Comments:

Oops, new page. Let's not forget Crushed's song:

Armagedda - 'Emperor From the Eternal Dark'

'arm a geddin it! Yes, arm a geddin it... give me all of your lovin', give me all that you've got! Def Leppard aside, the band name kinda reminded me of Immortal and lo and behold, this sounds like Immortal playing a more death metal-ish style. I'm probably (read: definitely) too hungover for this sort of stuff... but it's actually pretty cool. The ultra-fast blurry, wall-of-noise is kinda difficult to get right, but they succeed. Blasty, blasty, blasty with a cool woogly guitar solo in the middle; it's not the most impressive thing I've heard, but pleasant enough. Definitely give 'em a go, if you like Aeternus or 'Bladders in the North' era Immortal.

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

Virgin Steele - Thy Kingdom Come

Well this wasn't a bad way to start my morning. Love the super crispy riffing paired with the big open drum beat. Total chest-thumping goodness. I'm only really familiar with their later stuff like Marriage/Atreus albums, Defeis sounds a bit different here. I don't know if its down to some weird vocal layering or just age or what, but its not quite as good as what I'm used to from him. Somewhat cliched "triumphant" section leading into those swelling horns was a pleasant ender. This was a very enjoyable, concise VS song. How does the rest of the album stand up?

And now for something a little older: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1SbzP_Z ... re=related

Scorpions - 'Sails of Charon'

Alright, I'm very familiar with this song. As it's probably the GREATEST SCORPS SONG OF ALL TIME. Seriously, totally awesome stuff; those weird eastern chords, shuffling rhythms and Uli fucking Roth. Seriously, the man is totally unlike any guitarist out there... even today. These solos are the sort of thing that Marty Friedman wishes he could write, but no, only Uli is real. Seriously ground-breaking shred, here. I always thought Klaus was channelling some of Dio's style on this one, too, which is pretty fucking great. Oh man, perfect song. If you haven't heard this one do so now.

The only bad thing I can say about this, is that it's not on Tokyo Tapes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZOzYdlR ... re=related

Crimson Glory - Azrael

Again, not my style-- I got hit with a progressive power metal song. It started out with a minute-long acoustic intro, with soft, clean singing. Then, it bursted into a mid tempo power metal song, which it remained for the duration of the song.

The rhythm guitar consisted of standard mid-paced chugging. The lead guitar followed the rhythm during the verses, "noodling" occasionally. The solo is smooth and has lots of '80s cliches, but they are appropriate (considering that it was the '80s when this was made). The drumming is slow. No blasts, as they weren't yet popular, but it was good for the times. The bass is just barely audible if you listen really carefully, but what bass I heard was nothing spectacular. The vocals, once again, sounded like Nitro.

It was okay. My main sentiment is that it felt a lot like hair metal with progressive influences. However, because those were the times, I will mostly overlook these cliches. 3.25/5

This one is different from my previous links.

astral winter - past the realms of eternal ice

australians have no business writing songs about 'realms of ice' - it's not scandinavia, and unless you live in one or two select places most of the year is shorts weather. you're just not going to be able to capture the accepted 'atmosphere of cold', plain and simple. there are a fair few good australian bm bands, but none of them rely on songs about frozen fjords, and with good reason. as for the song itself: kinda reminds me of earlier cradle of filth without the ultra-shriek. there are some cool melodies here and there, and the use of one underlying chord progression through the whole song gives it a decent flow. the guy can obviously play, too. it feels a lot more like death metal than black metal, though. all in all i'd say it's not bad but the black metal shtick feels so forced.

some really good australian black metal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-TLeko ... re=related

Woods of Desolation - The Inevitable End

Another of these "black metal" bands with disney themes and "emotional" approach. I hear nothing but absolute dishonesty behind the curtain of saccharine emotionality and sugary bubblegum riffs. Easily the most annoying aspect is the fact that these "epic Alcest" riffs had to be implemented by a band that is sonically your basic black metal band. It could be compared to playing the Super Mario bros tune with metal instrumentation, or the latest Lady Gaga single by a jazz three-piece. Another Disney "black metal" band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL7A6Hz4Hug
Apologies for the long song.

Dragged Into Sunlight- Volcanic Birth.

Yes! Fucking Dragged Into Sunlight man. This is filthy ass metal with perfect use of samples and raw production. Every single riff is super heavy without forgetting to be headbangable, the vocals are monstrous and the drummer pulls off some beastly fills. This is amongst my most played albums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQyIM_J3V5M

Weeping Birth - "Hurle a la mort"

If you thought raw black metal was dead in the modern day, supplanted by shoegazing hipster black metal about trees, look no further than Weeping Birth. This is black metal the way it was meant to be played, inhumanly quick blast beats and tremolo riffs, though there's a lot more death metal influence here with the singer's growls and the rhythm riffs. There's not much really new here, but not every band can reinvent metal. It has some excellent tremolo riffing which doesn't sacrifice melody for brutality, the drums are programmed well, and the lead singer's growls are brutal but still intelligible. Recommended if you like old-school death and black metal. I'll have to look more into them (him).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KYtZ6SRSGQ

@jerk




Oh boy... this was a struggle I'm afraid. More well produced, beautiful, "epic" proportioned, key heavy nonsense. She can sing, I'll give her that, it's just a pity that the song seemed to drag it's knuckles, with nothing really dynamic to it at all. To me, the whole keyboard theme kept reminding me of Dimmu Borgir, or a hackneyed Arcturus. This was very nice, just a little dull and insipid, and I could not see me sitting through an entire albums worth of this. To me this is a perfect, shining example of so-called gothic metal-by-numbers (ugh) and fails to impress, or comport itself with some originality. Definitely not for me.

Something heavier.

@Jonpo:


@pbsisbad & Jonpo


@others:



First of all, I actually love myself some good Tristania now and then. Well, 'Beyond the Veil' mostly and almost exclusively, to be fair. Now why is that? For post-BtV stuff, it's easy: same reason as later Theater of Tragedy or any period The Gathering: the infamous who are you, and why did you substitute this awesome gothic metal CD I asked for with a parody of Evanescence? syndrome, of course. As for the debut album this track is taken from, well I'll unapologeticly admit to never having found both the time and motivation to give it a try. I do hope this is a ballad/filler/nothing like the good gothic metal tracks it ought to have. Okay, the melody is rather pretty, in a Enthrone Shallowness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir kind of way; it's not deep or actually emotional is what I'm getting at; it's just the outter shell of emotional, with neat arrangements and fairly great musicianship and production values; but it lacks the meat. Songwriting wise, this is moot: the melodies and riffs are dull, and the songstructure is outstandingly plain, flat and booooooaaaarrrring. Yawn. There's no progression, no power, no sadness, no actual subtlety, nothing of the outstanding qualities I know and love them for. I mean compare it to Let us be the ones! for a second! That's right: this Eleanor thing disappeared upon this mere invocation.

@CrushedRevelation: Again? Alright, no one fucking moves until I review your new track! Give a man a break, gawd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39H5NiJdVTI]

Tsjuder-Ghoul
Well, now this is a menacing and quite evil song. I'm serious, the beginning riff sounded just plain horror movie evil. Reminds me of Somberlain Dissection, but the vocals somehow remind me of Ihsahn. It got to be pretty boring at first, but the thing is, they were able to switch it around easily, shifting gears and adding a touch of the menacing atmosphere, I did enjoy the vocals, even though I'm not a huge fan of "true" black metal(in the sense that it's not melodic or symphonic). The solo though, man, that is some fucking amazing stuff right there. THAT is the highlight.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahrUygucsH8
If only they made songs like this again

@Jonpo

@LegendMaker

@LegendMaker

@Jonpo, pbsisbad & CrushedRevelation:



I don't like this, and I'd rather not be exposed to it again all too soon, for matter of tastes, but I do think it's quite good for what it is, and fans of savage, abrasive, croaky black/thrash metal without much melodic relief should headbang like motherfuckers to this thing. The ominous tremolo-picked riff that keeps coming back I'm quite receptive of, as most of the thrashy riffs, and the very good albeit distorted arpeggio ending, although it's quite a bit déjà-vu (Immortal exists, and hundreds of Immortal clones exist as well). The vocals I cannot take seriously at this point, especially not during the verse when the guy sounds not just like a beat-up frog, but like a beat-up frog that's out of breath which is a bit too much to ask of this listener. The intro riff and progression thereof I cannot believe they dared, and don't tell me it's not some old school cartoon's theme, because it's gotta be; thankfully it's quite short, and déjà-vu Immortal arpeggio okayness quickly ensues... The drumming is quite dynamic and although it's not stellar, there are nice moments, especially the rolls just before tempo changes. The soloing was what Kerry King's farts must sound like, ie it's the type of deliberately "oh-so,-so-cha-o-tic,-man!" solos which can only get one positive comment from me: "oh well, it's still better than Tritze on Terrible Certainty...". All in all, yeah, it's got a lot going on for it, but all of it was done to death and beyond and significantly better by significantly better bands. Final word? MEH.

@ChildClownOutlet: Are you even serious?! You want a piece of me, boy? That it?
Not cool man. Not cool. I gotta go to bed.


Okay, at least you posted something pretty cool. Fine, I'll let it pass. Oh my, I had forgotten just how weak and wimpy and a Dickinson parody the singer on the original version of 'Night of the Stormrider' sounded. And this song is good only insofar as one's ability not to want to stop listening to it and go back to the good Number of the Beast tracks and the immortal Piece of Mind and PowerSlave masterpieces it tries and fails to simultaneously emulate, match, and not sound like a cheap vaguely thrashed up copy of. Yeah, I'd say the live version of Ride on! Fight on! Matt Barlow on! Storm RIDER Storm RIDER mothafucka! is still the best IE song I've heard so far. This instead is an updated version of "Run to the Hills" with bits and pieces of early/good Blind Guardian here and there. The musicianship level is pretty high, there are lots of energy, the intro riff is very nice and still has something special to it, the production is a-okay for its time, the harmonized solo near the end gives me chills when I forget "PowerSlave" exists... But yeah, Eddie please. Nice song overall but could have done with a more personal songwriting behind it.

Allllllright, I'll post something NOW!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbZsN83bg4A

Iced Earth - "Mystical End"

Having repeatedly demonstrated that I know nothing about black metal (and probably need to hit up the death metal and black metal recommendations thread), I'm back in my home territory. Night of the Stormrider is probably my second-favourite Iced Earth album (after The Dark Saga), but this song always kind of felt like a filler to me. The solo is nice, the riffs are good, and the bassline is very clear, but it's let down by John Greely's vocal performance here, with his tired-sounding mid-range vocals and goofy spoken section where he tries to sound tough and fails. He lets off a few good screams, but they're a bit out of place. Compared to something like "Pure Evil" or "Travel in Stygian" off the same album, it's kind of flat. Still good, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIRIrvAW9J0

EDIT: Oh, cock. Right, better review this one quick.

Dimmu Borgir - "Devil's Path"

This is an era of Dimmu Borgir I haven't much looked into, and I must say, it's a lot better than their current CHUGCHUGCHUG WE USE A MASSIVE FRUITY ORCHESTRA BECAUSE WE CAN'T PLAY era. The production's not as shiny as their newer releases, but that's only to be expected, and I don't mind anyway, because it feels more atmospheric that way instead of sterile like they are now. Shagrath sounds like a real black metal vocalist instead of a frog with a cold (seriously, he doesn't even sound like the same person on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia or Death Cult Armageddon), the keyboards add plenty of atmosphere but don't drown out the guitars, and the drumming is solid throughout. A nice slab of melodic black metal all told. I'll have to pick up Dimmu's earlier albums sometime.

Same song as before.

@jerk

Here I go again. I have always had the feeling, when it comes to Dark Angel compared to a number of their fellow thrash legends, that they were a tad bit overrated, overpraised, and overfellated. The general consensus on these parts, while it allowed me to give a fairer chance to the excellent and historically relevant 'Darkness Descends', only reinforced this sentiment over time. I mean, DD is pretty neat, and a few tracks off of 'We Have Arrived', "Vendetta" chief and king among them, are just plain awesome, but does it really warrant their being massively put on the same pedestal, or even a taller one, as such wonderful bands as Nuclear Assault, Overkill, or Slayer? Well, this song, as the album that supports it, would beg to differ. There's some solid playing, some brilliant moments, especially the more melodic vocal lines, the breaks, and the harmonized solo about half-way through. Musicianship, production and vocals are all very, very nice. But for fuck's sake, this overstays its welcome by a good 5/8 minutes! The bulk of the riffs was already quite generic and uninteresting for 1989 (that same year gave us 'Shattered Existence', 'Extreme Aggression', 'Fabulous Disaster'...), and they do bore me nowadays. It's aggressive but simplistic, and many a passage sound just like the lazy Testament moments (even right from their debut) where it appears the guys were thinking something like "yeah, it's thrash and it's pretty fast, why compose ay riff? let's just play 'tookootookootookoo-TOO' over and over, they won't tell the difference". So, hmmmpf. It's not bad, but why not invest in this instead?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtBonQ9YEOg

no time to review cause i'm busy listening to the entire album... but holy shit, this cerebral fix is amazing.
why have i never, ever even heard of this before?

Lots of great stuff posted here in my absence. Wish I had time/mental organisation to comment on all of it, but for now, here goes...

@LegendMaker


and now...:

Cerebral Fix: "Injecting Out"

What a strange song title. This is good though, I just started getting into this band recently, too! What's funny is that I'm pretty sure there would have been a time in my musical history when I would have kind of hated this....the sound production is pretty weird, for a start, and is one my ears only grew accustomed to after finally and hesitantly making some in-roads into hardcore. Indeed, this band/song has a fairly punky delivery, while still being undeniably metal in terms of riffcraft. If you're not really listening to this stuff it has a tendency to sort of blur by, but on the other hand there's something about that sound that's simply addictive. Guitars are sharp and muddy somehow simultaneously and the drums are a kind of distant "bonk" that means you can't really tell how energetically the guy is really bashing his kit, but damn me if it all just doesn't work somehow. The middle of the song is this pushy, propulsive and simple riff pattern coupled with these caustic snarly vocals that got me moving around, and the whole band sounds tighter (probably because of the weird mix, again) when they play at a medium or slow pace, but the brash noisiness of the band at faster tempos ends up really appealing to me anyway. I can imagine that this band must have been really energetic and mighty on stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liiSFZp_xR8

Razor - Stand Before Kings
Ah, Razor. I haven't given these guys much attention (which is quite surprising, considering how much I love thrash), but every time I've listened to them, it's been a pleasant experience, and this time is no exception. This, ladies and gentlemen, is scorching thrash the way it should be done; high octane riffing, a drummer that seems to be in the middle of an epileptic seizure, and a rabid vocalist with a strong reminiscence of Tom G. Warrior. Not including that insane shriek towards the end, of course. This is extremely energetic stuff, and not quite comparable to either the American or German thrash scenes, although that's to be expected, as Canadian bands always had a thing for standing out. All in all, I have to thank you Abom, for this contact has prompted me to explore Razor's discography more. Now, time to start digging!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hlSMQ-_WAU

Augury- Beatus

Ah yes, these guys. Canadian Tech Death is generally pretty awesome. The intro is pretty cool, though seems like a kind of "quirky just to be quirky thing" I don't really mind the female vocals even if they're unremarkable, but the duet with the deep mumbling at the beginning sounds like shit and I'm glad it does not last long. After that you get some actual good tremolo riffs that actually maintain consistency and intensity with the drums driving them forward, I'm not a fan of the random slow part from 2:11 to about 2:40 but then it manages to be salvaged by a cooler riff, but then there's another lame part with a noodling solo (but a weird interesting effect towards the end). I haven't listened to these guys in a while and I remember them being better. It's like every time they do something cool, they shit on it right after.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k7mvkVUhWE

Pensées Nocturnes - Lune Malade

I actually have that album and I do like it, though the vocals are a bit overdone. Some more variety and more subtle parts would really been nice, and the guitars would be better with stronger riffs. I do like the tone and leads, as well as the more classical parts, but they often don't really mesh with the metal and end up a bit separate. Kind of similar to the problem Estatic Fear had. Overall its enjoyable and promising, but also a bit flawed.

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

EDIT: Reviewed a song from the second page like an idiot. Disregard.

I didn't post that...what page were you on?

What the Christ, I reviewed a song from the SECOND PAGE???



Will review yours when I have time, sorry man.

Scald-Ragnaradi eve

The sound of the sea waves serves as background for the firt minute of this song. A nice, sfot intro preceeds the starting melody, and increases the atmosphere of what I expecto will be... oh, this sounds like a heavy-doomy song, quite epic, remind sme a lot of Candlemass, mixed with Manilla Road. To tellyou the truth, I was expecting some kind of folk metal, judging from the the first minute of the song, Nice doomy atmosphere, and the tubular bells (?) add a very grim, dark, mood to the overall song. The singer is actually quite good, even if you don't like the style. The fast part of the solo is not that impressive, but the long notes add a lot to the epic sound of the song. Sadness, Emptiness... Those of you who are into the Classic Heavy/Doom sound should check this band out, ..that is, if you know it already or haven't done so..

Now, let's speed things up just a little bit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQTqXzeujvQ

tssk, tssk, gentlemen...

Edit: LegendMaker got there first. That guy never mentions my posts

Oh yeah! Damn, is that original material from 2002?! This fucking good, powerful and authentic? I certainly didn't suspect that in the least, I'll admit. Never checked anything past the bitter-sweet, hit-and-miss 'A Time of Changes', and I usually focus on the earlier recordings, and hmm tend to end up listening to Satan's 'Court in the act' instead. This is some prime, kick-ass heavy/speed goodness, with all of the authentic inspiration of the band's heyday (whether revived or actually from the past, I'd love to know), infused with "more modern" (but not in a bad way) production standards, stronger melodic arrangements, and improved musicianship. This is awesome. The vocals are highly convincing (save for the spoken part), and encompass first-class PM style wailing, mildly punky "no time like the present" sustained midrange delivery, and very emotional, powerful melodic yet slightly abrasive yells; all of which brings back some of the NWBoHM thrill from their early days, only richer and on a broader scale. The main lead riff is beautiful, powerful and intriguing, unique despite its rather classic rhythm pattern, and the solos are ear candy. The drumming is good and natural, even if takes a backseat throughout. There's a real sense of grandeur, depth and power to this song, it brings me back to stuff like Chateaux, Grim Reaper, or early Maiden. Okay, the lyrics leave a lot to be desired, especially during the spoken section in the middle: "we are legion, for we are many", really, guys? How about "We are wet, for we have been exposed to water", instead? And if you're going to make an über famous Latin quote from the Bible, please get it right? Spiritus sancto? Yeah, that moment's bad, but hey! it's like 10 seconds, and the rest is gold. Thanks a LOT for the find; I'll catch up with Blitkrieg later discography, for sure!

Alright, I don't think I posted this so far, but let me know if that's the case

Thank you for finally acknowledging me that post was an interesting read.

Reactor- Farewell to Past.

I don't really know what to elaborately say about this. It was just overall super cool. The solos were intense and kicked my ass, causing me to rewind the track and listen to them a few more times. I'm not too crazy about the vocalist's TONE but I like the passion he puts forth, so it dosen't push me out of the music in any way. The drums made me headbang the whole way through. When you think about it, isn't that what every drummer should aspire to do? I wasn't crazy about the tone of some of his toms, but his snare was really snappy and prominent (which is always good). My favourite thing is that guitar triplet riff on the higher strings you first hear about 26 seconds in the song. That was one of those moments where you quietly mutter awesome to yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8QPuJoa ... re=related

Agents of Oblivion - Phantom Green

OK. It's official. Everything Dax Riggs is involved in is awesome. This song is just great doomy rock/metal. The clean intro reminded me a bit of GnR's Don't Cry, but as soon as Dax started singing I completely forgot about that. His voice is the highlight of the song. In one word: Hypnotic. He takes the somber atmosphere of the song and amplifies it thousandfold. The drummer provides some pretty simple yet tasteful and to-the-point fills that compliment the chord progression. The solo at around 3:30 follows a similar approach; simple yet honestly emotional. The song gives me an organic vibe, like it was put together during a jam session, rather than by-numbers composition. Great stuff. AoO sadly only released this one album, but it rules. If you like this, check out Dax's solo stuff. 9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YESba8Kp ... re=related

I hate the video. If there is an upload without the Predator stuff then that would have been better; it bugged me.

This is an old black metal song, with what I felt to be thrashy riffs. It was an instant headbanger. The focal point is the guitars, which bring out a catchy vibe, lasting through the song. The vocals are standard black metal rasp. They complement the song, and are well executed. They are nice and strong. The drumming consists of mid-paced blasts with lots of interesting fills. However, the drums are programmed. The bass is audible and mostly follows the guitar.

From what I read about the band, this is when they were starting to shift towards industrial. This is obvious, especially by the keyboards laced throughout the song. I love the synths; they add an extra layer of complexity to the catchy riffs.

All in all, it is a very catchy black metal song from a band in a transitional period. Wonderful listening experience. 4.25/5

This one is a favorite of mine.

Gonna be honest, when that first, rather crisp riff launched itself at me I thought I could almost predict how and where this would go about it's business. To some degree I was correct, as this is chock full of excellent musicianship (rather predictable however), with solid, BIG riffs loaded to their eyeballs with a sadly uplifting (yeah I know...) chorus, and positively dripping with sugary, gooey melodic sensibilities. So it should too I'd wager as they are a melodic (death) metal band are they not? The introduction of clean vocals sort of caught me off-guard, as I should have known they were coming; the sad thing is for mine is that they didn't really help the song... I mean it worked, worked bloody well actually, but it gave no real emotional depth to it, and almost felt contrived, as if they HAD to have clean vocals somewhere in this. I'll freely admit that I'm not a fan of this style whatsoever, and won't be at all dipping my toes in their pool of honey coated metalness, as it's a bit "light" for my tastes.

Simple but effective.