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.

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.

The best of: The Kovenant

Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Industrial Metal

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)

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

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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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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The best of: The Duskfall

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

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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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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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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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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