Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

Having been around for over two decades, DragonForce had achieved unique veteran status, but they've already achieved that status with this album Reaching Into Infinity! But first, let's recap the beginning (again)... Despite having their overly unique style belong to the golden European power metal scene, their ultra-melodic speed metal style, that Helloween once had dominating Continental Europe in the mid-80s, is more exaggerated in the aggression. Not to mention the legendary guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li's background in black metal New Zealanders Demoniac. However, they made their commercial breakthrough at the same time as other metalcore bands that were also formed in the year I was born (1999), such as Trivium (the band that switched me out of my initial epic metal taste into the modern heavier metalcore) and Killswitch Engage, that were on top. Despite the double-edged sword, from the being lone mainstream ranger of power metal, their popularity from both their mainstream and underground worlds are high and steadfast, though some haters bringing up false stereotypes about the band might disagree.

Leading up to this album, the band has gone through many lineup changes (at least one per one or two studio albums) and lots of the trends mentioned above, stylistically evolving with self-reflection, and have gotten to the point where they're recognizably the same but different from the entire ZP Theart era. They still have their extreme power metal persona, but here it was time to emphasize the "extreme" in the term while keeping the technical exaggeration in front. Bassist Frédéric Leclercq has taken over most of the writing, and has added influences from bands like Heavenly, the power metal band he was in as guitarist and his recent extreme side-project Sinsaenum. You'll be hearing a lot of his influences from thrash, progressive, death, black, and classic heavy metal, more than any of their other albums with the overall structure being more concise. Leclercq has been writing music with the band since his first album with them Ultra Beatdown, and now it shines all the way, rivaling Sam Totman's writing by 80%.

The spacey title prelude is both the band's first intro and title track since the ones in Valley of the Damned, presenting beautiful atmospheric keyboards and military drums as the Iron Maiden-inspired guitar builds up. Then "Ashes of the Dawn" crashes in with an iconic symphonic homage to Helloween. The signature guitar shredding has its flag to mark while the driving concise melody has quite an epic vibe from the early 2000s eras of Gamma Ray and Freedom Call. Leclercq sure knows how to write an anthem that channels both the rest of his era his past in Heavenly. Though the black/death influences aren't around until much later. In the meantime, enjoy the insane shredding of Inhuman Rampage throwback "Judgement Day" that also includes Sam Totman's songwriting credit shared with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov (who would leave the band after this album, leaving the permanent keyboardist position empty to this day). That song's ending is EPIC! More of Leclercq's brilliant songwriting continues in "Astral Empire", very closely reaching the hyperspeed of the previous album's "The Game". Next song "Curse Of Darkness" follows the formula again with a bit of progressive direction in the haunting organ keyboards while having DragonForce's usual triumphant power.

"Silence" is a somber ballad that marks a notable change in songwriting. Leclercq wrote that one about a friend who died by suicide. That song resembles a Dream Theater ballad with a neo-classical solo. Then its back to happiness with a melodic speeding flashback from Sonic Firestorm, "Midnight Madness". The blazing speedy thrasher "WAR!" starts with a wandering dissonant atmospheric intro before the heaviness hits. The verses and chorus are filled with Marc Hudson sounding rougher in the vocals.

Totman writes together with Leclercq once again in "Land of Shattered Dreams" which is another shredding extravaganza hinting at their earlier era. With all those memories from their earlier albums, there's gonna be something new, something unique, something big...the 11-minute gigantic epic "The Edge of the World", beating Sonic Firestorm's "Soldiers of the Wasteland" by over a minute as the longest song DragonForce has done! All of Leclercq's influences from both his classic and extreme eras are compiled into this progressive piece of epic glory. Throughout the song, the pace marches similarly to mid-tempo heavy metal classics like "Heaven and Hell" and "Holy Diver", while offering a killer death/black metal section in the middle. The "epilogue" track "Our Final Stand" brings moderately fast old-school punches close to Manowar territory.

The special edition comes with 3 bonus tracks, and while I especially love the epic symphonic Rhapsody of Fire-inspired "Hatred and Revenge", along with "Gloria" which is a cover of a semi-Japanese song only available in the Japanese edition, their great remake of Death's "Evil Dead" seems out of place. Well of course I enjoy that power metal attempt of covering an old-school death metal song with the shredding speed faster than that of sound, and the vocals keeping most of the brutality of the original, but it just doesn't fit between those other two bonus tracks. They should've put in that cover right after "The Edge of the World" as a regular track.

All in all, Reaching Into Infinity is an impressive evolution the DragonForce's active career, sounding much different than in the last decade back when naysayers kept dissing them. Any speed/melody-loving adventurers will not regret this rewarding journey, as the haunting villains of Leclercq's past battle these British power metal heroes!

Favorites: "Ashes of the Dawn", "Judgement Day", "Astral Empire", "Curse of Darkness", "WAR!", "The Edge of the World", "Our Final Stand", "Hatred and Revenge" (bonus track)

Welcome back to my small series of power metal band compilations from my earlier epic metal taste with new scenarios to fit with the songs, this time it's a compilation from the one band that started my entire metal interest, DragonForce! Their compilation Killer Elite is just like what the subtitle says, "The Hits and the Highs", with the first disc containing successful singles and well-known hits, and the second disc containing songs that are higher level of epic and extreme. There's also a bonus disc called The Vids with every DragonForce music video up to the compilation's release. I can even write some scene ideas for each song. A world of dragons and guitar solos await!

The album kicks off with their most popular song, and the complete start of my entire metal interest... "Through the Fire and Flames"!! If it wasn't for this song, or for my dad and brother both finding it, I wouldn't have been interested in metal, or maybe I would via a different song. Yes, this is indeed my own metal "big bang" (NOT the K-pop boy band, the universal beginning I mean). From the intricate guitar lines and solo plus strange Pac-Man noises to the amazing vocals and fantasy lyrics, this song burned away my horrid radio-pop future and replaced it with a glorious metal one. And I can't believe it was just 8 years ago when it all started. So thank you DragonForce, along with my dad and brother! For that song's scene idea, it would be the main title and opening credits.

The second track "Holding On" is the opener of the band's first album with their new young lead singer Marc Hudson, already heard from the intro with an immense power metal scream that might remind some of Michael Kiske in Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. Then the usual power metal comes on with Hudson's vocals. For that scene idea, the intro would be the march into battle, then the battle begins throughout the rest of the song. The single "Heroes of Our Time" keeps up the verse-chorus structure I find boring in most other bands, but for soloing, there are so many random changes that you can't tell what's next. Brilliant! As the heroes fight the enemies, the generals duel each other. The slower but still epic "Cry Thunder" is another one of my favorite DragonForce songs, and my favorite with their new vocalist Marc Hudson! An amazing song worth playing air-guitar until your fingers break and headbanging until you sprain your neck. Its mid-tempo pace (unlike their usual faster songs) reminds me of Irish folk and especially the Skyrim theme. This would fit well for when Thor has his own army to lead him into war and fight. Seriously, it's that awesome!! You can't miss this! It fits well not just for Skyrim or Final Fantasy but also for any MMORPG that has ever existed. I agree with anyone who says this is nice and beautiful. It's really good for when medieval dragons face off against space aliens. An epic hit that has established DragonForce as one of the greatest modern power metal bands besides Alestorm. Well done, DF! There's an epic ride of the reinforcements into the ongoing battle at the last second.

The next song "Black Fire" is another greatly fitting song where the amazing duo Herman and Sam shine with their guitar skills, alongside ZP's amazing vocals. And the chorus is so great! Also, part of the soloing is sampled from a Double Dragon theme. This song fits well for the climax of the battle with the arrival of dragons during the soloing to finish off the enemy army. "Dawn Over a New World" is an uplifting power ballad, though not as great as the first 5 songs of the compilation. The heroes' leader rides a dragon over the lands to the next point of the story. "Fields of Despair" sounds great with lots of unique soloing, but why did they include the live version from Twilight Dementia?! Back then, they downtuned to E-flat tuning for touring which ended up being an epic fail! They should've used the studio version and put it before "Dawn Over a New World". Oh well... The leader's dragon gets shot down by a thousand arrows, result in them both getting killed. The rest of the army know another battle is coming...

A shorter hyperspeed thrash assault, "The Game" is their fastest song at nearly 240bpm. The action kicks off with NES synthesizers, blazing guitars, and a cliché but cool chorus which, if it was at the usual 200bpm, would've been an Ultra Beatdown side. There are also some sick background growls by Matt Heafy from Trivium, the band that made me initially turn my back on power metal for a new heavier modern style of metal. Another battle begins, and the heroes fight the enemies for the former's fallen leader.

"Operation Ground and Pound" is another single and would probably be my 7th favorite song (the first 6 being those first 5 songs and "The Game"). It has excellent verses, an amazing chorus, incredible soloing, and even the music video is awesome! The battle is still raging, but it seems like it might end soon.

"Seasons" is a more mid-tempo song (compared to their usual faster works) that sounds inspired by the radio singles of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius, and also borrows some of that slow tempo from Ultra Beatdown. The battle seems pointless for the heroes to continue without their leader, with the villains' victory being inevitable.

The really kick-A "Reasons to Live" shows creative difference in tempo, writing, and melody. It's so great hearing DragonForce trying something different yet staying true to what they are. Anyone who thinks DragonForce is better off performing what they have done in their first 3 albums should really listen to Ultra Beatdown and this compilation to change their minds. It can be h*lla shocking, but you'll find a fantastic experience as always. The surviving heroes retreat and the bad guys win the battle.

"Soldiers of the Wasteland" is a true epic! This song was DragonForce's longest song for over a decade at nearly 10 minutes, as opposed to their 7-minute song length. The song has everything DragonForce can do; swift vocals, epic lyrics, some of the longest and most impressive soloing ever done by the band, and a slower midsection that builds up for the soloing and ending to be more epic once you get there. That slower section ends with those grand awesome vocals to prepare you for the epic soloing. The bad guys making ultimate plans to level up their strength, while the good guys have their own plan; finding a new strong leader. Can they do it? Find out in Act 2...

The power metal action of the second disc kicks off in "Valley of the Damned"! It has amazed me for like 7 or 8 years now. You already start to hear the amazing voice of ZP Theart in the first verse that rises from soft and deep to excited and high-pitched. The music has faster speed than Sonic in the exciting atmosphere. The real treat is in the middle of the song when you get the mesmerizing soloing from guitar wizards Herman Li and Sam Totman. They're the greatest guitar duo still intact in the present day, a greater blend of melody and speed than Slayer! After the final chorus, ZP does a majestic falsetto scream that starts a glorious melodic solo by Sam to conclude the song on an uplifting note. Back to the scenario, The heroes have finally found a strong enough warrior to lead them for the upcoming final battle. They are now ready... "Fury of the Storm" is another favorite of mine and other DragonForce fans'. It has a good chorus and the usual shining guitar playing. The heroes begin a friendly practice battle with the villains before the real thing so that they could all be prepared for a fair war. Then we have another awesome song "Revolution Deathsquad", though this one is a bit generic. It's got catchy verses and a glorious chorus, along with background harsh vocals. However, the long guitar soloing could've been better shorter. One of the heroes ends up getting killed in the practice battle. Some of the heroes wanted to start the actual battle right there, but the leader suggested not doing so. They agreed but are still a bit mad.

"Wings of Liberty" is the longest song in The Power Within at the formerly typical 7 and a half minutes, while all other songs in that album are each in an average 5 minutes. To be honest, it actually sounds like a wimpy take on their past material and doesn't have that past glory. It sounds really satisfying though. The practice battle is over, and there's some emotional talking before the real battle.

"My Spirit Will Go On" is another live fan favorite, though not as much as the song following this one in the original album ("Fury of the Storm"). This one is pretty straight with a catchy chorus and a progressive midsection. The vocals are the star there while, of course, have their spotlight. There's a spirit-lifting rousing pre-battle speech to troops.

"Three Hammers" ushers in a rare combo of mid-paced epicness and ultra-fast heavy soloing. There's quite some asymmetry involved, but Marc Hudson's vocals are clean and operatically high to enough shatter glass. They used the live version from In the Line of Fire, but that's OK, that live album is better than the one with ZP Theart, though I still prefer if they used the studio version. The armies make their final preparations, and once the fast soloing begins, the battle is on! "Symphony Of The Night" has a handful of predictability, but there are new symphonic elements to make up for that such as baroque instruments and neo-classical progressions to fill up their stylistic toolkit. As the armies fight, both leaders have a final duel to the death.

"The Last Journey Home" also has different changes compared to their earlier material, including being more mid-paced and progressive. While this is one of the best from Ultra Beatdown, it still can't beat the band's greater hits. The enemies' are all defeated and the heroes march to their homes while fighting monsters in different pathways.

Then we have the ballad "Starfire" (wow, they really named a couple songs after one of the Teen Titans, Starfire and her evil sister Blackfire). It opens with cool atmospheric piano with background rain. I don't usually love a lot of ballads, but I love this! Though not the live version from Twilight Dementia, you know the reason. It's all over. The war has concluded, the heroes won and are back home. All in all, a happy ending to this story... OR IS IT?? Back in the enemies' king's throne, the king regains consciousness and wakes up, hinting at a sequel... "Heart of a Dragon" is an amazing uplifting song that serves as a happy ending to this compilation, but its scene idea is...the end credits.

Whew! Another long story to fit as the soundtrack for this incredible power metal compilation. If you already have the latest two DragonForce albums Reaching Into Infinity (the next album I would review to bridge the gap) and Extreme Power Metal, and you want the rest of their discography but can only afford one more album, then this is the album to get for the best of their first 6 albums. Hope you enjoy the best of what was the best power metal band for me, and its unofficial accompanying story I just made!

Favorites (one per album for each disc): "Through the Fire and Flames", "Heroes of Our Time", "Cry Thunder", "Black Fire", "The Game", "Soldiers of the Wasteland", "Valley of the Damned", "Fury of the Storm", "Revolution Deathsquad", "Wings of Liberty", "Symphony of the Night", "The Last Journey Home"

The two albums after DragonForce's awesome starter trio, Ultra Beatdown and The Power Within each took on different creative directions; the former longer and more progressive, and the latter shorter while adding new variety. The Power Within definitely showed the band rising again...

Maximum Overload continues that direction, including the songs each lasting between 4 to 6 minutes. Once again there are many memorable songs, and only a couple of them threaten to be fillers. Sure the lyrical themes continue to vary, but they sometimes throwback to the landscapes of war and fantasy, complete with dragons. DragonForce keeps pleasing their fanbase what there is to love!

A short opening hyperspeed thrash assault, "The Game" is their fastest song at nearly 240bpm. The action kicks off with NES synthesizers, blazing guitars, and a cliché but cool chorus which, if it was at the usual 200bpm, would've been an Ultra Beatdown B-side. There are also some sick background growls by Matt Heafy from Trivium, the band that made me initially turn my back on power metal for a new heavier modern style of metal. "Tomorrow's Kings" has some awesome catchiness. However, the big triumph is put on hold by the overwhelming "No More", which is only under 4 minutes long and isn't so strong, despite more of Heafy's background vocals. "Three Hammers" ushers in a rare combo of mid-paced epicness and ultra-fast heavy soloing. There's quite some asymmetry involved, but Marc Hudson's vocals are clean and operatically high to enough shatter glass. "Symphony of the Night" has a handful of predictability, but there are new symphonic elements to make up for that such as baroque instruments and neo-classical progressions to fill up their stylistic toolkit.

The brooding 6 and a half minute "The Sun is Dead" doesn't have any problems, and the two guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman show their skills without just f***ing around. The battle-ready anthem "Defenders" is once again emphasized by Heafy's background vocals. "Extraction Zone" actually makes think of "Through the Fire and Flames" but shorter and replacing half of the soloing with an electronic bridge. I'm not sh*tting, there's a calm 8-bit electronic bridge that is surprising to the fanbase, but that's not enough to prevent the song from being slightly forgettable. "City of Gold" is a much more pleasant and diverse highlight to listen to with great depth. The weakest of the bunch is their cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". The notes are mangled in the riffing, failing to do the original justice. Now get this, I actually used to enjoy this song when I enjoyed power metal at the time of the album's release, long before becoming the serious heavy modern metalhead I am today. The interest comes and goes...

The deluxe edition comes with a whopping 5 or 6 bonus tracks, starting with another glorious power metal anthem "Power and Glory". That's almost "Cry Thunder" 2.0, and I mean that in a great way! However, "You're Not Alone" is a weak ballad, but it might have a chance of memorability in a live setting. "Chemical Interference" is the best of the bonus tracks, hinting at what they were aiming for in the next two albums. "Summer End" is exclusive to the Japanese special edition, and is another brooding ballad, though not as weak as "You're Not Alone". Next, "Fight to Be Free" is one more track re-recorded from Totman and ZP Theart's side-project Shadow Warriors, and stands out far more than that Johnny Cash cover. "Galactic Astro Domination" is a one and a half minute soloing instrumental originally recorded for a Capital One commercial.

OK, before I end this review, I'd like to once again say that my interest in power metal is really taking a toll. That's why there are a couple of songs in this album that I used to enjoy 8 years ago that I consider weak today, such as that Johnny Cash cover. That's also why I made my move out of all power metal bands except the ones I consider the true heroes that started my metal interest, which are DragonForce and Kamelot. Only time will tell if I ever regain my tolerance and decide to revisit all those other power metal bands. But for now, Maximum Overload is a great continuation of the new direction started by The Power Within. Most of it is worth your money!

Favorites: "The Game", "Tomorrow's Kings", "Three Hammers", "Defenders", "City of Gold", "Power and Glory", "Chemical Interference", "Fight to Be Free"

After 4 years in oblivion, DragonForce have made their comeback with what the band believed was their most diverse album yet! With a promise like that, fans were expecting a continuation of the unexpected progressive power of Ultra Beatdown. Yet for this album, The Power Within, the blazing guitar/keyboard solos, catch choruses, and high vocals that are to be expected are all still around. The band maintain their killer streak with some difference in lyrical variety, among other new things...

While I'll dive into more of the different aspects as the review goes on, one thing I should note is the bass sounding audible enough to have its own solos. It's quite incredible! Though the guitars and keyboards never back down from their soloing parts.

The vocals definitely add a whole new dimension to the band sound, as the opening track "Holding On" introduces their new young lead singer Marc Hudson, replacing their earlier vocalist ZP Theart. You can already hear Marc in the intro with an immense power metal scream that might remind some of Michael Kiske in Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. Then the usual power metal comes on with Hudson's vocals. More of his superb scream-singing occurs in "Fallen World", which was their fastest song at that time (220bpm), reminding me of the Sonic Firestorm bonus track "Cry of the Brave". The slower but still epic "Cry Thunder" is one of my favorite DragonForce songs, and my favorite with their new vocalist Marc Hudson! An amazing song worth playing air-guitar until your fingers break and headbanging until you sprain your neck. Its mid-tempo pace (unlike their usual faster songs) reminds me of Irish folk and especially the Skyrim theme. This would fit well for when Thor has his own army to lead him into war and fight. Seriously, it's that awesome!! You can't miss this! It fits well not just for Skyrim or Final Fantasy but also for any MMORPG that has ever existed. I agree with anyone who says this is nice and beautiful. It's really good for when medieval dragons face off against space aliens. An epic hit that has established DragonForce as perhaps greatest modern power metal band ever. Well done, DF! The incredible bass marks an excellent addition before the soloing in "Give Me the Night", which is another of my favorite songs in this album.

"Wings of Liberty" is the longest song in the album at the formerly typical 7 and a half minutes, while all other songs here are each in an average 5 minutes. To be honest, it actually sounds like a wimpy take on their past material and doesn't have that past glory. It sounds really satisfying though. "Seasons" is a more mid-tempo song that sounds inspired by the radio singles of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius, and also borrows some of that slow tempo from Ultra Beatdown. "Heart of the Storm" focuses much less on the screaming side of the vocals, and more towards the cleanliness and aggression of Marc's vocals, specifically in the verses. This shows that his massive vocal range is closer to Kiske than Theart. That's once again proven in the excellent "Die by the Sword". The usual structure can adapt to the changes in the song length. You can still hear the usual guitar riffing fury without sounding so forced despite the shortening. The final actual song in the standard edition, "Last Man Stands" starts cheesy in the intro, but the rest has uplifting catchiness, though I think it could've been extended to a better 8-minute epic than "Wings of Liberty", if they didn't trim so much of the soloing bridge.

All editions of the album have an acoustic version of "Seasons", which is pretty good but takes away the power metal that has made the original song great. It should've been just a special edition bonus track or at least turned into a different original ballad. Either way, that would've increased my percentage rating for this album from 90% to 95% (100% if they save the extension of length for "Last Man Stands" instead of "Wings of Liberty"). The special edition includes a few bonus tracks, starting with the Japanese edition-exclusive "Power of the Ninja Sword", a powerful song that's another track originally recorded by Theart and one of the guitarist Sam Totman for their earlier side-project Shadow Warriors. There's also a live rehearsal version of "Cry Thunder" that does justice to the original song but is still rather pointless. An alternate version of "Heart of the Storm" includes a different chorus with a slight change in the keyboard soloing bridge while still awesome. "Avant La Tempête" is just a useless acoustic instrumental.

I think the production is another thing that needs slight improvement, despite having clear brilliance. While the instruments can be greatly heard, they could've used some real intensity. The 2018 remastered edition would fix some of those issues. Nonetheless, this incredible comeback shows DragonForce has never ceased to amaze me!

Favorites: "Holding On", "Cry Thunder", "Give Me the Night", "Heart of the Storm", "Die by the Sword", "Power of the Ninja Sword", "Heart of the Storm" (alternative version)

It has dawned on me that I still haven't finished reviewing the entire DragonForce discography, and I plan to do that to complete that journey and have a Spotify playlist filled with my favorite songs. And this is a great place to start, the band's final album in the ZP Theart era, Ultra Beatdown!

For those of you taught to never judge a book or album by its cover, try not to laugh at the cover or cheesy name, and try not to turn away from this band before listening. Inhuman Rampage is my favorite DF album and the album that got me into metal in general, but I've learned that not a lot of people liked it. Ultra Beatdown has more likeable variation. There are more of the slow parts than before, including a slower non-ballad song. And in a few songs, ZP and keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov take the spotlight.

The magnificent opening single "Heroes of Our Time" keeps up the verse-chorus structure I find boring in most other bands, but for soloing, there are so many random changes and lead harmonies that you can't tell what's next. Brilliant! The end of the song is f***ing impossible not to sing along. Beginning the new variety is the following track "The Fire Still Burns" with an infectious chorus of high near-falsetto vocals as the "darker days go by". The bridge would've been better without too much echo. The really kick-A "Reasons to Live" shows creative difference in tempo, writing, and melody. It's so great hearing DragonForce trying something different yet staying true to what they are. Anyone thinking DragonForce is better off performing what they have done in their first 3 albums should really listen to Ultra Beatdown to change their minds. It can be h*lla shocking, but you'll find a fantastic experience as always. "Heartbreak Armageddon" more prominent riffing, plus a slow part of the soloing.

The slow non-ballad song "The Last Journey Home" also has different changes compared to their earlier material, including being more mid-paced and progressive. While this is one of the best from Ultra Beatdown, it still can't beat the band's greater hits. The actual ballad "A Flame for Freedom" is OK, but it can't beat the ballad from their debut Valley of the Damned. "Inside the Winter Storm" is another 8+ minute track, speeding things up and adding more riffing. "The Warrior Inside" might just be one of the most uplifting power metal songs. Though it may be too happy for the more serious metalheads, like I've become lately.

The special edition of the album has a few bonus tracks, not just one, starting with "Strike of the Ninja". It's the shortest track in the ZP Theart era, being just over 3 minutes long, and sounds closer to 80s glam metal, especially in the chorus, but in a way that I still like. That's actually a re-recording of a song made by Theart and one of the guitarists Sam Totman for their side-project Shadow Warriors. "Scars of Yesterday" sounds like it should've had some potential in the standard album, but there isn't much that I would consider a standout for that song. "E.P.M. (Extreme Power Metal)" only appears in the Japanese special edition really should've been part of the standard album. I mean, holy sh*t, Vadim really shows what he's got, from the video-game sounding intro to his own searing soloing. What a treat!

So to recap what I think of the Theart era, nothing beats Inhuman Rampage, though Valley of the Damned is a prime example of their power metal side. Ultra Beatdown is in the same level as Sonic Firestorm, though having more variation. And the special edition bonus tracks are what make this mighty beatdown more complete!

Favorites: "Heroes of Our Time", "Reasons to Live", "The Last Journey Home", "Inside the Winter Storm", "Strike of the Ninja", "E.P.M. (Extreme Power Metal)"

Well, here we are, the album that began my metal path. Without it, my metal interest wouldn't have existed...unless it starts different. Inhuman Rampage!! Despite being out of my earlier epic power metal taste that includes this band, DragonForce is a band I would always love in my heart and appreciate. It's really cool how they're called "extreme power metal" even though they're power metal but not extreme metal. The label makes sense because of the band's extremely cheesy lyrics (the type of cheese I like), extremely fast guitars, and extremely fun choruses. If you're not a power metal fan, then...why are you here?! If you are, then scr*w the haters and check this band out!

The haters think DragonForce make the same d*mn song over and over, but I don't think so. The songs only sound same-ish, which doesn't bother me. This is the first album where the band experimented with a nice touch of harsh vocals, performed Lindsay Dawson of Demoniac (the former band of guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman before DragonForce). There's nothing else different about the album, but that's fine because it still rules, slightly better than the slightly generic Sonic Firestorm.

The album kicks off with their most popular song, and the complete start of my entire metal interest... "Through the Fire and Flames"!! If it wasn't for this song, or for my dad and brother both finding it, I wouldn't have been interested in metal, or maybe I would via a different song. Yes, this is indeed my own metal "big bang" (NOT the K-pop boy band, the universal beginning I mean). From the intricate guitar lines and solo plus strange Pac-Man noises to the amazing vocals and fantasy lyrics, this song burned away my horrid radio-pop future and replaced it with a glorious metal one. And I can't believe it was just 8 years ago when it all started. So thank you DragonForce, along with my dad and brother! Then we have another awesome song "Revolution Deathsquad", though this one is a bit generic. It's got catchy verses and a glorious chorus, along with background harsh vocals. However, the long guitar soloing could've been better shorter. I still f***ing love it though. "Storming the Burning Fields" has more cheese but still something to love, especially the guitar intro and soloing, the latter being followed by a beautiful "whoa-oa-oah" choir.

"Operation Ground and Pound" is another single and would probably be my 3rd favorite song of the album and the band (behind the first 2 songs). It has excellent verses, an amazing chorus, incredible soloing, and even the music video is awesome! "Body Breakdown" is another cool highlight. A lot of the different instruments play together and apart, sounding weird while staying awesome. The verses start quiet before picking up the heaviness, all while staying fast. That's probably one of the most unique songs of the bunch. Nicely done! While all the songs are awesome, "Cry For Eternity" I'm not so big on. While it has speedy intensity and catchiness, it's just not as much as the other ones. It's also slightly longer at over 8 minutes, but just not as long and epic as the 10-minute epic from Sonic Firestorm. All the 8-minute length does is make this mediocre song more draggy. It's not a horribly bad song in any way (that's why the perfect 5-star rating is still here), but it doesn't have the greatness of the others.

"The Flame of Youth" sounds a bit weird in some parts, but it has a catchy chorus, and the band still shines as always. "Trail of Broken Hearts" is a nice closing ballad for the standard edition of the album. To be honest, that's what they should've done in their previous albums; save their ballads for last. I still like those album's ballads as they are, and slightly better than the one in this album. If you think you've experienced everything in the standard edition, there's more in the bonus track of the special edition that you should definitely get, "Lost Souls in Endless Time"! It's a different uplifting song but still one of my favorites. There's a nice keyboard solo which you don't usually hear from a guitar-solo-dominant band like DragonForce. The higher vocals sing hilariously cheesy lyrics that I still like, along with an awesome chorus. Brilliant!

That pretty much sums up my first ever journey as a metalhead. I can recommend Inhuman Rampage to any power metal fan. It can hypnotize anyone who doesn't like metal to enjoy that genre, at least from my experience. And even though their best albums are with ZP Theart, I enjoy the later albums with Marc Hudson. I love you, DragonForce!

Favorites: "Through the Fire and Flames", "Revolution Deathsquad", "Operation Ground and Pound", "Body Breakdown", "The Flame of Youth", "Lost Souls in Endless Time"

After their successful debut, Valley of the Damned, DragonForce hired bassist Adrian Lambert and drummer Dave Mackintosh, who both helped the band take on darker aggression. But somehow I feel like there's one thing that doesn't pay off for this album. Hmm...

Sonic Firestorm is probably the least well-known album in the ZP Theart era. The monstrous Valley of the Damned has pleased underground metalheads, while the hugely popular Inhuman Rampage has encouraged guitar players worldwide to level up. So where does this leave Sonic Firestorm? Stuck in the middle! However, despite not having the melodic power of the debut and the catchy infection of the third, Sonic Firestorm is still solid and needs higher attention.

"My Spirit Will Go On" is a live fan favorite, though not as much as the song following this one. This opening song is pretty straight with a catchy chorus and a progressive midsection. The vocals are the star there while the guitars, of course, have their spotlight. "Fury of the Storm" is another favorite that my brother (who opened the gateway to my metal world thanks to a certain song from next album, thanks bro) and I enjoy along with other DragonForce fans. It has a good chorus and the usual shining guitar playing. "Fields of Despair" sounds great with lots of unique soloing.

"Dawn Over a New World" is an uplifting power ballad, though not as great as the first 3 songs of the album. "Above the Winter Moonlight" is another song with my favorite chorus of the album. The progressive midsection slows things down a bit for a while, then carries on with the usual soloing and the final chorus before a uplifting ending. "Soldiers of the Wasteland" is a true epic! This song was DragonForce's longest song for over a decade at nearly 10 minutes, as opposed to their 7-minute song length. The song has everything DragonForce can do; swift vocals, epic lyrics, some of the longest and most impressive soloing ever done by the band, and a slower midsection that builds up for the soloing and ending to be more epic once you get there. That slower section ends with those grand awesome vocals to prepare you for the epic soloing.

"Prepare for War" sounds similar to some of the other songs here, even the guitar solos. Not really great, but still decently enjoyable. "Once in a Lifetime" is uplifting, while having the usual speed and not being a ballad, but it comes out as mediocre. Perhaps those last two songs of the album are the weak part that brought this album down to 4.5 stars. Fortunately, the bonus track "Cry of the Brave" is a better, more stunning anthem. I highly encourage you to get the version of the album that has that song!

All in all, Sonic Firestorm has a couple slight weaknesses, compared to the perfect surrounding albums, but it does deserve listening for fans of DragonForce and the rest of European power metal! However, the album after this one is, for me, what started everything....

Favorites: "My Spirit Will Go On", "Fury of the Storm", "Fields of Despair", "Above the Winter Moonlight", "Soldiers of the Wasteland", and bonus track "Cry of the Brave"

What better way to end the power metal part of my Metal Evolution Band Challenge with the one band that started my entire metal interest? That's right, it's DragonForce!! It would've been great to review their third album Inhuman Rampage which has the first ever metal song I loved, "Through the Fire and Flames", but then I decided to review this album. So let's play this album and get this review started!

Scr*w the haters who think DragonForce is fake because of a few poor live performances, this is real! There's absolute nothing wrong on this impressive album. Valley of the Damned is a true power metal classic, showing those guys' potential in creating satisfying works of extreme power metal. This is metalheads who love fast solos!

It starts with a quick windy intro, "Invocation of the Apocalyptic Evil". Then BOOM!! The power metal action kicks off in the title track! It has amazed me for like 7 or 8 years now. You already start to hear the amazing voice of ZP Theart in the first verse that rises from soft and deep to excited and high-pitched. The music speeds faster than Sonic in the exciting atmosphere. The real treat is in the middle of the song when you get the mesmerizing soloing from guitar wizards Herman Li and Sam Totman. They're the greatest guitar duo still intact in the present day, a greater blend of melody and speed than Slayer! After the final chorus, ZP does a majestic falsetto scream that starts a glorious melodic solo by Sam to conclude the song on an uplifting note. The next song "Black Fire" is another greatly fitting song where the amazing duo Herman and Sam shine with their guitar skills, alongside ZP's amazing vocals. And the chorus is so great! Also, part of the soloing is sampled from a Double Dragon theme. "Black Winter Night" continues the amazing guitars and vocals, though the leads sound a little weird in the verses but still OK.

Then we have the ballad "Starfire" (wow, they really named a couple songs after one of the Teen Titans, Starfire and her evil sister Blackfire). It opens with cool atmospheric piano with background rain. I don't usually love a lot of ballads, but I love this one! Next one is another great personal favorite of mine, "Disciples of Babylon". SO FREEZING AWESOME!!! It has the catchiest chorus I've ever heard in power metal! I love the "It's here, it's near" part of the chorus. The brilliant keyboards flow through the guitars and vocals in exciting mood. At the 4-minute mark, once everyone has calmed down from all that power metal adrenaline, there's an acoustic piano interlude that's good and a little jazzy. The soloing is still present, shredding lightning-fast through the otherwise calm interlude. Then the heaviness returns for the last chorus. "Revelations" is another epic song with a nice slower soloing part with a bit of ZP's harmonious vocals. The fast part of the soloing is awesome too.

Another cool track "Evening Star" starts as a slow beautiful ballad for the first 30 seconds, then speeds up to a great fast song. "Heart of a Dragon" is an amazing catchy uplifting song that serves as a happy ending...to the standard edition, this is. I'm sorry if any of you have the original standard edition of this album, because then you would be missing out on the bonus track, "Where Dragons Rule". It's a majestic song that would make any version of this album that has this song complete. It starts with in calm ambiance with cool piano before bursting into heaviness. This is so amazing that I don't why they would ever make it a bonus track. It's a brilliant album closer that would make you want more, and fortunately there is more to come in later albums. Dragons rule! Unicorns suck!!

Valley of the Damned is indeed one of the greatest produced albums in power metal history. The fantasy lyrics have great mood and every member of the band deserves credit. This really surpasses any Blind Guardian album I've listened to. All tracks are great! This is for all you power metal fans out there. May the DragonForce be with you!

Favorites: "Valley of the Damned", "Black Fire", "Starfire", "Disciples of Babylon", "Revelations", and bonus track "Where Dragons Rule"

Bullet for My Valentine was known as an entry point into metalcore 10 to 15 years ago, offering aggressive metal tendencies and mixing it with friendlier elements. There were screams, breakdowns, and riffs of cacophony, offset by poppy refrains and leads of melody. On their sixth album Gravity, the pop influences have infected songs beyond each chorus and most of their deep hardcore roots are gone. All that's left is nu metal from their original Jeff Killed John era with pop elements.

This dreaded sound is part of the band's drastic sound evolution reaching out for wider audiences and bigger popularity. Vocalist/guitarist even admitted that he did the whole "change the sound for bigger audience route" so that his band could headline Download Festival. Glad they can achieve that goal, but that's no excuse!

The first track "Leap of Faith" begins with a pulsing synth intro that continues on through the first verse and the chorus when the rest of the instrumentation leaps in. During the chorus, the synth switches from rhythm to lead. It's as if the synths took over most of the guitar's role! They alternate before a forceful middle breakdown with more lead synth soaring over. "Over It" is too much of an emo anthem. That song and "Letting You Go" are new-sounding yet uninspired radio singles, but the lyrics pack a few small punches. "Not Dead Yet" shows that the new elements are staying where they are.

The lowest point of this album, possibly of the band, is "The Very Last Time", an electronic ballad without any heaviness. It's so dull and uninspiring, and the lyrics sound like an emo teen's diary entry. "Piece of Me" has some breakdowns and screams similar to their older material, but everything else falls into the electronic sea, similar to Asking Alexandria. "Under Again" swims through atmospheric elements while staying a little heavy, reminiscent of That's the Spirit-era Bring Me The Horizon.

Continuing the shameless songwriting is the title track, a nausea-inducing so-called "anthem" that uses a high-octane drive of synths. I think it might have influenced a bit of While She Sleeps' So What? album with the horrendous chorus chant. They think they can sound better adding some cyber-punk rock. SO WHAT?! Another frustrating song is the generic "Coma", too light to make an impact. That's enough to make me fall into a coma! But just when I'm about to lose consciousness, "Don’t Need You" wakes me back up with the much-needed classic BFMV sound that really stands out more than the other songs. They still have their aggression! The final ballad "Breathe Underwater" is just filled with acoustic melancholy and cliched lyrics that close the album on a damp note. I fall back into a coma and don't wake up until hours after the album ended...

I admit that the new formula works in some songs and those songs become catchy and easy to digest. Metal purists would be really frustrated by this album, but maybe this will successfully open a new heavy generation that would motivate the band go back to their heavier roots. There's still hope later after this cruddy gravitational pull....

Favorites: "Leap of Faith", "Not Dead Yet", "Piece of Me", "Under Again", "Don't Need You"

I know that the only Bullet for My Valentine album many metalheads actually enjoy is The Poison, and every subsequent album show their downfall of sound from metalcore to alt-metal... Except Venom! This album actually interrupts that transition right before its nu metal destination, the next album Gravity. Venom marks one more return to the thrash-metalcore sound of The Poison and Scream Aim Fire. They still have their original sound for this album!

Those Welsh metallers' 5th album adds more of the band's defense, offering venomous aggression to last 11 tracks. However, they still have some of the concerning elements diffused from their less even previous album Temper Temper, but I will put those aside.

The short ambient intro "V" starts the album, similarly to The Poison's "Intro". But once you reach the end of the intro and start the next track, there's... "NO WAY OUT!!" Matt Tuck screams his way into the first actual track "No Way Out", as the instrumentation storms through, like a pack of lions knocking down a gazelle and devouring its limbs. It's a venomous old-school-like thrash mix of dueling guitars and burrowing choruses. A perfect opening for the heaviness that follows! "Army of Noise" continues the thrash influence similar to Scream Aim Fire. "Worthless" is kinda aptly titled because while it stays true to the mainstream metalcore revival, it gets a little too clumsy.

The stadium-ready gang-singing "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)" really shows the band's higher strengths, having some potential as a theme for a WWE wrestling montage. "Broken" is an unbroken flashback to their earlier material from The Poison and Scream Aim Fire. The title track is a slow brooding ballad that isn't really suitable for a title track but still an OK song nonetheless.

"The Harder the Heart (The Harder It Breaks)" is in some ways similar to another ballad, "Bittersweet Memories". It keeps the mid-tempo pace, well-written chords, emotional lyrical subject, and guitar leads, though much heavier with more screams. "Skin" is slower and shows the band's melodic side from earlier albums. Same with "Hell or High Water", the longest song of this album at only 4 and a half minutes. "Pariah" once again shows that even their hooks aren't so...hooky, they really pump you up for a menacing closer to the album. Well done, guys!

Complain about the band's aimlessly trekking template if you want, but they really know how to bring back their earlier roots. With Venom, BFMV have ignited the last of the vital sparks of their early material. They still got their heavy venom!

Favorites: "No Way Out", "Army of Noise", "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)", "Broken", "The Harder the Heart (The Harder It Breaks)", "Pariah"

Remember in my review for The Poison, I said that the music video for the song "Riot" on TV is what made me eventually interested in this band? Yeah, it's in this album. After the successful album Fever (that's not as awesome as The Poison), the winning formula is never altered in this one, Temper Temper!

This album once again features the Welsh band's metalcore combined with pop hooks and slower ballads like in Fever, though in this album, the metalcore is less prominent to the point where this is just hard rock/alt-metal. Vocalist/guitarist Matt Tuck showed the full-on metal side that I think BFMV should've had, in a different band AxeWound. Now, Tuck is back in BFMV to make an album that would cause both delight and disappointment.

The first 3 songs are the angry kind in both music and lyrics, starting with the opener "Breaking Point". With a metal solo and catchy chorus, it has the muscular accessibility that helps the band's success. "Truth Hurts" is heavier and demonstrates the band's catchy love for metal. The title track really stomps hard, yet it's the most radio-friendly song in the album. It's done quite well pumping up radio listeners. It's a 3-minute hell-blast into radio heaven! However, following the lighter rock rules, the album slows down a bit with the next song being a ballad...

"P.O.W. (Prisoner of War)" is a softer ballad that calms things down a bit. "Dirty Little Secret" continues the calm vein while bringing back the heavier punches. The heaviness fully returns in "Leech" though the pop seems to leech on the metal. "Dead to the World" starts as a classic ballad before becoming faster in the last two minutes.

The anger and fast pace shoots through your head again in "Riot", that song I keep telling you about in which it's music video made me eventually into BFMV. It has the sharp heavy potential from earlier. I love that song so much! "Saints & Sinners" is truly metal! "Tears Don’t Fall (Part 2)" is the sequel to the best song of their debut The Poison. I love that one but not as much as the first part. The closer "Livin’ Life (On The Edge Of A Knife)" ends the album in confident fashion.

Bullet for My Valentine will never be known by metalheads just for this album, but they continue their deep thoughtful lyrics and music strengths for the world. There are very few bands who can keep doing what they like to do....

Favorites: "Breaking Point", "Temper Temper", "Leech", "Riot", "Saints & Sinners", "Tears Don’t Fall (Part 2)"

Something to notice about Fever is, Bullet for My Valentine has moved away from their great thrash-fest Scream Aim Fire, back to their metalcore sound in common with The Poison. However, they seem to mature their sound much more, which the heavier metalheads might not totally like, but I'll explain more along the way. Matt Tuck continues to reign as one of the most popular metalcore vocalists while the band writes what makes them comfortable. The bass in the well-done production has been turned from simple to heavier in the instrumentation. The guitar tone is great and the drums sound powerful in the mix, heard much better than other metal albums I enjoy.

However, the lyrics aren't as strong as in the previous two albums. Some songs' lyrics face the problem of sounding too influenced and cliche. It works well, but not in its best. They could've had metaphorical lyrics to ponder on, instead the lyrics are too obvious and at the very end of the impact the concept would've had. And I've learned in English class what to do when writing stories or lyrics; show, don't tell!

The first track "Your Betrayal" is simple yet killer! It starts with a military marching drum intro for soldiers to prepare for war with a mood similar to a song from The Poison. The simple elements continue on including drop-C tuned guitars, screams and whispers. After the second chorus, the middle section is different from your typical BFMV song. No guitar solo, just siren-like wailing vocals over heavy guitar. It does show some maturity, but it would've been better if the guitar solo does the siren-like wailing. The title track is a song that's more traditional for the band, with lyrics about a raunchy nightclub. It's faster and raw but not the fastest in the album. The vocal harmonies sound a bit sleazy. "The Last Fight" is a glimpse of a driving fighter-attitude. It has the first ever guitar solo in the album. It's my personal favorite song in terms of vocals, most of which is clean singing with background shouting in the chorus. That's a simple but cool mature song. "A Place Where You Belong" has the same slow soft ballad-like pace as The Poison's "All These Things I Hate" with some heavy bits. Unlike that other song, this is quite boring until the guitar solo picks up more heaviness.

In the next song, "Pleasure And Pain", the full heavy power returns even in that opening lyric, "COME TAKE THE SACRIFICE!!" right before the powerful opening riff adds more impact. The song goes on in a similar vein as the title track, only more intense, probably the most intense song here! My favorite lyric in the album is right before the final chorus, the quiet line "You don't want to know the truth." The next one, "Alone" starts with massive guitar tapping over orchestral synths and chord sequence, a nearly similar starting structure to "Your Betrayal", but sounds neo-classical. The synth-strings continue through the verse and chorus in catchy occasion. The guitar solos start with simple melodies transposed to E minor (key changes are rare for BFMV) before modulating back to D minor in time for the final chorus and a crashing finale like no other. The intro plays again in the outro slowing down to crawling before an epic collapse similar to a film or album ending. Yeah, that song would fit better as the album's closing track, but at least it brings us to the second side. "Breaking Out, Breaking Down" has a lot to live up compared to the preceding songs. It's less heavy but has good harmonized vocals in the chorus. That song is nice but never stands out until the simple but effective bridge.

"Bittersweet Memories" utilizes a simpler method of execution. It's basically a lost-love ballad. The song has a profound overall effect. I would never recommend that song to metalheads but instead to emo kids who attempt to cut off some of their own toes in a strange attempt to ease their misery. "Dignity" is a true trip down The Poison memory lane, especially the harmonizing opening riff that sounds similar to the one from "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow". This song might flip off fans of maturity, but what's majestic is the tight music lined up with vocal melodies, especially in the chorus. Great mix of screaming and singing. One of the best! Next one, "Begging for Mercy" is the heaviest beast in this album. There are massive riffs and a clever chorus, though similar to the slightly less heavy songs' chorus while still monstrously heavy. "Pretty On The Outside" is a dramatic groove closer with the least clean singing in the album. The lyrics are so personal that they're the best in the album!

Fever is a good album, mature and nicely played with good singing. However, the album suffers from more ballad-like songs, while still having stronger tracks. Good album but not as awesome as The Poison....

Favorites: "Your Betrayal", "The Last Fight", "Pleasure and Pain", "Alone", "Dignity", "Pretty on the Outside"

Bullet for My Valentine instantly ascending to fame with their metalcore debut The Poison, then they went on to improve their sound. And it's a heavier improvement before its later downfall into hard rock/alt-metal...

Scream Aim Fire is a strong heavy album where they took the time to structure songs into works of art. They have great potential talent! The guitar tone is also greatly placed in solos and screaming vocals over chaotic drums and thrashy bass. This is certainly a reckless album, one that adds more metal than core. Read that, Metal Archives?! You gotta listen before you make your judging call!

The album starts with the furious title track, containing pounding drums, fired-up screams in the breakdown ("Scream! Aim!! FIRE!!!"), and a signature guitar solo that's #1 in this album! "Eye of the Storm" continues the thrash-metalcore action with a thunderous riff and another signature guitar solo. "Hearts Burst Into Fire" is a bit slower and more uplifting while maintaining the heavy sound. The ultimate extreme metalcore track of this album is "Waking the Demon". This is the heaviest song here with a monstrous riff and a crazy shredding solo. Matt Tuck and Jason James have a total scream-off in the verses.

"Disappear" continues the fast heaviness, though not as heavy as the previous songs. "Deliver Us From Evil" is probably the lightest non-ballad song of the album, and it has the first bass solo to be heard here. Another one of my album favorites, "Take It Out On Me" shows the band taking out an amazing intro riff, Matt's own guitar solo, and the second bass solo of this album that's better than the previous one. Benji Webbe from Skindred contributes guest vocals in that song.

"Say Goodnight" is the ballad- sorry, semi-ballad of this album, starting with acoustic intro then the song gets heavier through the chorus. "End of Days" shows that the earlier days of The Poison have not ended but you might not hear a lot of that kind of sound in later albums. "Last to Know" is an instant BFMV classic for me with a good intro riff and good guitar solo to soar back and forth through your ears. The final song in this album, "Forever and Always" is another slow and uplifting song, this time 7 minutes long. I won't say much about that one, other than not being as great as the previous album's 7-minute "End".

Scream Aim Fire is so unlike most other albums out there. This album and The Poison have remained true BFMV classic albums, though The Poison is the bigger classic. There's everything to love and barely anything for the haters. Sure there are a few acoustic moments, but the extreme side hits you hard and just keeps going until the end. Any metalhead should get this album and listen to the whole thing, maybe even have a backup copy in case you lose your first one. You don't wanna miss this fire!

Favorites: Scream Aim Fire, Hearts Burst Into Fire, Waking The Demon, Take It Out On Me, Say Goodnight, Last to Know

During my original epic metal taste a few years ago, I found the music video for the song "Riot" by Bullet for My Valentine (from the album Temper Temper) on TV, then about a year later, the friend I keep telling you about introduced me to a heavier modern side of metal. I really loved that song back then, and I knew I had to listen to more of that band. I was blown away by more of their songs. The song has great guitar solos and harmonized guitars and fantastic drumming. It's just...great! The guitarists use lots of effects, the drummer really kicks it, and the vocalist has the best singing I've heard in a long time at that time.

The lyrics are interesting, about love and breakups in different ways. The lyrics are metaphorical in a way that sounds good. Matt Tuck is one of my favorite singers and has the best singing I've heard during my transformation into heavier modern metal. His voice is unique, sounding like a Welsh punk teenager (he IS Welsh, but not a teenager), and when he screams, he has great range and knows his timing. Kudos to his ability to sing and play riffs at the same time!

The album begins in the same manner as the first two Trivium album, with an orchestral "Intro". Finnish cello masters Apocalyptica contribute their slow depressing violins for the first 45 seconds before distorted clean guitars and a lead solo comes in. Beautiful intro but slightly misleading. "Her Voice Resides" is a great start to the metalcore action. It can catch listeners off-guard when the soft intro gets cut off by the sudden heaviness. Great riffs, great lyrics, great solo! The heaviest song of this album and an outstanding discography beginning. "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" is another really good song. Excellent lyrics, amazing drums, and a good solo! "Tears Don't Fall" is a definite highlight here for a couple reasons. First off, my brother was listening to this song during the beginning of my heavier modern metal phase and it reminded me of "Riot", NOT similarly, but made me think of that song I was interested in about a year prior. The other reason is the instrumentation; very good riffs and great lyrics like in previous songs. The bridge gets much faster and worth headbanging, then in comes the blazing solo. Best song by the band ever!

"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)" is another song that's so good, that the only thing in the song worth mentioning is the good solo. "Hit the Floor" is another one of the heaviest songs here. There are naturally harmonizing riffs and...no solo. Yeah, that's one of only a few songs in the album without a solo. "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)" another good song. Still no solo, but still amazing! "Room 409" is a really great song, trust me. Everything's really great including the lyrics, harmonies, solo, and breakdown. I love it so much! Why isn't the title track more popular? It's a very good song that deserves to be a single! It has a good riff and the best solo on this album. The breakdown is better than other breakdowns here but not as awesome as the solo.

"10 Years Today" is never really the best song of this album. No solo, OK riffs, and a slower tempo than most other songs. The lyrics are still good though. "Cries in Vain" is way better! After a phaser intro, the distortion hits you hard. There's also a harmonic ending solo. That's a great song! It is sandwiched between two of the album's worst songs. The second of the two slight downers is "Spit You Out". It's definitely never too bad because of the catchy chorus and awesome breakdown. I really love the ending track "The End". It's a great end to this metalcore journey. More mellow and depressing but still stands out well. The guitar riff is so simple, Matt can focus on more emotion in his vocals in the cleaner verses. I wish he could keep doing that emotional technique but that would mean he would have to drop the guitar full-time. The song gets heavier but once again, there's no solo. Then it returns to the intro riff used as the outro with soft guitar harmony over it as it all fades out. Another personal album favorite!

Overall, The Poison is a great album and part of the start of my heavier modern metal phase. BFMV has made a metalcore masterpiece, and they were just getting started!

Favorites: Her Voice Resides, 4 Words (To Choke Upon), Tears Don't Fall, All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me), Room 409, Cries in Vain, The End

I had a bit of trouble deciding whether to review this EP or the Hand of Blood EP, as both EPs have the same tracklisting except for one track added to the latter. That's why I didn't review this release as early as the other BFMV albums a few years back. Ultimately, I decided to review their 2004 self-titled EP, which marks the beginning of their tenure (not including when the band was originally named Jeff Killed John), and I consider of Hand of Blood to just be this EP's release with an extra track. So here we are...

The style of this album is basically the emo-metalcore of From Autumn to Ashes often put down by metal purist b****rds, blended together with the band's more metallic influences such as Iron Maiden and Metallica for the melodic metalcore sound Bullet for My Valentine would have the potential to cement in The Poison. With some guitar soloing added to the mix, the guitarists can easily show their metallic side from those earlier bands without ripping off. The audible bass sounds great, as does the fantastic drumming. Frontman Matthew Tuck sounds amazing with his vocals ranging from clean singing to hardcore screaming, all while impressively playing his riffs.

"Hand of Blood" has the usual hardcore guitar riffing that stands out in the metal instrumentation. It's so great hearing the cleans and screams alternating between each other in the verses. "Cries in Vain" (re-recorded in The Poison) is way better! After a phaser intro, the distortion hits you hard. There's also a harmonic ending solo. That's a great song! A soft clean intro starts "Curses". That song is OK, but the instrumentation sounds a bit drowned out here. There seems to be a further loss of quality in "No Control". It almost comes out as awful when there's barely anything to get you hooked. "Just Another Star" greatly makes up for that! The multi-vocal choruses are nice and while they sound a little too much when you listen to this song on your own, the greatness of it decimates the poorness of the previous track. The guitars there are so good.

In retrospect, maybe reviewing the Hand of Blood EP would've been better, since the addition of The Poison track "4 Words (to Choke Upon)" is what made me give it a 4.5-star rating, as opposed to the 4-star self-titled EP. Nonetheless, any fan of emo-metalcore should explore its more melodic side with the solid start of this band's career....

Favorites: "Hand of Blood", "Cries in Vain", "Just Another Star"

At the center of metalcore is the twilight zone between heavy metal and post-hardcore. It seemed like Underoath was going to take the post-hardcore direction, but add in a little sludge and both sides were in good balance. The Changing of Times was their last album with Dallas Taylor before Spencer Chamberlain took the band into commercial accessibility with their 4th album that wasn't really in a stellar stylistic direction. They were ultimately one of the most prominent mid-2000s emo acts, and it was a dreadful time in their history, both my thoughts on the album and their touring issues. Luckily, those problems were wiped away in Lost in the Sound of Separation, and the greatness was maintained in their last album before their two-year split, Ø (Disambiguation)! A clever way of self-titling but might confused for Wikipedia users.

It's highly likely that Underoath would never return to the black/death metal-inspired roots of the first two albums (now almost impossible because Corey Steger is gone from this world, RIP), but there's no point to compare these two different eras for different audiences. With that said, death metal purists might not find a lot redeeming in this album, but any hardcore punk fans looking for death metal-like aggression without actually heading to that genre are at the right place. There is a bit of post-hardcore around, while fortunately not in the same poppy level as Define the Great Line and closer to the perfection of Lost in the Sound of Separation.

"In Division" is a superb opener! Aaron Gillespie was absent for this album in both the drums and clean vocals, but Spencer's cleans that he uses with his usual screams keep the manliness factor going. No lie, I watched the music video for this song on TV long ago (at around the same time as "Writing on the Walls") during my earlier epic metal taste, but it was until in the center between then and now when I became fully interested in this band during my current modern heavier era. While I enjoy this exciting sound, I love the band in the albums where Aaron is around, though their older stuff. This album is brilliant killer face-blasting metalcore, though it hasn't reached the epic height of Lost in the Sound of Separation but it's very close. They should definitely have more success than Tool. Christian metalcore for the win! "Catch Myself Catching Myself" takes some composition inspiration from sludge metal acts such as Isis. "Paper Lung" sounds a little more alternative than the rest, but like those other two music videos, this one is also what ignited a slight spark of interest in Underoath that didn't fully began until when a different song from the band was used in a TheOdd1sOut video. This is closer to a sludgy metalcore mix a bit like early He is Legend, especially in the intense last minute. I ain't sorry when I say this is much better than their recent pop rock sh*t.

"Illuminator" comes some of the most extreme intensity since 10 years prior while in their current style. Then we have a one-minute experimental track "Driftwood". Then the guitar tone goes chaotic almost as much as Soilent Green in "A Divine Eradication". That song and "Who Will Guard the Guardians?" continue the post-metal passages of Isis.

"Reversal" is another one of Christopher Dudley's experimentations. It's the band's own Linkin Park "Session"! For the next song, "Vacant Mouth", clearly it sounds like a contributing factor to influencing Dir En Grey's chaotic alt-metal 2010s era. "My Deteriorating Incline" continues that kind of sound but with an acceptably accessible spin. This wild ride of an album ends with the post-metal closer, "In Completion" that almost works as a metaphor for the completion of the band's initial journey.

Ø (Disambiguation) is an album I would definitely return to any time, bringing back a bit of their underground intensity to spice up their current style that they've strictly stuck to. Surely it can please open-minded metalheads enough to forgive the band for their softer phase. It really stands tall as the band's then-final album, with the members taking it to new territories while restoring a bit of the heavier legacy they left behind without actually becoming like that. It's sad that they would split up afterwards for two years and their heaviness stagnated for their comeback album, but it was an interesting journey so far, and I'm grateful for this band. Don't break the Underoath!

Favorites: "In Division", "Paper Lung", "Illuminator", "Who Will Guard the Guardians?", "Vacant Mouth", "In Completion"

If you can look back at Underoath's past in the couple years before this album in a more outer perspective, you can find the era of Define the Great Line to be the highlight of this band's career, with that album reaching a golden spot on the Billboard. However, I only think most of the second half of that album is good, so they could've just made an EP or something, and that album's future wasn't bright for the band either. They dropped out of the Warped Tour due to Spencer Chamberlain's drug abuse and almost split up. Luckily they stood strong and fought those hard times to unleash one of two more albums, Lost in the Sound of Separation!

This is the second album in a row co-produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Matt Goldman, but now, helping with the mixing was David Bendeth who had also just mixed Paramore album #2 Riot! (coincidentally, Aaron Gillespie would tour with Paramore during Underoath's two-year split). The 11 songs in this album are probably the most massive I've heard from this band, with wide vibes moving you in different directions. Chamberlain's massive growls shake the speakers alongside Gillespie's improved singing and bombastic drumming. One moment there are soothing calm melodies, and the next has the huge guitar riffing from Timothy McTague and James Smith. Grant Brandell’s booming bass and Christopher Dudley's atmospheric keyboards let the instrumentation really pummel away the so-so-ness of Define the Great Line.

Honestly, "Breathing in a New Mentality" can really take you by surprise by starting with riffs, drumming, and screams in a lower volume before shoving heavy loudness through your mouth and throat. This is a far more powerful opener than that of the previous album. Chamberlain's screaming sound demanding while Gillespie's drumming dominates and the guitar chords cuts more sharply than razor blades. "Anyone Can Dig A Hole But It Takes A Real Man To Call It Home" may waste a bit of review space with its long title, but the song itself never wastes any time. I sh*t you not, this was used briefly in a TheOdd1sOut video, and that restored my music video memories of this band and got me to start listening to them full-time. Lyrics like "We always assume the worst!" and "How can I still be alive?!" show the theme of anxiety on a frantic search for hope. Gillespie's cleans enter to start "A Fault Line, a Fault of Mine" with dreamy verse before a mid-paced yet crushing bridge of soaring harmony between the two vocalists.

The more Nine Inch Nails-ish industrial "Emergency Broadcast :: The End Is Near" is a heavy song, one of the heaviest songs in the metalcore scene! The bassline at the one-minute mark builds up until unleashing the chaos. This is probably the most epic song of Lost in the Sound of Separation, especially that 45-second moment with shiver-inducing guitar, one minute after that bassline. The singing by Gillespie helps level up the song, though that album without him after this one is great too. F***ing amazing! The Cult of Luna-like post-metal influence that they had in Define the Great Line can definitely be found in better form in this sick song. Well done with this slow yet hard anthem, guys! "The Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed" is a furious follow-up, stunning you way hard. Once again, what makes that song a highlight is the drumming by Gillespie. That and his singing keeps better album after album, dominating alongside melodic chanting after all that fire and brimstone. "We Are The Involuntary" starts perfectly with the usual noise-metal/post-hardcore blend before falling out a bit with accessible alternative rock. "The Created Void" redeems the quality with Chamberlain's roars and Gillespie's cleans and incredible drumming. Melodic yet heavy, even changing pace with a gentle outro in contrast to the previous tracks' loud endings.

Another fist-pumping track is the not-so-calm "Coming Down Is Calming Down". The single "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" levels up the audience's desperation for moshing and headbanging, wilder than a rollercoaster that has left its tracks and ends up driving all over the city. "Too Bright To See, Too Loud To Hear" is the first of two separately stylistic ending tracks, a bit of a jamming near-ballad hybrid. Beginning that track is the calm vocals of Gillespie and the soothing static keys of Dudley for an organic vibe. It slowly builds up starting with Chamberlain taking over on singing in a rough tone and handclapping, before a powerful climax of emotional thunder in the chords and vocals that are now at that growling level. Probably the most unique song by the band back then, showing their evolution while still having their metalcore sound. "Desolate Earth :: The End Is Here" is an unpredictable closer of Dudley's electronics, piano, and strings, to cleanse your mind and hearing with beautiful utopia. Then the guitars spin you through the triumphant heaven of Chamberlain's shouts. Just like their previous album, this one of desperate anxiety ends with a glimmer of hope.

If there's one Underoath album to really hype me up, Lost in the Sound of Separation would be that album. All the previous Chamberlain-era albums' clichés have been wiped out for ear-piercing fury and unpredictable melody. Underoath have once fallen into their own dark ages but manage to climb out and make this album with the moral that you are never alone. Lost in the Sound of Separation has stabbed the bleak darkness of their times and quality with a ray of optimistic light!

Favorites: "Breathing in a New Mentality", "Anyone Can Dig A Hole But It Takes A Real Man To Call It Home", "Emergency Broadcast :: The End Is Near", "The Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed", "Too Bright To See, Too Loud To Hear", "Desolate Earth :: The End Is Here"

After the extreme two-parter of Act of Depression and Cries of the Past, they really started changing their times in their 3rd album, and while their second album has great amounts of heaviness, The Changing of Times toned it down, but closer to the fantastic post-hardcore/metalcore I like from this band. This is for the open-minded!

The album title really fits well for a heavily different and slightly improved Underoath. The complexity, diversity, and breakdowns of Cries of the Past are all replaced with a streamline approach that works fine here but was ruined in their next album They're Only Chasing Safety. Overshadowing while pretty good in album #3! The Changing of Times can be considered a 180 turn from Cries of the Past for the most part, while still having their dark atmospheric black metal-influenced kicks in a few songs.

"When the Sun Sleeps" is a pretty great uplifting highlight to start this different chapter. The shorter "Letting Go of Tonight" starts soft briefly before a sudden Sonic powerup sound transition into the heaviness.  "A Message for Adrienne" has pathetically emo-ish Christian lyrics that recall the band's embarrassing lyrical past, "His wrists would bleed, but she would never see, so he took his life at the age of 23." I just turned 23, but I would never take my life! What happened to DIScouraging suicide like in the title track Act of Depression?!? Nevertheless, the great dark instrumentation from that debut is still around. Same with "Never Meant to Break Your Heart", a better highlight.

Now for the title track... UGH, that synth intro is one of the worst things to happen in both the band and the album! F*** THAT!!! The rest isn't too bad though. "Angel Below" once again proves that they still have the darkness of Cries of the Past. Drumming gets busily tight in "The Best of Me", which is f***ing great. One of the best of this album!

One of the best songs of the album is "Short of Daybreak" despite its short length. But the absolute best is "Alone In December". This one keeps up the earlier intensity without ever going highly aggressive, all in a balanced weight or forlorn honesty. The last track "814 Stops Today" is just under a minute of keyboard noise. Not a great ending to my ears, but it's a fine way out.

All in all, The Changing of Times isn't bad at all, other than the lyrics, some keyboard parts, and what people think of the drastic changes. This is kind of what 7 Angels 7 Plagues would sound like if still active, and fans of that band would dig this more than elite metalheads. Recommended if you wanna witness the times that were changing!

Favorites: "When the Sun Sleeps", "Never Meant to Break Your Heart", "The Best of Me", "Short of Daybreak", "Alone In December"

The second Underoath album Cries of the Past is associated with black metal, and that makes sense because of the influence from that genre in the instrumentation, vocals, and the progressive track lengths (longer than any of the band's songs in the albums after this one). However, I don't think that's the kind of direction the band wanted to take. Even back then, their Christian metalcore/post-hardcore sound was dominant with the black metal influences being secondary. And yeah, I know there are Christian black metal bands out there (unblack metal, if you will), but Underoath has never explicitly been part of that style. That's why I made that Hall entry for this album.

Anyway, Underoath is one of the most popular metalcore bands today that fans of the genre absolutely love. However, some people don't want them in this universe. I'm definitely in the former category, being a fan of metalcore/post-hardcore. Anyone who thinks Underoath is too hardcore should give their first two albums a listen. They emphasized the METAL in metalcore! Their debut Act of Depression was good but too preachy and annoying at times. Luckily, Cries of the Past, is a greater improvement!

I love the first song, ironically called "The Last", blasting your speakers with actual guitar riffs that are now distant memories for the band. I'm talking about legit riffing of heavy/thrash/black/death metal mixed with the usual hardcore elements. Keyboards finally enter the instrumentation arsenal, performed by Christopher Dudley, staying with the band since then, the longest without leaving. This really adds the melodic black metal vibe similar to early Satyricon. Christian references are still around, such as in the acoustic outro of "Giving Up Hurts the Most", though that part's quite cringe-inducing. I really try to ignore that ending.

A better example of an acoustic break is in "Walking Away", in more beautiful execution, to break up long heavy passages to make sure they aren't boring, while staying not too long itself so they wouldn't be boring as well. "And I Dreamt of You" is the longest song of the album and by the band, at over 11 minutes, a record this band will never break. I gotta say, this is my favorite Underoath song from that era. The melodic guitar playing far near the 4 and a half minute mark is so sick and cool with leads playing over breakdowns that would otherwise be too fast for a breakdown. Some of the lyrics can be very poetic, a more subtle and less obvious improvement compared to Act of Depression (especially that preachy atrocity, "Burden in Your Hands"). Now that's a black/death-ish metalcore epic like no other!

However, there's still one more song left, the title track. The spoken-word intro starts sinister, but then sounds a little too emo. That narration and the lyrics detail a car crash that killed someone's girlfriend. Sadly two of the band's members would each end up in their own vehicle crashes. One crash incapacitated Dallas Taylor with a brain injury and he later needed eye surgery. The other crash took the life of guitarist Corey Steger, a year before this review. This was the last song he performed with the band. RIP

Of the two albums from Underoath's extreme past, Cries of the Past is a better deal than their debut Act of Depression. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a good taste of this band's heavier past....

Favorites: "The Last", "Walking Away", "And I Dreamt of You"

Ah yes, Underoath! The band that gained fame for their post-hardcore/metalcore albums, starting with their mid-2000s albums, until later bands took the reign such as Attack Attack! But does anyone know about their deathly metalcore past before going screamo? It's albums like this that would inspire bands like Waking the Cadaver.

Their debut Act of Depression is quite good with a few flaws. Their original vocalist (the one for this album) Dallas Taylor sounds closer to bands like Mayhem. While they fit well with the extreme instrumentation, they often get buried under the melodeath tremolo sections. One of the songs have drummer Aaron Gillespie singing, but he sounds awful here. He was still a teen at the time, but c'mon! The harsh vocals are more excellent. Some lyrics are terrible as well, but we'll get to them soon...

After some strange witch-cackling, "Heart of Stone" starts off the extreme metalcore action greatly. That's what I expect for this album! Then we have a decent 10-minute epic in "A Love So Pure". It starts well, with a wonderful epic tremolo one and a half minutes in, probably the best moment of the album! However, right before I could put this track in my list of album highlights, the last minute and a half has the f***ing WORST part of the album, Aaron Gillespie's aforementioned clean singing, repeatedly singing that he likes Jesus Christ. Underoath is a Christian metalcore band, but SERIOUSLY!?! That's the best you got!? At least it's awful just for one part and not the whole song...

Unlike this cringe-inducing song, "Burden in Your Hands", with horrid lyrics warning about the consequences of abortion. F***, that was a bad attempt at a pro-life PSA! After a brief audio sample from a "Transformers read-along book", this next track "Innocence Stolen" lyrically deals with the atrocities of sexual abuse, but this is a well-done highlight in terms of the extreme instrumentation.

Some of Dallas' best screaming comes from the 10-minute title epic, a much better epic than "A Love So Pure". The lyrics deal with suicide, but the way he screams those lyrics with pain and depression in his voice is the best aspect of the track. Christians normally condemn suicide, but the lyrics tell the story of someone who was bullied (as you can hear from the sound samples at the 7-minute mark). The lyrics are meant to discourage such a tragic action, instead of encourage, and that's what Christians prefer. "Watch Me Die" has an opening monologue that marks some of the most annoying vocals alongside the earlier d*mn clean singing, but the rest of the song isn't so bad. I'm not gonna go into detail for "Spirit of A Living God", just commentary from guitarist Corey Steger (RIP) and more of Aaron's awful singing. I'm glad Aaron has improved since!

All in all, Act of Depression is a decent yet somewhat flawed start to this metalcore band's career. You might enjoy this if you overlook the lyrical atrocities and out-of-tune clean singing. This is for fans of early deathcore/metalcore and any victims of the issues addressed in the album. Please don't give up, there's a better way....

Favorites: "Heart of Stone", "Innocence Stolen", "Act of Depression"

After all those Unearth reviews I've done, we've come to their latest offering Extinction(s)! With this album, the band addresses prevalent issues of the world today and inspire listeners to see the errors in their environmental ways and fix them, all while delivering great headbanging metal.

Most people listen to Unearth for their music more than their social commentary, and I'm certainly in that category since I care about music a little more than lyrics. I usually just like the heavy riffs and fast guitars. However, the lyrical themes in the album sound important enough to pay attention. And with that album name, it sounds like they're participating in a great debate about the current state of humanity and the world, especially as of this review, in the midst of a certain catastrophic virus.

The album starts with "Incinerate" with a hardcore riff that, along with an awesome guitar interlude, can incinerate listeners face down. Next track "Dust" is another strong one with great ax-slinging guitar work of metalcore intricacy that can grind listeners to dust. "Survivalist" continues the 7-string fury with screams that can boil the blood of listeners who survived the first two tracks of the album. Then there's a brutal bone-crushing breakdown more intense than in other bands like Thy Art is Murder. Drummer Nick Pierce‘s work with Adam D. (Killswitch Engage) really paid off for more relentless chaos. The master trained his apprentice well!

Next track "Cultivation of Infection" comments on society in the state and apathy and group division. Good familiar metal lyrical topic! After an ominous intro, frantic drums and riff grooves burst in. The band can maintain invigorating subtle melodies without having to pack huge punches until the brutal breakdown. "The Hunt Begins" barges in with riffs of jarring velocity. As the track goes on, melodic leads make the arrangement more vibrant. "Hard Lined Downfall" is filled with Slipknot-like intense carnage. Trevor Phipps' vicious growls help start an armageddon of blazing instrumentation. "King of the Arctic" continues the dramatic impact in the riffs and drums, continuing the lyrical theme of degrading environment and humanity in extinction.

Nothing in this album can get heavier than the next track. "Sidewinder". It's shorter while delivering furious Pit-like brutal thrash. The screams would sear off your hair while you headbang to the devastating rampage. "No Reprisal" tones down the mayhem in favor of shining melodic riff power. The heavy momentum is elevated through blast beats and a groove pace. Closing track "One with the Sun" is a great album standout, featuring some of the most catchy guitar leads in the album while the lyrics warn you about the final extinction. After all that intense energy, it lightens up to an uplifting mood as the song closes in calm symphonic melody.

Overall, Extinction(s) is another solid Unearth album and a great addition to their over two-decade discography, despite not being so innovative. Each of the 10 songs in this album features more competent impressive musicianship while having the band's usual formula. I really enjoy the symphonic experimentation in that last track and would love to see Unearth experiment more like that in the future. But until next time, good luck with the metalcore scene, guys....

Favorites: Incinerate, Survivalist, King of the Arctic, No Reprisal, One with the Sun

Hailing from Massachusetts, Unearth are still at the top of their metalcore game, while most of their peers either changed style to something different or softer (Killswitch Engage) or outright split up or go on hiatus (Shadows Fall). Even though their harsh nature kept away from the success of their peers, their hard work and dedication really matters to the fanbase and respect they earned in the metal community. Watchers of Rule is not surprising, but has well-written energy!

In case you haven't heard of Unearth, their metalcore is intense with no compromises. If you wanna hear them on the radio, well good luck with that! Pretty much all vocals are abrasive screaming, with only a few songs having clean singing. The music is still melodic, especially the guitars being an active driving force in many of their songs. This band is heavily inspired by melodeath as much as metalcore, although their melodic components has improved recently by including harmonized leads that aren't as trite as Iron Maiden but as revamped as In Flames.

The album starts with a brief instrumental "Intro". But then it switches completely different song, "The Swarm", which is not to be confused with that At the Gates song, but sounds a bit like At the Gates with the pure melodeath blasting. Their usual machine-like breakdown are instantly recognizable while the verses and choruses having a fitting metallic edge. However, the clean vocals are gone, while the fretwork still packs a melodic punch over the heavy violence. In "Lifetime in Ruins", the military-like breakdown really crucifies the song into headbanging territory without sounding too needless repetitive. The craftiness of "Guards of Contagion" shows ornaments of scales behind harsh riffs that all build up to a harmonic chorus.

"From the Tombs of Five Below" has strong breakdowns resembling All Shall Perish. "Never Cease" might have been inspired by Fear Factory in the speedy deep riffing that can be heard from Threat Signal/late-90s Meshuggah. A cool melodic lead harmony plays over an otherwise brutal harmony once again bringing to mind Threat Signal. "Trail of Fire" is one of the heaviest songs on the album with beefed-up groove breakdowns played together with Iron Maiden-esque harmonic leads. The 40-second intro of "To the Ground" sounds too much one from Lamb of God's "Black Label". I don't know if that's a tribute or an unnecessary rip-off. Still one of the more pure metalcore songs!

"Burial Lines" deserves higher points for the impressive dueling lead guitar work. They even kept the impact of the song by not having too many breakdowns that they, along with other metalcore/deathcore bands kept having, but instead having only one breakdown reserved for the end. "Birth of a Legion" once again stands out with the amazing guitar work. The ending title track has devouring leads you just can't miss.

Unearth didn't quite shake any unstable foundations as much as their previous albums, but I think they only intended to have fun with their sound. Their metalcore wall was kept standing for 35 minutes (or 43) and I'm OK with that. They modernize their old style without any giving sh*ts about the mainstream. They still have a long way to go....

Favorites: "The Swarm", "Never Cease", "Trail to Fire", "Burial Lines", "Birth of a Legion"

Back in 2004, metalheads in high-school/college, ages ranging from 16 to 21, first started listen to an emerging yet cool band. That band is Unearth, and the album they were listening to from that band is The Oncoming Storm! 16 years later (2020), here I am, a 21-years-old dude listening to and reviewing their discography, having enjoyed them for about a year now. After their weak debut The Stings of Conscience, their second album The Oncoming Storm really made up for that with all its great strength containing super-powerful metalcore anthems you just gotta appreciate. Growing up, I've had major metal taste changes, but with metalcore bands like Trivium, Darkest Hour, and of course, Unearth, my interest is cemented into a great blend of melody and brutality, hence my 3 main Metal Academy clans. Anyway, In the Eyes of Fire continued the band's destined path of success, although the success wasn't as great as the preceding album, wearing out the originality with lighter salt. With that, Unearth was left out of the sight and mind of metalheads for a couple years. And just when those metalheads were about to fall into the deathcore scene, Unearth released their 2008 album The March, and it was a total rediscovery! The concept themes are more mature and metalheads could breathe in fresh air in many songs on the album. So talking about this album Darkness in the Light, it's as enjoyable as their previous efforts (except The Stings of Conscience). With better practice in composition and better compilation of tracks, this is another album worth an entire listen. Darkness in the Light is slightly more digestible than The March with tunes that have drifting riffs and melodies. This album shows more proof of their notability in the metalcore scene, keeping the unique elements metalcore fans know and love since The Oncoming Storm. What's even more unique about those elements in this album is how elaborate they deliver them here.

Say anything you want about US metalcore, but truthfully there are a few masters of New Wave of American Heavy Metal, not just Unearth and the aforementioned Darkest Hour, but also Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, and The Black Dahlia Murder. Unearth and Darkest Hour still produce better stuff and that's why I enjoy them, unlike those other bands that already lost their charm at that time. Those two bands I enjoy also really move far away from the awful emo/screamo scene that many other metalcore bands switch to nowadays. There still metalcore darkness in the emo light when Darkness in the Light came out in 2011, and metalheads who are tired of listen what they have from the 2000s were excited to finally find a new decent metalcore record. This album still has the band's power from 7 years before it came out. Unearth might not have reached superstar fame, but at they didn't change their style under the pressure of making money. So respect the New American Wave, emo b***hes!

Opening song "Watch It Burn" is a great extreme start to this metalcore journey, containing lots of melody, plus clean vocals rarely heard from this band until now. The punishing open-chord breakdown is the best breakdown in this album. "Ruination of the Lost" is another example of extreme melody, this time having impacted harmonies and impressive solos. The semi-title track "Shadows of the Light" packs a punch with trading guitar solos and more clean singing. "Eyes of Black" continues the heavy usage of melody and impressive solos, this time sounding more thrashy in the same level as Bay Area bands like Testament and Exodus. There are breakdowns but they sound like they've been tamed down a bit.

"Last Wish" is kind of a letdown because while there are clean vocals, they aren't as delivered as nicely as the other songs that have them, but that doesn't matter too much. "Arise the War Cry" really pumps you up for a war between melody and intensity. "Equinox" is a short atmospheric piano song with some heaviness in the middle.

"Coming of the Dark" sounds almost like a Killswitch Engage song because of the melodic metalcore sound and the C-minor key common in drop-C tuning. Actually I think they raised the tuning for this song to 7-string C tuning, which is rare and great because the guitars sound lower and at the same time have higher notes. Another personal favorite is "The Fallen", is NOT related to one of the Metal Academy clans. The melodic riffs are memorable than different, and the solo ends with a clean passage to break the chaos. "Overcome" once again has All That Remains-like clean vocals. The gravelly riffs in the finale "Disillusion" make this song sound like death 'n' roll era Entombed.

This album is definitely strong and never disappointing to any Unearth fans. This is probably their best album besides The Oncoming Storm! While The March was heavier, Darkness in the Light has the impressive familiar melodies the previous album didn't have a lot of. However, once again there isn't anything new Unearth has offered except the clean vocals being used much more often. Despite that, Darkness in the Light would remain a true memory in our recent metalcore lives!

Favorites: "Watch It Burn", "Shadows in the Light", "Arise the War Cry", "The Fallen", "Overcome"

Unearth returned with their 4th album The March, and it has a slightly better idea of what the band should have than In the Eyes of Fire. While their previous album was great and not terrible at all, most songs weren't different or thought-out well, but there were still a few solid songs showing how much the band loves technicality and speed. Some inconsistencies just lose the band's attempt in what they're trying to accomplish.

The band really learned their lesson here! The March is a greater step into powerful speed, fitting breakdowns, and important melodies. Unlike their previous album that focuses on technicality way more than melody, The March keeps the technical aspect simple and allows the melody to flow like a river.

"My Will Be Done" really shows the melody right way. The whammy bar used in the solo must be inspired by Dimebag Darrell, and I think the band toured with Damageplan when that band was still active and Dimebag was still alive. Great tribute! RIP Dimebag. "Hail The Shrine" once again has the band doing an homage to another band, Testament. "Crow Killer" once again has 3-string arpeggios in the 20-second intro, this sounding a bit like some solos from Bleeding Through and Atreyu, two metalcore bands the band has "done a butt-load of touring with".

More influences can be found in "Grave of Opportunity", reminiscent of Trivium in their first 4 albums, especially in the dual harmonies. "We Are Not Anonymous" has a moderately high tempo in the drums over driving bass. That along with the power metal solos, melodic harmonies, and gang choir vocals (performed by Norma Jean members at the time in this song and the previous one), makes the song sound like DragonForce gone metalcore! The title track is enjoyable while being a little predictable.

"Cutman" sounds a bit similar to a few songs earlier in the album while still having epic guitars over average drums and vocals. "The Chosen" shows some tasty leads, and was chosen as part of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters soundtrack, recorded a year before the rest of the album. The ballad-ish "Letting Go" can be considered the negative of the album, though it adds some deep restraint to the album. "Truth or Consequences" has a good intro but it trails off until the nice melodic chorus. The special edition bonus track "Our Callous Skin" is OK, but its hidden track is more interesting. "Silence Caught The Stubborn Tongue" begins with 2 minutes of rising white noise before blasting into the sturdy song itself. I personally think there should've been a piano intro or something during that white noise, just super sayin'.

All in all, The March is slightly more solid and stellar than In the Eyes of Fire, while certainly not overthrowing the Oncoming Storm. It makes up for a lot of what's missing in their third album, though having a few songwriting flaws. I would recommend this for any Unearth fan wanting more of their previous two albums. Unearth shall march on!

Favorites: "My Will Be Done", "Crow Killer", "Grave of Opportunity", "We Are Not Anonymous", "The Chosen"

After the superb The Oncoming Storm, Unearth gained huge mainstream fame in the hardcore and metal communities for releasing what melodic metalcore really sounds like; no sung choruses or pig squeals, just sweet shouting for the vocals, and guitars playing clean technical riffing and a few tapping solos. The breakdowns in almost every song aren't so wonderful, but they are when you get used to enjoying the experience. They're true metalcore ninjas!

One notable thing different in III: In The Eyes of Fire is the production. The previous album triggered incredible production done well by professional producer Adam Dutkiewicz who plays in Killswitch Engage and produced many other metalcore albums. For this album, the producer is the older and more experienced Terry Date, and the band wrote and played lots of songs in the studio. You might hate the different production, but you just need to let it grow on you to enjoy it. The quality is more organic and natural. Although this album doesn't pack a punch as big as the previous album and the vocals are fuzzier, the band still feels like one you are destined to listen to.

"This Glorious Nightmare" is the aptly-named opener that's almost weaker than the other songs and should've been placed later in the album. With that, you know this album is gonna be more collective than concerted. "Giles" is based on Giles Corey, a 17th century farmer who was accused of witchcraft and was crushed to death by stones. That song should've been the album's opener, all fun and metal with enjoyable guitar leads and drum fills. On second thought, "March of the Mutes" (based on the Great Fire of Rome) should've really been the album opener followed by "Giles" and then "This Glorious Nightmare", starting with a dramatic guitar intro before really kicking in killer metalcore action. "Sanctity of Brothers" is another killer metalcore song, this time more thrashy.

"The Devil Has Risen" sounds closer to technical melodeath with impressive intensity. Same with "This Time Was Mine", starting with Nevermore-like riffing. The technical intensity comes in yet again on "Unstoppable", one of only a few Unearth songs to surpass the 5-minute mark, and they're unstoppable throughout that length. Incredible!

"So It Goes" is another song to surpass the 5-minute mark, and it sounds like a sequel to the previous album's "Zombie Autopilot", especially in the lead. Sadly, that "sequel" attempt is just pathetic. The dueling solo is still excellent, though. I definitely prefer "Zombie Autopilot" over that song any day. "Impostors Kingdom" has some killer tech-death power. "Bled Dry" is a little too excessive in the breakdowns, and the last breakdown with the screams of "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!!" sounds a bit like one of the more aggressive songs by Linkin Park in the older Hybrid Theory (EP and album)-era. The only track that's kinda bad and one of the many reasons why this album can never get a perfect 5-star rating is the 3-minute outro "Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos". You might be listening to that track and thinking, "Were those guys drunk?!?" Yes, they actually were drunk off a liquor brand called "Big Bear", and it took a full hour of chaos to record it, hence that track title.

III: In the Eyes of Fire is not terribly bad at all, but it's not really different from The Oncoming Storm. But at least after this album, they would never go the alt-metal "sung choruses" route taken by All That Remains. This album might not be different, but their next album would be in the concept. But for now, enjoy the 44 minutes of chaos!

Favorites: Giles, March of the Mutes, Sanctity of Brothers, Unstoppable, Impostors Kingdom

Now this is a kick-A album! Unearth started as one of those metalcore bands who didn't have the b*lls to make top tier music and lyrics when they released their dreaded debut The Stings of Conscience. However, they completely turned the tables with The Oncoming Storm. It's too good to be considered just good!

2004 has been widely considered one of the greatest years of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, placing this album next to Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache and Lamb of God's Ashes of the Wake, though 2005 was a great year too. The Oncoming Storm is mainly melodic metalcore with elements of melodeath, thrash, and groove metal. The album is infested with good melodic riffs, way better than modern metalcore riffs from most other bands, and Unearth plays them with pride!

The opening track "The Great Dividers" is a tough crusher with great riffs and decent breakdowns. The spoken-ish section in the last minute is awfully odd but it doesn't affect the album's perfect source. "Failure" once again has good riffs, solos, and breakdowns that all never fail, proving the band's melodeath-ish metalcore identity. That's right, there are solos here, unlike in their debut! "This Lying World" has another good solo, and the breakdowns stay solid and strong, unlike their debut album and other bands who overuse them repeatedly. "Black Hearts Now Reign" also has great melodies, plus riffs and breakdowns all over!

Seguing out of the previous track in an acoustic interlude, the next one "Zombie Autopilot" totally rules! The extreme action starts with an awesome melodic riff and dueling leads. The band really shines there, giving them the fame they deserve! As if the song title doesn't tribute to In Flames enough, the song soars with an amazing soaring duel solo that the band was missing out in their debut. However, if there are a couple very small flaws to point out, they would be the spoken section ("all days are lost") and the overused breakdowns breaking part of the melodic flow. Remove those small flaws and that's an awesome extreme metalcore song! "Bloodlust of the Human Condition" is a little excessive in the breakdowns, but still all right. "Lies to Purify" once again has some breakdowns, but with more quality than quantity.

"Endless" is a killer song with a bit of a Hatebreed vibe, re-recorded from the Endless EP. The lyrics are notable for being inspired and inspiring; the first verse lyrics inspired the name of symphonic deathcore band Winds of Plague, and the "ENDLESS FIGHT!!" breakdown was inspired by Endless Fight Records, the label that released their demo EP Above the Fall of Man. The soft interlude "Aries" is a bit out of place, but it's mainly piano and clean guitars with background screaming, which is a nice change of pace from the acoustic folk interludes from melodeath/metalcore bands. "Predetermined Sky" has more of those melodic crushing riffs. "False Idols" sounds too hardcore but a good ending to the standard edition. The 2005 reissue contains two bonus tracks that are both re-recorded songs, "One Step Away" (from The Stings of Conscience) which is better and cleaner than the original but the near-ending leads still annoy me (Why did they keep them?!), and "The Charm" (from the Endless EP) which has great heavy leads.

Overall, The Oncoming Storm is one of the best albums in the metalcore world, and a true pinnacle in the genre and the band. It would be a few years after its release when its heights gets surpassed. This is a must for every metalcore fan, plus some melodeath/thrash fans too. Unearth had achieved their goal to unearth a metalcore storm!

Favorites: The Great Dividers, Black Hearts Now Reign, Zombie Autopilot, Endless, Predetermined Sky

It's so easy for most metalheads to hate hardcore metal bands. Though the metalcore genre has some hardcore cliches, it still has modern metal elements that I enjoy and other should've, such as melodic leads, thrashy passages, and downtuned guitars. Unearth is definitely one of those modern metalcore bands with those elements, along with other bands like Shadows Fall. Unearth really kept their promise to "unearth" impressive modern metalcore albums, but their debut album? BULLSH*T!! The Stings of Conscience shows the band trying to fuel the fire but end up descending into almost fully hardcore garbage, an indecent exposure in modern music!

Don't get me wrong, I like modern hardcore when it's mixed together with metal, that's what metalcore is. But this album has almost every potential hardcore cliche; dissonant riffs, screamo vocals, whiny lyrics, and nauseating drums and bass (the instruments, not the electronic genre). Thank God there are no clean emo passages! How can they have mostly all that and call this metal!? Oh wait, there are some metal elements that are good enough for me to give this album a 3-star rating; harmonized riffs and lead melodies. What would actually make this album metalcore would be actual downtuned thrash solos, which sadly they don't f***ing have here! At least the guitarists try going through greater convincing lengths. The lead melodies actually sound like they're imitating a solo by going in a significant length of time.

Again, I won't go into too much detail in the songs because of their sh*ttiness, but "One Step Away" has some obnoxiously repeated leads in a poor attempt of a hardcore band at the time sounding metal, especially towards the end. The songwriting is more formula-focused and barely catchy, once again making you think twice before ever listening to the album again. I suppose the only good song personally is "Stronghold", a strong indication of the more metal sound the next album would have.

I'm sure other hardcore/metalcore fans have different opinions, but I found barely any unique metal aspects. So please, avoid this sh*t and move on to the rest of Unearth's discography. Well I guess die-hard fans of Unearth and Shadows Fall might give this album a listen, and that's somewhat fine. Don't say I didn't warn you....

Favorites: "Stronghold"

We've already come to the realization that August Burns Red has been prominent in the metalcore scene since 2003. We've expected them with the same usual metalcore formula with a few tweaks from their metalcore past to their more experimental present. Those tweaks are good because who would want to listen to a carbon copy of the same album? But even then, they still use several same ideas with the risk of becoming stale. If the staleness keeps up, they would have lower scores and the audience would dwindle to only the dedicated fans. Fortunately, their previous two albums received higher acclaim and even a Grammy nomination, thanks to the new elements.

Now about their eighth album, Phantom Anthem... Once again, August Burns Red delivers a balance between relentless brutality and sonic melody with this efficient 11-track disc. Having stayed together for a decade and a half, they're still a lean mean metalcore machine! While some boundaries are broken when they are meant to be, the band has captured the metalcore flag and kept defending from all that destructive criticism.

Opening track "King of Sorrow" shows a great example of that, unleashing lethal waves over melodic tides, with inventive furious riff-wrath from the two guitarists. The heavier side continues "Hero of the Half Truth", which is apparently about the national nightmare of Trump ruling America. There are some heavy bass-lines in "The Frost", impressively soaring over the Pit while having an uplifting vibe. "Lifeline" features more progressive guitar riffs and sections, all in a good amount of time.

"Invisible Enemy" starts with a few eastern sitar strums before breaking into a killer breakdown. "Quake" continues the band's perfect mix of melody and brutality, and it has an epic intro. Some songs here show vocalist Jake Luhrs trying clean vocals for the first time, most notably "Coordinates". The song itself has some twangy blues vibes.

"Generations" can kinda be considered an epic, due to its epic vibe, including repetitive choral chants. That's also used in "Float", another emotional uplifting anthem-like metalcore song. The last two tracks really go out in the bang, with the former track, "Dangerous" being just brutal, hard, fast, epic metalcore. The latter track, "Carbon Copy" is not a carbon copy at all! It's totally original, especially the unique lyrics that show concern about preserving the planet for the future.

After the more atmospheric approach to fascinating melody in their previous album Found in Far Away Places, this album Phantom Anthem is filled with pure metalcore power. With all this success and innovation, the music of August Burns Red shall be preserved for many future generations....

Favorites: "King of Sorrow", "The Frost", "Lifeline", "Quake", "Generations", "Dangerous"

As a metalcore fan among other metal genres, I never think August Burns Red is a bad band, but there are some metalheads who dislike them because they were one of those 2000s metalcore bands that sound nearly identical. Well, they want to have their own identity, so what should be noticeable is the newer elements the band keeps adding for every album. Now that the band is more popular than they were 10 years before this album, they can easily be FOUND IN FAR AWAY PLACES!

The seventh August Burns Red album, Found in Far Away Places, should help change your opinion about this band and their genre. With this album, they can run faster than other bands by a mile! Sure they were playing the same old sound of metalcore 5 years prior to this album, but since then they added so much more different stuff that they're practically reinventing metalcore. As much as there are breakdowns, there are much more heavy metal solos and innovative instrumental bridges. In other words, they've balanced out their kind of heavy with a different kind of heavy.

The opening track "The Wake" crashes open the gateway to listeners' ears, with wild chaos reminiscent of the band's older material. That's the heaviest song in the album and kind of a dirty trick for people who are tired of the heaviness. However, "Martyr" is more melodic, having a seamless atmospheric break in the middle with violin fitting flawlessly with the clean guitar. One of the band's more mainstream songs is "Identity", a modern metalcore song with a twangy classic surf rock bridge that escalates into a solo. "Separating the Seas" is the third song in a row to have a unique bridge; near the 2-minute mark, it switches takes a turn into Middle Eastern chamber folk mixed with Latin flamenco-inspired guitar and violin.

"Ghosts" starts with what almost sounds like the intro to one of the slower In Flames songs. But the song itself is interesting with clean vocals by Jeremy McKinnon from A Day to Remember, balancing out the melody with the mood that haunts you as much as ghosts. "Majoring in the Minors" really majors in emotionally charged minor chords. Then there's another country-like dark folk hoedown. Some of the band's more progressive elements can be heard in "Everlasting Ending", especially in the guest guitar solo by Paul Waggoner from Between the Buried and Me. Some of the more progressive heaviness is heard in "Broken Promises". Same thing with "Blackwood".

In the song "Twenty-One Grams", some of the more impressive lyrics can be heard about doubts in everyone's beliefs. The closing anthem "Vanguard" really blends the stoner metal of Torche with the electronic rock of Muse in the instrumentation. With that kind of instrumentation, we can hear more of the structure. This is an impressive track with no lyrical pattern to follow. A great cathartic way to end the album!

The member of the band who deserves the most praise is J.B. Brubaker, whose guitar skills and songwriting really paid off. Many of his solos balance out the metalcore-plaguing Meshuggah-like breakdowns. He should be recognized by many heavy/progressive/metalcore fans as a true metalcore mastermind. Hail Brubaker!

Favorites: "The Wake", "Martyr", "Identity", "Ghosts", "Everlasting Ending", "Vanguard"

The sixth August Burns Red album (including Sleddin' Hill) really has a unique style from start to finish. Rescue & Restore is a continuation of the band's at the time decade-long experience. They've been clearly solidified as one of the more popular bands of metalcore and the metal industry with this 11-track powerhouse.

Rescue & Restore is... well it's like when you're training for a sprint; you have to go fast all the way and keep the momentum. DON'T SLOW DOWN!!! Everything's put into place, including the technical guitars, lightning-speed drums, and solid screaming vocals.

The opening track "Provision" is a clear example of that instrumentation, one of the heaviest and most popular songs on the album! The enjoyable opening makes the song an honest preview to the album's technicality. "Treatment" has some of the greatest twists of the album, first starting with the C minor key signature heard constantly in previous albums, then at the last minute switching to its exact opposite in the key signature wheel, F-sharp minor. "Spirit Breaker" starts with an intro similar to some Darkest Hour song intros but with rising and falling strings before starting the standard August Burns Red attack. That song also has a soft break with emotive spoken reading.

"Count It All as Lost" continues the twists along with the devastating breakdowns and aggressive guitars. Same thing with "Sincerity", which has cool gang vocals, escalating compositions, and an insincere breakdown. Metalcore sensibilities are compounded in frantic guitars and thunderous drums, maintaining the striking emotion within. The most interesting track in the album is "Creative Captivity", which does not have a lot of lyrics, but more experimentation than expectations. It starts with an eastern-like intro then later ends with a happy horn section. "Fault Line" is a song that should've been in Leveler because of the title and sound. The song itself shows their sound branching out farther than ever with different styles. They would go from crushing breakdown for one moment then an enjoyable melody the next.

The next track "Beauty in Tragedy" would really please the live crowd, putting existential dilemmas into dark melodic metalcore. "Animals" also has heartfelt lyrics of thoughtful, emphatic faith, yet it has more torrential mathcore influences similar to the Dillinger Escape Plan. There's also a chugging rhythm along with an impressive technical solo, showing an organic evolution in their sound. "Echoes" displays a broad sweeping sound of intimacy and has one of the memorable outros ever done by August Burns Red. That should've been the end of the album, but NOPE!! We still have "The First Step", which marks the true chaotic ending to this album.

Each song is filled with pounding music and fresh lyrics. The album is produced and engineered in flawless beauty. Yet another album that helps August Burns Red stay in their throne. Long live the Christian metalcore kings!

Favorites: "Provision", "Spirit Breaker", "Sincerity", "Creative Captivity", "Beauty in Tragedy", "Echoes"

LOL, it's only two months before Christmas and I'm writing review about a Christmas album! August Burns Red had released a few Christmas instrumentals before including their notable epic metalcore version of "Carol of the Bells" (Eat your heart out, Trans-Siberian Orchestra!!). After their fourth album Leveler, I'm guessing vocalist Jake Luhrs wanted his vocal chords to rest. So the band made their first ever mostly instrumental Christmas record with a few of the Christmas songs the band released in the past, including "Carol of the Bells", remastered and revised. Any August Burns Red fan would be thrilled, and anyone looking for Christmas metal would be pleased. This is... Sleddin' Hill: A Holiday Album!

August Burns Red brings a lot of new elements into their hardcore/metalcore table, probably even some stronger punk vibes while still staying metal. Of the 13 tracks in the standard edition, 11 are traditional Christmas classics while the other two are original instrumentals. Musically, the band continues to mix punk guitar with metal breakdowns, along with shredding soloing in tune of the melody of each song. The best thing is, they're not just rock versions of old songs; the band shows some of their best creativity by adding many different memorable influences into each song.

I don't really go full song detail on cover albums but there are still a few songs worth mentioning. The opening track, "Flurries" is one of the two original tracks in this album. It really fits in both the band's metalcore sound and the Christmas spirit with a bell-chiming breakdown. Even "Frosty the Snowman" ends up having some blast beat action! That might not be totally enjoyable as a Christmas song, but it really brings the usual August Burns Red fanfare. "Sleigh Ride" is one of the most complex songs by the album and even the band, blending many different genres flawlessly. It builds up from a slow rock feel to a more hardcore punk pace. Then there's a jazzy piano/horn section before breaking into a metalcore breakdown. Then it heads through the ending MxPx style. A worthwhile Christmas metal cover! "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" is one of the best songs on the album, an epic extreme Christmas metal cover with more blast beats.

"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" is the only song in the album with vocals. The original song is a fun one to sing, so I guess the band wanted to add vocals by having all members perform gang vocals - "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose (like a light bulb!)" The other original track, the title track has some traditional instrumentation like acoustic guitar, banjo, and fiddle for a real American Christmas vibe before adding the distorted guitars. And there are some honorable mentions like the epic "Carol of the Bells" and the terrific closer "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", but I have enough mentioning Christmas in October (as of writing this).

Now before I come to the conclusion of this review, I'd like to show a short story I've written around last Christmas, based on this entire album. I'm hoping for someone to take my story and turn it into a 50-minute film with the entire album used as its visual soundtrack realization (just like that film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, based on Discovery by Daft Punk). Anyway, here's my story - August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin' Hill - the Movie:

Flurries - 'Twas the day before Christmas 2002.. In the town of Metalvania, the citizens all love heavy metal so much that the music is part of celebrating Christmas, snow flurries occur signifying that the holidays are coming near, bring excitement to everyone in the town. A young 17-year-old guy named Matt has always dreamed of being a professional metal drummer, but everyone else is occupied in their own metal bands.

Frosty the Snowman - Matt decides to build 4 snowmen to help start his own band. With the power of his magic metal drums, he brings the snowmen to life and they all have their own instruments (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, vocals). Matt and his snowman band practice playing some songs ("Frosty the Snowman").

Sleigh Ride - After all that practicing, Matt and his snowman band have a sled race down a hill, with the snowmen using Matt's 4 spare sleds. At the base of the hill, there's Metal Claus next to his sleigh and herd of 8 reindeer. Metal Claus is like Santa Claus but he hands out metal gifts. Metal Claus asks Matt what he would like for Christmas, and Matt wishes for new drums to impress people enough to form a real band.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman - Suddenly, the Jazz Grinch shows up, riding a spare sleigh he stole from Metal Claus. The Jazz Grinch is the villain of the story who wants to kidnap Metal Claus, steal all the metal decorations and presents, and hypnotize the citizens of Metalvania to listen to smooth jazz. Matt and his snowman band start a battle against the Jazz Grinch with snowballs and snow instruments, but the snowmen soon retreat because of the Jazz Grinch threatening to use a flamethrower on them. The Jazz Grinch also has a hypno-blaster to do the hypnotizing, but Matt dodges the laser bullet shot from the blaster. However, that doesn't stop the Jazz Grinch from kidnapping Metal Claus and fulfilling his mission to steal Christmas from Metalvania.

Jingle Bells - Matt and his snowman band gather together to plan out how they're going to save Metal Claus and stop the Jazz Grinch. They start tricking out Metal Claus' sleigh to make it big enough to fit them all and add in rocket engines to make it fly higher and farther than ever before.

Oh Holy Night - The sun begins to set and Matt and his snowman band have just all night for their mission to save Christmas. After a test run, riding down a hill with Metal Claus' rocket-powered sleigh and reindeer and flying all over the city, they decide that they need more reindeer and a much higher hill.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Matt and his snowman band travel with their sleigh and 8 reindeer to a deep forest past the border of Metalvania to find 8 more reindeer. They decide to play a song they've been practicing to attract some reindeer ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"). Long story short, it works! They now have the 8 more reindeer they need.

Sleddin' Hill - Matt and his snowman band travel with their sleigh and 16 reindeer beyond the deep forest to Sleddin' Hill, a super high mountain tall enough for all the citizens of Metalvania to see, half the size of Mount Everest! With the strength of 16 reindeer, they pull the sleigh with Matt and his snowmen riding it and climb up the high mountain faster than a train. Once they reach the top, they ride down the mountain and a ramp at the base launches them into the sky. The rocket engines activate and away they fly!

Little Drummer Boy - During the flight, Matt decides to play a tin drum he has brought along for the ride, and his snowman band join in, playing their respective instruments ("Little Drummer Boy").

Winter Wonderland - Soon, they reach their destination, a distant uncharted island in the middle of the ocean, Jazzpit Island, where the Jazz Grinch lives in a lair on top of another high mountain. Matt and his snowman band wander around the snowy base of the mountain, gathering enough snow to make weapons like snow-swords, snowball blasters, and snow grenades.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Matt now has an army of 4 snowmen and 16 reindeer, all wielding snow weapons. All ready for battle, they march up the path to the Jazz Grinch's mountain, just in time to see the Jazz Grinch getting ready to dump Metal Claus and all the stolen metal presents and decorations off a cliff high above the shallow rocky shores, but Matt stops him before he could get the chance, and they both do some emotional talking. The Jazz Grinch explains that he wants to rid the world of heavy metal because he really can't stand that kind of music and thinks it's nothing but noise, and Matt says that it is just a music genre and just because the Jazz Grinch doesn't like metal, doesn't mean he can just take it all away. However, the Jazz Grinch doesn't care, so Matt prepared his army for the big battle with a rousing speech.

Carol of the Bells - The duel between Matt's army and the Jazz Grinch begins! The snowmen and the reindeer attack with their snow weapons, but the Jazz Grinch uses his flamethrower to melt the snowmen and their weapons, and uses his hypno-blaster to hypnotize the reindeer to chase Matt, but Matt outruns them, unties Metal Claus, and takes him and the stolen decorations and presents to the sleigh. Soon, Matt and the Jazz Grinch are cornered by Matt's hypnotized reindeer at the edge of the cliff. The Jazz Grinch prepares to use his flamethrower on the army, but Matt, not wanting the reindeer to get burned, snatches and throws the flamethrower and hypno-blaster over the cliff. The reindeer gets closer until Matt and the Jazz Grinch slip and fall off the cliff. At the same time, the Jazz Grinch's weapons hit the ground and break, undoing the hypnosis and turning the reindeer and the Metalvania citizens back to normal. The reindeer notice Matt and the Jazz Grinch falling, so Metal Claus flies his sleigh and the reindeer off the mountain and rescues them. As they all fly home, the Jazz Grinch decides that he should make amends to what he did wrong.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Once the team returns to Metalvania on Christmas morning, the Jazz Grinch returns all the stolen stuff to the metalhead citizens, admits his theft and apologizes. Matt invites him to a special Christmas party happening later that night. The party includes an all-you-can-eat buffet with food including a roast beast, and Matt has a live performance with a real human band that would later be August Burns Red ("We Wish You a Merry Christmas"). And the story ends with a nice little toast from the party-enjoying Jazz Grinch..

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy - First end credits song.

Joy to the World - Second end credits song.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this long Christmas story! If any of you feel like turning all this into an actual film with the soundtrack (as mentioned above), please do so and credit me for the idea and credit August Burns Red for the soundtrack. Now back to the review... I would really recommend this for August Burns Red fans and people wanting to find a nice mix of Christmas and metalcore. If you're NOT a metal fan, then I would say at least half of it would be enjoyable for you because of Christmas music, and the other half not so much. Some sections may be heavier, but the album is mostly fun Christmas instrumentals enjoyable for the holiday spirit. To be honest, I kinda thought the album would be half instrumental, half vocals, like some Trans-Siberian Orchestra albums. Well even so, this album still has a lot that I hoped for. Sleddin' Hill is definitely worth the holiday season! 'Tis the metalcore album to be jolly....

Favorites: "Flurries", "Sleigh Ride", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Sleddin' Hill", "Carol of the Bells"

Let's look back at August Burns Red from the beginning to their fourth album. The band started their journey with their debut Thrill Seeker, a long climb up the metalcore mountain with nothing too similarly identical. After their chaotic debut, the band continuing ascending the metalcore mountain, finding sturdier footing on the jagged embrace of Thrill Seeker and Messengers before they reach the summit balanced with the smooth color-sprouting perfection of Constellations. But there's an undiscovered plateau waiting to be found, and that is...Leveler!

The fourth album Leveler continues the band's hype that had already been building for a couple years. Anyone expecting an August Burns Red album would find some moments of dazing surprises. August Burns Red isn't exactly a typical metal band. Since their brutal 2005 debut, they've gained more experimentation in each consecutive release. The band doesn't care about the expectations. They just don't want to do the same album all over again!

"Empire" starts in a 7/8 time signature, which can really throw you off, whether you're listening to it or performing it. It's a standard August Burns Red song that should've been in their previous album Constellations, specifically right after "Meddler" because it picks up where "Meddler" left off. Other than that, a good fast start to this album. "Internal Cannon" starts as another standard August Burns Red song. Then something comes in that really stands out; a Latin flamenco-influenced section! That's the first part of the diversity to be heard throughout the album. Then after a short soft country-influenced interlude with cowbell, there's a great heavy metal solo!! "Divisions" is one of my favorites in the album, with powerful technical drumming in the beginning. It has a really heavy tone with deep lyrics as vocalist Jake Luhrs keeps screaming, "I threw you away, I failed you". The part between the crescendo and the breakdown reminds me of their 2007 album Messengers. "Cutting the Ties" starts with a killer lead guitar riff, then the band starts smashing through the chaos before it gets slow and melodic in unexpected diversity. Then near the 3-minute mark, it's back to kick-A full gear.

"Pangaea" starts as another powerful song. Drummer Matt Greiner lays a nice, fast drum track here. It's not my total favorite drumming, but it really fits the song. The song also has a great solo that would qualify as one of the 3 great solos of the album. "Carpe Diem" is another one of my favorite songs of the album. It stands out as a nice follow-up from the previous track. It's slower than most other August Burns Red songs except "Meridian" from Constellations, both of those songs each being the slowest and longest song in one of their albums. This song is far more superior than "Meridian" having much more lyrics with vocals differentiating between Luhrs' shouts and bassist Dustin Davidson's higher screams. Too bad that awesome diverse song ends too abruptly. "40 Nights" is another powerful song with killer bass. If you think that's incredible, get a load of this next song...

"Salt & Light" is a song to be remembered for years to come, showing how all members of the band have more musical talent than in the past, especially Dustin's bass work. I'm a huge fan of the next track, "Poor Millionaire" which has some of the best drumming of this album. The band really raises the volume in the lyrics higher than rap. Yeah, who needs rap when you have this song for lyrical greatness? It's also one of the heaviest songs of the album with many different elements mixed into the song's consistent heaviness. And it ends with a brutal breakdown flashing back to Thrill Seeker, as Luhrs yells, "Where is the life in the life you live?!" The interlude "1/16/2011" was dedicated to a few Manheim high school boys who were killed in a car accident. The tribute continues when the interlude segues to "Boys of Fall", another heavy song. Crazy guitars, audible bass, nice technical drumming, epic soloing, and darker vocals, all making it another standard August Burns Red song. The title track starts with an awesome drum intro, and it's a great leveling ending to this album. Killer drums, bass, and guitars, making it an epic song despite not being an epic. There are heavy breakdowns worth headbanging. This proves that August Burns Red are more than just a metalcore band, heading in an almost progressive direction.

Since the hot chaotic debut Thrill Seeker, it took the band almost 6 years to sword-smith the diverse gem that is Leveler. This album has some surprises you won't see coming, but there's never any reason to complain about this album. If you need music that would better suit you heavier taste, there are more metal options to explore. If you're up to a huge supply of breakdowns, then I'd recommend Messengers or, if you want a more colorful, warped, flawless album produced by Jason Suecof, Leveler. Every member of the band continues improving with new and old sounds, and it makes me very interested in the band and their later albums. More metalcore greatness continues as the band goes on....

Favorites: Internal Cannon, Divisions, Salt and Light, Poor Millionaire, Boys of Fall, Leveler

August Burns Red is never like any band who wants to change their sound after a couple albums. This band prefers to keep their basic metalcore intact with some fine-tuning. That's good because making a different mix of sounds isn't always a good idea. These peanut butter M&Ms rather not be strawberry-infused!

With their third album Constellations, August Burns Red keeps going with their powerful signatures and sweeping. Does this band believe in Jesus? Yes! Do they believe in breakdowns? ABSOLUTELY!! You'll find more Christian metalcore songs with breakdowns in Constellations.

"Thirty and Seven" kicks off the brutal fury, with vocalist Jake Luhrs' searing vocals, and the two guitarists JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler shredding before a devastating breakdown. I sense a bit of a DragonForce influence there! "Existence" is a weaker song that doesn't affect the rest of the album, but at least it's elevated by another one of their uncommon guitar solos. "Ocean of Apathy" really stands out with layered rhythms and subtle complexity in this otherwise simple brutality.

"White Washed" is just filled with breakdowns! This is followed by "Marianas Trench" which starts with a gentle intro, before dropping into some more riffs interjected into breakdowns in a consistent pace. The next track, "The Escape Artist" ends with a delicate piano outro, which even though it doesn't totally suit them, it doesn't dwindle the band's fury needed for the next song. "Indonesia" is my favorite song on this album and probably the band. It is dedicated to David Clapper, drummer Matt Greiner's second cousin, who was a missionary killed in a plane crash in Indonesia. There's a lot of sweeping and breakdowns, plus a guest clean vocal appearance by Tommy Rogers from Between the Buried and Me. "Paradox" has some weaving guitar lines.

"Meridian" is still awesome, but the weakest track of the album. It's just a draggy 6-minute instrumental...well, not entirely instrumental. In the middle of the song, Jake Luhrs says and shouts some of Jeremiah's quotes. "Rationalist" picks up the riveting guitar work from the two guitarists. "Meddler" is an epic-sounding metalcore song with lyrics of hopeless rationalism. However, the 5-minute closer "Crusades" is a much better epic than "Meridian", finding an equal balance between fast and slow. After some insane intensity, there's a small blues break that builds up into an epic final verse. That marks the band's third album in a row to end on a perfect note.

Jake Luhrs may not have the most exceptional vocal range, but on each track, he unleashes an energy that can't be matched. Each band member can really master their ability while doing the same stuff they were doing in their previous two albums. The lyrical themes of drowning in isolation are vague and can be interpreted. While people think Constellations is redundant, it sounds consistent to me. This album would bring more current followers than newcomers. It is the band's pinnacle. Metalcore shall rule!

Favorites: Thirty and Seven, Ocean of Apathy, White Washed, Indonesia, Meddler, Crusades

Rising from a rookie act to a metalcore band liked by thousands of metalheads worldwide, August Burns Red was already almost reaching a higher level of fame with their debut Thrill Seeker. Because of that, the band had much higher confidence to start the next chapter of the metalcore legacy...

Messengers is a satisfying album that surpasses the standard expectations from the band's 2005 debut. The musicianship from each member of the band is just so incredibly phenomenal! It makes them stand out among other bands that are less elite in the genre. Pretty much every song in this album has the signature part of the metalcore arsenal; technical breakdowns in an intricate compound with yelling/screaming vocals, all in a heavy fast sequence with songs being the average song length being around 4 minutes.

"The Truth of a Liar" opens with a small throwback to the past; a Black Sabbath-style riff with a vintage metal scream. After that, the band stays with their present-day sound for the rest of that song and the album. There's some blazing drumming in "Up Against the Ropes", with furious rolls and cymbal patterns. "Back Burner" is a heavy song about the emptiness of the world.

The over 5-minute "The Blinding Light" starts with a brief atmospheric opening before crashing into a heavy verse. After a breakdown, clean guitar work comes out in a slower pace. Then there's another drastically better breakdown! Lots of varying passages to keep you waiting for the next twist or at least the next song. "Composure" is one of the band's most popular songs, with lyrics about keeping yourself together and carrying on. The song itself features an exciting headbanging breakdown with dual guitar harmony. The intro of "Vital Signs" has a clear bass line over the dual harmony before being lost again in the heavy drums. "The Eleventh Hour" is lyrically about handling the truth. That song opens with a drum fill, and rolls in with more fills and blast beats with great double-pedaling and cymbals. It works flawlessly with the lead/rhythm work!

There's another rare metal solo in "The Balance" which fits the metal and hardcore sides into an absolutely perfect balance. The relentless song "Black Sheep" has a high-level amount of tempo changes and breakdowns. "An American Dream" is an OK song, but it helps fulfill the band's American metalcore dream. The final track, "Redemption" continues the tradition of ending the album with a religious metalcore epic. The melodic guitars mixed with brutal blast beats and vocals unleash a balanced atmosphere. After countless sections and riffs, it all comes down to a slower emotional passage with what sounds like a screamed honest prayer to God, “Lord show me the way, As I give myself to you, Never let me go, Hold me with your everlasting love, Be my strength, Be my voice, Be my glory, Set me free”. An incredible perfect moment to end the album! Well, not entirely perfect; the song ends abruptly in the middle of the fade-out, but that's fixed in the 2018 remixed version.

Despite small complaints from a few of the more metal listeners, the sophomore August Burns Red album Messengers clearly establishes them as a powerful modern metalcore archetype. God bless the kings of modern Christian metalcore!

Favorites: The Truth of a Liar, The Blinding Light, Composure, The Eleventh Hour, The Balance, Redemption

Metalcore is a form of music which even though it makes you choose whether you want to stay in the metal side or the hardcore side (I'm still on the metal side), it has enslaved many parts of the world from America to England and other countries since the dawn of the new millennium. The music is never outlawed, despite lyrics of suffering, injustice, war, discontent, freedom, and more importantly, rebellion, hence this genre's clan The Revolution! August Burns Red is another band that marches along the course of The Revolution.

With their thrilling debut Thrill Seeker, the band has a sweet blend of melody and brutality with everything bands like Zao, Norma Jean, and even Between the Buried and Me don't quite have. Headbanging groove riffs scattered through metalcore fit well in the band's nice variety of sound, unleashing a sonic assault to maintain.

The album comes in a brutal start with the blazing "Your Suburbia is in Ruins". The opening has a catchy riff and fast drums, leading into an earth-shattering breakdown. That's a fast song with interesting riffs that are never cliche. Then the next track is the melodic but still heavy "Speech Impediment". One of the stronger tracks, "Endorphins" shines in with a cool breakdown with background gang vocals near the midway point.

"Too Late for Roses" starts off with the spectacular riffing and drumming that would become a standard part of August Burns Red, but at the one-minute mark, that's when the song becomes a brilliant endeavor. The slow breakdown of overwhelming intensity gives the song more touch and feeling. "Barbarian" is one of the best songs in this album. With some catchy riff-wrath and a rare metal solo, that song definitely has some of the band's best talent. It is a good song to start for anyone trying metal for the first time. "The Reflective Property" can be considered a metalcore call to arms. "A Wish Full of Dreams" is a great well-written song with nice chord progression. That song, along with "Consumer", both have more stellar riffing, drumming, and breakdowns.

The last 3 tracks show a slower side, starting with the mid-paced "A Shot Below the Belt". The band shows their influences from Metallica instrumentals with their own melodic interlude, "Eve of the End". A perfect lead-in to the strong apocalyptic epic, "The Seventh Trumpet", which I'm guessing they were influenced by old-school Avenged Sevenfold because of that song title. At 8 minutes, it is the longest track of the album and still remains the band's longest song. The lyrics show the band's Christianity, written about the rapture, with metaphors about the blood moon, stars falling, and the incoming end of the world, a prime example being this lyric, "I take one last look at the moon and the stars begin to fall..." There's 5 minutes of brutal guitars and finally a melodic yet heavy passage that goes on until the end. That song is a total standout and my favorite song of the album, an epic progressive song that sounds like something Meshuggah could've done. A perfect dramatic album ending!

Strong music, potential lyrics, good debut, STRONG debut. Enough said....

Favorites: Your Suburbia is in Ruins, Too Late for Roses, Barbarian, A Wish Full of Dreams, Consumer, The Seventh Trumpet

Many progressive metal bands have appeared in my mind as favorites over the years. First there was Dream Theater, then there was Pain of Salvation, along with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and when I switched to the more extreme progressive metal, Between the Buried and Me. Then a year and a half before this review came Ne Obliviscaris, which soon became a progressive metal revelation! They have all the skill, emotion, creativity and concept you can wish for. You want all of that? You got it right here!

Some progressive purists might put the band down for having their public displays for attention, such as their name, the nude (but amazing) cover art, twisted song titles, and the "out of pattern" violin. However, what lies beneath is the pure material that proves all of that isn't for show. Although I didn't expect much when I first discovered this band, when I went deep into this album, I found lots of better things in there. No way can anyone complain about the technical professionalism, nor the storm of instrumental musical skill. Everything in a perfect balance. Face the facts, these guys are absolute geniuses in flawless songwriting and interpretation.

The opening suite "Libera" begins with the main first part, "Saturnine Spheres", and what you're gonna witness is an extreme progressive metal symphony unleashing savage guitar riffs, fabulous bass, raw death growls, soft clean vocals, mellow violin, and a bit of acoustic guitar playing. The blast beats are merciless and the time patterns keep transitioning throughout the almost 10-minute length of this part. Daniel Presland is practically a drum god with his storming beastly power. The suite itself has a diverse dose of everything this album has, standing out in this majestic creation! Extreme elements and progressive themes come at the right moments. This is indeed an epic extreme progressive metal song with more than just loud adrenaline. Things quiet down with the acoustic/violin second part, "Ascent of Burning Moths".

"Intra Venus" is a great attention-seeker that has the best dueling vocal moment at the end. The next track "Eyrie" starts a little eerie, but gets more uplifting and has the best of Tim Charles' violins and vocals. This song can almost be considered an extreme progressive metal ballad. There's a blend of ethereal beauty and bad-a** power coming from that screaming violin.

And now it's on to the final two-part title suite! The first part, "And Within the Void We Are Breathless" is where everything makes more sense. The ultra-heavy apocalypse commences with a blazing aura. Xenoyr has some of the wildest growls and screams while Tim Charles plays his violin with all his might while doing some majestic Fabio Lione-like singing. But it's the second part "As Embers Dance in Our Eyes" that primarily fires up heavier elements. The atmosphere is just explosive! And things close out perfectly with an epic riff, an amazing solo, and the screaming last lyrics of life put in the past, "We are the ones that were what once was".

So that epic experience all happened in just 46 minutes. How in the world did the band managed to cram it in a short amount of time and still play it out smoothly? That's quite a mystery. And the experience is worth repeating. Ne Obliviscaris shall never be forgotten!

Favorites: All, but my #1 favorite is the full suite "Libera".

There are so many awesome progressive metal bands I can listen to, but Ne Obliviscaris tops most of them off! And I'm not sure if any of those other progressive metal bands can pull off something as glorious as Portal of I, yet we have another grand masterpiece from Ne Obliviscaris, Citadel.

While this album isn't as epic as Portal of I (but a close second) and it's only two thirds of that album length, this one of those breathtaking albums I would always be in a mood for. The album has 3 long monolithic songs, but the intro and outros are separated as interlude tracks. I think listening to each song as a full suite with the intro and outros connected to their respective suites would give the songs larger quality than quantity. This album is stunning enough to make up for that separation!

With those first few piano notes drawing you in, the first part of "Painters of the Tempest", "Wyrmholes" is an amazing soft overture. Slow haunting piano gets surrounded by symphonic elements for a dark mysterious mood, along with a violin screeching like fingernails scratching a chalkboard. That haunting intro goes on for 3 minutes. Then the chaos is unleashed with part 2 of "Painters of the Tempest", "Triptych Lux". Even though the entire suite is 23 minutes long, this part would still be Ne Obliviscaris' longest song at 16 and a half minutes! This is perhaps my favorite Ne Obliviscaris song even though it's NOT in Portal of I. There are so many brilliant ideas! This part is actually is split into 3 smaller movements. The first movement, "Creator" has a couple transitions between fast storms and soft melodies. Then the second movement "Cynosure" is more acoustic/violin oriented, unlike the overpowering guitars in the other two movements. The avant-garde jazz themes are more apparent with only clean vocals and mid-tempo melodic grooves, until it builds back up to a crescendo of metal and growls. The last movement "Curator" is back to some of the most intense powerful chaos of the album until a nice ethereal ending. The third part, "Reveries from the Stained Glass Womb" is a beautiful outro of colorful chords and excellent melodies.

The second suite is "Pyrrhic", which is only a single-part song. It's not as epic as the other two suites but it still fits the godly skills of Ne Obliviscaris. The drums are beyond incredible with seamless transitions and perfect rhythms in impressive passages. The rhythm riffing and harsh vocals give the song a violent atmosphere, while the lead melodies and violin give the atmosphere a sense of despair. After all that epic chaos, there's a quiet section with just soft marching drums and a bit of guitar. Then it carries on through an excellent transition to an emotional ending of beautiful screaming violins atop growling/screaming vocals.

Finally, we have one more suite, "Devour Me, Colossus", the first part "Blackholes" starting off with a brutal riff and sinister growls give the song an evil atmosphere. Then you get an unexpected hit by one of the most brilliant drum grooves ever alongside emotional clean vocals and crazy riff-wrath. The bass draws you in further. Then all of the members unleash their instrument power at once with overwhelming section at once before transitioning to another quiet acoustic/violin section. The amazing violin solo soon gives in to more great clean vocals and some nice bass work... Then BOOM!! The brilliant chaos explodes in before quieting down again for that groovy bass riff. Soon the instrument layers of riffing and drumming build up with a godly guitar solo. And finally all of the intense instrument power is unleashed together with the (male) beauty and the beast vocals before ending in joy and sorrow. The second part, "Contortions" is an outro with the same format as the album intro, thereby closing the cycle.

Citadel has an absolutely brilliant and satisfying mix of epic and extreme. The suites are all bombastic with emotional purpose. Ne Obliviscaris has made albums that are some of the best progressive metal experiences ever and I would totally recommend this to any extreme/progressive metalhead. Forget not!

Favorites: All, but my #1 favorite is the full suite "Painters of the Tempest".

Still going through The Infinite clan challenge, I've just reached Ne Obliviscaris, one of the most epic extreme progressive bands in my playlist, possibly in the world! This band has everything including "(male) Beauty and the Beast" vocals, brilliant guitars, creative drums, groovy melodic bass, and top-notch violin. It's hard to say exactly what style they play, but I say it's a mix of mixes; neo-classical death metal, jazz-fused black metal, avant-garde thrash metal, and melodic flamenco metal.

And wow! Just WOW!! What an album this is! First part of Ne Obliviscaris' discography, and they absolutely nailed it! This album, along with the band's other material, clearly establishes that Ne Obliviscaris is one of my favorite progressive metal bands of all time.

"Tapestry of the Starless Abstract" starts the album in a vicious bang, 40 seconds of blasting black metal. Then things start calming down a little with some violin plucking. After those first 4 minutes of progressive/black metal greatness, there's a quick violin solo (if another progressive metal band did a cover of this song, that would probably be keyboards instead), and a long almost 3-minute acoustic section in the middle with more violin. Then the systematic chaos continues for the last 5 minutes. "Xenoflux" has a perfect blend of loud and emotional, especially in its climax that comes to a sudden stop. "Of the Leper Butterflies" is a shorter song (6 minutes) that has a good acoustic intro before heading into dynamic chaos.

The title of this track, "Forget Not" is the English translation for Ne Obliviscaris. The first half is a long quiet atmospheric passage that tries to build up to heaviness but ends up falling back down. Then in a second attempt, it gets up much higher and closer to metal, and by the midway point, it made it! The violin stops and let the instrumentation and vocals do their work for the rest of this song. Another clever song title, "And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope" shows what the music is about. beautifully sinister words over fantastic music that make time fly for like the third 12-minute epic this album has.

"As Icicles Fall" once again has a great balance of epic and extreme, plus a violin solo switching into a Dream Theater-like guitar solo. "Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise" is another awesome song that continues that balance. When the song reaches the last 3 minutes, the heaviness is over. There's nothing left but ambient ambiance and an operatic voice that rises to a layered choir alongside a bit more violin. Then pink noise static fades in before stopping abruptly... TOO abruptly, but I will let it slide.

This is definitely one of my favorite progressive metal albums ever with the best and most consistent songwriting. This album flows like a captivating emotional roller-coaster. The production is appropriately clean. I'm saying, completely certainly, that this is a masterpiece you just gotta enjoy. Do not forget this album!

Favorites: All, but my #1 favorite is "Forget Not".

Somewhere in Southern Europe lies a small land between borders, a great distance away from wherever you live but smaller than your country's average state... Andorra! And over there is one group who has taken both eastern philosophy and western-cultural music in a great attempt to let people about Andorra's existence, and that is... melo-deathly progressive metal band Persefone! Since their rise to prominence in the mid-2000s, they've phased through different trends while their sound stays put. Their influences pack quite a punch with the hard Gojira, the technical Dream Theater, and the eclectic Threshold, all in unique otherworldly lyrics. Aathma continues their journey!

The band's spiritual philosophy continues from their previous album as they maintain their atmosphere-flavored extreme impact that has kinda put them in rivalry against the Australian Ne Obliviscaris (friendly rivals, of course, Ne Obliviscaris' Tim Charles would perform guest vocals and violin in a special single later), yet there's the slight addition of traditional prog ala Dream Theater. Persefone's previous two albums established their motive of songs ranging one-minute interludes to 10-minute epic. For this album though, they've spiced it up by including a 4-part 20-minute epic that we'll talk about later. The esoteric amount of subjects is in strong symmetry with the clean and unclean vocals, plus a small bit of robotic vocals from a certain Cynic vocalist. Besides that, Dream Theater's John Petrucci would be proud of the technical guitar twists here.

In "An Infinitesimal Spark", the first part of the intro, digital narration by said Cynic vocalist, Paul Masvidal makes the intro one of the most amazing ever, for ideal mood. The second part of the intro, "One of Many" is where the progressive riffing kicks off, and we're not in the heavier songs yet! The first actual song starts when you've confined yourself in a state of unawareness within the dark "Prison Skin" that you refuse to be held captive in. You start to struggle to find your way through without any distracting assaults holding you back, before getting to positive power... The pummeling "Spirals Within Thy Being" encourages you to battle through harsh vocals and rhythms.

The climatic break "Cosmic Walkers" offers you to rest after that battle before you continue your journey. "No Faced Mindless" hits you with The Faceless-like progressive death metal mixed with the clean beauty of trad-prog metal bands like Dream Theater. Paul Masvidal returns once more with his cyber chanting and additional guitar in "Living Waves", another 5-minute technical part of the journey.

The spacey soundscape continues in one more instrumental, "Vacuum". The nearly 10-minute "Stillness is Timeless" continues the fight between the two split personalities that are the clean vocals and the harsh vocals. There's more impressive soloing there. To end this towering album is the 20-minute closing title epic, split into 4 parts. "Universal Oneness" jazzes up the heavy guitar groove. "Spiritual Bliss" starts as a slow ballad with narration by Merethe Soltvedt (best known from a few songs by Two Steps From Hell) before more dynamic riffs and shredding solos come in. "One with the Light" hits heavier with guitars by Øystein Landsverk who recently left Leprous. And finally, "Many of One" ends it all as a closing ballad with Soltvedt's serene singing.

Wow, what a vast daunting task Persefone has taken into making Aathma, packing loads of great content into an incredible mind-trip, all in conceptual flow. While they've done this approach since their 2009 album Shin-Ken, the greatness has never hugely worn off. Aathma marks probably the band's most ambitious album yet, though it probably wouldn't be a long-run classic as much as Spiritual Migration with some hooks being overly symmetrical. Nonetheless, any fan of Persefone should get Aathma, and probably start with an earlier album if they're newcomers. It has been Persefone's quest to expand their horizons, and they have a promising path to please the Earth!

Favorites: "Spirals Within Thy Being", "No Faced Mindless", "Living Waves", "Stillness is Timeless", "Aathma" (all 4 parts)

Progressive metal is for those who can expect the unexpected. You know a lot more to find than the back of your hand. With so many influences from other genres, it is one of the most widely varied genres in the world. Persefone are known as the Andorran kings of the progressive realm. From such a small country hidden subtly in the world map, this band deserves to spread all over the metal map. The godly music and lyrical info will surely blow your mind. Your brain will be twisted while having a smooth soul. Your senses will buried in storming energy. The band continues their unpredictability with their most memorable album for the ages, Spiritual Migration!

What to find in Persefone is technical complexity and powerful virtuosity beyond limits, and Spiritual Migration has it all, marking probably their most extreme album yet. Complex rhythms load up structured melodies, with unique instrumentation blending together in deathly progressive metal perfection. Everything is here from technical riffs and fast solos to clean guitars, and from harsh to clean vocals, along with booming bass, show-stealing keyboards, and drumming superior to almost every other band.

From the intro "Flying Sea Dragons" you hear the album begin with the incantation bowl like the one used in a yoga class I was in, for a sense of meditative tranquility. Then guitar tapping fades in and rises in a crescendo, introducing more instruments one by one for an epic orchestral metal overture. Then begins the first full song, "Mind as Universe", quick getting straight into the fast metal action. Trust me, after giving that song a few listens, you'll want more of it! The clean soloing of "The Great Reality" really makes that song a great highlight. Don't get caught off-guard by the mighty perspective changes! "Zazen Meditation" is the first of two relaxing "Meditation" interludes.

The majestic "The Majestic of Gaia" has a memorable fast solo and a slow bridge. "Consciousness" is an expressive instrumental piece of different moods and no lyrics, and both parts should be listened together for the full experience. "Sitting in Silence" is the softer part, but "A Path ton Enlightenment" is heavier. The most memorable solo here is in "Inner Fullness", along with the clean/harsh vocals balance to keep you aware. "Metta Meditation" is the second "Meditation" interlude with calm trance-like keyboard.

"Upward Explosion" explodes out of the quietness again with a loud deathly progressive metal attack. The title track continues the memorable soloing again after a synth-heavy midsection. The last full song "Returning to the Source" describes your soul dying and returning to whence it came. The "Outro" ends the journey in relaxing positivity.

Persefone is like your friendly neighborhood metal band. Their unique music is what makes them stand out, so listening to them would help set your judgement straight, and Spiritual Migration has helped with that. One of many great reasons why metal is my way of life!

Favorites: "Mind as Universe", "The Great Reality", "The Majestic of Gaia", "Consciousness" (both parts), "Inner Fullness", "Spiritual Migration", "Returning to the Source"