DEATH ANGEL
Killing Season
(Nuclear Blast)

IMPALED
The Last gasp
(Willowtip)

THE HEX DISPENSERS
S/T
(Alien Snatch)

BLUNDERBUSS
S/T
(Escape Artist)

SAVIOURS
Into Abaddon
(Kemado)

WAR FROM A HARLOTS
MOUTH
Transmetropolitan 

(Lifeforce)

SYNAESTHESIA
The Requiem Reveries

(Vendlum)

MORE REVIEWS

Been rocking to this one for a while. A grower here. Some of the music is spectacular and has some alarming sense of urgency. So much so, that the guitars especially, speak for themselves and compliment all other instruments so well they almost single handedly leave the vocals of Ben Matthews relegated to an unnecessary corner. Matthews, himself one of two guitarists, seems to know this too and mostly concentrates in his egocentric guitar playing preferring to spew his lines only when necessary. And I am not saying ego centric in the sense that his solos sound like he wants to give Malmsteen a run for his money. No sir.  Matthews (who also has some really cool artwork on sale on his website) and guitarist Jeff Ellsworth basically do the hard guitar oriented indie or post hardcore thing quite well, soaring to the occasion when necessary, which in this case is almost always. Yes, they know it so well that opener “Broughton’s Rules” is a fast paced instrumental with some very nice guitar interplay.

And when the vocals come in they do so in a rather inconspicuous fashion, averaging in the mix not higher than any other instrument Matthews isn’t about to take away from the music. He knows that would have hurt Blunderbuss (for your information, a blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm. If you don’t know what a muzzle-loading firearm is, then look it up in the dictionary or Google it. Do I look like your fucking teacher?) His performance is of the complimentary kind and we are at times simply better off just taking Blunderbuss as an instrumental band. “Insomniac” is rather boring, in part because it has a lot of vocal lines and its high placing in the sequence (third out of eleven) does little for the album. But for the most part this band made some quality music. The way “Worn Windowsills” dawns reveals much character and talent, and starting on the fifth track this record just gets better with more pummeling tracks. This eponymous release was recorded back in 2005 and the band was formed in the late 80’s. Blunderbuss has a few singles out on a few labels and judging by this work they shall be hunted down by yours truly.  Best song of the record; the astonishing “Sin Built Stairs”

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Ben Matthews Site