Attila: Rage

First off, thank you to my good friend Cole for bringing this band to my knowledge in the recent past.  That's right... as you read above the band of the week is Attila (and by band of the week, I mean the band that I personally can't stop listening to for whatever reason).  So this whole "party metal" (oops there I go with core generalizing) is actually pretty funny to me... in a good way.  I love brutal lyrics as much as the next but it's pretty refreshing when they are not solely about world destruction and the loss of self through consumerism and greed.  Don't hate... I still love All Shall Perish with an unhealthy passion.  But if you're into newer metal... you know exactly what I'm talking about.  It seems more and more bands are headed in that area, or maybe just that general direction.  Anyway... back to the band.


Pros:  Well the first thing that stands out to me is the guitars.  Probably because I play the guitar... weird.  So for a newer metal band with pretty brutal vocals and son August Burns Red Style chops, it seems you tend to get a lot of  Melodic Minor scale based riffs and solos.  Yes those little babies are fast and furious, but they are everywhere.  So I was so excited to hear these leads based in Pentatonic and Blues!  The intervals of those scales just make them sound HUGE!  They are definitely putting the Rock back in Metal.

Cons:  Now this is tricky.  I'm going to say the vocals are the con, however I don't fully mean it.  The vocals are what originally made them hard listening.  Now I don't mean the low end... It's than really nasal higher growl that scat/raps.  You either have heard them and know EXACTLY what I'm talking about, or hopefully you will and then it will take you 10 whole seconds to figure it out.  It seems scat/rap is making it's way across the face of metal, and some do it so well, like Whitechapel for instance.  So back to the vocals.  They do grow on you after a while.  Plus the lyrics are clever as hell ;)  So look at that... even the cons turned out well.

So over all I give Attila and their album Rage 3 licorice whips, some pocket lint, and a genuine artificial replica of the Pick of Destiny (the actual pick not the movie).  Give them a listen...  Their myspace link is listed below:

http://www.myspace.com/attilaga

"Alright everybody throw your hands up
 Put em in the air and if you’re not holding a red cup
 You know the drill- get on your knees"