Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown - Reprise Records
Green Day has done it again with this latest CD - the best-selling album in the U.S (without Wal-Mart). Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals/guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass) and Tre Cool (drums) have been making the rounds including appearances on SNL’s season finalé, the new Conan Tonight Show, David Letterman and others. “Know Your Enemy” is the first release, but the album is full of soon-to-be hits of catchy songs, controversial lyrics and beautiful ballads. Other standouts are “Before The Lobotomy,” “¡Viva La Gloria!,” “Peacemaker,” “¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)” and personal favorite, “21 Guns.” (Flip open cellphones for this one!) But every song is great. I predict many, many hit singles and millions of CD sales.
(Linda Hollar)

Chimaria - The Infection, Ferret Music
Crushing! Chimaira has slowed the groove down just a bit, which lends to their most punishing effort to date. Hearing the instruments breathe provides pure sonic bliss. [Since receiving the Limited Fan Edition (only 600 copies) over a month ago, I’ve listened to The Infection nearly 100 times - and it still continues to grow on me.] The nearly 10-minute instrumental, “The Heart Of It All,” is mesmerizing. “Try To Survive” has a head-bobbing drum beat similar to Metallica’s “Sad But True” and an addictive outro guitar riff.
While “Secrets Of The Dead” and “Destroy And Dominate” are heavy hitters, “The Disappearing Sun” is down right pulverizing. The Limited Fan Edition includes the CD/DVD edition, guitar picks, flag, demos, a photo booklet and bonus tracks. The DVD has a couple of great skits and shows Chimaria in the studio making The Infection. This is a MUST HAVE disc.
(Travis Tutwiler)

Drop Dead, Gorgeous - The Hot N’ Heavy, Suretone
When the singer isn’t screaming so hard you think he’s gonna puke, he’s whining like an emo-bitch over the band’s spastic rhythms that wander with no sense of purpose. Opening track, “Killing A Classic” sums up the whole disc. That classic would be music.
(Travis Tutwiler)j

Scale the Summit - Carving Desert Canyons, Prosthetic Records
Instrumental albums are almost always tedious. Normally having no vocals translates to either a guitar wank-off or a slow repetitious headache. Houston’s Scale the Summit eschews the stigma and aims for both the crotch and third eye with their second full-length disc, Carving Desert Canyons. At first glance, the eight string and seven-string guitar combination seems like overkill, but having an equally creative rhythm section is this band’s greatest asset. It also doesn’t hurt that these cats know how to write an engaging piece of music with delay-drenched tapped out licks. The technical prowess is there as well as a sense of song structure - sort of like a slowed down Dillinger Escape Plan. It’s hard to single out certain tracks, because the CD is best listened to as a whole. This is a must for any serious riff-head, who has worn out their Behold... The Arctopus, Pelican and Explosions In The Sky albums.
(D.J. Ivie)

Twenty 3: Fifty 9 - The Count, Act I – The Soul Of A Prisoner, Artworks
This Dallas-based symphonic metal quartet released their eagerly awaited, self-produced debut mid-May. Clearly influenced by some of metal’s most prestigious progressive powerhouses (most notably Symphony X, Dream Theater, and Savatage), Twenty3: Fifty9 avoids many of the genre’s clichés by carving out their own niche, with an Andrew Lloyd Webber theatricality and melodic sensibility. Their 60-minute concept album, revolving around the Count of Monte Cristo, is certainly the most ambitious slab of local music to come along in years. Pick it up on their website, or better yet at one of their shows! (Jason Robert)

Revengeance - End Of Salvation
Since there’s some buzz in DFW about Revengeance, I was eager to get a taste of End Of Salvation. “Scars Of Serenity” starts out promising, but that soon changes. Although the band has some talent musically, the CD sounds more like an early 80’s demo. The vocals also make the End Of Salvation a hard listen. Taylor Dennis seems to be trying too many styles and seems like he’s struggling. The background vocals don’t help either, especially on the beginning of “Alone In Heaven.” Maybe with a better mix and some different vocals, Revengeance could put out some great tunes. (Travis Tutwiler)