North NOISE

Terracorpse – The Prescription For Death

Decent dark electronic/industrial.

Funeral For Yesterday – Score: 3/5

Kittie is finally finding their sound. The songs that grace this album are better written than most anything this band has previously released.

Save Yourself – Score: 1/5

No progression in their sound, just more of the same, but without the hooks that made songs like “I Should Have Bought Flowers” and “Last One For The Money” great.

They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live! – Score: 4/5

Another live album from NOFX, with not one of the same songs that graced 1995′s “I Heard They Suck Live“.

The girl from The Muffs appears to sing her part on “Lori Myers” and sounds just as venomous as she did when she first recorded it.

Sickness And Misery – Score: 2/5

High hopes shattered.

Skullgrid – Score: 3/5

Good stuff, exactly what I expect from this band, with a bit of positive growth.

V Is For Vagina – Score: 3/5

Better than most reviewers are saying, this debut release from Puscifier (Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame) is a decent laid-back listen. The single “Queen B” is a catchy industrial-blues romp, with an interesting video to go with it.

Velvet Noise Extended – Score: 3/5

Their cover of Faith No More’s “From Out Of Nowhere” isn’t as bad as I was expecting, although it would be nice to hear the track with the singer actually choosing to hit the same notes that Mike Patton did. (i.e. minor third instead of major, when it really sounds better the way Patton did it)

Venom & Tears – Score: 3/5

This former hardcore band is now aping Pantera as best they can. It seems many bands may start to do this, after Lamb Of God’s “Redneck” won a Grammy or some crap. They do a pretty good job of writing Tampora (Pantera) -style tunes, if a little dry and repetitive.

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D – Score: 4/5

I could do without the Olof Dreijer version of “Me, I’m Not” and the fan remix of “My Violent Heart” by Pirate Robot Midget, but most of the other remixes are decent. “The Beginning of the End” (Ladytron), “In This Twilight” (Fennesz), and “Zero-Sum” (Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert) are all excellent.