I apologize for the lack of reviews on my part but I was away for a while and having problems with my Blogger account but lucky for you and the bands I review, I’m back and ready to unleash a whole slew of amazing albums on your plate. This album hasn’t been out too long but I’ve had it for a while and I’m so glad I can finally share with you what I think of this album.
Today I’ve got American Me’s newest release III and although only clocking in at just over 23 minutes, this album brings you some angry, mosh-worthy hardcore that I feel everyone needs to have in their library. It’s been three years since American Me’s last release Siberian Nightmare Machine and quite frankly the album didn’t quite meet up to my expectations. Personally, they haven’t gotten worse over the years, but they haven’t been able to create an album that is worthy of being spun multiple times. They never cease to bring the heaviness in the hardcore genre, the moshable riffs and breakdowns, and the pure anger and hate in their lyrics, but there’s just something about it that tends to get boring after just a few listens.
Not to say the album doesn’t have standout tracks because it certainly does. Songs like “Broken Moral Compass” and “Veni Vidi Vici” are definitely the strongest and my personal favorites on the album. “Broken Moral Compass” mostly for the angry chants in the middle to the end of the song and “Veni Vidi Vici” for the fact that they picked up Jamie Hanks from I Declare War to do guest vocals. Honestly he just annihilates the track and gives you a level of heavy that although seems a little out of place considering the genre difference between both bands, is still enough to make you want to curb-stomp your grandma if she entered the room at the right time. The album is chock-full of guest vocals, not just Jamie Hanks. Along with Jamie we have Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain on “Submissioner”, Ian Fike of It Prevails on “Natural Enemy” and Peter Kowalsky of Remembering Never on “Son Of A Machine Gun Pt. III”. I think the boys in American Me made a good move in choosing these veteran vocalists to feature on the new album because each one brought a little something of their own to their respective tracks and it did in fact give the album the change it needed to differentiate it from the rest of their relases, but sadly it still isn’t enough for me to put the entire album on my iPod and constantly jam to it; more or less two or three songs might come off and enter my iPod but that’s about it.
Despite my high expectations for the album, the boys still managed to create some really gnarly heavy hardcore and despite the replay value of III, it’s still something you can enjoy with your boys if you’re ever feeling a little angry and down to mosh wherever you may be. I’d imagine American Me puts on one heck of a show with how angry their songs come off as, but until they head over to Canada, I won’t know! Regardless, make sure to grab the album if it’s what you’re into because it definitely deserves at least a few plays in your library.
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