Memphis May Fire - "Grenade (Bruno Mars cover)"

Easy come, easy go That's just how you live, oh Take, take, take it all, But you never give

Rating: 8/10

You have most likely heard the song "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, but you probably have never heard it quite like this. Every once in a while, Fearless Records puts together albums of "Punk Goes..." and this track was featured on Punk Goes Pop 5. This is one of the best covers I have ever heard. It keeps the core of the song and the emotion while also bringing in elements of the band. The lead vocalist of this metalcore band from Dallas, Texas, Matty Mullins, has such a great voice that can handle the various screams featured in such a genre as well as the clean vocals that make this cover so great. The mastermind and lead guitarist of Memphis May Fire, Kellen McGregor, put together the beautiful electric guitar parts that change this from a pop song to a metalcore one, of course, along with the help of Jake Garland's fast-paced drums. Amazing pop-to-rock cover, enjoy.

Vendetta Spoken - "It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn"

I'm still not insane

Rating: 4/10

Vendetta Spoken is a live performing band from North Dakota. Their music is best described as deathcore, the mix between hardcore or metalcore and death metal. The vocals are almost completely indistinguishable with their guttural yells and screeches. "It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn" is from their second studio album Schrödinger Equation. It starts out sounding like a cool heavy metal track and then the strange squealing vocals come in and you wonder what you are listening to. At first I wondered if there was going to be any clean vocals in the song at all, but as the screaming continued I realized that was just not Vendetta Spoken's style. If you can ignore (or possibly enjoy) the vocals that can only be growling and hissing in your ear, the music behind it is quite awesome. If you are against harsh, screaming vocals, I really suggest you skip this song despite the fact it has some fantastic metal parts to it.