Above is a preview of a song off The Juggernaut called "Divine Usurper"After the success of their debut, Free Your Mind, all Mind have been doing is touring and writing. They gained a huge audience of metalheads and punks alike by blending their songs in a metal/punk hybrid which doesn't sound like metalcore. They are a key factor in what is being called the
2010 metal revolution. In their next album,
The Juggernaut, they're hoping to make the metal big time. "We've got quite a range of songs here. We just hope that people will like them all. This is basically our "make or break" album." says leader Jason Smith, "The phrase is overused, but people will either love it or hate it. Hopefully, love it, ya know what I mean!"
They've recently announced the track listing and cover of the album, giving fans a glimpse into what lies ahead. It has everything you can expect from Mind, ranging from ballad-like folk rock to industrial death metal. They are certainly one of the more versatile bands today. "We add all these different genres, because don't want to stick to a format. We want to be different and that's what we are. We are Mind." claimed guitarist Aaron Del Potro.
"We've also taken a lot of inspiration from the tour, seeing what fans like and whatnot, we're trying to please them as much as possible, while making new fans." Jason Smith says as he sips his cup of tea. "2010 is going to be the year that metal will take over and if we blink, we'll miss it. That's why we're releasing 3 albums in this year. It's pivotal. We've got great people working on it, like
Liam from The Schadenfreude Ecdysiast. He's the one who makes everything sound awesome."
As they put in the carbon copy of the CD, they notice something wrong with it. "Fuck dude, you brought the wrong CD. Why do even like that shit?" moans Harry Thornton as they are graced with the sounds of Animal Collective. Eventually, they find the proper CD and play it.
1. The Juggernaut (1:48) (Acoustic Rock/ Folk Rock)An acoustic intro, the riff will come in important as you'll find out later. Not much to say then, apart from in all its delicacy, you can still tell a heavy metal monster is coming for you.
2. Scattered Hate (5:12) (Speed Metal/ Extreme Metal)Suddenly out of the sky, a spacey sound of the squealing guitar comes in and knocks everything into place. Then afterwards, the drums, bass and rythm guitar kick in with a crushingly fast riff. The vocals then rush in with ferocity apparent, which combines with the ripping thrash solo rounding things up into a typical Mind fashion. But when it goes quiet, the squealing begins again and another solo, this time unnacompanied and more NWOBHM sounding finishes the song off.
3. The Good Apollyon (7:39) (Doom metal/ Progressive metal)A crushingly heavy, yet quiet bassline marks the songs beginning. Then eventually the guitars and drums come in, although this time with violins and harps playing melancholly in the background. The vocals remain moderately sensitive and quiet, although almost reaching into the screams in the higher parts. As the gently weeping violin comes to a close, a sad sounding, slow solo closes the song.
4. Divine Usurper (2:53) (Industrial Metal/ Death Metal)The example that's been leaked is shown above on the YouNoob video. As is heard, it's a "heavier than thou" affair, in which the real star of the show is drummer Robert Edwards. It is almost Groove-Metally with it's riff, plus it uses synthesizers while still remaining as heavy. as. fuck.
5. Amber is the New Red (4:20) (Hardcore Punk/ Heavy Metal)The extremely successful single by Mind. It was released before the album came out, so you should really know about it. But i'll tell you anyway. It goes straight into the song, which is a more punkish song than anything they've done before. The vocals are more clean than usual, but it's still heavier than punk. The solo which is hidden in the bridge is quick paced and progressively styled to remain that true Mind feeling. The riff itself is quite basic, but almost catchy which is a good sign.
6. Lyophilization (the Words and the World) (4:01) (Hard Rock/ Progressive Rock)This is a more hard rock influenced song than metal, yet rather than make them mainstream, it just shows off further Minds great creativity and Minds great, well.. oh christ... mind. After a simple rocky riff, it goes into a dual solo and then into an epic rock song, along the lines of bands like Pink Floyd and Coheed and Cambria. After being epic, it goes into another, more quick paced solo, with Jason still playing the main riff in the background. Then at the end, ANOTHER riff fades out. Guess what it is.. you're right, it's the intro riff!
7. My Fall From Grace (9:25) (Progressive Metal/ Heavy Metal)An anthem which is going to be screamed out loud by many a fan in the next tour. It's truly anthemic, with plenty of "woah-ohs" and slow, bludgeoning riffs to wave your devil horns at. It starts off a slow, Alice-In-Chains-esque riff (Jar of Flies era) with dual vocals and no drum beat. Until... BOOM! It all gathers into the place on the word "Heeeeeeeell" at the 4th minute and it turns into a loud Judas Priest like song with a memorable riff and high vocals. Then again in the the last minute or so, it turns back into the ballad, chanting the chorus over and over again until it fades out. One of the more epic songs on the album.
8. The Snake and the Pearl (2:13) (Death Metal/ Speed Metal)From the bliss and epicness of the last song to a full speed death metal song. It goes forward at an unstoppable pace, and has many Slayer-influenced solos in between all the nooks and crannies. It is one of the shorter songs we've done and it's vocals are almost so high they're supersonic and indecipherable. But that's a good thing in this case, it just adds to the effect of the song and proves the icing on the cake.
9. The Trail of the Wanderer (5:46) (Folk Rock/ Heavy Metal)Imagine if Jethro Tull and Iron Maiden had a lovechild and this is what it would sound like. Although the riff is simple and traditional, it has a heavy solo twist on it, while Jason's still playing his acoustic riff in the background. The vocals are much like track 7, in that they take advantage of the fact that Aaron's not bad at singing neither. It's almost uplifting in parts.
10. Anthema I (Platinum Hearse) (3:57) (Doom Metal/ Alternative Metal)So starts the beginning of the Anthema saga. I'll go throughout the story when I have time, it's complicated. This song, then, takes the epic doom of Candlemass and actively pours a bottle of prog/alt metal like Tool into it. despite this then, it doesn't last that long, making way for the short solos and gregorian chanting at the beginning. Would you believe it, the acoustic intro riff is played very quietly in the background, leaving listeners to search for it. Well, not actively. That's just sad.
11. Anthema II (Serenade) (4:33) (Melodic Death Metal/ Metalcore)Don't let the genres put you off. This is veering towards the huge epic metalcore of Killswitch Engage and the furious brilliance of melo-death bands such as Wintersun. The riff is a cluster of weeping and screaming guiatrs which perfectly match the style of vocals portrayed throughout the song. The intro riff isn't visible this time, instead it's the intro riff played bakwards right at the end and then sped up. A lot, to match the pace of the album.
12. Anthema III (Into Ashes) (7:03) (Progressive Rock/ Alternative Rock)We promised ballads and ballads we gave. There are no weird time changes or bursting solos here, instead opting for a simply beautiful riff which remains throughout accompanying the sorrowful lyrical themes present on the song. There are some violins in the background playing mercifully and letting the guitars do their beautiful work. It brings the album to a close, topping off the album.
So, to round it all up, what do you think? Well, for you fans you'll have to wait until February the 1st, however for reviewers it is already out, so you can start giving your opinions on our most prized work yet.
((OOC: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. I worked hard on it.))
