Daniel's Forum Replies

Yes I was aware of that. Was just looking for an opportunity to share that example of blatant plagiarism.

I can't imagine Lars would ever have sanctioned ripping off another band's work!!

Quoted Sonny

Underground NWOBHM outfit Bleak House disagree. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" anyone?

In regard to Satan, I've always really dug the riffage & lead guitar work which was particularly metal for the time but I find Brian Ross' vocals to be pretty flat with a lack of quality hooks to be honest. He's generally placed on a pedestal by most metalheads so it appears to just be me.

Fields Of The Nephilim - "Elizium" (1990)

Gothic rock from Hertfordshire, England.

I quite like the Satan, Ritual & Black Sabbath records you listed Sonny but it's probably a reflection of how strong a year it was that none of them were ever really in the running for inclusion in my top ten. I'm afraid to say that Raven & I don't get on at all though. We have a long history of not seeing eye to eye.

Out of interest, if you take another listen to Ritual's "Rebecca", do you think it's possible that Metallica copped the main riff to "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from that song? It's obviously a much rawer, messier version of it but I'd suggest that they did personally.  What do you think?

While I agree that "Forged In Fire" was certainly the best of Anvil's first three records, they'll forever be a band that's simply not for me. 3/5

What a year for metal!

Daniel's Top Ten Metal Releases of 1983

01. Slayer - "Show No Mercy"

02. Manowar - "Into Glory Ride"

03. Iron Maiden - "Piece Of Mind"

04. Dio - "Holy Diver"

05. Metallica - "Kill 'Em All"

06. Mercyful Fate - "Melissa"

07. Saxon - "Power & The Glory"

08. High Power - "High Power"

09. Acid - "Maniac"

10. Queensryche - "Queensryche" E.P.

https://metal.academy/lists/single/208

Nice review Morpheus. It's good to have you back onboard.

Vinnie Moore - "Mind's Eye" (1986)

Delaware-based guitar virtuoso Vinnie Moore was a major influence on me as a young musician. I picked up his 1986 debut album “Mind’s Eye” on CD through my father who had spotted it for cheap in a second-hand store & thought I might like it some time in the very early 1990’s & I then followed it up by purchasing Vinnie’s 1991 third album “Meltdown” shortly afterwards, both proving to be important players in the shaping of who I wanted to be as a guitarist. Swedish icon Yngwie J. Malmsteen had already opened my eyes to the possibilities in regard to super-high velocity, ultra-technique-heavy instrumental guitar music but, despite the fact that Vinnie was clearly influenced by Yngwie, he offered something additional that gave him the edge over the great man in my opinion, at least from a compositional point of view. You see, Vinnie knew how to write great melodies & construct pieces that work as songs as well as they do demonstrations of his technical proficiencies. Yngwie wasn’t as adept in these areas & also tended to verge on the cheesy a lot more often. He also pushed the neoclassical component much further than Vinnie who used it more sparingly & subsequently gained maximum impact from it.

Vinnie was already very well connected when he recorded “Mind’s Eye” & you can see evidence of that in both the fact that the album was released on Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records label (which would go on to become the premier label for this style of music shortly afterwards) & also in the amazing line-up of musicians he had supporting him. I would imagine that Mike had connected him with fellow Shrapnel shredder Tony MacAlpine who provides some amazingly accomplished keyboard work here for a multi-instrumentalist. Tony would release his debut solo album through Shrapnel the following year but his contribution to “Mind’s Eye” is the most significant of the supporting musicians with his performance leaving most full-time keyboardists in the dust. The rhythm section is no less well credentialled though with talented Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West & legendary Ozzy Osbourne/Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake drummer Tommy Aldridge ensuring that Vinnie had a rock-solid basis from which to showcase his astounding skills.

The purely instrumental tracklisting begins in a rich vein of form with the entire A side being very solid indeed & highlighted by the spectacular “Daydream” which is a genuine shred classic in my eyes (& as usual for me it’s the least popular track on the album – go figure). The way that Vinnie balances out some truly memorable melodies with extreme technique is remarkable & is a very rare talent in this niche marketplace. The B side isn’t quite as strong with the quality level dipping a touch on a few tracks & this is usually the result of melodies that edge towards the cheese line a little or licks & structures that take too much of a neoclassical route as I’ve never found that style of guitar playing to be as attractive as Vinnie’s more mysterious & exotic one. You see, regardless of the technique on display, it’s Vinnie’s ability to create spacey, moody atmospheres that’s the real differentiator from his peers & represents the main attraction for an album like “Mind’s Eye”.

It's interesting that “Mind’s Eye” is almost universally tossed into the neoclassical metal bucket alongside the Yngwies & Jason Beckers because there really isn’t all that much of a classical influence in the song structures & accompaniment here. It’s really just Vinnie’s use of similar lead guitar techniques to those guys (i.e. sweep-picking, strong use of pedal notes, etc.) that provides the link with classical music but that’s not enough for me to want to label “Mind’s Eye” as being inherently neoclassical & it’s perhaps this distinction as much as any that sees my favouring a record like “Mind’s Eye” over other highly regarded releases from the genre like “Rising Force” or “Perpetual Burn”. To my ears this album sits somewhere between your classic heavy metal sound & a more expansive progressive metal one with MacAlpine’s keyboard work being the main link to the progressive side of that equation.

Regardless of what you label it as though, there can be little doubt that “Mind’s Eye” is a magnificent example of instrumental guitar wizardry & it was always going to appeal to someone like myself who not only understands just how difficult it is to pull off a lot of this stuff but also lives for soaring lead guitar hooks. If any of you ever listen to my 1999 solo CD you’ll no doubt hear a strong Vinnie Moore influence in the opening track as I get the feeling that I might have taken a fair amount of inspiration from “Mind’s Eye”. If this is neoclassical metal then it’s the finest example I’ve ever heard & it should be essential listening for any budding young shredder. Just don’t take it too personally when you inevitably discover that you’ll never be half as good as this bloke because none of us will be. He’s nothing less than a total freak of nature.

4/5

I find this breakout of my ratings to be quite interesting too:

5 star             1.9%

4.5 star         11.3%

4 star             26.8%

3.5 star          30.6%

3 star             18.2%

2.5 star           7.7%

2 star              3.3%

1.5 star           1.5%

1 star               0.5%

0.5 star            0.2%

I'm comfortable with that spread to be honest. It shows that I save the 5/5 ratings for the elite of the elite & it also shows that I don't consciously go looking for music that's clearly not gonna fall anywhere near my wheelhouse all that often either.

Here' mine which is heavily impacted by the years that Ben & I spent doing the Metal Academy podcast (i.e. The Guardians being at the top):

The Guardians 20.5%

The Horde 18.9%

The Pit 15.8%

The North 13.6%

The Fallen 11.7%

The Infinite 10.1%

The Revolution 4.0%

The Gateway 3.2%

The Sphere 2.1%

If this was reflective of the reality across my life then my 90's tape trading years would see my four clans being much further out in front.

Unfortunately not Sonny. It's a real shame because I'd suggest that that stuff was amongst the material I'm most proud of as a composer.

Once Neuropath disbanded I quickly joined a doom/death band from Penrith called Elysium for about six months as I was writing some really great harmonized melodic stuff similar to Anathema & Katatonia in my spare time & was keen to get it out there. I was really starting to get disillusioned with the scene by that stage though & it was more about the people & their continuous focus on image & talking shit about other people that eventually saw me removing myself completely, along with my relationship issues that were playing out in full view of the Sydney scene. I then did an instrumental guitar shred solo project which amounted to one CD called "My Ebony Tomorrows" which was released in 1999. Think Joe Satriani & Steve Vai & you won't be far off the mark. I wrote & played all of the instruments on that one & it was a more rewarding exercise for it but was also immensely draining at the same time. At that point I discovered techno & house music & my next decade changed significantly.

Out of interest, Elysium would later become Stone Wings who would release their "Bird of Stone Wings" album in 2003. Elysium included a virtual who's-who of Sydney extreme metal at the time I was involved with them with vocalist Jamie Marsh (ex-Lord Kaos/ex-Crucible of Agony/ex-Isaacaron), guitarist Stuart Prickett (Horrisonous, Illimitable Dolor, The Slow Death, ex-Backyard Mortuary, ex-Bludgeoner, ex-Broken Anatomy, ex-Decayed Divinity, ex-Of Grief Everlasting, ex-Mournful Congregation (live)), bassist Beau Dyer (Lord Kaos, ex-Across the Scarlet Moat, ex-Innsmouth, ex-Pogrom, ex-Grenade) & drummer Lachlan Donaldson (ex-Of Grief Everlasting, ex-Lycanthia) all being a part of it at that point.

I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "The Cage" is simply a hard rock record as far as I can see & not a very good one either it has to be said. It should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place in my opinion.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "Firepower" is a combination of progressive rock & hard rock as far as I can see & it should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place. I do quite like it though.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Some of you may recall me mentioning that a record label called Sphere of Apparition was interested in mastering & re-releasing the two mid-1990's demo tapes from my old brutal death metal band Neuropath. Well, things have been progressing nicely since I last provided an update. The mastering has been completed & both tapes sound as good as it's possible to get them. The CD cover layout is almost finalized. Options for the front cover artwork are being explored at the moment too. I'd guess that the final release date will be some time in the middle of the year depending on how quickly we can get the cover art signed off. It'll be starting in a CD only format but there's potential to expand on that depending on demand. There may be t-shirts too. It's very exciting stuff for an ol' metalhead like myself.

Alcest - "Les voyages de l'âme" (2012)

I’ve undergone quite the transformation with French blackgaze godfathers Alcest over the last couple of years. I’d previously struggled with their whispy positivity & dreamy atmospheres but I’ve finally come to grips with them in my old age & now tend to find a lot of enjoyment in the majority of their releases. It’s been a good decade since I’ve heard their 2012 third album “Les voyages de l'âme” though & my recollections are that it was another record that I found to be too lightweight for my taste at the time but, given my newly found affection for Alcest, I won’t be surprised if this record is yet another one that sees me awarding one of my more respectable ratings in retrospect.

I’ve enjoyed both of Alcest’s first two albums in recent times, particularly the blackgaze of their 2007 debut “Souvenirs d'un autre monde” which offered less of a post-rock influence than 2010’s “Écailles de lune”. “Souvenirs d'un autre monde” ended up being more a post-blackgaze effort & I didn’t connect with it on quite the same level. With “Les voyages de l'âme” we see Alcest pushing their shoegaze sound a little harder again which sees it being the primary genre here. The black metal component is certainly still relevant though with songs like “Là où naissent les couleurs Nouvelles”, “Beings of Light” & “Faiseurs de mondes” offering enough black metal characteristics to justify a dual blackgaze tag. The strong post-rock elements that played such a strong role on “Écailles de lune” have been eased off a bit here & I don’t think “Les voyages de l'âme” justifies a place in The Infinite. If you were a fan of Alcest’s previous material then I don’t think you’ll be terribly surprised with what you hear as this record essentially pulls together all of the elements that were already at play on past releases & presents them in a highly professional way that sees the listener taking a deep breath, recoiling back within themselves & returning to joyous times of youthful adventure.

It’s blatantly clear that Alcest are a class act thoughout the 50 minute runtime. The effortlessness with which they create their nostalgic, dreamlike soundscapes is impressive with Neige’s dream pop-style vocals washing over the listener with a child-like feeling of comfort. Tracks like the title track & closer “Summer's Glory” sit far more in the My Bloody Valentine camp than in anything Metal Academy covers while the gorgeous two-minute post-rock instrumental “Havens” is perhaps the best moment on the album with its ambient sophistication removing any sort of stress from my limbs & torso. I don’t think it’s surprising that the more aggressive black metal influenced material is more appealing to my ears than the straight up shoegaze stuff though & it’s the wonderful use of sweeping tremolo-picked riffs that gets me going more than the occasional blast beats or blackened shrieks.

“Les voyages de l'âme” is another very strong Alcest record in my opinion. Most metalheads seem to have a strong preference for the band’s first two albums (perhaps due to their greater black metal component) but I’m a bit unusual (I know, a big shock, hey?) in that I prefer their later material with 2016’s “Kodama” (an album that I don’t regard as being a metal release) still being my favourite Alcest full-length. “Les voyages de l'âme” has done really well to just edge out “Souvenirs d'un autre monde” for second place & I’ve very much enjoyed the experience. Perhaps it might be worth me taking a return visit to Alcest’s 2014 follow-up “Swelter” (an album that I’ve previously had no time for) now to see if my feelings have changed there too. In an analogy that seems strangely apt for a band like this one, it’s been really exciting to finally discover the gooey centre at the heart of the Alcest donut.

4/5

P.S. "Hello, is this Alcest? Yes, hi there. It's Opeth calling from Sweden. I can see that you've borrowed our album cover. Would you mind returning it immediately?"

Strangely, neither "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" (3.5/5) or "Left Hand Path" (3.5/5) have ever struck me as being anything terribly special & I came into both in real time. If pushed I'd probably take "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" over "Left Hand Path" by a slim margin but I find "Clandestine" (4.5/5) to be miles ahead of both.

Yngwie J. Malmsteen - "Trilogy" (1986)

I think it’s fair to say that Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie J. Malmsteen played a significant role in my teenage years. I can’t say that his brand of neoclassically inclined metal music ever really crossed over with my taste profile particularly but his dazzling chops were pretty much unequalled at the time & that was enough to keep this budding young shredder interested. I’d first come across him in 1989 when I discovered the track “Heaven Tonight” on the cover CD for the first edition of a monthly Australian metal magazine called Hot Metal. It left my jaw sitting on the floor to such an extent that I found myself purchasing the 1988 “Odyssey” album on cassette a short time later & followed it up by exploring all three of Yngwie’s previous albums, the last of which would be his 1986 third album “Trilogy”. I’d also invest in the guitar tablature books for all of those albums & would continue to follow Yngwie’s solo work religiously until 1995’s “Magnum Opus” when I’d decide that I had enough Yngwie in my life & moved on. It’s been many years since I’ve listened to “Trilogy” now though & I think it’s about time that I gave it a rating.

Yngwie’s 1984 “Rising Force” debut album was historically the one that I spent the most time with which was mainly due to the fact that I preferred a purely instrumental brand of guitar shred music at the time but several decades have seen my enjoyment of the neoclassical structures Yngwie employed earlier on waning a bit & I’ve eventually come to the realisation that I regard 1985’s “Marching Out” sophomore album as Yngwie’s best work these days. It saw him opting for a much greater ratio of vocal tracks & is more of a classic heavy metal album with neoclassical guitar solos than it is a genuine neoclassical metal album. “Trilogy” saw him taking that concept a little further by adding a touch more commercial accessibility with an all new line-up. Front man Jeff Scott Soto & bassist Marcel Jacob had both departed with Yngwie taking on the bass duties himself & future Ring Of Fire & Royal Hunt vocalist Mark Boals taking over the microphone. (Note: Scott Soto & Jacob would form hard rock outfit Talisman a few years later while Jacob would also pop up with progressive metallers Space Odyssey in the early 2000’s.) The Johansson brothers are still onboard & provide their usual high-class contributions with their jazz fusion-influenced styles providing a wonderful foil for Yngwie’s neoclassicisms, whether that be through Andres’ creative use of ride cymbal or Jens’ spectacular keyboard solo trade-offs with his band leader.

As with “Marching Out”, I struggle with the idea of labelling “Trilogy” as a “neoclassical metal” release as I don’t think it possesses anything particularly classical in the song & riff structures. It’s really just Yngwie’s solos that provide the neoclassical links & I don’t think that constitutes any need for its own distinct genre when the majority of the album is made up of traditional heavy metal song-writing. Lengthy instrumental closer “Trilogy Suite: Op 5” is the clear exception & it sounds quite similar to the material that made Yngwie an instant star with the “Rising Force” album. The other instrumental track “Crying” takes more of a new age approach that reminds me heavily of Marty Friedmann’s early 90’s albums before heading into a neoclassical hard rock direction during the second half. Neither of these instrumental tracks do much for me to be honest. They’re both very high on technique but quite low on musical substance. There are a couple of genuine power metal tunes on offer too in the fast-paced “Liar” & “Fury” & they provide further proof of just how influential Yngwie was on the early European power metal movement. The remaining five songs all fall into the heavy metal bucket & this is where I feel “Trilogy” is at its strongest with anthemic opener “You Don’t Remember, I Never Forget” & doomy Dio-era Black Sabbath sound of “Dark Ages” being the clear highlights of a tracklisting that’s not without blemish but where the wins comfortably outweigh the losses.

You won’t have to spend too much time guessing which decade “Trilogy” hails from because it sounds very much of its time. Yngwie’s thin rhythm guitar sound isn’t amazing while the drums have that distinctly artificial 80’s timbre & the keyboard work can sound pretty naff when used for atmospheric accompaniment. Boals’ vocal performance is excellent throughout & you can easily see why Malmsteen liked him given his lifelong obsession with Rainbow as Mark’s tone is very similar to Ronnie James Dio’s. Yngwie’s lead solos don’t offer anything drastically different from what we’d heard on his earlier releases however here we see him taking his trademark runs & signature arpeggios & combining them into ridiculously technical hybrids that see him jumping from one technique to another very quickly & with seamless efficiency. I often like to imagine Jason Becker, Marty Friedmann & Vinnie Moore sitting in one of their bedrooms getting high while listening to each new Malmsteen record. I picture them all & rolling on the floor in fits of laughter at the mind-blowing new level’s Yngwie was taking lead guitar to with each subsequent release.

“Trilogy” is another more than decent Malmsteen record but I do think of it as the weakest of his 1980’s solo albums. It was certainly a step down from the very strong “Marching Out” but compares more favourably when placed alongside “Rising Force” although it contains a little more filler & probably doesn’t include as many highlights either. I’d suggest that most fans would have jumped onboard regardless though & I don’t think “Trilogy” was done any harm by the attractive fantasy cover artwork as it was certainly a drawcard for geeky teenage shred wannabes. There will undoubtedly be those that hate on “Trilogy” for being too accessible but most of those people probably had no business checking out an Yngwie record in the first place in my opinion.

3.5/5

Accept - "Staying A Life" (1990)

German heavy metal stalwarts Accept & I have had a funny relationship over the years. I’m not a fan of their first two albums but have invariably found appeal in the subsequent string of four records that took them from 1981’s “Breaker” through to 1985’s “Metal Heart”. That isn’t really an unusual comment given that this is generally regarded as Accept’s classic era however the thing that sets me apart from other metalheads is that I can’t quite seem to push my appreciation dial up from the “quite like” setting to the “really enjoy” one with each of the four records achieving a respectable 3.5 star rating from me. It’s likely for this reason that I’ve never explored Accept’s discography any further, even after the band’s apparent return to form in the 2010’s. I recently found myself browsing the tracklisting from 1990’s “Staying A Life” double live album though & it struck me that I knew literally every track which surprised me as I’d always assumed that it would include material from Accept’s late 80’s albums. Upon further investigation I discovered that it was actually recorded at a show in Osaka, Japan on the tour for “Metal Heart” in 1986 & includes only tracks from the four albums that I enjoy which left me feeling hope that my chances of finding an Accept release that I genuinely love were still alive. I quickly added it to my March playlist & looked forward to seeing what “Staying A Life” had to offer.

“Staying A Life” includes fifteen tracks & spans 73 minutes, presumably so that it’d fit onto a single CD. The production is pretty good as it presents Accept in warts & all fashion & manages to capture the guitar crunch they’ve built their careers on pretty well with Peter Baltes’ bass lines providing plenty of weight. Udo Dirkschneider’s signature growl is in full effect &, while he’s not always on the money as far as pitch goes, you’re unlikely to be disappointed if you’re a fan of his powerful, gravel-throated shrieks which are always the centre of attention. Lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has the opportunity to contribute a four minute guitar solo section which starts off in exciting fashion before descending into mere crowd-interaction during the second half which seems like a missed opportunity.

As with most live albums, you’ll find that some tracks manage to surpass their studio counterparts while others struggle to keep up with them. I’ve always found “Son Of A Bitch” & AC/DC-worshipping “Dogs On Leads” to be nothing more than filler on their respective albums but here they seem to offer me more appeal. Light-weight Van Halen clone “Screaming For A Love Bite”, hard rocker “Up To The Limit” & an over-extended version of Accept’s calling card “Balls To The Wall” fall on the other side of the equation by not quite doing their studio versions justice, even though “Balls To The Wall” still represents one of the highlight tracks thanks to that energizing pre-chorus. The real highlight of “Staying A Life” wasn’t a surprise to me though as “Princess Of The Dawn” has always been one of my favourite heavy rock tracks with it’s tension & dynamics never failing to capture me. Strong renditions of “Restless & Wild”, “Love Child” & “Flash Rockin’ Man” are also high on my list.

Accept’s sound has always kept one foot in the world of heavy metal with the other ensuring that they never quite let go of their hard rock roots & “Staying A Life” is a perfect showcase of that approach with the tracklisting being very much a hybrid of the two apart from a couple of pumping speed metal pumpers in “Breaker” & “Fast As A Shark”. That’s not an issue as the band are good exponents of all of those three sounds, even if they’re often guilty of tip-toing along the plagiarism line at times. As with NWOBHM icons Saxon, Accept have built up their back catalogue by harnessing the qualities of Judas Priest, AC/DC & (to a lesser extent) Van Halen & they generally do it pretty well even though they rarely surpass their idols. Their albums are inevitably a little inconsistent in my opinion & some of that can be put down to their tendency to jump between those sounds which happens again here. “Screaming For A Love Bite” & “Living For Tonite” don’t do much for me at all & tarnish an other pretty decent tracklisting while other songs do some great build-up work only to drop the ball a bit with a disappointing chorus & that pretty much sums up why I’ve never managed to worship Accept like so many others do.

In saying that though, I find Accept to be a pretty good mixtape band in that they have some really high-quality songs but rarely stretch that out to consistently high quality albums. “Staying A Life” benefits from this by grouping many of the band’s best tracks together & for this reason I find it to be the strongest Accept release I’ve heard, just slipping past 1982’s “Restless & Wild” to take the title. I still can’t say that I see Accept as being an elite heavy metal band & I may never get there but it's nice to see them getting closer to the bar so this exercise has been worthwhile.

3.5/5

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that every release on my list wasn't metal. Just that they at least deserve a dual tag with glam metal. The WASP, Twisted Sister & Motley Crue releases on my list are all metal releases as well in my opinion.

Also, "Pyromania" would have made my list but I made the decision not to consider it as glam metal.

Dokken - "Under Lock & Key" (1985)

Los Angeles hard rockers Dokken made quite an impact on me back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, mainly due to my obsession with guitar virtuoso George Lynch who represents one of my biggest inspirations as a musician. I first discovered Dokken through their 1987 “Back For The Attack” album which I ripped from a school mate’s older brother & it would lead me to investigate George’s 1990 “Wicked Sensation” debut album from the Lynch Mob project he’d begin after leaving the band in 1989. Lynch’s tone & style were pretty much identical to my own preferences in shredding lead guitar so the fact that both bands were a bit more commercially accessible than I’d usually go for became much less of an issue. However, my commitment to more extreme forms of music would see my interest drifting away from bands like Dokken & I’d only find myself returning to them during my research for the Metal Academy podcast in the mid-2010’s. It was there that I first heard their 1981 debut album “Breaking The Chains” & 1984 sophomore effort “Tooth & Nail” but I’d only just started digging my teeth into 1985’s “Under Lock & Key” when we’d decide to end of 3.5 year run of shows so I never got the chance to properly develop a firm position on its qualities. This week I decided it was time to rectify that.

Dokken’s sound has always bled across a few related subgenres. “Breaking The Chains” was an immature blend of glam metal & heavy metal that I struggled with while “Tooth & Nail” saw them concentrating on the heavier side of their sound which would appeal to me a lot more. With “Under Lock & Key” we see Dokken finally breaking out into the US mainstream radio circuit in a big way with a sound that’s dominated by the poppy choruses & straight forward beats of the LA Sunset Strip. Around 80% of the tracklisting falls into glam metal territory with Lynch’s spectacular metal guitar work being combined with a commercial hard rock rhythm section & simple melodic vocal hooks that take away most of the band’s edge. That can be a problem for me at times & around half of the tracklisting is a bit of a struggle for this particular extreme metal devotee. The other half includes some high quality hooks though with the couple of genuine heavy metal tracks being amongst the strongest on the album (see wonderful album highlight “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” & respectable closer “Til The Livin’ End”).

Don Dokken may be the band leader but his vocals do tend to be one of the components that leads Dokken astray at times as he can sound pretty bubblegum on occasion, along with the use of cowbell & some easy-listening backing vocals. Ironically the album’s two most iconic songs “In My Dreams” & “Unchain The Night” fall into this category & do very little for me while the ballad “Slippin’ Away” is simply awful. Thankfully the band manage to come up with some of the more respectable glam metal tunes you’ll find to offset those misfires a bit (see “The Hunter”, “It’s Not Love” & particularly the very solid “Will The Sun Rise”) but you probably need to be able to accept a more radio-friendly brand of hard rock & heavy metal (think WASP, Scorpions, Motley Crue, etc.) if you’re any chance of falling in love with Dokken’s third album. “Under Lock & & Key” may be Dokken’s most highly regarded release these days but it’s certainly not my personal favourite. “Tooth & Nail” is a much more palatable & enjoyable listen for me personally & it’s got me wondering what I’ll think of “Back For The Attack” these days. I think I’ll pull it out over the coming month & see.

3/5

Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)

It’s been many years since I’ve revisited the highly regarded 1994 sophomore album from Finland’s Amorphis. “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” was a very big record in my household back in the day but I recall it being a much more important release for my younger brother Ben than it was for myself. I certainly rmember finding it to be a very creative & inventive effort (particularly melodically) however I don’t think I was the target audience Amorphis had in mind when they wrote it, despite my being quite fond of their earlier work which was closer to your classic death metal model. If I had to guess at what score I’d end up awarding it though I would have been pretty confident of it being a 4/5 so I went into this re-evaluation exercise with the expectation of a rewarding outcome.

“Tales From The Thousand Lakes” kicks off with a beautifully executed darkwave piece by the name of “Thousand Lakes” which I really enjoy & it sets the scene nicely for what’s to come. The more melodic end of death metal has been something that I’ve had a rocky relationship with over the years though & it took me a few tracks to find my feet once the metal material kicked off to tell you the truth. I had no trouble recalling just about every note of the album once I got my teeth into it as the hooks entrenched themselves in me from a relatively young age but I think I’d forgotten that I didn’t buy into Amorphis as much as the metalheads around me did, at least not at that point in their evolution. Thankfully things start to really get cracking as we approach the middle of the record with the one-two punch of “First Doom” & album highlight “Black Winter Day” which saw my attention being fully engaged for the first time but despite the fact that there’s only one track of the ten on the tracklisting that I don’t get much out of (ironically one of the more popular tracks in the folky “The Castaway”) I’d be lying if I said that I ever find myself kneeling at the altar of Amorphis’ here.

So why is that? I certainly admire the record from a creative point of view as it sounded so unlike anything else that was around at the time & seems to succeed in most of its more expansive musical endeavours. I think it’s that some of those endeavours take Amorphis into more accessible territories that have me hesitating to jump on the train as it’s moving slowly out from the station though. You see, while “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” is generally tagged as melodic death metal, there are a lot more elements at play here. The doom/death metal sound of Paradise Lost is the most obvious point of reference & I really enjoy the more crushing doom sections. There are a few crunchy Swedish death metal moments too which can’t be a bad thing but there are also some less imposing influences on display. I really enjoy the clean vocals & think they add greatly to the infectiousness of Amorphis’ sound here. The prog rock influences are generally refreshing too but are a little hit & miss in their execution, particularly in the use of keyboards which can bounce from being a masterstroke to being a touch underwhelming in fairly quick time. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, the incorporation of folk melodies in several of the songs is something that I find a little difficult to stomach as folk metal has never been my bag. Tomi Koivusaari’s death growls aren’t particularly interesting either. In fact, I’m tempted to suggest that they sound pretty generic which perhaps goes a fair way to explaining why I enjoy the clean vocals so much.

Amorphis would go on to move away from death metal entirely over the next couple of records by focusing their attention on a more progressive sound. Their 1996 third album “Elegy” would be somewhat of a transition album in that regard but I’ve always remembered it as being a step up from “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” from a creative point of view. Perhaps that’s simply a case of misguided nostalgia & I might make a point of revisiting that album some time soon so as to see how it compares but there can be no doubt that its predecessor was a resounding success in its own right. It’s perhaps a touch too melodic for my taste but “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” certainly compares very well with other prominent melodeath releases & would still make my all-time top ten for the subgenre overall at this point.

3.5/5

And here's my updated Top Ten Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time list:

01. At The Gates – “Slaughter Of The Soul” (1995)

02. Carcass – “Heartwork” (1993)

03. Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery” (1995)

04. Merciless – “Unbound” (1994)

05. Sentenced – “North From Here” (1993)

06. In Mourning – “The Weight Of Oceans” (2012)

07. The Breathing Process - “Odyssey (un)Dead” (2010)

08. Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)

09. The Chasm - "The Spell Of Retribution" (2004)

10. Edge Of Sanity – “Crimson” (1996)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/147

They’re both doing great thanks Vinny. We’re very pleased with our beautiful little girl.

Just arrived at the hospital for the birth of my third child today. Pumped to meet her!

I've always loved "Violent Restitution" so there's not much point in me returning to it at this stage as we're already well acquainted. I quite like all of Razor's earlier full-lengths (I found the speed/heavy metal of their 1984 "Armed and Dangerous" E.P. to be a bit flat) but this was the album that continually drew me back for more. It may well have benefited from being my entry point to the band back in my late teenage years but I tend to think it's the impressive consistency & gnarly energy that really connects with me at a primal level. I'd suggest that this is still Razor's best work.

4/5

Kamelot - "One Cold Winter's Night" (2006)

I thought I'd give this double live album a crack given that Kamelot's 2005 "The Black Halo" album is my all-time favourite power metal release & this was recorded on the tour for that particular record. The recorded gig took place in Oslo, Norway which is the home of front man Roy Khan who puts in a lovely performance for his home crowd too with his operatic James LaBrie (Dream Theater) style vocals. Unsurprisingly, it's the tracks from the darker "The Black Halo" album that are by far & away the highlights of the release with several of the fluffier earlier tracks failing to connect with me at all (see "Center of the Universe", "Nights of Arabia", "Forever", "Karma"). I do quite like the previous record "Epica" but there's really no comparison with it's older sibling in terms of appeal for me personally. A lot of that is due to the fact that I'm less inclined towards the symphonic power metal material with my strong preference being for the more progressive, Dream Theater-inspired stuff of which there's a lot on offer here. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that this should be regarded as a progressive power metal release & should probably have a dual clan & genre tagging.

Everyone here is probably aware that power metal isn't a genre that I have a lot of tolerance for but this is live release is definitely one of the better power metal releases I've heard & has done well enough to just slip into my all-time top ten power metal releases.

3.5/5

Here's my new Top Ten Power Metal Releases of All Time list with Eternity's End's 2021 "Embers of War" album being the unlucky record to slip out:

01. Kamelot - "The Black Halo" (2005)

02. Iced Earth - "Alive In Athens" (1999)

03. Unleash The Archers - "Apex" (2017)

04. Lost Horizon - "Awakening The World" (2001)

05. Blind Guardian - "Imaginations From The Other Side" (1995)

06. Lost Horizon - "A Flame To The Ground Beneath" (2003)

07. Blind Guardian - "Nightfall In Middle-Earth" (1998)

08. Blind Guardian - "Live" (2003)

09. Blind Guardian - "Somewhere Far Beyond" (1992)

10. Kamelot - "One Cold Winter's Night" (2006)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/139

Slipknot - "Slipknot" (1999)

To tell you the truth, I had only ever heard one Slipknot song before deciding that I'd finally take the plunge & see what they are all about this week. It was "Eyeless" from their self-titled 1999 debut album & it didn't sound too bad although wasn't strong enough to lure me into further exploration at the time. I've actually been surprised by what I've heard over the last couple of days though to be honest, not because Slipknot are better or worse than I was expecting but more because of the fact that it's a glaringly flawed yet still generally satisfactory metal album. Saxy's review summarizes the faults very nicely. The inconsistent production is very ordinary with the drum sound being grossly inadequate (particularly the awful snare sound) while the use of DJ scratching & clean vocals are total misfires. But then on the positive there are some pretty cool groove metal style riffs included on this album along with some suitably aggressive vocals & a decent amount of energy. The Korn influence is obvious throughout & you'll never be in doubt about the album's nu metal credentials. There's certainly worse metal records out there but I can't say that I can see why Slipknot blew up off the back of this record. It's got slightly more wins than losses but it's really left to the lengthy "Scissors" (my clear album highlight) to step up at the end of the tracklisting & ensure that my rating finishes a little on the positive side of my enjoyment line rather than on the negative one.

3.5/5

I was just thinking that this is something that’s gonna start happening more & more often now given that metal is now more than half a decade old & most of the classic exponents are reaching a reasonable vintage.

The drummer from Artillery died on the same day. Not a great one for thrash metal it has to be said.

Suffocation - "Souls to Deny" (2004)

Most people associated with Metal Academy for any sort of period will already be aware that New York brutal/technical death metal legends Suffocation are my favourite band & have been for many years. There are certainly releases from other bands that have matched or even surpassed the masters of muscular death metal extremity but there is no one whose style better fits my concept of what metal should aspire to be or who ticks all of my creative boxes as regularly. I was totally obsessed with the band from the very start of their career & throughout the 1990’s but Suffocation’s unfortunate demise after their classic 1998 “Despise The Sun” E.P. would signal the beginning of a six year hiatus that would come to an end during my own self-imposed decade-long exile from metal. You can bet your life that they were the first band I checked in on upon my return to metal in 2009 though but I have to admit to being a touch disappointed with 2004’s “Souls to Deny” fourth album at the time. It’s been many years since I’ve revisited it though so it’ll be interesting to see whether anything’s changed in that regard.

Upon pressing play on “Souls to Deny”, one of it’s Achilles Heals becomes immediately obvious. As with 1993’s heavily tarnished “Breeding The Spawn” sophomore album, the production gods have not been kind to Suffocation here although the impact is nowhere near as severe as it was with that unfortunate release. This time we get a noticeably bass-heavy mix where the rhythm section sounds full & beefy but the rhythm guitars are hamstrung by a muddy mix that lacks brightness & articulation. The guitar solos sound very thin too & struggle to cut through the mix while Frank Mullen’s monstrous vocals lack depth & power. The real winner in this battle is returned extreme metal drumming superhero Mike Smith who puts in a stellar performance with his light-speed blast-beats coming at you with the weight of a thousand giants. In fact, this may well be his best performance to the time which is saying something. The other thing that I feel may have limited my scoring in the past is the programming of the tracklisting with the album opening with what I consider to be its two most melodic & least intense tracks, both of which are pretty entertaining but lack the unbelievable intensity of Suffocation in their prime. Things pick up significantly after that though with the two best inclusions on the album hitting you in quick succession in the title track (my personal favourite & possibly the most brutal of the eight songs) & the very popular “Surgery of Impalement”. The B side is extremely solid & rarely puts a foot wrong but I think I’ve found it hard to look past those opening two tracks in the past which has caused me to score “Souls to Deny” a touch lower than it deserved.

At the end of the day this is another high-quality death metal release from a band whose class is unparalleled in the brutal death metal scene. The production issues certainly see this record being restricted to the also-rans of Suffocation’s back-catalogue but it’s by no means a failure. In fact, I found it to be really enjoyable & I think the fact that my listening habits don’t touch on brutal death metal as much as they used to helps to enable a record like this one to have the impact it rightfully deserves. There’s no doubt that Suffocation are guilty of a bit of self-plagiarism though. You shouldn’t go into one of their releases (or any BDM release for that matter) expecting them to reinvent the wheel but there are some pretty obvious references to past glories here & very few elements that you haven’t heard before. In fact, the more melodic approach to those first two tracks may well be the most significant change-up & I’ve already pooh-poohed that so maybe I’m a part of the problem.

At the end of the day I simply love Suffocation. I love their sound. I love their lyrics. I love their look. I love their girlfriends. I love their dirty socks. Yep, everything about them. So, while “Souls to Deny” may not compete with their best work, it certainly deserves credit for reigniting their flame in a scene that still had a big hole where this band used to sit. There’s only one Suffocation after all. Thousands have tried to match them & failed dismally over the years & brutal death metal MVP Terrence Hobbs puts them all to shame with very little effort here as he's the absolute master of the super-charged death metal riff, whether it be a fast & complex up-tempo blaster or a gutt-wrenchingly slow breakdown chugger. It’s just a shame that all of the hard work wasn’t rewarded with a more appropriate production job to better highlight how strong a death metal album “Souls to Deny” really is.

P.S. I'd never noticed that the final track fades out with the same riff that the opening track fades in with before now. It's kinda cool when you play the album multiple times back to back.

4/5

Well spotted Sonny. I wasn't aware of that myself. I look forward to hearing Ben's reasoning around that.

It sounds a little confusing so I'm not sure I completely understand but are open to contributing if I know the releases in question. My available time to fill in gaps is fairly limited with a new baby coming in five days time though so I'd agree with picking the biggest bands to begin with. If there were lesser known bands selected where I had to investigate several releases in a short period then I'd be unlikely to do that to be honest. Shall we just see how we go?

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I have to admit that I did a bit of a double take when I saw the release date attached to this fairly underground E.P. as it certainly doesn't sound like it was released post-2000. In fact, if you came into it blind you'd probably suggest that it was released in the second half of the 1980's & I'm fairly sure that was the intention too as the production & performances have had all of their rough edges left in place in order to give Isen Torr a significant bump in authenticity & credibility. The performances on this 17 minute affair aren't wonderful with the lead guitar work lacking in subtlety & the Queensryche style operatic vocals being a little pitchy at times but these things also give "Mighty & Superior" an endearing quality & I can see why someone like Sonny might find it quite relatable, especially when combined with the links to a highly regarded member of the epic doom metal community in Solstice.

This is certainly one epic as fuck release, isn't it? So much so that it leaves me baffled as to how Isen Torr have avoided the power metal tag. There's obviously a crap-tonne of Iron Maiden worship going on here in the galloping rhythms & guitar harmonies but the consistently high tempos, epic atmosphere & metal-for-metals-sake attitude sit further towards power metal than they do traditional heavy metal in my opinion so there'll be a Hall of Judgement entry coming up. The consistent focus on epic lead guitar lines is quite unique & I feel that this element is probably Isen Torr's calling card because it sounds quite fresh even if the lead guitarists vibrato leaves a bit to be desired. I've quite enjoyed this brief hint at what could have been to be honest &, despite it's UK heritage, feel that it will very likely appeal to fans of US power metal acts like Slough Feg, Manilla Road & Cirith Ungol. It's the very definition of a 3.5/5 release in that I find myself getting a consistent level of enjoyment out of it without ever feeling like it'll become a record that I'll be returning to again & again.

3.5/5

System of a Down - "Hypnotize" (2005)

SOTD's most recent studio album doesn't offer anything all that different to what they'd offered previously. The nu metal influence that popped up occasionally on their early works is nowhere to be found & there's perhaps a stronger thrash metal & punk influence than on some of the band's previous releases but you won't find anything terribly surprising here. I quite like "Hypnotize" but it's not on the same level as SOTD's elite releases in "Toxicity" & this album's companion album from the same year "Mezmerize". It sits very much on par with the band's 1998 self-titled debut album in terms of quality in my opinion. In fact, I'd probably take this one over that more highly regarded release. "Hypnotize" is worth a couple of listens but I don't think it'll be one that SOAD are remembered for.

3.5/5

My take is a bit different to Vinny's in that I've always thought of "Nihility" as a very high quality example of the tech death subgenre. There's plenty of technicality on offer but it's never at the expense of the song-writing & the riffs are always memorable. The performances are astounding for such a young group of dudes too, particularly the drumming & the beautifully composed guitar solos which are both highlights. There's obviously some strong Vader/Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse style classic death metal influences going on here but the technicality in the riff structures sees Decapitated playing more in the Nile or particularly Psycroptic space. The death growls are pretty standard but well executed & suitably aggressive. I know this album is often criticized for sounding too clinical due to the heavily triggered drum sounds & scooped 90's guitar tone but I think that's being very harsh as the whole thing just comes off as being a really classy extreme metal record to my ears. No complaints from me.

4/5

Upon revisiting this old fave I've found that my passion for it is as strong as it's ever been & that I still regard it as a genuine classic of the industrial metal genre. Sure, the material is generally faithful to the originals but the consistently high quality of the six tracks on offer & the electric energy & urgent vitality that Ministry have always possessed in a live environment sees them inevitably getting my juices pumping. The versions of "Deity", "Burning Inside" & album highlight "Thieves" are nothing short of exhilarating here. I last saw Ministry play live back in 2015 on the "From Beer to EternaTour" which was hardly their strongest creative period but they still absolutely rocked the Soundwave Festival at Sydney's Olympic Park which is a strong indication of their live talents. This should be essential listening for fans of the band & the industrial metal genre in general.

4.5/5

I don't have time for full reviews at the moment as work & family life are too hectic at the moment with my wife due to give birth to my third daughter in a week but needless to say that I really enjoyed this feature. Conqueror have managed to produce a very consistent release here although the better tracks tend to be the tighter ones. I would have preferred there were more of the super-intense chromatic guitar solos that the war metal subgenre is known to champion (think Bestial Warlust) but that's not a major criticism because the vocals are gnarly & the blast-beats are relentless. Sure, it's really hard to make out the riffs in this wall of white noise so this isn't a record for the faint hearted but your more seasoned underground extreme metal fans should take solace in the sheer rawness & ferocity on offer which is pure savagery. War metal is very much my bag though so I think I was always gonna enjoy this one.

4/5

Feel free to try that Rex. I don't think there are too many examples of people posting proper reviews in the forums but not on the album pages though. It's mainly just when people don't want to go to the effort of writing something comprehensive & only want to add some quick thoughts like I did on the Between The Buried & Me feature release thread yesterday.

My view is that instead of discouraging people from veering outside of their chosen lanes we should be encouraging it. The whole point of the site is to enable people to discover new sounds at their own pace & to allow them to express themselves in a safe environment that's free of slander & elitism. The key differentiator is that we use the clan system to minimize the damage on the more polarizing subgenres & to point their fans to the elite releases regardless. Sure, you're gonna get the odd review like you mentioned above Morpheus but how does someone know if they might come around to a specific subgenre if they don't give it a chance? I would never have gotten into subgenres like post-metal, dissonant death metal or deathcore if I hadn't let my initial impressions go & given them some time to evolve within my taste profile. Besides, the scenario you're referring to really isn't all that common here in my opinion & our members generally try to articulate what it is that makes them feel that way when they do.

I found "The Great Misdirect" to be another very high quality progressive metal record from this mob. It must have been a huge task to put together as there's simply so much to it. The complexity & ambition in the composition is top notch while the arrangements regularly veer off in unexpected directions. I definitely like the heavier & the jazzier moments best & could probably do without some of the more experimental sections but there's not a weak track included in the six with only the alt-country song "Desert of Song" seeing the quality levels dipping a touch. The metalcore vocals are OK but it's the more progressive instrumental excursions that see the band drawing upon the Dream Theaters & Opeths for inspiration that are where Between The Buried & Me manage to differentiate themselves. I may still rate their "Colors_Live" live album slightly higher than "The Great Misdirect" but it's not by much as this is another excellent record that should tick most prog-heads boxes.

4/5

Chelsea Wolfe - "Abyss" (2015)

A wonderfully deep & dark representation of modern darkwave & gothic rock.

It's admittedly been some time since I heard it but I can't say that I've ever felt "Repentless" had much to do with anything but thrash. I feel I'd have to revisit it in order to judge the merits of this nomination.

Yeah, it's an interesting discussion & there's no right answer of course. We're a metal website though so we don't offer rock tags like Stoner Rock or Heavy Psych. It's either metal or it's not & if it's not then the release in question likely wouldn't be included on the site at all unless the associated band had other releases that were legitimate metal. In this case too, we have a release where the vinyl editions of the album don't include the bonus track so I think it's best not to take that track into account when discussing the album's metal credentials. When you take that track out of the equation then the four metal tracks included amount to about 23 minutes of the total 42 minute run time which puts it into metal territory in my opinion. But this is why we have the Hall of Judgement so our clan members are free to express their opinions & my opinion is worth no more than that of any other member of The Fallen.

It’s also worth noting that the last track is a bonus track so half of the tracklisting falls under metal-related subgenres.

There’s enough metal warrant the release being here though so how would you handle that?

It's a mish mash of subgenres that all have a bit of crossover really but the Stoner Metal tag seems to fit better than the Doom Metal one in my opinion given that I tagged the individual tracks as follows:

1. I'll Cut You Down                    Stoner Rock

2. Death's Door                            Stoner Rock/Stoner Metal

3. Over & Over Again                  Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock

4. Curse In The Trees                 Stoner Metal

5. I'm Here To Kill You                Heavy Psych

6. 13 Candles                               Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock

7. Ritual Knife                               Stoner Metal

8. Withered Hand Of Evil            Traditional Doom Metal

9. Down To The Fire                    British Folk Rock

Rex, let me be frank with you. Whatever your grievances with the Metalforum moderators are (& for the record I don't blame them for feeling that it's inappropriate to be promoting a competitor on a subject-matter specific website), Ben & I are on a mission to make Metal Academy the most inclusive metal website on the web. We hate the elitist/judgmental bullshit that goes on at other sites & want everyone to be able to express themselves openly here, safe in the knowledge that they can be themselves without fear of reprisal. With that in mind, I have to ask that you (& all of our other members) steer well clear of aggressive &/or attacking posts on the Metal Academy forums. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your passion for the site & are really hoping you'll continue to contribute regularly as we value your input but it can't be at the expense of anyone else's comfort. Please feel free to continue this conversation with me over private message if you feel the need to.

"Forkboy" is certainly one of the greats of industrial metal. I can't say that I get anything at all out of "Pineapple Face" though to be honest. That & "Can God Fill Teeth?" are the two that I struggle with on "The Last Temptation of Reid".

Here's my review:

The 1997 debut album from Danish doom/death exponents Saturnus is an interesting one because, while I have a long history with it & can see why people seem to regard it so highly, I’ve always struggled to connect with it on the same level as my counterparts. My first exposure to it came way back in the late 1990’s in the tail end of my tape trading days as a couple of my local Aussie traders were doom/death nuts & made sure that I was across it. I gave it a couple of spins & found it to be mildly enjoyable but it didn’t really stick so I didn’t feel like it warranted return visits. Many years later I would hear Ben waxing lyrical about “Paradise Belongs To You” & it made me wonder whether I hadn’t given the album enough time to sink in. I again returned to it for a quick glance & was left with similar impressions to before so this is technically my third crack at Saturnus’ much acclaimed debut.

Right from the offset it becomes very clear that Saturnus are a quite professional & fairly ambitious extreme metal outfit. There’s a high level of musicality about their sound with lots of different melodic elements at play in their layered arrangements. There’s also a real openness in the way the album is produced & it soon became clear to me as to why. The drums & vocals are way forward in the mix with the bass & keyboards also dwarfing the rhythm guitars which are sitting too far back & lose some of their heaviness as a result in my opinion. I guess I just prefer a darker, heavier sound & it leads me to think that Saturnus have missed an opportunity here as the record sounds a bit light-weight with the piano & synth work being afforded a more prominent position in the mix than the key ingredient of any doom metal release. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means but it’s certainly worth mentioning as it’s definitely effected my overall enjoyment of this release.

“Paradise Belongs To You” is also a highly melodic example of the doom/death subgenre with the band regularly incorporating lighter gothic atmospherics, clean folk guitar work, Celtic new age elements & even the sound of birds singing on a Spring morning at times. The super-deep Septicflesh-style death growls attempt to keep things aligned with the darker side of metal but I don’t feel that they’re all that successful in that regard as this still feels like a more melodic & unintimidating record than I’d ideally like it to. The album cover probably doesn’t help in that regard as, despite the image being a portrayal of death, it’s got a lighter feel about its colour scheme. Saturnus’ logo kind of annoys me too as the reversed “s” on the end looks a bit silly & cheapens the overall effect.

Don’t get me wrong though, this is still a pretty good record. The tracklisting is without fault with the fairly lengthy 68 minute run time possessing a consistent level of class. I just don’t think there are any genuine highlights to speak of & the best moments don’t appear until the last few tracks with “I Love Thee” (the darkest track included & my personal favourite) & the final proper track “The Underworld” being a step up from the earlier metal songs. As usual with me, these two seem to be the least popular of the proper metal tracks on the album which shouldn’t surprise anyone. I also really enjoy the short folk interlude “As We Dance The Paths Of Fire & Solace” which offers some beautifully executed finger-picked nylon-string guitar work.

Look, there’s no doubt a big audience for this type of stuff & I have a lot of admiration for Saturnus’ approach but I still can’t quite get into “Paradise Belongs To You” to the same level as Ben. It just comes down to taste really with some of the best parts of the album sitting much too close to My Dying Bride plagiarism than I’d like. I certainly enjoy the experience while I’m sitting through it but I can’t say that I ever feel like returning to this album & would even go so far as to say that it offers me less appeal than it did on my previous visits.

3.5/5