From Another Planet-An Ever-Changing Perspective

Self-Release/Independent
2015


Hailing from my home state of Ohio, From Another Planet is a heavy & harsh progressive metal/metalcore band that (as of 2014) is fronted by Michael Leone of Arise The Titan fame. Formed in 2009 by long-time friends Jesse Mitten (drums, percussion), Marcus White (bass, vocals) and Nick Davisson (guitar), with the recently-released "An Ever-Changing Perspective" serving as the group's full-length debut, From Another Planet has endured it's fair share of line-up changes since first coming together all those years ago. These days the band is rounded out by second guitarist Shayne DePugh and (collectively) one couldn't ask for a tighter unit than this! Not that such chemistry is unwarranted or unexpected (what with Davidson, Mitten, and White having first jammed together way back in junior high!), but it's still worth mentioning considering the relatively-new status of vocalist/lyricist Michael Leone. On "An Ever-Changing Perspective" the crazed Michael Leone provides often-times BRUTAL death metal growls that should be all-too familiar to Arise The Titan fans. His amped-up voice fits in perfectly with this band's aggressive style and even when this metallic lot is dabbling with melodic passages there's nothing stopping From Another Planet's crushing landslide of a sound! Inspired by the likes of  Between the Buried & Me, Scale the Summit, Periphery, Explosions in the Sky, and The Contortionist (with more of an emphasis on that first lot!) this Ohio band is certainly a product of their influences. There's no use in arguing that fact. But, here's the kicker. This isn't the same band that appeared on the 2012 debut EP, "Believe". And no, we're not talking about line-up wise. Put "Believe" next to "An Ever-Changing Perspective" and you'll notice how much this band has come into their own. There is a lot of growth and maturity to be witnessed between these two releases and with the band's new album all the more atmospheric and technically-sound any particular points of reference should be viewed as a positive step forward for this five-piece wrecking crew! Track in and track out "An Ever-Changing Perspective" lives up to the full potential of it's name. It follows the single "Release" and this recommend full-length feature never stops impressing thanks to tech-savvy passages and heavy slamming riffs that rattle your rib cages! If you're looking for an example of Ohio metal at it's finest then look no further! From Another Planet makes me even more proud to be a Buckeye and like I've said a hundred times before you can stack our metal scene up to the best of them as we've got talent to spare! Needless to say you are going to want to snag a copy of this one!

DRUKNROLL-Точка Кипения (Boiling Point)

Metal Scrap Records
2014

"Точка Кипения" is the official title of this Russian act's latest (their third overall full-length output since forming in 2006) with the translation being "Boiling Point". Between that piece of information and the fact that this is all in Russian then you should have a general idea about what this four-piece is offering (at least lyric-wise). It also serves as a bit of a head's up/warning that if you can't get past the language barrier that some releases come packed with then you should turn back now. For everyone else who has stuck around then let me just say that with this one (due for release here in the states in July from the looks of it) you get pretty much everything on the menu ad then some! And that's just in the first five tracks mind you! We start off with something akin to modern metal on "Злоба" ("Rage") before our attention is quickly turned towards the melodic rock/hard rock of  "Моя звезда"("My Star"). That in and of itself was odd (especially as that second track there features acoustic passages and all!), but then track three cuts in and it's heavy rock/thrash n' roll meets death metal with more then a few quirky time-changes to make you question just what the hell is going on with this bunch! Keep in mind the fact that you're but a third of the way through  "Точка Кипения" ("Boiling Point") and there are still seven tracks to go! And pretty much that's how it goes with this one. In-between this odd mash-up of progressive power metal and heavy thrash, with vocalist Alexandr "Horror" (Svartstorm, ex-Князь Тьмы) splitting his time between a hard rock style of delivery and a death metal growl(!), "Во власти глубины" ("In the Power of Depth") throws weird sound effects at you (apparently from the hands of lead guitarist Alexey "Alex Knip" Khuzhaev)  while challenging your ideas of what can and does pass for "modern metal" here in 2014! All of which brings up a good point about DRUKNROLL's latest. Is it by definition "modern metal"? Or is this band just extremely experimental in it's approach to music? Would you label this one adventurous or write it off as being far too schizophrenic for it's own good? The truth is I don't quite know. Some of ideas here are clearly clever and the combination of heavy metal/thrash metal and keyboards & sound-effects actually works. But there are other times when it's all a system overload and it's almost as if the band had one too many wild ideas for just one simple song and would have been better suited flushing these ideas out over several songs. If I was to grade it we'd be looking at a B- or maybe even a B. That's clearly not enough to recommend "Точка Кипения" ("Boiling Point") to everyone so this one would be better saved for those who are looking for something different and off the grid.


Russian titles:

1.	Злоба	05:00
2.	Моя звезда	04:35
3.	Самурай	04:36
4.	Во власти глубины	04:46
5.	Оборона Севастополя	06:01
6.	Белая смерть	05:29
7.	Десятая ночь	04:33
8.	Игра с огнём	05:06
9.	Бог морей	05:15
10.	Насыщение	04:44

Title translations:
"Boiling Point"
1. Rage
2. My Star
3. Samurai
4. In the Power of Depth
5. Defense of Sevastopol
6. White Death
7. Tenth Night
8. Playing with Fire
9. Sea God
10. Saturation 

 Special thanks to the Metal Archives for providing the track listing and subsequent translation.