Album Review Recap

There's at least one show on the concert calendar (below right) every night for the rest of May, so I thought it'd be useful to provide handy links to recent album reviews for many of these bands. There's some great bands coming to town, so hopefully you have a chance to catch a couple of these!

Echoterra - In Your Eyes EP, 7/10

Echoterra - The Law Of One, 8/10

Echoterra plays their first headlining show tonight, Friday, May 21 at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis with Alation, Hollowstone, and Dance Of The Mourning Child. The band will also perform Saturday, May 22 at Station 4 in St. Paul as part of the Earl Root Memorial Metal Massacre 2 fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Read the review of Echoterra's first performance (with pictures and video) while supporting Epica with Threat Signal, Blackguard, and Gracepoint

Slash - Slash, 7/10

Slash with Myles Kennedy singing plays tonight, Friday, May 21 at Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minnesota.

Hypocrisy -A Taste Of Extreme Divinity, 8/10

Scar Symmetry -Dark Matter Dimensions, 8/10

Blackguard - Profugus Mortis, 7/10

Hypocrisy, Scar Symmetry, and Blackguard will perform with Hate and Swashbuckle on Sunday, May 23 at Station 4 in St. Paul.

Read the review of Blackguard's recent show (with pictures and video) while supporting Epica with Threat Signal, Echoterra, and Gracepoint.

Arsis - Starve For The Devil, 9/10

Misery Index - Heirs To Thievery, 9/10

Annotations Of An Autopsy - II: The Reign Of Darkness, 4/10

Arsis, Misery Index, and Annotations Of An Autopsy will be supporting Dying Fetus with Demonicon on Monday, May 24 at The Rock in Maplewood.

Read the review of Arsis's recent show (with pictures) while supporting Arch Enemy and Exodus.

Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony, 6/10

Breaking Benjamin will support Nickelback with Shinedown and Sick Puppies at Target Center in Minneapolis on Monday, May 24.

The Crinn - Dreaming Saturn, 9/10

The Crinn headlines the bill on Saturday, May 29 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Dead By Wednesday, We Are Legion, Expyre, This Will Not End Well, and She Fach Dahm.

Read the review of The Crinn's Dreaming Saturn record release show with Ambassador Gun.

Primal Fear - 16.6 - Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, 7/10

Primal Fear plays on Sunday, May 30 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Havok, Avian, and Dawn Of Valor.

Read the review of Primal Fear's show at Minnesota MetalFest last year with Athiest, Novembers Doom, Destroy Destroy Destroy, Gnostic, Avian, and Gracepoint.

Breaking Benjamin Album Review

Breaking Benjamin – Dear Agony

Hollywood, 2009

6/10

Breaking Benjamin peddles the sort of heavy, radio-friendly rock that’s hard not to like. Sure, there will always be those who detest this style of metal, but it’s hard to dispute the band’s success. Stylistically Breaking Benjamin reminds me a lot of Staind, both for their use of somber themes and in the variety of songs they are capable of writing. “Crawl”, “Fade Away”, and “Lights Out” show off a quite heavy side full of solid down-tuned riffs. To the other extreme are the depressive-sounding ballads “Give Me A Sign” and “Anthem Of The Angels”. The rest of album is chock-full of slow and mid-tempo melodic tunes that retain enough meat to avoid sounding bland. For the most part the album is enjoyable and easy to listen to, but a couple weak tracks slip in – “I Will Not Bow” deserving dishonorable mention for its annoying chorus. Hold on for the end of the album, because two of the best songs, “Dear Agony” and “Without Out”, are sequenced in the last three tracks. Despite a relatively low mark of 6, I actually really enjoy Dear Agony. I just can’t bring myself to heap lavish praises on a band that sounds like so many others. The bottom line is that if you like bands like Staind, Sevendust, and Soil you can’t go wrong with adding Breaking Benjamin to your collection. People that don’t like this sort of made-for-radio rock won’t be convinced, however.

Breaking Benjamin will be appearing at Target Center in Minneapolis on Monday, May 24 as direct support to Nickelback. Additional support will come from Shinedown and Sick Puppies.