I had never heard anything by Plate Six before and these guys who come from Birmingham, Alabama are what i'd call a melodic metal band. Not really up my street this but I must say it's different to all the stuff i've received from across the pond. They seem to focus on the instrumental more than vocal which results in lengthy gaps between vocals. I like my music simple and this is musically self indulgent. Starting with 'Hymn for Shedding Rust' which is an instrumental 58 seconds long and finishing with 'Maximalist Anthem' which is way too long at over 10 minutes long i'm not really sure what to make of these guys. Of the 11 tracks on 'Battle Hymns For A New Republic' not one was fast paced and after a while it became all too similar and I found it a pain to listen to. Reviewing CDs isn't all fun you know.

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Another band i'd never heard nothing by but The Hedrons who are an all female band from Glasgow are a band i'll definitely be looking to see live. I have seen a few all female bands recently who claim to be punk and they are just average bands who get more notice just because they are all female bands. This is certainly not the case with The Hedrons, these Scottish lassies have done it in the studio where it matters and their catchy pop punk tunes will capture the imagination of a punk scene that is still mainly male dominated. Of the 12 tracks on 'One More Won't Kill Us' I thought there was a good variation and I honestly couldn't say there was a bad track on the album. Not often I say that but 'Heatseeker' and 'I Need You' were for me the best couple of tracks off a quality album.

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Alkaline Trio are yet another band i've heard nothing by. 'Remains' is a 22 track CD that also comes with a DVD that includes all the bands videos (which are extremely well made) as well as some good live footage. The band come from Chicago and they do have an American feel to them but they have a much better range than the average band from the USA. This CD is pretty varied musically ranging from raw punk to melodic rock and on the whole it's a very good effort. I have to admit the sound quality is the best i've heard yet and it really sounded superb on my new surround sound speakers. Alkaline Trio are definitely a band i'll be looking to hear more from especially live. This CD/DVD has some of the best material i've heard recently from the States. Quality.

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As with previous volumes 'The Harder, The Better' is just as it says on the tin. If Hardcore rocks your boat then this is a good chance to check out some bands you might not have heard anything by. 25 tracks all by different bands including Vietnom, New Society Of Anarchists, Kick To Tha Head, Dysfunctional Youth, Kaliber, Black End Future, Contrast The Water, Malice In Thunderland, Skull Island, Johnny Utah and Butchery.
This CD shows that hardcore isn't all the same and I thought the wide range of bands shows how varied hardcore can be. My favourite tracks were 'Injust Justice' by New Society Of Anarchists, 'Violent Rage' by Contrast The Water and 'Two Way Street' by Shot Passenger.
If you are deaf this all out onslaught on your eardrums might just restore your hearing.

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