Various Artists – Taste Of Christmas

Its weird. I’m sitting here, listening to a Christmas CD and Halloween hasn’t even passed yet. Maybe it’s a little too early to get excited, but by the looks of it, the good people at Warcon are getting pretty pumped; and they want to pass on that feeling to you. So what better way than to release an eighteen track Christmas compilation for the ever growing post-hardcore scene? I doubt there is a better way.

If you’re getting tired of hearing the same old boring Christmas carols every year, then Taste of Christmas is the perfect album for you to pick up. You now have a reason to listen to your scremo on Christmas morning and kick out the old classic songs for something a bit heavier. And with seventeen unreleased songs, chances are most of these holiday tracks are new to you. Sure, some of them are renditions of old classics like Happy Christmas (War Is Over) by Street Drum Corps Ft. Bert McCraken, We Three Kings by Amped, and First Noel by My American Heart. But for the most past you get brand new Christmas songs to open presents to. Like Skindred‘s Jungle Bells or Funeral For A Friend‘s Miracle Of Christmas. But then again, you can’t forget the songs by the likes of Like Yesterday, Emery, Bleed The Dream, Black Halos, The Used, Roses Are Red, The Smashup, Bedlight For Blue Eyes and Gatsbys American Dream.

And although it’s still a whole two months away, Taste Of Christmas has put me in the holiday mood with both their slow songs and the head banging ones. I, for one, will be quite happy if this becomes a yearly ritual from WarCon, because although its not something you can blast during the hot summer months, it’s fun for the Christmas months.

The only downside is the the artwork, they just went for the name recognition of Taste Of Chaos – with the same font and design they used to advertise that tour. Its sad, because they could’ve done just as good with a more inventive name.