Hardcore/metal band This Is Hell have announced they will be doing an East Coast tour during November and December. Head to the Dying Scene Shows page for the dates; however, they said they will be posting more in the near future so keep checking back.

Think Fast! Records released their EP “Warbirds” on August 18th.

Cobra Starship is holding the Board The Starship contest to send one lucky winner to Philly on November 21st to hang out with the band, see the show, and stay at a very nice hotel. Head to their new website for all the details.

The Koffin Kats just posted “Wild Ride” to their MySpace page. This song is off their upcoming album, “Forever For Hire” dropping October 27th on Stomp Records. Check it out.

Rumspringer just posted their new song “It’s Literally Tearing Me Apart” to their MySpace page, which is a 4 way split with Turkish Techno, Shang-A-Lang, and The Anchor. You may want to check this out because it may be the last new song for awhile. According to the band, after being together for a year they are going to “crawl back into the hole they came from” until they have even more new songs. Will it be worth the wait?

The countdown has begun for Slayer‘s release of “World Painted Blood” on American Recordings November 3rd. They stated that over the next few weeks, they will be posting one video at a time until all 11 videos are up; each of which is inspired by the 11 songs off the album. This week, it’s video 1 and the band is discussing the title track “World Painted Blood”. Keep checking back for the rest until the release.

More Than Normal is UK’s punk rock, wait! Better make that punk rock, at its finest. The punk rock trio hails from Dover, England and boy what a punch do they pack! As any punk fan may be aware, punk is a dying breed with so few quality punk bands in this day and age. More Than Normal is definitely one of the few punk rock gems hidden in the rough.

Their debut album “Honour Amongst Thieves” is as solid as it gets. The album starts off with a simple guitar riff that is accompanied by the bass and then drums, the bass and drums pick up tempo, a screeching pick slide and you feel the raw power as the distortion kicks in. The instrumentals are very dynamic and change often within each track and they change up their style from song to song which is good for keeping your attention. I like their take on having one guitar in the band as it doesn’t convolute things and keep things airy and simple which lets more of the bass through. In general the instrumentals are “happy sounding” and will have you snapping your fingers or bobbing your head up and down. The album consists of 13 upbeat catchy punk ballads and ends with a chill acoustic track. The album takes a good 40 minutes from beginning to end, not bad, considering its a punk album.

As if the instrumentals weren’t good enough, the vocals are executed brilliantly. The lead singer’s voice is a blend between those of Pennywise and The Bouncing Souls. The singing is very melodic and pierces in clearly through the instrumentals. The backing vocals performed by the bassist is well timed and the harmony makes their sound that much better. Much of the choruses are coated with a bunch of “woah’s” or echoing the chorus line, which really adds depth to the tracks. Bottom line: you will like the vocals as long as you like vocal harmony and singers who can actually sing.

You will also definitely find a hint of ska hidden within the album. In the song “Playing Dumb” towards the end the tempo slows from a ripping shred to a catchy reggae/ska jig before ramping up again for the finish. In the tracks “Late Nights…” and “Real World” you will find some rapid upstrokes from the guitar and heavy emphasis on bass in some parts. Adding ska to the mix was a good move in my book as it keeps things catchy and interesting.

Overall, I would say that this is a really great record, one that you can easily listen to from beginning to end without skipping, and one you should definitely pick up. More Than Normal’s debut album “Honour Amongst Thieves” really is punk rock at its finest and should definitely not be passed up if you are a fan of fast, happy, punk rock.

Similar To: The Bouncing Souls, Pennywise, Born To Lose
Best Tracks: Real World, We Could Be Kings, Playing Dumb

Unfortunately Summer has come to an end, and none seem more disappointed than Cobra Starship. To bring back the good memories they made their very own home video to their song “Wet Hot American Summer”. So watch the video and imagine the sun shining and the beach calling your name.

AFI just announced they did a cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”. There weren’t too many other details to report, so go listen and let me know what you think of it.

Ska/Punk band Less Than Jake is hitting the road November 13th with The Casualties, The Dangerous Summer, The Swellers, Cage, Fishbone, and many more. To find out more info on dates head to the Dying Scene Shows page.

Sleep It Off released their last album, “GNV FLA” in 2008.

The Bronx have just posted the music video for their song “Inveigh”, which is a track from their 2008 self-titled album. It’s got a pretty interesting intro and the whole thing is in black and white which makes it a bit different. Go have a look. [Read more…]