Dream Theater Greatest Hit (... and 21 Other...)

Tracklist:
Disc 1:
1. Pull Me Under
2. Take The Time
3. Lie
4. Peruvian Skies
5. Home
6. Misunderstood
7. The Test That Stumped Them All
8. As I Am
9. Endless Sacrifice
10. The Root Of All Evil
11. Sacrificed Sons

Disc 2:
1. Another Day (2007 Remix)
2. To Live Forever
3. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
4. The Silent Man
5. Hollow Years
6. Through Her Eyes (Alternate Album Mix)
7. The Spirit Carries On
8. Solitary Shell (Single Edit)
9. I Walk Beside You
10. The Answer Lies Within
11. Disappear

Release Date: 04/01/2008

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*This is my first review so tell me what you think*

On April 1st Dream theater released their first greatest hits record.
The record conains a few remixes of some classic Images and words era material (Which i was disapointed that Under a Glass Moon or Metropolis wasn't featured)
And it also features a B-Side and some edits which can be more enjoyable than the original songs. The record is a 2-disc which has two sides: A dark side which features heavier more technical material, and a light side which featuers more melodic,slower,and more thought out material.




*TRACK BY TRACK*

THE DARK SIDE


1.Pull Me under- This is a great opener and it was their only true hit. Pull me under starts off with some guitar. After about 6 seconds through, Portnoy and Kevin join in. The song grows continusously. It has a real hook. By far not my fav Dream Theater song but it is a great opener for what is to come. 4/5

2.Take the Time-This is my fav on this disc. The song starts of with some odd keybords and Portnoy starts bashing away. The keyboards are awesome on this song. The chours is the best part of the song and i promise you it will stay in your head for a while. The solo is pretty impressive. James' vovals really shine on this one. 5/5

3.Lie- This is one of many off of Awake that include a 7-String Guitar. The Riff is catchy. In my opinion this is James LaBrie's best vocal work. the solo is really good. 5/5

4.Peruvian Skies-This is one off of Falling from Infinity. This slows the pace down a bit. The guitar is hypnotic. The song grow a bit by the end of the song. The lyrics are interesting. The solo isn't very memorable. 4/5

5.Home- This is one of the edits which i like better than the original because the original draged a bit. The riff is pure genuis. Very Middle eastern. The 2nd best on this disc. 5/5

6.Misunderstood- I never really liked this one much, but the single edit is more enjoyable than the six degrees of inner turbulance version. 3.5/5

7.The Test That Stumped Them All- The best song title Dream Theater has. Very technical intro. The Drums are Top Notch as well as every other instrument. I am not much for james's voice on this one. Great song, but The Glass Prison is better. 4/5

8.As I Am-This one is off of highlly Controversal Train Of thought. The Intro is good, and the vocals are pretty good. Good song. Def a breath of fresh air. 4/5

9.Endless Sacrifice- I don't really like this song. It really drags and the vocals are sort of crappy. You can def hear the TOOL Influence but TOOL is way better when it comes to this sound. 3/5

10. The root Of All Evil- This song continues the story of Mike Portnoys story of Alcohol Abuse. The song is a reall hilight of Dream Theater. i recomend the version from score.
5/5

11. sacrificed Sons- This song is slower and features strings. The song is sort of boring but its is sort of meant to be mellower. There is better stuff on Octavarium.
3/5



THE LIGHT SIDE


1.Another Day- This is a good remix. I have always like this song for some reason idk why. the soprano sax is a great touch. The vocals are awesome and the solo is top notch to. Very inspiring song. 5/5

2.To Live Forever-I can't belive Dream Theater didn't feature this on Awake, this song is killer. The acoustic guitar is really good, and the keyboard solos are really good. the vocals are good too. 4.5/5

3.Lifting Shadows Off a Dream-John Myung wrote this one entirely. The bass harmonics are really haunting,then the guitar comes in doing the same thing. The Riff is really Hypnotizing. The chours is really good. i can't remimber if there is a solo but the song is good enough that it doesn't matter. 5/5 (Check out John Myung's Solar Groove)

4.The Silent Man-This song and the previous song is why Dream Theater isone of my favorites. The can go from being balls out prog metal to doing a song such as silent man. I have a feeling this song was written about John Myung. The vocals are very good, and the solo is really catchy. I am surprised this song wasn't bigger that what is is. 5/5

5.Hollow Years-Another one off of infinity. This song is very relaxing in an epic way. One of my personal favs. 5/5

6.Through her eyes-This one is off of Scenes From A Memory. This is one of the edits but i can't really tell any diffrence from the original. The vocals are very good. It sounds like it should be in a movie soundtrack. Through her eyes has a really good vibe. 4/5

7.The Spirit carries on- This is my fav Dream Theater song as with many others. The solo is almost as good as Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb solo. I recommend this one to everybody. 10/5

8.Solitary Shell- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance Materail.This song is about a kid with Autism. the keyboard solos are awesome. The guiatr sets a great vibe. Very catchy 5/5

9.I walk beside you-This one is off of Octavarium. This song is very radio friendlly in dream theater stadards. Clocks in at about 5:00, a hook, good intro. One off the bests off of Octavarium. 4/5

10.The Answer Lies Within- this song is the better version off the overture on Six Degrees Of inner Turbulance. Its has tons of instruments. I usually skip it though because it isn't very appealing. Still a good song 3.5/5

11.Dissapear- This is a good closer. A good song Good vocals. Good Muscianship.
5/5

Testament Practice What You Preach

Tracklist:
1. Practice What You Preach
2. Perilous Nation
3. Envy Life
4. Time Is Coming
5. Blessed In Contempt
6. Greenhouse Effect
7. Sins Of Omission
8. The Ballad
9. Nightmare [Coming Back To You]
10. Confusion Fusion

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Line up:

Chuck Billy - Vocals
Alex Skolnick - Lead Guitar
Eric Peterson - Rhythm Guitar
Greg Christiansen - Bass
Louie Clementie - Drums

Testament was a fairly well-known band in the thrash metal scene by 1989, with two solid thrash albums under their belt. In an attempt to gain a wider audience via MTV, the band's third album, Practice What You Preach, was written, with simpler songs designed to be catchy and lyrics that concentrated more on politics and various real-world problems than the more gothic, occult-driven themes of the first two albums The problem is that, for the most part, the songs aren't really catchy. Actually, they're rather boringly constructed, and the band only rarely shows a willingness to move beyond a mid-paced tempo.

I've got to admit that half of the album just bores me. Sure, it doesn't have the annoyingly intrusive attempts at atmosphere that plagued The New Order, but instead we get dull riffs that simply lack the energy and agression that made the mid-paced numbers off of The Legacy and The New Order work. The riffs just try too hard to be catchy, but they have no hooks, and instead feel bland and derivative. A special mention must be made for the production, which manages the oh so awesome feat of pretty much elimanating any character the guitars had, while simutaniously turning up the bass. Yeah, real great idea there.

Alex Skolnick, who usually delivers fantastic solo work, has what just might be the weakest performance of all the albums he did with Testament. None of his solos, baring the title track and "Perious Nation", are really memorable. Given just how well done his soloing was with... well, pretty much any other record he did with Testament, it's a pretty bad sign when even he can't carry the songs.

That's not to say this plauges the entire album, per se. The title track and "Perious Nation" are easily the best tracks on this album, with actually memorable riffs, good solo work for Skolnick, and Chuck Billy's good vocal delivery. Of course, it's also a lesson to not put 90% of your good riffs into the first two tracks. The only other two tracks that i'd say are decent is "Blessed in Contempt", and "Greenhouse Effect", which scrape by because of Skolnick's guitar work, and the fact that the latter song's lyrics are at least fairly interesting.


To sum it all up, the title track and 'Perilous Nation' are pretty much the only songs on here that are actually good. 'Blessed in Contempt' and 'Greenhouse Effect' are above average, but really, this album has such a poor hit-to-miss ratio that it's almost not worth hunting and pecking through it to get the good tracks. At the end of the day, when it is all said and done, this is just a piss-poor LP, and it looks even worse when one compares it to any other record Testament has released. Two out of Five overall, and unless you must listen to the title track and 'Perious Nation', avoid this album.

Epicurean A Consequence of Design

Tracklist:
1 The Author And The Architect
2 Behind The Chapel Walls
3 Lithograph
4 The Burden Of Eternity
5 Illumination
6 Dividing The Distance
7 Of Malice And Majesty
8 Anathema: The Gate Keeper
9 Darkest Of Days
10 To Cast The Mourning Shadow
11 The Departure

Release Date: 03/04/2008

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There are two general ways in which I listen to music. One is when the music is primary, and whatever else I may be doing is not consuming enough to distract from my full attention to the music. The second way is when I am engaged in some other activity, be it work, sport, driving, etc., where my mind is not completely focused on the music. The first two times through Epicurean’s A Consequence of Design were of the latter version. And while such listens aren’t sufficient to provide an accurate review of an album, I knew that an eventual review, after a complete listen, would reflect the fact that very rarely during my two run-throughs of ACOD at work did I stop to pay attention to an interesting riff, chorus, or solo.

On their official website, Epicurean defines their “true character” as the “ability to create what cannot be defined.” In actuality, they are simply an overreaching, progressive-ish melodic thrash act, combining the speed and riffing of thrash, with symphonic background keys, and a mixture of singing and various forms of the scream/growl. They are certainly a talented bunch of instrumentalists, and their debut is of solid production. But when a band lacks songwriting, well…

I guess one can’t fault this band’s effort. (They are, after all, trying to please. According to their Myspace page, the band name refers to the devotion to hedonistic pleasure.) But it seems like Epicurean is trying too hard to win the “best all around camper” award in the camp of metal. They keep one foot in the more extreme side of metal, with their aggressive riffing and death-style vocals, and another foot in the more accessible, melodic side. They are continuously speedy, and yet they really can be defined by their use of keys and clean-vocal choruses. Unfortunately, all these elements do not add up to a solid whole.

Few of the riffs or solos, and none of the keyboard work, really grab the listener’s attention. What does, however, are the horrific choruses, employing the clean vocals of John Laramy. It’s not so much his voice that bothers, but the bombastic and poppy melodies, which often burst in out of place, and oozing with cheese. In addition, at an average of over 5 minutes a song, it is very hard to sit through full songs without skipping to the next.

To my ear, the songs tend to bleed into each other. The first noteworthy part on the album is the (somewhat) good guitar work in "Dividing the Distance,” and to be honest, that is pretty much it. Only two songs later, one must sit through the seven-plus-minute bore fest that is “Anathema.” Finishing off the album are three forgettable tracks in the by-now-tired Epicurean vein of thrashy verses with growling vocals giving way to bad choruses, and eventually a technically impressive, but tedious and dull solo.

Having listened to this album because of a good review in Metal Maniacs, I was dismayed to come to the conclusion that, after three listens, my ears may never hear the sound of A Consequence of Design again.

All That Remains Behind Silence And Solitude

Tracklist:
1. Behind Silence And Solitude
2. From These Wounds
3. Follow
4. Clarity
5. Erase
6. Shading
7. Home To Me
8. One Belief

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After having departed Shadows Fall to try and take All That Remains to the next level, many questions started to surround Phil Labonte. The biggest probably coming in the form of "Could ATR surpass or even equal the amount of success of Shadows Fall?". The answer would vary depending on who you asked, but to fully judge for yourself you must look at the beginnings. If you have you just become a fan of ATR and are working backwards through their library, you might be surprised.

The lineup includes:
Phil Labonte - vocals
Oli Hebert - guitar
Chris Bartlett - guitar
Michael Bartlett - drums
Dan Egan - bass

The first track which also happens to be the title track fades into an aural assault of melodic lead riffs and furious drum work. Driven by Phil's screams that seem to follow the riffs very well and include a pretty catchy chorus. The solo featured here is done exceptionally well, nice and short, straight to the point. Next up is from these wounds, which is done in the same vein as the opener if not a bit slower. These first two songs are a good indication of whats to come later and gives the listener a good intro to ATR's sound. One thing people might notice here are the repetitive sections, for some this could get a bit boring. A couple of well placed solos split in two by a nice guitar harmony fills up the rest of the track. These two songs should let you know right away if you will keep on listening or if you will be changing discs.

At this time i'd like to showcase the members of the album starting with of course the guitars. The absolute highlight of the album would have to be the work of Oli and Chris who start the album off riffing their minds out and don't let up. The lead riffs and solos will hook you and leave you wanting more. They're a bit reminiscent of the guitarwork found on The gallery by Dark Tranquillity. There is so much going on that you will need repeated listens to fully absorb them. Even weaker songs like shading have memorable parts, although they're not quite perfect. Some great riffs are used repeatedly in songs( see title track and one belief) that might leave you a little bit bored, but this is usually remedied by a great solo or harmony.

The vocals are up next and this might be the biggest downer of the entire album. Phil's voice does not have the range that he showcases on future releases, so if your a big fan of his clean singing you'd probably be dissapointed. He has a pretty monotonous scream that doesn't change pitch much, to older fans of Shadows Fall this won't be a surprise.

Now to round out the group we have the drums and bass. Behind the kit we have Michael who is a pretty standard drummer and fits the band's sound well. Although the sound of his kit fails to leave an impact, the bass drum has that soft clicky sound going on which doesn't help things. He does add some variety to songs like follow which features some blast beats, but overall they're forgettable. Finally, the bass like most modern bands isn't very audible and you would have to make it a point to even hear it.

As we head back to the album there is one track that rises above the rest, which comes in the form of home to me. This song features crushing riffs, with a catchy chorus, and to top it off an extended breakdown that has a jazzish feel to it. Lots of layering going on in this song which might be their best musically.

Overall this album ends the same way it started, with a very fast paced melodic song. It has the mentality of an old school 80's thrash album with the run in, run out song structure. Thats not to say that this a thrash album, if anything it could be seen as melodic death metal which is rare by american metal standards. New fans of ATR or metal in general might not enjoy this, but to the well seasoned metalhead with an affinity for gothenburg influenced guitarwork, this is a welcome listen.

Recommended Tracks:
behind silence and solitude
from these wounds
clarity
home to me
one belief

Disillusion Gloria

Tracklist:
1. The Black Sea
2. Dread It
3. Don't Go Any Further
4. Avalanche
5. Gloria
6. Aerophobic
7. The Hole We Are In
8. Save the Past
9. Lava
10. Too Many Broken Cease Fires
11. Untiefen

Release Date: 2006

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After 2004’s masterpiece, Back To Times Of Splendor, many metalheads were wondering what to expect from Disillusion’s upcoming album. Needless to say, after hearing their strong demo, their stronger EP and their superb full-length, expectations were high. But Disillusion, like so many other bands, pulled the middle-finger card and released something completely unexpected to the unsuspecting fans. The band received an incredible amount of criticism from fans. Accusations of “selling-out” were made, fans were lost and the world was left wondering what happened to Disillusion. Four years later, taking a step back, I can say this album isn’t as bad as the initial shock led me to believe.

Before I start the review I would just like to let everyone know I started off wanting to write a negative review for this but without constantly comparing this to Back To Times Of Splendor. This turned out to be much more difficult than I thought and after trying and trying, I got results. They weren’t the results I was expecting though. Nowhere near what I was expecting. After much trying, it became clear to me that the main reason I didn’t like the album was because it wasn’t a Back To Times Of Splendor part II and from that moment I started to appreciate the album for what it really is and found it to be a refreshing listen. It may not be as good as a Back To Times Of Splendor part II might have been but it holds up its own very well. My album rating for this shot up from a 2 to a 3.5 instantly.

Gloria is Disillusion saying goodbye to their progressive death metal days and going down a darker path in metal (note: by darker I do not mean evil sounding, I mean a path that hasn’t been explored much) by creating a progressive industrial metal album. Although creating a unique new sound and creating an entertaining listen, the sound on that album is far from flawless (and I apologize but some comparisons with Back To Times Of Splendor will be necessary here).

First of all lets start with Vurtox, the lead singer, which is undoubtedly the most unusual part of this album. Most of the singing of the album is spoken. Now many will dismiss this as hiding Vurtox’s amazing vocals talents shown on Back To Times Of Splendor and such songs like Too Many Broken Cease Fires but the spoken words give certain songs, such as Gloria a kind of groovy and almost poetic feel. BUT the technique is overused and ends up sounding out of place with the more upbeat guitar riffs of Dread It and Avalanche. Another significant change with the vocals is the frequent use of processing and effects. In moderation, such things can be used to add variety to an album’s sound but when overused (like on this album) they can often conceal emotions in the singing (this isn’t helped by the enormous amount of spoken words) and hide the singer’s beautiful singing voice. Not to say the whole album is unemotional. Vurtox beautifully shines through the processing on the first track; and on Too Many Broken Cease Fires, the only song that doesn’t include processing OR spoken words, features a great vocal performance �* la Back To Times Of Splendor. Many other great vocal parts sprinkled here and there in between the spoken, processed parts provide healthy breaths of fresh air.

Once you get past the vocals, there isn’t much (if anything) stopping you from enjoying this album. The instrumentation on the album is well done. Upbeat guitar leads and heavy rhythms intertwine themselves with ambient keyboards or various sound samples, such as violin or operatic female singing, to create a full sound that varies between straightforward and ambient throughout the album. The riffs aren’t as complex as on their older material but still show a good deal on technical ability and sound great when mixed in with the other instruments and sound effects.

The drumming is pretty basic for the most part and creates a solid beat that fits with their new more industrial metal approach. Most beats aren’t very interesting and serve to provide a backbone to the rest of the instruments (although it is a very solid backbone). He does throw in a fair share of interesting fills that keeps his drumming somewhat interesting and shows some of the great talent displayed on their past album.

Gloria is probably the best example of a grower I have ever heard. Upon first impression it just seems as a giant step down from Back To Times Of Splendor in every way. But when given time to settle and once the original shock has passed, a very solid album with a unique sound is found. For all those that dismissed this album upon first listen (like I had done), I recommend you take it out of the deep, dusty end of your closet and give it one more spin. Just one. Try to get your mind as far away from everything else you’ve heard from this band. In fact, if you can, try to imagine a completely different band made this. If you succeed, chances are you will be spinning this many more times in the future.

Recommended Tracks
The Black Sea:The emotion that shines through the processed vocals is beautiful. Probably the heaviest song on the album. Great use of sound sampling in the pre-chorus.

Dread It: A nice combination of the more industrial elements with old Disillusion. Has a nice little up-beat lead riff.

Too Many Broken Cease Fires:Ahhhhh. A song with no spoken words or heavy vocal processing. Most reminiscent of their older material and most likely to please the older fans. The chorus is pretty catchy too.

Anterior This Age of Silence

Tracklist:
01 - Ghost Of Dawn
02 - The Silent Divide
03 - Dead Divine
04 - Days of Deliverence
05 - Human Hive
06 - Stir of Echoes
07 - Scar City
08 - Seraph
09 - This Age of Silence

Release Date: 06/12/2007

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“This Age of Silence” is the debut album from the five piece metalcore band Anterior, released on Metal Blade. However, this is no run of the mill ‘scene’ band that are too busy wondering if their jeans are tight enough and their breakdowns br00tal enough. In fact, these young Welshmen have produced a wonderful debut that mixes melodic death metal and thrash with progressive influences and, ultimately, propelled themselves way ahead of their peers in the process.

There is no doubt that the songs are very well composed, and manage to remain diverse and dynamic, with plenty of memorable hooks that will inevitably result in various head banging antics. The true delight of this album is, without doubt, the guitar work. It is, in a word … magnificent. Blazing fast thrash riffs a plenty, with a great number of wonderful solos splashed around the place. The guitarists Luke Davies and Leon Kemp really showcase their ability here, especially on the more progressive tracks, delivering axe work that could rival even Dragonforce for speed.

“This Age of Silence” opens with ‘Ghosts of Dawn’, a small intro that quickly slams into second track ‘The Silent Divide’, six minutes of metal at its finest. Without pausing for breath, the album then heads straight into ‘Dead Divine’, all rampant bludgering riffery and a huge gear change midway before racing away again in hurricane force. What follows is six more storming tracks that will leave you breathless and wanting more. The replay value is here for sure, these are not tracks to get bored of quickly.

The vocals are like many other high quality metalcore singers and, although often overpowered by the guitar work, complement the music well. The drumming is of a high standard too, not too flashy but interesting and strong enough to help keep the songs flowing.

In all this is definitely an album worth buying for any fan of metal. Powerful riffs, searing solos, catchy hooks and strong drumming all carried out with a maturity that belies the groups age. Basically, a must for fans of technical metalcore, melodic death metal and thrash. And for those metalheads who shake their head in disgust at the ever-increasing tide of generic bands polluting music with their rehashed garbage, make sure you don’t let the metalcore stereotype put you off. If you do you will be missing out on a slab of modern metals finest.

Recommended Tracks:

- The Silent Divide
- Dead Divine
- Seraph

Equilibrium Turis Fratyr

Tracklist:
01. Turis Fratyr
02. Wingthors Hammer
03. Unter der Eiche
04. Der Sturm
05. Widars Hallen
06. Met
07. Heimdalls Ruf
08. Die Prophezeiung
09. Nordheim
10. Im Fackelschein
11. Tote Heldensagen
12. Wald der Freiheit
13. Shingo Murata [Digipack bonus]

Release Date: 2005

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Equilibrium can mean two things to people. Either the futuristic action packed thriller starring Christian Bale or to others Equilibrium bring to mind an explosive folk metal outfit from Germany. Needless to say, I’m going with option b here. I recently came across a Viking metal group from Munchhen, Germany called Equilibrium and was instantly gratified by the sheer power and tight musicianship within this group. Although hailing from Germany I can’t help but feel that they’re actually from Scandinavia instead. For one, they sound more Finnish than German to me, incorporating the same melodic speed metal precision akin to Kalmah and Ensiferum. They also sound Swedish, spouting out tales of ancient folk tales and recalling the most stable Viking elements of Bathory. For Equilibrium, just blend together add a healthy dose of power metal, melodic death metal, and black metal along with a hefty folk influence to get one of the finest albums I’ve heard in the genre.

Folk Metal at a whole is a hard genre to create something fresh and original. Granted it may be done but most tend to clone Bathory and other seminal groups. One of the only faults with this album may be because of that but Equilibrium show off why their one of the better in the genre. They excel in strong writing abilities, creating each track to be nothing short of epic and daunting without sounding overly cheesy or uninspired. They also show great skill with a tight rhythm section that will inspire instant head banging after hearing the first few licks. “Turis Fratyr” is a speed based affair for the most part. Plenty of rapid double bass patterns intertwining with heavy mid paced riffing, Braveheart like instrumentals, and searing vocals to be found here. The synthesizers play a big role in setting the medieval tone of the album. Many times I rarely get excited when the keyboards are a prominent feature of a certain bands sound because much of the time they sound hollow and stale. With Equilibrium, they’re certainly not and boast richness and triumphant overtones. The atmosphere of the album has a fist pumping quality to it that recalls the great battle of Minis Tirith.

“Turis Fratyr” is the bands debut album, released some time in 2005 but you would never know by the professional musicianship displayed from the band. First things first, how are the vocals? The vocals are quite excellent actually. Helge displays plenty of control and aggression while seamlessly shifting between black metal influenced shrieking to deep, guttural, growling familiar to early nineties Florida death metal. There really isn’t any singing on the album with a few exceptions. Most notably is the ending of the 8 minute epic “Widdars Hallen”. The track stops for a moment before erupting with a Summoning esque synth line. Soon enough some soothing Germanic female vocals enter the mix and instantly recall Lord Of The Rings. The guitar work is quite impressive. More melodic than heavy, Rene and Andreas play with speed and precision, laying out a wide assortment of great riffs and power metal inspired solos. At times they slow down and prove themselves with great tempo shifts and beautiful melodies. The drumming patterns from Manuel are speed based and never fails to impress with his firing double bass movements. The bass has it’s moments but nothing too spectacular. Aside from they synthesizers, Equlibrium incorporate some nature based samples and flute into the metal heavy environment. The sound of roaring fires and running rivers add urgency to the hypnotizing harp melodies found on “Im Fackelschein”.

Coming in at 13 tracks covering near 60 minutes of music might seem a lot of ground to cover but the energy and passion flowing through this album makes it seem shorter than it really is. The pros for this album are quite amazing. The cons although limited should be given some notice. Equlibrium have created superb folk metal with this debut but often at times recalls oh too certain from other famous folk metal groups, Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, and Kalmah particularly. If you can overlook this and the near absence of the bass then you should love it. I recommend fans from black metal to melodic death metal to give this album a notice. This is one of the greatest metal debut albums I’ve heard in some time so I’m looking forward to hearing their second release although I have noticed that they have posted some new samples on their myspace. I’m off and away, riding the horse of light and fending off the witch king of Angmar in the process to get to Frodo and the ring for my own selfish desires.

In This Moment Beautiful Tragedy

Tracklist:
1. Whispers of October
2. Prayers
3. Beautiful Tragedy
4. Ashes
5. Daddy's Falling Angel
6. Legacy of Odio
7. This Moment
8. Next Life
9. He Said Eternity
10. Circles
11. When the Storm Subsides

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In This Moment- Beautiful Tragedy

In these modern days there are rarely any bands that have female vocalists or females in the band at all. This is due to the fact that sometimes, with female singers, the songs tend to sound a bit whiney or the lyrics get to annoying; this is definitely not the case with the new to the scene metal band, In This Moment.

They seamlessly succeed in creating brutal, heavy music combined with the crisp clean vocals of a rock band. What adds to this great idea is the fact that Maria Brinks, the vocalist/ frontwoman (if that’s a word), has one of the best voices present in metal. I was very surprised when I first listened to this album: her screams are ear piercing yet completely awesome, and then she comes in with clean vocals and blows you away with her amazing voice.

“Beautiful Tragedy” the title track is a great song to listen to if you want a sample of how good her vocals are. This tracks is only clean vocals (except at the bridge for two seconds) so don’t expect extreme heaviness, but it still demonstrates her ability to hold incredibly long notes, and I mean incredibly long notes. In terms of the screaming, she can also hold long notes, try listening to the track “Daddy’s Falling Angel” and you’ll see what I mean.

One thing I actually liked a lot about this album is the clever lyrics, like from “Ashes” and “Circles.” In “Ashes” Brinks sings, “Ashes to ashes!” and then she whispers, almost below her breath, “We all fall down.” This song is relating to a childhood game song while using metaphorical genius to tell the listener that we all eventually fail in the end. “Circles” again shows this same genius, almost relating back to “Ashes,” by again using a catchy chorus to express something more complicated than that is heard by the listener.

This band also excels in the musical department, with crushing breakdowns and actually some pretty impressive guitar solos here and there. “Daddy’s Falling Angel,” as mentioned before, demonstrates the guitarist’s ability to play decent guitar solos, and also shows that the band can get pretty heavy. After the solo featured in this song a heavy, crushing breakdown slams through your speakers; I’ve got to say this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, which is always a good thing when you blast metal.

Also the drummer’s performance is solid the whole way through the album, doing sometimes complex beats and playing double bass blast beats here and there. This made me happy that I bought the album, because I, being a drummer, love blast beats (*ahem* As I Lay Dying). Anyways the drummer’s presence in the band is definitely noted, as he is pretty damn good.

The only and main problem I have with this album is, as always, the fact that I still cannot hear the bass guitar. Even though he also does a solid performance the whole way through, you can rarely actually hear him playing, which just downright sucks. So if your expecting to hear awesome quality bass-wise on this album, the only bass you’ll actually hear is the blast beats pounding.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this album, especially the vocals and drums, which are just a pure standout. The overall quality (minus the bass guitar) of the album is very well done, so no real complaints there. The album also runs very smoothly, with no filler tracks, just kind of intro and outro tracks, which are also very good. Anyways I suggest any fans of metal pick this one up, despite the fact it has a female vocalist, because it has impressive instruments, and some of the best vocals present in modern day metal.

Top Five Tracks:

1. “Daddy’s Falling Angel”
2. “Beautiful Tragedy”
3. “Circles”
4. “Ashes”
5. “When the Storm Subsides”

Skeletonwitch Beyond the Permafrost

Tracklist:
1. Upon Wings of Black
2. Beyond the Permafrost
3. Baptized In Flames
4. Sacrifice For the Slaughtergod
5. Vengeance Will Be Mine
6. Limb From Limb
7. Cast Into the Open Sea
8. Fire From the Sky
9. Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
10. Remains of the Defeated
11. Feast Upon Flesh
12. Within My Blood

Download - All Tracks <<< Click Here

Its actually funny when you think about how many bands that are out there, trying to breathe life into some good old metal from key era’s of the genre that spawned too many copycats to count. Trivium’s The Crusade tried and failed miserably at reviving Metallica’s Master of Puppets days by completely rehashing everything and falling extremely short with originality. A little off the metal topic and looking at rock, a newer band named Airbourne put out an album called Runnin’ Wild and should be put under investigation for plagiarizing AC/DC. Then there’s Skeletonwitch; a band that obviously grew up in an era of heavy metal that saw kids picking up guitars and trying out their chops against a slew of thrash, NWOBHM and melo-death bands. But what makes Skeletonwitch unique compared to a bunch of rehash bands that stumble over the problem of lifting the same identical “God Damn” riff over and over again? Skeletonwitch do the metal sub genre hopping with ease and don’t cater to specifics.

First and foremost, these guys are competent musicians who know their metal. And when I say they know their metal, “Oh boy do they ever know their heavy metal”! Contained within Beyond the Permafrost is a cache of heavy metal riffs that made the genre what it is today. The album contains songs that are filled with excellent guitar skills and pummeling drums that bring to mind the early 80’s days of thrash. Dual guitar leads and melodic hooks bring to mind NWOBHM and the Gothenburg scene; metal artists who wanted a little more than just brutality to their music. Skeletonwitch combine these sub genres with ease and finesse. But do these elements make Beyond the Permafrost a winner in the metal revival circles? Not exactly.

Right from the opening track ‘Upon Black Wings’, fast thrash riffs scream forth while a nice little Slayer solo backs up the rhythm guitar. Not even a minute later, the song changes into a galloping lead that sounds like it belongs on The Jester Race. Within the first two minutes and forty-one seconds, you can certainly notice the number of sub genres Skeletonwitch utilize to hone in on their finely tuned songs. ‘Baptized In Flames’ starts out in a perfect melodic fashion. A tremolo picked melody opens up the song followed up with another Gothenburg influenced riff that actually sounds interesting and not regurgitated. ‘Within My Blood’ shows off the bands love for NWOBHM, reviving some of those classic dual leads featured on such albums such as Painkiller and Piece of Mind. ‘Feast Upon Flesh’ awakens a black metal spirit but only merely touches on this sub-genre, going for a blackened/ death metal sound in the vein of Storm of the Light's Bane. As you can already tell, the number of bands and sub genres that have been listed above are only skimming the surface.

Keeping this in mind, the band does not win a great deal of points, simply because they wear their influences on their shoulders too proudly. Instead of taking all of their influences and mixing them into a complete, original idea, Skeletonwitch make it too easy to pick apart the sub genres contained within their songs. This in turn makes it far too easy to categorize Skeletonwitch as a ‘unoriginal’ band. Metalheads (like myself) who like a little original spice in their tunes, might cry “Copy Cats” for their overuse of genre hopping and lack of originality. Still, I have to give them credit where credit is due. The amount of sub genres this band covers is staggering. For their efforts and ideas put into their music, despite it being somewhat unoriginal, they really know how to keep things interesting by not catering to one type of sub genre. Beyond the Permafrost wins on a level for sounding like a band who is having a good time covering all of their favourite metal tunes.

Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe

Tracklist:
1 Morphogenesis 3:54
2 Timewave Zero 5:13
3 Quantumleaper 4:09
4 Artificial Sun Projection 4:00
5 The Missing Coordinates 4:37
6 Ghost Prototype I (Measurement of Thought) 4:35
7 Fear Catalyst 5:03
8 Trapezoid 4:17
9 Prism and Gate 3:46
10 Holographic Universe 9:05
11 The Three-Dimensional Shadow 3:57
12 Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina) 6:03

Download - All Tracks <<< Click Here

Let’s face it; the Gothenburg brand of melodic death metal has been around long enough for it to be overplayed. There are so many bands out there who try and capitalize on the sound which such esteemed acts as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At The Gates have made famous. You could look at a list of all the metal bands in Sweden, close your eyes, point at one and say with near certainty that they were influenced in some way or another by the Gothenburg scene. Most of the time you would be correct, but to say that every band that plays Gothenburg metal plays it correctly and interestingly is an outright lie. The country or the world even, is awash with bands who try so desperately to get the recognition of those founding bands but achieve nothing more than mediocre semi-success. You could certainly say this of Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry, you could assume that they are nothing more than a tadpole in an ocean of much bigger fish, and you could assume that their music is of no concern to such a veteran metalhead like yourself, but you would be wrong. All of this assuming leads to a completely distorted and unfair picture of what Scar Symmetry is capable of doing, especially in their latest effort Holographic Universe.

Their sound isn’t so much advanced as it is refined. The guitar leads and solos are smoother and tighter, the vocal transitions much more frequent and also better placed, and the whole feel of the album includes a growing sense of maturity from a band which is still attempting to rise above that surface of Gothenburg melo-death wanna be’s. This isn’t the album to turn haters of the band into fans of them, but it is an album to make fans of the band more excited by the subtle changes which Scar Symmetry have introduced to their sound. The violin at the beginning of “Artificial Sun Projection”, the clean-death vocal transitions in the chorus to “Morphogenesis”, the electronic effects on the guitar during “The Missing Coordinates”, the absolutely insane nine minute title track, all of it adds to the band’s established sound.

Their established sound is still quite intact, however, starting with vocalist Christian Alvestam’s excellent vocals. His growls are deep and ferocious, very violent in nature, while his clean singing is completely the opposite. It is very smooth and easy to listen to, often directing the melodies and tempo of the song. However, something which has changed since Symmetric In Design and Pitch Black Progress is the fact that it no longer seems like the music was written around what the vocals are doing, something which bugged many listeners before and seemed like a big negative to what the band was playing. That, for the most part, is fixed, with the guitar leads taking the reigns and the vocals following along until it is their turn to take the stage.

The atmosphere of the album still revolves very much around futuristic-type themes, with lots of electronic effects and lyrics and track titles which sound like they are out of a sci-fi movie. However, this is nothing new to Scar Symmetry since Pitch Black Progress reflected much of the same. You have the epic title track which is quite unlike anything this band has done before, stretching itself out into a nine minute monster and immediately posting itself on the highlight list with it’s intense drumming and unrelenting heaviness, coupled with the multiple guitar solos inserted into the middle. Actually, this whole profile can go for the whole album, with lots of heavy riffing and frantic soloing which just hits you in the right place. It kicks off with a bang with one of the band’s best songs to date, “Morphogenesis” and ends it with the perfect farewell of sorrowful guitars and melancholic clean vocals (not to mention a helping of death metal) with “Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina)”. The album as a whole is long, 12 tracks is a bit much considering the similarity of some of the tracks, but in between some similar sounding songs and typical Scar Symmetry musicianship we have a fair-sized handful of some truly astounding tracks which make Scar Symmetry so much more interesting than on their previous effort, the interestingly dull Pitch Black Progress, and brings them somewhere back into the realm of their ear-catching debut Symmetric In Design.

If you love Scar Symmetry, there should really be no excuse to miss this album, since it is everything and more that fans were hoping for. If you love melodic death metal but haven’t heard this band, this is well worth a listen. If you didn’t like Scar Symmetry before, then I suggest you listen to tracks like “Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina)”, “Morphogenesis”, “Artificial Sun Projection”, and “Holographic Universe” to sample some of their new sounds. There really isn’t anything to complain about here except maybe a lack of variety in some of the songs toward the end. The production is wonderful, the vocals are top-notch for this genre, and the guitars are both heavy and melodic. Whether Scar Symmetry chooses to advance their sound away from the tried and true formula which they play now is solely up to the band members, but for now all I can tell you is that Holographic Universe was an extremely pleasant surprise and an album I will most certainly be listening to a lot. Well done, Scar Symmetry.


Recommended Tracks
Morphogenesis
Holographic Universe
Artificial Sun Projection
Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina)
Ghost Prototype I (Measurement of Thought)

Inhale Exhale I Swear...

Tracklist:
1. I Needed a Space Ship (Instead I Got Problems)
2. It's Myself vs. Being a Man
3. Impatient Will Suffer
4. Is the Fact That I'm Trying to Do It, Doing It for You?
5. I Live the Bad Life (You Make It Worse)
6. No One Is Invincible
7. Words That We Have Chosen
8. Drink Till We Drop
9. I'll Die with No Friends and a Grin on My Face
10. Fluvanna
11. Knowledge = Priceless

Release Date: 06/10/2008

Download - All Tracks <<< Click Here

I’d be very willing to bet that most music fans haven’t heard of the band Inhale Exhale. Somewhat sad to say, that’s for a very good reason. Their previous debut, The Lost, The Sick, The Sacred, did nothing to distinguish them from the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of similar metalcore acts that have flooded the market in the last five years or so. The band promised that their next album would “darker, heavier” and even a little “progressive”. Personally, I hoped that the band might take some risks and progress from the last album. So, has the band progressed? Or are they still stuck in the mud of mediocrity?

Actually, the answer to both questions is a yes. There is a bit of improvement, but I Swear is still a metalcore album. The sad part is, besides noticeable improvement in John Larussa’s guitar playing ability and the appearance of singing from vocalist Ryland Raus, it’s almost identical to their previous album. Every verse is screamed and most of the choruses are sung. Since both their previous drummer (who sang) and bassist left, vocalist Ryland Raus is left to handle vocal duties on his own – and he does a pretty good job. His scream has improved slightly, and Raus’ clean vocals are more than adequate. In fact, I’d go so far to say his clean vocals are somewhat unique – at the very least, they’re pretty good. Inhale Exhale’s new rhythm section is still painfully average, and I need not elaborate on their abilities or contribution to the album, because it’s like pretty much anything you’d find anywhere else.

As mentioned before, guitarist John Larussa has definitely progressed the most. This is made apparent less than a minute into the opener, as he delivers some fairly technical shredding and a load of spectacular riffs. Fast forward to the intro of the second song, and it’s even better. Although I’m unsure as to whether or not the part in question is simply tapping, if it isn’t, then it’s pretty clear that Larussa has now become a more than adequate guitarist. Despite the fact that there are still no solos here, I’d be willing to bet that they could show up on the next album.

Has anything else changed? Well, the songwriting is just a little more fresh than before. By that I mean it doesn’t seem quite as predictable as before – the songs still follow the typical screamed verse, sung chorus formula, but it doesn’t feel as boring as their debut. (I wish I could explain this in a better way, but I can’t). Several of the breakdowns aren’t one-note either – they have some pretty good riffs in them.

It’s kind of funny (or perhaps sad) that the best song on the album is the ballad, but it is. Knowledge = Priceless begins with some pretty fingerpicking and features some intensely emotional singing from Ryland. The chorus is great, and so is the interlude. This ends the album on a high note, mellowing out after pummeling the listener for 40 minutes.

So in the end, how good is I Swear? It’s still forgettable, but not as forgettable as The Lost, The Sick, The Sacred. The band has yet to go out of their comfort zone or tread new territory; however they are certainly showing progress. You still would do good to pass on anything from Inhale Exhale, but they could very well make a great album the next time.

Recommended tracks:
I Needed a Space Ship (Instead I Got Problems)
It's Myself Vs. Being a Man
Is the Fact That I'm Trying to Do it, Doing it For You
Knowledge = Priceless

Destroy The Runner I, Lucifer

Tracklist:
1. Crumbs For The Murder
2. Isabella's
3. Mr. and Mrs. Cuckoldom
4. Bag Of Marbles
5. I, Lucifer
6. It's Always Cold In Paris
7. A Pathetic Psalm
8. Luxuria
9. On Falling Leaf
10. A Novel Of War
11. A Mountain So Big, A Question So Small

Download - All Tracks <<< Click Here

Summary: I, Lucifer is a pleasant departure away from Destroy The Runner’s previous cookie cutter metalcore sound. Natural progression and a new vision have allowed them to create a more melodic and more focused release which hints at bigger things to come.


An excerpt from Destroy The Runner’s myspace reads, “There comes a time in every artist's life in which he must find himself through his medium. He must pry himself from any hint of reliance upon others and their art, and embrace who he is and what he was born to create.” These pretentious statements have potential to ruin a record as the expectations are set way too high. In this case, the aforementioned passage actually assists listeners in understanding the group’s latest release. Obviously progression and change are expected. Judging books (err records) by their covers, just the jump from Saints to I, Lucifer in titles suggests polar opposites. Their departure from a run of the mill metalcore sound to a more interesting, melody based one is more of a subtle shift but still keeps to the theme of change. To unify it all, a new vocalist and lyricist allows for a new vision to be embraced. The final product is an impressive shift which will only improve with time.

Despite my initial predictions, this record is not screaming for mainstream attention. Many translate the words “melody based” to sell out. Don’t. In this case that could not be less true. Rather, the group realized what they would like to create and have done just that. The opener “Crumbs For The Murder” is the closest thing to their older style present. Even so the tastefully placed clean guitars and persistent bursts of melody immediately show progression. The screamed verses display an intense sense of urgency while the sung choruses soar with beauty. While the vocal transitions in many places here are predictable, this is the only song on the record to feature the famous Killswitch bad cop good cop structure. The first song released from the record “Mr. and Mrs. Cuckoldom” perfectly showcases their new style. The As I Lay Dying b-side riffs and drop C chugga chug breakdowns are almost completely extinct and in their place are quality blends of melody, atmosphere and heavy riffs with more unique construction. Then there’s the minor detail that there’s not a full section of the song which is purely screamed.

With the dominantly sung vocals and such a strong emphasis in melody, it’s easy to think the record is absent of heaviness. This is not entirely true as there are certainly flashes of the group’s older traits. “Luxuria” opens with some C chugs which persist throughout the verse in the rhythm section. The riff over it and the singing perfectly link their newer focus with their older traits. When the chorus hits, the smooth octave chords perfectly balance everything out. The guitar and vocal bridge certainly shows off some improved construction and gives the final minute of the song an incredibly dramatic feel. The album closer “A Mountain So Big, A Question So Small” lies in the same vein. Without a doubt it puts its focus on melody. But flashes of double bass with some lower pitched riffs give it a definite edge in certain sections. Once more the clean guitar and soft vocal interludes give things a definite sense of progression. The atmosphere accented intro and outro guitar parts further show fresh ideas from the group as I, Lucifer makes a bold statement of change through its dominantly melodic nature.

As bold of a statement as the musical changes make, the lyrics steal the show. Now between being on Solid State and releasing an album title by the name of Saints which constantly had references to faith, many labeled the group a Christian metalcore band. In reality, the group is just Christians in a metalcore band. Vocalist Chad Ackerman makes a hell (no pun intended) of a debut with the group. The title I, Lucifer does not refer to Satan, but more so the label of Christianity itself and in general how people label themselves. He hits on this label subject and the connotations that go along with it hard and often. The title track has some of the most powerful lines I’ve heard all year as he calls out groups that market their music based on religion “I will tell them the scriptures/and I will profit from your name./I will sell them the scriptures,/and I will pocket your fame.” Lines like “I speak of angels,/but host demons instead” definitely reveal a new vision for the group. No preachy messages, no condescending lines, just words that cut to the core with honesty. The record focuses on a variety of subjects from divorce to everyday struggles, all of which hold the same power and certainly serve as the highlight of the record.

With I, Lucifer Destroy The Runner bring plenty of surprises up their sleeves. Their debut was so cliché that this change came out of the blue. Their new vision lyrically is downright stunning and incredibly touching. But of course with progression comes problems. While Chad’s lyrics are stellar, his singing can get fairly monotonous. With certain songs not packing a heavy edge and having slightly lackluster construction, the result is sometimes less than spectacular. That is said in the sense that select songs are as easy to ignore as they are to get into. At the same time, plenty of the record is captivating and demands attention. As things come to a close, it becomes quite obvious that Destroy The Runner have found themselves. I, Lucifer brings a sense of identity to the group. With a new sound and a new vision, Destroy The Runner show notable progression. They might not be fully capitalizing on its full potential just yet, but this is something that will only further blossom and take them to new heights.

Recommended Tracks:
-Crumbs For The Murder
-I, Lucifer
-A Pathetic Psalm
-A Mountain So Big, A Question So Small

36 Crazyfists The Tide And Its Takers

Tracklist:
1. The All Night Lights
2. We Gave It Hell
3. The Back Harlow Road
4. Clear the Coast
5. Waiting on a War
6. Only a Year or So...
7. Absent Are the Saints
8. Vast and Vague
9. When Distance is the Closest Reminder
10. Northern November
11. The Tide and Its Takers

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The Tide and its Takers (2008):

36 Crazyfists has remained as an underrated band, often mislabeled as a “generic metalcore” band, sadly eclipsed by more popular acts like Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying (Who definitely wear the “generic metalcore kings” title).

When they signed up to Roadrunner recors back in ’00, they had already released 2 EP’s an 1 full length, but the album that’s often credited as their debut is their “Bitterness the star,” which was released in 2002. Back then 36 CF had a STRONG nu-metal sound, with high pitched/emotional singing and emphasis on melody rather than heaviness (think about Glassjaw’s Everything You Wanted To Know…). Their sound has changed with each release, but somehow they’ve managed to make solid sounding records, with enough catchiness and creativity to undoubtedly hook the casual listener.

The Tide and its Takers is their first release in Ferret Music. This time they tried to do some sort of concept album. Instead of following a storyline, the album revolts around one subject, I guess it’s about being astray In the ocean, and all the emotional stages you go through.

The way this album sounds like is diverse enough to escape from the “generic metalcore” label. it’s sort of a mixture between post-hardcore, alternative metal, a bit of punk, a bit of metalcore, and even some nu-metal. They don’t abuse cliché elements like breakdowns, lifeless pseudo- technical riffs and the harsh verse/melodic chorus formula like most of the bands out there. They seem to follow the traditional “Intro/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus” song structure, but they have enough creativity to craft solid sounding songs while avoiding repetitiveness. If you analyze their verses, they don’t just repeat one riff over and over again, they often vary their riffs before entering next section to sound more interesting.

Their guitar work is far from being something stellar, or something unique, but it works perfectly thanks to the fact that the band doesn’t focus on showing their technical abilities. The drumming is nothing special as well, and the bass is unfortunately barely heard. The way the band sounds like altogether works perfectly, they often bring catchy rhythms with memorable riffs with a fair sense of melody. They have occasional breakdowns in a couple of songs, but they fit well.
What makes the band really shine is the vocalist Brock Lindow, who has really got an unique voice. He has a very powerful and high pitchced voice, sometimes a bit nasal, kind of Daryl Palumbo meets Dexter Holland. His screamed vocals are also kind of high-pitched and raspy, definitely an acquired taste. Instead of sticking to the formula of writing screamed verses and sung choruses, he mixes both his singing and screaming in a less predictable way. His voice really shines through this album.

Lyrically, this has been 36 CF’s best work, as I mentioned before, this is could be seen as a concept album. I´m not 100% what’s the story behind the concept, but it seems as if the whole album is written in metaphoric language. It talks about being on a ship, wandering astray in the ocean, and the obvious facts that affect you (distance, nostalgia, fear, insecurity, not being with your loved ones, etc). It seems to me that Brock Lindow is a very nostalgic person, judging his lyrical work in this and their previous releases. He also seems to be smart enough to write lyrics that avoid overused ideas frequently seen in metalcore/post-hardcore bands.

The album’s pace is constantly changing, it is well balanced between aggressive songs, energetic songs, mellow songs, and melodic songs. “The All Night Lights” is clearly the most metalcore influenced song in here, but it’s a powerful opener that shows 36 CF’s edgy side. “The Back Harlow Road” is probably the best song here, it’s a melodic song that summarizes what 36 CF does so damn well, and Lindow’s voice shines all the way through the song until he reaches a superb climax in the bridge. Another album highlight is “Waiting on a War,” which is another melodic song that has an epic feel, probably the best guitar work in the whole album. Just like RITF ended with acoustic “The City Ignites,” this one closes with the acoustic “The Tide and its Takers.” The title track is arguably the best acoustic 36 CF song.

So without a single doubt, this is a solid release and 36 CF are still really good at what they do. However, after listening to their previous releases, this one is nothing new, it doesn’t sound much different from their last albums. Overall the band sounds tighter, but they have lost some catchiness, which is probably why it didn't hook me up the first time I listened to it. If you listened to "Absent are the Saints" and labeled them "generic metalcore," well, the album sounds a lot different (objectivly speaking).

PROS:
-Brock Lindow (superb clean vocals)
-Not generic
-Solid instrumentation

Cons:
-The instrumentation brings nothing new to the table
-Brock Lindow (harsh vocals are not his strong side)
-Lyrics are OK, but seem a bit disorganized

Listen to:
"The Back Harlow Road"
"Waiting on a War"
"Vast and Vague"
"The All Night Lights"

3.8/5

Keep of Kalessin Kolossus

Tracklist:
01. Origin
02. A New Empire's Birth
03. Against The Gods
04. The Rising Sign
05. Warmonger
06. Escape The Union
07. The Mark Of Power
08. Kolossus
09. Ascendant

Release Date: 06/06/2008

Download - All Tracks <<< Click Here

This is a really good album, but it suffers from the same thing as Emperor's Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - namely, it's a revisitation of an album the band in question had already made, albeit in a slightly more refined and mature presentation. Emperor's Anthems was very much In the Nightside Eclipse v2.0, and in the same way, this one is very much Armada v2.0. Some of the songs even use the same lines or structures (cf. "Warmonger" vs "Many Are We")

But to be honest, I somewhat expected this. Armada was an excellent release, and it's quite common for this to happen once a band releases a breakthrough album. And that's not to say it's a bad album, at all; in fact, it's pretty remarkable. Anthems actually benefited from this approach; it was different enough from Nightside to avoid being equated to it by too many people. But Kolossus is VERY similar to Armada. Even so, it does have its moments, and the best of these are when it veers from replicating Armada - one particular example is the mixture of rough, finger-sliding Gorgoroth-esque riffing in "The Rising Sign" with a spacey synth interlude very reminiscent of Arcturus' Sideshow Symphonies or La Masquerade Infernale. If that last statement didn't already make it obvious enough, this album also displays much more of a progressive influence than Armada, which did have them, but only on occasion.

Moving away from that for a moment, the instrumention on Kolossus is a definite step up from that on Armada, which itself had nearly flawless instrumentation already. The bass is surprisingly audible for a black metal release, which is an *extremely* welcome change, to me at least. It even comes close to being the centerpiece in a few song sections. Also nice: the drums. Right up front and center. Right from the first moments of the album's first "real" song, a message is made very clearly that the drumming on this is going to be both very prominent and very enjoyable. And that message is not in the least bit inaccurate - the double bass on this could be used to resuscitate heart attack victims.

Also made very clear from the album's start, is that the Iberian guitar flourishes which Keep of Kalessin began toying with in the Reclaim EP, and which they used as a primary flavoring for Armada, have now become a full-blown main ingredient. Aside from this, the guitars are essentially the same as before, but there are quite a few more solos, and the speed heard on songs like "Vengeance Rising" and "Into the Fire" is present on just about every song on the album.

I'm not going to say one song is better than all the rest. But, perhaps the best example of what the album as a whole is like, would be the song "Escape the Union." It starts off with the Castilian guitar sounds, quickly degenerates into a very traditional TNBM guitar line, sweeps back up into majesty and melody, with drums slamming their way through the wall of noise as the bass continually builds it back up. The melodic lines are catchy without being goofy or too positive(in fact, they almost sound mournful), the prog structures become more and more evident as the song nears its end, and, incidentally, it has a kickass guitar solo.

However, all the songs are good to some degree; the title track is ridiculously epic and majestic. It is the music that would be playing as an entire planet crumbled to dust. If "Against the Gods" doesn't make you want to beat rhinos senseless with your bare knuckles, nothing will. "Ascendant" may be the single most-appropriately-titled song on the album; it actually is uplifting and empowering. It is absolutely anthemic. Without being gay. I promise.

Oddly enough, this album has what might be Kalessin's first real ballad. I won't say anything more about that. Not because it's awful, it's perfectly decent. Probably one of the best on the album, in fact. It just came as a surprise to me and I think it should be that way for anyone who hears it. And for those who are already sneering - it doesn't stay very ballad-like for long. Again, Sideshow Symphonies comes to mind for this one. Emperor too. Even Strapping Young Lad, albeit to a much lesser degree.

In short, it's a great album. It does lack the sense of being something brand new and unprecedented. But, all the elements that were heard before on Armada have been expanded upon - not left to stagnate until they could be rehashed for a new album. The band has used the same elements, but their implentation is vastly improved. There were several moments on Armada where the transitions between two very good, but very different, song sections felt a little jarring(the solo in "Winged Watcher" being one example). Here, everything flows naturally. As for the rest - the melodic hooks are catchier but less predictable, the Spanish guitar-playing is more emphasized, there's a very heavy progressive influence, and it's obvious these guys have *all* been practicing. It is unfortunate that it's so reminiscent of Armada, but in another sense that too may be a boon instead of a bane. Armada and Kolossus can be seen as two sides of the same coin; Armada is the soundtrack to a footsoldier's chaotic and bloody war, while Kolossus describes the majesty and destruction of naval bombardments.

Which one the listener prefers is nothing more than a matter of taste. Armada may be more innovative and unique, but Kolossus, although revisiting the same ideas, does so with much more gusto and makes no apologies for it. Nor should it. It's a worthy listen, and if you enjoy music which causes your mind to wander towards visions of an apocalyptic far future where there is as much blood and violence as there is grandeur and beauty, then it is also a very worthy buy.

Bathory Destroyer of Worlds

Tracklist:
1. Lake of Fire
2. Destroyer of Worlds
3. Ode
4. Bleeding
5. Pestilence
6. 109
7. Death from Above
8. Krom
9. Liberty & Justice
10. Kill Kill Kill
11. Sudden Death
12. White Bones
13. Day of Wrath

Release Date: 2001

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When people think of Bathory, they usually think of the first few influential black metal albums, then the folky Viking metal albums and then the very unsuccessful thrash albums ‘Requiem’ and ‘Octagon’. After these Bathory returned to the Viking metal style with ’Blood on Ice’ and the first two parts of the ‘Nordland’ four-album set (the third and final parts were never finished as the band leader Quorthon died before he finished them.) There was also another often much ignored Bathory album released before the ‘Nordland’ albums that mixes both the Viking and thrash styles, ‘Destroyer of Worlds’.

Hidden between the worst albums and the better later Viking metal albums, it is easy to see how ‘Destroyer of Worlds’ has become so ignored. It’s not nearly as consistent as the other late Bathory albums, but while there are some truly abysmal songs on it, when the band return to the Viking metal style they manage to create some of the very best songs of the band’s career. In fact, if all the songs were of this quality we’d probably be looking at the very best Bathory album.

‘Destroyer of Worlds’ opens fantastically with the atmospheric ‘Lake of Fire’. An acoustic guitar plays a haunting riff while a rising backing chant is used to enhance the atmosphere. A distorted guitar soon kicks in and takes over as the main instrument, gradually getting heavier until the catchy, but not at all cheesy, chorus. While Quorthon’s vocals have quite an odd raspy tone that could put some people off, his voice really fit’s the music here.

The next two songs are equally as good. The title track has a great crushing riff throughout, again backed up by backing chants. While the music isn‘t very complex, the simplicity only helps to accentuate the war-like atmosphere. ‘Ode’ is the most epic sounding song on the album, containing a mixture of ‘ Lake of Fire’s’ acoustic guitar melodies and rising chant and also a strong, heavy riff similar to ‘Destroyer of Worlds’.

After these first three tracks, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the whole album would be brilliant. Unfortunately, it suddenly takes a huge dip in quality. The powerful riffs, and chants disappear completely, taking the grand atmosphere along with them. The sound becomes much weaker sounding with poor bland thrash riffs and even worse vocals. Even the lyrics become worse. For some reason Quorthon decided to leave the Viking topic and start singing about completely random subjects that don’t go with each other at all, like ice hockey. Even lyrically it sounds like a completely different album.

It’s amazing that this is the same band, let alone the same album. Quorthon’s vocals seem to deteriorate completely, becoming irritatingly grating. The production really hinders these thrash songs too, muffling the singing and instruments.

Some of these songs occasionally do show some promise but never get close to the level reached by the first few tracks. Instead, they end up sounding very rushed and not well thought out or are destroyed as soon as Quorthon starts singing. Luckily the album does return to form with ‘Pestilence’ and ‘Day of Wrath’, both of which regain the quality and atmosphere of the first few tracks, but you have to get through a lot of rubbish to get to them if you listen the whole way through.

I would love to give it a 3.5 because of the incredible Viking style songs but honestly, it was a pain to listen to this the whole way through because of the horrible thrash. It’s only really worth paying full price for it if you are prepared to press the skip button a lot, but if you can get this album for less money it’s definitely worth having just for the good tracks alone.

Disturbed Indestructible

Tracklist:
1. Indestructible
2. Inside the Fire
3. Deceiver
4. The Night
5. Perfect Insanity
6. Haunted
7. Enough
8. The Curse
9. Torn
10. Criminal
11. Divide
12. Facade

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It is the year 2000, Disturbed releases their debut album "The Sickness" which went triple platinum and gave the band their most played smash hit to date "Down With the Sickness". Rock radio has been playing this classic nu-metal anthem for 8 years now, etching Disturbed as a memorable artist in recent rock. Since The Sickness, Believe was released, bearing even more fruit for radio to sink it's teeth into (even though Believe was by-far the weakest Disturbed album yet). 2 years ago, "Ten Thousand Fists" was released which, to me, was Disturbed's finest and most polished work. In fact, it was the only album besides the Sickness that i've actually bought! Needless to say, i'm not the biggest Disturbed fan to ever walk the Earth but have enjoyed their works and given them all a careful listen.

Which brings us to "Indestructible"...1stly, Indestructible? Couldn't they have spent more than like 10 minutes coming up with a title? Does this poor title really reflect the quality of the music? Well, no actually. Admitedly I wasn't expecting much from Disturbed this time around. I'd heard "Inside the Fire" and "Perfect Insanity" before the album dropped and wasn't overly impressed. Sure their catchy tracks and probably stronger than the majority of the rest of the album but Disturbed put so much effort into their last album that it kinda overshadows what they've done on Indestructible. What we have here is a typical modern rock record with nothing new, or inspiring to offer but some decent listens that should keep fan-boys listening for months, and the rest of us listening for a week or so...

The album opens with the title track "Indestructible". The first thing we hear is the war-sounds similar to Metallica's "One" or Slipknot's "Pulse of the Maggots". After about 30 seconds were given the typical Disturbed riffing and David's voice coming in shortly after. The biggest tiff I have about this track is that it's your typical American soldier anthem about the conflict in the Middle Seas and its a bandwagon that more and more bands seem to be jumping on. If you want a conparison just listen to Drowning Pool's "Soldiers". At least this is better than anything Drowning Pool's ever done...but I digress. Next we move into "Inside the Fire" which is a song David Draiman wrote about suicide. If you watch the video its kinda hard not to laugh because they kinda turn it into a public-service announcement and in the end just kinda comes off as cheesy. However the guitar work in this track is what makes it a standout on the album. I can honestly say the solo in this song is rather impressive for Disturbed. "Deceiver" gives us a cool guitar/drum intro and Draiman's enraged voice growling: "you've been caught in a lie!/you can't deny it!". This song is catchy and has a great chorus but like the rest of the album, offers nothing that will give it much replay value. "The Night" has a great intro of guitars from Mr. Dan Donegan with Draiman's voice hauntingly whining a verse and giving a chorus that offers a glimmer of power. "Perfect Insanity" is a remake of an old Disturbed song that I suppose was never officially released until now. It is by-far one of the best the album has to offer giving you a sense of classic Disturbed that we had on their debut. The drum opener is cool and the guitar riffing, while repetitive which seems to be Disturbed's style, is cool and crisp. This song is just pleasing from begining to end. "Haunted" is one of my favorite songs on the entire release and seems to bring back what was given on Ten Thousand Fists. The verse seems desperate, and the chorus is hopeful as Draiman sings of a world that is forcing him under. The drums in this song only add to it's intensity as Mike Wengren double-kicks over the majority of the track. After Haunted the record only seems to go downhill...tracks like "Enough", and "Torn" had potential to be great but Draiman, as well as the rest of the group, seems to be trying too hard at this point to keep things interesting. "The Curse" and "Criminal" are pretty decent tracks and basically are the only thing keeping the record alive at this point (though Criminal's lyrics are almost laughably bad: "Now you want to know/You want a name/You want to call me motherf**ker") and as we move into the final two tracks: "Divide" offers some old school "Droppin' Plates" style rap verse with a chorus that screams teenage angst and a pretty impressive guitar solo. "Facade" is a pretty bland end for this record as was "Avarice" on Ten Thousand Fists which adds little but boredom and repetition to the album.

In the end, Indestructible delivers exactly what it set out to be to a certain degree: a decent rock release to keep the fans listening. It is however the exact same sh*t we've been hearing since their debut and to me their sound is getting kinda old and repetive. After 4 albums, and the death of the nu-metal genre, perhaps its time to either switch their style up a bit, or throw in the towel?

Windir Soknardalr

Tracklist:
1. Sognariket Sine Krigarar
2. Det Som var Haukareid
3. Mørket Sin Fyrste
4. Sognariket si Herskarinne
5. I ei Krystallnatt
6. Røvhaugane
7. Likbør
8. Sóknardalr

Release Date: 1997

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On one hand you’ve got the typical black metal band: look at that lead singer clad in his studded leather, face all covered with layer upon layer of carefully applied corpse paint. He and his band mates hastily etch a blood-red pentagram on the floor. Only the light of candles illuminates their pre-show ritual. They join hands, beseeching Satan for his blessing (they also put in a good word for their fellow guitarist who was apprehended last Tuesday night for setting fire to a church). They look so pure like that, heads bowed, huddled together. On the other hand, you’ve got your group of jolly folk metallers. They merrily quaff the ales of olden times, strumming their acoustic guitars and chanting arcane pagan rites. It’s a grand old time among these guys too, isn’t it? Well, right smack dab in the middle is Windir, blending the eerie, dark atmosphere of the first gaggle of Satan’s finest with the upbeat tunes and good cheer of the second group of would-be Vikings. Such a unique combination ends up making for a jolly good time, indeed.

The year is 1994, and being in a musical rut of sorts, Valfar has decided to take his artistic vision in a completely new direction. Extricating himself from the trite black and death metal scenes of his native Norway, he opts to start his own band, free from the hampering influences of subpar musicians. Thus, Windir, meaning “warrior” in English, is born. Performing and composing all music, Valfar quickly cuts two demos by the names of Sognariket and Det Gamle Riket. The recording quality may have been poor at best, but nonetheless it was something fresh, and metal enthusiasts received the demos warmly. In ’96 the gods smiled on Valfar once more, gracing him with a record deal from Norway’s own Head Not Found / Voices of Wonder Records, guaranteeing the release and distribution of two full-length albums. In January of ’97, Valfar made his way into the studio and after a mere four days (I’m not even kidding) he exited having completed his first full length, Soknardalr. Again, Valfar composed and performed all of the music, excluding drums, which were performed by some unidentifiable session musician it seems. Let’s get to the music.

As aforementioned, this album is the result of a clash of two different styles of music: black and folk metal. Well, maybe “clash” isn’t the best word to describe the outcome, because it ends up being an interesting and rewarding listen. The black metal influences are perhaps the easiest to identify. The frantic tremolo picking and the hazy, far away sound of the guitars simply reek of black metal. The keyboards also contribute largely to the music’s black metal feel; their ghostlike, eerie synth sounds make for chilling atmosphere. The keys also appear as the sound of an organ and, on the album’s closing track, “Likber,” as the soothing croon of strings. The vocals also bring a good amount of atmosphere to the table. Add a little reverb to Valfar’s terrifying screams, and what you’d hear might sound like a vocal track from Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse that ended up on a different album. Valfar’s clean vocals are also top notch. Typically following along with the melody provided by the guitars or keys, these vocals have a soft, reverent quality about them that really sticks out given the darkly atmospheric context in which they are found.

The folk metal elements of the music are also quite prevalent. The guitars spend a large amount of time playing catchy, melodic riffs that one could find on an Ensiferum record. These leads, when combined with the support of the keyboards, on “Det Som Var Haukareid” for instance, make for some really groovy music. On some tracks, the guitars chug away with galloping rhythms that also sound reminiscent of a folk metal release, fierce chord progressions and all. Scattered throughout the album are other flourishes of folk influences, acoustic guitar interludes accompanied by spoken word, and there’s even a hilarious kind of demonic fireside hoedown section in “Sognariket Sine Krigarar.” As Valfar yells “Yee-ha!,” the drums groove along with a two beat feel, and the guitars wail away. It kind of makes you want to dance.

It’s true, there are a lot of great things going on with this album, but it’s more than a stone’s throw away from perfection. Each song has quite a bit of repetition, and by the song’s end, the once catchy leads start to get just the slightest bit old. Valfar’s approach to music is an interesting one for sure, but it’s of such consistency that there isn’t a whole lot of variation between the individual songs. Also, the recording quality isn’t poor, each instrument is perfectly audible, but its distant sound detracts from some of the energy that the music would have were it just a bit crisper. As a result, the songs and the entire album seem to go on for much longer than they actually do. These are downsides of note, but the album is still a great listen, and fans of black metal’s ambience and folk metal’s upbeat riffing will most likely find something to enjoy.

Judas Priest Screaming for Vengeance

Tracklist:
1. The Hellion
2. Electric Eye
3. Riding on the Wind
4. Bloodstone
5. (Take These) Chains
6. Pain and Pleasure
7. Screaming for Vengeance
8. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
9. Fever
10. Devil's Child

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Judas Priest were one of the originators of the heavy metal genre, right up there with some of the biggest rock 'n' roll giants of all-time like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. However, the band wasn't always metal. Albums like Point of Entry and Turbo are proof of this. The genres of Priest range from speed metal to metal to hard rock to even glam. So what category does this particular album, Screaming For Vengeance, fall in? Heavy metal.

It all kicks off with The Hellion, a technical instrumental that only clocks in at forty seconds, and leads right into the real opener, a heavy metal classic, known as Electric Eye. Glenn Tipton and KK Downing's beastly riffs carry the song through its entire four minute timespan, with Rob Halford's shrieks making the track all the more fun to listen to. Priest openers usually tend to be the best song on the album, with the closer being almost or just as good, and this is the case with Screaming For Vengeance. The Hellion/Electric Eye is an amazing song that has almost everything I love about Judas Priest in it. Also, when played live back in the day, the stage setup for this song was pretty cool.

Screaming For Vengeance is loaded with plenty of other quality numbers besides the ones I mentioned. Riding On The Wind is an adequate song, as is Bloodstone. Also, the title track is definitely the most energetic number by far, and it features Halford's best vocal performance on the entire album. His screams are mindblowing. Not to mention, the twin guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton is brilliant. They can play well slow, and they can play well fast, the latter especially. Their chemistry on the title track is superb, and not once do they get too rambunctious or over-the-top with their instrument. You've Got Another Thing Comin' is without a doubt Priest's second biggest hit ever, just behind Breaking The Law, and it too is a fine song. However, it's clearly the designated hit song off the album. It seems almost like they recorded it just to be able to release a single from this album, but it's a very good single at that. The problem I have with this song is that it's not that heavy. It's quite good, but Judas Priest are far better when they're playing fast and going out on an all-out heavy metal attack. The heaviness is picked back up with the closer, Devil's Child, which is one of my all-time favorite Priest songs. It's just four simple minutes of the band unleashing the fury. It's probably my second or third favorite song off the album. So as you can see, Screaming For Vengeance has its fair share of excellent songs.

There were three songs that I didn't mention in the above paragraph, and those songs are (Take These) Chains, Pain and Pleasure, and Fever. Fever is obviously the best of the three weak links, but regardless, it is still one of the weak links. (Take These) Chains is a bit of a slow song, and it's borderline glam. Not good glam though, not at all. It's very annoying, and it's just not fun to listen to. Pain and Pleasure is also very slow, and it's just very boring. It just seems that there's no energy. Judas Priest plus a snail pace tempo equals a bad song. It's as simple as that. However, Screaming For Vengeance isn't the only inconsistent Priest album. Every other Priest album I've heard (except for perhaps Painkiller) has at least three subpar songs.

Screaming For Vengeance is an odd album. It's got seven quality songs, three or four of which showcase Judas Priest at their very best. However, it just has too many below-average songs to be considered the classic that it is heralded as. If you're a huge fan of Priest, then you'll surely love it, but if you aren't very fond of Priest's other work, then I doubt this will change your mind. However, it is an essential speed metal album, and even though it has quite a few flaws, it's definitely worth listening to.

Lilitu The Delores Lesion

Tracklist:
1.Only The End Of The World Again
2.Even The Vultures Have Moved On
3.The Delores Lesion
4.Ether
5.Follow Through
6.Desolation Breeds
7.Dark Haired Girl
8.Fragments Of My Reflection

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With the death of Lilitu’s James Edward Nunis, passing away from cancer in 2006, this group decided to take a leave of absence. Some group members decided to start a new band named Blood Promise. Soon enough Blood Promise fell too, so Lilitu reunited by in December with only two members. They stated they are going to make an avant-garde black metal album. My question to them is how they are going to top The Delores Lesion.

Delores Lesion is a Melodic Death album with mostly hardcore vocals. The vocals go from chaotic hollow screams to a clean emotional voice, the clean voice isn’t that high pitched but it seems like he is on the verge of crying. Delores Lesion is very riff driven while it changes from harmonized rhythm sections to shred and melodic soloing that can easily get stuck in your head. The bass is mostly in the background of the guitar assault. The drummer loves his double pedal, so if you love double pedaling in albums, then you will surely love this. The drummer also keeps a nice rhythm section and the tone goes well with the instrumentals.

The album starts with Only The End of The World Again which starts of with a pretty catchy riff that you can make out completely. Soon after that, the synths kick in to give it that extra touch. Derek soon come in and screams the rest of the song, no clean singing here. The intro riff plays though out the song, leaving the riff stuck in your head throughout the song. For the first couple of tracks the songs go from a lot of screaming to more singing. When the first track winds down, the second track, Even the Vultures Have Moved, On starts up even stronger then the first one with synths accompanying it from the get go. After the intro ends, you are introduced to a harmonized chug riff section that will play as the main riff for the song, with an accompanying keyboard. Before the chorus to this song, the keyboards goes techno-ish and there is a 4 second breakdown, then you are introduced to the clean singing.

“Someday you will find your way through time
Someday you will follow secure in something more”

Once that song winds down, the title track The Delores Lesion is introduced by hearing a soft female voice say, “There's a bruised & broken sky. It's pressed up against us, but odds are there's a heaven burning down below. The words rise from the north and float there on the wind, like a soft & subtle whisper, Immortal like a wondrous feeling, so profound...” in a soft voice shortly after that a synthy “uprising” starts which leads to the main melody that will be echoing in the background of the sound. In the song you will suddenly here a female voice singing in the background while the singer is screaming which leaves a positive effect on the listener. During the song everything goes soft for a good thirty seconds while harmonized clean vocals speeches

“lachrymal squander in the distance
For lusts that she waits for so scorn
An image so pale & so pure, yet so beautiful
Her face is plastered on the walls
and it seems so indelible
So unfathomable that we're both lost here”

Then it just cuts back into heaviness and screams beneath the song’s main melody and a wall of synths and double pedaling. The album gives you a one and a half minute break interlude after that song which quickly leads an opening solo to Follow Through which is accompanied by synths. It leaves you thinking it is going to be a heavy track but forty seconds in, you find that the song is mostly clean vocals. This is the track where you mostly notice the double pedal because the track has got a stop and go motion to it with little to no guitars during the verses.

The most notable song on this album has to be the closing track which is named Fragments of my Reflection. This track opens with a keyboard which is then accompanied by a soft guitar melody which shortly leads to the catchiest guitar riff on the whole album. The verse is carried by head banging guitar chugs. The one thing that brings the track down is the sudden transition from the verse to the clean sung chorus. With that said, the song goes through a melody section to a breakdown section, then unfolds to an old 80s shred solo. The track then winds down on a piano melody with Derek chanting the chorus “Look away not to face the guilt & the shame...that weighs me down”.

The album emotionally energetic throughout and won’t leave you bored. It is emotionally filled but the length of the album (around forty minutes) makes the experience go by to fast. The album also has problems with transitioning from song to song, also transition problems within the song itself. With that said, it is still an enjoyable experience that you shouldn’t miss out on.

Dead To Fall Are You Serious?

Tracklist:
1. IQ Test
2. Stupid?
3. The Future
4. Sleeping Bag
5. Major Rager
6. Loch Ness
7. Brainmelter
8. Cropgrower
9. Robo-Destro
10. Doombox
11. Astral Projection / Dream J(ourney)

Release Date: 02/19/2008

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What can be said about Dead To Fall's last, and final, offering "Are You Serious?". Only one thing. They're not serious. At all. making this one of the best, and most fun, releases in Metalcore in a really long time. We were content with "Hot Damn!" and "Gutter Phenomenon", the twin releases from Buffalo, NY Metalcore act Every Time I Die, as our party albums but this is a whole new definition of "party".

The album starts with "IQ Test". A surreal intro that sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack of a really bad science fiction movie with a voice telling us to "Relax. Focus on the arpeggios". This false sense of security is crushed by the powerhouse of the record "Stupid?". Probably the most hilarious track these guys have ever written right next to "Chum Fiesta" (which is even referenced in this song), it thrashes, blasts, is ***ing fast and is pretty much followed riff for riff by the lyrics which state: "I've got a really original idea of how I think we should end this song. End this song... with a ***ing break down!". And yes, they end the song with a break down... but it kicks you in the face.

The tongue in cheek aspect is apparent with song titles like "The Future", "Loch Ness", "Sleeping Bag", and "Cropgrower". Although the lyrics are light hearted and satirical, there's nothing funny about the production values or the song writing improving dramatically since their previous opus "The Phoenix Throne" , playing fast paced arrangements, flowing in and out of riffs like snakes with no sudden stops or choppy riffing. Jon Hunt's vocals are absolutely terrifying even though what he's screaming isn't i.e. "We were all outside smoking trees.".

Which brings me to the other heavy weight of "Are You Serious?", the ridiculous party anthem "Major Rager". Instead of trying to be as "brutal" or "Metal" as possible with their lyrics, they left it up to the music. Meaning Jon Hunt wasn't sitting around trying to come up with something that's been done a thousand times already but say it in a different way. Therefore he started writing about his interests instead of somebody else's and in turn you get songs about keggers. "Major Rager" probably has some of the best lines of this entire record. The track chronicles a party being thrown at a teenager's house while his Mom is out of town and includes revelations such as "*** it! I'm way too drunk. So let's all do another shot!", "Let's get another case and stay up all ***ing night!", and a soliloquy in which he decides to throw everyone out: "Listen up! Every single one of you kids, listen up! This party is out of ***ing control! My Mom is gonna kill me when she gets home! Are you serious? What the ***!". But no need to fear, he later claims it as the "best night of my life".

Dead To Fall has since disbanded due to financial issues and artistic differences but it seemed as if they were heading in a more experimental direction with songs like "Loch Ness" and "The Future". The prior is the most laid back song Dead To Fall have constructed and is almost like an homage to Stoner or Doom Metal. The latter features heavy use of electronics and strange vocal effects but still remains in the vein of their older material until the "sonic mechanical warfare" starts, the song ending on that humorous note.

I don't have much more to say (as if I haven't said enough already), so in conclusion, this album is the way Metal is supposed to be played. I'm not serious. But it is a brilliant Metalcore masterpiece and the best swan song a band like Dead To Fall could have. It's a release that mocks itself while doing so with deadly accuracy. The songs are silly, the keg is tapped, the music is insane and... there's a hell of a lot of break downs so the trip is definitely worth taking. Party album of the year.

Highlights: Stupid?, Major Rager, The Future, Sleeping Bag