Damaged-Nails

The drumming is immediately the standout instrument even more so than the furious vocals, in the video you can clearly see the guy giving 100%. There are quite a few tempo changes and freak stops for the guy, and I can only imagine how much work that is on him. The main riff is more or less your typical grindcore burst of speed perhaps a little more inventive, the real treat comes at 1:34 with that screeching beast of a solo. Its brisk but easily the best part of the song when the rest of their performance is merely standard, oh and the vocalist is just kind of there augmenting the violence of thr music. Not bad at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtSUzm_T4Q

Titan Force - Blaze of Glory

The second this song kicks, you just know that it's an 80s track. It just has that quintessential 80s heavy metal feel. The opening shredding has a fantastic energy, and sets a lofty standard for the rest of the song. A standard which, unfortunately, is just not maintained. I found the singer to be annoying and generally untalented. He's obviously giving it everything he's got, but the performance is just sloppy and, at times, painfully off tune. The riffs are good, if unoriginal. They work, but they won't be popping up in anyone's "greatest heavy metal riffs" lists any time soon.
Really, the best thing that the song has going for it is the unrelenting energy that pervades every part of it. Like I said, the singer is obviously going all out, and the rest of the band follow suit. As such, the song is enjoyable enough as a straight forward headbanger, but I doubt I'll remember it in 5 minutes time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiqM7glggnI

Slough Feg - Tactical Air War

This is just fun stuff all around. I had never really gotten around to checking these guys out (trad metal isn't my area of expertise), but I like what I hear. After a fast, short, and air-guitarable (for lack of a better term) intro, we dive right into an Iron Maiden-esque riff for a short while, then some great group vocals. I can't help but feel a bit of a punkish vibe from this song too, and I can't really put my finger on why. Maybe it's the fact that the band wastes not a single instant in the grand total of the 2:19 running time of this song. Another nice little touch, whether it's youtube's knack for shitty quality or the band themselves, is the raw production. We're not talking Transilvanian Hunger raw here, but charmingly raw... where every instrument is heard loud and clear, but not mixed so as to sound soulless or plastic. It's catchy, it's furious, it's raw, and it's awesome. What could go wrong?

I've been enjoying these guys a lot today...

I wish I had left this for someone else. Not because I don't like it (au contraire), simply because I already have this album and have heard the song many times. When I jumped in line to review it I mistook it for something from their sophomore, which I haven't heard yet.

This isn't my favorite song from the album, but its an excellent choice to introduce someone to the general style of Hooded Menace. Everything that they do well is represented here. A slow, creepy riff sets the pace and tone, like watching a landslide devour homes in slow motion. If this guitar tone doesn't tickle your fancy then you may be jaded beyond help. So heavy. The vocals are deep and very resounding, perfect for carrying off each of the horror-stories-turned-metal-tunes on the album. The song is structured fantastically, building up to a speedy (for this band) climax with a bit of rocking foreshadow in the middle of the track. Now that all that's out of the way lets talk about what we all really love this band for: Those fucking melodies. Music this slow, heavy, and monstrous shouldn't be able to abide by such sickeningly sweet leads but somehow they make the pieces fit together like an old familiar puzzle. Its just stunning how much texture and depth the simple melodic lines add to each song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljkNwiFv5_o

@Jonpo:

The Wandering Midget - Wolfslayer

The opening riff was a dead give away for a stoner band, and its easy going into this seeing some similarities between bands such as Don Juan Matus. The vocalist wanders between odd dissonant nasally tone similar to the guy from Hell in tone, but he is monotonous throughout the entire song which didn't benefit the song at all. The riffs were throwaway Black Sabbath esque riffs that faded away in and out throughout the chorus, and the drumming had that awful clangly sound similar to hipster bands like The Sword. Overall, the song sucked and the band is one more aboard the stoner sound that has popularized over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6kh37y8B3M

@Jonpo:

Blasphemy - Fallen Angel Of Doom

So it feels what these guys lack in creativity they try to make up in aggression, but the half-clean/half-dirty production undermines that effort. Half the time, it felt like someone's been fiddling with the volume. The crunchy guitar riffs come off dry and powerless and the scatter-shot approach at drumming fails to stand-out from the hordes of other intensity-over-rhythm style black metal outfits. The vocals seem mixed too loud, as if to compensate for the vocalists' inability to put any power behind them. My favorite part was the horrendous attempt at a solo, which literally was a mashing of random high notes. It was quickly abandoned after five seconds and covered up by a growl when the guitarist realized that he didn't know how the hell to end it. Awful, awful song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEnT6gYfPjw

Cryptopsy-Abigor
Ah, now this was my favorite song from BMF, but apparently, this version was from their Ungentle Exhumation demo. Now to be honest, I prefer the Blasphemy Made Flesh version, it's much cleaner and the riffs are razor sharp. Lord Worm's vocals are a lot deeper in this version, which is good, but I felt that he just sounded.... normal. Well, compare to his usual UGHHS and WEHHHS, he sounds just like your run of the mill brutal death metal vocalist, but that's just me. The bass is a lot higher in this version though, which really shows off..Kevin Weagle's? skill. Honestly, I've never even heard of him, but he is very talented, shame he wasn't in BMF. All in all, a good song, but the quality is much better in their debut release. Also, the outro solo is much better in the demo version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYugMTP2b8M

Iron Fire-Ironhead

The opening dual melodies are deceptive and some of the riffs afterward trick the mind into me believing I am hearing Ensiferum. I only wish that were the case as the vocals are terrible, searing my eardrums along with the same repeated dual melody cheesy power metal leads you hear from every band playing this style of music. The song never lets up beyond the generic Iced Earth-esque happier galloping riffs, the solo doesn't save the song from being another example of horrible Euro power metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ-XwfOvhV8

Incantation - Apocalyptic Destroyer of Angels

This song is not amongst the ones that usually spring to mind when I hear Incantation mentioned, but it is a solid one nonetheless! Of course the evil atmosphere is there, the riffs slay and the blast-beating is engaging. The vocals greatly complement the great riffs and carry the song forward. I believe that the song ends at the perfect moment, after the slow part at the end and the feedback of the guitar. Great, evil sounding brutal death metal, what we have come to expect from the mighty Incantation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymTWl24tHUo

Necromantia - Shaman

It's been a while since I listened to Necromantia, but this EP has always been one of my favorites. The warmth of NWBOHM mixed with the harshness of black metal in a hypnotic, buzz-saw riff really really makes this song. Built around this main riff is a startling amount of richness and instrumental complexity. It creates a surprisingly catchy song that is nuanced enough to never come off as stale. The amount of satisfying bass twangs is also a huge plus. A very solid effort from a very unique Hellenic BM powerhouse.

And now for something very different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPtGCf_qb30

Mindfunk-Sugar aint so sweet

The main riff doesn't deviate too much from a mixture of Pantera's groove and perhaps a bit of 90's rock, I got a very nostalgic feel from the song. When I first glanced at the name I had assumed it was a product of Mike Patton's imagination, but the music is slightly more down to earth with riffs that aren't all that dissimilar from stuff that ran concurrently with more 90's mainstream rock groups. The vocals were strong and had that half caterwauling tone that was a product of that era, and overall I really liked the song as it was a a trip down memory lane. I'll have to hear more of the band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ZYu5vJKY0

Absurd - Winterdamon

I really like Absurd and I love the guitar tone on this album and of course the actual guitar playing. The melody is apparent throughout the whole song, without taking away from its anger. It sounds great, not too polished and the use of German makes it even more interesting. One third of the song (the final part) is without vocals and is in fact a sweet guitar solo consisting of an excellent melody which is executed masterfully ending the song on a high note. Killer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYGpbhR83YU

Arkona - Nevidal

Holy shit! This is just what I've been looking for for so long!
This band manages to fit as much folk culture as they can in one song, and they make it perfect. Folk metal is by far, NOT one of my favorite genres, but it does have some great hidden gems, this is one of them.
The intro is just so peaceful. The vocals start, they just take me away. A mix of clean and rough vocals that perfectly compliment each other and can draw in fans of all genre of metal carry this song. This song is so peaceful. All the instruments are melded together perfectly. This is one of those songs that I feel people who don't even enjoy the genre should give a good listen. The song ends on the same note which it starts. Which means one thing... I can put it on repeat for hours and never even notice its over!
This song does a great job at attracting my attention and holding onto it, which is a task a lot of song fails to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP8K09Nyhwc

LETHARGY OF DEATH - Damnation

The cliched "eerie" keyboards makes this song start on a low note. And sadly they don't get much better, which is pretty irritating considering that they generally drown out everything save for a hint of a guitar that does admittedly give them a much-needed oomph. It feels like this guy really liked Summoning and decided to make a Castlevania version of it. What's sad is that there does seem like there might be a decent riff hidden behind the crystalline whines of the keyboards, it just doesn't feel worth looking for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6TDiYkpPjw

Witch - Changing.

Cool song, first time I've heard the band and I like it quite a bit. The band has a really odd/fuzzed out guitar tone which really sets the mood of the song, that being a laid back stoner song. Lots of a cool sabbath-isms in there. Fairly interesting very laid back vocals, fit the music pretty perfectly, the harmonizing of the guitar lead and vocals about half way through the song was used to great effect. Gets about a 7/10, lots of interesting leads in there and some cool stoned out goodness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-r2wOUec0

Phantom-Well Of Soul

Wow, now this is old school power metal at it's best. Heavy and relentless, the opening riff takes no prisoners and soon erupts into a magnificent scream. I must admit, the vocalist has balls and power. It never lets up, the drums are pounding and his voice manages to stay in the highest register as it can, I mean, it is HIGH. The man can sing. A nice solo and then another scream ends this, sadly, short song, but what it lacks in time, it makes up for pure metal goodness. It's got me searching for more of their albums I'll tell you that much, recommended.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCrOTpJ2 ... re=related

Kalmah - Outremer

It's songs like this that make me wonder how in the hell melodeath got to be associated with death metal and not power metal. A very epic power metally intro transitions to a bouncy melo-death riff. Noodley melodic solos abound with a touch of keyboards. The tremolo riff towards the later part of the middle was the real highlight of the song (it really carried a certain tacit tension), wish they went on with it for a tad longer. A fun bouncy piece of melodeath. I'm not really into this subgenre anymore, but it's a damn good example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H26xCiZMyh8

Mirror of Deception-Haunted

For a doom band the main riff is straightforward and goes right for a slightly above mid-tempo break, its heavy, crushing, and reminds me of some of the faster moments on Death, Magic, doom. The vocals are very poorly mixed into the background whether this is done intentionally isn't obvious, but he is a good singer and should be mixed evenly with some of the leads and the constant cymbal taps. Around 3:38 we get a beautiful melodic solo that squeals on mournfully before delving into an MDB like pause, though I have to say this album cover looks strangely familiar. A good song from a veteran of their respective country and music scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4b7BJaU1Rs

Doomsword: "Onward into Battle"

Though I feel that Doomsword can be a bit of a one-trick pony on this album in particular, they still do their thing very well. That slow, remorseless march, those proud, occasionally off-key but generally pretty awesome vocals, and, the star of the match, that killer lead guitarist who doesn't get enough of a chance to show off in my opinion, make this band what it is. Riffs are nothing special; it's the feeling of grandieur and glory that each song strides ahead with that makes them an enjoyable band. The singing was a bit unusual in this song actually, as he hit some higher notes that gave a husky tone to his voice that you don't normally hear...almost reminded me of Blind Guardian's singer! That chorus is sure intensely memorable. I thought the instrumental section with the solo harmonising with the riff was pretty great, although what I really like this guitarist for is his more unrestrained solos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkbtcniHqd0

Asmodeus - Tenkrát na západě (Once Upon a Time in the West)

Well that was certainly a bizarre intro for what is essentially a straight-out balls-out thrash song. I'm actually disappointed the bizarre, almsot Lovecraftian melodies didn't make their way into the core of the song, but were neatly confined in the intro, which could literally be a separate track. The galloping riffs are pretty standard-fare, though maybe a bit speedier than most thrash out there. The big flaw is that aside from the unusual intro, the song is pretty much forgettable. And while the song is competently made, it doesn't have that spark of greatness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk-TTfBXkT8

Fucking hell. I have never heard of these guys before, which is bloody unfortunate because this is great. A rather obscure Finnish doom outfit with death metal thrown into the mix. The murky tone of this suits it perfectly, and lets the harrowing, weaving riffs work their magic, cemented further by deep, gruesome vocals. There is a tempo change around the 3:30 mark which is seamless, peering out of the cavern for a moment, and the riff is fucking godly, before slowing down again, sinking into the gloom to let a truly ominous'n'oily lead shine ever so slightly. The bass work is another highlight of this gem, wandering deliciously beneath the morass of moss, backed by solid, timely percussion. The ending needs to be heard, as it slowly trudges into the dark, with what sounds like a tortured guitar squealing it's madness away. This reminds of a more death inclined Faustcoven, and is something well worth hearing people - pure metal awesomeness from the depths.

Staying in the same country.

Lantern - Ritual Unearthing

What we have here is a good, healthy slab of blackened death metal, leaning heavily towards the death side of the spectrum. In fact, the only real pieces of black metal influence here come in the leads, which are basically the tremolo picking everyone who's listened to black metal knows about. The vocals here are done well; monotone death growls are the order of the day here. However, they are as decipherable as death growls get, with enough clarity to pick out the gist of the lyrics, and you can even notice the singer's accent through the growls. I did find it annoying how he constantly chants "Ritual! Ritual!" at the end of the track. They could have just left them out completely and let the guitar riff underneath do the work in bringing it to an end. Just a minor complaint that I'll get over, though. My favorite part of this song, though, was definitely the production job. There's this emptiness, this echo that comes through in the production that really makes you feel like you're in a giant hall as a part of an evil ritual (just like the cover art). It's just perfect for this song. This may not be any earth-shattering revelation, but it's damn good stuff, and if these guys are churning out stuff this good already, the future is bright for them.

I'll be surprised if this gets any love at all...

@Dave_o_rama

Footprints in the Custard - Blob Bunnies

Wow, this sucks. The first riff was OK, but then it just goes into a snivelling punky sort of whine while the awful half-muttered vocals spew out the banal lyrics which make no sense. I guess it's supposed to be funny, but this is the kind of shit that retards who like Happy Tree Friends would find funny - i.e. it's tasteless, obscene garbage with no actual comedy value. I really can't see the appeal to this from any angle, as it's not very good punk music and as rock music it's just uncatchy, small-minded and feeble. And...Blob Bunnies? I feel dumber even writing that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZvDf9-ww

edit: FIXED, LegendMaker! Go ahead.

@Empyreal: Thanks! 1,000th post's mini-review now posted.

Re: that punk song


Antiquus - Redemption

Fuck yeah. I want this song, the record it's on, and possibly the rest of this band's discography in my collection right away (I'm going in full-on blind mode, so I can't be sure just yet, but I doubt it's a band I already know, or else it's one that evolved quite a lot since I last checked - some NWoBHM recent come-back, perhaps?) Anyways, this is a masterful and majestic piece of heavy/power metal with hints of prog tendencies, and evidence of near-doom level of epic capabilities. Excellent, very consistent songwriting, exploring the emotional spectrum with class and ease (from determined and proud to down and hurt), across a varied, powerful structure (I was almost afraid a Santa chorus was coming to ruin it all a couple of times, but it was just the one Major key vocal line and it promptly introduced a gloriously balanced hymn-like phrase instead). Musicianship and arrangements are top-notch as well, and the production job, while unmistakably post-2000 in nature, is very good and fair overall (the drums in general, and the snare in particular could have sounded warmer and more natural than that, though). I haven't mentioned the singer, yet! This is a first-tier lead vocalist with a clear, solid mid-to-not-that-high range and tremendous confidence and class in conveying emotions; sort of a less crazy Harry Conklin (The Tyrant's lower range notwithstanding). From the bass versus acoustic guitar arpeggios of the intro, to the highly captivating (and reminiscent of Lunar Strain era In Flames tremolo-picked main lead-riff, to the glory of the upper-mid-paced gallop verses, to the somewhat dreamy explosions of emotionally-charged shredding in the second half of the song, to the carry-on-no-matter-what,-my-friends glory of the bridge, to the stop-start break of Hollow-level brilliance around the 4'00'' mark... all the way to the efficient spine-chilling-vibrato-then-boom! ending... This is awesome!!! Yes, please. And thank you!

*checks the band's name at the fourth listen* Oh, good. So this is the Antiquus you guys keep talking about in the Rec thread? I can now see why!

Latest edit: Now with a song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upLmvqKFohA

Re: The song I posted

(I was so enthusiastic about your song that I forgot to post one. Fixed now.)

@Dave_o_rama:

Abigail's Mercy - Meaningless

We're greeted with an upbeat, fun, traditionally-influenced riff in the intro, which makes me think that there are nothing but good things to come in this song. Let me just say that at least it wasn't bad. Just uneventful. None of the guitar riffs in this song, the intro included, are at all special, or even anything anyone who has listened to any rock or metal at all hasn't heard before. The vocals are monotone and a bit off... and not in a good way. The singer just basically talks his way through the song, with not a whole lot of singing quality, if that makes any sense, to his work. The bass and drums are audible and just fine, but like the rest of the song, just not interesting. Couple boring musical work with the fairly radio-friendly verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-outro formula, I'm not feeling this one as a winner. I will give the chorus a nod for being catchy, though, because it did manage to get stuck in my head in the time I was rebooting my PC during the writing of this review. But all in all, this just doesn't do it for me. One last thing, what the hell is up with those computerized female voices throughout the song? They are so out of place, I couldn't tell if they were coming from the TV show my mom was watching in the same room or the song itself on my first listen.

And now for a song that should help wipe our memories of that last fiasco...

And... @LegendMaker:

@Empyreal

@Dave_o_rama (re: Abigail's Mercy):

@LegendMaker Re: Abigail's Mercy

LegendMaker:

Empyreal:

Rotting Christ Mike:

Ablaze My Sorrow - The Rain That Falls

Mmmmm..... This is good, yeah, but not mind-blowing, as it has a couple of characteristics that bring it down a few notches. Melodeath with black metal influences, uh? Well, it's nothing new, but that doesn't mean this isn't rather well written; the riffing (composed basically of highly melodic tremolos) is pretty good; catchy, commanding and memorable, and the drumming is much more aggressive than usual for melodeath, again getting closer to black metal (especially in the blasting parts) in it's approach. The riffs and tempo changes are also abundant for a four minute piece, but they could be arranged better, as sometimes the song comes off as disjointed, and ESPECIALLY so during that random ass acoustic break that comes out of fucking nowhere. Man, I don't know why, but I really hated that folk-ish part..... Oh, and the vocalist; why does he insist in imitating Alexi Laiho if he had a cold? Really, that sort of yapping is obnoxious and doesn't sound powerful at all. More like a half assed attempt at harsh vocals if you ask me. I don't have much more to say, save for "get rid of the vocalist and the stupid, unnecessary acoustic breaks".

IT'S DOOM TIME!!!

Heaven and Hell- Breaking into Heaven

The great guitar intro leads into a freight train of a doom song. The vocals come in at the perfect time, and they were not what I was expecting, at all. The vocals compliment the instrumentals very well, but with the tone of the vocalists voice, I think he'd fit quite well in a heavy metal band as well. It sounds way to familiar and its getting at me, because I know who it is, just no names come to mind. The drums are quite simple; too simple, boring actually. They don't change throughout the entire song, but I think they fit the song, because if anything were to change it would throw the song totally off. The song is quite repetitive, but I really didn't mind it. In my opinion, repetition isn't bad if you can pull it off and make it good, and this band did just that.

Edit:I bet I'm the only one who didn't know Dio was the vocalist...

Heaven or Hell?

@RatPoisoner;