RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
-
DAEDALUS – Motherland
Third album from these Italian progressive metal musicians who clearly set themselves apart in their approach on “Motherland”. I tend to believe that the standard textbook recording for most Italian progressive metal bands is Dream Theater’s “Images And Words” – and too many younger bands emulate the chord progressions, riffs and virtuosity of this American…
-
BLASPHEME – Briser le Silence
Those of you with memories longer than your hair might remember Blaspheme, an obscure French metal act that put out two full-lengths in the early to mid 1980’s before disappearing back into the wilderness. 15 years later and they’re back with third album "Briser le Silence". The music is pretty much classic metal, with riffs…
-
CORPSET – Ruins
Finnish death metal five-piece who produce a debut album with nary a Children Of Bodom influence in earshot. Instead Corpset have their radar on the conventional aspect of heaviness – low, discernable growls intermixed with savage screams, down tuned guitar play and a rhythm section intent on giving these songs separation and groove at the…
-
THE KONSORITUM – The Konsortium
Sometimes, when the music is good and the sun shines and life is good, I’m here, in my life, thinking about the band’s music. Yes, I do listen to music almost all the time, except when I’m a work. And I’m thinking about why I should bother about those albums that do not reach the…
-
VANDERBUYST – Vanderbuyst
Ex-Powervice guitarist Willem Verbuyst formed this power trio with bassist /vocalist Jochem Jonkman and drummer Barry Van Esbroek in 2008 – and Vanderbuyst have been impressing audiences in Belgium, Germany and their native The Netherlands and will soon be supporting Saxon on a full European tour. It’s easy to hear on my first (and tenth)…
-
ALGHAZANTH – Vinum Intus
”We invert the crucifix to skullfuck god with it” ("The Way Of The Scales") Do you really? Never thought about it that way. I mean, even back when I was a Christian I always thought that crucifixes were nothing more than useless idols, but I guess there is a deeper meaning to Alghazanth’s lyrics than…
-
REINXEED – 1912
Wasting no time getting another studio release together, guitarist/vocalist/ keyboardist/ songwriter Tommy Johansson puts out his fourth album in four years with the conceptual “1912”. With lyrics based on the Titanic from start to finish, most ardent melodic metal fans know that with ReinXeed musically you are going to get a lot of up tempo,…
-
IMPIETY – Worshippers of the Seventh Tyranny
The seventh full length from Singapore’s Impiety has in a short time surprised me a couple of times. For starters, the album contains only one song that is 38:30 minutes long. The song is varied and could actually be split into several shorter songs, but it’s okay that it was done this way. Secondly, I…
-
ROXXCALIBUR – Lords Of The NWOBHM
You want an education on the fascination with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era? Welcome back then to German act Roxxcalibur – featuring members of Viron, Into The Abyss and Abandoned, journeying into the 80’s independent scene with this 14 song sophomore effort. Long time aficionado Neudi Neuderth picks out a mixture of…
-
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT – Deconstruction
"I’ve got my special save-the-world boots on", Devin claims in "The Mighty Masturbator" from the new album "Deconstruction". If he saves the world with this album is rather uncertain, but rest assured that this wild trip inside the mind of Devin Towsend is one helluva ride. You really have no idea what to expect, and…
-
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT – Ghost
So "Ghost" and "Deconstruction" signal the circle completing for Devin Townsend and his comeback of sorts. Not that he had really suffered anything like a career decline but his ‘retiring’ from the public eye, particularly as far as touring (or lack of touring) goes and the promise he made that it was to be more…
-
ELEVENER – Symmetry In Motion
With a break in the action following Elevener’s impact of 2008’s “When Kaleidoscopes Collide” debut album, guitarist Magnus Lindqvist came into the fold in 2010 to replace guitarist/drummer Andreas Broden. Soon filling out the new Elevener lineup would be drummer Anton Roos, bassist Robert Garnold and vocalist Pierre Wensberg – and we finally have the…
-
BUT WE TRY IT – Dead Lights
Very decent metal/core. Starts out like a Pantera ballad and the first song, “Bloodritual”, sounds like a mix between If Hope Dies and The Agony Scene, while “Cruel World” is more in the vein Becoming The Archetype from “Terminate Damnation”. Right away the band’s musicianship is impressive even if the vocals leave a lot to…
-
FUNERAL – To Mourn Is A Virtue
Funeral has been making dark, mystical funeral doom metal since 1991 and is currently back in the metal spotlight with “To Mourn is a Virtue”. Finding the right words to describe this album proved quite difficult. Attempting to provide the reader a visual image of how Funeral creates a dark, ominous world of death, despair…
-
CRESCENDOLLS – Powertrio Proudly Presents Ten Out Of Ten
Sometimes you just need to hear a band out for a good time. They aren’t going to revolutionize the world – they just provide the musical injection to your day that makes you forget all your immediate stressors and release energy in a positive way. Sweden’s Crescendolls are a stoner rock power trio with that…
-
DRACONIAN – A Rose For The Apocalypse
Sweden’s Draconian release their fourth album “A Rose For The Apocalypse” – and the six piece feel content in their gothic doom metal leanings. What allows this band to stick out amongst the masses is their distinct ability to keep the emphasis squarely on heaviness – the bulk of the riffing and parts are total…
-
EXHUMED – All Guts, No Glory
A break of 7 years has only done good for U.S. death metal band Exhumed. Nothing wrong with what they have done before, which is mostly just awesome. On "All Guts, No Glory" the band ravage wildly with their raw unpolished metal. There is hardly any other band today that has the same raw, unpolished…
-
GEHENNA – WW
"WW" was originally released on the Moonfog label in 2005. It featured über-drummer Frost from Satyricon and marked the band’s return to a more traditional black metal sound after several years exploring a more death metal vibe. This edition, released by the good folks at Peaceville Records features 3 extra tracks and the booklet has…
-
SEPULTURA – Kairos
Back in my college years, I remember reading about this Brazilian thrash band who signed to Roadrunner Records and released “Beneath The Remains” – one of the quintessential records in my collection that showcased speed and ferocity while figuring out a way to roll with melody and song separation. A couple of years later I…