Celtic Legacy-Guardian Angel

I don't mind this at all. Straight forward mid-tempo rocker. The guitarist has a nice touch when transitioning from riffing to leads, and he really stands out when it starts to roll at the end. The drummer is solid, and the singer has a little roughness in his voice that reminds me a LOT of Bon Jovi. It's sincere and serious, which works for me. It just strikes me as really hard rock rather than Metal, I can play this for my old lady and she digs it. I guess I'm jaded from so much Black and Death Metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhs9JcHoihs

I've actually seen these guys live a couple of times, and they don't disappoint in a live context, really tight. This is as solid (and formulaic) as you will get from your power metal. It's slick and polished, with, admittedly, some great vocal lines from time to time, with a rock-steady rhythm section, and flamboyant (yet paradoxically, rather stock) lead/riff mechanics. I not a huge fan of power metal, but this is not what I would call offensive, far from it - but as I stated earlier, this is very conventional. The actual riff-work is quite cool, but underneath that, the bass work shines. Can't say I was enthralled with the plastic drum sound though, and seemed very flat and uninspired. Not really much to get too excited about here, unless of course you simply crave more of this style.

Imma put an end to all this power metal stuff haha

@ Jonpo and Metantoine


Destruktor: "Nailed"

Coincidentally, I'd never heard a note of this band until now, yet I bought the CD just last week on a whim...guess I should listen to the thing! This is some ferocious stuff....I guess I would consider it death metal, but there's certainly a hefty influence from older thrash stuff, and it's these influences that make this song work for me. I think it's interesting that they employ the busier riffing style while the drummer is blasting and restrain themselves for some sustained chords while he employs some brief thrash beats. Talking of those thrash beats, I sort of wish they were more prevalent. It's not that I mind blastbeats at all, but the drummer here seems to think he's playing in Krisiun or something and it feels a little bit one-dimensional, a bit too top-heavy for what the music requires. Still, those are some pretty impressive tom rolls he does, and the guitarwork doesn't have anything to be ashamed of. My favourite part of the song appears at around two minutes, where the vocalist is silent and the drummer concentrates on thrashing, the bass drum leading the count, and then there's a brief but accomplished guitar solo that's a bit more melodious than one might expect. Vocals are rather nondescript..they do their job but don't really impress or offend, which might be too bad. Still, I'm looking forward to trying out this album now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ1ge0mEXfc

@ Abom, & the Primordial love

Lots of energy on display in this very ballsy, thrashing little song that bites like a viper. The drums are awesome and really fast, the guitars spew out angry thrashing slabs of steel and the vocals are a broken-glass gurgle - very vicious and uncompromising, with lots of imagery of skulls and horns and lots of other very metal things. But while the song was very entertaining, I can't say it's something I'd ever call truly great. It lacks a lot of the drama and hook-power that the best extreme metal has and doesn't really reach out and grab you beyond the initial extremity. It isn't timeless or truly great. But then, I still found it pretty fun, and for what it was, Destruktor crafted a sweet little slab of thrashy black metal that will definitely please those looking for more of this kind of style. For what it is this is pretty solid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7HDbpvwH1Y

PS CrushedRevelation,

Argh...this thread either doesn't move at all or moves at lightning pace. I edited my post to inlude a review of Destruktor. Ah well, guess I'll do yours now EMpyreal...

Onslaught: "FLame of the Antichrist"

Aha, the mid-period 80s Onslaught album; the one I've listened to least, so even though it's not completely new to me it's still kind of unexplored territory. CLearly, performance-wise, right smack dab in the middle of their development...still got the evil vibe of the debut, but far more metal/thrash and less punk/early black metal, and while they're clearly another example of former hardcore guys who just love Metallica so much, they're not yet at the In Search of Sanity point of "gosh we wish we could write songs as good as Metallica, but at least we have a better singer!" So, I understand why you like this album so much, I think, and I'll probably have to give it some more spins too.

The intro sets an ominous tone, and the choral synth/chiming bell reminds me of something Desaster might have done over ten years later. The band comes in a little later and sets up a huge tension that finally releases when the thrash actually begins. Very solid riffs and a structure that reminds me of something from Sodom's Persecution Mania, with the breakdown at five minutes designed flawlessly to instigate headbanging frenzy. I love the production on the instruments and the vocals are pretty charismatic, with a gritty mid-range tone and occasional wild Slayer-ish falseto outbursts. Of the two solos, I really love the second one after the last chorus...it's unexpected and it sound like the guy is just going nuts on his instrument, wailing and keening like someone burning in the antichrist's flame! The band has a good sense of how to build a song to a climax, so it's not just "intro, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, end", but feels like momentum is increasing right up until we get to that solo and chugging finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ1ge0mEXfc

!@ Jonpo/Re: Primordial

The Stone - Jesti Srca Ljudi

Now this is exactly the kind of black metal I like. Far from an expert on the genre, but when i find a black album i like, i worship it. I fuckin love the guitar tone. Epic at all times, it just never gets boring. It reminds me of At the Heart of Winter to be honest. They go from blast-beat infused madness to mid-paced thrashy chord progressions very unpredictably, which I think is what justifies the length of the song. The riffs are just excellent. From dissonant tremolo, to some augmented chords (correct me if i'm wrong), to some thrashy parts. The riff at 6:30 was exceptionally appropriate in its placement. These guys just know when to switch it up. "Ooops we've been blasting for 40 seconds. Slow it down!" That's how I imagine them being in the studio. The vocals are above average typical black rasps, drums do a nice job of supporting the alternating riffs. And there are, believe it or not some tasty leads hidden in there, especially around 5:20. Again, I can't stress enough how awesome the riffs are. And there's about 247 of them. That's right Dark Angel, you've been owned. Picking this up definitely (assuming it's not incredibly hard to find). Thanks for posting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8HFY24YoxM

God Dethroned - The Grand Grimoire.

This was actually pretty awesome. The opening riff got me hooked instantly. And all of them are quality riffs really. They're heavy but all of them don't forget to be catchy. This seems to be an overall catchy song. the "chorus" (666! I am the warlock and I bring you damnation) had me banging my head insanely. I like the vocals a lot, they have quite a bit of bite to them. The lead part at 2:30 is epic and leads the song into a slower but more majestic direction before picking up the pace with blast beats from hell. I love this drummer too, his tone isn't too triggered and his work has variety. This song seems to have everything I like. Good choice.
Oh and in response to the Primordial talk, I think they're a tremendous band as well. I didn't have a problem with the vocals on Redemption and their at times strange rhythm. Bloodied Yet Unbowed is probably my third favourite song ever.

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

Grand Magus - I am the North

I've heard of this band. I've heard one or two of their songs before but never really paid much attention to them. They've gotten some hype lately, even mentioned in -core infested magazines like Terrorizer and Metal Hammer from time to time. Anyway, about the song. This is some straight-up epic heavy metal. The bass intro sets things up nicely. Foreshadows the epicness that is to come. Unfortunately though, the epicness isn't as good as I expected it to be. The riffs are basically some pretty conventional chord progressions, thus bringing the vocals to the forefront. The production also helps with that, having put the vocals fairly high in the mix. That's good, cause I like the vocals. Not very high-pitched, but they do have an operatic quality to them. The chorus (or bridge? The part that goes "The wolf will rise") is pretty catchy. Overall, decent stuff, but I get the impression that this isn't their strongest material. I suspect they have much better songs. Anyway, good enough to make me want to check some more songs from them.

Epicness done right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZQ67whM_ZE

@tehfoks:

@ Necroticism

Manilla Road - "The Deluge"

Manilla Road is a band I've heard consistently praised to the high heavens, but never bothered checking out much. From this evidence, that's a crying shame.

The clean guitar opening section is fantastic, ominous and tension-building, before the song turns into a real headbanger. Even though I think the section of feedback at 2:30 is ill-advised, it's brief, and the barrage of thrashy riffing and driving basslines that comes afterwards more than makes up for it. Actually, the solos and riffs throughout are spot-on, managing to be lean, fast and precise without devolving into wanking, aside from one slightly annoying bit at 4:30, when it sounds like someone's trying to start up a motorboat. The bass is very audible and manages to stand apart from the guitars, and the drums throw in some excellent fills while keeping the beat precisely. The acoustic section at about 6:00 is a real surprise, but it works well, staying on point with marching drums and doesn't feel disconnected from the music at all (even though the spoken words and water sound effects after it are kind of cheesy). And man, the vocals. I can't really compare Mark Shelton to anybody else - his voice almost seems like it should be too soft for the music when he sings in a cleaner manner, but his raspy voice has exactly the power and force that this kind of metal needs.

Also, the song is 8:14, but the video is longer for some reason. That's a bit annoying. But aside from that, that was fantastic. Gonna get Crystal Logic first, if the reviews are a good guide.

EDIT: Oh, crap, forgot to post a song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzdXAsU2ADw

@ jerk

If I heard this on a commercial radio station, I would not be surprised due to the light-weight nature of everything about it. The musicianship is faultless here, really talented, which is shame that it's wasted on something as terrible as this song was. Same about the production, great instrumentation separation, but with noodling, time wasting song craft (didn't rate the guitar tone though). The lead work had no effect on me whatsoever, even though it was impeccable, it was just plain boring. There is plenty of variation throughout this eight (!) minute...thing, and you felt every one of them! BUT, it was not sharp, nor intriguing enough to hold my attention, and the vocals... dear gods they were horrible. This reminded me of a more haughty, proggy version of Sammy Hagar era Van Halen ( ), which killed it for me. Lyrically I couldn't care enough to want to listen to what ever he was warbling about. Not my thing this style for sure, and they can play, they just do so with awful song writing.

Back into the fray!

EDIT: Fuck. Okay, I won't delete this cause it took me like 4 song-lengths to write. I'll do CrushedRevelation's song in the same post.

Pain of Salvation - A Trace of Blood

I had heard a couple of songs by these guys a while ago, and I remember having a pleasant reaction, but for some reason I never bothered to check them out in depth.

This song is weird as shit. Progressive... hmm metal? rock? whatever. Avant-garde maybe? (I don't even know what that term means. Is it just a pretentious way of saying "prog"?) I absolutely loved the intro. The keyboard pattern is just great. Circular but not annoyingly repetitive, but what makes it even better are the melodic leads thrown on top of it. Fantastic. Then the song goes into a chuggy... well it's not really a riff, let's say a chuggy rhythm for lack of a better word. Some pseudo-emotional vocals to go with that, huge letdown after the amazing beginning. This goes on for a while, but then the intro comes back in a varied form at around 4:00! Yes! Even if I just heard it half a song ago, it's still awesome. The rock chorus that follows is fairly catchy, dare I say Dream Theater-ish? But with considerably lower vocals, which works. Nicely placed, right after the intro part. Then again some kinda boring vocals with some clean picking, but at 5:30 a cool partially muted riff makes a first appearance! I think that's the only actual riff in the song. The chorus comes back at 7:00, making the song interesting again, with some tasteful leads again in the background. One thing I have to say about this song is that the arrangement (composition?), the way things are placed in relation to each other is clearly well thought-out. The points where the mood changes are strategically chosen. It's unpredictable but in a good way, like you wanted the change to come but would have never expected it would. So much shit going on in this song man... Just listen to it. I'm out of words.

Sonne Adam - Armed With Hammers

I would describe this as Doom/Black. Even though it has death metal riffs, it somehow reeks of the aesthetics of the most kvlt BM. Brooding and fucking filthy as fuck this song is. The guitar tone is gritty and crushing, and I understand how one can love this. But I don't. This is the furthest you can get from my personal taste. The guitars are so low, it sounds kinda like the bass is doing the riffing. Needless to say, the bass is prevalent and in-your-face. The drums are just there i guess. The vocals are deep growls, scary and appropriate to the music, yet they feel out of place for me. I think I would have maybe wanted them lower in the mix? Yeah that's probably it. They seem a bit loud to me. I didn't like this song in the least, but don't take my word for it. This is totally not my cup of tea. Check this song out yourselves.

Something a little faster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7G7iYCxK9U

@ CrushedRevelation

@ Tehfoks/re: The Stone

Vektor - Destroying the Cosmos.

Fucking Vektor man. They are rapidly becoming one of my favourite bands. The hype is justified for once. I think Outer Isolation is the better album, but they're both amazing. The clean intro is actually well done, as it has a few subtle elements going on at the same time. When that first riff kicks in, it's just over for any self-respecting headbangers neck. These guys take the thrash template and run with it. I can hear elements of quite a few different styles of metal in here. There are so many riffs too. Some chugging riffs, some thrash riffs, some tremolo riffs. Everything. The vocals are insane, and just add to the frenetic sound. I'm especially fond of his banshee shrieks. The drummer really knows what he's doing too, throwing in lots of interesting fills and varied beats with good tone. The delivery is great, so is their ear for structure and crazy soloing. THIS is thrash revival done right.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCmW0WpViug

Code - I Hold Your Light

Wasn't really expecting clean vocals here but they do seem to work; guy has a smooth, light (haha!) kind of voice. He doesn't sound enthousiastic, nor bored but decent enough to my ears. Some decent riffing going on which deliver. The only thing that I felt could be there were some black metal shrieks thrown in here and there. Song sounds decent and has a strange atmosphere but I wouldn't like an entire album to sound like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYply4Ktz4

Paradise Lost - Never for the Damned

I like the dreamy vibe to this song. The vocals are very good clean singing with a lot of energy to them. Perhaps a little too industrial sounding for my taste right now though. This is weirdly my first time listening to Paradise Lost even though I have known about them for years.

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

Paradise Lost - Never For The Damned
This is one of my favorite tunes from In Requiem, and here's my justification; chugging, simple and catchy riffs with a driving rhythm, haunting melodies abound, and an excellent use of keyboards, with Nick Holmes' signature snarl above it all. Gregor Mackintosh, of course, constructs a beautiful, solemn lead towards the end that is easily the song's climax, all the while Jeff Singer keeps a steady beat in the background which, even if not the most entertaining drumming I've ever heard, it's difficult to say it doesn't serve the song's purpose just fine. And back to Holmes; we all know he's no virtuoso, but he's got attitude, and the cleaner, deeper vocals he employs in a couple of instances sound ghostly in a great way. The keyboards are the icing on the cake, providing the little yet necessary details that turn a good song into a great one. Not much to say about this, besides being Paradise Lost at their catchiest and most enjoyable.

I adore this song.

Mandatory - Adrift Beyond - Into Eternal Sleep

Groovy, mid-paced death metal with thin guitar sounds, prominent bass licks and completely atrocious synth. Noodly guitar lead kicks in. Vocalist sounds like a mixture between the vocalist of Dragged Into Sunlight and of At The Gates. Oh, it was melodeath after all? Not that bad, this melodeath lead part, sounds ripped off from a Intestine Baalism song or even Dissection. For fuck's sake the vocalist is terrible though. If it weren't for the stylistic inconsistency, quality inconsistency, some crappy groovy riff, crappy keyboards and ridiculously crappy vocals, this would be quite good I think.

Ayreon - The Human Equation

Ah, it's one of these metal opera things. The material sounds slightly uninspired here, at least initially. Of course it's completely listenable and everything, but it lacks the inspired brilliance that metal should always have, and seems to function mainly as a vehicle for the vocalists. While the electronic-infused prog style is not awfully generic, most of the riffs and chord progressions are so painfully typical that, I think, if a Disney movie had a metal soundtrack, it would sound a lot like this. Obvious and generic chord progressions don't ruin a song, even when there's nothing but, however, another peeving aspect is the marching rhythm. Third, and most important, major source of annoyment is the smooth, silky production. It completely lacks any abrasive edge.

Anneke sounded very good there, though (whereas some unindentified singers were crap, and that growl near the end was hilariously incongruous).

Overall, dishonest and uninspired sounding prog metal with many good aspects but that still managed to suck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY0LAn9menE

@ Abominatrix



@ jerk



@ Code - I Hold Your Light

Krieg - Deviant

Standard USBM here. No sugar-coating to be found anywhere. Starts of full-speed with some tremolo-blast beat combination. You know the one, you've heard it about a thousand times before. But hey, it still works. A thrashy, bouncy riff comes in at around :40 along with a slower drum pattern. Yes, you guessed it. It's the one you've heard over and over in every black/thrash threepiece since the early nineties. But hey, guess what, it still works. Run of the mill rasps, not much else to say about the vocals, but the drums on the other hand, there's a bit more variety than your usual BM drum machine. Even some fills to be found! Nice touch. All in all, the band uses very conventional BM techniques, riffs and aesthetics, yet somehow they manage to own them. It works, if I may repeat myself once more. Nothing groundbreaking, but who says it needs to be? Fun stuff.

Some even more fun stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT4KJc0xths

Xentrix - Questions

Nice melodic lead guitar during intro before the riffs kick in. Eventually the riffs kick in and are very headbang-worthy and would sure be fun to mosh along to. I also like the drumming which sounds a bit nuts but also keeps everything together. The vocals unfortunately disappoint me. This dude reminds me of Chuck Billy; guy has this tough, sort of raspy but dry voice which doesn't do much for me at all. The chorus is fun to sing along to and quite catchy but I would have enjoyed this much more if it wasn't for the vocalist. The guy from Watchtower or Toxik would fit much better I think. Also, the cover art really makes no sense at all to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeH1dFXBuuE

Vallenfure - Desecration

I know these guys as some death/doom super group with various UK/Swedish metal people, and I'm quite surprised at how much it sounds like Swedish death metal actually (this band only has one Swede, right?), it's actually a pretty cool blend. The Swedish tone meets Paradise Lost's Gothic or something... the guitar tone certainly has the appropriate roar to it. Not the most inspired song in the world, but an interesting hybrid... I'd more interested in more of this stuff than I would a new PL/MDB album. Promising, although there are some flaws writing-wise... the main lead guitar riff gets over-used and the vocals could be a bit more exciting.

As it happens I'll be seeing these lot live at Bolt Fest in April... although, I'll be saving my energy for Bolt Thrower and Autopsy, more likely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qPO69_0D18

Fuck it, I'll save the ever-growing (currently 3-4) pages worth of comments for my next days off (or, more realistically, I'll ask my boss whether "exponential shitload of comments to address in The Thread" is negotiable as a motive for a sabbatical), if I don't catch up quick, whatever's left of my lifetime won't be enough by the time I do have time to do so...


Ha! Challenge, you say? Yes, indeed; I mean, it's The fucking Crown [Formerly 'Of Thorns'], and not an oddball curiosity of a previously unreleased track from out of nowhere's ass either, it's "Killing Star"! The jaw-dropping closer of the mighty 'Deathrace King'. Yop. Well, well... This is a quintessential piece of "evil thrash"-inheriting, Motörhead-saluting, ever-slightly-blackened speedeath, by one of the Ballsy Three of the sort-of wave, and one of the greats of the vibe. It sets the mood very nicely with a subtle epic build-up, around a riff that is secretly the bastard son of the intros of "War Pigs" and "The Sentinel", except with the sharp-but-still-raw production values of the late 90's & (good) early 2000's. 2 good, well-spent minutes of anticipation later, full-on bluesy-but-punchy mayhem ensues, only to let on for the universally powerful and catchy, life-might-be-a-bitch,-but-it's-a-fucking-good-one,-isn't-it,-eh? hymn that is the chorus — Killing Star! Killing Star! — the guitar tone feels just like finally scratching one's itchy beard where it itches; the vocals are 100% pure, unadulterated vitriol in audible form, the drums pound like fucking Scott Columbus was behind the (construction of the) kit, if he ever had added frantic blast beats to his drumming style; the back-up vocals are the raging hordes of thirsty metalheads screaming for a beer with a vengeance... Oh, and the riffs!!!1! This. Is. Revenge!!!

Seriously though: The Crown fucking rules. I mean, I have this album, I know it very well, yet I've just listened to that song like 6-7 times off YT just because ANA linked to it...

***Warning***
Do NOT look at the video! Just put the volume on maximum, and then switch back to another tab, and let it play. The sound is fine and faithful, though.
***Warning***

@monsieur LegendMaker & ANA

@Crushed: