Thursday, July 31, 2014

Album Review: Delain - The Human Contradiction



Genre: Symphonic Metal
Year: 2014
Country: Netherlands


Tracklist:

1. Here Come the Vultures
2. Your Body Is a Battleground
3. Stardust
4. My Masquerade
5. Tell Me, Mechanist
6. Sing To Me
7. Army of Dolls
8. Lullaby
9. The Tragedy of the Commons


Bonus Audio CD:

1. Scarlet
2. Don't Let Go
3. My Masquerade (Live)
4. April Rain (Live)
5. Go Away (Live)
6. Sever (Live)
7. Stay Forever (Live)
8. Sing To Me (Orchestra version)
9. Your Body Is A Battleground (Orchestra version)


 Delain always seemed as a rough diamond with a lot of potential, always almost touching the greatness, but finally being nothing more than another Symphonic Metal band in the pile. Lucidity was a good album, beat by April Rain, but none was full of good songs or ideas. Some tunes were very catchy, the audio was fine -very good in April Rain-, and the symphonic aspect was regular too. There was nothing bad about them, but also nothing outstanding, new or exciting enough to make those works a true jewel.

Their two next albums were worse in every aspect, with almost only unremarkable songs. "We Are The Others" and "Breath On Me" are the only tracks that are worth to remember in those disks.

Having this things in mind, The Human Contradiction couldn't be less than a big surprise for everyone. It's, no doubt, the best compilation released by Delain, due to, mostly, better ideas. The sound has improved and the style has mutated into a more heavy one, but it's the composition, what has changed in the best of ways, gaining complexity, variety, and a bit of novelty. 

The version we are reviewing here is the Limited/Fan Edition, priced at €16.99 at www.napalmrecords.com, and at $15.47 at www.amazon.com. It has two disks: one, the main album, containing nine songs; the other, the "Bonus" one, which contains nine songs also. Lets check out the main album first.

The improvement we just mentioned, sadly, doesn't extend to the full disk, which has a few weak spots. The first one is some not-so-good-songs, like Army Of Dolls and The Tragedy Of Commons. The other one is its length.

The total playtime of it is of 41:56 minutes, that, divided in 9 songs gives 4:40 minutes per song. Given the fact that this compilation, in CD format, is priced at €11.99, at www.napalmrecords.com and at $12.26 at www.amazon.com, makes you wonder where is the rest of this full-length album -since it's missing at least one track-. It's a little bit pricy, frankly, for this amount of content. However, you can go for the digital purchase, where every song is priced at .99 at the itunes store. 

The first track is powerful, melodic a with a big array of different tunes. Until half of the album, there are only great songs; one after another, it's like being hit over and over again by wave after wave of delight; increasing in strength till the climax, the album best song, Sing To Me. After, comes just the mediocre outcome, with no song truly remarkable
The alternate use of male and female vocals has improved considerably, with a more deep, rich, and varied mix. It suffices to hear to the chorus in "Sing To Me" or in "My Masquerade", to see that.

The band, as usual, follows a classic song structure (AABA), with always welcome little variations -like in "Your Body Is A Battleground", were the chorus appears for the first time at the middle of the track-, but nothing remarkable.

It debuts here a heavy style, never before shown by the band. Heavy, even though only in "The Tragedy Of Commons" and in "Tell Me, Mechanist" there are harsh vocals. Gone is the melodic style and lethargy of the past albums. Instead, lots of heavy riffs and aggressive melodies are everywhere.

Is this a good or bad thing? The change in style can't be qualified as good or bad, really nothing can. All is a matter of taste, but forgetting this statement for a moment, what is really nice here, are the most catchy choruses ever displayed by Delain in any album.

Now, about the "bonus disk", it has a total playtime of 38:32 minutes, divided in nine songs. That's a lot for a bonus disk. However, this doesn't seem to be one since it has two completely new songs, that should be in the main album. It doesn’t seem right to have just nine songs in the central disk, and at the same time, nine in the bonus disk, specially since the first one is priced as a full length album. It would make more sense if the eleven new songs were part of the main album, and the seven remaining ones, of the bonus one.

Five pieces, are live versions. They aren't remarkable at all. They are just the same album songs, but with bad audio, mixed with the noise of mob applauding, screaming, and trying to sing. There is little or no variation at all in this tracks, versus the original ones. We don't know why someone would prefer to hear those instead of the original ones, and, even more, decide to pay for them. 

The grinding for money, doesn't stop there, and as a way to justify this "bonus disk", two "Orchestral Versions" were put in it. Nothing new or worth of attention here. These are just the symphonic base of each song, slightly edited.

In sum, does it worth the money buy this Limited Edition? Well, the answer to us clearly is NO; unless, of course, if you are a hardcore fan of the band, in which case you should probably go for the Vinyl, or if you have enough money to wipe your ass with it. We really don't see the point in paying for these "live version" tracks when they are nothing more than the same album song played live, with no plus at all. 

The work done in the audio here, makes a big step forward from the two previous works. The kick and drums sounds deep and powerful, and the guitar is just gorgeous, even though there is no guitar solo to be found. The symphonic instruments, however, were left a little behind, so they aren't easy to be heard when there are lots of instruments playing at the same time. Although the sound of April Rain is great too, we prefer rather this one for being a lot crispier without losing the bass or too much of the middle of the spectrum.

So, finally Delain releases a truly outstanding album, and with it, steps out of mediocrity.


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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Album revirew: Babymetal - Babymetal


 
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Heavy Metal/Synthpop/jPop
Year: 2014
Country: Japan

Tracklist:

1. Babymetal Death
2. Magitsune
3. Gimme Chocolate!!
4. Line!
5. Akatsuki
6. Doki Doki ☆ Morning
7. Onedari Daisakusen
8. Song 4
9. Uki Uki ★ Midnight
10. Catch Me If You Can
11. Rondo Of Nightmare
12. Head Bangya!
13. Ijme Dame Zettai


The Japanese music has grown immensely in the last couple of decades, and expanded equally all over the globe. The number of Nippon bands and creations, keep increasing day by day, in every genre and style, from classic music to black metal. Of course, some styles and genres have grown more aggressively than others; the so called "jpop" and"jrock" -yes, everything with a jey- are some of the ones which have transcended to almost every other music style. 

Babymetal represents very well that mix of "jey music". It's like a caricature of all the Japanese pop music, appeared over the last years; it's a clear and good picture of it. The very name,"Babymetal", screams what the style is made of, a mixture of metal and pop, but in a very particular way.

The "baby" part is composed by all the elements present in the jpop: clean childish vocals, melodic tunes and synths everywhere. The "metal" part, represents the harsh vocals, aggressive riffs and powerful guitars and drums. This idea isn't new at all, after all, it's just a derivation of the melodic death metal style, but it's the specific way -or jway- what’s new, refreshing and great. 

Having that said, it's obvious, if you've listened to "jmusic" recently, what's to be found in this album... Anime like music, lyrics and vocals, lots of melodic guitar solos, extensive use of electronic music elements, heavy riffs and, of course, the own Japanese particular style.

This is the first album released by Babymetal, but before, since 2011 the band has been in the scene releasing singles -incorporated now in this disk- and performing live frequently. The launch of their first full length work is the logic step to follow. 
The total play time is of 55:41 minutes, divided in thirteen songs of about 4:17 minutes each. So, there is a lot of content here; more than usual in a full release. That's always great (more bang for the buck), but it's better if it's well spaced and goes along with great quality. No song plays for more than 6 minutes and no less than 3, so no track results tedious or not a real contribution; none is an intro, interlude or coda, but the track order is well disposed, giving the feeling of beginning and end.

The disk starts with a powerful heavy track called Babymetal Death. It's, as the name suggests, a death metal song, played by the band, and as the name also suggests, it's not taken very seriously by the group itself. It's a parody to every death metal band that takes too seriously the harsh vocal style. The lyrics demonstrate it, and despite its stupidity, the song is awesome. In fact, almost every harsh vocal interventions, present in the album, are a joke, but a funny and good one; in "Ii Ne!", it's just hilarious.

The second song is very different, starting to show the anime-like-metal-fusion style in composition and lyrics. The lightness in the lyrics is maintained through almost all the disk till the end, with a few surprises -like in "Akumu no Rinbukyoku", though. 
Technically, every song is outstanding in the play of every instrument, plus a nice mix of styles -even some punk-rock and reggae-,just lacking of great voices. The three girls get the work done but none of them is a chant prodigy, sadly. The vocals are pretty mediocre, specially the clean ones, but also they match the musical style, so there's no big deal about it -just a missed opportunity of a better work-.

Almost every song is good enough to be listened over and over again. Every one is complex but, impressively, easy to follow too. Some ones shine above the others, but not too much. "Catch Me If You Can" and "4 no Uta", may be the only let down, with a not very catchy melody and transitions no very appealing neither. Beyond that, there's no bad songs here, and that’s admirable. The reason for that, it's no other than talent and enough time invested to create this great pieces of art. It took more than three years to form this album, since the first single in 2011, and every minute has worth it.

The sound is pretty good, although it's not stellar.Still, it's one of the best in any jpop album recorded and produced in Japan.
Babymetal is an album that no one should miss. Obviously, the ones fond of metal, trancecore, and jmetal in general, will enjoy eagerly this work, but it transcends the metal genre itself, and anyone should be enough open minded to appreciate the special and attractive fusion present in every track of this disk.
 
 
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Sunday, July 20, 2014

The best of: The Duskfall

Country: Sweden

The Duskfall is one of the best melodic death metal bands of all times. If you like any kind of metal, and never heard about this Swedish group, you've been missing a lot. Their work is so good, that even someone that is not into any kind of metal, could recognize the great talent behind it.

I followed this band since its first full length release, "Frailty", in 2002. I was astonished, right away, by the innovation and the quality in composition present in every single song.

This is maybe the best melodic death metal album out there, and there are many. The style is unique and special. There is really a fine work in the songwriting, being impossible to get bored from the beginning to the end.

The next three disks released from this now disbanded group, weren't so great, but still a few jewels are to be found in each one of them.

We're gonna try to pick the ten best songs of this not so vast, but great discography. It's a bit hard because this guys really pulled out a lot of amazing songs.

The best one is, without any doubt, Farewell Song, from their first album. Believe us, no one should miss that one.

The order isn't a ranking, it follows the disk and track list lineup.

1. None (Frailty - 2002)
2. Farewell Song (Frailty - 2002)
3. Just Follow (Frailty - 2002)
4. Deliverance (Frailty - 2002)
5. Source (Source - 2003)
6. Guidance (Source - 2003)
7. Shoot Out In (Lifetime Supply Of Guilt - 2005)
8. Hours Are Wasted (Lifetime Supply Of Guilt - 2005)
9. The Wheel And The Blacklight (The Dying Wonders Of The World - 2007)
10. Sealed With A Fist (The Dying Wonders Of The World - 2007)

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Friday, July 18, 2014

Retrospective: Staind - Break The Circle (2001)

Genre: Nü Metal
Country: USA
Year: 2001

Tracklst:

1. Open Your Eyes
2. Pressure
3. Fade
4. It's Been Awhile
5. Change
6. Can't Believe
7. Epiphany
8. Suffer
9. Safe Place
10. For You
11. Outside
12. Waste
13. Take It
14. It's Been Awhile (Acoustic)


Korn, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, POD, The Offspring, Deftones, System Of A Down, Slipknot, Incubus, among others, were groups that marked an era in the life of many, and the emergence of the named "Nü Metal", in the late 90's and early the following decade. On that beautiful epoch, the content coming through MTV Latin America was not very different from USA or other countries in general, allowing a strong and quick expansion of promising new bands, sounds and melodies.
 
Staind was one of those groups, lucky and talented enough to reach with their music to a wide audience, what years ago would have been much more difficult to achieve without the massive scope of MTV and the internet. It's amazing to look back and remember that in those days the mp3 was by far the best compression format, and having internet access and a digital player was a almost a luxury.
 
Staind's third album, "Break The Circle", is quite possibly their best one, not just because of the novelty brought, but also because of the quality of almost every track in it. With it, they jumped to fame after the modest success of his last album and its single "Mudshovel", which everyone has probably listened, at some point.
 
The first album song gives a glimpse of the large amount of metal present in the style. After, "Suffer", a much heavier track, reasserts it. But then, "Fade" changes the picture and so it starts to be seen that it's rather the melody what characterizes the style, and not a heavy Nü Metal. In fact, despite the heavy riffs throughout the album, the particular distorted guitar sounds and the great bass playing, the songs are always very melodic.
 
It is that blend of melody and heavy metal, what made Staind and other early Nü Metal groups, so successful around the year 2000. At that time, little or no room in the scene was given, by the massive music media, to almost every metal band. That particular "soft metal" worked as a link between pop and more "heavy" metal bands like Korn or Killswitch Engage, making thenceforth room to the metalcore, death metal and others similar styles. Staind has a piece of the merit of opening the musical spectrum to all of us.
 
Songs like Open Your Eyes and Pressure, at that time, were so damn impressive, with a design so heavy, so melodic, and with an audio so good, that there was no chance at all that this band could pass unperceived.
 
Conceptually, their third work goes away from the previous albums, which were much less melodic and progressive. Just listening to the first disk song, makes you realize how different it is to the previous ones, bursting into the style, so far known, melodic songs like "It's Been Awhile" and "Outside", as well as progressive ones like "Fade"; also some wonders like "Pressure". In short, there was an improvement in the composition and an extension of it, exploring new mixes and tunes, and of course improving the sound. There is a lot to praise but also something to criticize, in this third album.
 
The main critic to this work, to us, is the inconsistency in the binding between chorus and riff, in songs like Fade, Suffer or Change. It seems like the verses were removed from completely different songs -like a copy-paste between a paper about anal sex and the bible- with no relation at all, ruining the entire song. It comes to occur in these tracks what should never happen in a pop music piece: the riff is much better than the verse. This escapes the very nature of the verse, as a part of a song structure. Really, what's the point in repeating the same shity tune or melody three times per track if it makes unbearably bad? Still, as always, is a matter of taste, and this time you can save the point noting that the sudden changes in the scales go together with the lyrics. In their latest album to date, just called "Staind", this progressive nonsense does not exist at all, and we are deeply grateful for that.
 
Beyond that, the record is brilliant and it's a pleasure to hear. It's an album of highs and lows clearly, with very good songs like Pressure and others not so worth listening to, like Safe Place or Change; but generally it leaves a very good taste.
More than ten years after its release, Break The Circle still shines by itself as a great album, but also as an old jewel that made what is today the vast pop music scene.
 
 
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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Album review: Subway To Sally - Mitgift

Genre: Folk Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 2014


Tracklist:

1. Ad Mortem Festinamus
2. Schwarze Seide
3. Für Immer
4. Grausame Schwester
5. Warte, Warte
6. Dein Kapitän
7. Arme Ellen Schmitt
8. In Kaltem Eisen
9. Vela Dare!
10. Haus Aus Schmerz
11. Im Weidengarten
12. Coda 

With more than twenty years of life, and with fusion as a essential part to its style, Subway To Sally, is one of the best folk metal bands of all times. However, like many others music groups with a so long life, not all their productions are excellent.

Kreuzfeuer, Bastard and Schwarz in Schwarz are the three last Subway To Sally's albums (before Mitgift). Maybe it was just the lack of novelty or the outstanding quality of their predecessor disk, Nord Nord Ost, but we were, not a little, but very disappointed about them. They seemed to be poor of everything. So, we weren't expecting too much of Mitgift, thinking that, maybe, as it has happened so many times before in the lifetime of other bands, the talent was forever gone, and the albums to come aren't more than a little shadow of what it was... 

But no! At least no in most aspects. Subway To Sally has done in Mitgift what characterized them long ago, and that's fusing styles and various kinds of instruments, in catchy and beautiful melodies, next to powerful riffs and distorted sounds. So... Welcome, again guys!

The album has twelve songs, with about 4:00 minutes each, making a total play time of 47:38, which is fine for a full length album. As is usual to the Germans, there is no intro song but there is an interlude and a coda or epilogue -called "Coda"-. None of these are good songs, but they match very well with the album theme.

The style hasn't changed in the core. It's still folk metal, but not as straight forward as in previous works. Mainly because of the inclusion of dub-step elements (whaaaat??). Yes, and no lightly. The synths and electronic music instruments have been part, since a very long time, of this band's creations, but always timidly and just as a complement, and sometimes being hardly distinguishable. Now, not just there is a more evident use of those resources, but also a deep mix of them with the common ones. So, besides the use of symphonic, folk and metal music instruments, now makes a clear appearance the electronic ones, mostly in the form of a dub-step style. That's on almost every song, and in some ones more than in others. It's a fine addition to the vast variety so long displayed by Subway To Sally, that refreshes it, bringing innovation in a due amount. Indeed, the German band is true to its essence even in this work plenty of surprises.

Too bad, Mitgift is not full of great songs, but it's close. "Haus aus Schmerz" is almost unpleasant; "Warte, Warte" is unappealing; "Vela dare!" is like a remix of another of "Deine Kapitäne"; and some melodies found through the compilation aren't really remarcables. We can't help comparing this work with Engelskrieger, where every piece is outstanding and a delight to hear; more than ten years after, it still shines bright.

The album has a great start, with "Ad Mortem Festinamus", a powerful and catchy song -as it should be in every metal album (apart from the intro song, i mean). It goes on with "Schwarze Seide", another good and heavy song, and so it goes till almost half the way, before regaining some strength, and loosing it all near the end. So, the initial power, the good ideas and catchy tunes, seem to fade while the track count keeps advancing. The group obviously dispersed the "not so good songs" through the album trying to make it seem as amusing as possible with the existing songs, and that’s a good thing, but a bad one is to have to do that. Thankfully, very often they infiltrate beautiful tunes filled with strings and bagpipes. Some tracks like Grausame Schwester or In Kaltem Eisen are both beautiful and heavy, a combination always welcome; they are, no doubt, the best songs displayed here and part of this band all-time-bests; alas, the contrast with those "not so good songs" is abysmal, really.

The audio, we believe, its better than in the three previous albums, and it approaches to the outstanding sound present in Nord Nord Ost or in Engelskrieger, but still being far from them. It's still great, though. Powerful but clear, like it has to be in a style that relies on aggressive metal riffs, mixed with classic, electronic and folk music.

Finally, we can say that, even though this work just reviewed here, isn't as good as we would wished it to be, it's terrific listening once again to that awesome genius that composed, so many years ago, still remembered awesome songs. We can only wish now that this retake in good composition and quality remains forever in the future works to come.

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Monday, July 7, 2014

Album review: Septic Flesh - Titan (Deluxe Edition)

 

 
 
Tracklist:
 
Disk 1
 
01. War in Heaven
02. Burn
03. Order of Dracul
04. Prototype
05. Dogma
06. Prometheus
07. Titan
08. Confessions of a Serial Killer
09. Ground Zero
10. The First Immortal
 
 
Disk 2 - The Titan Symphony
 
01. Dogma of Prometheus
02. A Prototype in Heaven
03. The First Inmortal
04. Order of a Serial Killer
05. The Burning
 
 
Six years have passed since Septic Flesh appeared again in the scene in 2008. With a new style, the band leaped from a dark melodic metal to a particular symphonic one. The change was very noticeable indeed, but, for some, also the quality loss.
 
For us, Sumerian Daemons is still, and by far, the best band's album. It represents the ultimate evolution of a style seeded many albums before. Really, all the previous ones seem to be just the right path to that magnificent work.
 
With Communion, both the sound and style changed drastically, and so, the band started a new path, moving away from their former distinctive style. Titan seems to be the logic result of that way -I wouldn't say "evolution"-, with a deep mix of metal and symphonic instruments never before shown in their previous albums, where always the metal was predominant.
 
The version we are reviewing here is the "deluxe edition", which comes in two disks; one, the main album, containing ten songs; and the other, called "The Titan Symphony", containing five "orchestral versions" from the main album. Let's talk first about the central disk.
 
As just said, the album is composed of ten pieces. Each one has an average playtime of 4:30 minutes, what makes a very good pace when listening to the album, being hard to get bored or be left wanting more. The total album length is of 45 minutes and 25 seconds, what's average by today standards, and enough for a full length album. As is usual to the band, no song is an intro, interlude or epilogue, and one is not needed anyway. So, roughly, there is sufficient content here, even though it's divided in only ten songs. However, it is the quality of the content what's really important.
 
The structure of each song is traditional or based in a traditional one (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus or "AABA") , even though there is a lot of variation. Indeed, "Order Of Dracul" has a verse-chorus-bridge-chorus conformation and "Prometheus" have just a chorus-verse-chorus-bridge; "Prototype", "Dogma" and "Confessions Of A deal Serial Killer" seems to have no bridge, so they seem to have an evolution more than a stiff structure. It's always refreshing to hear something out of the scheme followed by the big Pop music -yes, Septic Flesh is part of the "pop" genre-, so these variations are always welcome, even more in a work with so many classic music elements like Titan.
 
Beyond the design, the composition is very complex. Every verse, chorus and bridge is made of different pieces or sections, adding great diversity to each song. No melody or riff is played too often or for too long, making hard some times to recognize the chorus on a song, verging with, but never touching, a progressive style. That’s not necessarily something good or bad; I'd say its more a thing of taste -even though, there is a reason why every pop band follows the same composition pattern, and that’s "easy listening"-.
 
The use of symphonic resources -a lot- is present, but not quite like in the past disks. These are strongly present trough all the album, being in every song an essential part. The mix is great, well done and gorgeous; it shines from start to finish, but especially in the beautiful melodic choruses. From a technical standpoint, it's awesome what these artists have achieved, but never giving up the beauty.
 
However, it's really hard for us to say it's an "evolution" what Septic Flesh did with this album. It's a great work, that may easily please old fans and newcomers, but not alike. The past albums had much more in common between them, but this one separates a lot from them, being almost an inflection point in the discography. We really miss in this production the sound of that old guitar and the melodic darkness delivered in songs like Magic Loves Infinity, The Last Time and Oceans Of Grey. Also, we believe there's no song in Titan as great as any of those. The album has some good songs that shine above all others, like Burn or Prometheus, but none shines by itself as does Oceans Of Grey or Therianthropy in the previous work, or as The Eldest Cosmonaut in Fallen Temple.
 
About the second disk, "The Titan Symphony", is composed of five songs, supposedly "orchestral versions" of their album pairs. However, those aren't really "versions" but "parts" from the songs. These are nothing else than the orchestral base used in every piece, cut and slightly edited, but not versions, which is very disappointing, of course. The consequence is obvious: the songs seem to be bland and empty, with almost complete absence of percussion or of any instrument that marks the rhythm, overall being of poor quality. Making a deluxe edition with these songs, and charging more for that, seems to me, not a bad, but an ugly way of making money.
 
The sound, not being superb, is pretty good. The mixing and mastering were well made, so every instrument and sound is easily heard and can be distinguished from others. Nevertheless, It could be said that it's "flat", and indeed it is, a little. Since Communion, the deep bass of drums, strong vocals, and reverb, characteristics of previous compilations, were exchanged for a balanced audio spectrum, what's not necessarily bad. The new sound came along with a new symphonic style, and it did very well, and it still does, making room for the numerous sounds and instruments playing at the same time, and rarely overlapping each other.
 
Overall, Septic Flesh once again delivers great quality in a full length album, through great composition and good audio quality. It's not their greatest work, but it's one of their best, no doubt. The mix of metal and symphonic music was never before so deep, going far beyond the simple sum of different instruments and vocals.


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