RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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VILDHJARTA – Måsstaden
The Swedish band Vildhjärta is new to most, but I’m pretty sure they will surprise many out there. They are not easy to put a specific label on because they mix so many different styles in their music: It’s dark, it’s hard, it’s light, and sometimes their music is also downright fun. This is a…
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SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH – We Are The Sound
Those of you who have read any of my prior reviews might have picked up upon that I have a sweet spot for progressive metal/pop hybrids. At the top of my list are Frost*, Tool and The Intersphere. The Danish ensemble named Siamese Fighting Fish have a lot in common with these bands. Particularly Frost*…
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GALNERYUS – Phoenix Rising
Virtually unheard of outside of Japan, Galneryus has over the last decade grown to a progressive power metal tour de force of international proportions. If ever there was a Japanese metal band that could break through in Europe and America it must be these guys. Why? Well for starters, the singer doesn’t have the stereotypical…
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PAIN OF SALVATION – Road Salt Two
Since I never considered myself to be a diehard fan of POS I suppose I took to the changes of the bands style on “Road Salt One” quite easily. I do, however, have a strong affinity for Karmakanic. This is perhaps why I found “Road Salt One” to actually exceed my expectations. With “Road Salt…
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THY CATAFALQUE – RENGETEG
Thy Catafalque continues their journey, completing each new step with a solid installment of their Slavic-extreme-avantgarde-sometimes ambient-folk metal. There really is no good way of describing Thy Catafalque’s sonic endeavors. You have to hear it to understand. Key words would be prominent ambient backgrounds, weirdly captivating melodies, and consistently colored by unmistakable quality. The band…
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VISITOR – The Need to Believe
“The Need to Believe” is fairly straight forward melodic death metal that borderline with metal core. The strength of the band is definitely their melodic hooks, which without exception comes in the form of a chorus sung with boyband clean vocals. Herein also lies the bands biggest problem. In the current jungle of melodic death…
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UNHOLY – Rapture
I am the first to admit that doom metal isn’t usually my cup of tequila. I do have some few doom metal outfits that I return to, but these tend to be bands leaning more towards mid tempo than actual funeral tempo. Of bands playing really slow the only albums that have had an impact…
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STIELAS STORHETT – Expulse
I am sure there are hordes of Russian metal bands in existence. The only difference Russian metal seems to have from, say Asian, South American or metal hailing from other less orthodox metal countries, is that the few Russian bands that reach my ears all are above average quality. This is especially the case when…
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REGARDLESS OF ME – Pleasures and Fear
Regardless Of Me definitely has their own thing going on. Their music is labeled as “melodic progressive trip hop death” on their myspace page. Basically this is melodeath with some tech aspects and female vocals. I hear influences from Dark Tranquility, Evanescence and Meshuggah on “Pleasures and Fear”, and it kind of works too. Evanescence…
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KORPIUS – Shades of Black
On first impression “Shades of Black” struck me as a potentially great technical melodeath album. The production is strong, the vocals are brutally executed, the instrumentation is flawless and the riffing is like tearing razors. Still, appearances can be deceiving. It goes to show that a stew with all the right elements doesn’t necessarily make…
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GALLHAMMER – The End
(Warning: Highly subjective content. Approach with caution and feel free to take personal offense.) Gallhammer picked the wrong song when choosing a title track for their album. They should have gone with track number two “Rubbish CG 22”. If there ever was a categorization for garbage, this is the category “The End” would fall under.…
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BEEHLER – Messages to the Dead
When John Ricci forges ahead with Exciter, the former vocalist/drummer Dan Beehler also plows forward with his own four piece thrash act in his own namesake. “Messages To The Dead” continues the old school, no frills arrangements with his unique anguished screams and a backing band who play with that youthful, raw exuberance you’ve come…
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ELDRITCH – Gaia’s Legacy
I still remember the day my father brought home our first internet modem. Only hours later, I was downloading my first tracks from cyberspace. This was back before Napster or WinMX existed. The way we downloaded music back then was by going to private web pages and forums, reading reviews and downloading recommendations on said…
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THOUSAND YEAR WAR – Tyrants and Men
Alaska may be one of the last places in the world you would think a melodic death metal band would reside, but for guitarist/vocalist Hiram Lohr, this is where he calls home. Recruiting session musicians to fill out his musical visions with bassist Kellen and drummer Fredrik Widigs, “Tyrants And Men” as a debut 10…
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JONATHAN DAVIS AND THE SFA – Live at the Union Chapel
Recorded as part of the ‘Alone I Play’ tour in 2008, ‘Live at the Union Chapel’ gives fans a chance to hear rarely played tracks as well as live favourites performed by the voice of Korn, Jonathan Davis. The supreme recording quality of the album gives very few hints that it is a live album…
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ELM STREET – Barbed Wire Metal
Australian traditional metal with numerous clichés at hand on this quartet’s debut album “Barbed Wire Metal”. Gang-like thrash/crossover choruses, 3 songs with the word ‘metal’ in the title, a boat load of twin guitar lines, and this overwhelming sense of love for Grim Reaper, Manowar, and Judas Priest on this 8 song effort. “Elm St.…
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THE MAGNIFICENT – The Magnificent
It’s very exciting to my ears to see two musicians spread their wings into another sub-genre of melodic rock/metal and have outstanding results. Norwegian singer Michael Eriksen (from progressive metal act Circus Maximus) and Finnish guitarist/keyboardist/producer Torsti Spoof (from the heavy metal band Leverage) are joining forces for this melodic rock band The Magnificent,…
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DREAM THEATER – A Dramatic Turn of Events
The American progressive pioneers in Dream Theater are back with their eleventh full length studio effort, “A Dramatic Turn of Events”. The album opens quite melodically with a double shot of controlled musical episodes in the latest nine track saga by the American five-piece. The instrumental diversity on “On the Back of Angels” and “Build…
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DREAM THEATER – A Dramatic Turn of Events
I owe Dream Theater enormous gratitude. Were it not for me discovering “Images and Words” in my early teens I might not have evolved the predilection I today have for originality and innovative thought in metal music. Before I heard “Images and Words” my listening charts consisted solely of Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Kiss, Guns n’…
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ANDROMEDA – Manifest Tyranny
Progressive metal is in a renaissance of sorts as veterans have released some high caliber offerings this year (Arch/Matheos, Dream Theater, Redemption) while the younger acts strive to attain their own niche on consumers worldwide. One of the relative newcomers (given their studio album start in 2001) is this Swedish quintet Andromeda, who over the…
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CHRIS OUSEY – Rhyme and Reason
Heartland vocalist Chris Ousey steps away from his main act and releases a solo album with some killer musicians in the mix. Joining Chris on this “Rhyme And Reason” 12 song odyssey are guitarist/keyboardist Mike Slammer (Seventh Key), guitarist/ keyboardist Tommy Denander (Radio Active, Alice Cooper), bassist Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Gary Moore), and drummer Gregg…