ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • EXECRATION – Odes Of The Occult

    Ok, so you have Autopsy and the youngsters Obliteration doing dirty death metal with heavy riffing. Then you have the thousands of clean and technical bands with albums that are quite impressive, yet leave you quite dead inside. And you have all these boring unimpressive bands with growling vocals, bands that do nothing but duplicating…

  • ZOMBI – Escape Velocity

    Once again Zombi take us into the minds of the movie star murderers. The keyboards and the drums are the trench coats and the smoking guns. Tight ropes, bloody knifes. It’s easy to forget yourself while listening to this remembering lost scenes from movies you, perhaps, haven’t watched in years. If you’ve heard Zombi before…

  • WILLIAMS FRIESTEDT – Williams Friestedt

    One of the shimmering vocalists for Toto Joseph Williams graces us with his powerhouse talent on this new 9 song studio release. Teaming up with guitarist, producer, and composer Peter Friestedt (LA Project), you’ll also get guest appearances from renowned session guitarist Tommy Denander, former Chicago vocalist Bill Champlin, Randy Goodrum and Bill Cantos to…

  • KRASHKARMA – Straight To The Blood

    Alternative metal here from Krashkarma. A four piece with two vocalists (guitarist Ralf Dietel and drummer Niki Skistimas giving us a male/female duality to the process), these 11 songs have a lot in common with dance, hip hop and industrial metal- almost as if Strapping Young Lad and Nine Inch Nails went headlong into some…

  • ARCH ENEMY – Khaos Legions

    I am completely at a loss of a clue why this band gets so much hatred from the metal community. There are actually four camps: those who only like the band with John Liiva and think Angela Gossow fucked AE up, the lovers of the latter AE with Angela, thinking JL stuff is not so…

  • CHINA – Light Up The Dark

    Veteran Swiss hard rockers with their fifth studio album “Light Up The Dark”. Their 1989 second album “Sign In The Sky” was a tape trading favorite of mine in my early years. Comparably speaking, China in 2011 have not really veered off their conventional melodic, hook laden path. “Girl On My Screen” in the chorus…

  • FIREFORCE – March On

    Should it be Force of Fire or Fire of Force, better? I’m sorry folks, this is not really my cup of tea. I like Angel Dust, but that’s about it, I’m afraid. This is power metal, which, admittedly, is not my forte, in the vein of Manowar and Blind Guardian. Okay, it’s actually a little…

  • SUPREME PAIN – Divine Incarnation

    Third album from this Dutch death outfit, featuring current Sinister crooner Adrie Kloosterwaard and ex-Sinister drummer Paul Beltman. Combining the old school tones with the current blasting phenomenon, songs like “Damned Creation”, “Putrefied Beauty” and “Towards Hell” give me the right balance between retainable riffs and just all out extreme instrument assault. Expect solo play…

  • IN FLAMES – Sounds Of A Playground Fading

     …go to Part 1 – history… …go to Part 2 – today’s playground… (on the new album)                               Part 1 – historyI say goodbye to you all at onceDon’t dare to face you all aloneI went from wreckage to world classWith…

  • SPEARHEAD – Theomachia

    Press play and it’s on! Your head is a castle door and Spearhead is the battering ram. Resistance is futile, the door will crack! Spearhead will winn! Ever since "Deathless Steel Command" Spearhead have been making their violent Death Metal more deadly and catapulting more people towards their fan base. Any hesitations I had about…

  • WARRANT – Rockaholic

    In the off again, on again saga that is Jani Lane and Warrant, it appears the core of Warrant have moved on and found their new front man in former Lynch Mob singer Robert Mason. With Jani leaving in 2008 over a songwriting dispute, “Rockaholic” sees Keith Olson man the production boards and 14 songs…

  • DEVIL – Magister Mundi Xum

    Get your bell bottoms on, strap on your Gibson SG and submit to the Devil! “Magister Mundi Xum” is a six song EP from this Norwegian five piece firmly living for the days of Black Sabbath, early Alice Cooper and other doom/ stoner rock acts through the years. Joakim possesses one of those distant, ethereal…

  • ABOVE SYMMETRY – Ripples (re-issue)

    Another jewel in the burgeoning Norwegian progressive metal scene, “Ripples” comes out as a re-issue a year after its initial appearance more so due to reestablishing market presence than anything else. You see, the five piece from Skien hit the scene as Aspera and gained the chance to perform with Tarja Turunen in Spain and…

  • THE FALLEN DIVINE – The Eternal Past And Future

    This Norwegian five piece intertwine the melodic twin guitar harmonies of Gothenburg-like death bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquility along with extreme black metal-like vocals and progressive rhythms/ breaks on this self-released 3 song, 17 minute EP. Starting in the summer of 2009, they have an air of confidence about their music –…

  • PEGAZUS – In Metal We Trust

    Australia’s Pegazus returns to the scene with their fourth studio album. 9 years after “The Headless Horseman”, it’s not as if this traditional metal outfit have been idling their time away. They’ve released a live album, a DVD documenting their history and reconvening in 2009 with some domestic comeback shows before taking their time on…

  • OLD WAINDS – Where the Snows are Never Gone

    “Where the Snows are Never Gone” was originally released as a full-length demo in 1997, garnering a certain amount of respect from fans and critics alike. While some hailed it as a seminal offering others were less impressed, seeing it as a good, but not remarkable release. The approach was raw, cold and harsh –…

  • INFERNAL WAR / KRIEGSMASCHINE – Transfigurations

    Here we have two Polish black metal bands, where I have pretty good knowledge of one and no knowledge of the other. Let’s start with Infernal War. We get 3 songs from Infernal War, and these are three recognizable Infernal War songs, all with a quiet intro and beginning, before it takes off in good…

  • SKANSIS – Leaving You

    Switzerland and magical hard rock bands appear to go together like a hand in glove. Skansis hail from Bern, Switzerland and on their second album “Leaving You” perform 12 admirable songs in the vein of Shakra and Gotthard. The quintet keep the sound lean and mean – robust guitars, loads of vocal melodies and a…

  • GRAVEWURM – Blood of the Pentagram

    Gravewurm have been on the go for almost 20 years, churning out demos and more split albums than you can shake a stick at. “Blood of the Pentagram” is their sixth full-length release, a crawling chaos of black doom tinged with sludge. While the songs are generally slow and dirty, there are moments of brightness…

  • RHAPSODY OF FIRE – From Chaos To Eternity

    It shouldn’t be shocking that these Italians are making up for lost time following their years in Magic Circle exile and record label / management red tape. “From Chaos To Eternity” quickly follows up another full length and 7 part “Cold Embrace Of Fear” EP that came out last year. Guitarist Luca Turilli felt the…

  • SCAR OF THE SUN – A Series Of Unfortunate Concurrencies

    Sometimes first impressions carry a lot of weight when reviewers come into contact with new bands. Hate to say it, but album covers, band monikers, and song titles do give you a fair look at whether the band are serious with their content or if you fear pressing play and experiencing aural abuse. Forming in…

  • HAERESIARCHS OF DIS – In Obsecration of the Seven Darks

    I missed out on Haeresiarchs of Dis’ debut album but I caught the second one when it was released by Moribund late last year. My take on that album was that people should think of Emperor during their early days, Arcturus in minority and Fleurety playing Irish folk music. Things are just as far out…

  • TRANSCENDING BIZARRE? – The Misanthrope’s Fable

    Transcending Bizzare proudly proclaim their eclectic and bizarre nature, musically as well as lyrically and visually. To the regular black metal fan this might appear bizarre or avant-garde, but as an experienced avantgarde fan, I find TMF to be pretty straight forward. This is symphonic black metal with the occasional odd melodic twists and turns.…

  • SANCHEZ – Run The Streets

    Even with all of the buzz surrounding Scandinavia’s melodic hard rock/ glam revival, not all bands deserve your attention and hard earned money. Case in point – this four piece from Sweden. “Run The Streets” has the looseness of early Faster Pussycat with execution worse than teenagers first writing material in their parents basement. “We…

  • KORN – III Remember Who You Are

    Being one of the torch-bearers for nu-metal carries with it a lot of expectations and responsibility towards your fans. One of the bands that embraces this responsibility and lives up to every expectation is American nu-metal behemoth Korn. “III: Remember Who You Are” is their 9th studio effort and it’s the follow-up to the 2007…

  • STEVE HACKETT – Live Rails

    Recorded over the 2009/2010 touring schedule in the pristine cities of Paris, London and New York, guitarist/vocalist Steve Hackett releases a double live set spanning his work in Genesis and his vast solo progressive rock career. Featuring 6 songs from his 2009 “Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth” album, you’ll also find Steve going back to…

  • BLINDEAD – Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

    Background: Third album from Blindead, the brainchild of ex-Behemoth guitarist Mateusz ‘Havoc’ Smierzchalski. Did a review on "Autoscopia/Murder In Phazes" back in 2008, an album I have played now and then ever since, and I’m thrilled to say that Blindead continues down the same road, meaning  more complex and melodic post-metal, in the same landscape…

  • CATALEPSY – Bleed

    Florida death core act Catalepsy unleash their second album “Bleed”, a 37 minute, 22 second exercise in modern youth punishment. Songs like “Vexation” and “Goliath” add a touch of dissonant guitar chord nuances to the large grooves, breakdowns and the sandpaper gruff screams of vocalist Rick Norman. I hear the anger and yet struggle to…

  • DREAMING – II

    There is nothing like a retro metal band when the nostalgia hits home. This year has already been blessed with the magnificent 70’s retro release “Hisingen Blues” by Graveyard, and Dreaming isn’t far behind. Where Graveyard ventured into Led Zeppelin territory, Dreaming takes up the legacy of Black Sabbath and Pentagram, with a dash of…

  • NAZARETH – Big Dogz

    Blues based hard rock from these Scottish gentlemen, “Big Dogz” appears to focus on slower, moodier tracks from the start with “Big Dog’s Gonna Howl” and “Claimed” barely moving beyond a doom crawl’s pacing. “No Mean Monster” and “Lifeboat” give the album slight energetic moments, but outside of Dan McCafferty’s whiskey soaked vocal comfort, these…