Don’t take our word for how awesome the new Hopesfall album ‘A Types’ is… read the below review from Kerrang! instead. HOPESFALL A-TYPES KKKK POST-HARDCORE THE WAY MUM USED TO MAKE. LISTENING TO Hopesfall is like listening to the nascent post-hardcore bands of the mid-’90s. A-Types’, the band’s second full length offering, eschews the horrible corporate unit-shifting, radio-friendly sound of many of today’s so-called ’emo’ bands and harks back to the earthier, ethereal sounds of Texas Is The Reason, Chamberlain or Fireside. If you can remember those bands first time around you’ll get a rush of sentimentality and fond memories. If you can’t then this will serve as a lesson on how things should be done. ‘A-Types’ is a consistently beautiful record. Powerful and emotive without ever sounding trite or wet, it conveys mood and atmosphere where others just shout about being rubbish with girls. Put it on your Christmas list now. DOWNLOAD: ‘The Ones’. FOR FANS OF: Jimmy Eat World, Far.

A rather lovely live review of 36 Crazyfists in Kerrang!, so we thought we’d share it with you…. 36 Crazyfists, plus Eighteen Visions, Bullet For My Valentine. Corporation, Sheffield 16.10.04 KKKK On the video for í¢ä‰åñHand Of Bloodí¢ä‰åŒ, the lead track from their forthcoming debut mini-album, Bullet For My Valentine rain blood on a room full of people in a scene lifted straight from vampire flick í¢ä‰åñBladeí¢ä‰åŒ. As subtle as an acid enema perhaps, but the direct approach appears to suit this welsh quartet best. Tempering razor sharp riffs with deft melodic strokes, they present a simple but hugely effective noise combining a Wildhearts-flavoured pure rock stomp, old school metallic guitar pyrotechnics and an abrasive hardcore edge. Add the fact that Matt Tuck is a poster boy in the making and the evidence suggests you’ll be hearing a lot more about them soon. Eighteen Visions also slam their genres into the blender, but the Californians sound a lot more forced. Songs like the aptly named í¢ä‰åñCrushí¢ä‰åŒ are out out-and-out metalcore sluggers, but then they’ll throw out a pop punk hook apropos of nothing or shoehorn a blast beat into the mix. Frontman and Jacoby Shaddix-alike James Hart has an impressive set of longs to match all occasions, but his stadium rock shape throwing (at one point he appears to be riding an invisible motorcycle) and constant attempts at ingratiating banter (um, í¢ä‰åñShout ‘fuck yeah’ if you like Def Leppardí¢ä‰åŒ_í¢ä‰åŒ) soon begin to grate. 36 Crazyfists’s Brock Lindow is almost as cheesy, but at least it seems spontaneous as he asks to see us í¢ä‰åñspit it out England-styleí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì whatever that means. Possibly the green and yellow phlegm storm that fills the air when he later invites the crowd to í¢ä‰åñhawk a loogieí¢ä‰åŒ at drummer Thomas Noonan. Hails of hepatitis aside, the impressively-mutton-chopped vocalist does a sterling job of marshalling the troops í¢ä‰åäóì not that they need much encouragement. ‘A Snow Capped Romance’ might be a more measured collection compared to their bristling debut album (not to mention boasting a title straight from the Random Emo Generator) but live the keep their heaviness intact. Tonight’s set pretty much follows the newer album’s track-listing and while the fractious ‘Slit Wrist Theory’ causes absolute mayhem, the likes of ‘The Heart And The Shape’ and ‘Kenai’ are received like old, if vicious and slightly deranged friends. The new single ‘Blood Work’ and the brooding ‘Skin And Atmosphere’ í¢ä‰åäóì the biggest departures in terms of melody and the structure í¢ä‰åäóì also slot right in and, while a few more older songs would have been nice, the new and improved 36CFs still do the job in consummate style.

Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell recently spoke to Icons of Fright about his love of the horror genre, comics, the band’s soundtrack contributions and what films inspire him and the rest of the group. Several clips follow: Icons of Fright: What do you consider some of your favorite horror films and why? “Wow. Um, well again, ‘Nosferatu’. The original. It’s still the top film for me. Because the cinematography and the bleak, dark imagery still freaks me out. I love it. That’s probably my number one horror film. Um, the original ‘Alien’ is still up there. It’s fantastic. With the H.R. Giger beast and the story itself and the fact that Ridley Scott did it was just amazing. I like the original ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. You’ve got something somewhat based upon a true story, a legend. Great costumes and film work. Great movie. I even enjoyed the American remake of ‘The Ring’.” Icons of Fright: Do horror films, or films & art in general have any influence on your songwriting process? “I’m influenced in many ways. By books, by films, by stories. And films have always been a large factor in the influencing of my writing, in the ideas & the concepts of a FEAR FACTORY song. For instance, the movie ‘The Terminator’ was a big influence early on with the records ‘Demanufacture’. ‘Fear Is The Mindkiller’. That kind of thing. ‘The Book Of Dune’ had a big influence. ‘Blade Runner’ had a HUGE influence on me. There’s so many more ideas that come from movies and the concepts of films. So, yea. I do get inspired not just by horror or sci-fi, but by films in general. “The movie ‘Contact’ had a big influence in the writing of the record ‘Obsolete’. The idea of loneliness and humanity reaching out. Carl Sagan wrote the book ‘Contact’ and the movie was made, and it totally inspired me. Movies get my ideas and thought process rolling. I see them and they spark something inside me to get me to create something. I get inspired by films of ALL genres.” Read Burton C. Bell’s entire interview with Icons of Fright HERE.

We are always looking to sign hard rock and heavy metal bands! Any bands who feel they have the goods are urged to mail their demos (preferably on CD) to the address below. Every single package received will be listened to… Roadrunner Records A&R Ealing Studio Ealing Green London W5 5EP

The previously mentioned new Machine Head single ‘Days Turn Blue To Gray’ will now be released on December 6th.

Open Hand have confirmed the tracklisting for their forthcoming album will be: 1. Pure Concentrated Evil 2. Her Song 3. Tough Girl 4. You and Me 5. Tough Guy 6. Jaded 7. The Ambush 8. Take No Action 9. Newspeak 10. Crooked Crown 11. The Kaleidoscope 12. Waiting for Katy 13. Trench Warfare 14. Hard Night One bonus track will be added for Europe.

As promised yesterday, the brand new MP3 for Wednesday 13 track ‘Rot For Me’ is now posted. Download it from the MUSIC section.

A message from Every Time I Die, following the recent change of touring plans in the UK. “We here at Every Time I Die apologize sincerely for our recent and unexpected cancellation of the December tour with Atreyu which was to take us to and fro (though mostly fro and/or thither) across the supple expanses of your glorious 241,590 sq miles full of rugged hills and low mountains with level to rolling plains in east and southeast, through your bustling cities where the population of 60, 270, 708 grows annually at a rate of 0.29% and consists of an impressive 17% either living on or below the poverty line, though your GDP has risen by .4% in Q3 2004, which is unfortunately down .9% from the previous quarter. And lest we forget the true freedom we Americans cannot fully understand that is delegated by your constitutional monarchy, whose laws are mandated partly by statutes, partly by common practice instead of an antiquated document issued by a constitution based federal republic with strong democratic traditions. The truth of the matter is, we have only been to the UK twice and are terribly afraid of things we don’t understand or recognize on a map. Until recently, the only source of information we had about the United Kingdom was that they assumedly made our British Knight sneakers. Please forgive us, and come to see us when we return early next year. We love and need you.”

The following Machine Head shows are now sold out! MANCHESTER NEWCASTLE LEEDS GLASGOW

If you like the bands on Trustkill, or ones in that kind of vein, but you don’t much know about the little lot on Trustkill, you should definitely pick up the new issue of Big Cheese magazine (issue 57, Nov issue). Turn to page 48, and read the next 6 pages (do note the cool competition on page 53 too). Profiles on the following bands: Eighteen Visions It Dies Today Roses Are Red Terror Hopesfall Most Precious Blood Arms Bend Back Poison The Well Walls Of Jericho Bleeding Through Throwdown Nora Open Hand