RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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RED ELEVEN – Round II
Bumping up from Secret Entertainment to Lifeforce Records, Finland’s Red Eleven return for "Round II"- a 12 track album that continues in an alternative rock/ metal style. Expanding their horizons in electronic directions for "Tomorrow’s Path" and also lighter, semi-acoustic / melancholic rock fare for the follow up "The Turning Point", I feel like Red…
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HOT FOG – Secret Phantasies of the Dragon Sun
San Francisco, California’s Hot Fog are an eclectic heavy metal band – probably a product of the vibrant music scene of the city. Forming in 2007 and releasing their first EP "Wyvern and Children First" in 2010, we finally get a full length from the quartet – an 8 song entity that has a lot…
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SWEDISH HITZ GOES METAL – Volume II
Singer/ guitarist Tommy ReinXeed came up with this concept in 2011- to record a lot of the biggest songs in pop music from Sweden and take them in a metal direction. Successfully charting the record in Sweden and Japan, he would form a full band that would tour and perform at a few festivals. Now…
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ENDZEIT – Years of Hunger
Endzeit hails from Finland and offers a damn fine slab of intense and sickeningly dark black metal from the deepest pit of Hell…or, in this case, Finland, I suppose. The band is relatively new in that it was spawned in 2012, and Years of Hunger is the first output by the the four scummy Finns…
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IN FLAMES – Siren Charms
Let’s face it- those who discovered this Swedish band when they were the leaders of the melodic death metal movement on "The Jester Race", "Whoracle", on through to "Clayman" records are none too pleased with their alternative/ groove metal direction they’ve maintained for a solid 12 years since 2002’s "Reroute to Remain" effort. If you…
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VILLAINY – Villainy I
Skikkelig tøff old school thrash metal med en liten touch av det moderne og med moderne mener jeg god produksjon og lyd. Alt det andre er av beste gammelmerke. Her finnes ikke trigging eller annen form for juks. Alt er ekte. Det minner veldig om en bedre versjon av det gamle estlandske kult thrash metal…
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THE HAUNTED – Exit Wounds
If you’ve paid attention to this Swedish thrash act through the years, you know there have been ups and downs, lineup changes, and even stylistic shifts that have met with approval for some, disdain for others. "Exit Wounds" is their eighth studio album, and first in a while for returning members Adrian Erlandsson on drums…
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CANNIBAL CORPSE – A Skeletal Domain
Hvem skulle tro at Cannibal Corpse skulle klare å henge med i death metal kjøret i 26 år? 13 fullengdere er det blitt. Variasjonen er ikke så fryktelig stor fra album til album, men de har en stor fanskare som kjøper plate etter plate og er kjempefornøyde med det. Jeg er en av dem, og…
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NEW JACOBIN CLUB – Soldiers of the Mark
Having grown up in Upper Silesia, Poland, I am quite familiar with punk and honestly could never find much to be excited about the genre. I always thought it was too simple, too stripped down. I am also not a stranger to the likes of early Suicidal Tendencies, although a combination of hardcore and punk…
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HOD – Book of the Worm
HOD er et amerikansk black/death metal band av den litt thrasha typen. Bandet ble startet opp i 2007 og «Book of the Worm» er deres andre fullengder. Musikken på denne skiva kan kanskje ligne litt på en ekstrem versjon av Soul Reapers «Written in Blood» eller Slayers legendariske «Reign in Blood». Noe slitsom i lengden,…
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MISS BEHAVIOUR – Double Agent
The third album from Swedish melodic hard rock/ AOR oriented act Miss Behaviour, "Double Agent" is the follow up to 2011’s "Last Woman Standing". The quintet deliver 12 more rockers and ballads that are in line with arena rock period Journey, Bad English, and possibly the neo-classical guitar flair of Steve Lukather and Yngwie Malmsteen…
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SUNLESS SKY – Firebreather
Cleveland, Ohio has always had a strong reputation for world class heavy metal/ hard rock acts – names like Breaker, Shok Paris, Purgatory, Black Death, Destructor, and Soulless making their mark on the scene domestically and abroad. Beginning in 2012, Sunless Sky is another quintet to keep tabs on, as their debut album "Firebreather" is…
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ACRANIA – Totalitarian Dystopia
Acrania is a brutal deathcore outfit in the vein of All Shall Perish without the spectacular melodic passages. This one sentence could serve as review proper were it not for the sputtering profanity that makes me want to skip tracks with a quickness and then point that out in my review like so. And I…
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REBELLIOUS SPIRIT – Obsession
German hard rock with a melodic meets post-grunge edge, Rebellious Spirit are back for their second full-length on "Obsession". Still in their late teens and early twenties, the band possess a smooth swagger that probably comes from their love for American hard rock acts as diverse as Skid Row, Guns N Roses, and Avenged Sevenfold…
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NIVA – Incremental IV
Swedish melodic rock act Niva returns for their fourth studio album "Incremental IV". Hot on the heels of one of my favorite melodic rock albums of last year "Magnitude", the quintet put another 11 songs of soaring vocals, energetic chord combinations, and easy on the ears hooks for those who love 80’s era Survivor, Toto,…
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DRAGONFORCE – Maximum Overload
Dragonforce er for meg et enten-eller band og da mest eller. Jeg likte debuten «Valley of the Damned» godt og da selvfølgelig førsteutgaven, ikke nyinnspillingen. Jeg likte ei låt på oppfølgeren «Sonic Firestorm» og så var det slutt. Det skal sies at de har slitt mye med dårlige trommiser og jeg avskrev dem vel lenge…
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ARCH ENEMY – War Eternal
Arch Enemy is an old vestige of Gothenburg death/heavy metal. Their beginnings may not reach as far back as Metallica’s, Megadeth’s or even Pantera’s but they have been around long enough to know what we expect from them. To that respect they usually deliver the goods. In my estimate, while taking away nothing from their…
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ATARA / MISERABLE FAILURE – Hang Them
Dette handler om to franske grindcoreband; Atara og Miserable Failure. Atara leverer sju låter først og der er det lyd god og låtene for så vidt ganske ok. Ikke for kjapt og med en viss struktur over det hele. Miserable Failure leverer deretter sine sju låter. Her er det mye mer skriking og kaos og…
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HALCYON WAY – Conquer
The fourth album from Atlanta, Georgia’s Halcyon Way "Conquer" is another testament to the developing sonic outlook and songwriting for this quintet. Straddling the lines of modern, progressive metal, the 12 songs continue to employ a dual clean/ death vocal outlook (shared between main singer Steve Braun and lead guitarist Jon Bodan) and appear to…
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STEEL PROPHET – Omniscient
Another lengthy layoff between studio recordings for this veteran California power/ progressive metal outfit. Their last album "Beware" hit the streets a decade ago in 2004, sans primary vocalist Rick Mythiasin as ex-London singer Nadir D’Priest took over the microphone reins. Since then they’ve seen many of their early albums re-issued in either CD or…