MartinDavey87's Reviews

After a fairly messy and raw debut, Dreams of Sanity are back with 'Masquerade', an album where the band really refined their sound, and while the songwriting would still be lacking in places, it certainly laid the blueprint for their next album, which would go on to be their best (and sadly, final) release.

Most noticeable with this album is the much-improved production, with a crisp and clear sound that really emphasizes every instrument. The musicianship is fantastic between the band members, with heavy and interesting guitar riffs that are perfectly complimented with some intricate keyboard melodies. The interplay between everyone involved is great, while never being overbearing or detracting from the flow of the music itself.

There are a few moments where things tend to lull, but for the most part, this is a solid effort. The songs fit together well, with lots of energetic performances that makes for a good listen. Some of the highlights involve parts one and two of the five-track piece 'Masquerade', 'Within (The Dragon)' and 'Lost Paradise '99'. Of particular note is 'Masquerade Act 2', which ends with a fantastic crescendo that builds up with more and more tension over a minute and a half, but never dips in momentum.

Overall, this is a good album by Dreams of Sanity. It's far from perfect, but it's a huge improvement upon their debut, and a precursor to what will become their finest work, with their next album.

There was 'Load' and 'Reload' that massively divided fans, there was a covers album, and a live album that featured an orchestra. Their bassist left, and their supposed big "comeback album" ending up being a critical flop. To make matters worse, they released a DVD which did nothing but portray the world's biggest rock stars as petulant children. It'd certainly been a tough decade Metallica.

But all of that was about to change.

Deciding to finally go "back to their roots", Metallica released 'Death Magnetic' in 2008, which sees the band bringing back their thrash-inspired sound not heard in 20 years. And it kicks all the critics square in the face, firmly establishing that despite their age and everything they'd done over the last decade, Metallica were still the kings of metal (Sorry, Manowar).

While 2003's 'St. Anger' had its faults (I don't mind that album, for the record), it was definitely a step in the right direction in terms of Metallica returning to the metal sound that made them famous in the first place. But every cringe-inducing problem that record may have had has been rectified ten times over with this release. The riffs are heavier and more complex than before. The guitar solos are back. The lyrics are more inspiring, and James Hetfield's voice sounds much, much better than it has done in a long time. Even Lars Ulrich's fairly simplistic drumming is more intense than anything he'd done on the previous album.

Metallica are back, baby!

The production on this record is far from perfect, but it's certainly beefier than it was on 'St. Anger', and despite the mix levels being a bit off, at least the drums sound like drums again!

The songwriting harkens back to the days of 1988's '...And Justice For All', with a return to intricately structured ten-minute songs. And although a lot of them are full of energy and complex musicianship, this is mostly the only major detriment to this release, because towards the end the album really does feel like it's dragging a bit. As awesome as the songs are (and indeed, they are!), each one of them could have benefitted by a minute or two being cropped off. Aw well...

'That Was Just Your Life', 'Broken, Beat & Scarred', 'The Day That Never Comes', 'All Nightmare Long' and 'The Judas Kiss' all demonstrate that despite all the years and everything this band have been through, there is still plenty of gas left in the tank.

Iron Savior are a power metal "supergroup" that consists of Gamma Ray's Kai Hansen, Blind Guardian's Thomas Stauch, and record producer Piet Sielck (who?). To sum this up in one sentence, this, their self-titled debut, is a concept album focusing on a self-aware space ship...

...

Wait...

Hold on...

...

Okay, you're still reading. It'll take more than self-aware space ships to detract you. Good job. So let's keep straight faces and focus on what matters most... the music.

Taking what sounds like a terrible idea for a rock opera and turning it into a half-decent metal record is not an achievement to be scoffed at, and what this band may lack in finesse and quality, they certainly make up for in energy and enthusiasm. If you can look past the endless Judas Priest comparisons and the stench of rotten cheese, some of the tracks on 'Iron Savior' are pretty good, of course, some of them are also pretty terrible.

'Iron Savior', 'Assailant', 'Protect the Law' and 'For the World' are all power metal classics (a paradox?), whereas some of the songs, such as 'Riding on Fire', 'Children of the Wasteland' and 'Break It Up' are absolute stinkers. And Sielck's vocals don't help much. Sometimes they fit the music perfectly, sometimes they sound a bit over-the-top and ridiculous. It's hard to decide if I like them or not.

There's some fine riffing going on, as would be expected by power metal godfather Kai Hansen, and the cohesiveness between himself and Sielck is akin to that of similar bands in the genre, such as Gamma Ray (coincidence?), Helloween or Judas Priest. It's just a shame that memorable riffs aren't too common, but hey, the good ones are fantastic, so I'll give 'em that.

With any doubts in mind, you just have to remind yourself that it's a power metal album about a self-aware space ship. A bloody self-aware space ship!!! The cheesy lyrics and repetitive guitar riffs suddenly don't seem that bad now, do they?

Fates Warning are one of my all-time favourite bands, so it should come as no surprise that when their original vocalist, John Arch, returned to the music scene after a 16-year absence and released 'A Twist of Fate', that it was an EP I had to have!

I'm not going to deny, prior to hearing this disc I wasn't the biggest Arch fan. Whilst I enjoyed his early contributions to Fates Warning, I've always preferred Ray Alder's vocals. In fact, although Arch was good, there were times when I found his high-pitched vocals quite grating. However, 'Twist...' has changed that. Because the years have been kind to his voice, or perhaps modern production has been, but either way, this EP is something very special!

Despite featuring only two tracks, 'A Twist of Fate' is an absolute delight to listen to. Both songs, 'Relentless' and 'Cheyenne' are overflowing with emotional vocals and tasty guitar riffs, and are almost unique in their own special ways. Clocking in at about half an hour, this EP features some of the most beautiful musical passages I've ever heard, particularly in 'Cheyenne', which is probably one of the best progressive metal songs that you've never heard of.

Featuring a "who's who" of musicians, Arch has recruited some of the finest players in the genre. These include his former Fates Warning brethren Jim Matheos on guitar, drummer Mike Portnoy, best known for his work with Dream Theater and Transatlantic, and bassist Joey Vera of Armoured Saint and Fates Warning fame. Impressive, right?

Fantastic music, intelligent lyrics, told through one unmatched and totally unique voice. It doesn't matter if you don't like Fates Warning. It doesn't even matter if you don't like progressive metal, because this simple EP is so much more than that! Let's hope Mr. Arch plans on sticking around this time!

I like 'St. Anger'.

There, I said it.

Metal fans the world over will probably know all about 'St. Anger' and what contributed to its critical panning. The atrocious production, the awful drums (that don't even sound like drums), the cringe-worthy lyrics, the lack of guitar solos, the strained singing... the list goes on and on. But for all its faults and wrongdoings, the music itself on this album is still fairly decent.

I was sixteen when this album was released and was, at the time, a Metallica fanatic. Trivial things such as production was the last thing on my mind when this came out. I was just happy that my favourite band had released a new record and it rocked. Of course, as I grew older I learned to appreciate music production more, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the joy I gain from the compositions themselves still remain.

Whilst we're all familiar with (and most probably dislike) 'Frantic', 'Some Kind of Monster' and 'The Unnamed Feeling', this record has some forgotten gems such as 'Sweet Amber', 'All Within My Hands' and 'Shoot Me Again', which are all pretty underappreciated.

In truth, I'd be wasting my time if I tried to sell anyone on this album, as by now I figure everyone has made up their mind about it. But I'm happy with it. Sure, it has its problems, but it's different and unique and I enjoy it all the same. And the extra DVD of the band playing the album in the studio make this a nice little package.

With the success of 'Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory' under their belts, Dream Theater were sitting firmly on the throne of the prog world, and so what's the next step? To take the entire concept album on tour, of course!

An absolute sonic tour-de-force of Dream Theater music, the band are relentless as they bombard a New York audience with over three hours of excellence. Besides playing 'Scenes from a Memory' in its entirety, with a few added bonuses thrown in, the band play various hits from their past records, including all three parts of the 'A Mind Beside Itself' trilogy from the 'Awake' album, 'Metropolis Pt. 1' and 'Learning to Live', both clocking in at ten and twelve minutes respectively, and if that wasn't enough, they then close with the 23-minute epic, 'A Change of Seasons'.

This is not for the faint-hearted.

As you'd expect from Dream Theater, the musicianship and chemistry is unparalleled by any other band. Each instrumentalist here has truly mastered their craft, with the only real weakness coming from vocalist James LaBrie. He tries his best, bless him, but having gone through some well-documented problems at the time (food poisoning led to him rupturing his vocal chords a few years prior), his voice can be pretty grating to listen to at times. However, he does redeem himself at the end when he jokingly says "sorry about the short set". Good job, sir!

All praises aside, I'm not the biggest lover of live albums, as I usually prefer the punch and clarity of a studio recording, and at times I feel the sound isn't as perfect as it could be, at least, not when compared to the 'Scenes from a Memory' record. But that just comes down to personal preference.

With that said, 'Live Scenes from New York' is a beast of a live album. A three-disc set that perfectly sums up Dream Theater's career to that point, and an all-out assault of progressive proportions. This is an essential addition to every fans collection.

It's 1999 and James LaBrie has released his first "solo album", a term used lightly as this is still a group collaboration, despite being mostly considered a James LaBrie "project". It sounds similar to Dream Theater (no way?!?!), but that's not a criticism. In fact, something interesting to note about this album is that it was supposedly written and recorded by all the musicians separately, exchanging ideas through post and emails. That's a common thing these days, but back in 1999 it was still quite an ambitious undertaking.

Still, I'm not going to use that as an excuse for the relatively average quality of the songs. They're not terrible, but they all sound pretty disjointed, lacking the soul of a song that was created through spontaneous jam sessions of people sat in the same room together.

Besides LaBrie on vocals, you have some heavy hitters like Mike Mangini on drums, Matt Guillory on keyboards and Mike Keneally on guitars. It's a shame there just doesn't seem to be any chemistry going on between them all. But hey, criticisms aside, some of the songs are pretty good. 'His Voice', 'Guardian Angel' and 'Shores of Avalon' are all redeeming qualities of 'Keep It To Yourself'. Sadly, then there's also songs like 'Beelzebubba'. It has an almost Faith No More vibe to it. It sounds experimental and I appreciate what the group were attempting here. But come on... there's only so many times I can tolerate hearing James LaBrie singing "Slick Willy"...

It's certainly not going to be on anyone's "best albums of 1999" list, but it's not a bad addition to the collection if you stumble across it cheap. Ultimately, it's Jame LaBrie, so there's bound to be plenty of Dream Theater fanatics out there (like me) who need to own everything the band and its members put out, anyway.

There's always going to be an issue for compilations that they quickly become outdated and nothing more than fodder to be snapped up by elitist fans that need to own everything (do these people still exist?). As far as such releases go, 2000's 'Capital Punishment', which was also the first "greatest hits" album Megadeth released, is a bit of a mess.

I mean, the bulk of the music is fine, and covers most of the bands major early hits, but at the time of its release, with 15 years and nine albums worth of material to choose from, it's certainly an underwhelming collection. Made even more bizarre by the backwards order of its track list. You know something's not right when you're listening to 'Use the Man' four songs into the bloody thing!

Regardless, it's probably dirt cheap these days, so could be an easy starting place for newcomers. It's got the bulk of the important songs, including 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due', 'Hanger 18', 'A Tour Le Monde', 'Peace Sells', 'Trust' and 'Crush 'Em', but overall, it's just an outdated release that is mostly irrelevant today, except for a weird montage hidden at the end of album in which a load of tracks are all mashed together to form a brief retrospective of the bands career. It's interesting, but nothing overly memorable, or listenable.

The album is also notable for two new songs, 'Kill the King' and 'Dread and the Fugitive Mind'. The former would appear on later compilations, while the latter would appear on the bands next studio album. Again, rendering this release obsolete.

'Capital Punishment' is an album I'll probably never listen to again, and the CD will spend the rest of its days collecting dust on the shelf (I'm one of those collectors, damn it), but still, back in the year 2000, at 13 years of age, this was my third Megadeth purchase, and the fact I'm still here today shows that the album did its job well.

Four albums into their career, and it took a band falling apart internally to put together what I consider their best work. 'Declaration of a Headhunter' was strung together by guitarist Rich Ward and co. while the band struggled through drug problems, burnout, general bickering, and the added kick to the head that nu metal was becoming a worldwide phenomenon while Stuck Mojo (who were nu metal way before the term was even coined) were being left behind.

"Rap metal" has always been a dirty word to metal fans, and the aforementioned nu metal scene of the early 2000's (which relied heavily on rapping vocals) certainly didn't help to endear the style to more people. As it is, while this is some of Stuck Mojo's best work, it mostly always ends up being overlooked and passed off as nothing more than cheesy and tacky.

Now, I respect everyone's right to an opinion, but in this case, you're all wrong.

'Declaration...' is a fantastic release by one of the pioneers of rap metal. With some of their tightest and most polished songwriting, Rich Ward's signature guitar riffs being some of the best he's ever written, and a coherent use of rapping, singing and growling, this album has it all! There's an abundance of backing vocals and guest appearances, helping compensate for the lack of Bonz during the making of this album, but it works amazingly and fits the music.

Featuring some of their most politically-charged lyrics, their heaviest songs, and interesting spoken intervals that touch upon some thought-provoking subjects (which still hold up all these years later), this should have been the album to put Stuck Mojo in the big leagues where they belong. Tracks like 'Raise the Deadman', 'Drawing Blood', 'Give War a Chance', 'Evilution', 'Hatebreed'... the whole damn lot of 'em... are all examples of why rap metal should never be so casually disregarded.

'Declaration of a Headhunter' is without a doubt one of the most underrated albums, by one of the most underrated bands, of all time. A true masterpiece of heavy metal and hip hop.

'The Number of the Beast' is the album that gave birth to the Iron Maiden we all know and love today. Besides a number of memorable hits that have remained a staple in live sets, it's most notable for featuring the debut of Bruce Dickinson, a man who would go on to become one of the most beloved and recognizable singers in metal.

Musically and sonically, this isn't much different than Iron Maiden's previous two albums. Rough and gritty 80's new wave of British heavy metal, the only remarkable differences, besides the addition of a superior vocalist, is the slightly stronger compositions. Most notable being two of their biggest hits (which still hold that title today), 'The Number of the Beast' and 'Run to the Hills'.

Of course, there's also other Maiden classics such as 'Hallowed Be Thy Name', 'The Prisoner' and 'Children of the Damned', which have all stood the test of time and are still as refreshing today as they were in 1982.

The playing is good for its time. Steve Harris is an absolute beast on the bass. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are both competent guitarists, who've yet to utilize their full potential, especially when it comes to the duel harmonies they'd use on future releases, but they play more than enough to give all the songs the small embellishments required.

'The Number of the Beast' kicked off a long run of releases that would usher in the bands "golden era", and while it has its significance in Iron Maiden's history, I don't really consider it anything more than a decent album. It's good, but the best is most definitely yet to come.

Symphony X are one of my all-time favourite bands, without a doubt. BUT... (you knew this was coming), 'Live on the Edge of Forever', their 2001 live album, doesn't really do their music justice.

Now hold your tongue before you condemn me for this blasphemy and take heed! Firstly, I'm not really big on live albums. I do like them, and if I'm a fan of a band I'll endeavour to own everything they release, but ultimately I like the slick, crisp sound of a studio recording. Everything is perfectly balanced (mostly), the sound is punchier, and it just feels more 'definitive'. Live albums can be good for jams and random nuggets of joy where the band can be entertaining through banter or crowd interaction. But otherwise... give me a studio album.

Secondly, to be brutally honest, Symphony X's music doesn't convey the same type of energy that goes down well on a live setting. Don't get me wrong, I love Symphony X, and the song choices here are fantastic! But I love live albums where there's a palpable energy flowing! Where you can really feel electricity in the air. All I imagine here is a bunch of people standing around watching a band play, and then clapping at the end.

Again though, Symphony X are one of my favourite bands, and the set list and the playing is incredible! In fact, some of the songs are played even faster than their studio counterparts, which is insane! The band are truly all masters of their craft. And with classics such as 'Smoke and Mirrors', 'Through the Looking Glass', 'Church of the Machine', 'The Eyes of Medusa' and most of the 'V: The New Mythology Suite' record being played, there's certainly no shortage of bangers.

However, there aren't really many noteworthy additions to the songs and there's no entertaining shenanigans or banter. Just track after track with crowds cheering in between. I love Symphony X, but in the end... I just prefer the studio albums.

Disturbed’s third studio album, 2005’s ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, sees the band finally hit their stride, adapting a more contemporary sound while somewhat maintaining their groove-based nu metal style. With that particular subgenre of music being dead and buried, this was a pivotal album for the band to show that they could hold their own outside of that scene, with an album that would appeal to fans of metal old and new alike.

Having focused on the highlights of their previous releases, catchy choruses in particular, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ has an abundance of hooks that makes every track memorable, and with its monstrous production and simple song structures, Disturbed’s music sounds a lot more accessible and mainstream.

Guitarist Dan Donegan’s guitar playing is brilliant here. With skull-crushing precision, his riffs are heavy, yet groovy, and fit perfectly with David Draiman’s melodic vocals. In fact, Donegan lets rip in a couple of tracks with some very slick guitar solos, showing that he had the chops all along, but either left them out to further conform to nu metal trends, or simply that there was no need for them. Either way, he’s finally cutting loose, and it sounds great!

Highlights include the thunderous hit single ‘Stricken’, the huge and epic-sounding ‘Overburdened, and a cracking cover of the Genesis classic, ‘Land of Confusion’, as well as ‘Just Stop’, ‘Guarded’, ‘Sacred Lie’, and ‘Pain Redefined’. And then of course, the title track itself, which is an absolute anthem that will literally produce a sea of raised fists for a metal call-to-arms. The musicianship on these tracks is fantastic, with exceptional performances from everyone involved.

Overall, while ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ isn’t quite a masterpiece, it’s a solid album that definitely helped Disturbed shake off any nu metal remnants, and established them as a legit heavy metal act. It holds up well today, and marks the band as one of the more important acts to burst onto the scene at the turn of the century.

Adema's 2001 self-titled debut was a good album. Nothing amazingly special, but enough to warrant their small fan base during the heyday of nu metal. While they never achieved the mainstream heights of contemporaries such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, they were somewhat under the spotlight due to vocalist Mark Chavez being the half-brother of Korn frontman Jonathan Davis. But that was pretty much their biggest claim to fame.

While 'Adema' did have a couple of decent songs on it, and in fact, 'Freaking Out' is bloody brilliant, they followed it up a year later with 'Insomniac's Dream', a seven-track EP which heralded one single, and that was pretty much it.

The single in question, 'Immortal', is the only memorable track of the EP. Admittedly it's not bad, it's got some tasty riffs and Mark Chavez's vocals are certainly improving, but with that said, there's countless other things I'd rather listen to instead.

Then there's an Alice in Chains cover which is listenable but forgettable, a few remixes which do nothing for me (a remix of the aforementioned 'Freaking Out' is a huge letdown), a live song, and a radio edit of 'Giving In', probably the bands biggest hit. It's a good song... but do we really care about hearing a radio edit? No. We don't.

Overall, 'Insomniac's Dream' is an irrelevant EP. It's only strong point is 'Immortal', and even then, it's not really worth getting just for that. I would say it's only for the die-hard Adema fans, but I'm not entirely sure if any exist.

I have to say, I've always felt sorry for Tim Owens. The poor lad just can't escape the stigma of being a Rob Halford copycat. Both his stints in Judas Priest and Iced Earth (which I really enjoyed) put him in an unfavourable position where he was replacing someone much beloved by the fans (Halford and Matthew Barlow respectively), and as a result he's always remained nothing more than a bit player. His name can add credibility to a project, but only just enough that you'll probably find yourself the only one who cares.

Well, no longer looking to be a hired hand in a group where he has no control, Owens struck out on his own with Beyond Fear, a band which would offer him the chance to get more involved with songwriting and the creative side of things.

Funnily enough, however, while 'Beyond Fear' is a pretty decent effort, it's almost laughable how instantly recognizable the Judas Priest influence is. Owens no doubt wears his influences on his sleeve, and in fairness, there's nothing wrong with that if the music is good. And yes, it's good.

More in the vein of traditional heavy metal, with power and sometimes thrash metal trimmings, 'Beyond Fear' is a balls-to-the-wall metal affair with plenty of high-pitched wailing courtesy of Owens, who, despite sounding identical to Rob Halford, "comes into his own" and sounds a lot more confident when singing over his own material.

Backed by some tight musicianship and a nice beefy sound, 'Beyond Fear' will probably never be anyone's favourite album, but there's definitely something of merit here. 'Scream Machine', 'And... You Will Die', 'Save Me', 'I Don't Need This' and 'Coming At You' are all riffs-galore that deserve a listen, and show that even if Tim Owens is a Halford clone, then he's certainly one of the better ones.

When it was first revealed that Metallica's next endeavor would involve playing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, I can only imagine the disgust and doubt that crept into the minds of fans. After the divisive 'Load' and 'Reload' albums, and the covers album 'Garage Inc.' (none of which were likely to convert anyone), most people must have thought Metallica had lost their minds to consider playing with an orchestral ensemble.

Thankfully, Metallica proved them all wrong.

This album is great! Not only does it highlight the progressive elements in Metallica's music, but also how adaptable it can be to other genres. It's really hard to visualize what Metallica's music would sound like with a symphony backing it, but the orchestra, conducted by world-renowned Michael Kamen, take the band's songs and make their own arrangements and compositions from them, blending the two with ease to create an all-out attack on the senses.

Featuring pretty much all of their big hits, the band come across as stronger than ever. The musicianship is of a high standard, and some would argue that James Hetfield's vocals are at their absolute peak. And two new songs, '-Human' and 'No Leaf Clover', show that, at a time when the band leaned more towards hard rock than metal, they could still go toe-to-toe with some of the heaviest bands the genre has to offer.

I don't really have any major complaints with 'S&M', although, if I can indulge in a bit of nitpicking (everyone's a critic at heart), there are one or two songs I'd have maybe left out in place of an alternative. For example, 'The Thing That Should Not Be' does nothing for me, and where the hell is 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)'?! Still, all the classics are here, with songs like 'Master of Puppets', 'Battery', 'One' and 'Bleeding Me' never sounding heavier.

In all honestly however, I've never really been too big on live albums, preferring the crisp and polished production of a studio recording, so this being a studio album would have been a huge plus for me. But still, it's fantastic none-the-less, and definitely as essential to any music collection as the bands earlier output.

Iced Earth's fourth release, 'The Dark Saga', is a concept album based upon the story of comic book character Spawn. It's a bit of an odd release in the bands discography, as they stripped down their sound quite a bit, and as a whole nothing here reaches the intensity, aggression or complexity of anything we'd heard before.

I'm probably one of the very few who didn't like previous release 'Burnt Offerings', which is held in high regard by fans, and while 'Dark Saga' is somewhat a step back in the right direction, it still fails to truly connect with me. I feel like the Spawn storyline is also a detriment to the music. As a huge fan of the character, it seems like halfway through the album the lyrics and music don't seem to relate to the source material anymore. Or perhaps I'm just struggling to pay attention.

Musically, it's standard power metal, but the band have slowed down a lot, with only a couple of songs reaching the same speed as past compositions, but there's still that unmistakeable Iced Earth sound to it. Mostly in part thanks to vocalist Matt Barlow, who, with this release, is the first singer to make it to their second album with the band. With that said, his vocals are fairly disappointing here. I'm not sure if it's the hackneyed songwriting or the uninspiring lyrics, but his delivery just doesn't seem to work.

Even the guitar solos on this album are unremarkable. Most of them just being slow, melodic lead breaks with the occasional harmony. I'm all for solos suiting the songs and not playing speed for speed's sake, but there's just nothing truly memorable happening here.

Complaints aside, there are a handful of moments that save this release from being a complete abomination. The title track, as well as 'I Died For You', 'The Hunter' and 'The Last Laugh' are all decent tracks. But none of them hold up well compared to Iced Earth's other (burnt) offerings, and while it's certainly not the worst album I own, it's probably not one I intend to go back to very often. If ever.

'Transcendence' is the album that many Crimson Glory fans (do these still exist???) consider their finest work. And it'd be hard to disagree. Good, quality metal riffing with some nice melodies and interesting twin-guitar harmonies is something I feel that modern metal seems to be lacking, but this album has in abundance, showing you how to get the most out of two guitars.

Everything about this album is a huge improvement upon the groups self-titled debut (which is an album I struggled to enjoy, for no reason in particular). The songwriting is a lot more mature and the guitar harmonies are more consistently interesting than before. Midnight's ungodly vocal range truly shines here with a much more precise production that perfectly suits the music and the era in which it was released.

Guitarists Ben Jackson and Jon Drenning really are two sides of the same coin, with their twin-guitar assault being highly reminiscent of metal greats such as James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, or Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman... or pretty much any other guitarist who's been in Megadeth... the chemistry between the two really is that good, and it's a travesty that they would have such a limited output over the years.

Almost every track offered here is a hit, with only a couple towards the end feeling like they were chucked in to extend the duration of the album. 'Lady of Winter', 'Red Sharks', 'Masque of the Red Death' and 'Where Dragons Rule' are some of the finest, most energetic and enthusiastic power metal songs you can find, and of course, there's also the hit single 'Lonely', which is the song that originally led me to purchasing this record in the first place!

It's a shame that a band such as Crimson Glory never truly lived up to the potential that they had in their prime, but if 'Transcendence' is forever to be considered their finest work, then that's a pretty damn good achievement.

Static-X's debut album came at a time when the nu metal subgenre was helping heavy metal get its foothold back in the mainstream, and whilst commonly labelled as industrial metal, Wayne Static and his lads were able to easily slip in with the rest of the "nu" crowd and stand out as one of the heavier acts the scene had to offer.

Sadly, that alone won't make them much good.

For all the hype and nostalgia around this release, it isn't really all that impressive, and certainly hasn't aged too well. It's very repetitive, and not very exciting. Almost every guitar riff sounds the same, and whilst there are some fat grooves dotted around, as a whole, it just seems like one of those albums you claim to like, but you're not really sure why.

Wayne Static's mostly incomprehensible vocals and guttural noises wear thin pretty quickly, and there's quite a few "slow" moments on the album that probably detract, more than add, to the dynamics. There are a couple of passable tracks, for example, 'Love Dump' (which to me, was the heaviest song ever when I first heard it way back in the day), 'Bled for Days' and 'Push It' aren't bad... but none of them are really all that memorable, either. Then there's complete tosh like 'December'. Who thought that "song" was a good idea?

'Wisconsin Death Trip' might be worth picking up for the sake of nostalgia, but you'll quickly remember why you forgot about it in the first place.

“Meh”.

I bought this CD in a shop in Germany for 50 cents or something equally daft. I’d never heard of Age of Silence (and apparently, neither had anyone else, since they were in the literal bargain bin), but it was a metal CD, so why not?

Labelled as avant-garde metal... whatever the hell that means... this sounds a lot like something Devin Townsend would do, complete with obscure, gloomy cover art and unusual song titles. Age of Silence have a big sound, with multiple-layered guitars overproduced to give each of the three tracks a huge feeling about them. But otherwise, these songs are fairly dull. The overbearing “big” guitar chords are heard through each track, leaving me feel like there’s been an ongoing chord played throughout the entire EP.

But it doesn’t stop there. It starts to overshadow the vocals, any lead parts, the drums... the whole lot. I don’t “get” this kind of music. I understand it’s based more on ambience and what-have-you, but for the most part this is just pretty boring and repetitive. There’s one or two moments where something might sound catchy or interesting, but as a whole, considering this is only a three-song EP, it’s not really anything I’d come back to.

The shop I’d bought it from was probably relieved to be rid of it.

My introduction to Austrian metal band Dreams of Sanity came about with their 2000 release, 'The Game', which is an incredible album and certainly inspired to me to track down the rest of their discography. However, while seeing reviews online that seemed to praise their earlier work as superior, I found myself feeling slightly disappointed by their raw-sounding debut, 'Komödia'.

While I can understand the lyrical themes or imagery that might come with being labelled as "gothic", I've never quite considered gothic metal itself a subgenre. Perhaps I find it too pedantic or pretentious, but I just like to keep things simple. As a result, I consider Dreams of Sanity to be a progressive or symphonic metal band. Long, intricate song structures with plenty of exotic musical passages, guitar and keyboard solos, odd time signatures, higher-ranged vocals and multiple songs that follow the same theme... it's all here.

It's just not very good.

The band is tight. They're all very good musicians, and the production is alright, though very raw and harsh compared to the bands later releases. But I just don't find anything really all too exciting in the music itself. The songs all drag on, with seemingly very few moments that actually stand out. Tracks like 'The Meeting' and 'The Ending' are alright, but even they tend to lag at times.

I can't really sum it up any better than this; I like this band, but I'm not a fan of this album. Check out 'The Game' instead.

We all remember these days, don't we? The new millennium is kicking in, and nu metal has taken the world by storm. Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park were all at the top of the charts, and heavy metal was getting a much needed rejuvenation. And one of the biggest hits of the time? The profanity-ridden anthem about depression, self-harm and suicide, 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach.

Now, of course, achieving mainstream success and having a hit single that transcends all genres and appeals to everyone is pretty much a huge metal no-no, so obviously a lot of "real metal" fans hated Papa Roach and their brand of rap rocking. But behind the chart-topping four-piece are some solid chops and a knack for catchy songwriting.

'Infest', which was the bands major label debut (they had one self-released album prior to this), was released in 2000 and was the perfect soundtrack to the youth of the day. Hard, gritty and edgy. Lyrical themes that tackled issues on a personal level helped the music reach out to a whole generation of disgruntled youths.

Besides the aforementioned megahit 'Last Resort', there's 'Between Angels & Insects' and 'Broken Home' which also charted worldwide, as well as songs like 'Blood Brothers' appearing in multi-platinum selling video games, Papa Roach were on top of the world. And there's an abundance of great songs that get lost amongst all of that, such as 'Dead Cell', 'Never Enough', 'Revenge', 'Binge' and hidden track 'Tightrope'. While the musicianship isn't flashy, what the band lack in technical prowess they more than make up for with competence and enthusiasm.

Papa Roach will always live in the shadow of 'Last Resort', and while they have changed style quite a bit over the years, shunning casual fans and not winning over any metal ones, the bottom line is that 'Infest', if you can look beyond the hit singles, is a solid album that defined a generation and further established nu metal as a worldwide phenomenon.

Often mistaken for Pantera's debut album, 1990's 'Cowboys From Hell' saw a complete rebirth for the band, after four previous releases as an 80's glam band, they changed their sound to a heavier, more groove-based metal, did away with the spandex and hairspray, and with a big record label backing them, they really were a whole new band! And hell, you'd be forgiven for thinking so! I'd been a fan of the band for years before I ever knew they released albums before this one! Aw... the pre-internet days...

Hailed for keeping metal alive in the 90's, and highly regarded as the kings of what is known as "groove metal", as influential as this band would go on to become, I sometimes feel that a lot of the praise heaped upon 'Cowboys...' is almost hyperbolic. It's not a bad album, in fact it's very good, but I guess maybe it's become so highly revered by metal fans that when I came around to hearing it it'd been just a little bit overhyped.

Guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who would go on to become one of the most famous guitar players in metal, pumps out riff after riff, with the rhythm section of Rex Brown on bass and Vinnie Paul on drums perfectly giving the music it's famous groove. The icing on the cake is vocalist Phil Anselmo, who's brutal yet melodic singing can be enjoyed by thrash metal fans trying to cling to the 80's sound, or the more hardcore audience of the early 90's. Pantera had a versatile sound that helped them appeal to so many people.

With some groove-laden classics such as 'Cowboys From Hell', 'Domination', 'Psycho Holiday', 'Shattered' and one of the bands most famous songs, 'Cemetery Gates', it's easy to see why this record is so beloved! However, for all the good songs on offer here, there are a couple of absolute stinkers that plod along aimlessly, filling up space that would have been better left empty. And that's why, for all the love this album has received over the years, I can't see it as any more than "good".

But hey, a good album is still an album worth getting.

Savatage's second album, and third overall release, is an improvement upon its predecessors, with every aspect of 'Power of the Night' being a step up from what the band had done before. The songwriting was more confident, the musicianship was more mature, and the production was a lot more polished, giving the album that perfect 80's metal sound (and there's nothing wrong with 80's metal dammit!).

The most obvious highlight here is the title track, which not only stands on its own merits as one of the bands better songs before they went all "classical metal", but honestly, it's one of their finer songs period. And while other tracks such as 'Warriors', 'Hard for Love' and 'Unusual' may be standard 80's metal pomp and circumstance, they're still pretty kickass anthems that indicate the talent and potential within this band.

Guitarist Criss Oliva truly shines here, showing a mastery that should have put him on par with heroes such as Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen, but whom sadly that legendary status had always eluded him. His flair for dramatic guitar playing is truly amazing to listen to, and fans of 80's metal (that's that term again), including subgenres such as power and thrash metal, will enjoy this shred masterclass.

If you're a Savatage fan (cheesily referred to as "Savafans", I believe), then 'Power of the Night' belongs in your collection. It's not the bands best work by far, but it's an early indication of the quality of music they were capable of writing, and would certainly establish them as a band worth keeping an eye on.

"Raise the first of the metal child".

After the disappointing EP 'Armed and Dangerous', Anthrax released 'Spreading the Disease' in 1985, and quickly showed the world why they deserved to be one of the bigger bands of the thrash metal movement, and why new vocalist Joey Belladonna was definitely the right choice to replace Neil Turbin.

While it was evident on the aforementioned EP that Belladonna was a fantastic singer that gave the band a more confident sound, the release itself still seemed fairly lacklustre. However, all of that changed when the band dropped this bomb on the metal world.

Featuring some of their most revered hits, 'Spreading the Disease' is 44 minutes of rip-roaring, high energy thrash metal, rife with intense guitar riffs and powerful vocals, it maintains its high quality throughout. With punk sensibilities and a knack for melody, it never falls into the cliché of just chugging away on the same chord, and while it does cover some serious topics, it never takes itself too seriously either.

With songs like 'A.I.R.', 'Madhouse', 'Armed and Dangerous', 'Medusa', 'Gung-Ho' and 'Lone Justice', this is clearly a band who have hit their stride. Guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz effortlessly join the ranks of metal guitar duos with amazing chemistry, while bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante hold up their end, keeping the rhythm section tight and heavy.

After a bumpy start, 'Spreading the Disease' is what truly started to excel Anthrax as one of the leading metal bands of the 80's, and has earned its status as one of thrash metals most highly regarded albums.

We all have those albums, right? You know the ones? The ones we SHOULD like but just can't get into. Doesn't matter how much you like the band or how many listens you give it, you just cannot get into the album. This is THAT album.

Now, I love Crimson Glory (the band), and it's a huge shame that they never truly lived up to the potential they displayed in their short-lived prime. But that "prime" consists of their self-titled debut release, which seems highly revered by fans, but I just can't seem to enjoy, no matter how hard I try to.

The songs just don't work for me, and I can't place my finger on why. Are the compositions lacking the polished feel of their later hits? Is the production too primitive? Am I just being picky? Or is it a combination of all three? The musicianship is top-notch, and it's easy to see how this band were so influential upon the power metal genre, and along with Fates Warning and Queensryche, how they laid the early foundations of progressive metal. Midnight's incredible vocal range is truly unmistakeable, although, indeed the production here doesn't do it justice and at times it just sounds incredibly tinny.

Overall though, I just can't enjoy this album, for no legit reason, really. 'Dragon Lady', 'Queen of the Masquerade', 'Heart of Steel' and 'Valhalla' are all good songs, but they all lack something that prevents me from ever truly going out of my way to listen to them. I could listen to 'Transcendence' or 'Astronomica' any day, but there's just something missing from 'Crimson Glory' that makes it a record I endure, instead of enjoy.

With his first solo album, Chris Caffery, well known for his work with Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Doctor Butcher, introduces us to a dark side we never knew existed. Mainstream metal fans have no idea what they’re missing out on when people like Chris Caffery are releasing such brutal records. Using some of the most hard-hitting lyrics imaginable, Chris clearly displays his disgust towards politics, war, and above all else... people.

‘Faces’ is easily one of the heaviest albums I’ve heard, and has some true truly monstrous songs on here. ‘Faces’, ‘The Mold’, ‘Evil Is as Evil Does’, ‘Jealousy’ and ‘Abandoned’ are all metal classics with riffs that could drown out a nuclear explosion. ‘Music Man’ demonstrates Caffery’s softer side, and then of course, the hilarious ‘Pisses Me Off’, a song with incredibly amusing and creative lyrics, yet its maintained cynicism and brutality prevent it from becoming a comedy song.

Of course if this isn’t enough, my version of this album comes with a bonus disc, ‘God Damn War’. Whilst most albums that come with bonus CDs usually feature nothing more than some demos, outtakes and live tracks, 'God Damn War' is pretty much an entire extra album.

The second disc is pretty much an anti-war statement, spitting in the face of all the politicians who continue to run this planet to the ground. And these are by no means B-tracks, these are equally up to the same standard as the first disc. ‘God Damn War’, ‘Edge of Darkness’, ‘Saddamize’ and ‘I’ are all top-notch metal tracks from one of the most underrated metal musicians on Earth today.

And if the music alone isn’t enough, fans are in for an extra surprise. Mr. Caffery has one hell of a voice! Who’d have imagined his range? Angry growls, emotional screams, and even clean vocals with a tint of sarcasm, this guy has the most metal voice I’ve ever heard, and it almost sounds like he isn’t even trying.

Heavy riffs, humorous lyrics, misanthropic themes… Chris Caffery IS heavy metal.

And so it was, that as quickly as the nu metal subgenre rose to prominence (and boy, did it ever?!), so too did it burn out. In 2000, nu metal bands were topping the charts and headlining festivals all over the world. By 2003, the genre was dead, with many bands either fading into obscurity or changing their sound to maintain relevance.

Which brings us to Linkin Park, arguably “the face” of nu metal.

2007 saw the band release their third studio album, ‘Minutes to Midnight’, and sees a huge departure from the sound they were best known for. The heavy use of samples, rapping and metal guitar tones have been replaced by a more traditional, radio-friendly rock, which focuses more on Chester Bennington’s impressive singing, and a more hard rock guitar sound. It’s evident that the band have matured and grown up over the years too. Long gone is the spiky dyed hair and teenage angst-ridden lyrics, instead, we have a more melancholic, introspective band, that are looking at bigger, worldly issues than just personal anxiety.

However, one thing remains unchanged, and that’s the group’s knack for writing easily accessible and catchy tunes. The songs are all fairly short, and with very simple structures and hooks aplenty, they’ve managed to update their sound with ease, and show an organic maturity bought upon by their own life experiences, as opposed to a means for the bands survival.

With highlights including ‘What I’ve Done’, ‘No More Sorrow’, ‘Bleed It Out’, ‘Given Up’ (huge props to Chester’s vocals on this one), and ‘Leave Out All the Rest’, it’s apparent that Linkin Park have managed to transcend the nu metal genre, and while ‘Minutes to Midnight’ may not be as innovative as their prior efforts, what it lacks in originality it more than compensates for with such well-crafted compositions, confirming that the band were more than a flash-in-the-pan, and are deserving of their spot as one of the biggest bands on the planet.

After two incredible albums of high-quality progressive metal, Danish band Beyond Twilight shoot themselves in the foot by getting a bit too artsy and fancy with 2006’s ‘For the Love of Art and the Making’. The clue is clearly there in the title. At 38 minutes in length, and featuring 43 tracks, each barely a minute long, the idea behind this release is that the tracks can be played in any order and, depending on how you listen to it, it supposedly can bear different meanings each time.

Yeah, alright.

Can anyone truly say they listened to this more than a couple of times without losing interest? Just as you start to enjoy one segment it skips straight to the next. And everything is so disjointed, no matter what order you play it in. In fact, I tried it a couple of times in random orders, and nothing flows smoothly at all. Additionally, it’s near-impossible to really understand any of what’s going on without actually knowing the lyrics. Bugger that!

It’s a huge shame, as Beyond Twilight’s previous two releases, 2001’s ‘The Devil’s Hall of Fame’ and 2005’s ‘Section X’ are genuinely fantastic albums. These guys are amazing musicians and have an instantly distinctive sound of their own. And while the idea behind ‘For the Love...’ is interesting and massively ambitious, they just weren’t able to make anything substantial come out of it.

I give the album two stars simply because there is some great musicianship and performances, and there are a couple of moments that are pretty neat (if, by pretty neat, you don’t mind songs that last barely a minute). But overall, this album is a huge disappointment, and at the time of writing this review the band haven’t done anything since. Coincidence? I doubt it. Art for art’s sake? Art over substance? Whatever. This album sucks.

After 15 years of making music, Megadeth finally hit that dreaded stage of their careers that metal fans frown upon with utter contempt and hatred... the commercial album. Heaven's forbid, sometimes a band just want to try something new, or maybe they'd like to actually make some money (a blasphemous sin, no doubt), or maybe, seeing as how heavy metal music was pretty much dead in 1999, they thought they'd try to get something out to the mainstream and show that the genre still has plenty of life and vitality in it (it did, of course, but that would come at the hands of bands like Linkin Park... who'da thunk it?).

So here we are, it's 1999, and Megadeth alienated all of their fans by releasing their radio-friendly pop album 'Risk', but made a new one in me. I was 12 years-old and other than 'Destroyer' by Kiss, this was my first true exposure to heavy metal. I fell in love with the song 'Crush 'Em' after hearing Megadeth perform on an episode of WCW Nitro. It was a performance that nobody asked for, nobody watched, and the few that actually did, certainly didn't care. Except for me, because it pretty much changed my life.

So what's wrong with Risk? Absolutely nothing!

It's not thrash metal. It doesn't have that raw, grittiness that Megadeth classics such as 'Rust in Peace' and 'Peace Sells' have. And what's this? Strings? Acoustic guitars? An "anthem"?

Well boo-hoo-hoo to all the whiny metal fans who hated Megadeth for going all Bon Jovi on us and "selling out". The truth is, this album is still heavy metal. 'Insomnia', 'Prince of Darkness' and 'The Doctor is Calling' are still as dark, gloomy and heavy as any Megadeth track, and Dave Mustaine's brief foray into actually singing on tracks like 'Breadline', 'I'll Be There' and 'Ecstasy' all show that even the most metal of icons have their softer sides.

Much like 'Load' did for Metallica a few years prior, the fan backlash at 'Risk' pretty much exemplifies why metal fans sometimes deserve the flak they get. Good music speaks for itself, and when it all comes down to it, the music on this record is pretty damn good, whether it's 1988 thrash metal Megadeth or 1999 Bon Jovi Megadeth. Take a 'risk', get over it.

One year after the release of their self-titled debut, Iron Maiden are back again with 'Killers', an album that pretty much replicates everything from the bands previous release, only the overall product just doesn't quite seem as good.

'Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'Genghis Khan' and the standout track 'Wrathchild' are all notable songs from this record, but to be honest, they're not really anything special. Any of them could easily be replaced with something from Iron Maiden's debut. It's not a bad album, but most of the songs will certainly be forgotten about with subsequent releases.

In the big scheme of things, this album "doesn't really matter" to me. It's just a stepping stone. Vocalist Paul Di'Anno's rather limited range has pretty much run its course, which Maiden will have rectified by their next album, and the addition of Adrian Smith on guitars (replacing Dennis Stratton) is really just setting up the band for the next big step of their career, and securing the line-up that would become the most endeared to fans.

My final verdict; 'Killers' doesn't have the prestige of being Maiden's debut, and it's not the record that really smashed out the hits and made them a global force (like their next release would). It's just that "in between" kind of album. Better things are coming.

I've never played any Final Fantasy games. Yet, this hasn't hindered my enjoyment of listening to the Black Mages one bit.

I've always had an appreciation for video game music, even though my gaming days may have died out around the same time the PS2 did, the moods and atmosphere in the music, as well as the nostalgia they incite, always struck a chord with me.

I had a keyboard player friend who was a fan of the Final Fantasy series (of which I've never played), and he turned me on to the music of Nobuo Uematsu, the games composer. In particular, he played me the song 'Clash on the Big Bridge'. I loved it! It was catchy, energetic and fun to listen to, taking me right back to my childhood days playing my Sega Master System, Super Nintendo and my Game Boy (the original, big white brick with a green screen. I still own it, it still works. Nostalgia rules!).

So who are the Black Mages?

Formed by Nobuo Uematsu, the Black Mages are essentially an instrumental band who do progressive metal versions of Final Fantasy soundtracks (Not that I'd recognize them anyway, I've never played the games). Video game music and prog? Yes please!

Overflowing with vibrant energy, excellent musicianship and lavish orchestrations, the Black Mages self-titled debut album is just a fun listen from start to finish. 'Those Who Fight Further', 'Clash on the Big Bridge', 'Fight with Seymour', 'Battle Scene' and 'Dancing Mad' are some of the highlights on this record, but in all fairness every song is pretty much an amazing musical adventure!

And the great thing is, I've never even played any Final Fantasy games! Just goes to show you don't need to be a fan of the source material to enjoy something.

Released in 1985, prior to Anthrax's second album, 'Armed and Dangerous' is a seven-song EP which saw the debut of new and highly revered vocalist Joey Belladonna.

Similar in style to the band's debut album, the only notable difference here is Belladonna's vocals, which sound a lot more confident and more powerful than former singer Neil Turbin. And while the music is still very raw early 80's thrash, there's a marked improvement in the performances by everyone involved, with a slightly more competent approach to songwriting.

Overall though, this is still mostly something I'd consider for collectors only. The title track and 'Raise Hell' are both good, but I find the rest to be fairly passable. A Sex Pistols cover which does nothing for me, a couple of live tracks and two songs from the 'Fistful of Metal' album complete the EP.

'Armed and Dangerous' might have some significance as the bands first release with Belladonna, but if you're not a massive fan then you're probably better off just ignoring this EP and getting the next studio album, 'Spreading the Disease', which is one of Anthrax's best works anyway.

Released in 1998 during the heyday of their alternative rock phase, ‘Garage Inc.’ is a two-disc compilation of covers by heavy metal legends Metallica. Regardless of your thoughts on the band cutting their hair, Napster, Lars’ drumming, selling out, Kirk’s wah pedal, James being a table, or the countless other things the band have had thrown at them over their careers, one statement that holds up true is that Metallica have always done an incredible job at covering other artists songs.

Of course, part of that is probably the fact that about 95% of these bands would be absolutely unheard of if it weren’t for Metallica in the first place. But regardless, Metallica have an incredible talent of doing covers in their own way to truly make the songs their own. With beefier guitars, production and Hetfield’s trademark vocal style, pretty much all of these tracks are better than the original.

The first disc consists of covers recorded for this album in 1998, and while the song list is a little hit or miss, for the most part it’s a solid effort. Well produced, well performed, and special mention to Hetfield’s strong vocals here. The likes of ‘Die, Die My Darling’, ‘Turn the Page’, ‘Astronomy’, ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and ‘It’s Electric’ make this an interesting listen.

The second disc is a compilation of any covers the band had recorded in the past, either for various EPs or as singles b-sides. Some are better produced than others, but overall they’re a solid bunch too. ‘Am I Evil’, ‘So What’, ‘Blitzkrieg’, ‘Helpless’, ‘Breadfan’, ‘Last Caress’ and ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ are more-or-less Metallica songs now. Such is the quality of these covers when compared to their original counterparts.

‘Garage Inc.’ came out at a weird point in Metallica’s history. After going alt rock with ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’, but prior to working with an orchestra and all the drama that would follow with Napster and ‘St. Anger’, this album just kind of sits there, a small, subtle reminder that despite everything, Metallica were still metal fans at heart, who’ve never been afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve. At an excessive two and a quarter hours in duration, this can be a pretty enduring listen, but there’s enough decent material here to make ‘Garage Inc.’ as vital a part of Metallica’s discography as any of their studio releases.

Third album, third singer. Axel Rudi Pell is back... are back?... (I'm still not sure which one to use)... with more fist-pumping hard rocking that probably comes a decade too late, but is a pretty decent album regardless. Featuring powerhouse vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, at this point best known for his work with Yngwie Malmsteen and Talisman, this looks set to be a stable line up for the band which could last longer than one release.

The music is the same as before. Hard rock, power metal, call it what you will. It's got 80's rock stamped all over it. Long haired men with leather jackets (shirts optional), high pitched wailing, simple songs with crazy guitar acrobatics, and of course, at least one of them is probably wearing a bandana.

While Axel Rudi Pell's first two albums were fairly average, 'Eternal Prisoner' is where the band starts to really improve the quality of their work. In particular, Soto's voice lends itself to the music perfectly. Not that there was much wrong with former vocalists Charlie Huhn or Rob Rock, but Soto's voice is perfect for Pell's sound and style. And the songwriting as a whole sounds a lot more confident because of it.

Axel Rudi Pell's guitar playing though still struggles to truly catch on with the solos. The compositions are good, the vocal melodies work well, but it's the guitar solos that tend to drag on in similar fashion. There's a few moments where he does shine, but for the most part his rhythm work stands out far more than his mindless shredding. He's still miles better than me though.

'Long Time', 'Streets of Fire', 'Ride the Bullet' and 'Shoot Her to the Moon' are all fairly decent tracks, maybe even a bit of a guilty pleasure in their cheesiness. But in all honesty, 'Sweet Lil' Suzie' sees the band channel their inner Aerosmith and it is incredible! Easily the best song off the album, and all-round one of the bands best pieces, the album is easily worth the price just for this! Otherwise, this is a standard early 90's hard rock that probably would have been a raging success if it had been released in the 80's. It's got its merits, but overall there's much better stuff to come.

With their fifth studio release, Symphony X finally cave in to the common trend amongst progressive rock and metal bands... the concept album.

Having already established a style that incorporated elements of progressive and power metal with a neoclassical flare, the band have now implemented more symphonic arrangements, which gives the music a much bigger and more grandiose sound.

It would be tough to follow up the incredible 'Twilight in Olympus', an album I consider one of my all-time favourites, and for a band to thrive and avoid stagnating, it's good to try different approaches to their songwriting. In this regard, the orchestrations really add a new depth to Symphony X's music. It does add a certain level of pomposity too, but then, this is already a genre rife with musical indulgence, and seeing as this is a rock opera about the rise and fall of the city of Atlantis, it really gives a majestic atmosphere to the story being told.

(Or something like that).

As always with this band, the musicianship is astounding and really puts these guys above everyone else. Special praise as always goes to Michael Romeo's blistering guitar work, and vocalist Russell Allen starts to step away from the high-pitched wailing of previous releases and adds a new level of aggression to his already incredibly versatile voice. Songs like 'Evolution', 'Fallen', 'Egypt', 'Rediscovery (Part 2)' and one of the bands best compositions, 'Communion and the Oracle', are all fine examples of the talent of everyone involved.

Regarded as one of Symphony X's best albums, 'V: The New Mythology Suite' is another top-notch concept album for progressive metal enthusiasts to sink their teeth into, and non-metal prog fans might just find a few things in here to pique their interest too.

It's the same dilemma that countless bands and artists have suffered before; 2001's 'Mutter' was a monumental album that made German industrial metal band Rammstein international superstars. So what now? Having spawned five hit singles and firmly establishing themselves as the premier band of their specific genre, it would be hard for anyone to release a follow-up that would live up to expectations.

But 'Reise, Reise' is a damn good effort.

Cranking up the heaviness that worked so well on their previous release, 'Reise, Reise' has ditched all the dance and techno elements of the bands earlier work, and in its place is a thunderously heavy album with massive guitar riffs and plenty of haunting keyboards. The sound is slightly muddier and grungier than before, but it's still a well-crafted assortment, with plenty of headbanging anthems that are almost instantly recognizable as Rammstein.

Of course, the main attraction with a band like these lot is their live show, and these songs are tailor-made to be played in huge arenas with plenty of pyro, choreography and imagery.

With skull-crushingly heavy hits such as 'Mein Teil', 'Keine Lust', 'Morgenstein' and 'Stein um Stein', eerily melancholic ballads like 'Armour' and 'Ohne Dich', and all-out cheesy pop-inspired songs like 'Amerika' (one of the bands most famous hits) and 'Moskau' (with infectious female backing vocals), there's a wide diversity of songs on 'Reise, Reise', that ensures that even while it doesn't reach the same heights as its predecessor, Rammstein still sit firmly atop the throne as the kings of industrial music.

Released four years after their debut, 'Section X' gives us a second dark and twisted glimpse into the mindscape of Danish prog metal group, Beyond Twilight. With another concept album based around themes of cloning, manipulation and perversion, it's a pretty bleak story, but it makes for some great music!

Beyond Twilight have a fairly unique and distinctive sound, with lots of dark passages that really conjure up images of perverted horror. Their sound is very gothic and gloomy, with powerful, multi-layered vocals and interplay between numerous guitars and keyboards. It's a very atmospheric release, which is surprisingly short for a concept album (at 45 minutes), but will still require a number of listens to really familiarize yourself with the music.

But that's nothing new to us prog fans, right?

Although there are very slight moments where the music tends to drag and feels self-indulgent, overall the album flows diligently. Highlights include 'The Path to Darkness', 'Section X', 'Shadow Self', and what is probably one of the bands finest pieces, 'Ecstasy Arise'. These songs alone make this album a notable addition to any prog metal fans collection, and help define Beyond Twilight as a truly underrated band that are worthy of your time.

Axel Rudi Pell ushers in the 90's with another dose of 80's hard rock. Trying to keep the flame alive and harkening back to the sounds of Dio, Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen, 'Nasty Reputation' sounds almost identical to its 1989 predecessor, 'Wild Obsession'.

Fist-pumping, machismo-laced hard rock is the order of the day, so take your shirts off (keep your leather jacket on, though), let your hair down and wail away to the glories of the night life, women, lawlessness, and whatever other cheese-riddled thoughts are conjured up when you think of 80's rock. Because that's exactly what you're getting here.

The songs themselves are of a slightly better quality from before, but to be honest they're still mostly forgettable. Vocalist Rob Rock (with a name like that, he was hardly going to be a dentist, was he?) has an incredible range, but at times, hanging onto the last word of every sentence at a high pitch does get a bit annoying. And as for the man himself, Axel Rudi Pell has absolutely unlimited potential on the guitar, but more often than not his soloing just wonders off into a flurry of unrecognizable notes.

Thinking positively however, the title track is actually an incredibly pumping song, and 'Fighting the Law' also has its charm. But otherwise, there's not a lot here to really get excited about. 'Land of the Giants' could be really good, if not for the five-minute jam section which is boring as hell, followed by two minutes of the same riff while Mr. Rock reminds us constantly of the name of the song. A cover of Deep Purple's classic, 'When a Blind Man Cries', also fails to save this album.

Overall, Axel Rudi Pell will go on to release some incredible music, but his (or their?) early albums are mundane affairs. There's other bands out there that do this kind of music better, while these ones just feel like they've come about ten years too late.

Concept albums.

The very words can send shivers down your spine. The most hardened of prog fanatics will shudder at the thought of another rock opera and the potential pretentious self-indulgence that awaits them.

Fear not, however, for this is Shadow Gallery, one of the finest progressive metal bands out there, and you can rest assured that this will be an engaging, story-driven affair full of excellent performances by all involved. It might seem a bit cheesy at times, but then, what concept album doesn't?

At 73 minutes in length, 'Tyranny' can feel a little long-winded at times, but the music is so damn good that sometimes it's worth the sacrifice. Telling the story of a man who discovers a plot involving his government selling weapons to the middle east, it's an interesting narrative that doesn't get too boring despite the albums duration. The playing is superb and incredibly tight, and Mike Baker's vocals are full of emotion and sincerity, easily one of the most versatile and talented singers I've ever heard.

There's one or two brief instances where the album does tend to lull momentarily, but otherwise this is a solid release with some exceptional tracks. 'War for Sale', 'Roads of Thunder', 'Hope for Us?' and 'Spoken Words' are all amazingly well-written pieces, and then there's 'Mystery', which, in my opinion, isn't just one of Shadow Gallery's best songs, but one of the genres, too.

Well-received by fans and critics alike, Shadow Gallery's 'Tyranny' is a true gem that belongs in the collection of every prog metal fan.

After two strong releases and a firm standing as one of power metal's more prominent bands, 1995 saw Iced Earth unleash their third album, 'Burnt Offerings', which many fans consider a career highlight, thus making it all the more confusing that I just can't seem to get into it.

What makes this album notable is the debut of new vocalist (their third in three albums) Matthew Barlow, a man who would go on to become the voice of Iced Earth for years to come, and while his powerful, operatic vocals would certainly help define the band on later releases, here, they come across as rather uninspired, oftentimes feeling out of place or forced.

One of the biggest problems I have with this album is that there's so many time changes and riff transitions that just seem jarring. Like they're just thrown together with no real effort to make it feel organic. The musicianship itself is of a high quality, with incredibly tight guitar playing and atmospheric keyboards. But while 'Iced Earth' and 'Night of the Stormrider' are both fantastic records that have stood the test of time, 'Burnt Offerings' just feels so disjointed.

If I had to dig out any highlights, 'Last December' is a good song, and the title track has its moments, though it suffers from the aforementioned issues. It does have one hell of an intro though, arguably one of the bands heaviest songs. The rest of the album just doesn't work for me, though. The 15-minute 'Dante's Inferno', which is regarded by fans as one of the bands finest pieces, bores the hell out of me. Seriously... what am I missing???

Iced Earth are one of my favourite power metal bands, and while they've built up a solid discography over the years, countless attempts to get into this album have done nothing but made each listen more laborious. It's a shame, because the high reverence it gets from fans makes me feel like I'm missing out on something. But whatever that something is, I'm not hearing it.