Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

Now what is this? A thrashy debut album from a band that would take on a progressive thrash style in 1993 and subsequent tour with Death? Absolutely right! Suffering Hour came out in 1988 when thrash was at its highest peak, and this album is an interesting work of art to enjoy that's ahead of time...

There's just so much stylistic talent going on beyond thrash, but they never go as heavy as death metal. Maybe if Anacrusis didn't split up after their 1993 album and tour with Death, they would follow that band's progressive death metal footsteps? Anyway, Suffering Hour drifts away from the more traditional thrash for more of a tech-thrash sound hinting at their progressive tendencies. The diversity ranges from slow melodic leads to fast thrashy riffs, from booming bass soloing to furious guitar shredding.

First track "Present Tense" has a lot of insane creativity. "Imprisoned" expands on that in perfect wild chaos, especially near the 3-minute mark. However, the vocals get carried around too much in "R.O.T. (Reign of Terror)", in which the screaming gets too tiring. Nonetheless, Kenn Nardi has a unique voice despite how grating it might be.

The rollercoaster ride of the first two songs is not always exhibited, with the slow "Butcher's Block". Then we have the catchy "A World to Gain" that sounds closer to melodic speed metal, maybe even power metal. I should mention "Frigid B***h" that starts off slow before exploding into violent punk-ish speed, with lyrics that sound like Nardi wrote this about his ex-girlfriend. At that point, there should be something like a slow ballad for more of their adventurous diversity, but ultimately they don't have that. But that's OK because... Thrash all the way, baby!

"Fighting Evil" has a nice sing-along chorus which makes me surprised that this song (or any of the other ones here) wasn't converted into a single in classic metal's golden decade. "The Twisted Cross" is a bit restrained for a long epic, with the two-minute intro being a bit draggy. "Annihilation Complete/Disemboweled" doesn't do a lot for me, despite sounding like Annihilator at that time.

Despite the bumpy last couple tracks, Suffering Hour is another original tech-thrash album. It is one of the most extreme albums in thrash, though Dark Angel and Sadus have more strength and fire....

Favorites: "Imprisoned", "A World to Gain", "Frigid B***h", "Fighting Evil"

Of Mice & Men continue to stand strong with their alt-metal/metalcore sound in their latest offering filled with many catchy and heavy tracks as always. Tether is actually the most atmospheric they've ever gone, almost as much as Silent Planet, but not enough to be considered post-metal or, more accurately, post-metalcore. Nonetheless, there's always room for emotional anthems.

Wow! As they continue to grow, they can still sound as wonderful as they had 10 years ago. The blend of heaviness and melody continues to shine, though they're going back to their more melodic side from the mid-2010s.

Starting track "Integration" has the usual metalcore heaviness while more melody-focused. The rhythm section kicks through alongside Aaron Pauley's clean singing in this strong standout. "Warpaint" unleashes their earlier metalcore rage with screams and blasts in the verses, in great contrast with the slower clean chorus. "Shiver" reigns on the calmness throne as Pauley's clean harmonies fit well with the synths, guitars, and bass. Brilliant!

Opening "Eternal Pessimist" is a synth buildup leading into an intense track with more of the screamed vocals and punishing instrumentation. The crushing riffing levels up the heaviness. "Into the Sun" is an awesome favorite of mine. Once again, the synth buildup into heavy drums is around, this time laying out a more melodic structure. Still there's as much heaviness as the hammer of Thor. Truly amazing! "Enraptured" has a lot to expect from their metalcore side; pure heaviness in the drumming and riffing, with both clean and screamed vocals. "Castaway" has more of all that, but the catchy melody and clean vocals take the spotlight.

The title track is another standout, despite its more stripped-down sound for the most part. Pauley's singing slowly ascends until the other members join in for the epic final chorus. "Indigo" is more ethereal while staying both melodic and heavy. The riffing and drumming add to the atmosphere led by Pauley's mesmerizing cleans. Closing track "Zephyros" has brilliant atmosphere. It is more of a jazzy synth-metal track that almost made me think of 2010s Leprous. A wonderous ending!

Tether is something different from what Of Mice & Men was before. The atmospheric soundscape allows you to feel the emotion much more. This astral experience is a new path for these modern metalcore titans, and we can only wonder what the band will do next. Quite promising!

Favorites: "Integration", "Shiver", "Into the Sun", "Tether", "Zephyros"

Scorpion's Uli Jon Roth trilogy marked the beginning of the band's hard rock sound with a metallic side. Roth was the key to the heaviness in the leads. I love his guitar playing, though I hate his singing in a few tracks from the previous two albums. The Roth album trio was also infamous for the controversial album covers. Well this album cover isn't controversial in the sexual/nudity sense, but I'll just say, this is why you shouldn't let kids dress up as cowboy gunmen in a soldiers' graveyard.

Taken by Force is another solid Scorpions album! The dark heaviness continues with a slight step up from their previous album. Roth's lyrics shine as well as his guitarwork, and thank heavens there's none of his god-awful vocals. Vocalist Klaus Meine is the real singing star here.

"Steamrock Fever" is a fast catchy start to this offering. Meine's vocals are rougher than in the previous album, and that I really like. The album's definite highlight is "We’ll Burn the Sky". This perfect rock/metal tune should've had more attention than the band's other popular slow songs. It starts off as a slow ballad than fastens into catchy heaviness, best exhibited in the awesome chorus. One of my favorite Scorpions songs ever, in all its beautiful melancholy! "I've Got To Be Free" has good simple rock.

"The Riot of Your Time" has the band's usual earlier darkness. The first one of the two Roth-written songs "The Sails of Charon" stands out with his good dark lyrical matter. The second Roth-written song "Your Light" even has a satanic vibe. Quite some cool Black Sabbath influence there.

"He’s a Woman, She’s a Man" has some humor while still being a legendary rocker. "Born to Touch Your Feelings" is the closing ballad, as is many Scorpions albums' ending tracks. It's good, but too long for a ballad. The final third of the track has several women from different countries speaking in their native language, from Japan, Suriname, Italy, the U.S. and Tahiti. Honestly though, that part is quite boring and doesn't help the extended length. Without it, this album would've been perfect.

Most people who have heard of Scorpions only know them from their newer ballads. That's a shame because they don't know what they're missing out in Taken by Force. Forget about the band's material from the 80s and beyond for a while and check out their 70s era. This album is a total view-changer!

Favorites: "We’ll Burn the Sky", "The Sails of Charon", "Your Light", "He’s a Woman, She’s a Man"

Rainbow's Dio trilogy were the albums that show the band's metallic side at its best alongside their usual hard rock. In fact, Rising was pretty much the first ever European-style power metal with 3 songs from that exemplifying what that genre is known for. Sadly, the band would never reach those amazing heights again after Dio left. So long live these albums from the colorful metallic kings while they last...

It was after their strong classic Rising and their live album On Stage. The band planned to make one more album that would have the special delivery of Ritchie Blackmore's guitar and Ronnie James Dio's vocals and maintain the magic of Rising. And did they do it? Yes they did! Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll is another amazing addition to the band's discography and Dio's career. They expand their heavy focus in their songs, while at the same time, continuing the versatile experimentation. And most of the songs have come out as f***ing fantastic, further solidifying the band's status as 70s hard rock/metal heroes.

The title opener has way more energy than just rock 'n' roll. The energy of hard rock/heavy metal! The mid-paced riffing allows the riffing and drumming to bounce through. Dio takes the spotlight once again and has lots of g****mn singing passion. Amazing guitar soloing that isn't so bluesy, but instead full-on metal power! And the final chorus keeps going on, which is quite catchy, but before you can get tired of it, it fades out. "Live! Live!! LIVE!!! LIVE!!!!" The mediocre but OK "Lady of the Lake" has rock riffs rather than metal. It still has potential in live shows though. "L.A. Connection" also has a bit of awkwardness despite having more of Dio's vocal spirit. Let the lyrical metaphors relate to sex and drugs, the slow repetitive riff is what my mind is fixated when I don't want it to be. However, it's still fine, never being totally embarrassing.

"Gates of Babylon" is an epic closer to the first half of the album that makes sure this offering remains another 4.5-star classic. It takes you on a journey through the Middle-East, both musically and lyrically, from the keyboard intro, to the mystical riffing, and the vocal power in the chorus. Although keyboardist Tony Carey was still around for a few other tracks in this album, David Stone stepped in with his own keyboard contributions in this track and a few others, here to provide an exotic atmosphere and get you hooked alongside Blackmore's riffs. I just really love that track! "Kill the King" doesn't explore as globally as that track but, having been heard as early as the band's tour, it's one of Rainbow's most well-loved tracks! It would plant the seed for speedy melodic bands like Heathen and Gamma Ray. Searing soloing, intense vocals, devastating drums, and booming bass make the song another one of the best here, and the only true power metal song here, since the power metal aspects from Rising were greatly reduced.

"The Shed (Subtle)" is also f***ing incredible, opening with beautiful guitar leads before the hellbent verses come in as a headbanging riff stomps through. The drumming by the late Cozy Powell drive through in power, while Bob Daisley's deep bass rumbles through as well. Quite unlike the previous two tracks, but another underrated favorite of mine! Throwing back to the band's debut is "Sensitive to Light", which I like for its melodic bridge. That melody makes sure this song isn't entirely boogie rock. Then it all ends with the unique closing track that is "Rainbow Eyes". It's actually a long quiet medieval folk-inspired tune that would foreshadow Blackmore's later project Blackmore's Night. Lots of emotion in the soft guitars and vocals, Renaissance-esque flute. It's quiet as f*** with barely any climax. Enjoyable, but not the best way to conclude a classic album.

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the final part of Rainbow's amazing trilogy, and is the second-best of the trilogy, with the band's debut in 3rd place and Rising winning the gold medal. Sadly, Blackmore planned to move to a more commercial sound after their 3rd album, and Dio, disapproving of that idea, left the band and joined Black Sabbath. And thus ended Rainbow's era of promising glory. It was an amazing travel through bluesy hard rock, heavy metal, and even the earliest power metal ever, all summarized in this 3rd and last chapter. And all hopes for Dio to reunite with Rainbow are no longer possible. RIP... Long live their music!

Favorites: "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", "The Shed (Subtle)"

In 1976, people were getting tired of Black Sabbath's brand of heavy metal. Even that band was getting tired of that, getting ready to switch to a more hard rock sound in Technical Ecstasy. But then Judas Priest restored the genre and added more speed and energy in their second album Sad Wings of Destiny! Gone is the messy forgettable blues/hard rock of the 2.5-star debut Rocka Rolla. Instead, we have Rob Halford's aggressive singing shrieks and Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing's harmonic guitar melodies.

Like Black Sabbath's debut, the visual is worth the price of admission. The dark cover (Why's the angel dude dabbing!?), the gothic band logo, the fierce song titles... Judas Priest wanted to let the world know that they're not the bluesy hippies producer Rodger Bain forced them to be, but rather a band who wants to be the next Black Sabbath, but in a more unique way. While Judas Priest's sound is heavier, they still don't mind composing soft and long songs, albeit with most of the progressive aspects taken out for something more commercial. Also, note that side A and side B were switched after the original pressing. I like the more well-known tracklisting better, so let's dive into that...

Spawning from two earlier songs from other bands, "Whiskey Woman" and "Red Light Lady", "Victim of Changes" is truly a song that no Judas Priest fan can ever deny. Already it makes me feel curious about checking out the live rendition of that song and a few others in this album in Unleashed in the East. Although it is a single song, you can split it into a few parts, with smooth transitions, as the great riffing and soloing from the guitars continues to shine alongside the booming bass and Rob Halford's melodious screams. The ending part with the riff building up to the last of Halford's screams is the best part of the song and possibly the album, making up a lot for the lifeless quiet slow sections. An excellent piece of classic heavy metal that's hard to replicate! If that song is this album's "War Pigs", this next one is this album's "Paranoid"... "The Ripper" is a short track based on the notorious Jack the Ripper, in which Halford sings through a truly memorable chorus. It's so simple, yet that's the song's charm, practically inspiring the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that Saxon and Iron Maiden would kickstart a few years later. A cool riff creeps in at the center and speeds up, letting out a similar vibe to the Ripper's horrid actions. Then we have one more ripping scream by Halford. Next up, "Dreamer Deceiver" starts off with acoustic atmosphere with soft clean guitar and singing. If many later bands throughout the ages have the confidence to make soft metal ballads, this song is why, though it's a bit repetitive, while nowhere close to as dull as "Planet Caravan". Still I enjoy the long mellow soloing and Halford's screaming having more energy why the song stays at that slow speed.

It segues to another song that you might think is connected to the previous track as a suite because of its name, "Deceiver". It works much better midway through the album instead of at the end. However, it's quite mediocre. Not bad, but a bit disappointing when the speedy guitar riffing isn't as memorable as it should be. That's this album's "Iron Man". The album's still amazing though, and an interesting "Prelude" plays that is strange but marks a great start to the album's second half, with its booming synths and guitar. The monstrous song "Tyrant" is actually the greatest highlight here, slightly higher than "Victim of Changes". Pretty much everything great about the band at that time is displayed; heavy riffing, a fun pounding chorus, a necessary break, and best of all, a full-on guitar solo duel! That underrated classic really does the band justice.

There's a similar lyrical subject to the previous track in "Genocide" that's a bit deceiving with lack of energy, but still a really cool piece of early heavy metal. What makes that song stand out is when things really speed up at the end, and while Halford is tried out, he lets out the last bit of yelling he could do for this song. Piano and vocals are all you can hear in "Epitaph", which can be a struggle for any fans of Judas Priest and metal, but it breaks up the repetition. The piano is performed by Tipton while Halford sings in sweet bliss. He even layers his vocals with higher vocal tracks as if he's leading a choir, which is pretty impressive. Interesting, but not a song I would add to a metal playlist. It segues directly to the closing "Island of Domination" which marks a comeback for the monumental energy of the album's earlier classics. It's great hearing Halford's usual melodic shrieks and another pounder of a chorus. This oughta give me a great feeling for their next album Sin After Sin, if I ever feel like giving that one a go.

Sad Wings of Destiny is an amazing album that I recognize as a classic in early heavy metal. And as a young metalhead who's had much experience with the classic past as the modern present, I can really see the appeal. This melodic album was the definition of heaviness in 1976, though highly different from the definition of heaviness that was given to Suffocation's debut 15 years later. Sure the more mainstream Priest listeners can praise British Steel, but Sad Wings of Destiny has heavy metal classics that has seen the band break free from their bluesy roots. This would even set the stage for when metal becomes faster in the 80s, infused with the punk explosion in that decade. The few songs that don't reach true glory prevent the album from being totally perfect. Nonetheless, there are great treats in this heavy metal game-changer to behold!

Favorites: "Victim of Changes", "The Ripper", "Tyrant", "Genocide", "Island of Domination"

So, this is where it all begins... The rock genre that has since spawned countless subgenres. The main topic of this site. HEAVY METAL. The quartet of guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne are who you gotta thank for starting this awesome genre. I suppose you also gotta thank Iommi's friend, his factory foreman for giving Iommi back his confidence to play guitar after an industrial accident cost him two of his right hand's fingertips, by playing a recording of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt who could still play despite losing the use of two fingers in a fire. On top of that, Iommi tuned his guitar down in some songs as low as D-flat to bend the strings easier, and that help pioneer the heavy aspect of lower tunings in metal. Anyway, there's also the lyrical concept which, unusual for rock bands at that time, was darkness and horror. This came from a horror movie cinema across the street from their studio, with one of the movies shown there, Black Sabbath, inspiring the name of the band (previous known as Earth, name later taken by an American drone metal band 20 years later), their first song, and their first album. The scary atmosphere the band would add to their songs would form the basis of their debut album. This is... BLACK SABBATH!

With the band's vision becoming a great success, it was like the beginning of a new era. Not just a new era... A new GENRE! Earlier bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin (still not metal, SIT DOWN, guys) and The Who may have been known as noisy trailblazers, but Sabbath took the noisiness to a different heavier level. Right from the visual, you know what this band and album is gonna be about. A frightening yet intriguing cover art of a pale woman in a black cloak with a watermill in the bleak background. And when you start playing that record, you'll be entering the most spooky yet pleasant experience of your life, a stormy realm with church bells ringing from afar...

Ladies and gentlemen, the title track of this album and band is heavy metal's big bang moment, with that melodic doomy riff in dark atmosphere being as impactful as the actual Big Bang! That tritone riff is actually inspired by the "Mars" segment of Gustav Holst's The Planets. And the lyrics are based on when Butler had a dream of a strange dark figure standing on the foot of his bed after he read an occult book Ozzy gave him. These lyrics are sung by Ozzy, whose vocal power is expressed from his scared cries of "Oh no! No! Please, God! Help me!" Still he tries some deeper notes which, even though they fail to get low, fits well with the angst. The riffing speeds up into fast hard rock/heavy metal for the last minute and a half, as Iommi shows his vibrato talent. If you're looking for the true beginning of heavy metal, that song is it right there! However, "The Wizard" is a different story. It's a harmonica-filled blues/hard rocker. Harmonicas aren't exactly the most metal instrument, but they make the song decently catchy, as does Ward's excellent drumming behind riffing effects. Ozzy's singing seems to hint at his later higher tone, but other than that, nothing super exciting.

"Behind the Wall of Sleep" is really great, though it has more of a stoner-ish blues rock sound. The title comes from a Lovecraft story and it's fits greatly with the atmosphere. A bass riff rumbles through under Ozzy's usual singing. "N.I.B." (Nativity in Black) continues the lyrical narrative idea they first had in the title opener, this one being more of a fictional devilish love story. Now listen, just because the band mentions the Devil, Satan, or Hell, etc., doesn't mean they worship any of that. They're against that, portraying them like they are bad things. Lucifer is depicted as the dark seductive antagonist he's meant to be. The riffing has that bluesy hard rock vibe of Cream, which is a little mundane, especially when Ozzy sings over it, but is made up for by the rest of the song being heavy metal/proto-stoner metal, especially in the slower sections. A brilliant hint at the genre they would establish! "Evil Woman" is a hard rock cover of a Crow song, which isn't so interesting, but it works well anyway.

"Sleeping Village" is a nice touch. I love the gloomy atmosphere caused by another rare instrument in metal, a Jew's harp. Whether or not it works, it's quite historical. Ozzy continues his deep emotional vocals that make younger vocalists wish they have that kind of sincerity. That I can consider a more prog-ish take on classic hard rock/heavy metal. "Warning" is also progressive in the sense that it's an over 10-minute-long jazzy jam. However, that's way too long and improvisational when covering a short blues song. Ozzy's vocals seem to flop a bit, but Iommi's soloing work well as the best part of the track along with the doomy atmosphere. An OK track, but too lengthy. "Wicked World" replaces "Evil Woman" in the American edition, and is also the bonus track in the 1996 European reissue. And let me tell you, that's an excellent replacement for "Evil Woman"! You can definitely hear "Wicked World" as an underrated stoner-ish hard rock/heavy metal classic. It starts with some fast punchy riffing. The bass drifts under Ozzy's skillful vocals that range from low to high in each verse. Unlike any of the other songs, this one has more political lyrics, albeit more simple than specific, while responding to all those happy hippy bands preceding them. Unfortunately, and you might hate me for this, Iommi's solo goes on for way too long and draggy, which is ironic considering his long solo in "Warning" is the only solid thing about that song. For "Wicked World", his soloing is just too rough. Still there's great power in his riffing as always.

I don't think any other album released in 1970 has ever been as historical as Black Sabbath's first two albums, with only Deep Purple in Rock being close to Black Sabbath's heavy greatness. Their debut is a revolutionary beginning of a new band, a new era, and a new genre. So put this record on and witness the birth of heavy metal!

Favorites: "Black Sabbath", "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "N.I.B.", "Sleeping Village", "Wicked World (bonus track)

You know how much I like when bands are in a transitional phase through albums. This once-metalcore/hardcore band Code Orange is already making their way towards alt-/industrial metal, and although Forever and Underneath will share the reign in that transition, The Above is an amazing continuation!

The band that would go on to perform massive tours and even a WWE concert started off as an underground high school band from Pennsylvania named Code Orange Kids. After releasing their debut Love Is Love/Return to Dust, they dropped "Kids" from their name and showed the world what they're capable of in I Am King and Forever. Then Underneath showed them adding a more industrial/alternative flavor to their metal/hardcore. With The Above, they drop the hardcore violence and let their new form emerge.

Heading right to the eccentric "Never Far Apart", it's like a harsher Massive Attack! Lead vocalist Jami Morgan performs moody whispering while guitarist Reba Meyers adds in her clean singing. The metal doesn't make its entrance until literally the last minute, in which repeated cries of "DO IT" echo before slowing down for the band's usual destructive breakdown. "Theatre of Cruelty" chugs through brutal groove that alternates with soft mesmerizing electronic sections and Morgan making his own attempt at clean vocals. The dirty moshing parts help break up the gloomy mood. A true Gateway anthem, the accessible yet total rocker "Take Shape" is a killer single. The one and only Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins performs his signature nasal singing over an ominous bridge, though the dark melody and harsh rhythm of the chorus really hits the spot for me. Hard yet smart writing! Adding a bit of grunge is "The Mask of Sanity Slips" has heavy yet harmonic chords before strange dark synths towards the end. Next track "Mirror" is an odd semi-acoustic ballad where the clean guitar strumming is in good arrangement with the drums, guitars, and synths. Totally different from I Am King!

The bombastic "A Drone Opting Out of the Hive" is a perfect hip-hop-ish industrial metal track. This crossover idea works so well! Then we have a highly different cut in "I Fly". Same with "Splinter the Soul" with pushes further away from the band's hardcore roots for some 90s-inspired alt-metal. The rhythm section consisting of Max Portnoy (from Tallah, and the son of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy) and bassist Joe Goldman has that undeniable groove. A 90s-inspired rock fest! The earlier heaviness shines the most in the earlier singles of the album, starting with the headbanging thrash of "The Game". The hardcore "Grooming My Replacement" is the closest the band has been to their savage past roots in a more industrial level. The distortion is Morgan's vocals makes him sound possessed, in this unique heavy production.

There's some electro-dark wave in "Snapshot". Another Smashing Pumpkins-infused track "Circle Through" isn't too surprising for that "Forever" band, if you can get used to the softer art pop section. The beauty reaches its high point in "But a Dream..." Killer chorus in that one! The title finale summarizing all that the band has stated. The exciting ominous crescendo of transcending vocals, chords, and leads shows their loud diversity. The changes in the beat and the dynamics are all in decent calculation and mark a climatic conclusion to this powerful journey.

The Above continues Code Orange's imagination in different eras. They look back at the past, stand by the present, and plan out their future, checking out different styles to add to their own. Their song delivery has always been in great display as they go above and beyond!

Favorites: "Never Far Apart", "Take Shape", "A Drone Opting Out of the Hive", "Splinter the Soul", "Grooming My Replacement", "But a Dream...", "The Above"

Most metalheads who start exploring heavy metal from the very first year begin with the first two Black Sabbath albums, but me? I'm starting with Deep Purple in Rock! Sure this album came out in the middle of the period between those two Black Sabbath albums' release, but you gotta acknowledge the fact that Deep Purple came before Black Sabbath, releasing 3 psychedelic/prog-rock albums in the late 60s. But once their lineup changed, so did everything else...

When vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover stepped in, the band dumped their psychedelic roots in exchange for something heavier. Deep Purple in Rock is a true start to metal alongside those Black Sabbath albums (SIT DOWN, Led Zeppelin). Deep Purple's raw heavy formula is something that is hard to replicate in subsequent albums.

Classic opener "Speed King" starts off the album in a bang with fast distorted shredding before fading into soft ambient organ. Then the hard rock/heavy metal rolls in, and you might not agree with me here, but this is practically proto-speed metal! Maybe close to speed rock? Still the organ shines in some sections. An upbeat way to begin this early example of a heavy metal album! "Bloodsucker" is more firm in catchy hard rock/heavy metal. The rhythm is worth praising, and so is the sweet soloing.

One track that takes a break from the formula is "Child in Time". I didn't say ALL the progressive/psychedelic roots were taken out! As much as some speed is still around in some sections, it mostly just slowly builds up without reaching a specific destination, though I do like the vocals here. While one of their more famous tracks, it's never really the best for me while still great. "Flight of the Rat" marks a solid comeback to the proto-speed metal, or speed rock, I don't know. "Into The Fire" has a more Sabbath-like direction, slower marching hard rock/heavy metal, coming close to proto-doom metal.

"Living Wreck" takes on a great hard rock groove. However, it seems like they keep following that same groove without much proper focus on a chorus, instead just trying to compromise with the same lyrical passage at the end of a verse. That song's still great though. Finally, "Hard Lovin' Man" is more of a Scorpions-like track, crossing through their earlier hard rock/heavy metal era. The riffing/soloing momentum drifts through the technical structure at ease.

Deep Purple in Rock offers a lot of tight heaviness and variety, and is the one Deep Purple album that truly does that. With that, it is an essential hard rock/heavy metal album and one of the true first of the latter genre. Practically any music lover should give this historical offering a listen!

Favorites: "Speed King", "Flight of the Rat", "Into the Fire", "Hard Lovin' Man"

If you wanna be technical, this is truly the first ever industrial metal album, to be recorded anyway. And already it sets the genre's aggressive synthetic tone. From the heart and mind of innovative inventors, listeners who had the chance to hear the sound when it was performed could hear a new modern future. One of humanity's complicated life of what's more moral and what's not. All told within compositions of sonic noise, industrial synths, and metal guitars. The damage done in society is impossible to fix, and this is the kind of music made by people who want to let out their thoughts of desperation in an instant, for people who have those same thoughts. The 80s was a decade when the noise-fueled genre of industrial was spreading over to rock, and later, metal, ready for our minds to be warned of mankind's peril...

1982 was when two Birmingham musicians B. C. Green and Paul Neville first started the band O.P.D. (Officially Pronounced Dead). Then a year later, they changed their band name to Fall of Because, taken from a song by industrial rock developers Killing Joke. Then another year later, Justin Broadrick entered the band as their drummer. The trio recorded a demo in 1986 titled Extirpate. Most of those songs, along with a few live tracks, make up the album Life is Easy, which was not released until 1999. Note that this band was an earlier incarnation of Godflesh, with a few Fall of Because songs later being-re-recorded for Godflesh's debut Streetcleaner and EP Merciless. What makes Fall of Because different from Godflesh is the primal production, Justin Broadrick using live drums instead of a drum machine, and the instrumentation sounding more punky while still having industrial noise. Though the vocals by Broadrick and Neville foreshadow that of Godflesh with their bleak cold shouts and melodies.

Beginning this cold isolated album is the devastating intro "Devastator", showing the best of Neville's guitar nose. That song was re-recorded for Godflesh's Streetcleaner along with the title track, with an approach easily compared to Swans before they moved out of their original industrial-noise sound at that time. Thanks to the dual guitar attack, bands like Pitchshifter would be able to emphasize their discordant lead work and help develop industrial metal. The dirtier side of the album that deviates from Godflesh's later glory is exhibited in the punky "Middle Amerika". Seems like they were more interested in punk than metal back in those days. The industrial rock of early Killing Joke and Swans is combined with a bit of the pre-grind punk of Napalm's Death Scum side A. Ironically, the monstrous "Grind" is a slow crawler.

"Ecstasy of Hate" shows that there's a noise-ridden side of industrial metal that is a polar opposite to the catchy melody of later bands like PAIN. "Malew***eslag" has more mellow yet noisy sludge. "Lifef***er-Sh*tsucker" has too much of the punky grind of early Napalm Death. "Merciless" is so slow and doomy, with powerful riffs crushing your spine and ripping it out from your neck. That's the kind of feeling induced from the sludgy bass and the heaviness brought forward from the 45-second mark onwards. The crushing riff may sound redundant, but the repetition is worth it. Justin's smashing vocals come close to growling. This could be used in a dramatic slow-motion movie fight scene. Midway through is a clean bridge that's also repeated. Everything is memorable here, though still behind the title track as the ultimate highlight. "Survive" is the first of the 3 live tracks, though this one is just a singular song, unlike the next two...

And now for the live shows, the first of which, "Fight Show" is worth a small journey. Although consisting of a few songs ("Empire of Lies", "Whiterock-Blackdeath", "Christian Motherf***er", and "Ecstasy of Hate"), when performed back to back, they actually form a top-notch multi-part 15-minute suite. The concert is infamous for a crowd fight in the middle of the setlist, with one of the members telling someone to go back to their "gothic s***hole in town". For the actual performance, it is one of the most intense live shows I've heard! Ex-Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nik Napalm appear as guests, thus furthering the hardcore-industrial crossover. Sadly, the "Xmas Special" live recording doesn't sound as nice in quality, only there for the sake of history. The "Life is Easy" segment there is still good, but not "Calling" or "Submit-Suppress".

It's amazing how even when you think Godflesh started off big in their young years, an earlier developing demo from their earlier incarnation was hidden under Godflesh fans' noses for some time. Life is Easy would've made history as the first official industrial metal if it was released in 1987 as initially planned. I guess more extreme metalheads back then weren't too disappointed since Bathory's 3rd album and Mayhem's EP from that year turned out to be black metal's developing miracles. Anyway, while I don't favor this Fall of Because album as much as Godflesh's classics, it's still essential for those who want to hear the earliest industrial metal to ever exist....

Favorites: "Life is Easy", "Middle Amerika", "Ecstasy of Hate", "Merciless", "Fight Show", "Xmas Special" ("Life is Easy" segment only)

Upon seeing Extreme's Pornograffiti receive a review in this site, I knew I had to check it out. I felt like I couldn't live the rest of my life without the knowledge that there's a lot more of this band than just a f***ing acoustic radio ballad. The album came out in 1990, the twilight zone year between heavy metal's reigning era of the 80s and the 90s era where Nirvana and their legion of grunge took over. You might find this opinion amusing, but this album is actually more metal than the band Cinderella has ever been...

Of course, I can't ignore Extreme being part of the glam metal scene with their ridiculous aesthetics. Their hair is bigger than a lion's mane, and their lyrics are more personal and journal-worthy than Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The vocals of Gary Cherone help give the band a heavier edge that differs from the wham-bam-glam of KISS and White Lion.

The opening highlight "Decadence Dance" had me worried at first this is just gonna be full-on glam metal with the piano and strings. Then the riffing makes a promising sinister riffing buildup then explodes into the heaviness that separates the band from the glam metal pack. Guitar master Nuno Bettencourt is a professional at performing solos, such as that of "Li'l Jack Horny". Then "When I'm President" has lyrics that are 3 decades behind the present day, but you can't resist Bettencourt's guitar harmonizing together with Cherone's vocals. Quite fun, with barely any disappointment! I'm shocked to hear some Parliament-esque funk blended into the band's metal in the aptly titled "Get the Funk Out" though not as shocked as I am about how heavy it is compared to this next more infamously famous track...

You know just what I'm talking about, the unfortunate acoustic ballad that is "More Than Words". I can't believe THAT SONG is what made this band exist in the mainstream, even though 90% of the rest of this album is nowhere near like that. Don't get me wrong, it sounds quite beautiful, but if you're like me, having listened to radio pop before developing your own metal interest, you can easily make that association with the softer mainstream sh*t you're tired of. Unfortunately, I live in a country where the only English radio stations are the ones that play mainstream pop songs with only the occasional "rock hour", so back then, I never got to experience Extreme's rock/metal side. Then again, even when radio stations find metal acceptable enough to play, they would probably think the songs from this album are too poppy to play. I wasn't thinking of dedicating this entire paragraph to that "radio hit", but considering its history, it had to be done.

Another highlight "Money (In God We Trust)" brings back the hard rock/heavy metal sound, as if their heaviness is still intact. "It('s a Monster)" brings back another heavy aspect, more of Bettencourt's shredding. Lyrics of personal crisis seem to cover the title track, all while the guitar continues galloping. The Sinatra-inspired "When I First Kissed You" sounds way too flat, having more of an unfitting lounge style. This was 8 years before the loss of Frank Sinatra and the lounge trend. Probably the weakest part of this mostly solid album, and I would much rather listen to "More Than Words" than this sh*t any day.

"Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)" is slightly forgettable though it still has nice potential. "He-Man Woman Hater" is the best highlight here. It starts with Bettencourt's shredding take on "Flight of the Bumblebee", while that's a great head-buzzer, it's not as much as the chorus later on. Absolutely great music and lyrics! There's some Beatles influence in "Song for Love", but it's nice song to sing. Then finally we have one more semi-acoustic rock ballad, "Hole Hearted", which I guess is a fine way to end.

I say while there is the hard rock of AC/DC, the guitars come close to reaching the heaviness of Metallica's Black Album next year. With that, Extreme's album is pretty much glam/heavy metal in an accessible mainstream level. With killer guitars and pretty vocal harmonies, it's a formula that suffers a severe lack of radio acknowledgement....

Favorites: "Decadence Dance", "When I'm President", "Money (In God We Trust)", "Pornograffiti", "He-Man Woman Hater", "Song for Love"

I've had my fun when checking out Genitorturers' debut. I never thought sexual industrial rock/metal would mesmerize me, but it did. Sometimes the least likely things I would get interested in I actually enjoy once I try it. And this album continues that streak...

Genitorturers' albums are more likely to attract fans of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson than serious metalheads, and Sin City is no exception. Anyone who likes sleazy industrial metal will find some great things to enjoy in this album without a doubt. Fast beats, thick guitars, and sexy lyrics sung by Gen have cooked up an industrial dish. So come spend a good time in Sin City!

It starts with the aggressive title opener that offers some stylistic tricks up their sleeve. This is followed by "Terrorvision", which is seductive yet a bit disorienting. Opening things up further is "Liar's Liar" as the band continues riding through different stylistic territories.

"One Who Feeds" kicks things up with some psychotic vibes. "Squealer" is a cover of an AC/DC classic, though Gen's vocals are way different from the melodic squealing of the late Bon Scott. "4 Walls Black" shows that a female vocalist doesn't have to be as operatic as Trail of Tears for some top-notch rock/metal. That song is actually more industrial, but you get my point.

"Asphyxiate" is a slow catchy tune. Then the aggressive rampage returns in "Razor Cuts". Then "Level 3" has a bit of a Slayer vibe in the riffing, but the beat stays mid-paced. "Crucified" ends the album sound a bit like Waltari at that time, albeit more percussion-focused and ending in creepy atmosphere.

Don't think you have wasted 45 minutes you could've spent on other productive things. Listening to this Genitorturers album is productive as it can help conjure some fantasies. If the fantasies you're up for are of pleasure and debauchery, that is. This is the kind of music that would make my parents and friends and concerned. For that reason, as much as I like these albums by Genitorturers, this band really isn't my thing....

Favorites: "Sin City", "Liar's Liar", "4 Walls Black", "Razor Cuts", "Level 3"

Alter Bridge is known very well as a side-project-turned-full-time-band by guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Philips, all coming from the more famous Scott Stapp-led band Creed. Together with frontman Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge had proved themselves to be the creative songwriting force alt-metal needs!

After 3 albums of hard rock/post-grunge in a similar vein to a few of my brother's favorite bands like Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and Skillet, Alter Bridge decided to boost up their creativity intensely with their 4th album Fortress. It's a test of magic as they added more diverse arrangements and time signature variations for something more progressive, though closer in sound to Karnivool rather than TOOL. And who's manning the production? Michael "Elvis" Baskette has entered that building.

Beginning this adventure is the epic "Cry of Achilles". It already sets the tone for this melodic prog-ish alt-rock/metal journey. They make some daring experimentation to win some new fans and keep their longtime fans. It's not easy to achieve, but the past and present are blended together in great balanced. Another standout single, "Addicted to Pain" rocks on straight through blazing riffing and melodic choruses. It shows the band's more variant path while still being perfect for radio. Driving their message further, "Bleed It Dry" unleashes some fury, including Tremonti transcending from such a powerful solo. A full display of the technical beauty spawning from his guitar! In an unexpected but acceptable twist, "Lover" can be considered a power ballad. However, as soft as it is, there's dark despair within the emotional lyrics and delivery.

"The Uninvited" has the style the band was once known for. This heavy song has mighty bass groove. And when matched the album's production, that song is just top-notch! "Peace is Broken" has a bit of the mainstream stylings of Killswitch Engage at that time, albeit without any of the metalcore aspects. "Calm the Fire" has solid reflective bass. It fits well with the unique drumming there. "Waters Rising" has Tremonti taking over most of the lead vocals, which makes great sense considering his vocal ability in his solo project. The dynamic evolution is evident in Tremonti's guitar/vocal power. Kennedy's background harmonies can still be in the chorus which ultimately turns out well.

"Farther Than the Sun" is filled with blazing heaviness, with defiant spirit in the lyrical theme. The hard rocker "Cry a River" is not the best, but the album still has its perfect 5-star rating. Standout "All Ends Well", which builds up in softer melodic rock. The song is written about a mother fearing the uncertainty of the world, letting out a somewhat relatable message. The 7 and a half minute title epic is the perfect ending to this hour-long tale. The textures and time changes are produced perfectly in experimental glory.

Alter Bridge's sound is so unique. The melodic rock elements the band has taken from more popular bands has been merged with superb technicality for their own style of prog-ish alt-rock/metal. Fortress is an epic journey for the genre, and it seems like my interest in this band is at a rapid beginning!

Favorites: "Cry of Achilles", "Addicted to Pain", "The Uninvited", "Waters Rising", "All Ends Well", "Fortress"

Upon finding out about this Oomph! compilation album having songs from their first 4 albums, 3 of which are metal enough for this site and I've reviewed, I knew it was time for one more look into the band's earlier discography. Well, even though NDH isn't really my thing, I can actually find some great highlights making up half of this offering.

The first trio of songs is from the band's self-titled album that has more of an electro-techno sound with sparse guitars. Surprisingly though, two songs actually stand out for me. One of those tracks, "Ich bin Du" (I Am You) is actually one of my favorite Oomph! songs and, yep I'm saying this, it's metal enough to be in a Sphere playlist with some guitars in full prominence at the most needed parts. Then we have a club classic in "Der neue Gott" (The New God) that also foreshadows their subsequent albums' sound.

Only a couple tracks in the Sperm trio stand out for me, one of them being the best here, "Sex". Another good track is "Feiert das Kreuz" (Celebrate the Cross), though the intro sample makes me think of a Hitler-Exorcist crossover.

Not all of the songs in the Defekt trio are any good, so I'll just talk about the ones that are, starting with one of the best here, "Willst Du Hoffnung?" (Do You Want Hope?). The other good song, "Mitten Ins Herz" (Right in the Heart) continues that experimental vibe. What I really wanted to hear in this compilation is the beautiful "Come and Kick Me", which would've kicked my rating for this compilation up at least a half-star. Sadly, it isn't here.

As for the 4th album Wunschkind (Desired Child), the title track for that album has heavy riffing. Guitars and synths are blended together in dark atmosphere. However, it's not something you should be bring to dance parties because of the dark mood and slamming heaviness. The other two songs aren't nearly as great as that track though. Neither are two of the 3 remixes that come after. However, the remix for "Krüppel" (Cripple) is a true enhancement! Dero's vocals sound close to growling as he details a story about getting kicked, punched, crippled... Now this is the Oomph I need in the lyrics and distorted music. The emotion is what makes the song special in its own right.

And there you have it; 15 songs, including 3 from each of the first 4 Oomph! albums plus 3 remixes. I say half of this compilation is quite solid with brilliant highlights from that earlier part of their career. Still the remaining songs I will never revisit any time soon. Once again, Neue Deutsche Härte is just not for my metal heart....

Favorites: "Ich bin Du", "Der neue Gott", "Sex", "Feiert das Kreuz", "Willst Du Hoffnung?", "Mitten Ins Herz", "Wunschkind", "Krüppel" (remix)

As I've said in my previous review, I was following a 3-album industrial rock/metal path as I continued my ongoing early industrial metal rediscovery journey. The first part of this path was Gravity Kills' 1996 debut which, again, is barely metal at all. The second part is the well-done bridge that is Acumen Nation's More Human Heart. And this third part is from a side-project by one of the all-time most famous metal vocalists...

Rob Halford was already in his temporary split from Judas Priest and made a couple albums in his own groove metal band Fight. His second side-project, Two (often spelled "2wo") has disappointed long-time fans with a more electronic metal style. And there's none of the melodic screaming of Judas Priest's Painkiller.

Still the album is pretty decent, starting with the techno-hungry "I am a Pig" that has planted Nine Inch Nails into the minds of listeners, both due to the sound and the word "Pig" in the title. A bit of the alt-prog metal of TOOL can be heard in "Stutter Kiss". The industrial yet melodic "Water's Leaking" can be considered what Judas Priest could've done if they let Halford have more creative freedom. "My Ceiling's Low" bounces through electronic rock and more of Halford's sinister singing.

Next up, "Leave Me Alone" is another example of what Judas Priest would sound like if they go electronic. The following track "If" has more tribal rhythms. Shooting through some more of the cool industrial rock/metal is "Deep in the Ground".

"Hey Sha La La" sounds too awfully close to dance-pop in the rhythm, but at least the catchy chorus makes the song somewhat tolerable. "Wake Up" is far too synth-driven in its attempt to mix synths with guitars. Thumbs down for that one. "Gimp" strikes back with its nice bass punches. Closing the album is "Bed of Rust" which the album's epic-sounding climax. Seriously, you should stick around and be rewarded after all that earlier trouble!

Voyeurs is a decent straight one-time experiment in industrial metal for Rob Halford. After that, he and his project partner guitarist John 5 would go their separate ways. John 5 joined Marilyn Manson, and Halford started a 3rd side-project, his solo band Halford. The album might not be super fun, but I guess two is better than one....

Favorites: "I am a Pig", "My Ceiling's Low", "Deep in the Ground", "Gimp", "Bed of Rust"

I needed an album to balance things out in my ongoing early industrial metal rediscovery journey. That Gravity Kills album caused an unnecessary twist into my journey, as that album and band have more of an industrial/alt-rock sound with only a few songs being metal. However, this band Acumen Nation has a more metallic take on that sound, and a great improvement too. So let's dive into that...

More Human Heart is the band's 3rd album and the first under the band name Acumen Nation. They were previously known as just Acumen until legal issues with a similarly titled prog-rock band caused the name change. The solid industrial metal rage will get you hooked to the grooves.

"Ventilator" starts the album greatly with their usual blend of electro-industrial and metal. "If You Were" has some sections that would foreshadow all those times when The Dillinger Escape Plan deviate from their mathcore sound in their more experimental songs. Staggering a bit is "Unkind" within the rhythm. "Cancerine" is a nice standout that's soft but keeps your attention going.

"Revelations Per Minute" definitely has a similar vibe to early Dir En Grey. "Bleed for You" makes me think of Red Harvest blended with the groove-ish instrumentation of Vision of Disorder at that time. Things get a little more vulnerable in "The Funny Thing is...", but it still has some catchy energy.

"F*** Yer Brains Out" is a more brutal industrial standout. "Ugly on the Inside" is more catchy and upbeat, but it makes me wonder if that's where Code Orange got a bit of their industrial side from. "Punka**" indeed sounds more punky, with a side of Waltari at that time. "Dreamheart/Crush'd" is one last two-part 9-minute epic. Quite a climatic way to end an industrial rock/metal album!

The cool thing about Acumen Nation is, they can mix 80s-style rock/metal with modern industrial at easy grace. It's a well-deserved bridge between Gravity Kills' debut and the one album by Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford's side-project 2wo. In the mainstream industrial metal realm, I'm nicely surprised by how far I've come. RIP Jamie Duffy....

Favorites: "Ventilator", "Cancerine", "Bleed for You", "F*** Yer Brains Out", "Ugly on the Inside", "Dreamheart/Crush'd"

Gravity Kills... That band name sounds like some kind of Gravity Falls creepypasta. Anyway, they're an industrial rock band packed with guitar riffing, drum loops, synth layers, and vocal intensity. However, this kind of alienates my ongoing industrial metal rediscovery, as there's not much metal to offer here.

There are only a few songs that I like here, close enough metal, starting with "Guilty". It's a good song to jam to, and they might've been an influence to Spineshank. The band sounds closer to the style of Orgy and Nine Inch Nails. It's quite cool, and not as controversial as the more well-known industrial metal songs out there, or the other songs in the album that are more rock than metal.

"Enough" is another piece of alt-rock/industrial metal that I love, but still not enough to go further with this band. You can jam out during a long drive! Definitely having some vibes from Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and a bit KMFDM.

Another great industrial/alt-rock/metal song is "Goodbye". I don't have anyone I really hate, but for those who do, use this song against them ("I'M F***ING TIRED AND I'M SAYING GOODBYE!!!!"). Anyone who thinks The Prodigy is THE 90s electro-rock band might stand corrected. I can do without the background noises though. "Never" is one more heavy highlight with decent singing.

All in all, Gravity Kills has a few moderately enjoyable tracks. Those tracks have great metallic emotion. However, everything else is just bland industrial/alt-rock programming that's not worth repeat listening for me. I would recommend this mediocre album much more to Nine Inch Nails fans than metalheads....

Favorites (only songs I like): "Guilty", "Enough", "Goodbye", "Never"

Danzig's 6th album 6:66 Satan's Child was actually the tail end of the band's industrial metal era. The 5th album Blackacidevil is the center of that era. This heavily industrial album was released in 1996, and then reissued 4 years later with a few bonus tracks and better cover art.

So what do I mean by highly industrial? Well instead of the dark heavy metal sound Danzig is known for, electro-industrial techno and experimental noise rock covers the rock/metal tracks. I actually find some tracks interesting, despite the album being unsuccessful and turning away many Danzig fans. A problem that I notice is, vocalist Glenn Danzig sounds too distorted in a few tracks, and that makes me prefer the less experimental parts of the album.

Things starts upbeat with the electronic-powered "7th House". Then the title track has lyrics of drugs. A strange acid trip before the album's later melancholy... "See All You Were" is one of a few tracks here to feature Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell. However, that doesn't make up for the d*mn vocal distortion making the lyrics hard to understand.

"Sacrifice" starts with a Nine Inch Nails-like intro before launching into a perfect industrial metal single that should've ended up in the 1997 Spawn film soundtrack. This is followed by the more sadistic "Hint of Her Blood". One song that's not enjoyable at all and shouldn't have existed is "Serpentia". I don't wish to say more. "Come to Silver" is another Cantrell-featured track, originally written for Johnny Cash. A country-infused ballad I would recommend!

"Hand of Doom" is a Black Sabbath cover, rewritten with more disturbing lyrics. That said, I love it, though Isis' cover is better. "Power of Darkness" is just too plain bad. Why does that sh*t f***ing even exist at all!? "Ashes" is a sweet closing ballad as you drive away into the darkness of who-knows-where...

I think I'll skip out on the bonus tracks in the reissue, mainly because I don't wanna hear anymore of that awful distortion. Despite that flawed aspect though, I don't find Blackacidevil as bad as most other people do. Some songs I find quite enjoyable, and a few others I don't want tainting my ears a second time. Sure it's different, but any open-minded Danzig fan can give this album some more spins. For some fans, once is never enough....

Favorites: "7th House", "Sacrifice", "Come to Silver", "Hand of Doom", "Ashes"

16volt began their discography with their debut Wisdom. It is a solid cold blend of electro-industrial beats and heavy guitars that form another prime example of industrial rock/metal. The band started recording their next album Skin shortly after releasing their debut, and they seem to really picked up where they left off. They even made a sequel to one of the debut's songs, which we'll get to later...

It's been nearly 3 decades since this album Skin came out, and it still appeals to many industrial metal fans who wish to see them live. Although not as well-known and great as Wisdom, Skin will still have you interested in this cold industrial rock/metal sound.

The title opener already sets the stage for the album as smoothly as the opening track of Wisdom. "Perfectly Fake" is a perfect hodgepodge of experimentation, similar to what Candiria was doing at that time, but the hardcore elements are replaced with industrial ones. I wouldn't say "Uplift" is uplifting, but the end of that track is worth it for its somewhat ambient climax. I love that!

"Slow Wreck" is slower, but it comes out as kind of a trainwreck that made me think "Why did I go from listening to the awesome metalcore of Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Every Time I Die, and August Burns Red, to this sh*t!?" Then we have "Skin", the first of few instrumentals, this one a little bland but slightly better. Greatness is present again in "Stitched", with some impressive vocals to love. However, "Built to Last" again threatens to make me want to skip out on the industrial sound and go back to the metalcore of Parkway Drive, Trivium, Winds of Plague, and A Day to Remember.

"Bottle Rockets" is another instrumental that isn't the best but still works. An inspiring mix of guitars and electronics appears in "Downtime 2", which I find awesome and actually surpassing the first part of that song from Wisdom. "Flick" is one more noise-ridden instrumental. After that, there's 6 minutes of silence before a remix of the title track, "Dead Skin" which is OK but I prefer the original. The reissue has a couple more remixes and covers, but I've already said enough.

I think what really caused two of the non-instrumental tracks to go downhill is, the lyrics sound too simplistic and direct. They don't follow the "show don't tell" technique that English teachers recommend using. Take out those two tracks and a couple of the instrumentals, and you have something worthwhile....

Favorites: "Skin", "Perfectly Fake", "Uplift", "Stitched", "Downtime 2"

16volt is another industrial rock/metal band fresh from the early 90s. They are known for blending electro-industrial beats with abrasive electric guitar for a unique blend in the genre. This is unlike that other band Genitorturers that's more well-known for their live aesthetic and imagery. Not wanting to sound like the semi-apathetic young modern metal fan I am, music is a band's true value. But if you wish to explore the visual components of a band or album, that's fine. You do you!

With that said, the first 16volt album Wisdom seems to have a slight notch off compared to Genitorturers' debut. Nonetheless, 16volt's music is quite addictive and will get listeners hooked right from the start...

"Motorskill" is an amazing industrial metal opening track like none other. The coldness of the riffing and beats march on with no fear. Anyone who thought this kind of mix shouldn't exist would be wrong! The industrial apocalypse rolls further in the title track. Same with "Head of Stone", which is another example of what industrial rock/metal should really be about, all in great balance.

Vocalist Eric Powell tests out some erotic-ish whispering vocals in "Filthy Love of Fire" which is a more sludgy track. I think that's the closest the band can get to a similar vibe to Genitorturers. The tricky "Hand Over End" struggles with the marching snare, but the crushing percussion shoves it aside.

"Will" is another heavy crusher that I enjoy. "Dreams of Light" is another one of my favorite tracks in the album. While the beat and guitar are more mid-paced, that's not the main focus here. It's centered around more of the sound's apocalyptic atmosphere. The slow noise-ridden closing track "Downtime (Part One)" hints at their next album Skin, which has a "Part 2" to that track. Conveniently, I'll be reviewing that album next. In the meantime, check out a few remixes in the reissue that don't sound too different...

Wisdom has a lot you can ask for in the cold industrial darkness. A very solid industrial rock/metal release! Though it's slightly limp compared to Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste. Still it's something any fan of industrial, rock, and/or metal should get for some of this band's talent and wisdom....

Favorites: "Motorskill", "Head of Stone", "Will", "Dreams of Light"

I'm not really one to listen to a lot of music with themes of New South F***ing Wales and Black Depressive Suicidal Metal (think about the acronyms, not the words), but what's strange is, I quite like this one. I might be getting some Stockholm Syndrome vibes. Enough said! Let me just say, this album and review is not for the oversensitive.

Formed by singer Jennifer "Gen" Zimmerman, then-wife of Morbid Angel guitarist David Vincent, Genitorturers are infamous for their provocative imagery and live shows. Gen can be seen flexin' for some sexin' in the album's cover art. The lyrics are simple yet disturbing. Other bands/artists trying out this sexual theme in the early 90s were Divinyls with their 1990 single "I Touch Myself" and pop queen Madonna's Erotica album and SEX book released just less than a year before this twisted industrial metal offering...

This dark sinister vibe is spawned straight from the opening "120 Days". The name of that song and this album reference Marquis de Sade’s unfinished erotic novel 120 Days of Sodom. Already, the lyrical message has some deep power. Unleashing more of this intense passion is "Reality Check", with the lyrics taking on facing reality instead of illusions of false struggle. Next up, "Velvet Dreams" starts slow before speeding things up in erotic power. The crushing sexuality in the lyrics are sung as Gen's vocals penetrate your ears and give you great pleasure.

"House of Shame" is another one of my favorite tracks here. "Pleasure in Restraint" will definitely have you imagining Gen tying up her slaves. Another heavy track is "Lesser Gods", filled with heavy desire to please the album's listeners, especially from the 30-second opening intro that sounds like Slayer. "Jackin' Man" is a shorter track with almost a similar experimental vibe to Voivod at that time.

"River's Edge / Strip the Flesh" has more of the savage heaviness. "Force Fed" is big on the riffing, sounding the most metallic here. "Crack Track" is one more track that sounds close to a stylistic transition between Red Harvest's first and second albums.

Gen is someone who would rather f*** than give a f***, as her lyrics take on dark imagery of dominatrix fantasy. Sounds so wild yet addictive. It is an adventure in your mind in which only those who are brave and not oversensitive can prepare themselves for self-indulgence. I don't think I would ever attend one of their live shows though, for both moral and financial reasons. But the album itself is already theatrical!

Favorites: "120 Days", "Velvet Dreams", "House of Shame", "Lesser Gods", "Force Fed"

Call this album neoclassical or speed metal, but I wouldn't consider them accurate for Helstar's 4th release Nosferatu. Sure you can hear the shredding popularized by Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Cacophony, etc., but that's not the main style. Here we have a strong progressive US power metal style that incorporates those technical scales into their own sound. The songs are well-structured with those aspects, thanks to the guitar duo of Larry Branagan and André Corbin. And it fits well for a then-unexpected theme, covering one of the most legendary figures in horror fiction...

OK, I am familiar with the whole "horror metal" concept, but mostly via modern metalcore bands like Ice Nine Kills and Motionless in White, and I remember Iced Earth and Evergrey each making a song based on that evil Transylvanian vampire. Helstar's Nosferatu displays the horror story concept early in classic metal's golden decade. While the atmosphere isn't as chilling or scary as you might expect it to be, the technicality is filled with terrifying majesty and helps the album succeed. Interestingly, the album title and cover art is based on Nosferatu, while the lyrics center around the original Dracula and samples from the 1979 Dracula film can be heard. The Dracula concept only covers the first half of the album. Still, this sinister bloodsucker created by Bram Stoker became part of Helstar's vision of darkness and riffing complexity!

Thundering in is the riff-wrath of the intro "Rhapsody in Black", already hinting at the promising greatness of the album. The bad-a** speedy power metal storm kicks off in "Baptized in Blood", straight from the verse riffing. You can already hear this Texan band's Priest/Maiden/Sabbath-infused response to Mozart and Beethoven. More of the direct yet dexterous verses come in "To Sleep, Per Chance to Scream", with wonderful vocal emotion by James Rivera. Killer choruses appear in "Harker's Tale (Mass of Death)", all while exemplifying the neoclassical technicality.

"Perseverance and Desperation" is a shred-tastic instrumental with lots of acoustic sections and melodic solos that make up the neoclassical side of the band's sound. See, that's the kind of the music I would've loved to bits in my teen years of listening to power/progressive metal. I suspect a lot of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani would enjoy the sh*t out of that piece. Lovely atmosphere too! "The Curse Has Passed Away" has more of those cool acoustics. "Benediction" starts the non-Dracula half of the album, standing out with more gang shouts used than any of the other tracks here. The hammering "Harsh Reality" lyrically feels out of place, singing about how f***ed up the world is, right after travelling the shadowy realm of Count Dracula. Still the song is quite good and killer.

The dominating "Swirling Madness" fits things better, and is one of the best songs here! "Von Am Lebem Desto Strum" is German for "From Alive to Current". The track itself is a bit of a clumsy acoustic/piano instrumental, but it's a nice setup for the finale... "Aieliaria and Everonn" is a good closing track, but the lyrics could've been better aligned.

All in all, Nosferatu is a pretty kick-A album in which the earlier classic sound of progressive US power metal is blended with horror imagery. They can go f***ing heavy while having some wild melodic scales. They can really head forward with their innovation, as they close their 80s era on a well-deserved note, though they would end up absent throughout the first half of the 90s. Anyway, the more melodic metalheads will bloodthirsty for this offering of horror and neoclassicism!

Favorites: "Baptized in Blood", "To Sleep, Per Chance to Scream", "Perseverance and Desperation", "Benediction", "Swirling Madness"

Gojira is strongly iconic for their unique metal style. They can let out their ecological thoughts through deathly progressive metal. Their excellent music that most metalheads love have helped build the stairway between the underground and the mainstream surface. That's something that can lead to close to universal fame!

After blowing away people's minds with From Mars to Sirius, fans had to wait until 2008 for the album The Way of All Flesh to arrive. Since then, there have been 4 or 5-year gaps between albums, with the first album to end that gap being this album, L'Enfant Sauvage (The Wild Child). It's definitely worth revisiting in the present, because then I can bring this 2012 album back to discussion and see if it still appeals to me as it did before my break from this band's material starts a couple years ago.

Screeching in is the explosive "Explosia", having a bit of the heavier groove/tech-death guitar, mixed with the progressive the band is known for. Interesting leads and rhythms plague the title track, which still reigns as one of my favorite Gojira songs, due to a music video I was watching on TV long ago. Then we have the first of a couple formulaic tracks, "The Axe". That one should get the axe for its poor attempt at executing a more melodic groove-oriented The Faceless kind of sound. More effective singing and roaring come around in "Liquid Fire".

The interlude "The Wild Healer" is a mellow break from the action. "Planned Obsolescence" has more complex aggression, but the ambient outro is just way too long to like. "Mouth of Kala" seems lacking of original ideas, but I still like it a little. Excellent variation in "The Gift of Guilt" makes the song's 6-minute length well-filled.

"Pain is a Master" is another song that could've used a bit of improvement. "Born in Winter" is an epic underrated track from this band. They can journey through soft spoken verses before launching into the usual dramatic heaviness, all in just 4 minutes! Closing track "The Fall" sounds kinda diminished in the vocals by frontman Joe Duplantier, which is too bad because he's the elemental force powering up the band.

As with my Mastodon revisit, a few songs in this Gojira album don't strike my metal heart as they did years ago, but that doesn't decrease the album's greatness. L'Enfant Sauvage has much to offer in its songs. The hammering madness just isn't the same as it should've been back in those days....

Favorites: "Explosia", "L'Enfant Sauvage", "Liquid Fire", "The Gift of Guilt", "Born in Winter"

Once again, I'm surprised by how much interest I'm losing in the more popular progressive metal bands like Mastodon. It's just... I don't know, they just seem a bit overpraised with their huge expanding fanbase. But they do have these constant surprises that keep them unique and unpredictable. This progressive quartet from Atlanta, Georgia, has made sure none of their albums or songs are the same as one another. For this album, the band has firmly placed themselves in the atmospheric progressive realm they've always transcended through, discarding their earlier Crowbar-esque sludge roots. Checking this album out again after missing out on it for almost a couple years made me realized that while many songs are still awesome, only a couple of them I would rate lower.

As I've said, the band switched from a progressive sludge band to an atmospheric progressive metal/rock one in this release. Actually, maybe the "rock" part is too much of a face-slap, because it is mostly metal. For some reason, guitarist Brent Hinds once said Mastodon was more of an art rock band than metal, which is a band self-description as wrong as Lemmy insisting on deeming his band Motorhead just rock and roll. Anyway, sure there are some soft progressive rock moments in this Mastodon, but they still have a lot of heaviness. The f***ing big riffing of Hinds and Bill Kelliher, the talented drumming of Brann Dailor, and the distorted bass of Troy Sanders proves it all...

Vocals are performed by all members except Kelliher, albeit not altogether, with opener "Oblivion" being the only track with all 3 vocalists singing. The song shows ambitious elevation in emotion. Next track "Divinations" is a straight hard-hitter, as opposed to the rest of the album's atmospheric side. Great metal bliss in those riffs, though a bit uneasy at times. The amazing "Quintessence" has slower, less direct guitar that allows you to relax and explore further. Then when the heaviness comes, it's more balanced.

There's lots of progressive imagination in the Opeth-sized epic "The Czar". Throughout those 4 movements and 11 minutes, the band can control their emotional structure to allow a stable climax that can end the track shining greater than the end of their earlier 4-minute track. "Ghost of Karelia" has mighty bass thunder.

The title track has a bit of the sludgy doom of Neurosis, whose recently fired vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly appears here. The song and the album title tribute to Brann's one-year-younger sister Skye who took her own life at age 14. However, that song I struggle with nowadays. "The Last Baron" is another epic with the structural strength of Opeth, though slightly less focused with some steam lost halfway through. The steam is regained in time for a jazzy yet metal finale to make the song another highlight.

With all that I had to say about this album upon my recent revisit, Crack the Skye is a cohesive journey as Mastodon's progressive side takes the place of most of their earlier sludge. The different moods nicely test out their ambitious style when creating this fine album, though a couple songs should've had more concentration for higher quality. It's more thorough and later rounds of listening like this that has made me find some oddities more quickly. Despite that, I've regained a bit of interest in Mastodon. It just goes to show that greater different listens make you find a few things hard to enjoy, while everything else deserves great praise....

Favorites: "Oblivion", "Quintessence", "The Czar", "The Last Baron"

Fatalism is an album Polaris fans have been anticipating. The creative songwriter and performers are at it once again! And they even sealed a schedule of 3-year intervals between albums. Oh, what a solid strategy.

After the perfect one-two punch of The Mortal Coil and The Death of Me, the band continue progressing through their exciting creativity in Fatalism. Hearing the news about this album got my hopes up high. But then the news about guitarist Ryan Siew's passing was heartbreaking. He was one of the most talented modern metal guitarists I had heard, and he was only 26 (same age as my older brother). He had already complete his work before his death, so this album lets you hear his guitar wizardry one last time...

"Harbinger" starts the album with an atmospheric intro as bassist Jake Steinhauser sings his clean vocals over building synths. Soon the drums and guitars come in, and finally the moshing riffs and vocalist Jamie Hails' screams. The perfect opening storm that should work well live! "Nightmare" is the ultimate Polaris anthem! An easy metalcore banger with all of their signature aspects; screamed verses, melodic choruses, heavy riffs, and powerful vocals, all leading up to the mighty end. This is full-on rage you just gotta experience! "Parasites" has more aggressive attitude. And I mean real middle-finger-pointing anger. Full speed ahead for that track! Calming down from that intense ride, "Overflow" greatly display the two vocalists' skills. Jake continues his clean strength, and Jamie adds in some singing too alongside his usual screams.

"With Regards" has strong vocal beauty from Jake which, along with Jamie's kick-A screams, add to the heartful lyrics and soaring riff melody throughout the song. The high-sung final chorus really hits that spot. Heading forward to "Inhumane", bass opens the track, and then Jamie Hails unleashes the fire. Ryan Siew pulled off perhaps the most epic guitar solo he's ever done that barely any other guitarist could do. That song was the only one in the album to come out before his passing. Lots of interesting moments including powerful gang vocals, djenty melodies, and of course, that incredible solo! Finally we drop down to the song's finale that's more of a throwdown than a breakdown. "The Crossfire" is also very interesting. With more metallic guitars, this should really end up in Guitar Hero! It's quite addictive, as those vocal melodies will end up seared into your brain. Get your air guitars up!

Drummer Daniel Furnari gets all the action is "Dissipate", all in blast beat brilliance. D*mn, those blasts are all around, especially behind some wonderful riffing. The drums are front and center while the guitars provide support. And when the guttural vocals, they're filled with deep insanity that greatly contrasts with Jake's soaring cleans. The breakdown is what many of the heavier metalcore fans came for. It's so killer as the drums f***ing devastate, while Rick Schneider performs ravaging rhythm. "Aftertouch" is a slow sweet power ballad that's a rarity in metalcore. There's lightness in the keyboards and drums, but the guitars and vocals slowly gain stronger intensity. Even the most touching song can break down barriers as part of the band's essence. "Fault Line" starts soft in the synths before launching into another easy yet impressive banger. "All in Vain" closes the album, but not as energetic as I was hoping it would be. It starts off promising with some whispers and building riffing before exploding into a heavy verse. Then the intro is reprised before the final chorus which unfortunately makes an abrupt stop. Probably the only truly problematic Polaris song.

Fatalism is a different album from their earlier ones, yet there's a lot of the greatness to expect. Polaris continue to shine with their songwriting creativity that has made this album stay true to their discography. With lots of well-balanced highlights and professional teamwork, this blend of melody and brutality levels up the stories told within the lyrics shall keep listeners alert and wanting more. There's no doubt that Fatalism will please Polaris with this exciting heartful work. A near-perfect swansong for Ryan Siew that shall be engraved in his legacy! RIP

Favorites: "Harbinger", "Nightmare", "With Regards", "Inhumane", "Dissipate", "Fault Line"

Mikael Åkerfeldt is known as a true hero in progressive rock/metal. He and his band Opeth have stunned the world with their sound at least 25 years after Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath had done the same with their pioneered heavy metal sound. He has lead the band through a journey made by his creations of haunting riffs and melodies through great largely arranged compositions. Like many progressive bands, Opeth never hesitates to push themselves beyond their boundaries. If people think of Tony Iommi as an Iron Man, Mike is a kick-A Man of Steel!

2010 was the year that marked Opeth's 20th anniversary. I'm still stunned by how my appeal for progressive metal is drifting away. I mean, one month I was rocking out to the heaviness of Opeth, and the next month, I'm like "Opeth who?" I'm f***ing losing my Infinite touch! However, after a positive revisiting experience with Between the Buried and Me's Colors Live, I thought it would be a good time to redeem myself, by reviewing this album with a similar idea to that BTBAM live album. Opeth's 20th anniversary tour shows the band performing 5 special concerts, this one in the Royal Albert Hall, London, being documented in this mighty live release. They play their entire "Blackwater Park" to celebrate that breakthrough album from 2001, then after an intermission, their second set consists of 8 more songs, one from each Opeth album at that time.

Beginning the Blackwater Park set with heaviness crashing in is "The Leper Affinity". Then "Bleak" takes the deathly heaviness further alongside the progressive complexity. Deathly riffs and growling are in perfect equal contrast with clean melodies and singing. The rhythms and textures help keep the atmosphere in place. It shows a difference from an earlier album like Morningrise, having a more complete structure in under 10 minutes without combining a few songs into one. "Harvest" is a soft pleasant break from the dark deathliness of those first two tracks. Next song "The Drapery Falls" I still haven't forgotten as a melodic and heavy deathly progressive metal classic epic!

Things get a bit stretchy in "Dirge for November". That's too bad, because I used to think of that song as an impressive one, but listening to it now, the two-minute outro sounds anticlimactic and far-fetched. Those two minutes might just be a small spark of eliminating part of my Infinite interest. "The Funeral Portrait" strikes again with some decent deathly chaos. Despite a bit of repetition, that can be brushed aside by how dynamic the track is! "Patterns in the Ivy" is a great melodic moody interlude. The epic title finale, "Blackwater Park" continues the complex structure, adding in some of the later rhythm atmosphere. All I'm gonna note is how majestic the ending is, when the band unleash all their power before hitting the brakes in a bang.

After the intermission, the band re-enter the stage with their second set, beginning with "Forest of October" that has melodies of beauty and sorrow from one of the band's most memorable earlier compositions. The song is quite d*mn long at 13 minutes, but what makes those long epics superb is, there are some different emotions in different sections, all ranging from aggressive brutality to acoustic melancholy. One of my favorite Opeth songs and perhaps my second favorite in this release (behind "The Drapery Falls")! Heading into the Morningrise album, "Advent" kicks things off with swift riffing that then leads straight from dissonant to elegant. As usual, the blend of cleans and growls add to the progressive instrumentation and structure. And there's more progressiveness abound as the moods continue to twist. The riffing is never super repetitive, but each time they appear allows to relive the scene in a pleasant tone. An explosion into heaviness that begins "April Ethereal" can sound as beautiful as it is dark. You can already hear where the evolution the band took from the first two albums while having the usual brutal growls and riffs mixed with the melancholic cleans and acoustics that many of the songs in the band's metal albums have. "The Moor" opened what was my favorite Opeth album besides Blackwater Park, Still Life, perfectly with a two-minute intro. This live rendition starts with the section right after that, when some brief acoustics are blasted away by the electric guitar density. The riffing from that epic is some of the best I've ever heard from this band.

"Wreath" is one of the greatest examples of Opeth's aggressive side. It sounds like a lost outtake from Orchid, with more flow in riffing and movements. The haunting song "Hope Leaves" is one of the saddest I've heard to not be doom metal. "Harlequin Forest" provides strong imagery. The music sounds great from the start, but it has the same repetition problem "Dirge for November" has. The execution in "The Lotus Eater" is a bit awkward, thus ending this mostly awesome show somewhat poorly in my opinion.

Any Opeth fan should own this, especially if they want to hear some amazing highlights from the band's metal era including the entire Blackwater Park album. Almost every song is in top-notch quality and still strong within me, so I don't have to feel like a d*ck in the progressive metal community. This live album is an essential taste of Opeth!

Favorites: "Bleak", "The Drapery Falls", "The Funeral Portrait", "Blackwater Park", "Forest of October", "Advent", "The Moor", "Wreath"

Before this band's switch into industrial rock/metal, Killing Joke started their 45-year tenure as an intense addition to the post-punk scene in the 80s. The band has pleased numerous fans of the scene with their earlier releases, despite a downward turn with the trance-pop Outside the Gate. But that's just part of their broad appeal, right from the start with their first single "Wardance". As much as their 80s era gained lots attention, so did their 2003 album which brought the band back from the shadows. Of course, we can't forget about the two albums in between, Pandemonium and Democracy, and you wouldn't believe how well the songs in the former album turned out...

The release of Pandemonium marked the end of a 4-year gap since the previous album Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions, and it has a heavier mood. The members seem to add in some elements of their side-projects, with the electronics that bassist Youth explored, and vocalist Jaz Coleman's trip to the Middle East (music, not the region, although he recorded his vocals in Egypt). So there's a more ambient/world tone added alongside their new industrial rock/metal direction.

The title opener is a heavy song that needs more attention, maybe more than their earlier rock hits. "Exorcism" is another astounding heavy tune. Jaz Coleman encourages listeners to "Let it out, let it rise, let it-" (literally coughs and wheezes, f***ing amusing). The theme of exorcism can be associated with Babylonian religion. The catchy "Millennium" allowed Killing Joke a rare chance to hit the airwaves in the U.S. The epic highlight "Communion" has more of the Egyptian vibe than before to add more uniqueness to the album's style, as Kevin Walker's chords are in perfect blend with the percussion and violin.

"Black Moon" begins the more brooding second half, in which some of the earlier momentum is lost. There's a bit of redemption in "Labyrinth", but that's not enough. The more poppy "Jana" is too much of just a simple rock song that doesn't really fit the earlier heavy vibe.

Then we return to the heavier chaos for real with "Whiteout". That's the kind of energy I needed to make sure the second half doesn't bore me to death. However, I can't say the same thing about "Pleasures of the Flesh" which is just dull and doesn't please me at all. "Mathematics of Chaos" takes you into a metallic trance, as the wizardry of the instrumentation is in clear production, thanks to Youth.

After Pandemonium, the band made their next album Democracy and then go on a 7-year hiatus before their 2003 album that features the legendary Dave Grohl on drums. I wouldn't say Pandemonium is highly essential, nor is it a waste of time, but it's another chapter in the band's evolution, and their post-punk-focused days are long gone....

Favorites: "Pandemonium", "Exorcism", "Communion", "Whiteout", "Mathematics of Chaos"

Now this is the album I need to revisit this band that I've distanced from their music for a couple years! Colors Live is a Between the Buried and Me live album in which they perform the entirety of what was once a favorite masterpiece of mine, Colors, followed by some songs from their first 3 albums voted by fans in a special online poll.

When I was still enjoying this band, their 2002 self-titled debut was a solid start that showed their metalcore side at their rawest. The Silent Circus began to display their more progressive tendencies. Then Alaska was a perfect phenomenon of progressive metalcore innovation. This is only surpassed by a few points by the stunning diamond gem that was Colors, in which their experimental deathly progressive metalcore sound is in full prodigious force throughout basically a 64-minute epic split into 8 tracks.

The live rendition of that colorful journey begins as it should, with the smooth piano and clean singing of "Foam Born (A) The Backtrack". Then the drums crash in and the guitars follow as uplifting spiraling synths enter the picture. Then it makes a dark twist into melodic death/black metal, almost like Dissection/Emperor possessed their minds for 30 seconds. The crushing deathly heaviness is maintained as it segues into "(B) The Decade of Statues" as their finest hour kicks off for real in the speed. An atmospheric Middle-Eastern guitar melody opens "Informal Gluttony". With that and the deathly fire that comes after, you might almost be reminded of the band Nile. There's an epic chorus later on before ending on tribal drumming. The gigantic 11-minute marathon epic "Sun of Nothing" has some moments to highlight, such as a nice Beatles-like melody, a weird piano section, and a beautiful climax that looks back at Pink Floyd's "Dark Side" that rises up until the band stampede through from that track into another, and it's another epic that can be considered the centerpiece of Colors...

The 13-minute epic "Ants of the Sky" has wonderful aspects of blues groove and organ, with some hard rock/thrash added in, as the soloing ranges from jazz to Queen-esque to country. Soon it leads to an epic slow bridge that then quiets down for a bit of clean soloing. And then another country-like moment, this time with banjo-like guitars and a background bar fight (WHAT?!), before ending with an uplifting neoclassical outro similar to Pachelbel's Canon. It then leads to "Prequel to the Sequel", continuing the sweet twists. One moment they play some aggressive soloing, and the next... We have a moment of wacky polka/cabaret. The rising/brutal section after that originally had Fear Before vocalist Adam Fisher screaming his own verse and then a growling/screaming showdown with BTBAM vocalist Tommy Rogers. The live version shows Rogers doing it all himself, before another uplifting clean outro. Bassist Dan Briggs's shining instrumental "Viridian" plays as all is relaxed a bit before the towering finale... The legendary 14-minute "White Walls" pretty much summarizes all that is central to the album's sound. All I'm gonna note is how majestic the ending is, when the band unleash all their power before collapsing and concluding it all with the last bit of piano, just like in the beginning.

However, the entire live experience ain't over yet, as after an intermission, the band strike again with their earlier material, beginning with "Mordecai", perhaps the highlight of this second half. It starts with brutal tech-death that can remind some of Suffocation and Misery Index, followed by a 5-second Zappa-like transition into relentless mathcore ala The Dillinger Escape Plan, and a bit of melodeath/groove. The distorted heaviness fades away, and taking its place is a soft bridge of clean guitar, falsetto singing, and beautiful keyboards. This can be almost consider a progressive metalcore ballad, especially when Rogers' emotional singing rises and guitarist Paul Waggoner performs splendorous soloing. That stylistic switch from brutality and beauty has left me speechless since first listen. I love it! "Shevanel Cut a Flip" is the 9-minute closer of the first BTBAM album, and it starts with some of the most extreme chaos the band has had, only interrupted by another brief jazzy riff over another background bar fight (seriously WHAT?!?), before some more heaviness and bass. But the real change comes 3 and a half minutes in, when it all switches to quiet softness, as if you suddenly end up from darkness to light. The clean vocals and harmonies were sung by ex-drummer Will Goodyear in the original album, sung by Waggoner and Rogers in this live version. Also in the original is that quiet ending extended for 3 minutes before a white-noise fadeout. It's actually good that they didn't include that extended ending, as I would probably get bored to death if I hear the soft drumming and riffing for that long. "Backwards Marathon" continues the band's chaotic side with groove and speed, before a switch into a jazzy ethereal bridge that almost reminds me of Dream Theater's "Trial of Tears" ("It's raining...").

"Ad a dglgmut" is another epic track with a powerful climax. It first bursts in blast-beat/riffing fury, as the times change through wild cacophony, while Tommy screams "SCREAM LOUD! LOUD!! LOUD!!! LOUD!!!!" Then everything changes into an uplifting mellow bridge with more of his pleasant singing, "It all makes sense, we're capable of beauty, through sounds which make one cringe, the dogs only hear us now". Next track "Aspirations" showed the band making unexpected twists even in those earlier days. They start off with melodic metalcore riffing that then turn into crushing rhythm. The guitar becomes more melodic, as the bass shines again. Then the cool metalcore riffing returns, and a delightful twist is Tommy performing some high falsetto for a brief verse. Again, the softer clean singing was originally by Will Goodyear in the original debut. "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" concludes the entire set on a grand note. It begins with groovy keyboards, before some more of the annihilating deathly madness. Soon we get to a dreamy bridge of clean singing, bluesy soloing, and soft piano. And finally, they end it all with a few-minute climax of glorious neoclassical soloing that is as much of a moment fans have been looking for as graduation day for college students. What a treat to wrap things up! As the live video ends and the credits roll, the outro for Alaska, "Laser Speed" plays, as a sweet jazzy elevator music interlude.

Colors Live is a monstrous live experience like none other from this modern progressive metal fivesome BTBAM. I really need to get back in touch with the music of this band and Opeth if I want to maintain my Infinite street cred. This is an excellent live journey you just gotta hear to believe!

Favorites: "Informal Gluttony", "Sun of Nothing", "Ants of the Sky", "White Walls", "Mordecai", "Aspirations", "Selkies: The Endless Obsession"

First of all, let me just say (again) how amazing and painfully underrated this band is! Trail of Tears is a band that I regret waiting until only last year to check out. Their brand of extreme gothic metal has struck me as much as other modern legends like the thrashy metalcore of Trivium and the epic deathcore of Lorna Shore. Trail of Tears started off as a mournful gothic melodeath band with the operatic Helena Iren Michaelsen (later temporarily joining Sahara Dust (Epica)). Then the gothic side took a haunting symphonic turn in A New Dimension of Might with the rock-on Cathrine Paulsen. The next two releases had a greater emphasis on melodeath with male vocals by Kjetil Nordhus (also in Green Carnation), though one of those releases, Existentia brings back female singing in a few tracks, sung by Emmanuelle Zoldan (Sirenia (as a session member, later full-time). Finally, Cathrine returns for a perfect one-two punch of albums, and Oscillation is one of those albums! Sadly it ended up becoming their swansong release because the internal conflicts that decimated the band's lineup before the release of Existentia happened again, this time between Thorsen and Paulsen with her partner guitarist Bjørn Erik Næss by her side. With that, drummer Cato Jensen, and the band leaving Napalm Records for Massacre, the band fell apart and was no more.

Oscillation can very well be the perfect ending statement. The deathly symphonic gothic metal sound has been nailed down in the writing Ronny Thorsen and Paulsen. Pretty much everything they've had in the music and lyrics has been delivered smoothly. Darkness, heaviness, catchiness... All to make their extreme gothic metal sound the way it's meant to be! If it's possible for the band see the future and witness the devastating tail end of production in advance, they've done it. And when the sweet beauty comes in towards the end, it is part of the farewell they would sing to their fans.

It starts with "Waves of Existence", a metal pounder right off the bat. Excellent solid production here! The atmosphere is as bleak and cold as the album cover by Jan Yrlund, stunningly resembling that of Rammstein's Rosenrot. Everything this album has is given a sneak peek. Ronny's growling fury is in perfect balance with Cathrine's operatic drama. You can't deny the remorse that comes from the lyrics, especially reminds us that "Nothing lasts forever..." Melancholic doom covers "Scream Out Loud" with Cathrine's vocal emotion in full display. She unleashes her feelings of anger and pain out loud. "Crimson Leads on the Trail of Tears" can be considered the band's theme song, though in this case, it's more like the theme song for the band's final season. Before the music comes in, we hear what sounds like a revolution of youth. The death-growled lyrics sound more prophetic than anything done before, "We were destined to prove all the things that we say". The title track has some heavier guitar thrash, as Thorsen's harsh growls and Paulsen's clean singing open up different dimensions.

"Path of Destruction" is a 6-minute epic with gothic atmosphere and the best vocals by Paulsen. The music certainly sounds close to late 90s Anathema/The Gathering while more metallic. However, "Vultures Guard My Shadow" hits some slight turbulence, sounding more typical than special. The perfection is still stabilized though. "The Dawning" begins with some excellent guitar as the harsh and clean vocals battle against each other. "Room 306" may not be the strongest metal song title, but it's a haunting standout with soothing female choir and more of the emotional singing. It is more of a rock-on track rather than the usual symphonic death/gothic metal, while having some structural complexity. I enjoy Ronny's growls in the chorus, "Realize all is lost/dead/gone". Then "Our Grave Philosophy" loses some specialty though it's not really a grave error.

"Lost in Life" is more of a ballad with beautiful keyboards and cleans. Finally, "Eradicate" marks a desperate yet perfect way out, with a final lyrical message of "Prepare to fall!!!" The digipak edition has two bonus tracks that throw back to earlier albums, the first one being "Sleep Forever" with the great gloomy atmosphere of Existentia. "Quick Fix of Shame" has the eeriness of A New Dimension of Might all over.

ALL OVER... Two simple words that are hard to say but it was true. A band that was active for nearly two decades, with strong musicians and vocalists, gone just like that. So thank you, Ronny, for all this awesome music like in this masterpiece album.... And thanks for coming back for more. Up next: my thoughts on their recent comeback EP!

Favorites: "Waves of Existence", "Crimson Leads on the Trail of Tears", "Path of Destruction", "The Dawning", "Room 306", "Eradicate", "Sleep Forever"

Not often does a symphonic gothic melodeath band continue their winning streak building up with every release better than the last, but how else can I describe the music of Trail of Tears? Existentia shows the band going back to some of their earlier gothic roots with more keyboard orchestration and the return of female singing in some songs. And at the time of its release, it was what atmospheric gothic metal fans needed after The Gathering and Green Carnation were softening their respective sounds.

And holy sh*t, the heaviness is still up in Existentia! The crushing guitars and growls continue on from their previous album Free Fall Into Fear. What's different is, there's more of the soft drama from their earlier albums for better flow.

"Deceptive Mirrors" begins the album with killer riffing and Kjetil Nordhus' clean singing, keeping up what the band has in Free Fall Into Fear, before switching into the piano and female singing of the albums before then. The female vocals are done by session member Emmanuelle Zoldan, known as part of the band Sirenia, originally in the Sirenian Choir for 15 years before joining that band full-time. With that kind of contrast in this album, I had a grand feeling about it. "My Comfort" is also great with a catchy midtempo chorus. The song is a little restrained in its 4 and a half minute length. Oh yeah, every song here is within the 4-minute track length. Then we have the killer highlight "Venom Inside My Head", packing some venomous punches, as Ronny Thorsen's growls are in perfect battle with the clean melodies of Nordhus.

"Decadence Becomes Me" is a total rocker though the chorus practically pays homage to Candlemass' "Solitude". Then "She Weaves Shadows" makes a dramatic entrance sounding similar to Green Carnation back when Nordhus was still making that band heavy. "The Closing Walls" has wonderful atmosphere. I wish I could give the album the remaining half-star needed for total perfection, but unfortunately... "Empty Room" is a poor attempt at looking back at the early years of Trail of Tears and Tristania when try to put operatic singing and keyboards up front. But it's never really a stinker, otherwise the rating would be lower.

Next track "Poisonous Tongues" is a better gem. Lots of excellent drama in the bridge there. You can hear killer riffing in "As It Penetrates", with more symphonic synths and piano as Kjetil's vocals fit right in. "Shades of Yesterday" starts with some strange electronics that almost made me think this was gonna lead into something like Dead by April, but nope, we still have the last bit of the epic gothic melodeath for this album, and the last bit of Kjetil's vocals for his time in the band.

Anyone who has followed Trail of Tears and known its history would be aware of their initial fallout. The main members of the band who recorded the album besides Ronny and Kjetil were guitarist Runar Hansen, bassist Kjell Rune Hagen, and drummer Jonathan Perez, all 3 of whom plus Kjetil left shortly before the album was released. But shortly after, Thorsen would assemble a new lineup, including the return of female vocalist Cathrine Paulsen, all ready for a fantastic duo of albums. Existentia is still quite amazing though and it's for anyone who wants to hear Kjetil's work outside his other band Green Carnation. He and the other departed members have done their job well!

Favorites: "Deceptive Mirrors", "Venom Inside My Head", "She Weaves Shadows", "Poisonous Tongues", "Shades of Yesterday"

There comes a time when a band would make severe changes to their own sound, and not often can they still sound good. For this band Trail of Tears, all they did was replace female clean vocals with male ones, drop the tuning 3 semitones lower, and added more deathly riffs to the mix. So different yet darker and heavier! And those changes came to fruition after Cathrine Paulsen temporarily left the band and session vocalist Kjetil Nordhus (Green Carnation) joined full-time.

Kjetil and unclean vocalist Ronny Thorsen transformed this band from Beauty and the Beast gothic metal to Devil and Angel melodeath, more specifically, symphonic extreme gothic melodeath. Free Fall Into Fear is more aggressive than the band's surrounding works while having lots of variation.

Starting things off with perhaps the best track here, the fantastic "Joyless Trance of Winter" is a prime example of symphonic gothic melodeath with groove-ish riffing and a beautiful clean chorus. The melodic "Carrier of the Scars of Life" sounds almost like Nightrage's debut Sweet Vengeance, particularly one of the songs where that band has Evergrey's Tom S. Englund performing cleans. "Frail Expectations" has more of a gothic atmosphere while sounding eerily close to Wintersun's "Time" epic.

Then we have the power metal-ish melodeath fury of "Cold Hand of Retribution", not too far off from Into Eternity. It's also the only song in the entire album to have female vocals, sung by guest vocalist Astri Skarpengland. The menacing keyboards shine in "Watch Your Fall" while the guitar duo pull off crushing work and the cleans and growls continue their battle. We also have the technical "The Architect of My Downfall" which practically brings back Soilwork's melodeath fire that they dropped most of in their own album Stabbing the Drama that year. Doom-filled "Drink Away the Demons" is a little slower than the rest.

"Point Zero" has a heavy breakdown with some interesting keyboard surprises. That also occurs in "Dry Well of Life", a highlight of melodeath rage. With all those amazing songs, is there one track that can be a slight downer? That would have to be the closing track "The Face of Jealousy". I mean it has great energy, but it doesn't stand out as much as the others. Still a satisfying album ending all the same.

Trail of Tears has once again proven to be masters of symphonic extreme gothic melodeath, even with a different sound. It doesn't please a lot of metalheads, but it really should. This is the kind of dark work that deserves more appreciation!

Favorites: "Joyless Trance of Winter", "Carrier of the Scars of Life", "Cold Hand of Retribution", "The Architect of My Downfall", "Dry Well of Life"

Trail of Tears started off with their first two albums Disclosure in Red and Profoundemonium, both with female vocalist Helena Iren Michaelsen. Helena left the band in the time between the recording and the release of the latter album. She would later briefly join Dutch symphonic metallers Epica (then named Sahara Dust). While Helena was great at her singing, her replacement Cathrine Paulsen is more top-notch! She can perform operatic soprano and rock-like singing in a greater perfect balance.

I still can't believe how unheard this underrated album is. Sure this blackened symphonic gothic metal sound may turn away purists, but it works well and shouldn't be ignored. The normally tiring Beauty and the Beast style of vocals is actually quite strong, from Cathrine and Ronny Thorsen. Plus some nice cleans by Kjetil Nordhus.

The opening track "Ecstatic" kicks things off with lots of different vocalists, starting with a male choir, before the aforementioned 3 vocalists perform their respective parts. The choir sounds so emotionless yet they paint the atmosphere with emotion. You don't really hear a lot of extreme gothic metallers add electronic synth effects to turn this place into a haunted carnival, but it's what they do in that epic banger. And that's just the beginning of the adventure... "A Fate Sealed in Red" seals that eerie stylistic motive further, with the orchestrated synths and female singing not too far off from Dark Moor at that time. "Crashing Down" crashes through and speeds along as if you're in a deadly maze trying to find a way out. "Obedience in the Absence of Logic" has nothing absent in the sound the band has constructed.

"Liquid View" brings back some of the melodeath from the first two albums, though of course, it's never the fast thrashy style ala The Haunted/Disarmonia Mundi. Then we head into "Denial and Pride" which is exceptional but barely reaching standout status. "The Call of Lust" is filled with gothic energy, fitting with its title.

"Splendid Coma Visions" has the strongest synergy in music and lyrics to make this song memorable. You can't help but shout along to the "DIE!" bridge and risk sounding like a psycho. While the growls sound electronic, there isn't much vocal distortion involved. "Bloodred Trance" closes the original album in mighty drama. The bonus Faith No More cover "Caffeine" is an odd choice for a serious band, but I'm glad they had fun. Kjetil's cleans are f***ing spot on, and Mike Patton would certainly praise that cover.

All in all, A New Dimension of Might is worth getting for some epic extreme gothic metal treats. Cathrine left the band after this album, but she would come back for the one-two glory punch of Bloodstained Endurance and Oscillation. And in between are two albums with a different side of Trail of Tears. Step into this dark dimension!

Favorites: "Ecstatic", "A Fate Sealed in Red", "Liquid View", "Splendid Coma Visions", "Bloodred Trance"

The gothic melodeath of Trail of Tears continues in their sophomore album Profoundemonium! However, the melodeath now has much more in common with 90s Dark Tranquillity than the more deathly bands out there, exemplified by the guitar harmonies and acoustic/electric interplay. The deathly side also sounds more blackened, in battle between fast and slow. The band sure know how to take their sound seriously, in contrast to the cover art that's practically a towel model photoshoot...

Profoundemonium has more ideas explored than Disclosure in Red, particularly in the orchestration and vocals. Female vocalist Helena Michaelsen lets out her singing for the last time before leaving the band after recording (later joining Epica when they were still named Sahara Dust), replaced by Cathrine Paulsen shortly after.

"Countdown to Ruin" is an epic synth-orchestral intro that should really fit well in a climatic video game scene. Then "Driven Through the Ruins" drives through with the usual gothic melodeath, picking up where their debut left off. "Fragile Emotional Disorder" also has clean singing, this time coming from guest vocalist Kjetil Nordhus, best known as the lead vocalist of Green Carnation, and having a more prominent role in Trail of Tears' next 3 albums.

We get a cool standout in the title track to level up the flow with Jonathan Perez's powerful drumming to keep things moving. "Sign of the Shameless" shows that there's no shame in what the band can do with their sound. "In Frustration's Preludium" is another interlude, and what's interesting is, the piano melody at 0:40 sounds a lot like the intro riff melody that kicks off Amorphis' "Into Hiding". Although it can be considered a coincidence, I can totally understand if Amorphis left a profound influential mark in Trail of Tears' sound. It segues to highlight "In Frustration's Web" which has strong Sabbath-ish riffing. Also, at over 3 and a half minutes in, it's that "Into Hiding" melody again!

The otherwise great soprano vocals of Helena seem to take a toll in "Released at Last". It's not bad, but there could've been better control. "Image of Hope" has more of the gothic melodies of Edge of Sanity and mid-90s Paradise Lost. "Disappointment's True Face" is the ultimate highlight for me, with the riffing and vocals sounding industrial without altering much of the usual sound. "The Haunted" once again shows that melodeath doesn't have to be as thrashy as the band The Haunted.

Profoundemonium is another step in the journey of Trail of Tears with a little more to offer than Disclosure in Red. This is the kind of deathly symphonic gothic metal I need without it having to be as overly melodic as Sirenia and Tristania. The second time can make a promising sign....

Favorites: "Driven Through the Ruins", "Profoundemonium", "In Frustration's Web", "Image of Hope", "Disappointment's True Face"

We all have the kind of music to, y'know, be able to concentrate deeply and escape into another world. For many outsiders out there, it might be jazz or classical, right? But for us metalheads, you know what we like. And I have the go-to band for this kind of escapism...

Trail of Tears stand out with their own beautiful sound of atmospheric gothic melodeath. Their debut Disclosure in Red and follow-up Profoundemonium start off their sound smoothly. I'm not as big of a fan of epic gothic metal as I was in my teens, but here it's blended with dark melodeath for enchanting majesty! Sweet melodies with angelic singing fit together alongside deathly rhythms and demonic growls. Helena Iren Michaelsen can even switch from operatic soprano to Cranberries-style rock vocals at ease.

The band crashes in right away with "When Silence Cries" with black metal-ish riffing that clearly shows the Norwegian black metal scene bleeding crimson into the band's influences, alongside Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery with its E-flat tuning, occasional blasts, and the alternation between growls and female singing. A truly powerful start! Some retro synths can be heard in "The Daughters of Innocence" to make things more interesting, as opposed to the orchestration and piano in subsequent albums. There's more vocal variation in "The Day We Drowned" with Helena's operatic side sounding quite impressive. Heavenly bliss flows through the acoustic bridge of "Mournful Pigeon".

"Swallowed Tears" once again has a bit of black metal elements in the arpeggios and blast beats. "Illusion?" is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful tracks I heard in gothic metal, and that's saying something considering I'm not into a lot of ballads. A dark serenade of lost love and depression. "Enigma of the Absolute" continues those clean sections of orchestrated synths and Helena's emotional singing while making room for some heaviness.

"Words of the Fly" is another melodic track with Helena singing beautifully like an angel, practically outshining The Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen. "Temptress" brings in a bit of the gothic doom of Within Temptation at that time with a magic touch. "The Burden" is the band's longest song at 8 minutes, giving the album a nice somber ending.

Disclosure in Red is all about the interplay, including the alternation between female singing and male growling, and the keyboards and guitars, all in gentle flow. It's rare for any death metal subgenre to have such soothing mournful breaks. Opeth is another band that can go from deathly to soft so easily, and that aspect was quite plain to hear at that time. It's astonishing how much my appreciation for Trail of Tears grew in just less than a year. Their debut shall be for anyone with sense of darkness and diversity....

Favorites: "When Silence Cries", "The Day We Drowned", "Mournful Pigeon", "Illusion?", "Words of the Fly"

Having kept a distance away from Tiamat for over a couple years, I decided it was time to get back in touch with this band's material, starting with their live EP The Sleeping Beauty. The show was recorded 30 years before this review in Israel, the one country I'm forbidden from entering. The recording is raw with no overdubs or mixing, resulting in lo-fi production that still sounds nice and clear.

The EP is overlooked and underrated, and fans of the band's earlier material should give it a listen. The 5 songs are from the albums The Astral Sleep and Clouds. Maybe someday I can check out the band's live rendition of the Wildhoney album, but for now, let's look back at those good ol' death-doom days...

Opening the show is Clouds' first track "In a Dream", starting with crushing slowness before speeding up in the riffing and soloing. Some nice synth-keys segue into "Ancient Entity" from The Astral Sleep, which is quite awesome and straight. Midway through is a cool breakdown.

The title track of this release, "The Sleeping Beauty" continues the eerie slowness of Clouds. A nice atmosphere is added from the leads. "Mountain of Doom" reigns as the best highlight here. The cool intro leads to killer riffing. There's even a speedy solo later on in the song. "Angels Far Beyond" is a solid finale for the show, with great riffing in the middle. Afterwards, there are two minutes of silence before a mysterious synth outro that sounds like it can be the intro for My Dying Bride's "The Cry of Mankind".

The Sleeping Beauty: Live in Israel is a great recommendation for fans of early Tiamat. It's definitely worth picking up for those fans. As much as I like this release though, there are other bands to look out for with that kind of beauty....

Favorites (one per album): "The Sleeping Beauty", "Mountain of Doom"

When progressive metal was first starting off in the 80s, it was more melodic than in subsequent decades. Those were the times when the two founding bands of the genre, Queensryche and Fates Warning were associated with classic heavy metal, though Dream Theater would then sever those ties with their pure melodic progressive metal sound. In between was an album from a band that would mix the genre with another Guardians genre, one that would've appealed to me more 10 years ago... Power metal.

You know how happy power metal sounds in their riffs, leads, and choruses to sing along to, but back then, bands of that style had a darker direction. Fates Warning at that time added some heavy riffing and lyrics of death and religion to their power-ish progressive metal. Adramelch does the same here. Not as heavy, but quite dark...

"Fearful Visions" begins ominously with mysterious keys and choir that have a bit of a gothic vibe. Then the progressive/power metal action kicks off, and Vittorio Ballerio starts singing. While not hitting the highs as powerfully as Queensryche's Geoff Tate, his accented desperation fits well with the song's theme of a desolated city of peasants. It's a great opening track to let you know what to expect in the album, high-level riffing leading up to a climatic ending. Seriously, I love the riffing that takes me through the Black Death without actually experiencing the deadly plague. There's more of this divine music in "Zephirus". The title track shines very well in the progressiveness, while not drifting too far off from the power metal side.

"Lamento" is kind of a bland acoustic interlude. Despite its blandness, there is a medieval atmosphere that actually sounds promising and can work well as a soundtrack to a Dungeons and Dragons fantasy game, but it just fades out. So yeah, quite anticlimactic. This is made up for by "Decay (Saver Comes)" with solid wailing vocals, especially in the ending over a gloomy melody as it fades out more appropriately, a bit like the end of Fates Warning's The Spectre Within. The interesting "Was Called Empire" is full-on power metal with some speedy Iron Maiden-infused riffing and vocal glory.

"Eyes of Alabaster" once again shows that when it comes to progressiveness, there's a major difference between the 80s power metal of this band and the modern technical-thrash of Vektor. Here we have the finale "Dreams of a Jester" that summarizes the great aspects of the album and ending it all in a way that never ceases to amaze me. That would certainly make me up for more of this progressive power metal sound if I didn't p*ssy out of there.

All in all, Irae Melanox shall appeal to fans of power metal who would like to hear the US and European styles blended together with early progressive metal. Not quite the perfect spark for a heavier metalhead like me, but there's a charm of uniqueness within....

Favorites: "Fearful Visions", "Irae Melanox", "Was Called Empire", "Dreams of a Jester"

Dragoncorpse... The name of this band would make you think of a blend of the speedy power metal of DragonForce and the brutal death metal of Cannibal Corpse. And you would be two-thirds right there! This is, for real, power metal and deathcore mixed together, a combo barely anyone has ever thought could, let alone should, be possible. But since Shadow of Intent, Lorna Shore, and Mental Cruelty have already projected their own respective brands of epic deathcore, well... Why the f*** not?!

Hailing from two separate continents, North America and Australia, Dragoncorpse released an EP that fans have been waiting for hearing the singles released the previous year. Those singles are included in the EP along with two new songs and 4 cheesy spoken-word interludes, the latter keeping the release away from perfect greatness.

Opening the EP is one of the two new songs, "Sunlover", featuring Jacob Wallace, formerly of Brojob. There's a decent balance between vocalist Mardy Leith's operatic singing and Wallace's crushing growling. The power metal sections are quite upbeat that make a cool yet struggling contrast with the heavier deathcore breakdowns. Despite that issue, it's still quite stellar, helped out by the epic chorus.

Next up is my favorite here, "Blood and Stone". The fast relentless power metal/deathcore blend continues, complete with a brutal chant of "Blood in, blood out". The following full song, "Terror Eternal" continues that combo, this time with some soloing by Dragonland guitarist Jesse Lindskog.

Then "From the Sky" has that sound yet again. This time with a superb catchy chorus that makes this song another stellar highlight. Finally, "Undying" is a special song. It features incredible vocals from two winners of a contest to guest appear in a song by the band, Jens Thommek and Stefan Gorski Prins. There is some more of Mardy's catchy vocals, along with Kris Chayer proving himself to be a true guitar wizard.

All in all, The Drakketh Saga is a solid EP for fans of power metal and deathcore who are curious to hear what those two genres sound like together. Give this offering some good listening and witness two separate worlds collide....

Favorites: "Blood and Stone", "From the Sky", "Undying"

Trail of Tears is a Norwegian band known for their original extreme gothic metal sound. They were also known for some turbulence in the lineup, facing many different changes. Just before the release of their previous album Existentia, all the members except founding harsh vocalist Ronny Thorsen left the band. The fate of the band was left uncertain until a few months later when several new members joined in, along with female vocalist Cathrine Paulsen, who was in their 2002 album A New Dimension of Might. You might know a few of the other vocalists from other bands; Helena Iren Michaelsen in Sahara Dust (pre-Epica), Kjetil Nordhus (male vocalist) in Green Carnation, and Emmanuelle Zoldan and Ailyn in Sirenia. But the quick-paced operatic vocals of Paulsen are an essential part of one of the finest extreme gothic metal albums around!

Trail of Tears was known as one of the earlier developing bands of Norwegian gothic metal alongside The Sins of Thy Beloved and Tristania. Unlike the former that split up after two albums and the latter that took on a less extreme sound, Trail of Tears started mixing the genre with melodic death metal in the second half of the 2000s, with death growls provided as usual by Thorsen. However, there's more female singing than death growling that causes this band to be like a darker Epica. With all that said, the band is up to exploring different directions for something so special and unique.

I love opener "The Feverish Alliance" with exemplifies this gothic/symphonic death metal sound, complete with choirs. "Once Kissed by the Serpent (Twice Bitten by Truth)" has more of this symphonic direction of destruction. The female vocals appear a little more that seem to overpower the death growls/screams that appear in the verses. Switching to softer gears is the title track, especially in ethereal sections of female vocals and violin. It really shows the many twists Paulsen can pull without having to come up for air. You can say the same thing about Thorsen's dark growling intensity that fit well with the guitars and drums. Now that's true Norwegian extreme gothic metal! "Triumphant Gleam" has some epic symphonics that might've planted the seed for Lorna Shore's symphonic aspect.

More of the melodic/harsh blend can be found "In the Valley of Ashes". Then "A Storm at Will" appears right in the middle of the album as a Nightwish-esque ballad. Paulsen's delightful vocals shine over symphonic and background choirs. Although I've lost interest in the ethereal symphonic metal of Nightwish, this song makes a classic highlight with its spiritual lyrics, "Leave your broken dreams, alone in despair, stay in that place, and I will be here". After that, "Take Aim. Reclaim. Prevail" has strong symphonics and vocals from both Paulsen and Thorsen with dark lyrics. "The Desperation Corridors" reminds me of Amaranthe if there were symphonics instead of electronics.

"Farewell to Sanity" is another one of my favorite songs here, beginning like a funeral dirge before switching to the usual heaviness and vocal alternations. Shining high is the instrumentation, especially the guitars over the percussion. And there's more of the harsh lyrics. Then "Dead End Gaze" has the kind of metal the heavier fans find listenable. Closing with another favorite, "Faith Comes Knocking" has amazing symphonics and eerie wickedness. There's also a great bonus track, "Onward March the Merciless".

Ronny Thorsen and co. have a masterpiece that I'm glad to have revisited after a few years. This is true extreme gothic metal! The dark lyrics and deathly growls are in perfect blend with the epic music and operatic female vocals, all in grand value. Bloodstained Endurance really deserves profuse attention!

Favorites: "The Feverish Alliance", "Bloodstained Endurance", "Triumphant Gleam", "A Storm at Will", "Farewell to Sanity", "Faith Comes Knocking"

I can find brilliance in many places. Some filled with upbeat energy, others filled with downbeat despair. Doom metal/death-doom has developed in several countries like Sweden, the UK, and the US. Fans of the genre can handle the sadness and mortality detailed in the songs. Death-doom is considered quite unique for mixing the wickedness of the former genre with the melancholy of the latter. One of those bands was Katatonia at that time, but I gave up on listening to that band and much of The Fallen genres because I had enough of the depressiveness. I might just make a comeback though, with the spin-off band of Jonas Renkse and Fred Norrman, October Tide!

This album can be considered by many to be a bridge between the first two Katatonia albums, though the album was released two years after it was recorded, with Brave Murder Day released in the middle year. With this October Tide album encounter, the perfection of those heavy guitars and atmospheric keyboards from those Katatonia albums re-entered my mind, along with the more deathly elements. Renkse performs his final growled vocals before health issues restricted him to only clean singing in subsequent Katatonia albums. With those vocals perfectly fitting the melodic atmosphere, it made me regret my move away from the earlier albums of his main band. The guitars sound heavy while staying spacey and aren't as meandering as Opeth, which is why that band became another one I lost interest in just recently (SAD).

Opening the album is the grand "12 Days of Rain" with perhaps one of the strongest slow doomy riffs ever. The verses have a similar vibe to early 90s Paradise Lost, with Renkse's vocals unleashed. Keeping that stage set is "Ephemeral".

Same with "All Painted Cold" which has some Sabbath/Maiden-like mid-tempo heavy metal in the opening riffing before slowing down as expected in this album. You can almost think of this like In Flames at the time, but slower. When "Sightless" appears, you can imagine 80s Queensryche blended together with Edge of Sanity, sounding graceful in this sea of brutal somberness.

There's more of the slow decay in "Losing Tomorrow". It is more of a short ambient gothic rock track with a bit of Renkse's clean singing that would replace his growls as his main vocal style in subsequent albums. That song is this album's "Day"! Then "Blue Gallery" takes on a faster pace, though it's not without its lyrics of suicidal lamentations. "Infinite Submission" will keep you aware in attention as the melodies play while Renkse performs his last ever growls before they crumble away. With beautiful ambience, you might think there should be something like an ambient score. One final riff ends the album, sounding huge yet with a simple chord that carries you to the finish line.

Rain Without End is one of the best early Swedish death-doom albums I've heard in a long time. Anyone looking for melodic doom metal with deathly riffs and growls have come to the right place. Sweden is a country with one of the most diverse metal scenes around, with lots of different sounds like the melodic black/death of Dissection. The earliest releases of some genres are ones that really embrace them and prove to be prime examples of their respective scenes. This brand of death-doom is the right kind of doom I need, never as droning as funeral doom and never as old-school as traditional doom. So come one come all to the bleak Swedish death-doom realms. Rain Without End shall be your starting point!

Favorites: "12 Days of Rain", "All Painted Cold", "Sightless", "Infinite Submission"

The tough thing about checking out some demo EPs from bands, including splits, is that you end up thinking "What the f*** happened there?!" and then you realized, "Oh this is just a demo" while irritated about a band you love sounding this sh*tty. In saying that, Parkway Drive would definitely improve in a short matter of time and start making killer albums that cement them as one of my favorite metalcore bands.

The only track that closely matches their later better quality is "Hollow Man", which would be re-vamped in their 3rd album Deep Blue with more anger and improved production. A couple other tracks, each from one of two other bands in the split, Think Straight and Shoot to Kill, are also quite solid. Think Straight's "Make a Move" is a full-on blast of melodic death metal/metalcore that I can definitely rock out to as much as Parkway Drive's material. Shoot to Kill's "D.J.C." is the 5-minute closing epic of the entire EP, and there's even a bit of influence that I can hear from This Day Forward at that time.

But other than those 3 tracks, this split EP has only as much quality as the only images of its cover that can be found on the internet. Nonetheless, I'm glad to let out my thoughts about the EP here on this site, so thanks Ben for adding it. All I'm gonna say is, Parkway Drive's official discography is so much f***ing better....

Favorites (only one song per band): "Hollow Man", "Make a Move", "D.J.C."

Despite being a fan of an industrial metal and enjoying a few Ministry albums, I still prefer the genre when it's more experimental or, in some cases, cyber. With that said, I've realized that I have not yet took on what is considered one of the most essential albums in all of industrial metal, Ministry's Psalm 69. It is the final piece of the band's first industrial metal trilogy puzzle, so let's get right on it!

Psalm 69 is a step up from both of the band's previous two albums. It carries on the industrial metal direction that the duo of The Land of Rape and Honey and The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste kick-started. The thrashy instrumentation in Psalm 69 is something to enjoy, though it wouldn't make its comeback until Houses of the Molé which is one other great album but not as full-form as this one. The album, officially titled ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, is pretty d*mn excellent. Following the band's successful live album In Case You Didn't Feel like Showing Up, Al Jourgensen was determined to make an album so explosive yet appealing to the mainstream.

Opening things up in madness is "N.W.O." It starts with a sample of a siren alarm over the first riff, and the band set up the stage. "Just One Fix" is a pretty great song, especially during that hard-hitting breakdown over the 3-minute mark. It really can be worth "driving down the highway at night". However, there might be something missing, I don't know. Vocalist Al Jourgensen can do sinister laughing. This industrial rock/metal tune can also work well for fighting a zombie apocalypse, or at least that's what it sounds like. The f***ing world needs to be fixed, doesn't it? Also it reminds me of Rammstein's "Du Hast". Co-written by Chris Connelly, "TV II" shreds through pure anger. And holy f***, those are some blazing black metal-level blast-beats there!

"Hero" hops along with some thrashy riffing and D-beat drums. While not really the best here, this is one that can get you headbanging or at least head-nodding. Still this track is quite fun and it has a great midsection solo. The crazy highlight "Jesus Built My Hotrod" I'm already familiar with via the Lamb of God/Burn the Priest cover. The song has an interesting narrative and fun lyrics, sung by the Butthole Surfers' Gibby Haynes. Another favorite here, "Scarecrow" is an 8-minute slow industrial metal epic with samples from the 1973 film of the same title. There are some harmonic guitars and a bit of a gothic-ish vibe. A pleasant slow trip through hell-fueled harmonies.

The title track has the best of the band's heavy side. However, what kills the song's highlight status are those f***ing opening samples! As much as I find the background choir epic, the repeated sample of a child saying "I think that my heart has been touched by Christ" is quite annoying, going on for the first minute and a half. But at least the mind-blowing moshpit-inducing drumming makes up for that. And of course, samples are still a nice essential touch in industrial metal. "Corrosion" is much more of a plain industrial song with a dance-y beat. It's not weak at all, sounding quite interesting as a different track towards the end of the album. "Grace" is the perfect ending here. While the more industrial sound is still on, samples of "armageddon, doomsday, apocalypse" can be heard before some crushing harmonies to wrap things up.

The band started falling off a bit in creativity a few years after this album was released, when Jourgensen was arrested for drug possession and subsequently moved away from drugs and alcohol for some time. However, their later material would still please some fans while not reaching the f***ing heights of the first industrial metal trilogy. A few might argue about the EBM Twitch or even the synthpop With Sympathy being the band's breakthrough in the commercial perspective, but Psalm 69 is considered by many to stand as the true pinnacle of the Ministry's tenure. H*ll, there is more sludgy heaviness than there is pretty melody, and that was the band's right move!

Favorites: "Just One Fix", "TV II", "Jesus Built My Hotrod", "Scarecrow", "Grace"