Bands that combine metal and other, earlier musical influences, it's something that's going on for a long time already. At first there was the crossover with punk, then hip hop or classical music. A few years ago there was a Danish band who started to combine Johnny Cash and Elivs tunes with metal. Since 2006 there's this band that introduced the swing to metal: Diablo Swing Orchestra. But it's not just an orchestra, they started out in 1501. ( To read the whole story, check their site). The members of this devilish orchestra joined forces again and now come up with a second cd, after the release of The Butcher's Ballroom.

It's hard to start a review about Jorn, the talented vocalist who helped out millions of other bands without talking about those bands, but I'm gonna give it a try.
First of, the pun the title already makes it clear: this record is not a new solo record, it's an overview of the man's solo records made so far on different labels and with different line-ups.
The tracks were chosen by the man himself and although it could not have been easy for him, he really picked out most of his best tracks.

Roadrunner Records

On the 21st of august the new Album of Spoil Engine, titled Antimatter, was released! Spoil Engine is a Belgian metal band, the first Belgian band in 20 years to sign a deal with Roadrunner records. "Antimatter" is their second album and presents a mixture of heavy thrash metal with modern metal but also rock influences. The day after the release, the band was present on stage at "Pukkelpop", one of the mayor Belgian festivals. The band couldn't wish for a better start. The shelter stage at Pukkelpop was the ideal spot to try out their new album for a bigger crowd. Also their single "Breathe" stayed in "de Afrekening", a famous Belgian alternative chart, for 5 weeks! This is remarkable, because it's a long time ago that a Belgian metal band achieved this.

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY is called the best live band in the world and on september 9th we could check this out at the Openluchttheater Rivierenhof in Deurne. EITS is an instrumental post-rock band from Texas
With already 5 full lenghts under their belt one of which is the soundtrack of the movie 'Friday Night Lights'. The Openluchttheater is the perfect setting for this kind of intense, emotional music.

This amphitheater style building in the middle of a beautiful park breathes the atmosphere of hot summer evenings and attractive music. The support act for this show was KRAKOW, a Down-tempo/country band from Herk-De-Stad, with some catching songs they brought everybody in the mood for the band we all came for!

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY started the show with 'First Breath After coma' this song literally imitates the first heartbeats of someone who just came out of a coma. Right from the start everybody (and that's allot!) was moved by the epic sound these 4 guys can create on their guitars! Without saying a word or leaving any pause they lead you from one beautiful song to the other. At the end of their set they played the 13 minutes long "The Only Moment We Were Alone", a true apotheosis of a wonderfull set. It's hard to describe what effect EITS has on you on a live set, you just have to experience this!

http://www.heartbreaktunes.com

Century Media

If you're a fan of several styles of music, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE it the ideal band for you! This band from Shreveport, LA makes an absurd combination of
all kinds of music. Wether it's Metal,Electro, Gothic, Hardcore, Mathcore, Pop or Jazz, It's all inside 1 album. The name of the band:
IWABO already gives away that this has got to be something special....

Esotheric is the first full-length album from these Swedish progressive death band in five years. Earlier this year the band already published an appetizer on the net called Fractal, an EP where they presented their new singer Joakim and new guitar player Johan.

But enough about the past, let the music to the talking.

Bridge Nine records


Polar Bear Club made a good entree with their debut full-length Sometimes Things Just Disappear. Not only did it make it as one of Alternative Press’s 10 essential albums of 2008, it has also been re-released recently by Bridge Nine Records, the band’s new label. When you get signed to such a house hold name, something has got to be up. And indeed, this is a solid record!

Talk Of The Town is the title of the new album of Dutch garagerockers Fury 161.Weither it's going to be the talk of town remains to be seen.

The artwork of the album featuring the band's hometown Rotterdam, made by Mitch O'D Connel looks great and invites you to have a listen to the album. Looking at the artwork one would expect bluesrock, garagerock or a mixture of both..

Last Tuesday (15/09/09) the Dead Swans Sleep Walkers Tour took its stop at the Frontline, Ghent. Due to traffic I missed the first band, so I had the band Daggers first on tonight's hardcore menu. I wasn't familiar with the band and I must say the band really took me by surprise. At first sight things were looking like it was going to be a rather dull show.

A sort of shyness seemed to hold the guys back from bursting out and the crowd just stood by. Although there was little to no crowd participation, the appreciation for this band grew within minutes as well as the band's enthusiasm.

The tension in the crowd grew dramatically, more people felt like dancing and I bet that if more people - myself included - would've known the lyrics, they would've sang along. At the end, Daggers' delivery was hard, heavy and very promising towards the future.