Reviews : Search Results for 2007
558 reviews for 2007:
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3 Inches of Blood Fire Up The Blades Roadrunner Records 2007 |
Having more than proved themselves with their last album, Advance and Vanquish, I was initially sad and shocked to hear that the only returning members of 3 Inches of Blood were vocalists, Pipes and Hooper. You see, it’s been very, very hard for me to take power metal at all seriously, and until these guys delivered the goods with... Read More » |
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A Gruesome Find Of Blood and Nobility Independent Release 2007 |
This is really solid blackened death from Ohio, though you would probably think Sweden upon listening to it. Imagine Naglfar with vocals that sound like they have disotortion on them, but don't. I don't quite know how to describe them but the fact they appear to be a natural sound is pretty impressive. More impressive still is... Read More » |
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A Perfect Murder War of Aggression Victory Records 2007 |
A Perfect Murder really did start out their career sounding like a metalcore band. It didn’t take these Canucks much time, though, to feel out the need to add more thrash and a shit-kicker attitude to their repertoire. The group’s third full-length effort sounds more like a simpler, Phil Anselmo-fronted version of The Haunted than something an angry... Read More » |
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A Perfect Murder War of Aggression Victory Records 2007 |
I saw these cats live a few years back and remember them being a fairly straight forward, breakdown-fueled metalcore band, but since then the band apparently listened to a whole lot of Pantera. I mean a whole lot. And a little Alice In Chains, too.
Start with a base of Vulgar Display of Power style groovy, hook-filled riffing and add a... Read More » |
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A Second from the Surface The Streets Have Eyes This Dark Reign 2007 |
Minneapolis, Minnesota's A Second From the Surface are a fast and furious three piece gindcore outfit brimming with scathing rage. The Streets Have Eyes is the band's first outing and I'm not 100% certain if it is being marketed as a full length or an EP, but it's 10 tracks only cover 20 minutes, so I'd hope they're just calling... Read More » |
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Abigail Williams Legend Candlelight Records 2007 |
Legend is Phoenix-based Abigail Williams’ debut EP. The five songs herein are absolutely scorching, showing songwriting adeptness and ability far beyond the band’s newcomer status in the metal scene. Blending mostly early Black Dahlia Murder style brutal, dense melodic death metal with a tasteful amount of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir black metal, this band sound fucking fearless.... Read More » |
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Abigail Williams Legend Candlelight Records 2007 |
The once disbanded Abigail Williams, a massive embodiment of all things metal, has regrouped! Their debut EP, "Legend," displays incredible amounts of strength and talent for these musicians. They deliver genre defying elements; composing a hybrid of bombastic black metal, Gothenburg style death, and hints of hardcore breakdowns. This is greatly in favor of fierce undeniable black... Read More » |
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Aborted Slaughter & Apparatus : A Methodical Overture Century Media 2007 |
When it comes to goregrind, my mind almost shuts off completely unless I'm being treated to the progenitors of the genre (that's Carcass) or a fair couple of frothing, enthusiastic bands wearing clothes donated to the Salvation Army by Bill Steer and Michael Amott circa 1993 with some comparable skill and, more importantly, their own spin. While a few... Read More » |
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Abruptum Evil Genius Southern Lord 2007 |
If there ever were an 800-pound gorilla lurking in the dank corner of black metal’s cave, its name would be Abruptum. Some might suggest Burzum for the sake of notoriety or Cradle of Filth for simply existing, but in the end both are no more than monkeys on black metal’s back, to continue the metaphor, and do not seriously threaten... Read More » |
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Accurst A Phantom's Noctuary Serpene Heli Music Collective 2007 |
When I was a younger person, I loved haunted house albums and that's exactly what this reminds me of. Accurst is a one man project, and the 43 minute long "A Phantom's Noctuary" is accused of being "decadent music" by its progenitor. All dark ambient with spoken words, it creeps around and tries to scare you,... Read More » |
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Adonis Decay Messenger 2007 |
Every now and then I hear a band that has way too much talent for their own good, Adonis Decay are one of those bands. Take your average Dillenger guided jagged and overly technical hardcore and just for fun add in some Cattle Decapitation style pig squeal vocals and you will make something that I will truly dislike. ... Read More » |
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Aeon Rise to Dominate Century Media 2007 |
Many praised Aeon's last effort, "Bleeding the False" as being the record that Deicide should have made that year given their decades of experience and newfound vigor as found in their revamped lineup, but truth be told even if Deicide had recorded something that trumped "Legion" it wouldn't have come close to Aeon's all-senses-assault and unparalleled conviction. So then,... Read More » |
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Aeon Rise to Dominate Century Media 2007 |
This is my first time hearing Sweden's Aeon and I really wish I had gotten on this bandwagon a lot sooner. The best way I can describe them is to say that this is what Deicide should have become. This is one heavy, crushing beast of a record. It's somewhere between Vader and Decapitated to me, not... Read More » |
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After All The Vermin Breed Locomotive Records 2007 |
After All is an old school thrash band from Belgium. They combine some great Bay Area style riffs processed through The Haunted with vocals that remind me of Chuck Billy of Testament. I would say that these vocals are almost sung at times, and damn they sound good. Piet Focroul is a great singer, combining harsher vocals... Read More » |
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Agnostic Front Working Class Heroes I Scream Records 2007 |
Does Agnostic Front really need an intro? I don't fucking think so.
Well, this is a re-issue of the band's split with European streetcore band Discipline. It is a live split, which I think is kind of interesting, so you can expect 15 tracks from various periods of the bands 20 some years of existence. The split was originally released... Read More » |
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Agnostic Front Warriors 2007 |
I like Agnostic Front well enough and have a very high level of respect for the guys steadfastness in truly living the hardcore life for 25+ years.... but just hang it up already. It's not like they are out there tarnishing their legacy with bad nu-metal discs like Sepultura did for a while, but they certianly are not adding anything... Read More » |
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Agony Apocalyptic Dawning Disconcert Music 2007 |
You know those albums where you hear the opening riff, look at the length of the album and say to yourself, “Damn, this is going to be a loooong, boring listen.” We’ve all started playing a dull, seemingly-never-ending album before. The problem with reviewing one of these, however, is that you’re not really supposed to give up on... Read More » |
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Akercocke Antichrist Earache Records 2007 |
For all the genre experimentation going on in modern music, the more extreme reaches of death metal have remained relatively unaffected. Indeed, some groups have come to prize their resistance to change as a positive trait, and those that do branch out are subject to much skepticism.
It follows, then, that England’s Akercocke would choose the completely opposite approach for... Read More » |
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Alabama Thunderpussy Open Fire Relapse Records 2007 |
Alabama Thunderpussy lets loose with their sixth full length and eighth release overall, not counting compilations. Few bands could go through the line up changes they have and still release solid records. Open Fire is the debut for their third vocalist, Kyle Thomas, the legendary lead vocalist of Exhorder. Don’t let that fool you though. Kyle’s vocals are down home... Read More » |
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Alchemist Tripsis 2007 |
The Australian metal scene has been ripe for years now, but Alchemist have been blowing minds with their ethereal metal mastery well before the groundswell. The band’s 2007 installment, Tripsis, is exactly what one might hope for from these guys. It’s heavy in the way only Alchemst can manage, it’s spaced out and trippy, superbly written and produced,... Read More » |
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Almah Edu Falashi Candlelight Records 2007 |
Of the many unique experiences ProgPower USA had to offer this year, perhaps the most intriguing had nothing to do with the bands on stage. Although it’s still unconfirmed, some informed parties at the festival this year were saying that Angra are now ‘on-hold’. Surprising as this may be at first, it’s not all that difficult to believe, as many... Read More » |
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Almost is Nothing Ways to Spend the End of Days Independent Release 2007 |
So I’m leaving yet another overpriced, letdown metal show at Portland’s Roseland Theater at midnight, and lo and behold there are a couple of guys across the street with a boom box on a card table blasting some music that’s vaguely reminiscent of The Black Dahlia Murder and earlier Darkest Hour. The part of town, though not exactly... Read More » |
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Aluk Todolo Descension 2007 |
Well first of all don't ask me to classify this because I can't. However I can definitively say that it is quite dull. The first song alone should tell you where this album is going as it is a storm of instruments recorded with the levels way too high so it sounds like a heavily distorted toilet flush... Read More » |
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Amber Asylum Still Point Profound Lore Records 2007 |
I cannot believe this is the fifth full length for Amber Asylum. I distinctly remember the debut, Frozen In Amber, being released by Misanthropy and rushing to get it because it was the “women from Neurosis”. In the 11 years since that moment, some things have changed and some have not. Kris Force’s music has grown up but gotten darker... Read More » |
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Amorphis Silent Waters Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
I will admit that I did not give Tomi a fair shake for vocals on Eclipse. Even though Pasi was in reality the second vocalist for Amorphis, I felt he was the voice of the band. With the release of Eclipse, a perceived lack of range really sank Tomi in my mind. Going into the release of Silent Waters,... Read More » |
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Angelcorpse Of Lucifer and Lightning Osmose Productions 2007 |
With the recent disbandment of Usurper, the ledger of venerable U.S. death metal bands took another serious blow. Although the titans like Deicide, Suffocation, and Morbid Angel still remain, one could easily argue that the second-tier bands—not quite as popular but no less respectable or long-standing—are just as critical to the health of this nation’s scene. Without the towering legacies,... Read More » |
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Antigama Nyla+Antigama 2007 |
With double the quantity and quality of output, Antigama win the battle in the split versus fellow Poles, NYIA. The band play a jagged brand of bursty start-stop grind that feels like its antipsychotic meds are slowly losing efficacy over these six tracks. "Beyond Me" features drums that provide a fitting cadence for drunken surgeons playing guitar in a blackout.Then... Read More » |
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Apostolum Anedonia Moribund Records 2007 |
It is still amazing to me, even being a huge Opeth fan, that 5 songs can run longer than most full-length albums. Such is the case with Apostolum. The band hails from Italy and they have unleashed an EP that is both impressive and annoying at the same time. There are three songs, an intro and an outro. Really? Two... Read More » |
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Apostolum Anedonia Moribund Records 2007 |
Anedonia is the absolute mess of a debut from Apostolum on Moribund Records. The Italians play a very odd version of droning, blackened doom that has some decent ideas that bubble to the surface from time to time, but for the most part the material herein is very ho-hum and sometimes downright bad.
Case in point: What the hell is going... Read More » |
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Arcana Coelestia Ubi Secreta Colunt Aeternitas Tenebrarum Music Foundation 2007 |
Arcana Coelestia’s Ubi Secreta Colum is a black/doom metal record about quasi-famous Swedish playwright and Swedenborgian disciple, August Strindberg—which means that my brutal death metal rock opera about the life and times of Martin Luther, Impaled 95 Times, just became strictly also-ran.
What’s nice about this record, though, is that unlike most black/doom records, it’s got a clear, expansive production job.... Read More » |
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Arch Enemy Rise of the Tyrants 2007 |
Arch Enemy are a band with so much individual musical talent, it should be nearly impossible to have low expectations for any of their releases. Since their release of Anthems of Rebellion, a disc that in itself was not bad but signified a change in the band’s focus, I have tried to expect less from this juggernaut of the... Read More » |
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Architect All is Not Lost 2007 |
A Black Market Activities act featuring ex-members of Found Dead Hanging? I wonder what this might sound like?
Architect play a furious brand of caustic, grinding post-hardcore in the vein of Coalesce, Ed Gein, Norma Jean, etc. with furious being the keyword here. Simply put, these fuckers never let up for the entirety of All Is Not Lost. If they aren’t... Read More » |
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Argharus Sonitus Caeli Ardentis Ledo Takas Records 2007 |
Argharus have a lot to live up as they get four songs to follow up the speed crazed lunacy that is Luctus. I would probably dig these guys a bit more if they didn't follow Luctus. This is not a bad album by any stretch but it doesn't quite have the energy I like from my records. ... Read More » |
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Arise and Ruin The Final Dawn Victory Records 2007 |
Ontario’s Arise and Ruin are trying so hard not to be the typical metal/death-core act on their debut, The Final Dawn. The riffs on many of the songs do show a particular adeptness and taste for mid/late 90s thrash and melodic death metal, while the vocals, though hardcore-ish are pretty heavy and tolerable. Where their material fails them... Read More » |
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Arson Anthem Arson Anthem 2007 |
Phil Anselmo, Mike Williams, and Hank Williams III all in one band together and you don’t know what it sounds like? Sure, you do. It’s fucking brutal sludge harkening back to when Eyehategod and Buzzoven were dangerous.
There is no song on this CD that lasts even two minutes. Eight tracks of brutal noise and heroin drip, Southern style. No... Read More » |
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Arsonists Get All the Girls The Game of Life Century Media 2007 |
You will have to have a sense of adventure and humor when listening to this album. If you consider yourself a traditionalist in anyway when it comes to music, I will tell you now, that you hate this band in no uncertain terms. If you like your death metal pure, if you like your metal core (or as we used... Read More » |
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Art of Simplicity Caught In this Iless Storm Burning Star Records 2007 |
I'm at a flat out loss to explain this one. I am not a fan of prog by any stretch. I generally find it all to be overblown technical wankery and nothing more. I'm used to castrato vocals and excessive noodling that tries to pass itself off as an actual song. Art of Simplicity don't do... Read More » |
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Asbestosdeath Dejection/Unclean 2007 |
Four tracks. That is only recorded output of the band that would later become know as Sleep. Upon that statement alone most people know that finding this is mandatory for their collection. Twenty minutes of slightly less perfected stoner/doom metal from the people who also went on to become responsible for the bands OM and High on Fire.
The four tracks... Read More » |
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At The Throne Of Judgment The Arcanum Order Rise Records 2007 |
Once again Rise Records sticks to their formula for bands, one that has served them pretty well in their quest to bring new bands to the forefront. At The Throne Of Judgment is a member of the post At The Gates and Coalesce musical community. Lot’s of melodic guitar parts played underneath punishing guitar chords that incite riots.
ATTOJ has... Read More » |
![Atrophy, "Socialized Hate [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/atrophy_socialized.jpg "Atrophy, \"Socialized Hate [reissue]\"")
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Atrophy Socialized Hate [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
No discussion of Tucson, Arizona's Atrophy can be undertaken without mentioning my old roommate in the Hell House, Krazy Ken. Several years before he rented out the back bedroom in my house, Ken had given me a mix tape featuring a ton of thrash metal. I knew about half the bands, but some were unknowns to... Read More » |
![Atrophy, "Violent By Nature [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/atrophy_violentbyn.jpg "Atrophy, \"Violent By Nature [reissue]\"")
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Atrophy Violent By Nature [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
Krazy Ken's grandmother lived in Arizona, and he was always heading out there on vacation with his family. This explains why Ken was so familiar with the Arizona thrash scene, championing bands like Sacred Reich, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Atrophy... bands we'd never heard of before. Good thing Ken had his stubby ears to the... Read More » |
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Audiopain The Switch to Turn Off Mankind 2007 |
Audiopain have returned to my speakers and I couldn't be happier for it. They bring back their old school Nuclear Assault style of thrash back, though they add some raspy death vocals to the mix as opposed to whatever you would call John Connelly's vocals. The guitar tone is what Game Over could have been had it not... Read More » |
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Avichi The Divine Tragedy Numen Malevolum Barathri 2007 |
From the get go, track one prepares you for the album's upcoming events; most effectively by using an ambient nothingness of sounds. As well, so cleverly ending the disc with a final track that is also absolutely nothing except empty ambients. So, there's two pointless filler tracks down, with six more to go in between. I don't... Read More » |
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Axel Rudi Pell Diamonds Unlocked SPV 2007 |
Tacky German guitar histrionics by way of Top 40 schlock and old school cock rock covers? This is like a mixed tape David Hasselhoff might have made to jam on K.I.T.T.'s tape deck while vacationing in the Napa Valley: uber-retarded. The novelty is moderately funny at first but then you just feel insulted. Does it get any worse than an... Read More » |
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Balboa Project Mercury Level-Plane Records 2007 |
First up on this split/collaboration is Philadelphia's Balboa. Quite a bit has changed since Manifeste Canniballe when we last heard from these guys. They can still loosely be called a politcal post-hardcore band, however their past Converge-like chaotic attack has morphed into a more NeurIsis styled beast. On opener "Primitive Accumulation" the band starts with a slow, simple guitar line... Read More » |
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Baroness A Grey Sigh In A Flower Husk At a Loss Recordings 2007 |
On their split with Unpersons, Baroness delivers 2 songs, and almost 19 minutes of brutal doom sonics. Baroness is like Enemy era Neurosis meets Sleep. Long plodding tracks that climax with eruptions of guitars, but are mixed with classic doom style leads. Much like soundscape artists, like Vidna Obmana, you are not sure where the song is going but you... Read More » |
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Baroness The Red Album Relapse Records 2007 |
Of the debut LP’s the metal world has seen this year, few were as anticipated as Baroness’s ‘The Red Album’. Formed in 2003, this Savannah-based quartet has released a couple EP’s and one very well-regarded split with Unpersons—the primary source of the hype for their debut—all before signing to Relapse earlier this year. Even before the signing, though, Baroness had... Read More » |
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Bayside The Walking Wounded Victory Records 2007 |
After the untimely death of former drummer John Holohan while on tour a few years back, Bayside has since rebounded with an acoustic CD/DVD and now presents the band's new album, The Walking Wounded, enlisting the help of a session and tour drummer in place of Holohan. Featuring sounds that nestle in nicely at label home Victory Records, The Walking... Read More » |
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Be'lakor The Frail Tide Independent Release 2007 |
Be'lakor have clearly drawn influences from bands like Insomnium, but that isn't necessarily unoriginal. "The Frail Tide" showcases some great Norwegian sounding metal, except it is coming out of Australia. I mean, nowadays bands pretty much can't help sounding like their biggest influences. So, if a talented group like Be'lakor wants to sound as if they dwell... Read More » |
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Behemoth Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) [reissue Metal Mind Records 2007 |
This is not the Behemoth you most likely know and love, though it is indeed Nergal. This is from their past when they were a straight up black metal band. They did it pretty well too. That said I have to admit I'm much more of a fan of the direction they took on Satanica, still my... Read More » |
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Behold...the Arctopus Skullgrid Metal Blade 2007 |
Instrumental techsters, Behold…The Arctopus , will turn your body inside out and thoroughly skull fuck you…all before the one-minute title track of their album Skullgrid ends. If mind-blowing technical metal sans vocals, razor sharp, spastic, all-over-the-place (and I really, truly mean this) guitars and drums that keep pace with the madness is your cup of tea, then this album... Read More » |
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Benea Reach Monument Bineothan Candlelight Records 2007 |
A large chunk of down tuned riffs , a hefty dose of core vocals, and with a very small amount of doom-laden chords, Benea Reach take the stage. Now, these fellows are from Norway, so what's with all the core? I will say that it is certainly more sludgy and post-metal-ish, but that still means it will most likely... Read More » |
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Beneath the Massacre Mechanics of Dysfunction Prosthetic Records 2007 |
In 2005, the worlds of Myspace and Heavy Metal reached the peak of their happy union. This was before the backlash, back when bands and fans were still enamored with the intimacy and easy popularity the network offered, with young newcomers benefiting in particular. One might even say that an entire metal subgenre was developed, in part, due to Myspace’s... Read More » |
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Beowülf Westminster & 5th I Scream Records 2007 |
Beowulf formed in the early '80s and released several discs throughout the decade, but the band was basically gutted in the early '90s leaving only Dale Henderson to hire some new guns. The material with the new lineup never caught on quite like the original incarnation of the band. Westminster & 5th is the band's first album in a long... Read More » |
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Bergraven Dodsvisioner Hydra Head Records 2007 |
If their press material is to be believed, Bergraven are the heir apparent to the throne of modern, forward-thinking black metal, which, evidently, is presently held by Deathspell Omega, Ondskapt, and Leviathan. Citing “cinematic passages” and “tortured-yet-vaguely-authoritarian and Germanic vocal overtones”, the band’s second album, ‘Dödsvisioner’, is alleged to solidify Bergraven’s position amongst the elite ‘visionaries’.
In reality, this... Read More » |
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Between the Buried and Me Colors Victory Records 2007 |
Irony, while immediately gratifying to the senses, shouldn't be the main precept for a true artist's output. While Between the Buried and Me are trying very hard to morph themselves into a kind of artistic legitimacy from their Dillinger-emulating metalcore past, the means by which they're attempting this are too annoyingly juvenile to warrant actual validity.
While this record is... Read More » |
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Between the Buried and Me Colors Victory Records 2007 |
When Between the Buried and Me released their sophomore album, ‘The Silent Circus’, back in 2003, it met with instant and nearly unanimous critical acclaim. Although the approach is relatively commonplace today, their progressive and technical themes were both unique and surprisingly genuine. Critics and fans alike prized them as a personal favorite band, America’s premier metal act, the saviors... Read More » |
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Bewitched Spiritual Warfare Regain Records 2007 |
There are a lot of retro sounding bands around. There are also a lot of all star bands around, but when you put together members of Naglfar, Katatonia, Ancient Wisdom, Blood Bath and Diabolical Masquerade, I have to listen. This is the bands seventh release, not counting the live album and they still play filthy post Celtic Frost style thrash.... Read More » |
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Birdflesh Mondo Musicale Candlelight Records 2007 |
I'm really, really bad about judging bands by their name/artwork/general aura before hearing them. I mean, I'm right a lot of the time, but every so often a band like Pig Destroyer or Birdflesh comes along and completely knocks me on my ass. When I first got a glance at the cover art for Prowler in the Yard I intentionally... Read More » |
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Black Cobra Feather and Stone 2007 |
Black Cobra join the club that’s currently led by bands like High on Fire and Mastodon. On the group’s Feather and Stone album, these guys spew forth eight short tracks in right around 25 minutes. The music, as you’d expect, takes on a neanderthal pace and heaviness, is drenched in fuzzy, bottom-feeding guitar tones and is wracked... Read More » |
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Black Sabbath The Dio Years Rhino Records 2007 |
What is not to like about this? Actually, the worst thing about this release is that there is only one track from “Live Evil”, one of the best live metal albums of all time. “The Dio Years” is basically a greatest hits album with the inclusion of three new tracks to insure that people who have these albums buy this... Read More » |
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Black Spring Dagger Poems Howard Records 2007 |
Let's see...
* 18 tracks in a little under 40 minutes
* Members of Exit the King
* Has shared the stage with DEP, Soilent Green, Kalibas, Curl Up And Die, Employer Employee, etc.
Can you tell me what this band might sound like?
If you can't, don't sweat it; that is what I'm here for. As you might have guessed from the above... Read More » |
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Black Trip Wings of Steel Independent Release 2007 |
Mexico’s Black Trip rip through four thrashy, somewhat melodic death metal songs on Wings of Steel, a self-released EP. The songs are all in the three- to four-minute range, and all are seem a little under-produced and some even show vocal/music timing mismatches. Moreover, the second track “Crosswind,” uses a melodic riff in the chorus that I... Read More » |
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Blakagir Carpathian Art of Sin Pulverised Records 2007 |
There is very little information about Blakagir. Even the labels website lists the album with a TBD release date, no band site link, and don’t list them as being on their roster, but yet, here is the album. From what I can dig up, this is their second release, the first being on the Black Plague label, not counting two... Read More » |
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Blessed Death Destined for Extinction 2007 |
I had never heard of these guys before so I was surprised to find out this was a reissue from the late 80's. This is solid 80' style thrash but I think I know why it went out of print. They have some of the worst vocals I've ever heard. Not all the time, Larry Portelli alternates... Read More » |
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Blinded By Faith Weapons of Mass Distraction Galy Records 2007 |
Blinded by Faith are a French-Canadian band who remind me of one of those sad truths I hate to recall. Namely that good politics don't always make for good music. Like me, BBF are no friends of George Bush. In fact it's a pretty vehement anger that comes from both of us on the subject. This... Read More » |
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Blood of the Black Owl Blood of the Black Owl Bindrune Recordings 2007 |
When I first picked up the debut CD from Blood Of The Black Owl, Svart Ugle, the imagery and talk of ritualistic, blackened doom led me to kind of expect a Moss or Bunkur-style extravaganza of painful, drawn out and acid-etched doom: the aesthetic and production values of black metal with the most unpleasant and sludgiest of doom. Instead what... Read More » |
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Blood Red Throne Come Death Earache Records 2007 |
If you’ve heard one Blood Red Throne album and liked it, you’ll like all of their stuff. If you don’t like it, you’ll probably accuse the band of sounding exactly the same from track to track and album to album. I’m of the former group, and I revel in every filthy groove, disgusting lyric, brutal death grunt and... Read More » |
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Blood Tsunami Thrash Metal Candlelight Records 2007 |
If you’re a metalhead, and more specifically, as a metalhead who can’t get enough thrash, you know exactly what I mean when I say that there are albums out there that just make you want to pound shots, fuck anything that moves, drive waaaaaay too fast, and kill all in your way (not necessarily in that order). Because when... Read More » |
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Blood Tsunami Thrash Metal Candlelight Records 2007 |
Their name is Blood Tsunami –– let's give 'em 10,000 points right outta the box. But the album is simply called "Thrash Metal"? Let's take those 10,000 points back. Call me a dick, but there's nothing cute or even reverential about the album title. It's just dumb. Especially coming from a band who seems to know precisely what they want... Read More » |
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Bloodsoaked Brutally Butchered Independent Release 2007 |
One-man death metal outfit Bloodsoaked offer up Brutally Butchered, fronted by vocalist/guitarist/bassist/drum programmer Peter Hasselbrack - one dude that professes his love of old-school death metal early in the band's bio, citing Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Deicide, Death and Deeds of Flesh as inspirations. Combining straight-forward death metal in the old-school vein and featuring consistently guttural vocals reminiscent of Cannibal Corpse,... Read More » |
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Bloody Panda Pheremone Level-Plane Records 2007 |
Pheromone is a pretty damn strange disc when it comes right down to it. First of all, since when did Level Plane, better known for punk/hardcore/screamo, start releasing doom albums? Secondly, the album was produced by Jason Marcucci (Flaming Lips, White Stripes) and mixed by Sarah Register (Lou Reed, Calla), neither of which have proven themselves in the metal realm.... Read More » |
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Bloody Panda Pheremone Level-Plane Records 2007 |
As a drone/doom outfit featuring a Japanese female, Bloody Panda are no doubt aware of the comparisons to Boris they will be forced to endure, likely for the remainder of their career. However, a more accurate comparison would actually be to Thorr’s Hammer, the short-lived collaboration of SunnO))) members Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley with the now-legendary Runhild, a dreamy... Read More » |
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Bloody Sign Explosions of Elements Ibex Moon Records 2007 |
Bloody Sign are a welcome surprise to my ears. I had no idea that the next Angel Corpse would come from France. By this I mean they sound a lot like early Morbid Angel to me. Mix this with some Belphegor and Immolation and you have a slab of death that Satan himself would be proud to... Read More » |
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Blotted Science The Machinations of Dementia Eclectic Electric 2007 |
Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Spastic Ink, Gordian Knot) has a new album out, and Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) plays bass on it? I'm sold already. Hold on... AND Charlie Zeleny (Behold... The Arctopus, Jorden Rudess) on drums? As a recent graduate of the Keanu Reeves School of Emoting, let me use my new found knowledge... Read More » |
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Blut Aus Nord Odinist 2007 |
After confounding the black metal world (in a good way) with ‘The Work Which Transforms God’ in 2003, France’s Blut Aus Nord proceeded to confound once again (this time in a not so good way) with ‘MoRT’. Both albums were merciless slabs of atonal misery, but something about ‘MoRT’s industrial lurching just didn’t click with some listeners. Evidently, that record... Read More » |
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Blutch Materia At a Loss Recordings 2007 |
Blutch is a sludge trio from Belgium. They happily meander from quirky dark Melvins weirdness to further out-there screaming torture, and even wind up the album with a Gothic-flavored exercise in drones and feedback, approaching Sunn O))) levels of purity. Happily for us, as well, because the variety keeps things interesting on Materia; one thing even the most ardently unhappy... Read More » |
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Born Of Osiris The New Reign Sumerian Records 2007 |
I was recently asked what I thought the next new thing in metal was going to be. I think, perhaps, it might already be here. Born of Osiris contains so much in its tightly structured tracks, that I don’t know it has ever been done before.
The songs are a musical aficionados wet dream. It features the progressive writing of a... Read More » |
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Brain Drill Apocalyptic Feasting Metal Blade 2007 |
It's a shame that I'm only getting to this review two months after its release date, and it turns out Brain Drill isn't even around any more! The members are still around, sure, but apparently Brain Drill's parts are a bit dashed at this point, giving me this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that indicates we... Read More » |
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Bring Me the Horizon Count Your Blessings 2007 |
Straight up: The United Kingdom's latest buzz band, Bring Me The Horizon, will appeal to fans of Suicide Silence, Job For A Cowboy, and the modern crop of bands that have apparently tricked themselves into thinking they're death metal behind the guise of the incredibly vague and gregarious "Metal / Hardcore / Thrash" MySpace tag. Therefore, let's put it up... Read More » |
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Bulldozer The Final Separation (re-issue) Metal Mind Records 2007 |
1986 was a great era for Thrash and Black Metal. Bands like Venom were carving out their legendary status, and the second wave of bands that grew out of that legend were starting to make waves. One of the most legendary bands out of Italy was Bulldozer, and The Final Separation was their second album. Even at its release, this... Read More » |
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Burning Witch Crippled Lucifer 2007 |
Burning Witch’s short but memorable career was punctuated with the release of two 12” EPs, Towers… and Rift.Canyon.Dreams. The first time this material saw the light of day was when Southern Lord pressed it in 1998. Now they have rereleased it for all those who missed it the first time around.
Backing up a little, Burning Witch plays... Read More » |
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Caliban The Awakening 2007 |
The Awakening is Caliban’s 9th release if you count their initial ep and the two splits with Heavenshallburn. That is a considerable output for the span of nine years. That kind of discography was usually attributed to bands around in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s or was Kiss. Aside from that, Caliban is also a member of the German elite of... Read More » |
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Candlemass King of the Grey Islands Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
For such a solemn and seminal act, Candlemass have pressed some serious hijinks upon their fans. The band has formed three separate times, their vocalist spot has been a revolving door with members coming and going (and in Messiah Marcolin’s case, coming back again) and the rest of the line-up has been equally volatile over their long history. Years after... Read More » |
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Canvas Solaris Coritcal Tectonics Sensory Records 2007 |
Funny story. I requested Canvas Solaris' newest prog opus Cortical Tectonics because I reviewed their previous effort Penumbra Diffuse and remembered enjoying it quite a bit. When I got the disc in the mail and opened up the press sheet, I read the quote at the top and it sounded familiar. Sure enough, it was from my review of Penumbra... Read More » |
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Car Bomb Centralia Relapse Records 2007 |
New York's Car Bomb got together in 2002, more or less as the result of two bands, Neck and Spooge, sharing a practice space under a butcher shop. Bassist Jon Modell of Spooge recruited guitarist Greg Kubacki of Neck for a more progressive and technical act that would later become Car Bomb after they added Mike Dafferner (vocals, ex-Neck) and... Read More » |
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Carnal Forge Testify For My Victims Candlelight Records 2007 |
You remember back in grade school when the cool kid asked, “You know what’s grosser than gross?” And you’d say no, and he’d chuckle and say, “Being stuck in a dump truck full of dead babies and having to eat your way out!” Well, if I had to guess if there were anyone in metal who would do... Read More » |
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Carnal Forge Testify For My Victims Candlelight Records 2007 |
It has been nearly three years since Carnal Forge’s last release, ‘Aren’t You Dead Yet?’, which came out in 2004. In that year, the band parted ways with their original vocalist Jonas Kjellgren and soon replaced him with the relatively unknown Jens Mortensen. Due to the rather quick succession of these events and Jens’s prompt inclusion in their touring line-up,... Read More » |
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Cassius I am Jim Jones Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Finally! A metalcore album that doesn’t sound like every other metalcore album! With I Am Jim Jones, Cassius has made an album that incorporates a lot of different sounds and styles without sounding like they are totally out of their minds. The result kind of reminds me of a less-polished Burnt By the Sun as it shifts from hardcore elements,... Read More » |
![Celestia, "Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/celestia_apparitia2.jpg "Celestia, \"Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre [reissue]\"")
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Celestia Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre [reissue] Paragon Records 2007 |
‘Darkthrone-worship’—perhaps the most prevalent criticism for a black band in this past decade (aside from the mockery of ‘untr00’ et al)—is finally falling out of the lexicon. Of course, such bands still exist, but just as their idol has called a halt to its decade-long march through blissful monotony, so too have the imitators passed from the spotlight.
In... Read More » |
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Cephalic Carnage Xenosapien Relapse Records 2007 |
Colorado’s Cephalic Carnage have always seemed like an alien entity to me. Everything of theirs that I’ve heard has been weird, off-kilter and unlike any other band out there…yet it’s always been engrossing and easy to listen to despite the fact that I know I lack the overall deep understanding of it.
On their fifth album, Xenosapien, the group... Read More » |
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Cephalic Carnage Xenosapien Relapse Records 2007 |
Cephalic Carnage have evolved tremendously since their inception in the 90’s. The band’s literal style is very much the same—teeth-rattling grindcore and death metal spiced with a mish-mash of other extreme genres and jarring jazz interludes—but the creative chemistry of modern Cephalic is leagues beyond anything they displayed before (and including) 2002’s ‘Lucid Interval’. The transition came in 2005 when... Read More » |
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Cerberus Dispute the Truth Creator Destructor Records 2007 |
Finally there’s a metal band from LA that utilizes a good dose of melody and whose sound doesn’t have any really focal “-core” elements. Cerberus is the band of which I speak, and their second full-length, Dispute the Truth is full-on melodic death/thrash metal. Though on a couple of songs, Cerberus remind me a little too much of... Read More » |
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Chiodos Bone Palace Ballet Equal Vision Records 2007 |
Chiodos’ second album, Bone Palace Ballet, is a mix of the sappiest, least effective parts of Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold (two bands I actually do, for the most part, like). These guys bring in theatrics, emo vocals, pretentious song titles and light, metalcore/punk-ish guitars and pretend that they’re doing something good. What they fail to do on every... Read More » |
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Christine Badasser SuperNova Records 2007 |
As you might imagine from a label run by Steve Austin, Supernova Records has been dishing out some really unique, really heavy albums in its short tenure. Christine's Badasser is definitely not an exception to the rule with its schizophrenic mix of punk, metal, doom, and southern rock (among others) wrapped in a noisy, lo-fi recording.
Christine's primary focus is on... Read More » |
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Cirith Gorgor Cirith Gorgor Ketzer Records 2007 |
I have been aware of this band for some time. I usually take notice of anything that is released by Osmose Records. Not that everything on Osmose has been brilliant over the years, but you never know when you will find the next Melechesh hidden in the shadows. Despite that, Cirith Gorgor is just one of those bands I never... Read More » |
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Clouds Legendary Demo Hydra Head Records 2007 |
Adam McGrath, one half of the Cave In guitar team that spawned some of the best hardcore of the 90's, has formed a bluesy Hellacopters-ish stoner rock band. Of course, it's good stuff. Much like his predecessor in Nikke Andersson, McGrath knows how to wrench only the best riffs from his guitar, no matter his proclivities du jour. Or at... Read More » |
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Colosseum Chapter 1: Delirium 2007 |
After a good handful of years performing solely in the group Yearning, Juhani Palomäki has decided that a new project was needed to vent his “frustration towards mostly everything” (to quote the press material). Enter Colosseum, his chosen vessel. Yes, it appears as though Yearning just wasn’t depressing enough for this incorrigible Finn, and only a doom metal project would... Read More » |
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Comeback Kid Broadcasting... Victory Records 2007 |
Winnipeg's hardcore heroes Comeback Kid have, well, come back again with Broadcasting..., the follow up to the band's Victory Records debut, and shout-along anthem heavy Wake The Dead, bringing the band's characteristic hardcore screams, shout alongs and aggressive pacing along for the ride. Not straying too far from the band's back catalog sound, fans of Comeback Kid will know what... Read More » |
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Crest of Darkness Give Us the Power to Do Your Evil 2007 |
This is going to sound weird, but I don’t like Crest of Darkness’ Give Us the Power to Do Your Evil, because it’s too easy to listen to. It’s really, really simple to press play, follow along with the band’s power-drive black metal riffs and then realize that the disc is over. This should be a good thing,... Read More » |
![Crimson Glory, "Strange and Beautiful [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/crimsonglo_strangeand.jpg "Crimson Glory, \"Strange and Beautiful [reissue]\"")
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Crimson Glory Strange and Beautiful [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
The eponymous debut album (which came out my senior year in high school, 1986, a vintage year for metal!) and the follow up "Transcendence" put Crimson Glory on the prog metal map for good. By the time the third album came around (originally released in 1991, a bad year for metal as the Flannel Tsunami gathered strength) they'd... Read More » |
![Crimson Glory, "Astronomica [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/crimsonglo_astronomic.jpg "Crimson Glory, \"Astronomica [reissue]\"")
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Crimson Glory Astronomica [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
This deluxe digi-pack is a limited edition, remastered reissue of Crimson Glory's 1999 "comeback" album that also includes a 50-minute long bonus disc of demo and live recordings. The band started off with two strong (some would say classic) Queensryche-influenced prog metal releases in '86 (selt-titled) and '88 ("Transcendence"). Unfortunately they then put out a commercially-aimed clunker in '91... Read More » |
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Crimson Moon Xepera Xeper Xeperu Deathgasm Records 2007 |
This was a two disc effort, the first one being the Serpent Beneath the Skin EP that just came out and the second is a reissue from 1996 of the To Embrace the Vampyric Blood album.
First let's take Serpent Beneath the Skin.
This is a really short EP and sadly a third of it is the intro and outro.... Read More » |
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Cruachan The Morrigan's Call Candlelight Records 2007 |
As usual, my ears are stunned into submission by Cruachan. This band has been consistently releasing good albums for more than a decade and "The Morrigan's Call" is no exception. I was trying to explain the concept of "folk metal" to someone recently and the look on her face said I wasn't getting through. ... Read More » |
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Cryogen This Nightmare Independent Release 2007 |
Colorado-based Cryogen return to the scene with This Nightmare, an EP that demonstrates the band’s improvement over their solid 2005 debut, Premonition. This six-track disc is very reminiscent of Callenish Circle’s better material , as it is full of dense, jarring rhythms (one of the major improvements since the last release) and plenty of catchy, melodic guitar hooks. ... Read More » |
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Cyclone Brutal Destruction Metal Mind Records 2007 |
Metal Mind Productions has rereleased Cyclone’s debut Brutal Destruction. These Belgians originally unveiled this eight-track thrash attack in 1986 on Roadrunner Records, in a market that was reveling in the glory of Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Metallica’s Master of Puppets and soon to be introduced to Testament’s The Legacy. Bad timing would be a serious understatement in describing... Read More » |
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Damnation A.D. In This Life or the Next Victory Records 2007 |
“Knot” kicks in after a short intro, and you know that Damnation A.D. aren’t at all like the horde of new-school, Hatebreed-ripoff, hardcore acts. These guys have apparently been around for a long time, and In this Life or the Next is supposed to be a reunion of sorts for the band. The music on the album is... Read More » |
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Dark Funeral Vobiscum Satanas Regain Records 2007 |
At first I didn’t understand why, but I had ignored Dark Funeral’s early work pretty ritualistically. When Matte Modin took up the kit, however, I could no longer turn the other way as these blasphemous Swedes musically pledged their souls to the Dark One. You may be in the same boat as me, wondering whether your judgment had... Read More » |
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Dark Funeral The Secrets of the Black Arts Regain Records 2007 |
Swedish black metal had, for a very long time, taken a backseat to its Norwegian counterparts. Maybe that was due to the murder, church burnings and other various tom-foolery that bands like Mayhem and Emperor were wrapped up in, but part of it was that Norway figured out black metal before Sweden did. Emperor, Immortal and Enslaved, just... Read More » |
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Attera Orbis Terrarum 2007 |
Wow, two whole discs of Dark Funeral to go through here, this is going to be a long one folks.
The first disc has two sets, one from Holland on the Attera Totus Sanctus tour and a set from Poland that preceded that album.
The Holland set looks really good, especially since this is the tour where they debuted their new battle... Read More » |
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Dark Tranquillity Fiction Century Media 2007 |
The general consensus among my 'tide peers has been that the newest effort by Gothenburg masters has been a little lax- that maybe the lanky Swedes have gone to the well a few too many times on their tried-and-true melodic death formula.
To that I say, in Geico-Caveman-esque fashion:
"Yeah, uhh, what?"
Not a fucking chance. Though the album is unmistakably Dark Tranquillity,... Read More » |
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Darkest Hour Deliver Us Victory Records 2007 |
Darkest Hour follow up their absolutely huge Undoing Ruin with Deliver Us, a disc that plays like In Flames’ Clayman when compared to Colony or The Conductor’s Departure following Anata’s brilliant Under a Stone with no Inscription. It’s the big shiny disc-two that still rocks hard but lacks the surprise and genius of the former. For this reason,... Read More » |
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Daymares Can't Get Us All Selfmadegod Records 2007 |
Daymares hails from Poland and this is their debut full length. Right off the bat it is not possible to listen to this band and not think of L-G Petrov on the Morningstar album. The band is playing what some people have labeled Death Rock. Modern era Entombed comes to mind as does The Crown and Scum. It comes in... Read More » |
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Daymares Can't Get Us All Selfmadegod Records 2007 |
Daymares mix hardcore, punk and death n’ roll in equal parts to create some simple, but very easy to listen to, ass-rockin’ tunes on their debut Can’t Get Us All. It really should matter that most of the songs sound nearly the same, but because of the band’s unending reservoir of energy and the occasional surprise tempo change, it... Read More » |
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Deadlock Wolves Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Germany’s Deadlock are both straightedge and vegan, yet don’t play hardcore, instead bringing something much more metal to the table. The band has a difficult to define sound, that starts with a base of melodic metal with death and black influences, and adds some metalcore and gothic influences. Wolves is their third full-length release and is easily their cleanest in... Read More » |
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Deadsea Deadsea 2007 |
Well this one came out of nowhere. Imagine a trashy version of Baroness or a more spaced-out, stonery version of Mastodon by way of hippy-era Black Sabbath. Hell, I don't know, just give a listen to Ohio's Deadsea and make up your own mind. Rest assured, though, that on the band's self-titled record, and third outing overall, Deadsea doesn't play... Read More » |
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Defcon 4 The Bad Road SuperNova Records 2007 |
Black Flag Jr. is back and not a moment too soon. This only has four acts, or tracks but they get broken up into parts so there are technically 13 songs in these 22 minutes. The guitar sound isn't nearly as Black Flag but the playing reminds me a fair amount of Greg Ginn. The rhythm section... Read More » |
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Deinonychus Warfare Machines 2007 |
This release eludes time. It sounds like it should be ten years old already with the style of playing and the sound tones they went for, but here it is, released at the tail end of 2007. How it is that a band has eight releases (this being the eighth) and features two members of Bethlehem and a member of... Read More » |
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Demiricous Two (Poverty) Metal Blade 2007 |
Demiricous 2005 debut, One (Hellbound), was a vicious thrash attack that, though a little one dimensional had plenty of charm. Any album that can be described as Lamb of God playing as if they were Slayer has my vote, and that’s exactly what One (Hellbound) sounded like to me. So why, all the talk about the band’s debut,... Read More » |
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Demiricous Two (Poverty) Metal Blade 2007 |
Demiricous have returned to my stereo and not a moment too soon. However much has changed since their first album. The most noticeable thing on this album is that they don't sound so overtly like Slayer anymore. While I appreciate their efforts to do something a bit more original this album leaves me wanting a bit. ... Read More » |
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Denial Fiend They Rise Ibex Moon Records 2007 |
Imagine half of Massacre reuniting as death metal's answer to The Misfits. With songs called Return to the Tombs of the Cursed Blind Dead, Son of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things the Misfits comparison is apt. Just imagine that kind of b-horror movie sensibility crossed with old school chugging Tampa... Read More » |
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Depressed Mode Ghost of Devotion Firebox Records 2007 |
Depressed Mode is a symphonic doom band from Finland. This is pretty well done, with the usual suspects, guitars, bass, drums and growled vocals supplemented by synths, a cello and female vocals. Its solid, doomy dirge that reminds me a little of Shape of Despair, due to the vocal style and interplay between male and female. The... Read More » |
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Despised Icon The Ills of Modern Man Century Media 2007 |
I consider myself to be one of the more deathcore-tolerant individuals among the metalhead community, and probably this site. I enjoyed 2005's breakout release The Healing Process, but wasn't too keen on the very typical, Hatebreed style breakdowns that were all over that record. I also thought the three vocalists deal (none of which play an instrument) was a bit... Read More » |
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Destroyer Destroyer Littered with Arrows Goodfellow Records 2007 |
Oklahoma City's Destroyer Destroyer formed in 2004 and since have released a split with Vessels Cast From Crippled Hands, their debut The Dead Sleep Like Us For A Reason, and now their Goodfellow records debut Littered With Arrows. The band plays spazzy/techy/grindy metalcore complete with dual growl/shriek vocals, thunderous breakdowns, and the odd post-rockish soaring melody from time to time... Read More » |
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Destruction Thrash Anthems Candlelight Records 2007 |
Unlike many bands, Destruction has released a greatest hits type album that actually makes sense. What we have here is 13 tracks of classic Destruction completely re-recorded (and in some cases slightly rearranged) in addition to two brand new cuts. They’ve got Schmier back in the fold doing vocals, so this particular version of “Cracked Brain” is the only... Read More » |
![Détente, "Recognize No Authority [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/no_artwork_available.jpg "Détente, \"Recognize No Authority [reissue]\"")
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Détente Recognize No Authority [reissue] Cognitive Records 2007 |
For those of you who don't know Detente is the first band of Ross Robinson who is most well known for producing Slipknot albums. Don't hold that against Detente, because you'll only punish yourself. Robinson and vocalist Dawn Crosby combined to write some pretty good mid-eighties thrash, though it only resulted in one album and a handful of... Read More » |
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Detonation Emission Phase Osmose Productions 2007 |
I, like many, was very impressed with the first two discs these Dutch melodic thrashers put out. 2003's debut An Epic Defiance showed a still young band mature beyond their years, sounding like polished veterans. In 2005 the band followed that up Portals to Uphobia which saw the band developing an even more polished writing style and upping their technical... Read More » |
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Dew-Scented Incinerate Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
I'm new to Dew Scented. Been hearing their name for a while but never got around to hearing their actual music for whatever reason. Shame on me. Their brand of thrash/death is so precise it makes me wonder if it's written and performed by a bunch of pissed off German mechanical engineers. Turns out, I'm not that far off base:... Read More » |
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Diagnose: Lebensgefahr Transformalin Autopsy Kitchen Records 2007 |
This is the newest project of former Silencer vocalist Nattramn. I don't know the back story or anything about Silencer but apparently Nattramn was committed to an asylum which broke up the band. This album is supposed to be part of his recovery. This actually explained a lot because this is a very disturbed record. There... Read More » |
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Dimmu Borgir In Sorte Diaboli Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Dimmu Borgir are not trve, kvlt, or raw. They barely were in the first place, and never will be again; and the ire of all of the cave-dwelling goat burners in Scandinavia that still think that Black metal has to be a rip off of Darkthrone is not going to change their style any more than the religious right spewing... Read More » |
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Dirge And Shall the Sky Descend Equilibre Music 2007 |
"And Shall the Sky Descend" is over one hour of droning progressive doom. The entrance to this epic effort is a 24 minute stretch of musical range; setting the bar for everything else to come on this album.
While the music spends much time developing as each track continues, you're presented with mostly low end distortion and sludge. This... Read More » |
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Discipline Working Class Heroes I Scream Records 2007 |
Unlike the legends on the half of this split, Discipline might need a bit of an introduction. The Euro band plays a somewhat typical version of hardcore street punk that has an oi meets hardcore sound somewhat similar to Agnostic Front, though I'd say these guys are a little more gruff and gritty but less metallic.
These guys aren't quite as... Read More » |
![Disincarnate, "Dreams of the Carrion Kind [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/disincarna_dreamsofth.jpg "Disincarnate, \"Dreams of the Carrion Kind [reissue]\"")
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Disincarnate Dreams of the Carrion Kind [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
For those of you who don't know, Disincarnate were one of the many bands James Murphy was a part of during the early 90's. This is a reissue from what I consider the golden age of death metal. It is remarkable how well this album has held up over the past fifteen years. To be totally honest,... Read More » |
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Diskreet Infernal Rise Siege of Amida 2007 |
OK, opening salvo. Bands who deliberately misspell their names should be flogged in the town square. It just annoys the hell out of me. Now for the actual record.
Diskreet are a band who like to combine grind with really technical death metal and the drum sound of Brodequin that makes you think, "I could go for some... Read More » |
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Dismal Miele Dal Salice Aural Music 2007 |
I've been into some weird stuff lately, not because I like to be into weird stuff, but because I get really bored by anything remotely standard. So I guess you could say I asked for this when I claimed the Dismal promo, and despite my unabashed affinity for oddball gothic bands like Moonlight and the like, there's a line... Read More » |
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Divine Heresy Bleed the Fifth Century Media 2007 |
The first thing that needs to be said of Divine Heresy’s debut, Bleed the Fifth is that it proves that drummer Tim Yeung is a fucking monster (if you didn’t already know this from his work on Hate Eternal’s debut). Without his mechanical blasting fury, this album would have no chance at success. With that on the table,... Read More » |
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Dodsferd Fucking Your Creation Moribund Records 2007 |
I have long said that black metal and dirty old punk rock are not so distant cousins. However, so blatantly mixing the two genres as openly as Dodsferd, a little is lost in translation. The contrast of filthy trem riffing and bleak melodic blasting against upbeat major chords and bouncy drumming that recall many, many SoCal pop punk bands tends... Read More » |
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Dodsferd Cursing Your Will to Live 2007 |
I am always a little skeptical about one-man black metal bands featuring themselves on the covers in some self-satisfying corpsepainted grimace, looking like they're awaiting to drop a deuce that matches their makeup (for those of you looking to produce such excrement, eat a shitload of caliche and wash it down with a gallon of Kaopectate - speaking from theory,... Read More » |
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Drawn and Quartered Merciless Hammer of Lucifer Moribund Records 2007 |
The wretched obscurity befouled forthright by Seattle, Washington’s Drawn and Quartered, Merciless Hammer of Lucifer is a wholly underrated belch / blast of sacrilegious death metal depravity and sickening blasphemous horror. For almost 15 years and through five full length albums this death machine has never stopped short of exquisite in their march forward through a burning heavenly kingdom. Merciless... Read More » |
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Dysrhythmia Fractures 2007 |
I'm a really big fan of Dysrhythmia's Pretest, which is one of the better heavy instrumental discs of recent memory. The band was ridiculously tight and progressive while still being tangibly based in the rock and roll genre (and damn catchy, too). This time around their lone offering on Fractures, a split effort with Rothko, is an expansive 14 minute... Read More » |
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Earth Hibernaculum Southern Lord 2007 |
A perfect companion to bury a body in the desert by, Hibernaculum by Earth is a transcendental passage into a western apocalypse, a circling vulture in a land wolves. Featuring three older Earth tracks, re-recorded in the stark, western drib of the Hex material, drawn out and pondering, with the addition of Zombi’s Steve Moore, Sunn O)))’s Greg Anderson. Track... Read More » |
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Echoes of Eternity The Forgotten Goddess Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Man, is this band ever named correctly! I had to keep looking at my CD player to see if the same song was on repeat (a problem that was not helped by this being one of those promos with the tracks divided up into a bazillion cuts each – so is 38 the same song as 94? Let me take... Read More » |
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Ektomorf Outcast Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Press releases are notorious for egregious exaggeration, but rarely do they cross over into the realms of pure falsehood. Ektomorf's has done so, and I might be legitimately bothered by it were the lies not so irrelevant and laughable.
The fun begins with the claim that the word 'ectomorph' was used in Hellenic Greece to segregate persons of a lean... Read More » |
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Electric Wizard Witchcult Today 2007 |
It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the deep reverb of Electric Wizard. The last time was when I listened to, Let Us Prey and failed to appreciate it. Either I hadn’t yet had my sludge/doom revelation or the album still sucks today, dunno which, honestly. That’s here nor there, though, as the band has released... Read More » |
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Elenium Caught in a Wheel Kampas Records 2007 |
Elenium prove once again one of those things that I wish to God simply was not true. However once again I am confronted by the fact that keyboards should be illegal in Finland. This is some pretty solid melodic death metal here, but every time they get a good groove going the keyboards come in and overpower the... Read More » |
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Elvenking The Scythe 2007 |
I bought Elvenking's progressive power folk metal debut when it was released but didn't care for it due to the vocals - and that's all I remember about it and the band in general. I may even have written a review or two of some of their other albums, but that slips my mind as well. The point I'm trying... Read More » |
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Emmure Goodbye to the Gallows Victory Records 2007 |
The Victory Records hype machine would have us belive that Goodbye to the Gallows, the latest offering from Emmure, is the heaviest album of the year. While they are obviously mistaken, this is a really damn heavy record with plenty of br00tal tough guy posturing and some truly pummeling chugging riffs. That's really all this disc has to offer though.
First... Read More » |
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Endstille Endstille's Reich 2007 |
To put it simply, it’s a damn shame that Endstille don’t get more credit. This German crew is one of the finest purveyors of true black metal that today’s market has to offer. In the present decade of experimentation, Endstille have staunchly held to traditional 90’s forms, and since the very beginning of their short career exhibited a passion and... Read More » |
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Ensiferum Victory Songs Candlelight Records 2007 |
There's no way that Folk metal can be done well without involving a little bit of fun and cheese, and genre veterans Ensiferum have found the perfect balance between the folky campiness and dramatic flair while releasing an album to which the head of any living metalhead will surely bang.
From the start of the instrumental opening "Ad Victoriam," the listener... Read More » |
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Enthroned Tetra Karcist 2007 |
Enthroned has been around since 1993 when Cernunnos recruited guitarist Tsebaoth and bassist/vlocalist Sabathan to start a black metal group. Over the years the lineup has undergone many changes, including several before the release of Tetra Karcist (including the return of former drummer Alsvid), the bands seventh release. But lets get real, name me 5 black metal bands that haven't... Read More » |
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Entombed Serpent Saints Candlelight Records 2007 |
When the news came that Entombed had lost their rhythm section and co-founding guitarist Uffe Cederlund, it seemed that the Swedish rough and tumble stalwarts were going to take a tumble of a different sort. Uffe had been a major contributor to Entombed dating all the way back to their Nihilist days in the 80’s, and was the primary songwriter... Read More » |
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Epica The Divine Conspiracy 2007 |
Following the departure of founding member Mark Jansen from After Forever, the guitar player / screamer / grunter opted to switch gears a bit upon founding Epica in 2002 and later recruiting Trail of Tears singer Helena Michaelsen before replacing her with then-girlfriend Simone Simmons shortly thereafter. In the years since the band's inception, Epica has already gone on to... Read More » |
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Estrum SXSW Demo Independent Release 2007 |
This is a brief demo, three songs in sixteen minutes, so a brief review will follow. Estrum deliver a melodic form of metal that you've heard plenty of times before. They use a female vocalist who insists on oversinging quite a bit. In fact she reminds me of Gwen Stefani more than anything. I don't think... Read More » |
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Estuary The Craft of Contradiction Ibex Moon Records 2007 |
I became interested in this band after reading Muxlow's reaction to them on the message boards. We are probably going to be arguing a lot after this review since I can't figure out what he sees in them. The vocals are decent, in fact they remind me of Angela Gossow's lower growls, however they get really monotonous rather... Read More » |
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Ethereal Collapse Breaching the Citadel Independent Release 2007 |
“A Tragedy Divine” starts off Breaching the Citadel, and you know right away that Ethereal Collapse are well-studied in the heyday of melodic Swedish death metal. I’m talking about 1994-1997, Gothenburg, Sweden: At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames before any of them broke up or decided to do something stupid with their sounds. Everything about this disc... Read More » |
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Evile Enter The Grave Earache Records 2007 |
I will admit, I think the name is a little silly. But being a child of the early ‘80’s, this is one motherfucker of a Thrash album. This is worship to Testament like Warhammer is worship to Hellhammer. Matt’s vocals aren’t yet as powerful as Chuck Billy, but if you have ever heard early Slayer bootlegs when Tom is still... Read More » |
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Exodus The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A 2007 |
Since the band’s rebirth in 2004, Exodus has continued to release some of their best work. I for one hated everything after “Pleasures Of The Flesh” up until the “Another Lesson In Violence” live album, but have pretty much loved everything since “Temple Of The Damned”.
Once again the band lets rip with some classic style Thrash, Bay Area style... Read More » |
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Fear My Thoughts Vulcanus Century Media 2007 |
Vulcanus sees Germany's Fear My Thoughts continue much in the same vein as the band's progression has continued since its Lifeforce Records debut, from back in 2004, after a few lesser-known releases. Fear My Thoughts continues to evolve - building on a sound that's undeniably catchy yet unrelentingly heavy and doubtlessly thrashy.
"Blankness" sees the band meld vocalist Mathias Benedikt... Read More » |
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Feeble Minded Nothing But Death Grodhaisn Prods 2007 |
Feeble Minded are solid groove-oriented death metal from the Czech Republic. There isn't a lot here you haven't already heard. They have a great Alex Webster style bass going which I love. The guitars are nice and crunchy, though they don't do much you haven't heard a thousand times. The vocals are a bit of a... Read More » |
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Finntroll Ur Jordens Djup Century Media 2007 |
Finntroll are back with a new lead singer (Vreth) who takes the place of the departed Wilska, and the band just keeps soldering on through sickness, tragedy, and whatever fungus grows on your butt after living under bridges for too long. This time around, the happy humppa isn't nearly as prevalent as it has been on the other... Read More » |
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Firewind Allegiance Century Media 2007 |
The flaming fingers of Gus G. and his band of merry cohorts are back with another slab o' metal. It's surprisingly catchy and good, rising above the previous Firewind efforts. Gus G. is maturing into an excellent guitar slinger, with a riff bag full of tricks and enough panache to know when it's cool to unleash... Read More » |
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Floodgate Penalty (re-issue) Metal Mind Records 2007 |
So, do you like New Orleans style sludge rock? If so then this is right up your alley, a re-release from 1995 these guys were there from almost the start. Floodgate is what Kyle Thomas took up after the demise of Exhorder. The Down similiarities make me wonder how much Phil Anselmo follows Kyle Thomas around, first... Read More » |
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For Ruin December Sentinel Records 2007 |
For Ruin is an Irish extreme metal band. The group combines elements of black, speed, thrash, death and power metal to create a style that isn't unique, but their infusion of no-nonsense melody does make them stand out from the brutal crowd. The guitars are the center-stage instrument (although the drums are pushed way up there, too) and the combination... Read More » |
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Forteresse Métal Noir Québécois Sepulchral Productions 2007 |
There are just some things that a band can't do to have an album be fresh with repeated listens. They can't use the same song structure throughout the same album, they can't play the same tempo throughout, and they can't find one riff and carry it through a whole song and repeat that on every song on the album. Fortunately,... Read More » |
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Freedom Call Dimensions SPV 2007 |
All happy-metal-loathing punters should move on immediately. Freedom Call is the most saccharine of power metal bands, taking pride in taking galloping Euro speed metal to its most sugar-coated extreme. If Helloween makes you retch, Freedom Call will have you spewing guts until you’re choking on your own spleen. If melody is thine enemy and “wussy” metal be thy bane,... Read More » |
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Freevil Freevil Burning Nastified Productions 2007 |
Releases like this renew my faith in metal. I've been going through a phase where everything I hear sounds pretty much like the last. The lads from Freevil are going a long way to getting my head back into a pure metal space. It's not that they are playing something totally original or... Read More » |
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Fu Manchu We Must Obey Century Media 2007 |
I’ve never understood why people make such a big deal out of Fu Manchu’s music. They can claim a former Kyuss member, and they’re from California, and every time I play one of their discs one of two things happen: I get bored and turn it off, or I get bored and tune it out. For me that’s... Read More » |
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Fuck the Facts Collection of Splits 2002-2004 Galy Records 2007 |
Well, the title really says it all with this one. This collects all Fuck The Facts' split material of the specified time period. For an idea of how much material this covers and how much time/money it will save you as opposed to tracking all this down through Ebay or elsewhere, go to their page on www.metal-archives.com and check it... Read More » |
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Fueled by Fire Spread the Fire Metal Blade 2007 |
Now this really hits the spot for me. This is yet another of those trips back to 1987 that the metal world seems to be taking a lot recently. The cover art is pretty fun in itself as it looks like an old Whiplash cover, except the trash fan is beating up a bunch of dudes who look... Read More » |
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Funeral From These Wounds Candlelight Records 2007 |
As new-school, European post-Candlemass Doom Metal goes, Funeral are thoroughly old-school. They put out their first two LPs way back in ‘94 and ‘95, before a half-decade hiatus and a couple untimely deaths took them out of the doom spotlight. They haven’t been heard from since 2002 (make that two hiatuses, then), but they’re back now. A cursory listen confirms... Read More » |
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Funeralium Funeralium Total Rust 2007 |
Bands like this like to call themselves doom metal. Bands like Bethlehem, Grief and Skepticism all fall into this realm. Bands that play unbelievably slow songs for durations that equal entire albums by other bands. Funeralium clocks in at 77 minutes, with tracks that are over 20 minutes long. Now mind you, this album isn’t as slow as say, a... Read More » |
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Furze UTD : Beneath the Odd-Edge Sounds to the Twilight Contract of the Black Fascist / The Wealth of the Penetration in the Abstract Paradigmas of Satan Candlelight Records 2007 |
I see what happened here. What’s the most underground, esoteric thing you can do, besides making utterly grim black metal? Making that black metal as obnoxiously fucked up as you can. Make your guitar tone as thin and irritating as possible, don’t worry about learning to play, and at random times throughout your absurdly longwindedly titled album, start twisting the... Read More » |
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Genocide Apocalypric Visions 2007 |
The first thing I will tell you about this band, is that they don’t like people knowing anything about them. Their label lists them as forming in 2005, this is their fourth release, but first full length and the band is a three piece. Past that, you are pretty much shit out of luck. Actually, that does miss the... Read More » |
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Gentlemens Pistols Gentlemens Pistols Candlelight Records 2007 |
Gentlemens Pistols is a Leeds-based hard rock act with only a small handful of 7inch releases under their belt previous to this, their self-titled debut. The band formed in 2003 and since have made a name for themselves with said releases and an energetic live show. It seems like everyone is trying their hand at this style recently, so the... Read More » |
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Glorior Belli Manifesting the Raging Beast Southern Lord 2007 |
Falling (un)comfortably into that wonderful paradigm that is orthodox-religious black metal, the proto-satanic, ancient rapture that is Glorior Belli has manifested itself permanently into the gravestones of this wonderfully inept genre. Easily categorized alongside other luminaries Watain, Funeral Mist or the ever enigmatic Deathspell Omega, Manifesting the Raging Beast is the exceptional counterpart to this movement; another shot in the... Read More » |
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Glorior Belli Manifesting the Raging Beast Southern Lord 2007 |
The source behind Glorior Belli is a man who goes by the name, Infestvvs. Normally I wouldn't think anything of that name, except a while back I reviewed an album by a most exquisite group called Obscurus Advocam, who's mastermind also happens to be Infestvvs. It's very common for there to be side projects among band members and... Read More » |
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Godless Rising Battle Lords Moribund Records 2007 |
Simultaneously reliving death metal’s early days and waving their Vital Remains ex-memberships over their collective head, the death metal quartet Godless Rising lay down their sophomore album ‘Battle Lords’. The band was formed only in 2005, but by all accounts were turning out quality material in no time at all and quickly were signed to the appropriately malicious Moribund Records,... Read More » |
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Goresoerd Goremarket Mid-Prices Nailboard Records 2007 |
Estonia’s Goresoerd bring their wares on Goremarket Mid-Prices. They’re peddling clearly produced, gore grind with a silly attitude and a decent dose of rocking groove. Part of the comedy on this disc is a result of language barrier, as tracks like “Bitch Hard the Girl Squad” or “Wretched in Catwalk” don’t quite make sense, while the rest is... Read More » |
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Gorgoroth Antichrist (Re-issue) 2007 |
Years before the arrival of lightning-rod leading man Gaahl and many more before the ensuing legal fiasco, Gorgoroth were just another black metal clan wandering through Norway’s wilderness, painted like the night and possessed (by Satan)—relatively speaking. In those early days, few groups could be considered garden variety, and Gorgoroth have always had a penchant for writing music just beyond... Read More » |
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Gorgoroth Under the Sign of Hell (Re-issue) 2007 |
‘Under the Sign of Hell’ exists in a strange state of limbo in the center of Gorgoroth’s discography, removed in part from the notoriety of the crude ‘Pentagram’ as well as the sonic jet-engine that is the Gaahl era. As such, it remains widely overlooked, despite being perhaps the most fitting representative of Gorgoroth’s music over the years as well... Read More » |
![Gorguts, "The Erosion of Sanity [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/gorguts_theerosion.jpg "Gorguts, \"The Erosion of Sanity [reissue]\"")
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Gorguts The Erosion of Sanity [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
This was Gorguts followup to their interesting though uneven debut, Considered Dead. This is a bit more in line with the later Gorguts that most of us critics drool over. They got a lot more technical and generally bizarre on this album, though not quite to the degree they would on the album that followed this too many... Read More » |
![Gorguts, "Considered Dead [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/gorguts_considered.jpg "Gorguts, \"Considered Dead [reissue]\"")
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Gorguts Considered Dead [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
Ye Gods, I am old. I am displeased that this CD reminds me of this wretched truth. Has it been 16 years since this first rocked my world? I was supposed to see these guys with Atheist and Cannibal Corpse once, but the club didn't let in anyone under eighteen at the time so I could not... Read More » |
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Goryptic From Blast to Collapse Independent Release 2007 |
Goryptic are a brutal death metal band from France. Sadly they sound like they could be from just about anywhere because they blend into that particular genre a little too much. I really can't tell the difference between these guys and a million other bands. The musicianship is decent, although the drumming sounds a bit clumsy on... Read More » |
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Graboids Infinite Delay Stickfigure 2007 |
I'm not quite sure what is happening to me, but there are changes afoot. Most of them would bore the hell out of you but one pertains to this album right here. I used to hate all instrumental bands, but recently I've found myself digging a few of them. Taking their name from the monsters in the... Read More » |
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Graf Orlock Destination Time Tomorrow Level-Plane Records 2007 |
First of all these guys have the best packaging ever. On the disc is the picture of a back of a head and the sleeve is a facehugger from Alien. From this and the name you can tell these guys like their horror movies (Graf Orlock is the name of the vampire from Nosferatu). What follows is... Read More » |
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Grails Burning Off Impurities Temporary Residence Ltd. 2007 |
Grails started as a rather unassuming side project in 2000, but the band quickly garnered attention from Neurosis's Neurot Recordings imprint who went on to release the bands first two full length efforts. While loose comparisons to acts like Red Sparowes or Kayo Dot can be made, Grails have a sound that is completely their own. They fuse the epic... Read More » |
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Graveworm Collateral Defect Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
A brief history
Filled with emotion and torment, the early releases between 1997 and 2001 was Graveworm in their purist, most beloved form. Then came Engraved in Black in 2003, and album that was bashed by far too many. I'm most likely one of the very few who actually heard it for what it was, rather than what it... Read More » |
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Grayceon Grayceon Vendlus Records 2007 |
There are many bands surfacing in the avant garde metal genre that successfully establish mood only to fuck it up by throwing in unnecessarily goofy or meandering passages that either serve to add to pretention by being overly tongue-in-cheek or self-aware yet usually alienate their listeners by flagellating them with their egos. While Kayo Dot and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum... Read More » |
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Grima Morstua Illustratio per horribilem obscuritatem Drakkar Productions 2007 |
This is some fast and primal black metal from Argentina. There isn't really anything here you haven't most likely heard before, but that isn't a bad thing. They don't make the mistake some bands make of sticking entirely to one tempo as they like to alternate between slow and fast. Strangely I prefer their slower material, though... Read More » |
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Grimm Heksenkringen Displeased Records 2007 |
Grimm are a Dutch Pagan metal band. I don't know the Pagan history of the Dutch so I assume it involves worshiping them cute Dutch girls they tend to crank out. I'm on board with that. There is a bit of Mardraum-era Enslaved to them, most notably in the guitar sound and the trading off of clean... Read More » |
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Gurtholfinn The Forest of Long Awaiting Independent Release 2007 |
Well, to cut to the quick, this is a homemade, not-ready-for-prime-time demo of folky, atmospheric, doomish black metal. It's over an hour long and the vast majority of it is completely forgettable. Unless you're really, really, really (I mean really) into underground acoustic atmospheric doomy black metal, you can skip this and not lose a wink of sleep (if you... Read More » |
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Hacavitz Katun Morbid Music 2007 |
If Hacavitz's debut, "Venganza," was the gurgling resurgence of an ancient Mesoamerican evil, then "Katun," their sophomore release, shows the rapacious presence seeking appeasement after a long, restless sleep (a katun is 7,200 days in the Mayan calendar). The hunger isn't surprising considering the band's roster has been chopped in half since the last outing (founding members Antimo Buonanno [guitar]... Read More » |
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Haemmorrhage The Kill Sessions Emetic Records 2007 |
The Kill Sessions is Haemorrhage’s 20-minute, 10-track, live-in-studio, best-of album. For many of us who enjoy a good slab of gore but somehow haven’t spent the money or time online to check out this veteran Spanish act, this disc seems like a truly appropriate place to begin. Immediately as “Mortuary Riot” kicks off, from the rancid, thick guitar... Read More » |
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HammerFall Steel Meets Steel Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
After ten years, Hammerfall does indeed have enough stuff to compile a retrospect on their career. This two-disc set collects 29 tracks that span their entire career. To begin with, there are four unreleased tracks, sort of. There is a ridiculous intro to the set that they consider an unreleased track, I don’t really even consider it a track. There... Read More » |
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Hardingrock Grimen 2007 |
For many in the metal genre, the term ‘folk’ calls to mind a stereotypically bouncy rhythm that inevitably translates to cheerfulness. Too, with bands like Finntroll dominating the scene, folk metal is often guided through the strictest of metric guidelines with duple meter and tongue-in-rosy-cheeks ruling over all. Featuring the collaborative hand of Knut Buen, Ihsahn and Ihriel set out... Read More » |
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Harlots Betrayer Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Harlots follow in the footsteps of Dillinger Escape Plan in regards to having songs comprised of an amazing amount of unbelievable parts. You are never quite sure when a sound gap is the end of the song or the end of a hyper intensive breakdown.
Vocally the band is like many of their contemporaries, and feature one vocal tone that... Read More » |
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Harlots Betrayer Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Uggh, spazzy deathcore. Harlots aren’t going to be winning my heart over with their latest effort, Betrayer. For the last couple of years I’ve become convinced that this style of metal has caused the scene to become extremely watered down and far less credible. Though by no means is Harlots responsible for the birth of this sound... Read More » |
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HateSphere Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes SPV 2007 |
Danish thrashers, Hatesphere, return with full-length number five, Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes. The disc is a 9-track tour of brutality in the vein of their last release, The Sickness Within, though it feels like the band is more confident in leaving the path they were following on Bloodred Hatred and Ballet of the Brute. The songs, though... Read More » |
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HateSphere Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes SPV 2007 |
Danish thrashers Hatesphere are HUGE in their homeland, but despite generally being referred to with respect here in the US, you just don't hear a lot of buzz surrounding them. Will album number five finally be the one that really breaks the band worldwide?
Hatesphere is one of those rare band that continually improves over time and with Serpent Smiles and... Read More » |
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Havoc Unit H.I.V. + (Hearse Industrial Viremia) 2007 |
This is the first full length from Havoc Unit, formerly And Oceans. I reviewed their split earlier and liked it quite a bit so I was up for this one. Not quite as up as I should have been though. There is only one word to properly describe this album, harsh. Imagine an Meshuggah slams into... Read More » |
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Hearse In These Veins Candlelight Records 2007 |
Hearse play old-school style death with a slightly off-kilter feel, a touch of melody and a sense for strange yet effective songwriting. Their members have spent time in Arch Enemy and the highly underrated Furbowl prior to their contributions to this band. On Hearse’s fourth full-length album, In these Veins, we see the group continuing where The Last... Read More » |
![Heathen, "Victims of Deception [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/heathen_victimsofd.jpg "Heathen, \"Victims of Deception [reissue]\"")
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Heathen Victims of Deception [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
Heathen!!! I hear the name and a mudslide of memories jams up my neural pathways. Naturally it was Krazy Ken (he now goes by the nom de plume of "No-Show Ken", but to me he'll always be Krazy) who turned me on to Heathen. Ken had a nose for underground metal, and he regularly would... Read More » |
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Helion Mercury Rising Independent Release 2007 |
It is a travesty that Helion are not signed. There really is no excuse. I’ve turned the problem over in my mind time and again, and no good reasons arise for their neglect.
Just maybe, the band’s constant line-up changes are what have been causing labels to balk. The ex-members of Helion could practically form a doppelganger band on their own... Read More » |
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Hell Within Shadows of Vanity Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Straight out of the metalcore hotbed of Massachusetts Hell Within bring us their second full-length, Shadows of Vanity. The band has always utilized clean vocals and had a lean towards the more commercialized side of the genre, but this time around they let that side of their sound take over. That's not to say they are a sellout or anything... Read More » |
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Helloween Gambling with the Devil 2007 |
The last Helloween release I spent a decent amount of time with was "The Dark Ride" back in the year 2000 (cue the Conan O'Brien song - for those of you that are old enough to remember it). I picked up "Rabbit Don't Come Easy" and enjoyed it far more than most, but that record still put the band... Read More » |
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Hellveto 966 Pulverised Records 2007 |
Hailing from Poland, Hellveto is a machine in regards to releasing music. The group, actually consisting of lone member L.O.N., has had more than 20 releases including full-lengths, demos, splits and EPs. In addition to that, he also releases music under the Blakagir moniker. 966, in fact looks to be a companion to the Blakagir release “Carpathian Art of Sin”... Read More » |
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Hemlock Bleed the Dream Candlelight Records 2007 |
Here is your next entry into the “New Wave of American Heavy Metal”. The first thing you will notice is an unbelievable resemblance on the vocals to Jamey from Hatebreed. With the exception of a few variations, the majority of the vocals could pass as a guest appearance.
Apparently, this is actually a re-issue of the bands self released album. The... Read More » |
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Herrschaft Architects of the Humanicide Code666 2007 |
Well like me I'm sure the first thing you did was look at the name and assume they were German. Perhaps you even listened to it right after and assumed that it was German, having quite a bit of KMFDM and Rammstein to it. Then you did some reading and found out they were French? Yeah, I... Read More » |
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High on Fire Death Is This Communion Relapse Records 2007 |
There are a lot of bands on Relapse that I prefer to admire from afar. Cephalic Carnage, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon and High on Fire are the first that come to mind. Something about each of them makes me never really yearn to listen to them, though aside from that feeling I get, there’s absolutely no reason to... Read More » |
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Himsa Summon the Thunder Century Media 2007 |
Himsa really found their stride with Courting Tragedy and Disaster. They refined their attack with Hail Horror, and now they’re surgical-steel sharp and equally focused on Summon in Thunder. In my opinion, nothing stylistically has changed for the band over these releases, they’ve simply tightened up their sound on each pass. In the process Himsa have... Read More » |
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Horna Ääniä Yössä Moribund Records 2007 |
Of the many prolific black metal bands in existence today, few can match Horna in terms of sheer output. In the year 2006, this sixth full length ‘Äänia Yössä’ was one of three releases, and 2005 featured no fewer than six. The band’s membership is just as extensive, featuring two fistfuls of ex-members and enough band associations to end any... Read More » |
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Hurtlocker Embrace the Fall Napalm Records 2007 |
Once again, my favorite band on Napalm proves why they have attained that position. From the band’s debut, Fear In A Handful Of Dust, to this newest effort, Hurtlocker proves that American metal is once again something to reckon with aside from Lamb of God. Hailing from Chicago, Hurtlocker lays down an amazingly fierce sound that combines the obvious Slayer... Read More » |
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Hurtlocker Embrace the Fall Napalm Records 2007 |
Aside from the really stupid band name, Hurtlocker have quite a bit going for them. On Embrace the Fall, the band work us through ten tracks of groove-heavy, death-heavy, thrash metal with a touch of hardcore. The songs, though nothing really groundbreaking, do have plenty of kick and are delivered with conviction that only a hungry band can... Read More » |
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I Declare War Amidst the Bloodshed Compton Records 2007 |
Unabashedly proclaiming to "[stick] to a strict philosophy of relentless breakdowns, unmitigated two-steps, and intricate guitar riffs...," I Declare War isn't exactly doing themselves a favor in the first sentence of the band's press one-sheet for its second full-length album. Throw in the occasional 'pig squeal' vocals, heavy-as-bricks breakdowns and nearly indecipherable lyrics that sometimes fall on the side of... Read More » |
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I.N.R.I Ultra Sonic Hatestorm Disconcert Records 2007 |
These guys are blistering Dutch death metal. Needless to say God Dethroned comparisons will fly fast and furious, especially since they sound like early God Dethroned. The fact that this originally came out on GD frontman Henri Sattler's Cold World Industries label isn't going to help. The music is more fast than creative, though that doesn't really... Read More » |
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Iced Earth Overture of the Wicked SPV 2007 |
Ahhhh, good ole Jon Schaffer sure knows how to rile folks. His political viewpoints have seemingly alienated half the globe while this EP has upset many fans of the band. For those not in the know, this record contains one new track and three songs from 1998's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" re-recorded with new vocalist Ripper Owens - and... Read More » |
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Iced Earth Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Pt. 1) SPV 2007 |
Iced Earth's latest opus has been out for awhile now, so the fans already have their copy and the haters have already damned its contents to eternal blazes, so that leaves only the fence-sitters who this review may be of service to. If you're sitting there wondering if it's as good as some say or as weak as others claim,... Read More » |
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Ignitor Road of Bones Cruz Del Sur Music 2007 |
Ignitor is a five-piece out of Texas playing traditional metal and this is their second release since forming back in 2004. The band is fronted by vocalist Erika who has a super set of pipes and her delivery evokes memories of the best of America's underground sensations from the '80s. The lady has a solid, clean delivery backed up with... Read More » |
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Illogicist The Insight Eye 2007 |
Italy’s Illogicist will take you on a very palatable technical death metal ride with their third release The Insight Eye. The press sheet touts them as showing their Atheist, Death and Cynic influences, and though I might argue that only the first two band references really apply, all things tech-metal grasp for the Cynic comparison, so it’s at the... Read More » |
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Immolation Shadows in the Light Century Media 2007 |
Immolation is one of those stalwart bands like Dismember and Bolt Thrower, that seem to always make the same album with each new release. Fans of these groups, however, will argue that the subtle improvements, changes and arrangements are enough to make the new release its own work, and a worthwhile purchase. I, being a follower of all... Read More » |
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Impious Holy Murder Masquerade Metal Blade 2007 |
Impious return to my machines of noise for yet another foray into the crushing Swedish death/thrash that I admit to being terribly in love with. However they do so with a twist, namely a concept album. This is the story of a serial killer who wears the face of Jesus during his crimes. If the lyrics aren't... Read More » |
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In Battle Kingdom of Fear Candlelight Records 2007 |
In Battle is one of the many modern Swedish death metal bands flying just under the metal world’s collective radar. Over five releases, the band’s style has evolved from black/Viking roots as members come, go, switch instruments, and grow into their talents (the self-titled debut was recorded when they were but 20). As things stands today, every active member has... Read More » |
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In First Person Lost Between Hands Held Tight Paramnesia Records 2007 |
Dense, emotional hardcore from New Jersey. The songwriting and lyrics both exemplify the "first person" perspective of someone who has seen society's iniquities and cynically reconciled with the fact that nothing will ever change. It's appropriately reflected in the music, which is full of dread and sorrow. And of course, the requisite riffing and bombast. Imagine a less gruff His... Read More » |
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In the Face of War We Make Our Own Luck Detournement Records 2007 |
"It's a small world afterall...."
Damn, what a small world this is. I had listened to this disc probably three times before I realized that this band played a show at my house and slept on my basement floor. Some band from Philly was coming in to play and word got out that I was having a house show, so my... Read More » |
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In Torment Diabolical Mutilation of Tormented Souls Rapture Records 2007 |
"Did you hear the time signature on that sweep? Sick breakdowns brah! Love the Soilwork riffs, bro-man!"
1993 called, it wants its death metal back.
Brazil's In Torment takes us back to a time white belts didn't exist, and the only law of death metal was brutal. Drawing from their forefathers Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation and Suffocation, they... Read More » |
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Inborn Suffering Wordless Hope Sound Riot Records 2007 |
Wordless Hope from France’s Inborn Suffering was apparently recorded in 2005, but didn’t see the light of day until September of 2006 and subsequently didn’t find its way to Deadtide for a while after that. So, without any further delay…..
Do you like Swallow the Sun, Anathema, My Dying Bride, etc? If you do, this will probably be right up your... Read More » |
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Incendiant Incendiant Mute Records/Jordan River Ent. 2007 |
Incendiant are old school midpaced death metal that comes to us from Jordan River Entertainment. This has to be the first ever death metal album from Jordan, even though the band themselves are American. Geography aside let's get to the album itself. This is a short one clocking in at around 20 minutes. The music is... Read More » |
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Indyus Demonstration Independent Release 2007 |
Austria's Indyus, on Demonstration, display the band's death metal-influenced take on a more hardcore-driven thrash movement than the recent rash of deathcore and MySpace metalcore. The lyrics, overall, are a little silly (lost in translation, perhaps?) and the vocals might be a little too far up in the mix, while the drums sound more like a machine than a real... Read More » |
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Infanticide Extinction Scheme Emetic Records 2007 |
Swedish grind. This is probably all you need to know about Infanticide but I'll get into more detail anyway. First of all they follow the rules of grind, 23 songs in 30 minutes. None of this long song BS that some other "grind" bands have been known to pull. This is the pure stuff right here.... Read More » |
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Infernaeon A Symphony of Suffering Prosthetic Records 2007 |
Florida’s Infernaeon release a six-track slab of heaviness, for lack of a better descriptor, on their EP A Symphony of Suffering. Encapsulated in this 30+ minute affair is an odd juxtaposition of old-school American death metal with a Dimmu-reminiscent symphonic black metal. The band is very clearly attempting to meld the two genres, and though it’s a novel... Read More » |
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Infernal War Redesekration Agonia Records 2007 |
Unfortunately, even with the caliber of releases these days, the life of a metal writer goes as such: record gets listened to a handful of times, reviewed and shelved. Unless a highly personally anticipated record comes along, most records we review do not garner repeat listens. When Infernal War’s Terrorfront came along last year I expected it to fizzle and... Read More » |
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Inhale / Exhale The Lost, The Sick, The Sacred Solid State 2007 |
The Lost, The Sick, The Sacred is “refreshing in equal measure for its love of heavy diverse music as it is the depth to which it mines classic rock” and apparently has “the southern-fried sludge of Down merging with the post-hardcore angst of Refused and the snake-boogie of Velvet Revolver. Add to that formula the gutter growl of Soilwork, the... Read More » |
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Intense As Our Army Grows Napalm Records 2007 |
Intense are a five-piece UK power metal band and "As Our Army Grows" is their second release. Don't let the power metal tag deceive you, these guys are much more in the American power metal mode than the happy Euro-speed sense of the label. The promo sheet points out Iced Earth and Nevermore as influences – Schaffer's ghost stalks all... Read More » |
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Intronaut The Challenger 2007 |
Intronaut is like mixing Neurosis, Mastadon, and Burn It Down. All of these bands have some similar traits, but they all also have traits that are specific to them. Intronaut pretty much sums them all up.
Vocally they are a cross between Mastadon and Neurosis, just not quite as powerful. Those are two big names to live up to and... Read More » |
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Ion Dissonance Minus the Herd Abacus Recordings 2007 |
Although the Canadian outfit Ion Dissonance released their first demo only in 2003, their level of influence and the frequency of their name being dropped makes it feels as though they have been a touchstone of the modern metal/hardcore scene since its beginning. After having achieved instant acclaim with ‘Breathing is Irrelevant’ on Willowtip Records, the band switched over to... Read More » |
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Iperyt Totalitarian Love Pulse Agonia Records 2007 |
This is some royally crazy stuff right here. Imagine KMFDM and Sadistik Exekution meeting up with the black metal answer to The Berzerker. Also imagine The Berzerker if they weren't a total bore. Iperyt actually do something with tempo other than full blast all the time. They don't quite use the same lyrics as SE, in... Read More » |
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Irepress Samus Octology Translation Loss 2007 |
With the recent surge of ambient post metal bands and their relative success, one of two things will happen to Irepress’s fantastic debut, Samus Octology: everyone and their grandmother will eat this shit up or it will get lost in the shuffle of releases by established acts. Regardless, these Bostonians have crafted a real gem of the genre; an album... Read More » |
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Iron Fire The Blade of Triumph Napalm Records 2007 |
Iron Fire is vocalist Martin Steene's sword-n-sorcery-inspired traditional metal band and "Blade of Triumph" is his fourth release. "His" because the band has had a revolving door policy regarding band members and labels over its seven-year existence. Steene obviously has a deep affection for this style of metal as he's kept the ball rolling despite nigh constant set backs that... Read More » |
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Iron Savior Megatropolis Dockyard 1 2007 |
The brain child of frontman / lead shredder Piet Sielck, Iron Savior has been churning out traditionally-oriented power / speed metal since 1997's self-titled debut. Originally enlisting Gamma Ray frontman Kai Hansen alongside Sielck, Hansen moved on after 2001's Dark Assault, leaving Iron Savior solely in the hands of Sielck. Transitioning from longtime home Noise Records to the German Dockyard... Read More » |
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The Jesus Lizard Live MVD Entertainment Group 2007 |
If you dig the Jesus Lizard, just buy this fucking DVD, okay?
Man.. a reasonably high quality live DVD from Jesus Lizard at the height of their power... bliss. Basically this is a 14-song set taped in Boston sometime in 1994 shortly after the release of Down. If you didn't get to see the band during this period, this is as... Read More » |
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Job For a Cowboy Genesis Metal Blade 2007 |
Phoenix-based Job for a Cowboy (JFAC) have wasted no time making a name for themselves with Genesis, their first full-length album. Harkening back to Cryptopsy’s Whisper Supremacy and throwing in technical influences from latter day Decapitated as well as the occasional nod to the heavier, brutal side of metalcore, this disc packs a punch. JFAC have no trouble... Read More » |
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Kamelot Ghost Opera SPV 2007 |
Over the past years, Kamelot have become a power metal institution, and quite safely could be called power metal’s best poster child. As such, most every metal fan is familiar with them by now, rendering a long preamble useless. Suffice to say that when Roy Khan stepped in on vocals in 1998, the band began a remarkable journey to metal’s... Read More » |
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Kerbenok Der Erde Entwachsen (Gewollte Wunden) Independent Release 2007 |
3-song EP from this German pagan/black metal outfit, but two of the songs are over 8 minutes long, so you actually get a fair amount of music for an EP. Hell, I've heard full length grindcore albums that were shorter. "Das Kalte Feuer" opens the proceedings, with a nice acoustic part at the beginning before kicking... Read More » |
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Kermania Ahnenwerk Van GbR 2007 |
In the years since the release of ‘Virus West’ and in spite of their subsequent disbandment, the German band Nagelfar quietly developed a dedicated fanbase. In 2006, spin-off project The Ruins of Beverast re-released its debut along with a follow-up, and the black metal underground ‘at large’ began to take notice of a promising new school.
Kermania does not technically... Read More » |
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Khann Tofutopia 2007 |
Sporting a debut album titled ‘Tofutopia’, Florida’s Khann may seem like the latest tongue-in-cheek indie crew with a snarky sense of humor: the album title’s pun, their own name reprising a James T. Kirk internet phenomenon*, and so forth. Luckily for us, this is not the case. Instead, Khann reminds one of the days when the likes of Botch, Converge,... Read More » |
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Killing Joke Inside Extremities, Mixes, Rehearsals, and Live Candlelight Records 2007 |
This is two discs devoted to Killing Joke's 1990 album Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions. I was probably the wrong person to review this collection as I have never heard the album in question. I only got into Killing Joke following Sebastien's review of Hosannas from the Basement of Hell. (Thanks again Seb.) So when... Read More » |
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Killwhitneydead Hell to Pay Tribunal Records 2007 |
Hell to Pay is Killwhitneydead’s limited tour/e-store album that’s a companion piece to their official 2007 release, Nothing Less, Nothing More. It was recorded during the same session, and for the most part sports the same lineup and stylistic changes that make the band’s sound comparably less interesting than on earlier albums. Hell to Pay contains eleven tracks,... Read More » |
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Killwhitneydead Nothing Less, Nothing More Tribunal Records 2007 |
The sticker on Killwhitneydead’s fourth release, Nothing Less, Nothing More says “new album, same shit.” In some senses this is the truth, though there are some definite changes. If you loved their prior releases for the slick guitar work, the orgy of movie clips, remorseless, insensitive lyrics and the scathing vocal delivery, you’ll be glad to know... Read More » |
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Kinetic Dissent I Will Fight No More Forever 2007 |
Sweet... this totally made my day when it showed up in the mail. Metal Mind has been doing a fantastic job of re-releasing classic Roadrunner Records material, limited edition numbered digi-paks, digitally re-mastered on gold discs, with great liner notes.
But this one is special. I even remember buying this. In the early 1990's I... Read More » |
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Kiss the Gunner Why Are We So Dead? Harvest Earth Recrods 2007 |
Very solid, interesting hardcore with strong metal and southern rock influences. Generic metalcore this ain't. What's more, Kiss The Gunner are Christian. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christians or Christian rock (or metal for that matter), but in my listening experience it's usually been the case for Christian bands to water things down somewhat. Or to... Read More » |
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Knights of the Abyss Juggernaut Candlelight Records 2007 |
The current deathcore boom absolutely blows my mind. I mean, I like the style well enough, but can every suburban kid between the ages 16 and 22 just pick up an instrument and instantly start shredding like a legend?
Anywho, Knights of the Abyss are a Phoenix-based 'core-friendly death metal band, sharing many similarities to bands like Despised Icon, Job For... Read More » |
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Kotipelto Serenity Candlelight Records 2007 |
The third solo album for the singer of Stratovarius and it's back to speedy power metal land for my well worn ears. Timo has collected a good band this time around, with the incomparable Janne Wirman (Children of Bodom) on keyboards leading the way. The engine room is made up of Lauri Porra on bass and... Read More » |
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Krohm The Haunting Presence Moribund Records 2007 |
Krohm is like a mix of Burzum and Bethlehem. Aside from the obvious connection of Krohm being a one man entity, musically, Numinas plays music that sounds like the next melodic progression of Black Metal had Varg not gone symphonic. The musical direction is somewhat slower than albums like Det Som Engang Var, but still holds the mystical atmosphere that... Read More » |
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Krohm The Haunting Presence Moribund Records 2007 |
In the months since its release, Krohm’s sophomore LP, ‘The Haunting Presence’, has begun to catch on and is now generating an unexpected buzz. One-man melancholic black metal projects being as commonplace as toadstools nowadays, Krohm’s relatively straightforward style isn’t as exceptional as would seem necessary to elicit this kind of response. The album’s beginning doesn’t seem to promise much... Read More » |
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Krypt I Am God Agonia Records 2007 |
Krypt’s two-song EP,I Am God, is a proficient workout in grim, simplistic Norwegian-style black metal. Fans of Darkthrone or Khold will surely discover something of value here, though they’ll be hard-pressed to find much inspiring originality. The title track is a fairly catchy slab of mid-paced blasphemy, while “Jeg Hater Deg” is a bit longer and older-school in its... Read More » |
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Laethora March of the Parasite Unruly Sounds 2007 |
I’ve looked through Laethora’s band photos multiple times, and hard as I tried, I could not spy the 10-foot tall Jotun that laid these vocal tracks down. Some shorthaired youngsters and one familiar veteran, but no giants, no trolls.
So instead, I must take the band at their word and assume that Jonatan Nordenstam really is responsible for them, as... Read More » |
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Last Crack Sinister Funkhouse #17 Metal Mind Records 2007 |
When this album was originally released, it was a time in my life when the cover of an album could make or break it. Well, with a picture of a naked guy posing on the front and the word “funk” in the title, I can tell you it was totally broken. I never touched this band back then and the... Read More » |
![Last Crack, "Burning Time [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/lastcrack_burningtim.jpg "Last Crack, \"Burning Time [reissue]\"")
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Last Crack Burning Time [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
I hated this band's debut. I thought it was all over the place and just a bizarre band for a label like Roadrunner to sign. With the release of their second album (in this case, the re-issue) the band is a little more focused and has a much better style musically, but I still hate them. It is like Tesla... Read More » |
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Lifelover Erotik Total Holocaust Records 2007 |
Listening to Lifelover somewhat makes me understand why people do drugs. The catatonic depravity that this record can take you is colossal, while at the same time being sickeningly beautiful in it’s fuzzed out / somber depression. Somewhere between the depressive rock of the revamped Bethlehem and the dismal drain of watching Trainspotting in slow motion, Erotik is an enigmatic... Read More » |
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Light Pupil Dilate Snake Wine Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Metal-prog-core-meth-punk-space-cobra-noise-rock. Call it what you want, but this is dense and jagged stuff, best uncoiled carefully lest a strike catch you off guard. Light Pupil Dilate's second album shows a huge maturation in songwriting and chops. The power trio gracefully mixes the epic meanderings of Neurosis with pared down grind passages, angular stops and shifts, and even dual melodic vocals.... Read More » |
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Light Pupil Dilate Snake Wine Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Here's an interesting post-whatevercore album from a tight, powerful trio out of Georgia. Immediately I think of Intronaut if they traded some of their brutality and progressive brilliance for DC-style hardcore and a more varried palette in general. The influences fly in from all over the map, but the band does a good job of making the pieces fit into... Read More » |
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Limbonic Art Legacy of Evil 2007 |
I'll be honest... this is my first exposure to Limbonic Art. Despite being nearly universally revered by black metal fans, I've always been a little turned off by the symphonic black metal tag given to these Norwegians. Their 2002 breakup after The Ultimate Death Worship was another factor in their slipping on my "need-to-check-them-out" priority list. But as of late... Read More » |
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Litmus Planetfall Candlelight Records 2007 |
Litmus is a retro space rock band and unless you're an acid-dropping, dyed-in-the-tie hippy pining away for the second coming of Hawkwind, this album will probably only serve as an interesting distraction. There aren't any songs on here that will surprise you (unless you've never heard Hawkwind), but the record is chocked full of fun, old school, simplistic guitar riffs... Read More » |
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Lodown Black Horse RCD Music Ltd. 2007 |
Lodown is a Canadian band that really, really loves their 90’s style hard rock/alterna-metal. The basic sound the band goes for starts with a base of Alice in Chains worship, although they also remind me, at one time or another, of Filter, a less skilled Tool, Chevelle, and any number of other hard rock acts. For the most part the... Read More » |
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Loits Must Album Nailboard Records 2007 |
Though this Estonian group have been playing their unique brand of "flak" metal since 1996, it wasn't until 2004's "Vere Kutse Kohustub" that the rest of the world began to take notice. Their interesting blend of stoic black metal, simple punk rock, alternating croaks and anthemic old-world singing, and early 20th
century nostalgia definitely has a way of keeping your... Read More » |
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Lord Belial Revelation the 7th Seal Regain Records 2007 |
I'm not familiar with Lord Belial's back catalog, but after listening to their seventh full-length, maybe I should be. This is black metal done right by a band who was there during the genre's darkest period 16 years ago. Mostly mid-paced with occasional blasting and slower passages, "Revelation - 7th Seal" doesn't yield 11 tracks so much as it wields... Read More » |
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Lordi The Arockalypse The End Records 2007 |
Finland’s Lordi sound a lot like a silly version of AC/DC raping the corpse of Sentenced. They look like they’re trying to one-up Gwar and, as if that weren’t sad enough, it seems that the band could really play, if they weren’t too busy being self-aware and clever to sound like anything but stupid novelty. What I can’t... Read More » |
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Lost Eden Cycle Repeats Candlelight Records 2007 |
Japan’s Lost Eden debut with Cycle Repeats, a 36-minute workout in all that is good and holy in melodic death metal…plus a few less excellent ideas that only a young band would attempt. Focusing on the negative first, this album has a few too many marginally metalcore moments, but otherwise is full of early-day In Flames style riffs. ... Read More » |
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Lost Eden Cycle Repeats Candlelight Records 2007 |
After an atmospheric intro from Japan's "best kept metal secret" - Lost Eden, one of Candlelight's latest additions kicks into full steam on "Squeeze." Billed as a melodic death/hardcore band, it's a fitting description and just about on target. Mixing melodic death riffs, with aggressive, throaty vocals that remain decipherable and some cleanly sung choruses with occasional tasteful leads, scaled-back... Read More » |
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Luctus Sonitus Caeli Ardentis Ledo Takas Records 2007 |
Luctus lead off this split with Argharus, getting the first six songs of the disc. The opening is impossible to listen to without thinking of Voivod's War and Pain. It gets even better from there because this is speed crazed black metal with a lot of old school to it. I mean these guys are like the... Read More » |
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M.O.D. Red, White and Screwed Index Entertainment 2007 |
As one of the few stalwart holdovers from the golden era of thrash, M.O.D. (aka - Billy Milano) deserves kudos for carrying its flag through three decades. Admittedly, I chose this promo because I lost touch with M.O.D. after "Gross Misconduct" and was curious to hear what they sound like nearly 20 years later. My verdict? Well, I should've known.... Read More » |
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Magnum Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow SPV 2007 |
Imagine a less folky version of Jethro Tull and a more progressive version of Saxon with less triplets and over-the-top vocals, yearning instead for song structure, all the while retaining the tale telling and taking it up tenfold. Throw in some dashes of Yes or Genesis and then you might have a good summary for the United Kingdom's Magnum, who... Read More » |
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Malignancy Inhuman Grotesqueries Willowtip Records 2007 |
I cannot begin to stress my admiration for this band. Unfortunately, there are thousands of bedroom and garage clones out there, of which approximately seven are listenable. Too many death/gore/grind bands these days make a series of mistakes; they try too hard to make the vocals as indistinguishable as possible with gurgles, squeals and snorts or they are hardcore douchebags... Read More » |
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Manes How the World Came to an End Candlelight Records 2007 |
Manes' newest album. How The World Came To An End is a trip-hop/electronica album. I mean, this has more in common with Radiohead than Machine Head, so why the hell are we reviewing it here? Because it's on Candlelight and Manes used to be a black metal band, that's why. Regardless of the reason, I'm happy this sucker came through... Read More » |
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Mannhai Hellroad Caravan Locomotive Records 2007 |
Led by vocalist Pasi Koskinen formerly of Amorphis fame, Mannhai release their fourth album Hellroad Caravan. The disc is a hodge-podge of faster fuzz akin to a sorry mix of Fu Manchu meets Hellacopters with a touch of the weakest stuff Cathedral has ever done. There are also some chiller jams more in the patient-like-Kyuss style, all the... Read More » |
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Marblebog Forestheart 2007 |
I wish I could think of a great and deep review for this album but alas only one word comes to mind, boring. This is one dull album. The material is played right in the middle of the speedometer, right at boring speed. There are maybe 3 riffs on the whole album and they are all played... Read More » |
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Marduk Warschau Regain Records 2007 |
This is the newest Marduk live album, clocking in at over an hour with seventeen songs. If you are a diehard fan of Marduk's blasting black metal then this disc must be heaven. Though I am a renowned speedfreak I personally find this album dull. Then again I'm probably the only person who thinks World Funeral and... Read More » |
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Marduk Those of the Unlight Regain Records 2007 |
Regain Records opened a U.S. office in 2007 and re-issued the entire early Marduk catalog. The cd’s are basically the exact same as their Osmose records counterparts, but with the added bonus of a live in 1993 Quicktime video. To be honest, the video is good quality, but the sound on it sucks my ass, a real watch once and... Read More » |
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Marduk Rom 5:12 Regain Records 2007 |
Swedish black metal hellions Marduk have returned to fill the masses with fear, hatred, and, as always, a sense of slowly diminishing into the darkness within us all. Are they successful this time around? Sure, if you consider that this new Marduk has slowed way, way down on a couple tracks.
Oh, yes, folks, the new Marduk is slowing... Read More » |
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Martriden Martriden Candlelight Records 2007 |
I’ve decided that Candlelight Records are a bunch of lying bastards. The reason is that Martriden’s four-song, self-titled EP is way too good to be a debut effort. There’s just no fucking way that this Montana-based group can write music as incredible as this on their first try. The four songs span nearly the entire death metal genre,... Read More » |
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Martriden Martriden Candlelight Records 2007 |
These guys might very well be the first band I've ever heard from Montana. They make it pretty clear that they get their hands on the good stuff out there as well. Their style is fairly aggressive melodic death metal, though they don’t lack heaviness either. The first song has elements of Decapitated and Behemoth to it,... Read More » |
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Masterplan MKII Candlelight Records 2007 |
Led by Roland Grapow, Germany's Masterplan is sporting a new vocalist on the second album, having parted ways with Jorn Lande. Now stepping up to the mic is Mike DeMeo (from Riot) who adds his smooth delivery and soaring melodic sense to the blueprint of slightly progressive power metal. Mike is a solid vocalist who always... Read More » |
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Matadors Flame the Whisper Devil Doll Records 2007 |
Flame the Whisper is the sophomore full-length effort from Sweden's Matadors, but is my first experience with the band and I'm digging what I hear so far. The band plays what can loosely be categorized as stoner rock with bits and pieces of Queens of the Stone Age, Monster Magnet, garage punk, and a generally tight approach to rock and... Read More » |
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Means Sending You Strength Facedown Records 2007 |
Christian hardcore with emo embellishments and I don't hate it? I must be getting soft.
Canada's means play a fiery, energetic brand of hardcore with a metallic edge, some rock-based elements, and the occasional emo leaning moment. The mix reminds me quite a bit of fellow Christlovers, Beloved, although Means is considerably heavier and more polished as songwriters. There is... Read More » |
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Megadeth United Abominations Roadrunner Records 2007 |
Megadeth returns with another slab of thrash which – just like the last three albums – is promised to be "the best Megadeth album in years." Sadly, we've all been burned enough to know that hype is cheap and PR cheaper, so we enter this album with a healthy dose of trepidation.
Also, we should recognize that Megadeth has gone through... Read More » |
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Mehida Blood & Water Napalm Records 2007 |
When I read that a musician is ex several big bands, I usually wonder what his deal is. When I read he is the ex-keyboard player of several big bands, I’m usually sure what his deal is, severe case of self-importance. Mehida strikes me as that situation. You have the ex-keyboard player from Kotipelto and Sonata Arctica. Two of the... Read More » |
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Memfis The Wind-Up Candlelight Records 2007 |
Of the many musical genres that Sweden is known for, prog and the elusively-titled ‘modern metal’ are not among them. Yet. Between the rising act Canopy, the burgeoning success of Burst, and now the recent arrival of Memfis, Sweden appears to be gearing for yet another genre takeover. (For those curious, Memfis is the Swedish spelling of ‘Memphis’, and was... Read More » |
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Memoria The Midnight Ball Prime Cuts 2007 |
"It's sort of like the bastard lovechild of Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi and F.W Mernau's Nosferatu in musical form." - Nadia Bailey PBS 106.7 FM
Since I'm going to spend the whole review trying to say what that one sentence says, I though I'd go ahead and include it.
Memoria is an Australian band that calls themselves "creators of dark... Read More » |
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Memories Lab Empathy Demo 2007 |
Developing themselves as a Dream Theater cover band, Memories Lab now compose their own brand of rather exquisite progressive metal. Within their five-song demo, Empathy, lie memorable melodies and creative song structures, which are usually a cornerstone of good prog-metal. And while the entirety of the album may not be consistent, it still displays nice composition and technique.... Read More » |
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Mendeed The Dead Live By Love Century Media 2007 |
Mendeed truly have talent, and display massive amounts of technical abilities throughout each track. The release, "The Dead Live by Love," is another well constructed work of theirs. They draw from many styles and eras in metal to develop their own mixture of super fast shredding tunes with a wide range of variation.
They are described as a metalcore... Read More » |
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Metalium Nothing To Undo - Chapter Six Crash Music 2007 |
Oh man, this is just what the doctored ordered for me at the moment. Seems like a lot of power metal bands have been going through the motions lately, so leave it to one of the "second tier" bands to infuse the tried-and-true formula with some vigor. Sure, Metalium aren't offering up anything new, but damned if this here Chapter... Read More » |
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Minsk The Ritual Fires of Abandonment Relapse Records 2007 |
This is the latest record from Minsk, even if they do come from Illinois and not Belarus. As with the last record they evoke the feel of the last few Neurosis records, but it comes off better than it does for Neurosis. I don't know if I'm simply punishing Neurosis for not living up to what they used... Read More » |
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Misericordiam Unanimity and the Cessation of Hostility EP Twelve Gauge Records 2007 |
Las Vegas' Misericordiam is a chugging, blasting, gurgling modern extreme death metal band. In the past the band had a strong deathcore lean with plenty of breakdowns and the inhaled pig squeel vocals, but with Unanimity and the Cessation of Hostility have shed basically all of that influence settling on a relentless, grinding form of death metal.
These guys basically sound... Read More » |
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Mithras Behind the Shadows Lie Madness Candlelight Records 2007 |
Mithras come to me by way of England and they are an interesting sound to be sure. They are not perfect by any stretch but I am impressed by what I hear. They play a pretty straightforward brand of blackened death metal in the vein of Belphegor and Zos Kia Cultus-era Behemoth. However the best comparison might... Read More » |
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Mnemic Passenger Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Well, what can I say? Let’s begin with this: if you dig current Soilwork, current Meshuggah and Devin Townsend, you’ll like some aspects of Mnemic’s sound. Additionally, if you like radio bands like Static X, latter-period Fear Factory, Disturbed and hell, let’s even toss in some Korn (whiney vocal bits) and Linkin Park (industrial electronica) for good measure - you... Read More » |
![Monarch! [France], "Dead Men Tell No Tales"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/monarchfra_deadmentel.jpg "Monarch! [France], \"Dead Men Tell No Tales\"")
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Monarch! [France] Dead Men Tell No Tales Crucial Blast Records 2007 |
First of all let me warn you. If you have come here looking for grind, you really screwed up hard. This is the antithesis of grind. This is slow, painful, pounding dirge. With five songs that span two discs and 95 minutes this takes awhile. It is a re-release of the Speak of the Sea... Read More » |
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Monarkh Rites Profanes 2007 |
Monarkh are ambient black metal from Quebec. I have to say that they do this quite well because this is some really creepy stuff, reminding me a bit of Thorns, mostly both parts of Underneath the Universe. There are few vocals and nothing resembling actual metal. This is all the work of one man coincidentally named Monarkh.... Read More » |
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Monster Magnet 4-Way Diablo SPV 2007 |
Dave Wyndorf is a pimp. According to Monster Magnet’s new album, 4-Way Diablo he’s got a cock made out of platinum, the world’s last piece of chocolate and money falling from the sky. In all seriousness, though, the band has probably created their best work to date with this album. The drugs must have been flowing when... Read More » |
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Monsterworks Spacial Operations Independent Release 2007 |
It doesn’t even take until the instrumental intro, “Leaving Home,” ends for the listener to know that an aural feast is about to ensue on the remainder of Monsterworks’ fifth disc, Spacial Operations. The only thing you can expect from these New Zealanders (if you haven’t heard their stuff before) is that you will not be prepared for it.... Read More » |
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Moonspell Under Satanae SPV 2007 |
It seems like SPV is getting all their bands to go back and re-record their early works. Under Satanae features the bands “Under The Moonspell” release, plus tracks from their demo and even some pre- Moonspell tracks as well.
Over the years, Moonspell has changed their sound. They have drifted farther into the melodic/gothic realm of metal and seemingly gotten... Read More » |
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Moonspell Under Satanae SPV 2007 |
Under Satanae is a record that has been a long time coming for Moonspell fans. It's not a new full-length, rather it is a re-recording of everything these Portuguese dark metal stalwarts did before Wolfheart. That includes the legendary Under the Moonspell, the 1993 demo tape Anno Satanae, and the first song the group ever recorded "Serpent Angel" (originally under... Read More » |
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Mortiis Some Kind of Heroin Earache Records 2007 |
Really people, someone tell the former members of classic Black Metal bands that techno is not the way to go in the future. The first couple of albums that Mortiis did had some interesting things going on. I also happen to be a fan of ambient soundscape pieces, so much of his early solo work was right up my alley.... Read More » |
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Mortuus De Contemplanda morte Ajna Offensive 2007 |
This is a rather odd record for me to review. I only say this because I normally don't dig the slow, raw, doomy black metal, but damn this is good. The music isn't anything horribly innovative, but it is put together in a way that only be described as ominous. I haven't heard too many albums in... Read More » |
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Motorhead Better Motörhead Than Dead - Live At Hammersmith SPV 2007 |
The title says it all for me. For those of you familiar with their studio catalog there aren't a ton of surprises in here, though I do love how they've resurrected Another Perfect Day. All of the classics from the first five records are here naturally, as they have been on every live Motorhead record. My only... Read More » |
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Motorhead Better Motörhead Than Dead - Live At Hammersmith SPV 2007 |
I'll keep this one brief as no extensive bio is needed. MOTORHEAD FREAKING RULE. If you agree with this fact, buy this.
Seriously, buy this if you like Motorhead. This is 23 tracks recorded live at London's Hammersmith Odeon in June of 2005 in front of 5,000+ celebrating 30 years of Motorhead domination. For better or worse (depending on how much... Read More » |
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Municipal Waste The Art of Partying Earache Records 2007 |
Channeling the likes of DRI, Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus, Richmond, VA's Municipal Waste are arguably at the forefront of the American thrash metal resurgence, this time returning with The Art of Partying, the follow-up to 2005's critical success Hazardous Mutations. Featuring 15 quick and to-the-point party anthems (the titles to "Pre-Game," the title track, "Beer Pressure," "Chemically Altered" and "Born... Read More » |
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Mustasch Latest Version of the Truth Regain Records 2007 |
Wow! This one totally caught me off guard. Mustasch is completely new to me, though apparently they are huuuge in Europe. As in, 2 Swedish Grammy nominations huge. The Latest Version of the Truth is the band's fourth full-length release, but first with a worldwide distribution deal, so soon enough we will see if their Euro success translates to worldwide... Read More » |
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My Own Grave Unholy Pulverised Records 2007 |
My Own Grave’s Unholy EP lasts a mere 16 minutes, yet it proves the band’s weight and intentions with ease. The five tracks on this disc all show the band’s know-how on their instruments and their focus in writing simple, yet engaging, heavy death metal. They throw in touches of black metal riffage and the occasional higher vocal... Read More » |
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Myopia Enter Insectmasterplan Selfmadegod Records 2007 |
Myopia is a Polish technical deathrash act influenced by the likes of Extol, Atheist, and Anata, although I wouldn’t put this band in that league at this point in time. Their sound is familiar, but to their credit, they mix their influences wisely and never come off as a copycat. They know their way around their instruments and showcase a... Read More » |
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Mythyca Ninth of the Nine Hells Independent Release 2007 |
Although everything about the presentation of this record screams black metal, I was very surprised to hear a youthful, thrashing death metal attack blare out of my speakers when Ninth of the Nine Hells kicks in. Rarely would I find a juvenile approach to metal worship a good thing, but in today's era of Pro-Tooled musical neutering, the presence... Read More » |
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Mytile Vey Lorth Disillusion Prime Cuts 2007 |
Mytile Vey Lorth’s Disillusion is an intriguing album from these Australian black metallers. The seven tracks span 40 minutes of densely blasting, fairly melodic material with a cool, prominent vocal delivery and, overall, a unique sound. Though the drums are firing at a million miles per hour, the pace of the guitar isn’t always quick so the speed... Read More » |
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N.I.L. N.I.L Battle Kommand Records 2007 |
Being that cult black metal label Battle Kommand routinely releases things that are not cult black metal (Zoroaster, Dawnbringer), I was a little unsure as to what N.I.L. (Nihilism is Liberation) was going to offer. Partnered with the fact that Krieg’s Neil Imperial is behind it, I was pretty sure I was in for something rough if not completely depraved.... Read More » |
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Naglfar Harvest Century Media 2007 |
A few years have passed since Kristoffer Olivius replaced Jens Rydén as Naglfar’s vocalist, and this year’s ‘Harvest’ is the band’s second full-length since the switch. Kristoffer (aka ‘Wrath’) was also very prompt in assuming the frontman’s duties both on record and in person, now having scowled, sneered, and grimaced his way through dozens of promo pictures with his fancy... Read More » |
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Naglfar Vittra Regain Records 2007 |
This album is why I love reissues. Quite simply, I like Naglfar but between reviewing and those records that I am addicted to I never get to listen to these guys all that much. So for the review I had to dig these up once again and damn am I glad I did. I forgot how good... Read More » |
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Nahema The Second Philosophy Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Nahemah are more interesting than I originally gave them credit for, but it took a while for that interest to percolate through my brain stem and finally coalesce into something concrete (like this review). As you all know by now, I'm an unrepentant connoisseur of progressive metal... to the point that I?m somewhat blinded by technical brilliance, even... Read More » |
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Necromessiah Antiklerical Terroristik Death Squad Blasphemous Underground 2007 |
Well, there isn’t a hell of a lot of background on this band except that they are from Italy, this isn’t the original line up and they hate Christianity, oh and did I mention THEY HATE CHRISTIANITY?
To say that these guys are focused on their goal is an understatement. With tracks like Christ-Crushing Black Metal and Fukking Bastard God... Read More » |
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Nefastus Dies Urban Cancer Deepsend Records 2007 |
Nefastus Dies are a black metal band from Canada who remind me a lot of the last few Satyricon records. However they aren't nearly as interesting. First of all the main problem with this album is the vocals are irritating as hell. The main rasp just sounds like the vocalist is screaming, "Die!" over and over again.... Read More » |
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NervoChaos Quarrel in Hell Ibex Moon Records 2007 |
Nervochaos are a quintet from Brazil who wants nothing more than for the calendar to say 1991 all over again. These guys like to play mid-paced to fast semi-thrashy death metal in the old Tampa tradition, though the bass reminds me a little bit of Cannibal Corpse, though their bassist isn't in the same league as Alex Webster, but... Read More » |
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Neverlight Horizon No Heaven... Only Torment Shiver Records 2007 |
If weighty, brutal death metal is what you seek, Neverlight Horizon’s No Heaven…Only Torment will provide you with a skillful beating. The disc is a 35-minute workout in beautifully produced death metal that thrives on grunted vocals, chaotic blast beats, audible, popping bass and the occasional godly groove. The last in this list, however, is actually quite frustrating,... Read More » |
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Nex Zero Deathgasm Records 2007 |
Man... I just LOVE cryptic press sheets.
"NEX was formed in January 2007 as a result of utter chaos. The same day the composition and recording of the album "Zero" started."
That's pretty much all I'm working with here. Assuming I'm reading it correctly, any band that forms and starts recording their debut on the same day had to have... Read More » |
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Nidsang The Mark of Death Drakkar Productions 2007 |
Do you like black metal? Do you like it to be so badly mixed that it adheres to the rules of black metal screed we all know and have some feelings about; specifically the part about how the guitar should hurt and bass is bad. If that's the case then you will love Nidsang. However if you... Read More » |
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Nifelheim Envoy of Lucifer 2007 |
Almost 18 years in the making, “Envoy of Lucifer’ is everything that makes Black Metal the most vulgar, offensive, and extreme style of music in existence. It starts from the very get go and holds no remorse in at attempt to fully destroy the listener with pure evil. This is the band’s fourth full length album, in addition to a... Read More » |
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Niflheim Neurasthénie Sepulchral Productions 2007 |
The French-Canadian incarnation of one of the eight bands that use a variation of the name, this particular Niflheim is sure to stand out from the rest. Playing a beautifully done style of raw, slow-to-mid-paced black metal that throws in touches of violin, cello, and piano, bandmembers Orion and Neptune have released a debut album worthy of acclaim.
Throughout the album,... Read More » |
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Nightrage A New Disease Is Born Lifeforce Records 2007 |
Album three, A New Disease is Born, finds Nightrage with a new label and a new vocalist and a new drummer and, and, and… I was honestly a little disappointed to hear of Thomas Lindberg’s departure from the band, and as you might expect Jimmy Strimmell’s vox doesn’t compare all that favorably to one of the best screamers in... Read More » |
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Nile Ithyphallic Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
After the grand to-do and fancy collector's tin editions of Nile's 'Annihilation of the Wicked' in 2005, the arrival of their Nuclear Blast debut 'Ithyphallic' feels significantly less dramatic. And, actually, this may be the most appropriate choice, considering the significant shift made by this Carolinian trio on 'Ithyphallic'. The passage of time will obviously impact songwriting, style, and so... Read More » |
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Nocturnal Rites The 8th Sin Century Media 2007 |
The appropriately titled The 8th Sin is indeed Nocturnal Rites' 8th full-length effort since they started in the early 90's. This is kind of a strange disc to me becasue it represents some of the heaviest and proggiest riffing we've ever heard out of Nocturnal Rites, but it also features absolutely sugary choruses and melodies that are completely weak. I... Read More » |
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Nominon Terra Necrosis Deathgasm Records 2007 |
Nominon are from Sweden, and you would be able to tell this about .4 seconds into the record. This is not another Gothenburg record by any stretch however. These guys are more into the old school Swedish sound revival. You know the one Death Breath and Bloodbath are so into. The guitar sound is just filthy... Read More » |
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Nominon Terra Necrosis Deathgasm Records 2007 |
Sweden’s Nominon unleash Terra Necrosis with the hopes of rekindling the spirit of old-school death metal. Their efforts on this disc are commendable in that the material is coherently written, executed and record well, and they definitely are expert studies in early Entombed, Dismember and the like. I do have trouble, however, with the pace and simplicity of... Read More » |
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Nox Ixaxaar Wicked World 2007 |
It's really disappointing when a record like this comes about and kicks ass all over the recent comeback album of the band that Nox no doubt owes a lot to, that being Angelcorpse. That's not to say that this record is what the followup to The Inexorable should have been because this is a far less focused yet just... Read More » |
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Nuclear Blast AllStars Out of the Dark Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Nuclear Blast has put out countless lame compilations. Their newest one, Out of the Dark , celebrates the company’s 20-year anniversary. Someone at the company thought it would be a great idea to give Peter Wichers (ex-Soilwork) the chance to write and perform -- with percussive help from Dirk Verbeuren and Henry Ranta -- music for a... Read More » |
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Nyia Nyia+Antigama 2007 |
Recipe for a HeadacheIngredients:
Read More » |
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Obituary Xecutioner's Return Candlelight Records 2007 |
Techincally, Xecutioner (Obituary's name before "Slowly We Rot" was released) returned in 2005 with "Frozen In Time," but last
year's "Xecutioner's Return" proves that the band is not, in fact, frozen. Or are they? The Tardy brothers, Trevor Perez, and co. continue their signature brand of swampy Floridian death rot with the fervor of an aggravated mama gator. The thing... Read More » |
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Obscurus Advocam Verbia Daemonicus Battle Kommand Records 2007 |
The French come together once more with a black metal offering. Tradition grew strong, but Obscurus Advocam are chipping away at the roots. Sharing members from already acclaimed acts; Temple of Baal, Glorior Belli and Wolfe, Obscurus has released "Verbia Daemonicus." This album should be considered a huge step in the progression of black metal. While... Read More » |
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Occidens Glofication of the Antichrist Deathgasm Records 2007 |
This is a nice 25 minute slab of old school black metal. Imagine In the Nightside Eclipse, but with more blasting and you have this record. It's as grim as it gets because this is some really raw, primal stuff. The guitar sound is very much in the vein of Nightside, though the kickdrum sound actually reminds... Read More » |
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Occidens Descending of the Fire Hordes Nerbilous Productions 2007 |
Occidens were nice enough to include this 12 minute demo on their full length Glorification of the Antichrist. Two of the songs appear on the album, but two are only on this demo. Once again this is black metal that can only be described as blast-happy early Emperor. The production has too much treble which could make... Read More » |
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Octavia Sperati Grace Submerged Candlelight Records 2007 |
The sophomore release from these Norwegian lasses (and one dude on drums) finds them heading into a groove-laden rock 'n' doom direction that conjures comparisons to Evanescence. The more direct approach will no doubt illicit cries of "sell out" from some camps, but I can't blame the band for trying to cash in and get some air play. I reviewed... Read More » |
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October File Holy Armour from the Jaws of God 2007 |
After far too long an absence from my machines, October File has returned to me with no loss of venom. In fact they might have more than they did last time, which is saying something. If you enjoy the not so soothing tones of Killing Joke then these are the guys for you as they seem heirs to... Read More » |
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Odious Mortem Cryptic Implosion Willowtip Records 2007 |
In 2005 Odious Mortem released their debut full-length Devouring the Prophecy on Unique Leader records, however it wasn't until Willowtip signed the band that I started to get interested in what the band had to offer. I like Unique Leader well enough, but they just don't have the same track record that Willowtip does. I mean, anything with the Willowtip... Read More » |
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Officium Triste Giving Yourself Away Displeased Records 2007 |
The opening track to this album starts off slow, and I don’t mean the obviously understated time signature of the song. Basically, the band has put one of their most boring generic tracks in front to start up the album and had almost lost me mere minutes into the album. It wasn’t until the launch of the second song that... Read More » |
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Olympia Emergencies Equal Vision Records 2007 |
Olympia is a four-piece rock outfit from the DC area made up of two full time and one part time member of the fallen Fairweather with former Brand New Disaster singer Phil Williams handling vocal duties. Emergencies is their debut album, but it has a totally professional feel to it, although the sound is somewhat bland.
Emergencies is a rock album.... Read More » |
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Om Pilgrimage 2007 |
Imagine that you’ve forgotten everything you know about slow, tortured doom (*poof* in a distinctly pot-like green cloud…it’s gone). Now, and maybe only now, in your blissfully ignorant, relaxed state will you truly be able to understand the importance of Om’s four-song epic, Pilgrimage. Featuring the rhythm section of the legendary Sleep, and recorded by doom guru, Steve... Read More » |
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Omnium Gatherum Stuck Here on Snakes Way Candlelight Records 2007 |
In 2003 when Omnium Gatherum released Spirits and August Light, it was like they had revolutionized the Finnish death metal sound. Somehow they’d bridged the gap between Amorphis catchy, spacey rock and the heavier stuff. It was smooth, thick and ripe with as much atmosphere as aggression. Their release of Years in Waste saw the band gravitating... Read More » |
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Omnium Gatherum Stuck Here on Snakes Way Candlelight Records 2007 |
There are clear similarities to Soilwork and later In Flames within the creations from Omnium Gatherum's release, which undoubtedly can be both welcoming and unwanted. However these fellows seem to have quite a complex way of thinking as it shows in there structure and leads. Of course that sets them in a higher league as apposed to all... Read More » |
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One Man Army and the Undead Quartet Error in Evolution Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
You better be undead if you're gonna play rhythm guitar like a springloaded robot. The incessant downpicking, triplets and technical execution are so flawless they sound easy. But I think we all know better. It takes tendons with the tensile strength of titanium alloy to pull this stuff off for just five minutes -- much less an hour.
This is pure... Read More » |
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Onslaught Killing Peace Candlelight Records 2007 |
"Killing Peace" is this U.K. outfit’s "comeback" album after an 18 year hiatus. Back in the day Onslaught was one of the numerous "second tier" thrash bands notable for churning out Satanic anthems back when that sort of thing was still considered dangerous (also of note is that they penned a track called "Death Metal" on their debut album that... Read More » |
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Optimum Wound Profile Lowest Common Denominator 2007 |
This is one of those albums that I loved back in the day and never expected to see reissued in any form. I was pleasantly surprised to see this one come out, though in a very limited edition. These guys were an impressive mix of punk, hardcore and industrial metal that might have been a little too far... Read More » |
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Optimum Wound Profile Silver or Lead 2007 |
I'm sure you already read my gushing about their first record so it's time for the second. I didn't listen to this back in the day nearly as much as I did Lowest Common Dominator. That was what they call a stupid move on my part. The album is a lot more focused than the first one... Read More » |
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Orthodox Amanecer en Puerta Oscura 2007 |
Spain's Orthodox released an interesting, but very uneven doomy debut in 2006's Gran Poder that featured long, slowly evolving songs that hopped genres and was a bit too long-winded for my taste. I never in a million years would have expected the band to progress in such a strange way in such a short time. On this late 2007 entry... Read More » |
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Outremer Turn Into Grey Pulverised Records 2007 |
Okay... imagine the offspring of Cathedral and Entombed. Now get rid of your boner and imagine it being really boring instead of awesome.
Outremer take the mid/up-tempo doom riffing of Cathedral and beef it up a bit with some groovy Entombed style death'n'roll. On paper Turn Into Grey should be year-end-list material, but it just isn't. It's hard to say... Read More » |
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Paganize Evilution Hour Candlelight Records 2007 |
If Paganize is meant to be taken literally as in that act of turning someone into a pagan, which it very well may be, it's a bit corny for a name. Luckily that is the only thing being labeled as such. Beyond the name lies an excellent dosage of old fashioned heavy metal.
Coming out of Norway,... Read More » |
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Pantheon I The Wanderer and His Shadow Candlelight Records 2007 |
Pantheon-I have set themselves quite the task in living up to their chosen moniker. Full of majesty and vitriol, they play a brand of epic, progressive black metal that's not unlike fellow Norwegians, Emperor. However, where Emperor was influencing (and participating in) a wave of churchburnings more than a decade ago, Pantheon-I is, for the moment, paradoxically following in the... Read More » |
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Paradise Lost In Requiem Century Media 2007 |
Paradise Lost return after a decade-long excursion into madness and mainstream mediocrity that reached its peak / nadir with the nonsense of 1999's "Host" and 2001's "Believe in Nothing." Both albums - and to a lesser degree the albums immediately preceding and following them - are pale reflections of the band's former power, eschewing their trademark crunch and roar for... Read More » |
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Paradox Product of Imagination 2007 |
Originally released in 1987, Product of Imagination has now been re-issued by the folks at MetalMind 20 years later!
Product of Imagination is the debut full-length from German thrash mongers, Paradox. It is a high-energy affair that finds the middle ground between Kreator's scathing attack and the more melodic leanings of Helloween. You get bits and pieces of thrash, speed, and... Read More » |
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Paradox Heresy 2007 |
MetalMind has done it again! Another great, but largely underappreciated gem unearthed for those of us that weren't around the first time or just need a fresh copy!
Heresy is Paradox's second album and follow-up to their solid debut, Product of Imagination. Heresy more or less takes the mix of speed, thrash and power metal of their debut and intensifies... Read More » |
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Parkway Drive Horizons Epitaph 2007 |
I have been listening to these guys for a while now. Their U.S. debut, “Killing With A Smile”, which was actually a re-release of the band’s debut full length, really caught me by surprise. They have some strong and obvious connections to the metalcore scene, but really distinguish themselves on a regular basis through out the release.
Now we have... Read More » |
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Pathosray Pathosray 2007 |
Italy's Pathosray formed in 2000 as a trio unde rthe moniker N.D.E. In 2002 the band changed their name to Pathosray and released their first demo called Strange Kind of Energies which they would spend the next few years promoting heavily. In 2006 the band expanded to a quintet, so they recorded another demo titled Deathless Crescendo and later that... Read More » |
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Paths of Possession The End of the Hour Metal Blade 2007 |
Paths of Possession, featuring George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse fame, have released their third album, The End of the Hour, and despite the fact that it’s a pretty routine death metal workout, it does offer some fun twists to the formula. First off, though there’s no mistaking that the band plays 100% death metal; no –core, no bullshit, they... Read More » |
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Pentacle Under the Black Cross Ibex Moon Records 2007 |
This is a concept album about Operation Chariot, an Allied attack to take down the port of St. Nazaire in 1942. Despite high casualties the operation was hailed as a success but enough history you can Google this if you need to know more. The album inspired by it is what interests us. Pentacle comes to us from... Read More » |
![Pestilence, "Mind Reflections : The Best of Pestilence [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/pestilence_mindreflec.jpg "Pestilence, \"Mind Reflections : The Best of Pestilence [reissue]\"")
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Pestilence Mind Reflections : The Best of Pestilence [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
This is an interesting way to experience the power that was Pestilence. Originally released in 1994, after Pestilence had broken up, this compilation was put together by Monte Conner, who worked for Roadrunner Records. What you get here is nine tracks that were available on the four Pestilence albums ("Malleus Maleficarum", "Consuming Impulse", "Testimony of the... Read More » |
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Pestilence Spheres (re-issue) Metal Mind Records 2007 |
If you ever want to talk about underrated, classic death metal bands, then Pestilence better be high on your list. This Dutch powerhouse only released four albums, but each one was excellent for very different reasons. While their first two discs were more standard death-metal fare, Testimony of Ancients saw the group really delving into the burgeoning technical... Read More » |
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Peter Pan Speedrock Spread Eagle MVD Entertainment Group 2007 |
Peter Pan Speedrock live up to their name on Spread Eagle, their debut album. Sounding like a mix of Motorhead and The Hellacopters, the music is easy to listen to and entertaining, but relatively insubstantial. Shout-along choruses, humorous songs about women and booze and simple, relatively fast grooves abound on this disc. On a first listen the... Read More » |
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Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb Relapse Records 2007 |
Just buy the damn CD. You're somewhat interested because you clicked the link to the review, so just buy it. You can thank me later.
Pig Destroyer are hands down, the best grindcore band of the (still) new millenium. Napalm Death has had an excellent post-2000 run as well, but they simply crumble before what Pig Destroyer has been responsible for... Read More » |
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Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb Relapse Records 2007 |
Quite possibly, Pig Destroyer is the most relevant grind band of the past decade. Through the grace of their past three albums, they have risen from the bilge in the gutter (meant in the best way possible) of Northern Virginia to the crème de la crème of the entire continent’s metal consciousness. That is, if grind can be creamy, which... Read More » |
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Point Blank Rage The Sound of Resistance Galy Records 2007 |
Point Blank Rage come from Montreal, Quebec and play old school death metal with just a bit of hardcore flavor thrown in the mix. The Sound of Resistance is their debut outing full of heavy handed grooves, the ocasional melody, and a generally straightforward approach to the genre.
The band is lead by vocalist Alexandre Leblanc (Neuraxis, Atheretic) whose deep, gruff... Read More » |
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Porcupine Tree Nil Recuring Peaceville Records 2007 |
Porcupine Tree is the heaviest band you will ever listen to that is not considered Metal. It isn’t that they have tons of distortion, growls or power chords; it is just that their music is unbelievably dense and hefty. They also have a knack for changing their sound from album to album, or even song to song in some cases.... Read More » |
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Portal Outre Profound Lore Records 2007 |
Death metal as a genre arguably hasn't existed in proper form since its inception. While bands like Incantation and the like still manage to churn out legitimately subterranean releases, few bands realize that this particular genre needs to reach a certain depth of terror in order to fully realize the concept of death through its musical incarnation. While... Read More » |
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Praetorian Crushing Torment Independent Release 2007 |
Australia has been one of the most fertile spawning grounds for high quality death, thrash, grind and any other metal you can think of in the last few years. Bands like Malignant Monster and Pathogen as well as better known acts such as Damaged, Alchemist and The Berzerker really show just how strong and diverse the scene down under... Read More » |
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Pro-Pain Age of Tyranny Candlelight Records 2007 |
I'm going to get through this review without mentioning the mythical town of Arlen, Texas, or one of its better known inhabitants, or said inhabitant's occupation as a seller of... ah, but there I go, blowing it already.
Pro-Pain is back and pissed off once again about the war in Iraq. Hey wait... weren't they pissed off about Iraq... Read More » |
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Project : Failing Flesh The Cojoined Burning Star Records 2007 |
If you have read the reviews of their first album A Beautiful Sickness then you know I loved that album to death. Hearing they had a follow up on the way this year made my year to be honest. Maybe it's because I loved the first one so much, or maybe it's because vocalist Eric Forrest has yet... Read More » |
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Puissance Grace of God Equilibrium Music 2007 |
I had never heard of these guys until I got this in the mail and all I have to say is, sorry I'm late. I don't know if this can be called metal, due to the absence of guitar and bass but I really don't care all that much. This is neo-classical music slamming into industrial giving birth... Read More » |
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Quick Change Circus of Death 2007 |
Chicago's Quick Change started out in the 1982 as a cover band, primarily playing Judas Priest and Scorpions covers. In '85 they started writing originals and released a string of three self-financed demos before they got Roadrunner to release their debut full-length, Circus of Death in 1988. In 1990, the band recorded a 6 track EP that would never be... Read More » |
![Realm, "Suiciety [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/realm_suicietyre.jpg "Realm, \"Suiciety [reissue]\"")
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Realm Suiciety [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
This is a remaster of Realm's 1990 release with an added bonus track. This is the first time I've heard the band despite being around back in the day - just as it is now, so it was then: so many bands, so little time. What can you do? I guess make up for lost time by checking this out.... Read More » |
![Realm, "Endless War [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/realm_endlesswar.jpg "Realm, \"Endless War [reissue]\"")
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Realm Endless War [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
You know, I'm hard pressed to say anything bad about Realm, and their album Endless War. These guys were talented as all hell, they were good songwriters, and they worked hard at what they did. They made some A-class thrash/speed metal, just on the whole it wasn't all that groundbreaking.
Don't let that get in the way of a... Read More » |
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Reanimator Thrashin' the Neighborhood Galy Records 2007 |
If you can't figure out what these guys sound like from the album title there is no hope for you. These guys are the French-Canadian Municipal Waste. If you love the old school crossover-trash that MW put out, then Reanimator will be right up your alley. The music is nice and fast, of course. The vocals... Read More » |
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Rellik Heritage of Abomination Deathgasm Records 2007 |
OK, we owe Deathgasm a round of thanks for re-releasing this gem that first came out on United Guttural records in 2005. There isn't a lot to discuss here. This is straight ahead blast happy pound your face in death metal. The best description might be Belphegor on amphetamines. These guys really don't like to slow... Read More » |
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Rob Rock Garden of Chaos 2007 |
First off, Rob is a Christian metalhead, thus the majority of his lyrics reflect his religion. If that sort of thing bothers you, well... I reckon you know what to do. For what it's worth, I was raised Protestant but am now an atheist - so while religious lyrics don't thrill me, I understand why some folks want to extol... Read More » |
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Rosetta Project Mercury Level-Plane Records 2007 |
After three tracks from fellow Philadelphians Balboa, Rosetta offers two tracks and nearly 23 minutes of their electronic-laden, glacial compositions. The first track "Tma-1" is an instrumental and starts off very slowly, building on noise washes and simple guitar lines. The song has a lot of groove and repetition, creating a nice atmosphere, though the song could use some more... Read More » |
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Rosetta Wake/Lift 2007 |
One of the bands channeling Neurosis and Isis in the cross-ambient, post-hardcore world is art metal press darlings Rosetta. Save for a song or two here and there, I hadn't yet experienced an entire album's worth - seven tracks in this instance - of material. But here we are with the heavily touted 2007 album, Wake/Lift. It's on Translation Loss,... Read More » |
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Rothko Fractures 2007 |
After the awe-inspiring 14-minute epic that Dysrhythmia drops on the first track of the split, it almost doesn't matter at all that Rothko even appears on Fractures, but their presence is welcome.
Rothko is an ambient/experimental group out of London. The two tracks herein are both very slow and calm and border on being completely structureless, a stark contrast to Dysrhythmia's... Read More » |
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Ruins of Beverast Rain Upon The Impure Van GbR 2007 |
In 2004, The Ruins of Beverast surprised the black metal underground with its debut, ‘Unlock the Shrine’. Startling and eldritch, it was a timely validation of the genre’s recent swing towards more ‘interpretive’ realms. It was an enterprising album at 70+ minutes, featuring numerous interludes, obscure samples, and any number of complex subtexts, but the eerie melodies prominently woven throughout... Read More » |
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Rwake Voices of Omen Relapse Records 2007 |
I hope you don't have clean speakers when you put this one, because this might be the dirtiest record of the year. Of course I mean this as the highest of compliments, because this is what sludge is supposed to, nay, meant to be. Everything is so horribly distorted that this album could qualify as black metal even... Read More » |
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S.O.D. Rise of the Infidels MegaForce Records 2007 |
This EP has two parts to it, four studio tracks to begin and a live set from Seattle with 20 songs. The studio stuff is pretty mediocre with two covers, Agnostic Front and Negative Approach and two originals. The originals are pretty fast but sound like really typical old school hardcore. To be honest if I wasn't... Read More » |
![Sadus, "Chemical Exposure [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/sadus_chemicalex.jpg "Sadus, \"Chemical Exposure [reissue]\"")
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Sadus Chemical Exposure [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
God, this album is RIPPING. That's the only good word I can find that encompasses the whole of it.
I have always been a Sadus fan... being that Death is my favorite band, and Steve DiGiorgio's previous fame was Sadus, it was only a matter of time before I did some hunting. "A Vision Of Misery" was decent,... Read More » |
![Sadus, "Swallowed in Black [reissue]"](/___media/reviews/albums/_page/album_covers/medium/sadus_swallowedi.jpg "Sadus, \"Swallowed in Black [reissue]\"")
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Sadus Swallowed in Black [reissue] Metal Mind Records 2007 |
I have to admit that somehow I missed out on Sadus when Swallowed In Black came out in 1990. I'm not sure how, as I was heavily into the early death metal scene; I know I had Visions of Misery when it came out in 1992. This one slipped by me until later in the 1990's,... Read More » |
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Reunion 2003 Claude & Elmo Music 2007 |
From day one, Saint Vitus has been genius wrapped in maddening inconsistency; a potent primal force seemingly incapable of ever firing on all cylinders. Brilliant songs trail off into pointless atonal jams. Lead-heavy grooves dissolve into wah-tortured solos that go nowhere. Guitars – and sometimes entire albums – sound like they were recorded with a pillow over the mic. Classic... Read More » |
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Samael Solar Soul Nuclear Blast Records 2007 |
Thank (your favorite deity here) that Samael decided they were better off doing metal than pseudo industrial music. After being a fan for years and years, they dropped Reign Of Light on us, and it was a disaster. It was obvious they wanted to go in a different direction, much like Garm from Ulver, but I don’t think they knew... Read More » |
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Satan's Host Burning The Born Again... (A New Philosophy) Moribund Records 2007 |
As the story goes, guitarist Patrick Evil has been working this band since the late ‘70’s, with a debut album released in 1986. Over the years the band has fully turned over members between the original drummer getting murdered and other people dropping out. Now the band is a completed four piece, and Burning The Born Again… (A New Philosophy)... Read More » |
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Satan's Host Satanic Grimoire: A Greater Black Magic Moribund Records 2007 |
This is the second album from Satan’s Host that has been re-issued by Moribund, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. Once again, Satan’s Host proves they are one of the best bands in the underground scene. This new version of the CD contains two bonus tracks compared to the original self-released version, and the booklet comes complete with lyrics and... Read More » |
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Satan's Host Burning The Born Again... (A New Philosophy) Moribund Records 2007 |
Originally released in 2004, this is the reissued edition of Burning the Born Again... (A New Philosophy) from the resurrected 80's cult band Satan's Host. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get your hands on the original, but the reissue is in preparation of their 2008 effort, The Great American Scapegoat 666.
Satan's Host first got together in the... Read More » |
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Saxon The Inner Sanctum SPV 2007 |
So… impossible to be objective here. I've been listening to Saxon since 1980. I own all of their CDs save for "Rock the Nations" (which was out of print the last time I was looking to buy it). I've got a nostalgic-love-streak for these guys a mile long and there's more than a few songs here that totally conjure blissful... Read More » |
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Scariot Momentum Shift Face Front 2007 |
Norway’s Scariot usually play thrashy, progressive metal with catchy guitar work and clean vocals. The reason I say usually is because the band lineup is a revolving door that makes that of Cradle of Filth seem stable. In fact, the only musician on the band’s roster that has been in the group since it’s debut is guitarist Daniel... Read More » |
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Scarpoint The Silence We Deserve 2007 |
Scarpoint are a Swedish death/thrash/hardcore band. Yes, the same country that gave us Soilwork and In Flames. To be honest they sound way too much like those bands to really stand out. The riffs, the drums and even the vocals to some degree all sound the same. All that is missing are the copious use of... Read More » |
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Sear Bliss The Arcane Odyssey 2007 |
After a trio of LP’s released on the respectable if relatively small-time Red Stream Records, Hungary’s Sear Bliss have finally stepped into the international scene with ‘The Arcane Odyssey’, their first album for Candlelight Records and sixth overall. It is not a great departure from anything the band has done in the past, but fans of the band’s earlier works... Read More » |
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Seizure Crypt Hello My Name Is Madness 3:16 Productions 2007 |
Fast'n furious crossover/NYHC and it ain't too bad.
Seizure Crypt hails from NYC and plays a version of crossover hardcore that is a little more intricate and varied than what the average crossover band has to offer. The dual-vocals are one of the better elements of the album as they weave in and out of each other, do call-and-response, and layer... |