I have on some newer purchases. I'll try and discuss bands I think most of you haven't heard before. And they may not all be strictly metal, so please don't point that out. I'm just going to keep it all in one thread.

BLACKSHINE - SOULLESS & PROUD


One thing I love to do when bored—usually at work—is do a little networking online. I'll fart around on MySpace or metal-archives and just jump from band to band, listening to samples and whatnot. This is how I discover a lot of really good bands. I discovered Blackshine this way.

Blackshine come off like one of those beer-soaked barroom rock bands, but with a little metal and punk influence, and with a much darker sound. Sort of like a Motorhead meets Corrosion of Conformity—both eras. Soulless & Proud is the only album I own, but it's really solid. Highly recommended!

Samples: Love Our Hell, Soulless And Proud

PROJECT CREATION - DAWN ON PYTHER


I bought this one the other day solely based on the cover art. It just caught my eye. Plus it's on ProgRock Records, so I figured that was a good indication of style, and I gave it a shot. I don't often just buy things like this these days, but occasionally I give it a shot. Sometimes I unwrap a turd, but luckily this time I picked up a pretty killer album. Dawn On Pyther is a nice mix of prog-metal and -rock, but it's also pretty eclectic in it's instrumentation and songwriting. To even attempt to give a short but accurate description of this album would be pointless, but eclectic is definitely the word. Epic, too.

There's a male and female vocalist, and they seem to be the main members of the band, with a cast of contributing musicians. There's a lot of really interesting things going on, with some really catchy songs. Had I bought this a few months back, it would have been a one of my top albums of 2007. My biggest and only gripe is the tone of the snare; it's got that piercing hollow sound, not quite like Metallica's St. Coffee Can, but it's enough to leave me wanting. Regardless, the album is strong enough to lift itself above that.

Dawn On Pyther is their second album. Recommended if you like bands like Wastefall and Fragile Vastness.

Samples: http://www.myspace.com/projectcreation

DEADL SIN - SUNBORN


I picked this disc up through CD Baby's $5 sale. Well worth it. I know very little about the band, and this is there only album outside a few demos. They play a somewhat aggressive style of power metal and it's nothing new, but it's really good. I wouldn't throw out a strong recommendation if the price weren't just $5. It this were a regularly priced album I'd suggest finding it used or whatever, but the price is right. This is a solid album from beginning to end.

Samples: The Awakening, Sunborn, Slave

* Those are low quality CD Baby clips, the album sounds much better.

COLPORTER - SOVEREIGN MIND and CHRONICLES (EP)


This might be pushing it. This is another $5 band from CD Baby. I grabbed two of their three albums. This is a female-fronted band. They play a modern metal style with a heavy industrial influence. Sort of like Static-X meets (gasp!) Korn meets Drain STH. Some would say they're a nu-metal band, and I wouldn't really disagree (there is some nu-metal), but I think the soundscape on these albums is a lot more broad than the term nu-metal implies.

Give them a shot. You may find something you like. I think they're really good.

Samples: Galaxy (from Sovereign Mind), Sticks & Stones (from Chronicles), Exodus In My Hand (from Chronicles)

* Those are low quality CD Baby clips, the album sounds much better.

ENDLESS TORTURE - AT WAR WITH WAR (EP) and KILLING CAROLS (EP)


Two more $5 CD Baby gems. This is some killer thrash from Sweden. A young band, but they're pretty damn good. At War With War is only two tracks deep and it's a fairly raw EP, especially in the vocals department. But it's still excellent. Killing Carols was released in 2007 and it's much improved.

Samples: Fugitives Lament (from At War With War), , Drawn To A Spotless Mind (from Killing Carols) *, Killing Carol (from Killing Carol)

* CD Baby sample. Also, these CDs both came printed on high quality CDRs (ink printer, not label) and glossy booklets, but it did not come with back art. That sort of sucks. I need a good printer so I can start making my own.

And that's it for now!

Bump.

I got some coming from cdbaby thanks to some on this board... I might have to try some of those you mentioned eyesore...

I have to say that cdbaby rocks as a cd seller. I never really gave them a chance until they had a black bonzo no one else had and was very surprised by their speed and service..

Alex

exact33 wrote:

I got some coming from cdbaby thanks to some on this board... I might have to try some of those you mentioned eyesore...

I have to say that cdbaby rocks as a cd seller. I never really gave them a chance until they had a black bonzo no one else had and was very surprised by their speed and service..

Alex

They're definitely great. If you've got the time to go through all the genres, you can find some killer CDs in the $5 section. The problem is that the bands link them to all kinds of ridiculous genres. You can find a self-proclaimed metalcore band under the 80s metal genre. But if you've got the time, it's well worth looking through everything and listening to the samples.

Thats the key - having the time to sift through. They had some great stuff from some better known bands too - I got Stan Bush's new re-release of In This Life w/2 bonus tracks cheaper than on his site...

I am looking forward to a little time off to sift and spend... Got that list again you posted of the $5 cds you got??

Alex