Sunday, August 31, 2014

Album review: Deadlock - The Re-Arrival (Extended)


Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 2014


Tracklist:

CD 1:

1. An Ocean’s Monument
2. Code Of Honor
3. Earthlings
4. The Brave / Agony Applause
5. Dark Cell
6. Virus Jones
7. A New Era
8. We Shall All Bleed
9. Renegade
10. Martyr To Science
11. Awakened By Sirens 2014
12. To Where The Skies Are Blue
13. Htrae
14. End Begins
15. The Arsenic River


CD 2:

1. Petition For Mercy – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
2. Broken Mirror – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
3. What´s The Use – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
4. Face To Face – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
5. Ignorance – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
6. Deprivation – Insist Demo Tape (1998)
7. The One Who’s Silent Seems To Consent – unreleased track from Deadlock 7″ (1999)
8. Picture – unreleased track from Deadlock 7″ (1999)
9. A Song Full of Abhorrence in a World Without Feelings… – I’ll Wake You When Spring Awakes (EP) (Winter Recordings 2000)
10. With a Smile on My Face – The Arrival (Winter Recordings 2002)
11. The End Of The World – Deadlock / Six Reasons to Kill Split (Winter Recordings 2003)
12. 10.000 Generations In Blood – Earth.Revolt (2005)
13. When Time Runs Out (Running Wild Cover) – ReUnation Sampler- A Tribute To Running Wild (Remedy Records 2009)
14. Awakened By Sirens – Unreleased Acoustic Version (2011)
15. Earthlings – Bizarro World, Japanese Edition (2011)


"DON'T BUY THIS ALBUM!" That's what this album should say on its cover, or even better, what it should be this album's name. Don't be wrong, this is not a bad release by itself, but for those who have bought already the previous albums, it's just a waste of money. Why is that? Lets see. 

Deadlock is a band of which you have heard, for sure, if death metal is of your liking. It has become one of the most famous Melodic Death Metal Bands, because of its very accessible music style. 

But not always Deadlock's music has been so accessible to the more common audience. Their two first albums, "The Arrival" and "Earth.Revolt", released in 2002 and 2005, respectively, are very different from the forthcoming ones. It's like they were albums of a different band. Indeed, there is very little resemblance between the styles displayed. The first disks were close to an atmospheric melodic death metal with little use of clean vocals, high pitched harsh vocals and an extensive use of reverb on the vocals and strings (synths). The style was less melodic as the very composition was different. The characteristic dichotomy between melodic choruses with clean vocals and aggressive riffs with harsh vocals, wasn't present either. 

Because of this, it's hard to say there has been an evolution between Earth.Revolt and the next release,"Wolves". The music is too different for doing that. 

After a disapointing last album, "The Arsonist", Deadlock presents "The Re-Arrival", an album filled with old songs, with no justified existence. 

This work is composed of two disks. One, is the main one, having 15 songs of which only 3 are new ones. The second one has also 15 songs, taken from the 1998 demo and other rare recordings. 

About the first disk, do you know the said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well, it seems that Deadlock don't share this idea; "The Re-Arrival", is opposed to that idea. Only 3 songs are new ones, while all the others are old re-recorded ones with some new arrangements. As you may have already guessed, the result is not good, at all. 

There are a few reasons for that. First of all, as just said, there was no need to make such work. The original chosen songs aren't badly recorded, badly performed or sounding bad. It would have made more sense that the chosen songs were the oldest ones, of the first or second album, which have the worst sound and could have an update. If Killswitch Engage, did it (flawlessly) with their first album, why couldn't Deadlock do it too? Even more when this work is titled The "RE-Arrival"... So why the fuk this isn't an updated version of their first full work? It really makes no sense at all. Just one song from one of the first albums, Earth.Revolt, made it to this shit. The new version was made well enough and it's interesting enough to be recomended. 

Second, the invested work is almost worthless. Some new songs are worse than the old ones. Some decisions about the sound weren't the best ones, like the removal of some filters on Sabine's voice and other instruments. The sound is cleaner, of course, but at the cost of atmosphere. Also, the new harsh vocals aren't bad, but they are worse than the original ones. 

Third, the inclusion of new pieces in this release is just an effort to make it attractive to the public, as a whole. Therefore, the only good reason to buy the album are these songs. However, they aren't good enough for that. "A New Era" is one of those, and it's maybe this release best one, so be sure to don't miss it. The other two songs are nothing special. 

At least, the audio is great, as it has to be in a release of this kind. The recoding, mixing, mastering processes and even the instruments are better, overall, however some changes aren't very fortunate. As said before, there are original songs that sound or are performed better. 

The second disk is a bit more of what you may expect from a remastered old songs compilation. The sound was well tuned, and its always nice to hear the first songs ever released by your favorite band or to just complete your collection. 

Still, the Insist Demo Tape songs sound is horrible, but the unreleased version of "Awakened By Sirens", as well as the remastered versions of "10,000 Generations In Blood, of Earth.Revolt, and "With A Smile On My Face", of The Arrival, and other pieces, make this second disk a lot more interesting than the first one. 

So, is it worth buying these discs? All depends on the price. At bestbuy.com the Digipack version is priced at $12.99, with free shipping. It's a good deal, but if you value your money, it's better to go for the digital purchase of the three new songs, and of the good ones of the second disk.


Go to http://vk.com/metalwithin to hear this songs or others, or follow us in Spotify to discover music.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Album review: Five Finger Death Punch - The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell

Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Year: 2013


Tracklist:

Volume 1:

1. Lift Me Up (Feat.  Rob Halford)
2. Watch You Bleed
3. You
4. Wrong Side of Heaven
5. Burn MF
6. I.M.Sin
7. Anywhere But Here
8. Dot Your Eyes
9. M.I.N.E (End This Way)
10. Mama Said Knock You Out
11. Diary of a Deadman
12. I.M.Sin (Feat. Max Cavalera)
13. Anywhere But Here (Feat. Maria Brink)
14. Dot Your Eyes (Feat. Jamey Jasta)


Volume 2:

1. Here to Die
2. Weight Beneath My Sin
3. Wrecking Ball
4. Battle Born
5. Cradle to the Grave
6. Matter of Time
7. The Agony of Regret
8. Cold
9. Let This Go
10. My Heart Lied
11. A Day in My Life
12. House of the Rising Sun



So old, so rusted, so boring... That's how the Heavy Metal should be? After more than 50 years after Led Zeppelin, it has to be, right? Well, maybe, but this is not the case, at all. Five Finger Death Punch (almost the Five-Point-Palm Exploding-Heart from Kill Bill), is a groovish avant-garde heavy metal band that, today, stands out, not only next to other heavy metal bands, but next to any one.

This release is composed of two new full length albums or volumes, released both through the year 2013. In turn, these have completely unreleased new songs, so this isn't a lengthy work of those full of crapy content (like live or instrumental versions) to justify its existence or price (deluxe editions).

But, how good is this big work? Very good indeed, but also it's one of highs and lows. Some songs are amazing and mind blowing -like "Anywhere But Here" or "Cradle To The Grave"- but others are less appealing -like "Let This Go" or "Dot Your Eyes", but, as always, is just a matter of taste.

In the first volume, Rob Halford, as guest vocalist, participates in the first piece, "Lift Me Up". It's a nice way to initiate an album, with a heavy catchy song, and with one of the most popular singers as a guest artist. Also, Maria Brink, vocalist of the metalcore band, In This Moment, participates in "Anywhere But Here". Tech N9ne, Max Cavalera and Jamey Jasta also act as guest singers. Even though these interventions are nice additions to the album, only the one of Tech N9ne is interesting enough, mainly because of the rap-metal mix.It has 14 songs, 3 of which are just repeated ones but with guest artist interventions. So, really there are just 11 songs, and that's ok for any album, and ok for the price of $11.89 at amazon.com. The 3 other pieces are like a gift, and gifts are always welcome. Hence, as a buyer, you will get a lot of bang for the buck, also because no song is an intro or anything like it.

The second disk has its own vibe, differentiating itself from the first one. Unlike its predecessor, there is no guest artist intervention, it has a more refined audio, and less but better songs overall. Therefore, each album seems unique and not parts of a single release, and that's why we can say that the Vol. 2 is superior, even with two or three less songs -one of them is an interlude of about two minutes- and with no famous friends to brag about.

As it has to be for a Heavy Metal band, the lyrics are mostly " I'm the shit", "I'm so cool and strong and cool and badass, and cool... and I'm so cool" and all that macho thematic. It's amusing sometimes, but gets a little repetitive after a while. There is some variation, though, but the songs are always self-referring.

The audio quality is just outstanding. Since their first album, the band knew exactly how they were supposed to sound, so it's has always been a pleasure listening to the beautiful audio of every released work of them. This time, however, they hit the nail on the head, or even more, on the middle of it. The mixing and mastering processes were finely made, making enough room for every instrument in the audio spectrum, giving at the same time the right relevance to the voice and drums. The band sounds powerful and beautifully like never before. The audio seem to be a little bit tweaked on the Vol.2, but overall it's the same in the two disks.

The vocalist's voice is another strong positive element in this work. On previous albums, it was also very remarkable, but not as much as it is at this time. The composition helped a lot, giving the chance to it to really shine thanks to the wide array of styles used. In songs like "Cold", for example, from soft clean to strong near harsh vocals are used, with big spikes in volume. By the way, the use of vibrato is wide. Everything is potentiated by the great audio, delivering a deep, clear and firm voice.

The Vol.2 is, no doubt at all, the best FFDP release, being closely followed by the Vol.1. Lets hope that the forthcoming album, in 2015, is going to be not just a superior one, but also an innovative one; that's something this band is needing after five albums with the same style at its core.


You can listen some of this tracks in our VK group at http://vk.com/metalwithin or follow us through Spotify.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The best of: The Kovenant

Country: Norway


This great Norwegian band has shined early in its life as a Death Metal band, and then as a avant-garde metal band, adding and multiplying instruments and effects of electronic and industrial music. It's almost obligatory to listen to this band albums to anyone who likes metal music, because of the big contribution to the genre in each album, thanks to the many new and amazing elements incorporated, especially in their album "Animatronic". Its lineup, as well as its style and name have changed through the years, having paraded members of Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth and Ram-Zet, among others. However, The Kovenant style has never reassembled to any of them or of any other band.

With their first album "In Times Before The Light", released in 1997, the group quickly gained fame in Norway and parts of Europe, presenting a style that would end up being the closest one to Black Metal in its discography; double pedal, high pitched harsh vocals, overcharged treble, and an overwhelming atmosphere. In 2002, it was released a remix edition, with songs re-recorded, and a new and better mixing and mastering process, that clearly approaches Nexus Polaris. Trying to earn some money, surely, in 2007 they released the original album, remastered, and with some bonus tracks from their early 90's demo.

In 1998 the second album, "Nexus Polaris", the group jumps into another style by leaving the Black, and approaching to a much more melodic sound and improving significantly. Only a year later, it was launched "Animatronic", which is maybe their best album, with an original avant-garde death metal, an enviable sound for any band, great variety within the songs themselves and throughout the album, great strength in riffs and choruses; from the beginning to the end, a beautiful work.

After a number of adjustments to its lineup, the band launches "S.E.T.I.", in 2003, almost completely forgetting what was before, leaping once again, this time, to a straight forward industrial metal... and betraying all his followers! Double pedal.. Goodbye! Harsh vocals... Goodbye! Two guitars play... Goodbye!! (wtf !!), goodbye to the guitar solos too! (wtf !!!!!!!) Goodbye to The Kovenant?

Many fans hated this work but, in fact, it's one of the best industrial metal albums ever made. The Kovenant remains today a spectacular band until the last of their albums; proof of this is that the band has been keeping all of their fans expectant, for more than seven years now, for their next album "Aria Galactica", that we may never see.

In sum, The Kovenant musical style has traveled a long way, and in every milestone, they have created a different masterpiece for every genre. From a melodic blackened death to a melodic industrial metal, every single disk stands out in its own ground.

There are quite different but excellent songs to choose from. We are not gonna try to choose the best ones for each style but the best ones overall.

1. Monarch Of The Mighty Darkness (In Time Before The Light - 1997)
2. Bringer Of The Sixth Sun (Nexus Polaris - 1998)
3. The Last Of Dragons (Nexus Polaris - 1998)
4. Chariots Of Thunder (Nexus Polaris - 1998)
5. Mirror’s Paradise (Animatronic - 1999)
6. Mannequin (Animatronic - 1999)
7. Jihad (Animatronic - 1999)
8. Star By Star (S.E.T.I. - 2003)
9. Still Born Universe (S.E.T.I. - 2003)
10. Hollow Earth (S.E.T.I. - 2003)




Friday, August 8, 2014

Retrospective: Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance (2003)

Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 2003


Tracklist:

1. The Tremor
2. The Glow Of The Setting Sun
3. Hero
4. Elusive Emotion
5. Gloomy Daydreams
6. Macabre Apparition
7. In My Heart
8. Ethereal
9. Circle Of Pain
10. At The Ends Of The Earth
11. The Howls Of Wolves

In 2003, when the Melodic Death Metal wasn't yet so tired, as it is today, Nightrage makes its appearance bringing back the mid 90's "Gothenburg Death Metal". With a classic style approach, riffs mainly taken from Arch Enemy and At The Gates, almost total absence of blast beats, some synths to give atmosphere, a very special guitar sound in the melodic solos using reverb and other effects, clean male vocals on some songs, blues scales, and with the occasional use of acoustic guitar and other features, this group stood out very early as one full of talent, novelty and, apparently, future. 

This work reaches the peak of the Gothenburg style, bringing the best of it, but refreshing it with new ideas. It presents a is very melodic style, in both riffs and choruses, without stop being aggressive; it has beautiful guitar solos, and powerful riffs; everything, embellished with a good sound thanks to a great work in the mixing, and with a wrapping atmosphere.

This work, that seems to be a direct evolution of the classic Swedish melodic death metal, shines brighter next to the worn melodic death of today. Its uniqueness is more evident now than ever.

Something very particular about this album, beside its amazing composition, it's the guitar solo audio. Never before or after it has been heard a guitar like this. It is not because of the distortion, or because of the instrument quality, and neither because of the playing artist talent, it's just the sound of it. The overloaded reverb utilized during the solos, makes a very deep atmosphere, where the guitar takes up the front line, way above the other instruments.

Even though this band discography is far from good, their debut album, is one of the best metal pieces of all times. While it has a very classic style, seen in melodic death metal bands like Arch Enemy, At The Gates or Death, it's impossible to not get surprised by the special touch and novelty introduced by Nightrage. It's a unique album, worthy of attention and praise. Unfortunately, it's also an island in the middle of a mediocre discography, not lacking of technical attributes, but of new airs and talent in composition.

What happened in the next discs? Well, nothing good. Each one of the them is a disappointment. 

In their next work, "Descent Into Chaos" (2005), the complexity in composition decreased notoriously, even making the whole compilation very repetitive and boring; the outstanding guitar solo sound, disappeared and was replaced by a generic one; less blues and acoustic guitars; the vocalist voice got worse (line-up change), just like the audio. Truly, it's not a bad compilation, but far from being outstanding, and, at least, very far away from the greatness of the first one.

Things didn't get better with "A New Disease Is Born" (2007). In fact, they got even worse. It's a boring and disappointing disc. It brings few nice surprises, but nothing that stands out.

“Wearing A Martyr's Crown” (2009) was, no doubt, a step forward. It had a richer, varied and not so flat composition, as well as a closer approach to the band first album style. Its a good disk, but nothing more than average.

Finally, "Insidious" (2011), it's like shit to the ears... in short.

Today, more than ten years after, the melodic death metal bands are everywhere, fusing almost any style into one very different from the classical. Sadly, also, today it's hard to find, in that big pile of crap bands, another that brings something astonishing. The style is so worn off that, even the fusing of styles and genres, can't help it.


If you want to listen to this great album, go to our VK community at http://vk.com/melolagniamaldita