Daniel's Forum Replies

Me neither. That's the reason I picked it actually. It was a pretty big record for me at the time. I think Ben might have bought it after I got him into the band through their debut from memory. I saw them on the associated tour & they were great too.

Here's the rostered nominators for the June feature releases for each clan:

THE FALLEN: Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Daniel

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr

THE HORDE: Vinny

THE INFINITE: Xephyr

THE NORTH: Sonny

THE PIT: Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel

THE SPHERE: Ben

I coincidently seemed to pop up on lots of these in the one month (likely because I put myself as last in each of my clans when first devising the roster) so I've asked Ben to nominate The Sphere for a bit of variation.

Possibly the best doom/death track ever recorded. It still absolutely decimates me 26 years later.

Ridiculously awesome doom/death from this New Jersey death metal establishment. For fans of Immolation, Dead Congregation & Disma.

Incantation - "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" (1994)

Vinny, I assume you're across this one but thought I'd check as it would appear to be your jam.

Sonny, get on it if you haven't already.

I was only joking Andi. I'm fine with the result if that's the way the members have voted but, just to be clear, I wouldn't class ANY of Venom's first four records as legitimate speed metal as (in much the same way as Motorhead) there's no more than the odd speed metal song here & there. Take the "Black Metal" album for example. Of the ten songs included, I challenge anyone to identify more than two tracks that qualify for the speed metal tag. It's really only the title track & "Heaven's On Fire" as far as I can see. The rest all fall under traditional heavy metal with the possible exception of "Teacher's Pet" which is more of a blues/punk/hard rock effort than it is metal. Is 20% of the tracklisting enough for a legitimate speed metal tag? I don't think so as the fact that it's 70% heavy metal comfortably outweighs any speed metal reference but that's just my two cents.

Next month we'll be extending the monthly submission limit to 30 minutes per clan member for The Pit as Ben has opted not to contribute.

Gamma Ray - "Land Of The Free" (1995)

I'll just leave this one here & wait for the inevitable flaming to begin then. *Grabs his battle armour & a few boxes of popcorn.*

My favourite track from German power metal icons Gamma Ray's highly regarded 1995 fourth album "Land Of The Free". For fans of Helloween, Blind Guardian & Judas Priest.

Manilla Road - "The Deluge" (1986)

Another Manilla Road record that I quite like but can't seem to connect with on the same level as most other metalheads seem to. I find it to be pretty overrated to be honest. What does everything else think of it?

Epic US power metal piece from Wichita, USA. For fans of Brocas Helm, Omen & Eternal Champion.

Yet another massively overrated Savatage album:

Savatage - "Gutter Ballet" (1989)

Apparently these two ballads sit amongst the most highly regarded songs in the entire Savatage back catalogue. My opinion on them couldn't be more opposed as not only do I find them to be the clear low points of the "Gutter Ballet" album but I wouldn't hesitate to label them as heinous crimes against music. Does anyone agree with me  or am I all alone in these feelings?

So apparently he's pleaded guilty & is facing up to 30 years in prison so it'll be interesting to see what the outcome is now.

Welcome to the Academy Ludo. I think I speak for all of our senior members when I say that we're very pleased to have you. We have a very diverse group of passionate metalheads here at MA, many of which I feel a very strong bond with after sharing so many intimate details over the years. I'd like to encourage you to contribute as much as you feel like because we're a completely inclusive & non-judgemental community that's genuinely interested in hearing your thoughts on all things metal. We have a huge variety of features too, some that you won't find at any other metal-related website. So take a look around & don't be shy if you have any questions.

Necrophobic - "The Nocturnal Silence" (1993)

Vinny & Ben, you might wanna check this one out if you haven't previously.

Some very solid early-90's Swedish death metal with melodic black/death metal overtones. For fans of Dissection, Unanimated & Dismember.

Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence (1993)

It's been many years since I've revisited Swedish death metallers Necrophobic's 1993 debut album "The Nocturnal Silence" but I still find it to be a very solid piece of work. Whilst you'll harbor very few doubts that they hail from Swedish origins once the needle hits the wax, Necrophobic (who were led by Dark Funeral guitarist Blackmoon) had a lot more feathers in their caps than many of their contemporaries & you'll hear all sorts of influences popping up here as they do their very best to name drop almost every great death/thrash/black metal band of the early 1990's & do it all with great aplomb too.

The early Necrophobic sound seems to have been put together by combining the various different elements they were hearing from their local Stockholm scene at the time as far as I can see. You had the classic old-school death metal of Dismember, the melodic black metal of Dissection & the melodic death metal of Unanimated, all fused together & mixed in with regular Bathory references & one-off hints at international acts like Death, Deicide, Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Slayer, Emperor, etc. In fact, I'd suggest that they've borrowed their evil lyrical themes & imagery from Dissection & Deicide too if I'm not mistaken. I wouldn't say that this results in a product that's particularly focused or well defined but the band certainly had the skills to pull it off &, when combined with a production job that offers a good balance of underground rawness & melodic clarity, the result is a fairly accessible yet energetic extreme metal release that's tailor made for an audience that favours a melodic, crunchy & undeniably Swedish brand of death metal.

For fans of Dissection, Unanimated & Dismember.

4/5

OK, so I've gotten through all nine of our April feature releases now. Unfortunately I didn't discover any records that will be challenging for inclusion in my personal hall of metal glory this month but there was some pretty good stuff in there nonetheless as well as a couple of albums that were simply too far away from my taste to offer much in the way of appeal despite giving them a good Aussie crack. Here's the list ordered by preference:

THE INFINITE: Evergrey - "Escape Of The Phoenix" (2021) 4/5

THE SPHERE: God - "The Anatomy Of Addiction" (1994) 4/5

THE REVOLUTION: The Dillinger Escape Plan - "One Of Us Is The Killer" (2013) 4/5

THE HORDE: Martyr - "Feeding The Abscess" (2006) 4/5

THE PIT: Total Annihilation - "...On Chains Of Doom" (2020) 3.5/5

THE GATEWAY: Devin Townsend Project - "Addicted" (2009) 3.5/5

THE NORTH: Cultes des Ghoules - "Henbane" (2013) 3.5/5

THE FALLEN: Within Temptation - "Enter" (1997)  3/5

THE GUARDIANS: DragonForce - "Inhuman Rampage" (2006)  2.5/5

Well done to saxy for taking out my pole position this month too. "Escape Of The Phoenix" really surprised me in a positive way.

Ben, please add Dallas-based thrash metallers Steel Bearing Hand.

Fucking loving this death/doom metal monster from Dallas-based blackened death/thrash outfit Steel Bearing Hand. It reminds me of doomy death metal outfits like Asphyx, Incantation & Dead Congregation.

Steel Bearing Hand - Slay In Hell

Paging Daniel and Vinny.

Thanks a lot for the heads up on this one Xephyr. I hadn't heard of Dallas-based thrashers Steel Bearing Hand before but really fucking enjoyed this album. It's kinda hard to describe Steel Bearing Hand's sound as they combine so many different elements but not often at the one time. Instead, they tend to drop bits & pieces of widely disparate influences on the listener without ever really attempting to tie them all together but, in doing so, show themselves to have such a good understanding of the individual elements that you find yourself easily forgiving them. Three of the six tracks sit fairly comfortably under the blackened thrash tag as they layer black metal vocals over a speed metal-infused thrash sound similar to Destruction. "Lich Gate" on the other hand seems to sit somewhere between the death 'n' roll of Entombed, the more brutal Swedish death metal of Grave & the death/thrash sound of Deceased.... But it's the two lengthier closers of both sides that really do it for me as they both beautifully straddle a crushingly heavy death/doom metal sound that brings to mind the slower works of Asphyx & Dead Congregation. Hell, you'll even hear parts of this album that sound very much like "Blood Fire Death" era Bathory or classic Cannibal Corpse so there's a lot to take in across the relatively short 39 minute duration. The production perfectly balances clarity with a rawer underground authenticity & the performances are all excellent so there's a lot to like here, despite the apparent lack of focus. There's been no sacrifice on melody in the quest for intensity either. "Slay In Hell" is a metal-as-fuck excursion through all the things that make extreme metal so great & I'm very surprised Steel Bearing Hand haven't received more attention as this is unquestionably the best 2020's thrash metal release I've heard to date.

For fans of Deceased..., Destruction & Asphyx.

4/5

P.S. Sonny, you'll want to check this one out too.

Rip-snorting New Jersey mathcore for fans of The Callous Daoboys, Botch & Rolo Tomassi.

In general, I’ve enjoyed everything The Dillinger Escape Plan have put out without ever really feeling that I could fully relate to their sound enough to claim any individual release as a genuine classic for me personally. I’m not entirely sure why that’s the case as I’ve managed to overcome that obstacle with several other mathcore exponents but with Dillinger I inevitably find myself to be very impressed but can never seem to find a higher rating than 4/5 & that’s still the case with 2013’s classic fifth album “One Of Us Is The Killer”. It’s a different record to anything they’d produced previously without ever seeming to alienate the band’s existing fanbase. The technical complexity factor is as spasmatic as ever with the band experimenting with some incredibly off-beat & mind-bending rhythms but there’s somehow a greater level of accessibility at the same time. The incorporation of some strong melodic hooks on songs like the title track & “Nothing’s Funny” will likely see the well-informed listener reaching for comparisons with alternative metal legends Faith No More, particularly the vocal performance of Greg Puciato who seems to have been heavily influenced by the off-the-wall yet incredibly capable vocal stylings of Mike Patton. He's an enormous talent really. I can't possibly imagine how shredded his vocal chords must be after recording an album like this one as he truly screams his fucking lungs out across a large part of the run time but he also proves himself to have a great understanding of musicality & melody when he chooses to explore it.

If you really look at Dillinger’s delivery closely here you’ll find that the band’s sound is built on hardcore more than it is on metal. There’s an uncompromising urgency & aggression about everything they do that keeps the listener on the edge of their seat at all times. The incredible intricacy in their rhythms is both their strength & their enemy in my opinion as not only does it ensure that I’m always interested & engaged but it also sees me often struggling to find a groove that sees me banging my head like I want to do when listening to good metal. In a way I think this sees a lot of Dillinger’s material simply washing over me in a wave of vitriolic electricity without seeing as much of it sticking as I’d like & this is never made more clearly apparent than when they finally get the balance just right. The final two tracks on “One Of Us Is The Killer” (album highlight “Crossburner” & “The Threat Posed By Nuclear Weapons”) are absolutely killer & fall very much into this category. To be honest, I think the key reason I feel that way is because they have simpler, heavier metal riffs interspersed between the chaos & this gives this old metalhead a little more meat on the bones of Dillinger’s spasmatic hardcore sound. It’s strange that they left those two tracks till right at the end but this isn’t to say that there’s anything like a weak song or even a half-decent filler track amongst this lot. It’s all high quality stuff but it’s only the final climax that sees me fully letting go & succumbing to The Dillinger Escape Plan’s incredibly detailed plan of escape.

Overall, I think “One Of Us Is The Killer” is another very strong DEP record. It’s pretty incredible that they managed to maintain their screaming intensity & ridiculous technicality whilst simultaneously infusing their sound with an additional layer of accessibility but it’s paid off for them big-time here. Is it their best release? Perhaps… but it’s hard to compare their records as they’re all so similar in terms of quality. If pushed though, I’d suggest that I’d take this album over a record like “Irony Is A Dead Scene” which seems to be extremely highly regarded these days. Dillinger represented a breath of fresh air for a scene over-flowing with followers & I’m not sure that we’ve found anyone to fill that gap since their unfortunate departure. I’ll always have the fondest memories of experiencing this material in a live environment as there simply isn’t anything to compare to the violence & excitement of a Dillinger live show.

For fans of The Callous Daoboys, Botch & Rolo Tomassi.

4/5

Aggressive thrash metal from Switzerland for fans of Legion Of The Damned, late 80's Kreator & "Agent Orange"-era Sodom.

As a fan of the more intense European thrash metal sound, last year's third album from Swiss five-piece Total Annihilation (entitled "...On Chains Of Doom") ticks a lot of boxes. It's beautifully produced with a seriously brutal guitar tone that's more in line with death metal than it is thrash. It's also very tightly executed with the band working well within their technical limitations to give us a relentless brand of thrash that's not afraid to slow things down for some crunchy doom style sections on occasion. Front man Daniel Altwegg has a grindy & fairly monotonous European style of vocal delivery that keeps Total Annihilation firmly situated in the underground & the total run time is just about right for a modern thrash record. So it's needless to say that I quite enjoyed "...On Chains Of Doom".

What's stopping me from reaching for the higher ratings is a few things. Firstly, the composition is lacking in ambition & the construction of the riffs is relatively basic which brings some of these tracks an element of heard-it-all-before. The song-writing is also a little lacking in the way of memorability with none of these tracks standing out as particular highlights despite only one track falling short of an acceptable standard (see "Experience The Terror"). And finally, the guitar solos are very ordinary & don't really serve much of a purpose as they don't enhance the music in any way. It's pretty obvious that this is meerly a technical limitation & if I were in the band I would have advised against including them at all.

But, all criticisms aside, "...On Chains Of Doom" is a very heavy & generally enjoyable thrash record that makes up for its flaws with pure aggression & a good understanding of what makes underground thrash special. In fact, I'd take it over the 2020 Warbringer & Hexecutor albums we featured recently. 

For fans of Legion Of The Damned, late 80's Kreator & "Agent Orange"-era Sodom.

3.5/5

There were a couple of real duds on Within Temptation's 1997 debut album "Enter" however I have the most issues with this one:

Dutch gothic metal for fans of Draconian & 90's Theatre Of Tragedy & Tristania.

Accept's 1980 sophomore album "I'm A Rebel" was a bit of a dud when taken holistically however the one-two punch of "Thunder & Lightning" into "China Lady" right in the middle of the album is nothing short of magic in my opinion:

I don't consider these albums poor, but certainly on the weak end of metal at least, and these tracks stand out especially amidst the surrounding material.

Born Again - Born Again, Black Sabbath

Run of the Mill - Rocka Rola, Judas Priest

Until it Sleeps, The Outlaw Torn - Load, Metallica

Fixxxer - Reload, Metallica

Sinister Soldiers is a good example, but I would have picked the track Last Good-Bye!

Quoted SilentScream213

I quite like Black Sabbath's "Born Again" album to tell you the truth but interestingly the title track is one of the few tracks that I don't have time for. I don't think there are any genuine classics included but the first three tracks are where the highlights reside in my opinion with "Disturbing The Priest" being my pick of the bunch.

Judas Priest's "Rocka Rolla" is a massively underrated record in my opinion although I agree that "Run Of The Mill" is the clear classic amongst the tracklisting.

I have no time for Metallica's "Load" whatsoever so I agree that it's a poor album. I don't think it includes any genuinely great tracks though. "Bleeding Me" would be the clear highlight for me personally. "Until It Sleeps" is OK but I don't actually like "The Outlaw Torn" to be honest.

"Reload" is an even worse album for mine & I think only "Carpe Diem Baby" & "Devil's Dance" are at a reasonable level. Interestingly I actually rate "Fixxxer" as one of the weakest tracks on the tracklisting & for Metallica as a whole.

Yeah "Last Good-bye" seems to be the other track  that people rate from "Sinister Soldiers" but I've always found it to be a bit flat personally. "Snowshit" is the only track from the album that I have any time for & it's nothing short of a 5 star classic in my opinion.

Ok, so it'll shock approximately no one that 1997's  "Enter" debut  from Dutch gothic doom metal exponents Within Temptation wasn't for me but perhaps not for the reasons that many of you might suspect. I did hear bits of Within Temptation back in their early days but never paid a lot of attention to them given that my taste in metal was on the polar opposite end of the metal spectrum & that's still essentially the case. I mean, despite the link to the gothic doom metal movement, "Enter" isn't all that far away from the band's later symphonic metal label given that around half of the tracklisting would likely qualify for that tag when examined in isolation. Sure, the strongest element at play & the most comfortable way to pigeonhole "Enter" is via the gothic metal subgenre but there sure is a lot of synth work going on around it. Also, any metal fan worth their studded battle vest would be remiss to overlook the fact that the majority of the riffage is based purely on 1990's death doom metal &, given the inclusion of cookie monster vocals in roughly half of the tracklisting, it's no surprise that "Enter" is often linked with doom metal.

Surprisingly, the female vocals of Sharon den Adel are the clear highlight of the album for me & I definitely prefer the sections where she takes centre-stage whilst accompanied by predominantly clean instrumentation. The more extreme end of Within Temptation's sound was still very much an evolving concept at the time & is far less convincing here. In fact, the musicianship on display is a significant stumbling block for me given that the instrumentalists were so clearly still learning their craft, particularly the guitarists who suffered from a poor production job & aren't exactly convincing with their re-enactments of these slow-paced & simple doom riffs. Keyboardist Martijn Westerholt also struggles for timing on occasion &, more often than not, his chosen synthesizers sound pretty dated too. This isn't an attractive look given my pre-existing repulsion towards synth-driven metal. And finally, the death growls of guitarist Robert Westerholt rank relatively poorly when compared with other half-decent cookie monster wannabes. 

So it might sound like there's really not all that much going for "Enter" & that's true to an extent however I still find myself enjoying a good half of the eight tracks included & that enjoyment inevitably lines up with the tracks that utilize less of the synthesizers & death growls & more of Sharon's sweet vocal lines. There's no doubt that Within Temptation cross the line into being over-dramatic a little too often for my liking but when they hit on something with a little more maturity about it I find myself struggling to maintain my general feeling of apathy. One can tell that there are some good ideas in there somewhere but the band are still a little too green to know what to do with them. Then there are a couple of real shockers in "Gatekeeper" & "Blooded" which see me genuinely struggling to keep from offloading a cringe-faced look of revulsion. 

Ultimately, there's little doubt that I'm not the target audience for a record like "Enter" but, at the same time, there are far too many flaws for it to overcome here & I can't see myself returning to the album any time soon.

3/5

P.S. Andi's three band links are exactly the three that I was gonna go for so well done with that mate. 

Hhhmmmm... interesting. I'd argue that The Body's "The City Is Shelled" is the clear highlight of an extremely consistent album with no weak tracks but that come down to taste I suppose.

How about this beauty from Chicago-based hard rock/heavy metal/proto-doom exponents Sorcery's 1978 debut album "Sinister Soldiers":

A terribly misguided commercially focused ballad from Devin Townsend Project's 2009 alternative metal album "Addicted".

This track was comfortably the highlight of Devin Townsend Project's alternative metal focused 2009 "Addicted" album in my opinion. The chorus hook is nothing short of spectacular & the way to song-writing builds up to a spine-tingling wall-of-sound crescendo pretty much blew my mind.

I've given this one a few bashes this morning & found that I quite liked it but wouldn't class it as essential listening. Sure it incorporates some new elements like the electronic component & the addition of former The Gathering front woman Anneke van Giersbergen but the end result still sounds like Devin with his trademark wall of melodic sound. Unsurprisingly, all of the various ingredients have been beautifully integrated. In fact, Devin really should send the album to Megadeth band leader Dave Mustaine so that he can see how albums like "Risk" & "The World Needs A Hero" should have sounded as the boys seem to have had similar ideas but produced vastly different results with a wide disparity in regards to quality.

Anneke has sat amongst my favourite female metal vocalists (if not THE favourite) for a very long time now so I welcomed the collaboration. She certainly sounds great here too but I do prefer to hear her voice being highlighted a little more than it is amidst Devin's huge soundscapes. The production is obviously outstanding though & this gives some of the middling tracks the grunt required to see them getting over the line. The guitar tone is heavy as shit while Ryan Van Poederooyen puts in a stellar performance behind the drum kit.

It's interesting that many fans seem to regard this album as an industrial metal record. Sure there are some electronic elements at play here but there's not a consistently industrial/mechanical atmosphere. "Addicted" is far more uplifting that that & I'm actually fine with the alternative metal tag as a lot of this material looks to remove some of the boundaries that separate metal from your more accessible styles whilst always maintaining a predominantly metal aesthetic. Despite the general consensus, when you examine the tracklisting as a whole you'll find that "Addicted" isn't really much poppier than Devin has dished out before either & I do think that saying it incorporates "dance music" is a stretch too as the electronics are used purely for colour & there aren't too many artificial dance beats included here.

Overall, I think "Addicted" had the potential to be a really great album given the quality of the production, performances & most of the hooks but there's a major flaw that prevents me from scoring it as highly as I'd like to. Unfortunately the tracklisting is let down by a couple of weak commercially focused tracks (i.e. "Bend It Like Bender!" & particularly the soppy ballad "Ih-Ah!") which combine to bring my score down by a half-star. Otherwise there's plenty of meat for Devin's fanatical audience to dig their teeth into here with the clear album highlight "Supercrush!" sitting amongst the best work of Devin's entire career.

3.5/5

Juan Atkins - "20 Years 1985-2005" (2005)

A double best-of compilation album from Detroit's true godfather of techno featuring work from many of his various aliases (Cybotron, Model 500, Infiniti, 3MB, Visions). You can expect a fair bit of electro in the earlier material as he developed his sound. Quite a few big dancefloor tracks for me when I was DJing included here too. For fans of Drexciya, Derrick May & Kevin Saunderson. 

I thought I'd better get a few of the less popular The North subgenres into this playlist (i.e. Celtic metal, medieval folk metal, black 'n' roll, etc.) as they'd been completely omitted in recent times. intentionally chose some pretty short tracks though.

Stunningly complex progressive death metal from Quebec, Canada. For fans of Atheist, "Dimension Hatross"-era Voivod & the more progressive Death releases.

So look... if you love highly technical, complex & precise yet still extreme metal then "Feeding The Abscess" should be a no-brainer as it's a beautifully composed, produced & executed record that almost defies genrification.  If that doesn't sound like your bag then I'd advise you to steer well clear of it. Martyr are super talented & pull off some amazing rhythmic stunts but you really do have to be onboard with that idea or you'll likely struggle due to the reliance on showmanship over song-writing. Looking back now, Martyr do seem like a bit of a supergroup in that axe-slinging front man Daniel Mongrain was formally of Cryptopsy & Gorguts & is currently with Voivod while drummer Patrice Hamelin is the current drummer in Gorguts & none of that is surprising when you hear "Feeding The Abscess" for the first time. These dudes fucking know their way around their instruments & the precision on display is nothing short of phenomenal.

I really do think the technical death metal tag is a little limiting here because Martyr's sound never feels constrained by the death metal genre. Sure there are blast beats, some grindy death metal riffs here & there & the occasional death grunt but the majority of the album is much more progressive than that & Daniel Mongrain's vocals generally sit much closer to thrash than they do to death metal. In fact, they're really the limiting factor with this release as Daniel's monotonous tone & phrasing sees Martyr failing to reach the top tier despite the band's clear credentials. This is an outstanding record from an instrumental point of view & I can't help but think that the band would have been better served by employing a) a higher register clean vocalist that adds a layer of melody & memorability to the equation or b) a full-on death grunter who can accentuate the brutality in Martyr's sound. What they've gone for here seems to have taken an each-way bet that hasn't quite satisfied either preference.

The production is spectacular, mind you, & if you're a fan of progressive metal in general then you'll likely get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the no-holds-barred approach "Feeding The Abscess" takes with regards to composition. There are very few rules being adhered to here & the level of musicianship required to achieve the final result is nothing short of mind-blowing. I particularly enjoy the drumming & lead guitar work, both of which are accentuated by the outstanding production. Just listen to the depth in those kick drums for example.

Overall, "Feeding The Abscess" is a great choice for a feature album & with some more interesting vocals it may just have gone on to be known as a classic release. I'm just not sure The Horde was the right place for it to be honest because it's more of a progressive metal record than it is a death metal one in my opinion.  The Voivod cover version that closes the album could have been a little more adventurous too because it really is just a straight reenactment & doesn't offer any point of difference which leaves it standing out a little bit from the rest of the tracklisting.

For fans of Atheist, "Dimension Hatross"-era Voivod & Death's more progressive releases.

4/5

Awesome! I'm so glad to see we have another contributing member of The Revolution! 

Polish black metal for fans of Necromantia, Mayhem & early Samael.

I gave "Henbane" a few spins over the last couple of mornings & quite enjoyed it. It's certainly got that authentic 80's vibe about it as well as an occult atmosphere that's similar to the old Hammer Films from the 1970's which separates it from most of the modern black metal community. The over the top vocal performance sits somewhere between Attila Csihar (Mayhem) & Kvarforth (Shining) to my ears & there's a strong doom metal element running through most of the tracklisting which I'm not surprised appeals to the likes of Sonny. The dirty bass guitar is both very prominent in the mix & also drives some of this material to an extent. 

If I had to describe Cultes des Ghoules sound here I'd go with Necromantia & Mayhem meets Hellhammer & early Samael. It's not a perfect record by any means. Many of the slower sections are obviously rewrites of the bridge section from Mayhem's "Freezing Moon" but that doesn't make them any less effective for me personally. The vocal performance does go a little too far at times too as there are moments where front man Mark of The Devil crosses the border into silliness but I have similar issues with Kvarforth to be honest. Some of the instrumentation is pretty sloppily performed from a timing perspective but that kinda adds to the authenticity to be fair. I'm not sure I agree with the calls about a early 90's death metal guitar tone. I don't think it's thick enough for that & would instead suggest that it's more in line with some of the more underground 80's black metal releases.

Overall I found "Henbane" to be an interesting listen that I couldn't quite connect with strongly enough to command regular return visits in the future. The tracklisting is very consistent as I enjoyed all five tracks but none of them left me feeling like I'd just experienced anything particularly classic even though I very much dug the dark atmosphere.

For fans of Necromantia, Mayhem & early Samael.

3.5/5

A stunning example of Swedish progressive metal for fans of Dream Theater, Leprous & Katatonia.

So this one has really surprised me in a very positive way. With all of the talk about “progressive power metal” that seems to float around Evergrey, I was definitely expecting something a little different to what I got as there’s absolutely no power metal to be found here. “Escape Of The Phoenix” isn’t particularly technical for a progressive metal record either but the aesthetics, attention to detail & production values certainly tie it to the subgenre. What you get here is chunky (& at times djenty) riffage that reminds me of some of the heavier Dream Theater material while the outstanding melodic vocals of Tom S. Englund place Evergrey alongside contemporaries like Leprous & Katatonia. I absolutely love this guy’s tone & when he hits on a great hook I’m immediately transported to melodic metal heaven. The guitar solos of are also outstanding as they offer the perfect balance of melody & technical proficiency. You’re never left feeling that they’re overly showy as they seem to be equally influenced by Dream Theater’s John Petrucci & Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour & are beautifully crafted to accentuate & complement the song-writing.

“Escape Of The Phoenix” gets off to an amazing start with the opening two cuts competing with the absolute elite of the progressive metal subgenre & by half way through the album I was left feeling that I may be being treated to a genuine underground classic. Unfortunately a couple of tracks in the second half of the album pull the overall quality back a bit & I’m left falling just short of the higher ratings. In truth, it really does come down to one disappointing track as the obviously more commercially focused tambourine-driven chorus of “Eternal Nocturnal” sees it falling well short of the heights of the rest of the album. The closer “Run” is also a little weaker than the rest of the material but is still pretty enjoyable. When it comes down to it though, that chorus of “Eternal Nocturnal” has cost Evergrey a 4.5 star ratings from me here because there are easily enough highlights to warrant it & there's easily enough runtime to have cut that track altogether. Still… this is a very high quality progressive metal record that should appeal to anyone interested in the subgenre.

For fans of Dream Theater, Leprous & Katatonia.

4/5

Ben, you should definitely check this one out.

Personally my musical taste leads me towards a path whereby the devil has eviscerated the priest & is raping his decapitated stump with his own gizzards to the sound of never-ending gravity blasts but each to their own.

It’s also be cool if there was a way that you could see that you have private messages waiting for you from within the site. Currently the only way you’d know is by an external email & even when you’re in the message section you’d have to go into the individual conversations to see if there’s anything new there. Perhaps a number could show on your profile name it the top of the main page & any conversations with new messages could be bolded in a similar way to my forum thread suggestion?

I think we need a bigger window for typing private messages. With the way it currently is I find that I have to keep arrowing up with the cursor to review what I’ve already written which is really annoying after a while.

It’d also be cool if threads with posts you’re yet to read showed up in bold so that you can easily see what you need to catch up on. I used to enjoy that feature on the Terrorizer forums.