Metal Album Reviews
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A revival of the previous thread that got expired: http://sgforums.com/forums/1203/topics/353085
Please rate the reviews as you read.
Here's a new one:
Tracklist:1. Hordalands Doedskvad I2. Hordalands Doedskvad II3. Hordalands Doedskvad III4. Hordalands Doedskvad IV5. Hordalands Doedskvad V6. Hordalands Doedskvad VI7. Hordalands Doedskvad VIIGenre: Black MetalReview:If you have never listened to Taake,this is one album that you have to pick up in your local CD store.(Downloading not reccomended,support the original!)This album is not your typical black metal album.Taake is never known to play bullshit.The album takes you through a 50-minute journey through the different stages of metal.Without further ado,i shalt go on to the songs themselves.The songs played,like i've mentioned,includes 0% of the nonsense you see in recent works of Taake.There is no exact genre to label this album,although Taake plays mainly black metal.It includes influences of Viking metal and folk metal (not another cheap Falkenbach ripoff,i swear)In general,all the seven songs are played in a typical style:kicks off with some headbanging riffs,goes into small breakdowns (insert soloes),goes into a majestic bridge and ends off well.Yes,it sounds as though it's like another Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger,but no,they don't play the same chords for every damn song.Creativity is what makes this album stand out from the other black metal albums.Like most other black metal bands,the vocals are purely shrieks of pain,occasionally with some shouts here and there (for example,in Hordalands Doedskvad I,there are chants of "hey",setting listeners into a fit of headbanging.No surprise if anyone raises their fists in the air while listening to the songs).For guitars,they are rather creative,with some good riffs here and there throughout the album.No boring moments,by the way.Bass guitars are not that audible sometimes,but they blend in rather well.The drums go well along with the songs as well.Even though it's a one-man band,we don't hear drum machines in any part of the album.It isn't that creative,but you have to give credit to the man himself for making an effort to give a well-rounded performance.All in all,this album is reccomended,most especially if you are looking for some good black/Viking metal,or you are looking for something that is labeled "Awesome".Advice:get something to clean all your earwax at the end of the listen.Recommended tracks: Part 1,2,3 and 7.Ratings: 95/100 -
Digging up the other reviews:
Release Year:1999
Genre:Extreme Metal
Review:
This EP kicks off with the self-titled track,From Cradle to Enslave.It opens with a slow,melodious synthesizers,set to kill as it builds on to a heavy chorus,leaving destruction and doom.Dani has delivered very good vocals on this track,moaning,croaking,and screaming at the right moments.The synthesizers has made a good impact as well,creating an eerie atmosphere,leaving you in hell.Yes,you know Hell looms when you hear Dani screaming "this is the end of everything".
It is then followed closely by the second track,Of Dark Blood and Fucking.It begins with a strong bassline,and starts off hard and heavy,all out to kill.My personal favorite of this EP,with the evil melodies,enhanced by the synthesizers that spell death in your face.Again,Dani sounds like a death angel resurrected.A fucking epic track in my opinion.Very typical Cradle of Filth track but it captures the Filth essence.It's no surprise dark clouds are forming as you hear this track.Armageddon may have come early.
After two great tracks,we have to suffer two utterly poor covers of Misfit's Death Comes Ripping and Anaththema's Sleepless.Clearly these two tracks aren't meant to be covered by extreme metal bands.A very reckless and lousy choice of songs,in my opinion.Recommendation:skip these two tracks.Death Comes Ripping allows me to see Dani's flaws in singing the faster tracks,without having to crack his voice.Sleepless,well,leaves you sleepless,with the extreme boredom,making you reconsider your choice in buying a CoF single the next time round.
Next is the instrumental Pervert's Church (From Cradle to Deprave).It includes some elements of electronica in it,making it like a pop-like version of From Cradle to Enslave's instrumental.Sarah's voice can be heard every now and then,with her shrilling in the background.Soprano is there,but it is more or less drowned out by the other sounds.
Finally,the EP draws to an end with Funeral in Carpathia (Be Quick or Be Dead Version).I'd rather they exclude this track in this EP.This song was so much better with the synthesizers at work and the gothic atmosphere.Instead,CoF has decided to remake this song into a heavy track,which loses the essence of this excellent track.Previously,certain parts are narrated by a girl whose voice was seductively lethal,and now it is replaced by Sarah singing over them.A lacklustre remake,in my opinion.
Overall,the only tracks worth listening to are the first two tracks and Pervert's Church,if you don't mind electronica.Recommended only for the die-hard Cradle fans.
Rating: 55% -
TSJUDER-NORWEGIAN APOCALYPSE
Genre: True Norwegian Black Metal
Year Released: 2006
Set List:
(Live in Rockfeller,Oslo)
01 Sodomizing The Lamb
02 Helvete
03 J-10
04 Unholy Paragon
05 Lord Of Terror
06 Ghoul
07 Mouth Of Madness
08 Sacrifice (Bathory Cover)
09 Primeval Fear
10 Beyond The Grave
11 Malignant Coronation
12 Eriphion Epistate(Live in Sandnes)
* Morbid Lust
* Malignant Coronation
* Ephirion Epistates
* Born For Burning (Bathory Cover)
* Beyond The GraveReview (Oslo):
Norwegian black metal giants Tsjuder has unleashed hell in Oslo,bringing about a great performance.
The gig starts with the track Sodmomizing the Lamb,where the images are all in black and white initially,slowly changing into the normal colored version,where green and red neon lights are on Nag and Draugluin,giving a ghastly feel to it,corpse painted or not.The black and white images appear every now and then,during the slow and heavy riffs,and cameras shaking during those hard and fast riffs.At other times,it would have flash images,showing images of Draugluin,Nag,or Anti-christian double-pedalling.
It is good to see that the camera and video crew has made an effort to make this special effects to enhance the atmosphere,but apparently,it can be rather dizzying sometimes.
Moving on to musicianship...
Nag,as usual,has delivered some good vocals,and headbangin' like no tomorrow.The bassline was audible (that,is,if you are putting on headphones,or blasting it loud on your stereo).The only flaw is that he does not engage the audience at all,with zero audience participation.There is only this instant when we see a guy headbangin' madly to the track "Sacrifice",and the crowd raising the Devil's Horns,other than that,nothing fucking else.The camera,too,neglects the audience,focusing more on the band's performance then the audience's reaction.
Draugluin was being a great back up vocalist and displayed good vocals most especially on Mouth of Madness,one of my personal favorites.However,the guitars were only satisfactory,nothing creative or special.It is like playing back the studio versions.
Anti-Christian was great,following the songs carefully,just that he was embarrassed a little when he dropped the drum stick during Erphion Epistates.No other major flaw other than that.
Overall,I would have given the gig a 80%,but the production took 10% away,so my rating is 70%.Decent performance,yet nothing out of the box.
Review (Sandnes):
The gig kicks off with Morbid Lust,with fast double pedalling from Anti-Christian,building on to a hard n' heavy track.Again,the video crew has decided to use the black and white approach,this time,with no rejections from my side,as the production was more raw and more cult-like.
Flaw with Morbid Lust?The track time was too long,so the crowd were not as enthusiastic as for other tracks.
For musicianship,see the review for Oslo,'cos i believe the performance was rather the same,with no surprises at all.
The only interesting feat was Vrangsinn (from Carpathian Forest) taking up bass during the track "Born For Burning".He came,headbanged,and conquered.Wasn't a very interesting track,but you have to give credit to Vrangsinn for keeping the crowd going.
Overall,I'd give this gig a rating of 75%,considering its short tracklist.
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Season in the abyss by slayer still rocks!!!
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ARCH ENEMY-TYRANTS OF THE RISING SUN,LIVE IN JAPAN
Genre:Melodic Death Metal
Year Released:2008
Set List:
- Intro / Blood Is On Your Hands
- Ravenous
- Taking Back My Soul
- Dead Eyes See No Future
- Dark Insanity
- The Day You Died
- Christopher Solo
- Silverwing
- Night Falls Fast
- Daniel Solo
- Burning Angel
- Michael Amott Solo (incl. "Intermezzo Liberté")
- Dead Bury Their Dead
- Vultures
- Enemy Within
- Snowbound
- Shadows And Dust
- Nemesis
- We Will Rise
- Fields Of Desolation / Outro
- Enter the Machine (tape)
Review:
This gig kicks off with the track "Blood on Your Hands" from RotT (Rise of the Tyrants),which is now a ritual for AE to start a gig with this track,sirens blaring and all.As expected as the audience might get,nothing's better than a good 'ol headbangin' session with a heavy track.Thereafter,it builds up to Ravenous (from Wages of Sin),another fan favorite,and Taking Back My Soul (Doomsday Machine).
The set is based mostly on RotT if you've noticed,with 5 songs from this album.i'd rather AE to switch "The Day You Died" and "Night Falls Fast" for other songs from WoS (Wages of Sin) and AoR (Anthems of Rebellion),instead of trying to please the Jap crowd with "Jap-movie-inspired songs" (for your information,the song "The Day You Died" is inspired by some Anime show,which is made into a movie as well).The Jap crowd was very enthusiastic,often singing along to the solos,something we won't get to see for gigs taken place in the Western countries.The Japs seem to be more interested in the musicianship than the fancy stuff that bands do on stage.The crowd was most ecstatic when Nemesis was being played,cheering loudly than ever.This was one of the only moments that we get to see moshing taking place.
Not going to go through the entire set,so moving on to the musicianship...
As usual,the Amott brothers do not fail to deliver the crowd some good solos,with individual solo sessions during intervals.They delivered the songs well,almost exactly in sync with the studio versions,but the harmonics were a bit off sometimes.
Angela is fucking crazy,which is nothing new,with her getting the crowd to start chants of "hey" and showing off her trademark headbanging.Her vocals did its job well,growling,screeching and screaming with so much passion and accuracy.However,the flaw is that sometimes it can be straining to the ears when you hear her screeching into the microphone,especially when her voice sorta cracks.
Sharlee (the bassist) was rockin' out,but the bassline isn't that exactly creative and you can hardly hear the bass,except for tracks like Dead Bury Their Dead.Blame Century Media for making the focus more on Angela and the Amott brothers,nothing new,if you see the recent albums.
Of course,i saved Daniel Erlandson for the last,as in my opinion,he is the best performer for this gig.He never ceases to get the beats right and gets the crowd crazy.The only flaw is that the so-called drum solo wasn't that exactly inspiring.A great performance otherwise.A bit of a biased opinion here,as yours truly is interested more in drums.
Overall,the sounds and the quality of the video has been satisfactory,displayed in HD.
A recommendation for AE fans,and melodic death metal fans as well.So slide this album into your dvd player and get ready for some pure fucking metal. \m/
Rating: 85%
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Originally posted by frosterbeer:
Season in the abyss by slayer still rocks!!!
you write review lor.this is a review thread -_-
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Review: (CD universe)
Slayer built a rabid following with faster-than-light thrash metal, eerie, disturbing lyrics, and bassist/singer Tom Araya's screamed vocals. 1986's REIGN IN BLOOD, a blinding metal classic that clocked in at below a half hour in length and ... Full Descriptionwas produced by Rick Rubin, put the band on the metal map. Although Slayer was a bunch of longhairs, it wasn't uncommon to see hardcore skinheads slamming away at the band's shows. But 1988's SOUTH OF HEAVEN alienated many of Slayer's punk fans, as the group slowed their speed metal to a Black Sabbath-like crawl.
1990's SEASONS IN THE ABYSS follows its predecessor's formula. The album was embraced by metal-heads everywhere, eventually earning Slayer its first gold-certified record. The furious opening "War Ensemble" is a throwback to Slayer's earlier speed metal direction, while the album-closing title track is a murky, swarming chunk of metal. Other standouts include the chilling "Dead Skin Mask," which dealt lyrically with notorious killer Ed Gein, "Blood Red," "Expendable Youth," "Hallowed Point," and "Skeletons of Society." For fans of extreme-metal, it doesn't get any better than Slayer's SEASONS IN THE ABYSS.
