Over the years Astral Doors has seemingly managed to obtain a small fanbase of people who find their style of power metal tinged heavy metal appealing. I mean, I assume so. I've never seen much praise for them. For my two cents, I've only ever listened to Jerusalem, and that felt like enough for me for a while.
Requiem of Time fits neatly into a modernized style of '80s heavy metal/hard rock. Modern recording techniques, but still classic songwriting. Dio is the most obvious comparison; Vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson is imitating him hard but is just a bit off in a way I can tell, but can't put down in words. The comparison doesn't just end there though, as the songwriting often borders a cover version of a song Dio played at some point in his career.
It's a shame because I think that this album at least shows some good energy. Sadly, this just isn't enough for how meh the album is otherwise.

Christian metal is quite common yet a bit of an oddball in some metal genres. Daren "Klank" Diolosa and his Circle of Dust touring bandmate Klayton were part of the Christian music industry, though Klayton left the industry behind and Klank's views were on the extreme side...

Debates on his Christianity aside, Klank has impressed listeners with his debut Still Suffering. If Christian death metal was something once considered an oxymoron, Christian industrial metal was something barely heard of besides early Circle of Dust. There are more metallic guitars than there are techno beats, so why this isn't in Metal Archives is beyond me. It's a great heavy sound.

"Time" is the perfect start to treat you with what to expect in the album. "Downside" is also amazing, though it can't beat the previous song's reign. "Burning" is quite dark and heavy for a song by a Christian band, but it's another fist-pumper.

"Scarified" starts off heavy in the guitars and drum programming. If you strain your neck headbanging along, it's all worth it. What makes it a highlight is the amount of audio samples that are common in this album and other industrial metal releases. "Deceived" is slower with emotion ("The world will be a better place without you"). "Animosity" is another gem with its blend of metal and techno. Any fan of this kind of sound should love that. "Fall" is worth singing/shouting along to, "SEE! ME!! FALL!!!" It continues this heavy/catchy blend, never letting me down.

"Disease" can almost be an early example of proto-cyber metal, with its more computer-techno sound and cool vocal effects. "Leave" is not a track you would ever want to leave early. "Woodensoul" is a solid ending track with a bit of softness here and there. Well, it doesn't end the album entirely. After that, we have a vocal outtake that sounds kinda weird going from whispering to screaming.

What I enjoy in industrial metal is when lots of guitars are used, not just the techno side. I'm glad to hear more of this album after only hearing song from it a few year prior in one of the Sphere playlists. Cool Christian industrial metal for any listener, whether you're Christian or not....

Favorites: "Time", "Downside", "Scarified", "Animosity", "Disease"

I believe to have reviewed this EP a couple years back and wasn't into it that much. But now that my taste in industrial metal is expanding further and further, I enjoy it much more now! At this point, I'm already familiar with dozens of Sphere bands and I like a few songs by White Zombie and KMFDM. And now here I am, making a better revisit of this collaborative EP between those two bands...

KMFDM contributed some remixes of two singles from White Zombie's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. The remixes are included in this EP along with their original album versions. This is probably the earliest KMFDM has gone metal and the earliest White Zombie has gone industrial.

From that first riff, you know it's the original version of "Thunder Kiss '65". Great track, though the mixing is a bit cold. The "Swinging Lovers Mix" is different from the original version's metallic sound, including the intro and outro. Throughout the song, synths appear more than the guitars just come out as more of an afterthought. Next up, "The Remix That Wouldn't Die Mix" is longer and has more creativity, which makes me prefer it over the previous remix.

The next original track "Black Sunshine" is so spooky while still sounding cold in the mix. However, the "Indestructible 'Sock It To Me' Psycho-Head Mix" totally beats the original by throwing in raw aggression in the guitars and vocals. In the middle of the track, the drums switch to a dance beat before going back to groove-ish double kicks.

All in all, Nightcrawlers is a great EP that might be good for dance club parties with friends. Maybe a little weird for that, but just as long as everyone's OK. The remixes really depart from the originals with the "Thunder Kiss '65" remixes sounding more suitable for the club and the "Black Sunshine" remix actually being heavier and edgier. Cheesy while still the good kind of cheese. Worth it for any Rob Zombie fan to add to their collection....

Favorites: "Thunder Kiss '65" (original), "Thunder Kiss '65" (The Remix That Wouldn't Die Mix), "Black Sunshine" (Indestructible "Sock It to Me" Psycho-Head Mix)

Of all their albums "Master of Reality" is the Black Sabbath album that has grown most in stature over the years in my mind. I got into the band around 1976 via "Paranoid" and that was my go-to Sabbath album for many years, alongside "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Sabotage" and the debut, with "Master of Reality" and "Volume 4" taking up supporting roles. The track which kept drawing me back to "MoR" over the years, though, was the masterful closer "Into the Void" which still stands as my favourite Sabbath track of all and is one of their more doomy offerings, it signposting me down the road of future doom metal appreciation. As time has passed and I have become more and more of a doomhead, I have acquired greater appreciation of the doomier material of "Master of Reality" and it now stands as my ultimate Sabs release, despite stiff competition.

Tony Iommi's guitar tone on this third album is perfect, its deep and resonant fuzziness pitches perfectly what would become the signature sound of future acts like Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Electric Wizard, bolstered and boosted by the brilliant and often busy basswork of Geezer Butler, an aspect of Sabbath's sound that is not always given the credit it deserves. Bill Ward's jazz-influenced drumming style takes a more blunt and bludgeoning approach here than maybe it does on some Sabbath albums, although the way his runs switch from side to side on "Children of the Grave" (best experienced through headphones) is a brilliant bit of production work and adds a little something extra to an already brilliant track. Then, of course, there is the irrepressible Ozzy Osbourne whose influence on doom metal vocalists mustn't be underestimated as he showed that you don't need to be an especially technically gifted singer to be effective, as long as you are committed and have a degree of charisma. With rock music being newly dominated at the time by the Robert Plants and Ian Gillans of the world and their ridiculous vocal range, Ozzy stood tall and proclaimed himself their equal, on sheer strength of personality alone.

Then there are the riffs. I have said it before and I will say it again, Tony Iommi can write better riffs in his sleep than all but a select few metal songwriters can ever hope to come up with, having penned some of the most iconic riffs in the history of metal. From the crawling, weed smoke-drenched, oozing of Sweet Leaf, via the choppy, romping "Children of the Grave" and the plodding grooviness of "Lord of this World", to the ponderous lumbering of the opening to Into the Void, where Geezer follows Tony's riff for added gravitas, this is metal riff heaven, with these riffs sowing the seeds of inspiration for so many aspiring doom metal riff writers of years to come. Sure, the stoner element may be fairly prevalent here, but it is difficult to imagine a "Born Too Late", "Dopethrone" or "Forest of Equilibrium" existing as we know them without this album.

"Master of Reality" isn't all just about thundering, fuzz-drenched riffing however, with the album including several moments of quieter reflection, whether it be the soothing acoustic guitar of "Orchid" or the gentle reflectiveness and soul-searching of the psychedelic-sounding and melancholic "Solitude", which thematically, if not musically, also unwittingly helps set the aesthetic for doom metal's future melancholy side. Then there is the track which always baffled me after the dark lyricism and hints at satanic influence of the band's earlier material, the pro-religious "After Forever", which is a bit of a curveball lyrically and stylistically, having a much more upbeat riff and feeling than the rest of the album. The track has grown on me somewhat over the years, but if the album had to lose one, then this would be my choice.

So there we have it, for my money "Master of Reality" is one of the great metal albums, being an influence for both stoner and doom metal and perfecting a guitar sound that still stands tall to this day, over fifty years later, as a signature sound in the metal world.

After many years of them floating around the periphery of my black metal sphere, dropping multiple albums in their wake that somehow did nothing wrong yet at the same time also brought nothing remarkable to the table either, I think Grima have finally come of age on the sixth album, Nightside.  That’s a bold statement to open any review with I know, but the fact is that Nightside is an absolute triumph of atmospheric black metal.  It is well written.  It is thoughtfully composed.  Heck, even the normally sub-par artwork of Girardi is actually almost passable this time around.  Once again we have a bayan (accordion) successfully incorporated into proceedings, and without it turning the whole album into folk-fest either.  Safe to say, I am rather smitten with Nightside.

I think what stands out most for me on the album is how mature it sounds.  This is a band who can layer different instrumentation into a perfectly complimentary arrangement.  That bayan never once sounds intrusive.  It is tempered perfectly by the tremolo riffs and balanced well in terms of atmospherics with the keyboards of Valentina Astashova.  When it does get sole playtime it manages to add welcome depth to the track (the end of Skull Gatherers).  But the expected instruments also put in a great shift.  A mention must go to the subtle yet effective work of guest drummer Vlad Yungman, who like Morbius and Villhelm is also of Ultar fame.  The drums are never a blasting frenzy, yet are interesting and in total keeping with the pace of each track.  The tremolo riff is strong here, complimented by strong melodies and leads also.  As I say, it is all so beautifully arranged to make tracks such as Impending Death Premonition take on such a haunting, ethereal mood just by this clever use of aggression and melody.

I might still be unconvinced by the tree masks gimmick but I can see well past this for the first time with Grima.  Nightside adds so much credibility to the band for me that I feel their aesthetic no longer is my main focus.  Whilst it is nearly fifty-minutes long, the album does not feel bloated, despite its largely consistent track format and staying true to the atmospheric tag for all ten tracks.  The passion here is clear, as is the ability to hone that into coherent and effective songs.  This might be the bands peak, but it is a a real treat nonetheless.  More please.