And yet another unreleased music video has been pulled from Rancid archive.  This time for the song Blackhawk Down off the band’s 2000 self-titled release.

Check it out here.

The band has recently released videos for their tunes Rattlesnake, Poison, Crane Fist, Rwanda, and Spirit Of ’87.

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The Devil Wears Prada will be releasing a new EP titled Zombies on August 28th.  You can listen to a track off the release titled Outnumbered on the band’s MySpace page (scroll to the bottom of their player).

The Devil Wears Prada released With Root Above And Branches Below last May on Ferret Music.

**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by regular users of the site. These users are not professional music critics nor are they paid for what they write. If you disagree with an album’s rating, feel free to voice your opinion and give it your own rating in the comments. If you’d like to submit your own review do it here.

Small Town Riot started out in 1999, in (as they put it) a shitty suburb Southwest of Hamburg, Germany, playing punk rock how it should be – honest and fun.

They released an 11 track demo (Demolition) in 2002, and since then have released another 4 vinyls/EPs/albums. In 2003, they released their first studio album, Some Serious Shit. Having to replace their original bassist in 2005 didn’t slow them down, and later that year, they recorded another 4 tracks, this time as a vinyl single. Another change in line up, introducing a new bassist, and a 2nd guitarist brings them to where they are today, releasing this, a collection of 16 remastered tracks from their back-catalogue, plus three new tracks.

As soon as you hit play, dual vocalists Norman and Timo’s typically gruff punk vocals hit you like a slap in the face to a masochist – so gnarly you’re addicted from the first note. Opener, and one of the new tracks, ‘Burning Flags’ shows it’s not just American rockers that hate the state their country is in. It’s refreshing to hear this kind of anti-patriotism coming from a non-US band.

In a completely different direction, tracks 2-4 are the love song trilogy from 2008’s Self Titled album. The songs tell a sweet, but sad story of different stages in a relationship – something we can all relate to (even punks feel heartbreak). ‘How Can You Say’ is all about when you first fall in love, when words just can’t deliver your true feelings. Then it all goes sour, as ‘Leave It All Behind’ tells the story of a painful break-up, and ‘Backstreet Story’ depicts the regrets of letting a relationship die. Heartfelt stuff, delivered without a dash of emo, in a pure punk package, as one songs fades into the next as memories of such times seem to do.

‘Living Hell’, another one from their Self Titled, is darker and heavier than most of the other tracks, but the sound still works for STR. The following track, ‘Addicted To Authority’ is as pop-punky as it gets with Small Town Riot, and yet another from their ’08 S/T. Another change in sound, but again, they pull it off flawlessly. The title track of this album, which was originally on ’07s Let The Bombs Fall, is a perfect ad for the band- it’s fast, fun, energetic but most importantly, anthemic – summing up their style in 3 brilliantly crafted minutes. Pure exhibition of their diversity comes in the form of track 7, ‘Living Hell’, and track 8, ‘Addicted To Authority’, with the former being the heaviest and darkest on the CD, and the latter being the pop-punkiest. Put together, they sound even further apart, creating an adept display of their talent to cover every punk sub-genre. More multeity comes in the form of ‘Madness’, a ballad of sorts, with a lone guitar playing to a political, yet emotional, story of a world gone (bloodshed) crazy. Then it’s straight back into the no hold barred breakneck street punk, with ‘Timmy’, from 2006’s Skulls And Stripes.

There’s two tracks about being part of the lower end of the class system, something most punks, from anywhere in the world, can relate to. ‘Working Class Family’ from the S/T and ‘Working Class’ from Let The Bombs Fall both tell the story of growing up in a world that looks down on you. And not giving a shit.

A highlight is another one from Skulls And Stripes, the flawless ‘It’s True’, a sweet little love song, with the heaviest street punk vibe on the record. Cos even tough punk guys can fall head over heels.

A bluesy sound is created with the use of a harmonica on the morose ‘Cemetary Hall’. Adding another string to their black and red striped bow.

It’s back into the energetic punk with the closer, ‘Get Up’, one of their earliest songs, from ’02’s Demolition. A superb way to end one helluva good album.

So there you have it, 19 tracks spanning a 10 year career, marking the beginning of something big for Small Town Riot. So many different styles have been taken and molded into their own unique mix of fast, aggressive and fun punk rock. The faster the better with STR. It might seem like a lot of tracks on one album, but once you’ve heard it, you won’t want it to end.

Since there’s not a lot of news going on this holiday weekend you can entertain yourself by listening to this punk version cover of Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead from “The Wizard of Oz”.  The song is covered by punk act Utopia Now and you can find it on their MySpace page (it’s actually kinda good).

You can download Utopia Now’s latest album Man In The Mirror for free right here.

LA punk rock act Drive A are currently writing new songs for an album they hope to record by summer’s end.

The band’s last release was their 2009 debut album, Loss of Desire, out on Adrenaline/Dead Conflict Records.

You can check out the official music video of My B-Side Life from Veara right here.

The song appears on the band’s most recent album What We Left Behind released May 25 via Epitaph Records in partnership with Running Man Records.

There’s not much to it so I would barely call this a “teaser” but Avenged Sevenfold have posted this video as a promo for their upcoming album Nightmare.

This will be A7X’s first studio album since their self-titled release in 2007, and their fifth full-length effort to date. The album is scheduled to drop July 27th via Warner Bros. Records.

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East coast punk act Energy are streaming an acoustic version of Danzig’s song Black Angel, White Angel on their MySpace page (you can also download it for free here).  The band is currently working on a new EP but no word on whether or not the song will appear on it – it could just be for shits and giggles.

Energy’s latest release, Invasions Of The Mind, came out last September on Bridge Nine Records.

**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by regular users of the site. These users are not professional music critics nor are they paid for what they write. If you disagree with an album’s rating, feel free to voice your opinion and give it your own rating in the comments. If you’d like to submit your own review do it here.

Nightlights debut EP Long Way Home is a throwback to the post-emo years (circa 2005-07); when childhood broken hearts were traded in for Gibson SG’s and Marshall half stacks. It is the same era where singing was considered lame, but screaming was a little too off putting. Yet, Nightlights finds a way to keep it modern. With palm mutes and single string riffs a plenty, the five mid-fast tempo’d songs found on Long Way Home are surely charming.

Hailing from Orlando, FL, Nightlights surely seem to hate their home town; “This is the city of f*%k ups, where everything and every day feels the same.” Being a native of Orlando myself, I can’t seem to feel any differently, and commend them on their bravery to openly express the angst of being stuck with such honesty. You see, Orlando is a town birthed by Disney World. Only, when you travel out of the Disney area, you find a town ruled by corporate cliche, where cliques and scene’s are all fighting for one thing, power. The punk’s have no chance, but seemingly have no motivation to leave.

Long Way Home wishes to be a plane ticket out. With throaty vocals yelling cries of frustration and re-affirming guitars; Long Way Home is an open letter to Orlando, signed with a punch in the face. Opening track Ghost Town is a jagged approach to the post emo formula. Octaves, power chords, and cymbals oh my, though not completely done the cliche’ way. Singer Matt Messore finds a way to place himself in front of turbulent sounds of irritation to make sure his words aren’t getting lost in the mix. Ghost Town is a flawless example a song with a kick.

Bluffington relies on structured repetition to push the message forward. It is, as are most songs off Long Way Home, a standard post-emo-punk song. Yet, to take away credit from Nightlights because they rely on simplistic song structures would be ludicrous. Each song is heavy, punky, and ultimately enjoyable. Long Way Home is a well done revision to a good ol’ scene.

And listen to the lyrics, because the band is right. Good job Nightlights.

Florida experimental melodic hardcore group Lipona are currently in pre-production on their latest full-length album Networks.  To get a taste of what’s to come you can check out demo versions of 2 new tracks from the album titled Rights Of Passage and The River on the band’s MySpace page.

The band is also offering a free download of their debut, self-titled EP right here.