Sorry Neo139, Encyclopaedia Metallum was forced to reject your review for for Beto Vázquez Infinity - Flying Towards the new Horizon, for the following reason:

Grammar. You have plenty of grammar mistakes and non-English sentence structures. The contents are all right, but the language needs to be cleaned.

Correct, retry.

Thanks

Napero

Sincerely,
Encyclopaedia Metallum


Score 90%
Please help, my english sucks

Here's a revised version I did. Gave it a few tweaks. Try to avoid run-along sentences.

THANKS!!!!!

Haha, don't menntion it.

Well, hello i need some help here can you tell me what's wrong with this review?

Towards the regression stage.

Lacuna Coil is fading, all that's left are memories. At first, i was really excited to know that Lacuna Coil released a new album called "Karmacode", after five years from releasing their masterpiece album "Comalies". Despite the album's awful name i thought it might be a follow up of the preceding one "Comalies". In a rush i got the album (thank God it wasn't an original copy). Listening to it for the first time got me shocked , in a negative way for sure. And I thought … this wasn't "Comalies" follow up.. this wasn't Lacuna Coil at all. The band turned out to be influenced by pop and nu-metal , not gothic anymore. Nothing to be compared now with their old songs such as "Swamped" or "Heaven's a Lie" metallic sounds .The album is a commercial one to the point that even fans of Slipknot, Korn and Madonna will like it!

First of all, Ferro's vocals are the worst voices that you want to hear in a gothic metal labeled album.They are a mixture of vocals such as Jonathan Davis (Korn), Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and even some rappers! Cristina faded away from her gothic style, and turned to be a pop star singer, nothing deep and attractive in her voice anymore. It's like she's only accomplishing a job, no feelings, nothing attractive at all. Horrible and sucky guitar riffs, played loud, faster then usual but without any effect. Drums sucks as well, just ‘making some noise’ is the appropriate term to describe it. Bass is always overrated as usual. Another important change is Lacuna Coil's sound , it is used with less keyboards, a thing considered as an advantage in some metal genres. Unfortunatly that's not the case in gothic metal where keyboards should exist in a powerful way, unlike the way they were in "Karmacode" (playing a very low profile). I can't give credits to any of the album's songs. Not to mention that the band covered a song from Depeche Mode! So Just don't be surprised if they cover Britney Spears in their upcoming release!

Lacuna Coil can't be considered as dead since they are able to impress the whole bunch of nu-metal lovers with their latest release, in addition of the majority of pop and rock lovers. In other hand, their reputation is fading away constantly between metal and gothic listeners (can't expect anything good from the band anymore). I don't advise any metal or gothic fan to buy the album. But to try it u can, only if you are curious enough to meet the new Lacuna Coil!

Space after periods, "I" instead of "i" and "you" instead of "u".

That should get you somewhere.

What about grammar mistakes?

I haven't notice any of those, but I haven't read your review 10 times either, and I'm not a native English speaker. At least this means there is no blatant one, so you don't need to worry for that.

However I think your review is a tad short. While it would work fine for an obscure album with few or no reviews, it's more borderline for such a well-known band as Lacuna Coil. The ideas are here, maybe you should just expand a bit (one more paragraph?)

It will probably be accepted in its present form, but I don't think you'll get more than the minimal amount of points for it.

Towards the regression stage.

Lacuna Coil has faded. All that's left are memories. At first I was really excited to know that Lacuna Coil released a new album called Karmacode five years after releasing their masterpiece Comalies. Despite the album's awful name, I thought it might be a follow up to the one preceding Comalies. In a rush I got the album (thank God it wasn't an original copy). Listening to it for the first time had me shocked in a negative way for sure, and I realized this wasn't the follow up to Comalies. This wasn't Lacuna Coil at all. The band turned out to be influenced by pop and nu-metal, not gothic anymore. Nothing's here to compare with their old songs such as the metallic sounding "Swamped" or "Heaven's a Lie". The album is commercial to the point that even fans of Slipknot, Korn and Madonna will like it!

First of all, Ferro has one of the worst voices that you want to hear in a gothic metal labeled album. They are a mixture of Jonathan Davis (Korn), Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and even some rappers! Cristina faded away from her gothic style and turned to be a pop star singer with nothing deep and attractive in her voice anymore. It's like she's only accomplishing a job, no feelings, nothing attractive at all. Horrible and sucky guitar riffs are played loud and faster than usual without any effect. The drumming sucks as well with 'just making some noise’ being the appropriate term to describe it. Bass is overrated as usual. Another important change is Lacuna Coil's sound. There are less keyboards, a thing considered an advantage in some metal genres. Unfortunatly that's not the case in gothic metal where keyboards should exist in a powerful way, unlike the way they were in Karmacode (playing a very low profile). I can't give credits to any of the album's songs, not to mention that they cover a song by Depeche Mode, so don't be surprised if they cover Britney Spears on their upcoming release!

Lacuna Coil can't be considered dead since they are able to impress a whole bunch of nu-metal lovers with their latest release, in addition to the majority of pop and rock lovers. On the other hand, their reputation is constantly fading away to metal and gothic listeners who can't expect anything good from the band anymore. I don't advise any metal or gothic fan to buy the album. But try it if you want only if you are curious enough to meet the new Lacuna Coil!

That's a little better.

Just removed the other one and added this one thanks man.

I'd like some feedback on the following review for Nile's Annihilation of the Wicked; I already submitted it though, hehe
I'd like to know wether my writing style is readable, wether my grammar is good or not and correction of any errors that have creeped in. I must have rewritten this like 10 times already

What specifically is so marvellous in the lyrics? What does "religiously and philosophically" mean? Expand. A vague reference to Lovecraft isn't enough, especially for those who aren't into his works.



This says absolutely nothing about the riffing. Pretty much any modern death metal riff could be described as "insane" or "extremely fast", depending on context and listener.



This structure is a mess.

Without proper means - without a good audio system?
Impossible to listen to - difficult to understand?
"Must sound as a clear wall of sound"?

Also see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_splice



Again, does not describe the vocals. Are they low grunts, screams, what? What good does the mixture of two vocalists bring? How are the vocals exemplary?

I was wondering if anyone can give me some general feedback for my reviews: http://www.metal-archives.com/userrevie ... ckname=SRX

Its only 4 reviews, so would think it wont be too much of a chore. Thanks very much!

The Clad in Darkness one is by far the best of the four, even if it's track-by-track, something you should avoid in your next works (such reviews are now most of time rejected). The best point in your reviews is you always try to precisely describe the music, going further than the generic "wov riffs here are awesome" kind of stuff. You also reviewed albums with few or no reviews, what is always fine.

I however noticed several weaknesses:
- most important of all, CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR. Even by reading them rather quickly, I noticed many grammar mistakes, including blatant ones ("is" for "are", lack of -s at the 3d person, lots of clumsy sentences, etc)
- your reviews overall lack of style. Even if the content is allright, they're not very pleasant to read as they're, let's say, a tad arid. However the style generally improves with the number of reviews written (my first reviews weren't really better than yours style-wise, and the same goes with most of reviewers here, especially non-native English speakers)
- again, avoid track-by-track.

Your reviews are far from being masterpieces (and frankly, two of them are really borderline) but you certainly have potential as a reviewer. As I said, the last one was already a nice improvement over the 3 previous ones. Just begin by improving your grammar and I'm pretty sure they'll already look far better.

Hope this helps

This was supposedly rejected review for Annihiator - Set The World On Fire. What is it lacking in your opinion?

- several spelling mistakes in each paragraph (switch bussines --> business; dissapointed --> disappointed; shure --> sure, etc.)

- some phrases messed up: "if you wish" --> "if you will"

- very, very chatty in tone (vocabulary, syntax, wandering macro-structure), almost like you had translitterated an oral description you gave to your friend.

Thanks, man. I'll be sure to try to remember your points the next time I make a review.

haha I didn't notice the spelling mistakes:D shure:D

Thanks anyway!

Could anyone reread this and tell me if it's good.

Ensiferum - Demo 1


What we have here is the first demo made by the famous Power/Viking band Ensiferum. I must say, they haven't changed much since this demo. I came upon this demo accidently in my friends music store. I was digging through the box of demo's and stumbled upon this 3 tracked demo, called "Demo 1". Catchy right?
Well the first song on this demo is Frost. A good begginer, and a good song in general. It opened up with some guitars and then hit into a powerful yet effective intro. 30 seconds into this song and you hear a good folk/black scream from Jari. There are some rough clean vocals which, to me, don't sound to good. Next song is not as good as "Frost" in my opinion, but it is still really good. This song is the longest of the 3 tracks and repeats the same guitar riff over and over again. I found it easier to pay attention to then "Frost" and faster then "Knighthood". Knighthood could be called a good outro song for this demo. I prefer to call it just another song. It starts slow in the beggining and then speeds up about a minute into the song. I found in quite an interesting song in the end. Which, again, wasn't as great as "Frost" or "Old Man".
There could've been some major adjustments to this demo, but of course it's only a demo and isn't as good as the full lengths obviously. I'm glad they made this demo becuase it shows that Ensiferum will probably never change like CoF or In Flames. All 3 tracks have solid choruses and great riffing. All the instruments showed up well in all 3 tracks. I wouldn't have this demo any other way.

It's very short, but after all the release is short as well...

You could improve the style, which often sound a tad childish (no offence ). For instance, count how many times you repeat "demo" in the whole review: you could probably us other words like "release", "piece of work", etc. Then, while you try to describe the music, too much time is devoted to "this song is good, but not as good as the other, etc" - which could be summed up to a single sentence like "Though all three songs are good, Knighthood is a bit weaker than its two predecessors" (just a quick idea).

Instead of repeating how much every song is "good", which doesn't tell much, try to develop about the atmosphere of the demo: how does the production sound like? Is it raw, or surprisingly good for a demo? Do they sound more agressive/folk-ish/black-ish than on the following albums? Would some riffs be recycled on the full-lengths, or are these 3 totally independant songs? (I don't know this demo so those are just suggestions)

Also try to find another opening sentence than the "what we have here..." which has been beaten to death, and be careful of typos like "beggining" for "beginning", etc. which could easily be avoided.

Eventually once you've have developed your review try to break it into several paragraphs (and remember the site doesn't recognize indents). Formatting is key, you know.

Hoping these little tips will help

Thanks very much, I will try to improve it as much as I can.

So I've come here to kneel before all of you at the foot of your soot-black thrones and request feedback on my humble Battlelore review.

I attempted to avoid the horrible track-by-track nightmare that was my Command to Charge review, but in doing so, I feel like I went too far and detached myself from the material at hand. So, to continue, my main problems with it are thus:

1) I went on too long about how bored and disappointed I was. Words were wasted on drilling down that feeling of aggravating repetition when they could have been pressed into better use by explaining something about the music itself and why I felt this way.

2) Though I did give examples of what bothered me and went through elements of the music in order to try and pinpoint the source of my issues with the album, I think I mentioned Sword's Song too damn much. That was what made me wake up to Battlelore, but Evernight is not Sword's Song, so I'm not sure if I should keep that there at all.

3) Most importantly, I've been listening to it even more, because I do want to enjoy the stuff that Battlelore puts out. I mean, I like them a lot. I think they're great. So I let this sit on my playlist for a while and it's growing on me. I changed my review score from 40% to 50%, but I'm ready to move it even higher now, despite the fact that I still think Evernight could have been better.

I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that Battlelore simply isn't the band that they were back during the days of Where the Shadows Lie. And that's fine. They do a different sort of thing and it will either drive you away or slowly work its magic on your eardrums until you're more or less satisfied.

But I digress. I think I spent too much time describing my disappointment about the album instead of describing the album itself. I'd appreciate it if someone would read below to see if they agree with me on this or if they think I'm just being a self-deprecating prick.



Ach. Mein typos.

*opening an eye and looking down from his soot-black throne*

That's a good review IMHO, both pleasant to read and descriptive. The length is OK and you don't make blatant grammar mistakes. The little comparison with Metallica and al. sounds a bit clichéd and could have been erased without the review losing anything of its qualities, but it's nitpicking.

You also describe the vocals well, but you could have developed a bit more about the other instruments and the general sound. Otherwise, the reader nonetheless gets a good picture of this album by reading your review.

Not a masterpiece, but without doubt a good, straigth-to-the-point work.

*closes his eyes again and comes back to Therion's Gothic Kabbalah*

I mentioned Metallica because they are, in my mind, a classic example of the thing I was talking about. I see your point, though, and will probably replace them with another band or perhaps reword things a bit in order to make it seem like a small list of actual examples as opposed to name-dropping.

As far as the music itself goes, I really can't think of what else to say that would seem like it was coming from my own experience. It wasn't anything by itself that made me initially dislike the album as much as I did, but rather a combination of things plus the fact that I had heard all of it before... and kept hearing it, over and over again, for forty something minutes.

Thank you for the suggestions, however. I'll try to alter things a bit, since I see where you're coming from.

... from France?

*monocle*

Any feedback for this Windir review is appreciated.

Windir - 1184 (95%)

Windir was a band of incredible talent, one of the best black metal bands to have surfaced in the late nineties. This band was formed by a young man by the name of Terje Bakken, better known as Valfar. Valfar was a man of pride. He had great pride in his country, and he wanted to let that be known. Windir in short, fuses black metal with folk music. While the concept on paper seems like it would not work, this could not be any farther from the truth.

The music is very unique in sound, sounding like raw black metal, with added hints of folk, which is calculated perfectly. The songs are fast paced and vicious, with some of the best vocals I've heard in black metal. There are many keyboard breakdowns into folk passages, where Valfar chants, and the music being enhanced with the use of keyboards. The title track is probably the best example of this. It starts off very fast paced, and then breaks off into a slow folk passage that sounds very sinister, and then proceeds back to a fast tempo. Most of the songs follow this pattern in some form of another. Their is much speed with chaotic nature to be found on here, namely on the tracks Black New Age and Dance Of The Mortal Lust. The basic instruments are done well, but the keyboards provide a lot of the structure. Their also seems to be other instruments played in certain songs for the folk element, such as the accordion. Their are also atmospheric moments to be found, namely in the end of the track Journey To The End. Their seems to be something for fans of all genres of extreme metal to be found on here.

As I've said, the vocals are excellent. Valfar is respectable in the manner that he is capable of unleashing vicious, fast, cut throat vocals, and also incoporates chanting and viking styled vocals in the music. The lyrics, all written by Valfar, are mainly about fantasy, myth, and misanthropy.

This album is easily my favorite of the four Windir albums, although they are all quite good. I would reccommend this to any fan of black metal. It's too unfortunate that Valfar had to die at such an early age. Buy this album at all costs, that is, if you can even find it.

Here's my quick edit:


"Windir - 1184 (95%)

Windir was a band of incredible talent, one of the best black metal bands to have surfaced in the late '90s. This band was formed by a young man named Terje Bakken, better known as Valfar. He had great pride in his country, and he wanted to let that be known. Windir, in short, fuses black metal with folk music. On paper, the concept seems like it would not work, but this could not be further from the truth.

The music is very unique, as it sounds like raw black metal with added hints of folk, both of which are calculated perfectly. The songs are fast-paced and vicious, with some of the best vocals I've heard in black metal. There are many keyboard breakdowns into folk passages where Valfar chants. In these passages, the music is enhanced with the use of said keyboards. The title track is probably the best example of this. It starts off very fast-paced, breaks off into a slow folk passage that sounds very sinister, and then returns back to a fast tempo. Most of the songs follow this pattern in one form or another.

There is speed and chaos to be found here, namely on the tracks "Black New Age" and "Dance Of The Mortal Lust." The basic instrumentation is done well, but the keyboards provide a lot of the structure. There also seems to be other instruments, such as the accordion, played in certain songs to heighten the folk element. Atmospheric moments are also to be found, especially at the end of the track "Journey To The End." Fans of all genres of extreme metal can find something to enjoy here.

As I've said, the vocals are excellent. Valfar is respectable in the manner of unleashing vicious, fast, cutthroat vocals, while also incorporating chanting and Viking-styled vocals into the music. The lyrics, all written by Valfar, are mainly about fantasy, myth, and misanthropy.

This album is easily my favorite of the four Windir albums, though they are all quite good. I would recommend this to any fan of black metal. It's unfortunate that Valfar had to die at such an early age. Buy this album at all costs; that is, if you can even find it."


It would probably help to talk more about what the vocals sound like, cut down on the number of times "there" begins a sentence, and bring up Valfar's death in the introduction, when you say it "was" a band of incredible talent. Reducing vocabulary repetition is another suggestion. Don't take my opinions as gospel, though; I've only got one review to my name.

Okay, I have tried to submit this twice already to no avail so I will ask you guys for input and reasons why it might not get posted. I have also not ever received any e-mail notification of any kind as to why it is being rejected.

The review is for Sacramentum's EP "Finis Malorum"

Score : 97%
Title : My favorite EP ever.

Body :

Okay, so there is obviously a lot of competition for what a metal connoisseur may consider their favorite EP. Well, this first professionally recorded EP by Sacramentum gets my vote for my personal favorite EP.

The competition for the greatest EP is very close. Among those considered for a top EP spot are (in no particular order) : Rigor Mortis's "Freaks", Abigor's "Apokalypse" and Suffocation's "Despise the Sun". I love all of these unconditionally, but besides "FREAKS" none of them can compare the re-playability of Sacramentum's first EP.

The musicianship is flawless from start to finish. This EP was recorded before the band had acquired Nicklas Rudolfsson on drums. Mikael Rydén is the drummer on this album and he does an absolutely awesome job of keeping the songs flowing and the fills are impeccable.

This is considered "melodic black metal", but I honestly think that it goes way beyond that genre confining cliche. This album is perfectly executed black metal in a death metal context. There are only 5 songs and they all flow seamlessly into each other in just under 20 minutes.

The vocals are in the traditional Sacramentum vein. If you're unfamiliar with Sacramentum, this means that they're a very distinctive aggressive black metal rasp. The vocals help enormously to convey the passion behind the songs and really add an intangible element to the album as a whole.

The production is done by Dan Swano, and it is quite flawless. Every instrument can be heard clearly and it really captures the overall spirit of the band and what they wish to achieve with their music. The guitar playing is absolutely stunning and each song has unexpected tempo changes which are executed to perfection. Classical style guitar leads are prevalent throughout the EP and they really give the album a distinct sound.

The music is technical, but not enough to ever say it has any wankery involved in it. The EP is somewhat progressive, but also not enough to label it "progressive" per se. In the end, Sacramentum fuses melodic black metal with an underlying sense of technicality and progressiveness but none of these things ever detract from the actual music itself.

The lyrics are exceptionally well written, and with all Sacramentum albums, the lyrics give the music a re-playability which never seems to grow repetitive. The lyrics mostly involve death and human emotions and if you listen to this EP for the first time while reading the lyrics, you'll instantly see what I mean when I say the lyrics are very intricate and personal.

All in all, this five song EP could be in your head every day for 6 months if you're not careful. A lof of people seem to heap all of the praise of this band based on their first full length opus, "Far Away from the Sun". While that album is fucking magnificent in it's own right, this EP is just as skillfully crafted. Finis Malorum never ceases to amaze the listener at any point in its duration.

I honestly have nothing negative to say about this EP and it truly encapsulates what great black metal is all about. Sacramentum would go on to create three full length classic LP's after this, but it must never be forgotten that this is where it all began.

Heres my first attempt at a reivew, I addressed the music to the best of my ability and hopefully its not to long. Thanks in advance for taking your time to read through this.

Nonexistent is an album that holds contradiction among its style of playing and style of lyrics, but that contradiction in a way makes sense to how Living Sacrifice conveys it within their music. This album is Christian themed, a concept often ignored by metalheads as it is considered blasphemous to what makes metal, metal. Living Sacrifice though has showed that some genres and themes can be mixed successfully together, in this case, Christianity and death metal. They play a holy driven death/thrash metal sound that would probably be the soundtrack to some wrathful action by God himself. This sophomore effort is backed by decent (and I use that term lightly) musicianship and a more polished sound than its predecessor.

The sound of Living Sacrifice this time around has a better production, though most bands suffer the first album sucky production syndrome, I find it annoying to listen to music that sounds like it was recorded with some 2.00$ tape recorder. Most of the elements in this are audible (besides the bass) in Nonexistent and provide a quality sound to listen to. As for the basic style of Nonexistent, it is heavily influenced by Florida’s death metal scene and it overall sounds a lot like Obituary’s Cause of Death. Thankfully some of the thrash elements in this album keep it from sounding like an Obituary clone or tribute band for that matter. Out of all of Living Sacrifice’s releases this is definitely their most heavy and probably their best work before going down the path of regression on Inhabit and further down the path when they begin to play metalcore later on.

The vocals on this album are probably one of its biggest setbacks. Before vocalist D.J on their self titled album had a thrashier style to his vocals and it sounded pretty decent for the most part. On this album he uses a “zombie/undead” sounding vocal, but his vocal talent on here is not even average, he executes the sound poorly. If I were to compare it to anything it sounds like a failed attempt of mimicking Obituary’s vocalist, the vocal sound just fades around a tune to much and gets pretty annoying at times (On Inhabit his voice becomes better, and yet worse at the same time because the album was rushed to begin with.). This flaw in itself will probably kill the listening experience to ones that are very picky to vocals (and most are) so unless you can somehow stand it like I do, don’t even buy this. Then again it’s probably a blessing for those that don’t wish to here the Christian themed lyrics.

The guitar work on this album is its main strong point, Living Sacrifice managed to play some pretty good death/thrash on this album. Fans of Florida’s death metal scene as well as some thrash collectors will want to listen to this record for that purpose. Riffs on here are what Living Sacrifice does best, not one track on here makes any repetition of a riff, and they put some complexity into each one to keep it interesting. Riffs mix a main hammering thrash sound along with a “grinding” death metal riff behind it, they execute well. Even though the vocals seem to try to mimic obituary the guitarists don’t seem to (I own Cause of Death, though there are some similarities theres no copycat song playing going on here). Off and on through this album they mix a few great instrumental sections on here such as in the songs “Void Expression”, “Atonement” and “Distorted”. The only problem I noticed on the guitar work was that the bass was not at all audible; the only instance of bass I heard on here was at the 1:10 marker on “Atonement”, and the record would have been a lot better if it had this element. There are solos to speak of in this album but they sound like a far lower tuned version of Obituary’s solos.

What makes the contradiction of Christian death metal less of an oxymoron on this album is the lyrical themes Living Sacrifice choose to use. It’s not about death in the physical sense, its about death and decay in the spiritual sense (though its not audible, the idea is still there). Songs in particular that display this are “Haven of Blasphemy” and “…To Nothing”. The songs speak of self delusion and vile sin of humanity and to destroy these hollow philosophies and visions and to better see Christ’s wisdom before they meet their own death. The songs are overall well written it’s a shame one can’t hear them through D.J’s zombie vocals. Its not very preachy like “Serve god or burn in hell nonbeliever!” but they do focus mainly on finding salvation away from sinful decay. Its not death metal in the traditional sense, but these elements make it death metal like besides the guitar playing.

This is a sold album from an interesting band, it’s a shame quite a few of its elements are out of place on this album or else it would have scored in the upper 80’s. Although the album has it share of flaws some of its stronger aspects help compensate for that in way. If your a fan of Christian themed music and can’t stand listening to Christian rock then your in luck as this album gives a great pummeling listen.

Just one thing...

You are = You're =/= Your.

Can someone tell me why my Sacramentum review is unacceptable? I saw one or two typographical errors, but not a big deal... thanks.

I would like some feedback on my great works please.

Post it here.

He already did. Scroll three more posts up.

My review HAS already been posted, gutterscream... any advice is helpful. I've got three senior college level tests tomorrow and I"m fretting over why nobody has given my Sacramentum review the time of day, FUCK ME.

Might anyone give me some feedback on my reviews, namely these:

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=21368#88990
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=96901#88990
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=39218#88990

Thank you.

Not sure why my post got deleted, not trying to upset anyone. But here it is again

Monstrosity "Spiritual Apocalypse"
Rating : 95%


"I've been a huge fan of Monstrosity for awhile, and this album only solidifies my high opinion of this great death metal band. There are nine full length songs, most of which are around the five minute mark. There is also a minute long keyboard interlude, which is one of the few negative points on the album.

The first thing that stuck out to me the first time hearing this is that the drumming is unbelievable. Lee Harrison is now officially one of my favorite drummers, ever. The fills and technicality of the drumming are quite mind-blowing. The drumming reminds me of the drumming of Jontho from Ragnarok. Completely fast as fuck, but never repetitive. Mike Hrubovcak takes over the vocal duties and he very well may be the best vocalist Monstrosity has ever had. Pure crushing death metal here, accept no subsititutes.

Now on to a song by song review (yea it's that fucking good) :

The album kicks off with the track "Spiritual Apocalypse". As soon as you hear the insane riffing you know you're about to experience a great album. The guitar playing, quite simply, is as good as their previous stuff. It could be argued that the guitar playing here is slightly better than on their previous masterpieces. The song "Spiritual Apocalypse" really gives an insight to what the whole album is all about : great death metal vocals, lyrics, guitar playing and drumming. The vocals are straight death metal, but the vocalist does an awesome job of conveying the passion of the lyrics and music as well as keeping the lyrics intelligible.

"Firestorm" kicks off immediately where "Spiritual Apocalypse" ended. Although the songs are similar in style, they all maintain their own identity. The guitar solos to start this song off are nothing short of perfect - I suspect Kelly Shaefer (Atheist) may have lent his hand on some of the solos on this album.. As with most of the songs on this album, the lyrics deal with war, death and destruction. Right around the 2:18 mark another set of incredible solos to blow your fucking mind, followed directly by some of the best death metal vocals and lyrics I have ever heard.

"Apostles of the endless night" is brutal as fuck. No other way to put it. This album is great because it is pure mind raping brutal / technical death metal. But even though it's very heavy, it never loses it's sense of musicianship. Every note is obviously well thought out. The layered vocals on this song are very excellently executed in the chorus's. As with the the previous songs, around 2:20 a set of guitar solos to blow your fucking mind. As the song progresses, it somehow manages to get heavier and heavier.

"Within divisions of darkness" is truly a war song. If you're going into battle, this is the perfect anthem for destroying the motherfucking insurgency. The drumming is really what gives this song a very warlike feel to it. Right around two minutes you've got the incredibly tasteful dual vocals of a lower guttural death metal growl and the higher pitch Atheist/Arsis type vocals. This makes perfect sense as James Malone and Kelly Shaefer both contributed on this album. I don't know if they contributed on the vocals and guitar playing, but it does sound like they did contribute to the vocals as well. As the song ends you're left wishing for more!

"The inhuman race" continues the trend of the whole album : very technical and well thought out brutal death metal. If you're not head banging at around 1:20, then clean your fucking ears out. The chorus is nothing short of spectacular, you'll be screaming "the inhuman race"!! before long. Around 2:19 the song slows down for some almost melodic guitar playing and some excellent drumming. But before the three minute mark hits the brutality slams you in the head. When the bells hit around the 4:00 mark you're left awe struck. WAR WITHOUT END!!!

"Remnants of divination" is probably my favorite track on the album. That is saying a lot as the whole thing is a damn masterpiece. Great intro to the song and then Mike Hrubovcak's vocals tear your head off. There is not enough praise that can be said about this guys vocal performance on this album. Upon the first time hearing this song you very well may listen to it three times in a row. One interesting note on this song is that the lyrics are some of the best death metal lyrics I have ever heard. The chorus is also one of the best death metal chorus's ever, in my book.

"Illumination" is a 46 second interlude and it really is quite worthless. The only non essential track on this whole album. It is completely devoid of any musical value whatsoever and I always skip this track.

"Sacred oblivion" is yet another song that makes you want to bang your head until your neck snaps into a million pieces. Crazy lead guitar work and drumming are nothing new on this album and this song is no exception. Unrelenting song that makes you want to kill someone.

"The bloodline horror" starts off with some excellent riffs then breaks down into a mind numbingly great guitar bridge. With there is melody in the guitar playing it NEVER comes close to be melodic death metal in any way. So kudos to the band for keeping melody intertwined with the brutality to perfection. The chorus is especially kick ass and the riffing is mesmerizing to say the least. Mark English is quickly becoming one of my favorite metal guitarists ever. The parasitic nature of the guitar playing is somewhat reminiscent of the early David Vincent era Morbid Angel, and it is just as skillfully executed. To compare English to Azgathoth is truly a worthy comparison. It does seem that Mark English has a propensity of making better hooks,though. The parts where you want to slam your head into a wall are plentiful and non stop.

"Triumph in black" is an especially great closer. Through the whole album you're left thinking, how the fuck can they continue to keep playing this high level of music? I know after the first time I heard this album, I was left thinking there was no way in hell they could match the intensity and utter perfection of the album all throughout, but they honestly pull it off and leave you satisfied completely. The chorus on this song, like the whole fucking album, is awesome. Some very off kilter guitar solos around 1:20 and they're excellent. This leads into some more mesmerizing lead guitar work and by this point your neck has to be fucking killing you. The perfect song to end the perfect album.

All in all, this is one of my top 5 favorite death metal albums ever, probably in the top 3. Definitely the best death metal album I have heard since the new millennium. I had to give this thorough review because the first review of this album does not do it justice in any way, shape or form. This album is mandatory for any fan of death metal. Even if you're not a death metal fan, after hearing this you will be."


Fuck, my bad for posting a new topic with this review. I meant to 'post reply' Sorry about that!! Could a mod please delete it? Thanks!

Reads fine to me. The only thing I can see that may have put a damper on it is that it's basically track by track. Try melding song descriptions together and see how it turns out. Did you receive a rejection notification for the review? The reason for its dismissal may have been listed there.

How come my review for Dimmu Borgir's In Sorte Diaboli wa deleted after being accepted?

I'd thought it was because the album hadn't been released yet, so you'd have been contacted by someone from Nuclear Blast to delete it, in case it had persuaded their market audience in the wrong way intended and gave away about how it sounded before its release. That would be understandable.

However when 3 new reviews have been recently added saying the usual crap I'd expect a Dimmu Borgir review to say, it becomes worrying what was so wrong about my review?

Review:


Personally, despite the fact that it shows the ignorance of a lot of meathead metallers (and may provide a bit of insightful information for people to consider if they decide to write a review themselves), I don't see any problems with this review. So how come it was deleted?