Gamma Ray - Heaven or Hell

Man, this band is quite dull. Kai Hansen really has no shame when it comes to re-heating his old ideas. This song is painfully predictable the chorus could be replaced with "I WANT OUT!" and I wouldn't really notice the difference, the intro leads sound like something I've heard 10,000 times before... and the harmony section in the solo sounds like something lifted from some old Helloween song again. I know Kai can write decent stuff (even if Gamma Ray tends to be rather underwhelming apart from 'Rebellion in Dreamland') but he seems to be contented just with re-hashing and ripping off various classic metal bands. Say what you will about Michael Weikath, but he's certainly a more interesting songwriter than Kai.

As a side note, I don't get why Dan Zimmerman is so high and mighty about not using drum triggers, his tone's still pretty damn boring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNtcoRK1y0w

Napalm Death - Suffer The Children

Here I find myself in the pits of Napalm Death's death metal era, something that I never really bothered to look too deeply into. All I can say is, What the hell have I been missing? The type of sheer heaviness present in this song was practically unheard of in 1990, the year of this album's release. Hell, most death metal today fails to be as heavy and hit as hard as this does. The guitar tone is clear and crisp, while still maintaining the buzzsaw sound we all know and love in our death metal, with plenty of riffs to be found here. This track is made up of mostly death metal fury, but there are some grind-influenced passages as well as a slower chugging section, which might sound out of place, but are mixed in seamlessly with the rest of the song. It all fits in so naturally and smoothly, you won't think twice about the changes of pace. The drummer is spot-on, being able to keep time and perform fills well enough as well as blast your brains out when needed. The vocals are are unchanging deep bark, which is all this song needs, honestly. This is death metal done right, and I feel like such a noob for not having given this the light of day before now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS1c9Ew5G-Y

Eternal Oath - Eternal Rest

I haven't heard this band before, but it sounds pretty decent. Instrumentally it kind of reminds me of Swallow the Sun's older material. Dark, with maybe a tinge of gothic influence, the riffs are crushing, and the leads are simultaneously beautiful and sorrowful. The vocalist seems to be a mix between the typical black metal rasp and the deep guttural style that is commonly employed in funeral doom. This song sometimes takes on an epic feeling, with help from the keyboards. Overall, this track was pretty enjoyable.

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

RatPoisoner:

SIG:AR:TYR - Midwinter Sacrifice

First of all the artwork looks great. Really I like these kind of artworks that gives an impression the band is very serious about their music. Some kind of middle eastern riffing going on which made me think of early Amorphis and the vocals consists consists of restrained black metal shrieking. They're not that powerful and I feel this guy definitely could sing a bit louder. Little acoustic part going on the middle before returning to the Middle Eastern kind of riffing. This definitely doesn't excite me that much and I feel few extra riffs thrown in would have been a better thing. Not a bad tune in the end and maybe this band is worth checking after all but for a good first impression of this band I'd like to hear another track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67RHWuDIJwY

Paradise Lost: "Over the madness"

This is the first Paradise Lost I've listened to since, I think, One Second, the album where they firmly and deliberately turned away from metal. I didnt' even think the album was that bad, for that matter, but I wasn't 2inclined to check out future stuff, either. Well, listening to this, it's as though....well, it's like the mid/late 90s all over again. I had to check to see what album this was from as I seriously thought, judging by the guitar tone and drum production, that this was some b-side from 1996 maybe, or some band that sort of followed in their footsteps, like lake of Tears. The quiet verses are all right; vocals certainly don't do much but I like that organ they are using. The doom riff that makes up the chorus and is heard in the introduction (I think) is well done, with interesting harmony between the two guitars. Nick Holmes isn't sounding that great....he still resembles James Hetfield some in his enunciation, but is becoming more and more like that Pasi guy who used to sing for Amorphis. Not a lot of feeling in the delivery if you ask me. I thought to myself, "what this needs is a great Gregor Macintosh solo to bring it to the next level", and I got just what I was expecting. Starting off with some gentle, almost tentative picking and finally transmogrifying into a blues-soaked aria of melancholy, which is just the sort of thing he does so well. He knows how to use a wah really tastefully too. I kind of wish he were in a better band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tb5mVx7qIg

Thanatos - 'In Praise of Lust'

Nice raging thrashy death metal introduction! I'm not so keen on the vocals, though, he sounds a bit more like one of those "Raghrh, Cthulhu" death metal acts like Sinister or something. I like the ideas here and the solo section is certainly cool... especially with that absolutely insane whammy bar work on the second solo (it actually sounds like his guitar is dying a horrible death there), but this just doesn't come across too well as a whole. It reminds me a bit of some other respectable, if not outstanding, bands like Brutality or the aforementioned Sinister. I don't know why someone would prefer this to superior works like, say, the second Pestilence album. Good energy, some good riffs, excellent solos... but it just doesn't engage me as a whole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhv7dIT65DU

Abigor - Battlefield Orphans

A nice, thrashy intro riff randomly appears out of the blue, promising a full-on assault to the listener. Then, suddenly, haunting keyboards come in, which somehow slows down the entire atmosphere of the track, while the thrashy guitar plays underneath. Some demented, haunting and nightmareish screams come to haunt the listener not soon after. Then? The huge explosion of dark, sickening fury... or at least that's what I was hoping for. Instead, we get a decent, midpaced black metal piece for the next two or so minutes. The thing that hit me right off the bat was the raw... possibly over-raw production. Now, I'm not against raw production, but this job just doesn't sit with me. All the instruments are fuzzier than they need to be, and the choir/keyboard effects in this song are way too loud. Granted, everything can be heard and picked out without much issue, but even then, the instrument work in this band isn't anything special. If you've heard any of the black metal that a few Norwegians we all know and love were cranking out during the same time period as this, then you've heard this before. It's solid, but nothing that will make me want to give up Transilvanian Hunger or Hvis Lyset Tar Oss anytime soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QUs6L6RTF8

@ Acrobat

Dämmerfarben - Im Abendrot

starts out with a nice mellow acoustic section...melancholy but quite melodic. There is a sudden tempo increase with an inclusion of somewhat typical black metal vocals. The transition works pretty well as that melancholy sound remains even with the aggressive style. The other instruments included in the song really add to the sound and aren't overdone. Although not bad, I think I prefer the slower sections that really set the mood of the song. I will be checking out the rest of the album as this song really does intrigue me


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol9vvZWqvkY

Root - Corabeu

This was actually pretty cool. First time listening to Root's old stuff. I heard something from their new record recently and it didn't inspire me to hear anything else. This has a fairly unique riffing style for BM but it's really interesting, it's almost classical sounding. The keyboards are very tastefully used and sound quite epic. As for vocals, they have great tone and he delivers them with a lot of conviction, bringing every element of the song together in the process. This is going to be in heavy rotation for the next few days, that's for sure. Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yk-hpcLR24

Ceremonial Castings - Sweet Misery I Foresee

I have come across this band several times and I remember having a positive reaction, especially to this album, Barbaric is the Beast. I hadn't paid much attention before, (not enough to buy a release at least) but this is about to change.

This is BM the way I like it: Epic, varied, melodic. The song starts off with a clean intro, setting up a nice mood with its ambient background sounds. The riffs kick in just before the 2-minute mark, and the song takes off. The main riff melts faces off, blast beats abound, the synth (or whatever that is) keeping the atmosphere, and I'm opening a second tab on my browser to look for this album on amazon. And then the chorus comes in... Fucking catchy as fuck and epic enough to qualify as a soundtrack to the Iliad. Halfway through the song the synth switches to the foreground, and the rasps turn into deep grunts; all that over a variant of the main riff. This feels like the equivalent of a thrash break I guess. (Not that it sounds anything like one) Just in the sense that it tries to switch things up and keep the song interesting and unpredictable. And it works. Very well. A short clean section after that, and we enter the grand finale, the most melodic riffs of the song lead up to a final repeat of the chorus, which is always welcome.

This is not your average low-fi BM band. This is a band that likes to make grandiose BM, without being pompous. There's a fine line between the two, and these guys know exactly how not to cross it. The logical influence here is Emperor, although this band is very far from being a clone, and has a much evolved sound that makes any similarity to their influences highly inconspicuous. All in all, this is Awe-inspiring music. Necro, once again your pick did not disappoint man. Thanks for posting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeIa9gGM ... re=related

@tehfox and necro:

Melechesh - "Ghouls of Nineveh"

Starting out with some simple but powerful riffing that sounds distinctly mystical and providing a shitload of that atmosphere Melechesh are famous for while also getting you thrashing and rocking at the same time, and pounding drums drawing to mind the arid climate of the desert, I always appreciated how this band can summon that oriental feeling without feeling forced to shoehorn in various folk instruments, retaining lots of heaviness and creating atmosphere only using the basic metal setup, combining riffs and leads with drumming that remains at the same time creatively varied and hypnotically repetitive - there is no acoustic or traditional twanging going on, but you still can't help but feel like you're wandering through an ancient burial chamber in the long-forgotten Middle East, with nothing but the torchlight to guide you further... this is the general feel of the song, somewhat claustrophobic, highly enchanting and enticing. Vocals are relatively standard fare for black metal, although drier (and I mean that as nothing as a compliment), helping to add to the atmosphere even more. From a purely musical perspective, the instrumentation feels almost punky in its simplicity, hitting you like a collapsing pyramid. Amazing production, everything is clear, especially for black metal, without being at all too polished or squeaky clean. It's loud, but not overbearingly so. I keep neglecting the genius that is this band, and that's something I sorely need to remedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9rjbbxlk2A (The YouTube quality doesn't really do the album justice, it's not meant to be quite this muddy)

Raventhrone: "The Three-Faced King of Dominion One"

Dominion One? Now where's that? A strange name for what amounts to a folk metal song, and a bit of a strange song too actually, though the elements with which it were made seemed standard enough. Guitars didn't do a lot, but maintained a rhythm style akin to modern power metal. NO flourishes or stylishness on display, which is a little disappointing. The keyboards certainly led the charge, and they were pretty interesting, despite a general low-grade synth sound. They seem to mimic some kind of middle-eastern folk instrument at the outset, playing some slightly off-kilter (to these ears) melody over the guitars, with a kind of grating tone...but purposefully grating, if that makes sense. The slow, mellow break in the middle reminded me of "Greensleeves", the famous ballad, which if I remember right originated in Germany. There was definitely something unique about this that I can't quite put my finger on as well as I'd like. however, what held me back from really enjoying the song was its clearly un-bandly nature. It sounds like one guy, a guitar and a synth/computer. I know a lot of people don't have issues with that, and with certain projects, I guess I don't either, but when I listen to heavy music generally I want to imagine a bunch of guys playing their hearts out on stage, even when I'm listening to a record. I just don't get that with stuff like this; there might, indeed, be a lot of passion in this music, but I can't help but feel that such endeavours might be better served outside of the metal realm.

One of my absolute favourite songs from this band, and it is relatively unsung. I know I've played this on youtube before but either the previous version's been taken off or some idiot flagged this as "profane", and I now can't play it myself because I don't have a youtube account. From what people are saying here it seems that most of you do, so for you guys it shouldn't be a problem. There's got to be a way around this youtube "age restriction" thing though. Anybody know?


http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_ ... AaEqHVVa4c

@Abominatrix:

@ Dave

Mercyful Fate - Devil Eyes

You want true heavy metal fury that will grab you by the balls and drag you through the mud with no sign of letting up? You've got it right here. I'll admit, I was having trouble trying to find the right words to describe the goodness in this song while I was listening to it. The guitars, for the most part, grind right along through the song, delivering the occasional catchy as hell lead or riff for our enjoyment. The solo around 1:40 is truly awesome and air-guitarworthy (I'm not a musician or someone who knows all the technical terms, so bear with me ). The bass mostly follows behind the guitar, as is standard fare for heavy metal in this time period. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It all comes together as a single unmistakable piece for everyone to enjoy. The only thing I didn't care for, and I'm probably the only guy who thinks this way, are King Diamond's vocals. I've never thought of him as a great vocalist, mostly because those iconic high notes he hits are just... too high for me. Instead of sounding evil as they were intended, I just have a hard time getting into them. Maybe if I had taken this path into metal and not had been exposed to the terrorizing shrieks of some black metal first, I'd feel differently. But I can't change that. What I can change, though, is the amount of Mercyful Fate I intake on a daily basis, because it is a bit low and could use some increase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omThYecwv8I

@Abominatrix:

This wasn't too bad. The opening riff was rather cool, and the guitars are suitably weighty. After that opening tremolo riff, in comes a heavier almost d-beat, Swedeath style of drumming and structure, which was alright. Overall this has a very distinctly Swedish flavour, in terms of both tone and delivery. The vocals are a deep, roar, but clear enough to discern what is going on. Production is well balanced and decidedly crisp - the drums are sharp and punchy, and guitars are suitably up front (without overpowering everything else). This is only a short track, yet they manage to fit in a slower, deliberate pace to let a sweet little solo chime in. The staccato guitar/drum section afterwards turned me off however. Decent I suppose for modern(ish) death metal, but I wont be hunting this down, or listen to again. Not sure how they garnered a black/death tag though, as there is no black metal influences to be found at all in this number

My apologies for the length, but I adore this album (best listened to with headphones). This will be interesting.

Monumentum - On Perspective of Spiritual Catharsis

This sounds like a song that would play during a Vindictive Good Guy Loading All His Guns to Take Down the Bad Guy montage and straight into the Shoot Them All Up in Slow-Mo sequence. In a good way. The slow, methodical intro creates an atmosphere of controlled tension with the guitar-work and the minimalistic drumming, but then it all kicks off with a satisfying (or you could say...cathartic) bang with Roberto Mammarella's vocals bursting onto the scene, reminding me very strongly of Peter Steele at times. For all the released tension in the second half, it never feels like it's out of control, which some could say is the song's weakness; there's no real climax to speak of. But oh well, I enjoyed it. I really, really dig those guitars, especially at the beginning when they're more acoustic-sounding.

Well hey, speaking of Peter Steele... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WorK2PcRZ0s

Carnivore - Thermonuclear Warrior

Starts out with some pretty sweet slow sludgy riffing. The riffs here are pretty good thrash, nothing I'll remember later, but they get the job done. The singer is definitely the best part of this. He has a very low gruff voice and it fits the riffing perfectly, its something that you'd expect in a crust punk band. The only thing I didn't really like about the song is the drumming, which was pretty weak. Really simple and not all that interesting. Whatever, doesn't really take that much away from the track. Overall, I thought this was pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJYCTXCJ-A

@dystopia4:

This pretty much epitomises everything I hate about stoner rock/metal. Granted, this is far from my usual tastes, but I fail to see anything remotely interesting about this. The whole lumbering, blues derived feel of this is rather boring, the vocals do help it somewhat, with their lulling nature, but do not necessarily make it any better. The simple repetitive drumming is decent I suppose, but again, dull. This is a one trick pony all the way through, with no shifts in dynamics to help pull it out of it's I'm tooooo stoned to write anything else, so lets just jam eh? I don't buy it, it sounds lazy and half-assed. Insipid and wearisome, pure and simple - it put me to sleep. At least Green Machine had decent bassslines and a cool oily rumble to the guitar/drum interplay, unlike this shite.

Try this.

Zyklon-B - Warfare

Well, this was pretty good, I thought. Zyklon-B wastes no time on introductions or atmosphere here, instead opting to go full-blast from the word go. The drums and guitars are fast and precise, but nothing out of the ordinary. Blasting and tremolo picking are the main courses here respectively. The production job here lets the guitars and drums battle it out for prominence, seeing as they're about equal in the mix. I do have to point out that cool solo that starts at the 40 second mark, as the fuzzy, high-pitched guitar work over the fairly clear production of the rest of the song is just awesome. The occasional keyboard bit overpowers those, but the vocals are the intended star of the show here. Instead of the boring, overdone rasps I was expecting, Aldrahn employs a spiteful shout for the vocals. I normally despise shouts of any kind in my metal, but these shouts manage to work in the song's favor. What I can pick out of the lyrics aren't subtle about the fact that these guys hate humanity. The best part of the song, though, was that outro with the movie sample in it. Haunting and raising the listener's tension are exactly what the keyboards and the returning fuzzy guitars in the outro do, and they work. It's good for what it's worth, but I think won't be seeking more from this band... at least for now.

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

@Dave_o_rama

@CrushedRevelation:

Man Must Die - Kill it, Skin it, Wear it

Hell, this shit is INTENSE. This is pure, unadultered bludgeoning violence and relentless fury, and although I can't see myself remembering it later, I indeed had a good time listening to it. If I had to put a label on it, then I'd say it's a very technical form of deathgrind (actually, I feel a bit of Dying Fetus influence in there), and from the get go I have to give props to the vocalist; his voice is extremely powerful, yet very intelligible, something you don't hear often nowadays. Seriously, the man crearly growls with a lot of volume (it's borderline yelling), yet you can understand almost every word he says. Amazing. And as for the rest of the band? Well, they are, for one, no beginners. The guitar players constantly churn out riff, after riff, after riff and play fast as fuck, although the riffs themselves, I gotta say, aren't necessarily wonderful. More like..... You know, they do the deed, although not with flying colours. And hey, the drummer is remarkable. Man's a bloody machine gun, with a double bass that breaks the sound barrier and blast beats so fast they'll melt your eyeballs (also, the guy goes through quite a few different beats during the song's length, and his cymbal work is pretty cool too). BUT there's this tiny little thing that I find rather bothersome about the drums; the way they are produced. Loud, artificial, and plastic. Sure, the overall production in this thing's very modern, but the drums just sound obnoxious in that sense. Barring that, 'twas a great listen.

I really, really like this cover. I'm especially fond of the vocalist. Guy has some pipes.

Show must go on - Dragonfly (Queen cover)

i thought it wasn't fair for me to review this song because i dont like powermetal. but it was looking like no body else wanted to review it either. listenning to it. it doesnt sound like a regular powermetal to me it's much slower maybe because its a cover. even with adding some orchestral instrument the cover fail to change the song in any way. the orchestral instrument its self doesn't add anyting to the orignal in fact its only make it worst. and the vocalist isn't half as good as freddie mercury.

any way heres mine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi_XsBR0AYk

@Necro:


@bensabre:

@bensabre: