Boy, do we have an epic episode for you! Not only do we have a record six albums shoved in here, but i think this ends up as our longest episode thus far. There’s a polarizing review of the new Killswitch Engage album! That’s followed up by the long-awaited (by long I mean two weeks) review of the raved-about-by-Kyle Russian Circles! And then after that, Kyle decides he has had enough and jumps ship! There’s a Sideshow Case! There’s Melodic Death about aliens! There’s Polka! Wait…what? Yeah. Polka. It happens.
Also, make sure you stay tuned to the site for a contest announcement of how you can win your self a copy of Killswitch Engage’s Disarm the Descent! And, as always, feel free to share your own thoughts on any of the albums in the comments!
Reviews: Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal (Epitaph); Eryn Non Dae – Meliora (Independent); Hypocrisy – End Of Disclosure (Nuclear Blast); Killswitch Engage – Disarm The Descent (Roadrunner); Russian Circles – Empros (Sergeant House); Russkaja – Energia! (Napalm)
Killswitch Engage – Disarm The Descent
Russian Circles – Empros
Russkaja – Energia!
Eryn Non Dae – Meliora
Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
Hypocrisy – End Of Disclosure
The Sideshow Podcast 
Good thing the traffic was backed up on the Jersey Turnpike this afternoon, as it gave me plenty of time to listen to all 98 minutes of this week’s record length for an episode.
For the second week in a row there is an album that I’ve listened to before hearing your review of it. For Killswitch, I’m going to split the difference with all of you and give it a 4, since you guys gave it a 5, a 3, and a 2. As with Kvelertak, expectations play a big role with Disarm The Descent. If you are expecting that this album will rekindle the feelings and emotions that you had when you first heard Alive Or Just Breathing, then you are certain to be disappointed. Take it from me, you will always be disappointed by something if you expect it to be as good as something was when you were 18 years old or younger. It doesn’t matter if that something is a new Star Wars movie, the Before Watchmen comic books, a new Game of Thrones novel, or a new Iron Maiden album. With Killswitch Engage, I was never the biggest fan in the world to begin with, having not even listened to those last 2 albums (I couldn’t even tell you what they are called off the top of my head). I never disliked the band either so I came in to listening to Disarm The Descent without any real expectations one way or the other. I think there is truth to parts of what all of you guys said. Is there some filler? Sure. The vocals? I can see how someone might think they are lackluster. And there certainly does seem to be the feeling of guys in their late 30s losing a bit of the edge they had when they were younger. But for me the songs are just catchy enough to give me something to hook on to, and the guitars offer just enough glimpses of some nice work in there to keep me listening. It’s certainly not anything groundbreaking or genre-defining, nor will it probably be in my top 10 list at the end of the year, but it’s a decent listen that has kept me coming back for more listens this week.
So let me get this straight, Kyle was there to start the show and then left? That’s a new one. As for the contest, I suspect your request for submissions of people singing Killswitch may have the opposite effect after learning that Kyle will sing the song on air as well. That only discourages people from submitting anything because we surely want to be spared the stylings of Kyle’s vocal talent.