Up next is a band that I haven’t heard in a long time. I think the last time I saw them was at Warped Tour and in a sea of crappy bands, these guys were the better of the bands. The band I’m putting on the chopping block is the band Throwdown. So let’s take a look…….
Beyond Repair- the vocalist on this album sounds a lot like Mark Hunter (Chimaira). No as far as the album itself goes, it’s not bad but it’s nothing special. It doesn’t sound like anything new or exciting so at the end of the day, it’s fine. Overall, pretty average so I’ll be giving this one 7/10
Standouts: Laid To Rest, Program, Family
You Don’t Have To Be Blood To Be Family- to me this one sounds a lot like the last record only with better production and a little bit of a tighter sound. So with that said, if you basically want a continuation of the last record then listen to this one. I’ll give this one another 7/10
Standouts: Unite, Lost In Time, The Perfect Story
Haymaker- so this one definitely sounds different from the last two records. Vocally it sounds a lot like Sepultura meets Pantera and I had heard that live they actually covered Roots so I can see them doing that during this time period. Again sound wise, the band sounds tighter and a bit more cohesive. Again though it doesn’t sound that different from other hardcore bands say like Terror. I’ll give this one 8/10
Standouts: Walk Away, Slip, Declare Your War
Vendetta- ah yes this was record was my first time hearing these guys. I guess the best way to describe this record would be Diet Pantera. I think the first song I heard was Burn and it was on the MTV 2 Headbanger’s Ball Compilation cd (I miss those). Anyway these guys sound like such a Pantera ripoff. Now maybe because it was 2005 so I feel like that year everyone was still really sad over Dimebag Darrell’s murder but I feel like they were one of the few bands to try to sound like Pantera. As for the record goes, if you don’t think of it as a Pantera ripoff, then I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more. I’ll give this one 8/10
Standouts: To Live Is To Sacrifice, Speak The Truth, The World Behind
Venom And Tears- if you thought the last record was a Pantera ripoff, then this one is even more so. Like seriously one record was enough but two? The only thing that was missing from the last record was the guitar work trying to sound like Dime and here they actually attempted to do it. I mean it’s not done in a bad way so I’ll give them that. It’s hard to listen to this record and not think why not just put on a Pantera record. Now I’ve always felt that 2007 was the year that Dean guitars got everyone (Dean guitars suck btw. What come at me) so that was still a year that people were really missing Pantera and I guess these guys just really wanted to sound like them. I’ll give this one 8/10
Standouts: Day Of The Dog, Venom And Tears, I Suicide
Deathless- so yes the Pantera sound is still here but I also feel like this is where a band like Five Flavored (Finger) Fruit Punch (Death Punch) could have been influenced by this record. I think it’s safe to say that they’ve moved on for the hardcore sound. This record does have a lot more slower songs so for me this one was kind of boring. The one thing I’ll give props to is that they did change their sound somewhat so there’s that. I’ll give this one 6/10
Standouts: Tombs, Skeleton Vanguard, Black Vatican
Intolerance- ok so this one has a completely different sound and it kind of reminds me a bit like their earlier stuff with a hint of their newer stuff. It’s certainly refreshing to hear them try to come up with their own sound. I’ll give this one 9/10.
Standouts: Hardened By Consequence, Intolerance, Born And Buried Alone
At the end of the day, you could say that this band has sort of an identity crisis. It seems like they want to be the next Pantera that they start to sound like them. Before that it was Chimaira and Sepultura so it’s no wonder they aren’t bigger.
Final Grade: B
Album Rankings:
- Intolerance
- Venom And Tears
- Vendetta
- Haymaker
- You Don’t Have To Be Blood To Be Family
- Beyond Repair
- Deathless
Sinister Reviews 