Satyricon - Nemesis Divina (1996) - http://www.satyricon.no/
Satyricon is one of the few very big norwegian Black Metal-bands that achieved world-fame without doing something controversial (like Burzum, Mayhem and Emperor, to name a few...), at least to my knowledge (though there was something going on last year, two live members raped a woman during the tour and one of the members is not allowed to enter Canada/US, thus Joey of Slipknot drumming for him instead).
Nemesis Divina is standard Black Metal accompanied by a few ambient sounds in the background, probably just to create an atmosphere fitting for the album. Satyr does a very good job with the grim vocals, guitars and bass, Frost's blast beats is on a frenzy as usual and Kvelduv (whoever that is) does a nice job on guitars as well. The production isn't exactly very good, but it's also not bad for a raw Black Metal-album either.
The problem with this album is that it's too repetive. Sure, it's aggressive riffs and blast beats are enjoyable for about 10 minutes, and then you'll just simply lose your "appetite" for it. There are some songs that simply saves the album though, and that's the opener "The Dawn Of A New Age" and "Mother North", both being two of the best Black Metal-songs ever. Atmospheric and epic Black Metal is just something I simply can't refuse. Way to go, Satyricon.
Enjoyable even if it's repetive, no song that's bad or just mediocre, everything is listenable and at times darned enjoyable. A few standouts here and there. Worth a purchase for most fans of the genre and band. Buy it for "Mother North", you won't regret it.
Rating: 7/10
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Brainstorm - Liquid Monster (2005) - http://www.truemetal.org/brainstorm/
Brainstorm is a band from Germany who plays a mix of Heavy and Power Metal. Their single taken from 2005's Liquid Monster, All Those Words, left me rather unimpressed. Hopefully, the songs present on that single would be the most commercial-friendly songs.
Liquid Monster is filled with heavy riffing, non-cheesy vocals (weird, since the band is from Germany...), ok drumming and somewhat ok bass. The vocals aren't the best I've ever heard, but it's surprisingly without a cheesy accent (of course, there are some present) so I can actually listen to the album without having to check the lyrics. The production could've been better, they could for example improve it by making the bass a bit louder, but all in all, it's fine.
The album has a few fine tracks like for example "Worlds Are Coming Through", a very heavy song with kickass riffs. Also, the vocalist does a very good job singing on this one. I love the chorus and the solo as well. Great mid-paced track from Brainstorm. The second track called "Inside The Monster" is also enjoyable. Surprisingly, after giving it a few listens, "All Those Words" seems to be the best track on the album even if I slaughtered the single. It may be too commercial-friendly, but still it is very enjoyable. But after this, everything seems to go downhill. The songs seems to pick up speed, but it doesn't really help at all. Among all the mediocre tracks, "Despair To Drown" sticks out as one of the better tracks. Sadly, it's sourounded by mediocre tracks. Sad.
Not a bad album, just very "unstable" and boring (at least towards the end of it). It starts out great, but ends bad. The good songs pulls the score up quite a bit though. I suggest you wait for Bruce Dickinson's Tyranny Of Souls or pick up Difference by Dreamtale if you want some new Heavy/Power Metal.
Rating: 6/10
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At Vance - Chained (2005) - http://www.at-vance.com/
At Vance is another (yes, another) band I've always wanted to check out, but I never did for some odd reason. At Vance is german, they play Power Metal (surprise!) similar (very very similar, I tell you) to Masterplan. They seem to put out at least one release every year (this is actually their 7th album, and their first album came out in 1999!), last year was a greatest hits-album. This year, Chained is their newest full-length. Will it please me?
The vocals is pretty damned good. The vocalist sounds exactly like J�rn Lande of Masterplan, and I must admit, Lande is one of my favorite vocalists of all time. Surprisingly good vocals from Mr. Lev�n. The instrumentals are also darned nice, especially the guitarist. He could probably nail every single solo I'd ask him to (Flight Of The Bumblebee...). The bassist and drummer also does their jobs flawlessly. The keyboards are pretty goddamned good, and the album wouldn't be the same without it. The production is nice, but the bass could have been reduced on some of the songs ("Invention No. Thirteen", I'm looking your way), but I guess that was intended rather that a mistake.
Chained is also filled with great tracks. "Rise From The Fall" reminds me of Symphony X (not that I can tell why...), "Heaven" is a typical Lande-esque tracks filled to the brim with great melodies, "Tell Me" is a Stratovarius/Concerto Moon-esque track, fast and enjoyable you could say. "Now Or Never" reminds me a bit of Helloween (Deris-era) and "Run For Your Life" sounds just like Yngwie J. Malmsteen (the good type, not the bad). As you can see, they've gotten alot of inspiration from various bands, and with that, they made the impressively varied Power Metal-album Chained. Don't miss out on this. Now, excuse me while I check out other At Vance-albums...
Rating: 8/10
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Aborted - The Archaic Abattoir (2005) - http://www.goremageddon.be/
Aborted's newest effort The Archaic Abattoir is praised by some people as the greatest album of all time, and others doesn't like it at all. It has gotten quite mixed review, you could say. For those who doesn't know, Aborted plays Death Metal of the brutal kind (at least they used to...)
The Archaic Abattoir may not be as brutal as their previous album, Goremageddon, Aborted still remains brutal. It's gotten more melodic than before, there's a few guest-vocalists who has contributed (they could've left out that) and they've gotten a bit of "metalcore"-ish. Yes, sad it is. Still, they've managed to make a quite good album. The growling vocals are good, the guest-vocals could've been left out (you'll understand when you hear it), the riffs and solos are good, the bass is nice and the drummer must have 4 arms. The production isn't all too bad either.
This album has two main problems. 1. The guest-vocalists. Was it neccessary? 2. The vocals (the guests then) and riffs sometimes sounds like stolen from some kind of "metalcore"-band. These two problems ruins some of the songs, but of course, there still are many great songs on The Archaic Abattoir. Songs like "Dead Wreckoning", "Hecatomb", "The Gangrenous Epitaph" and "Threading On Vermillion Deception" (to name a few), pulls the score up significantly. The rest of the songs aren't all that bad either, but there are a few bad eggs that they could've left out.
All in all, this a nice album. It's rather short (36 minutes), but I think most people won't even notice. A typical example of an album that people will either love to hate or love to love.
Rating: 7/10
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Edguy - Vain Glory Opera (1998) - http://www.edguy.nu/
Edguy is a german Speed Power Metal-band (like most other bands from Germany are...) lead by Tobias Sammet, the man behind the metal-opera Avantasia and Ace Warrior. Edguy isn't like all other Power Metal-bands, they got a sense of humor, so don't take them too seriously.
Vain Glory Opera is their second album, and probably one of their better albums as well. Together with guests like fellow countryman Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian helping with the vocals on a few cuts and Stratovarius' Timo Tolkki on guitars plus some others, Edguy has managed to make a killer-album that won't leave your CD-player for a while. The vocals are great, think of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden with a german accent, and you'll have it. The instrumental work is performed without a single flaw too, and the production is mucho excellente! The lyrics aren't exactly the greatest thing ever, but what does it matter when the music kicks so much ass?
Want bad songs? You won't find any of them here. Sure, there are some songs that aren't as good as the rest on the album, but everything is listenable, even the intro! The fast "Until We Rise Again", the cheesy "How Many Miles", the ballad "Scarlet Rose", the two amazing songs with Kursch on; "Out Of Control" and "Vain Glory Opera" and even "Fairytale" and the Ultravox-cover "Hymn" are all songs that's amazingly pleasing songs. Songs that pulls down though are the symphonic ballad "Tomorrow" and the rather mildly dull songs "Walk On Fighting" and "No More Foolin'".
All in all, this is a damned good album which any fan of Power Metal in general should miss. An unique album that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Rating: 9/10
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Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales (1984) - http://www.celticfrost.com/
German thrash-legends Celtic Frost "died" in 1990, when they released their last full-length, Vanity/Nemesis. I don't know the details, but the band has supposedly reunited, probably to record a new album, only time and patience can tell...
Morbid Tales is Celtic Frost's debut-album, and it's a killer old school Thrash-metal album wich has influenced countless of Thrash, Death and Black Metal-bands. Since Morbid Tales is from 1984, you can't expect it's production to be the best, but it works allright. The vocals provided by Warrior is awesome, he sounds a bit like Mot�rhead's Lemmy mixed together Venom's Cronos. A good combination that fits the music perfectly. The instrumental work isn't exactly top-notch, but it doesn't really matter much.
The album kicks your face in after a rather strange intro with the song "Vision Of Mortality" which is filled with a bucket of superb riffs. The title-track "Morbid Tales" also has a handful of neat mid-paced riffs that you'll headband easily to (in some kind of slow-motion way). All this can also be found in "Circle Of The Tyrants", except from the fact that this one is actually fast. The album ends with track "Danse Macabre" (at least the version I listened to), which is just an extended version of the intro plus a few effects that sounds like some kind of obscure orgasm. Not necessary, Frost.
All in all, this is a great album, but as most extreme metal-album from the eighties, this is a really short affair. But fear not! There are several versions with the Emperor's Return EP and some bonus-tracks included, so don't hesitate to pick those versions up.
Rating: 8/10
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Metalucifer - Heavy Metal Drill (1996) - http://www.truemetal.org/metalucifer/
Japanese Metalucifer is the sideproject of member of the japanese Black Metal-band Sabbat. They play NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) which is very unusual for a 90's-based band (NWOBHM "died" in the 80's). For fans of Angel Witch and early Iron Maiden, read further.
Heavy Metal Drill is just like taking a time-machine back to the eighties. The production isn't really good, but it's how most NWOBHM-albums was produced. The vocals are nice, even if he speaks with a weird japanese accent, or "Engrish". The guitars are played incredibly well, they nail the solos without a single flaw. The bass and drumming is nice, but way too generic. The riff-sets in this album is pretty darned good, at does at times sounds very thrashy. Not that that's not a good thing though. The lyrics are mostly about the genre itself, Heavy Metal, so don't expect some really deep lyrics in the booklet.
Most songs are put together really well, but there are some songs that are worse than others, like "Soul Of Warrior", which is a pretty boring song despite it's kickass solo. But let's forget the bad things for a while and focus on the good shit. The 3 first songs of the albums are without a single doubt the best songs on the album, and all of the songs have something in common. They all start with the two words; "Heavy Metal" ("Heavy Metal Is My Way", "Heavy Metal Drill" and "Heavy Metal Hunter". Yes, I know it's overused. Anyway, all 3 songs are ridicously catchy and despite it's incredibly cheesy lyrics, it'll make you sing-a-long with the songs (remember to sing with a japanese accent, or it won't sound right!). "Heavy Metal Drill" is a quite simple song with a nice lead melody that will instantly stick itself like glue to your brain. The sound-effects of a drill in the first seconds of the song makes me think of the two first Running Wild-albums... "Wolf Man", "Headbanging" and "Metalucifer" is also worthy of a mention.
To sum it up, most of the songs on this album is very good. The few exceptions and the dated production pulls down the score a little bit though. Essential for fans of early Iron Maiden and Angel Witch and for people who just needs proof that there is 90's NWOBHM.
Rating: 8/10
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Stratovarius - Fright Night (1989) -
Finnish Stratovarius has had a rough time lately. Members been on and of the band more than anyone else due to some personal problems, it seems. They're back on their feet now though, and are going to release a new album this year, simply called Stratovarius. But let's not talk of the future, let's talk about the past, more precisely 1989, when the band released their debut Fright Night.
Fright Night is a bit different from Stratovarius later albums. This album was more melodic approach towards Heavy Metal than Power Metal, like they're now. The vocals back then was contributed by legendary guitarist Timo Tolkki, and he doesn't do a bad job, at least on their later albums (before he got replaced with Kotipelto). On this album, he sounds rather bad and his voice just doesn't fit the music. The guitars sounds well though, and we can't expect him to do a good job on both departments, or can we? The other instrumentals are ok and the production isn't too bad either, but of course, not without flaws.
The selection of songs is weak. The only songs that are decent enough to be mentioned is "Witch-Hunt", "Night Screamer" and "Fright Night", the rest is just plain boring stuff or crap. Some songs are too long, some songs shouldn't be allowed to see the light of day. Avoid this and get Visions and Destiny instead.
Rating: 4/10
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Demons And Wizards - Touched By The Crimson King (2005) - http://www.demons-wizards.com/
What do you get if you combine the legendary Power Metal-band Blind Guardian with the patriotic Thrash/Heavy Metal-band Iced Earth? Iced Guardian? Blind Earth? Hell no. You get Demons & Wizards. The most important members of the band is Hansi Kursch and Jon Schaffer, who's the key members of the band they play in. So, is the result any good? Their first album Demons & Wizards was a good album which I've listened to far too little. Now, the band has a new record up their sleeves called Touched By The Crimson King (don't get any weird thoughts now...). Is it as good as their previous? Read on and find out.
My feelings on this album is a bit mixed. Hansi does as usual a good job (but it's not his greatest work of all time), Jon Schaffer's fast riffs and basswork is splendid as usual, but the drummer kills it all. The drumming is the most annoying drumming I've heard since Metallica's turkey St. Anger (I shouldn't compare them though). A thin and shallow sound that pulls down my impression of the album (Might be because this version is just a promotional copy, if the problem only persists on the promo, I'll rewrite this review when it's out). I can't remember I was annoyed by the drumming in Demons & Wizards. Oh well. The production apart from the drumming mixed in too high, is good. Nothing else than the drumming.
Touched By The Crimson King songs is a mixed bag. Some good, some decent, some shit. Everything starts off with the very Iced Earth-like song called "Crimson King", which kicks huge amounts of ass. The drumming isn't all too bad in this one either. Track 2 and 3 called "Beneath These Waves" and "Terror Train" is also good tracks. The best song on the album is in my opinion, "The Gunslinger", which someone may be familiar with (it was released as a sample). Those 4 are the best tracks on the album, the rest is decent. They should've left out the crappy ballads "Seize The Day" (I figure some Blind Guardian-fans will love this) and "Down Where I Am". Both songs are boring as hell. Oh, and by the way, this album ends with "Immigrant Song", which is actually a quite tolerable Led Zeppelin-cover. Impressive.
Some good material, some crap. I'm really dissapointed, I expected so much more from this album, but then again, it's not totally bad. It's decent enough. This may work as a filler for the wait for the new Blind Guardian and Iced Earth though...
Rating: 6/10
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Pagan's Mind - Enigmatic : Calling (2005) - http://www.pagansmind.com/
Norwegian Pagan's Mind is a popular band nowadays. They're the typical example on a band you'll either love or hate. They play Progressive Power Metal of the very unoriginal kind, and has already released 2 albums (and one re-recording) that was surprisingly nice in my ears. Not spectacular, but enjoyable. Now, they have a new album in stores called Enigmatic : Calling, is it any good?
With Enigmatic : Calling, Pagan's Mind has been able to preserve all the good things from their last albums, but they've also brought back the bad things (the lack of originality, for example). The vocals by Rue is as they was the on previous albums, superb. His voice fits the music perfectly. The instrumental work hasn't changed much either, except from the fact that mastermind Thorstein Aaby is gone but has been replaced with someone that's actually just as good as him. The production is crystal-clear, nothing to complain about there.
One really sad thing about Enigmatic : Calling, is that it sounds almost exactly the same as their previous. This may or may not be a good thing in other peoples' opinion, but I think they've should've evolved a bit and change. How about inviting an orchestra next time? In any case, the album is loaded with awesome songs. The opener "The Celestine Prophecy" is a shred-fest chock full of great melodies and vocals. "Enigmatic Mission" is full of speed, "Coming Home" shows us that they still "got it" with solos and the ending "New World Order" is a great "show-off" on their technical abilities, but also shows us that can handle melodies with ease. I could mention more songs, but I'll stop here.
All in all, this is a good album that's worth picking up. It might not be the most original thing in the world, but it still has some killer songs (but also filler). Fans surely won't be disapointed. If you're a fan of Symphony X or Adagio, be sure to check out Pagan's Mind quickly.
Rating: 7/10
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Lumsk - Troll (2005) - http://www.lumsk.com/
The Folk Metal/Rock-band Lumsk from Norway is ready to release their second album Troll, a follow-up to �smund Fr�gdegjevar. �smund Fr�gdegjevar was decent enough in my ears, but not really my cup of tea, even if Folk Metal is one of my favourite genres. Will Troll change this? (Note; this album is really hard to review for me for some really odd reason)
Nope. Not at all. This album is sure tolerable, with it's slow-paced guitars, violins in the background, piano and the great female vocals. Everything is well put together and the production is nice and clear, but I still feel there's something missing here, but I can't pinpoint it. It might be the lack of male vocals that makes the album feel so "empty". It has a few good songs like "Trolltind", "N�kken" and "Bl�ster", everything else is decent. Folk Metal/rock-fans will probably find something good in this and newcomers to the genre will also probably like it, but I can't seem to like it, even if I should.
Rating: 5/10
Originally Posted by Howie
