tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346502482024-03-13T10:02:30.289-07:00Your Weekly Dose of Awesome<a href="http://andras-reviews.blogspot.com/2006/09/this-is-first-post-of-rest-of-your.html">Here</a> are the rules/description of this site. Read, laugh, get pissed off, enjoy!Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-61370654068978192702007-03-27T12:15:00.000-07:002007-03-27T12:17:51.519-07:00Update: MovingThe reviews I do will now be for http://www.rarmy.net/ -- this means that I'll try to keep up and repost reviews here, but it's not going to be a sure thing and no non-rarmy stuff will be here. I highly encourage you to instead become patrons of that fine establishment.Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-80546883818220079292007-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:002007-02-28T14:55:39.351-08:00Upload: Some Classics (no review)I decided to post a few classic albums here, but they are classics -- I wouldn't feel worthy giving them reviews like every other album here. So instead I'll write a little on my opinions of the concepts of "making it" and "winning" in the industry, which are often unfortunate consequences of creating a "classic" album.<br /><br />There are many different ideas about how to "make it" in the music world. Some are more accurate than others. One view is simply that the band that makes the most money has definitively "made it" -- this band "wins", and is "in". If you're reading this, you know damn well that this isn't the case; the "artists" (using the term very loosely) that make the most money are usually the ones that pander to a certain demographic for the sole sake of making money. These are not so much artists as businessmen, and as such they have "made" absolutely shit in terms of musical value. The next concept is the artist who gets the most fans. Although this falls prey to the same problem as the former idea, it is less wrong than the former idea; the artists who we genuinely describe as "winning" are often those who do have many fans, though for very different reasons. The last view I will present -- the idea that an artist "makes it" permanently by creating something that will be remembered through the generations -- is probably the closest. This is definitely a quality of all "classic albums"; the albums I'm uploading in conjunction with this post range from 5 years older than me to 18 years older than me, and they don't sound (that) dated. That being said, in this case I would say the art itself "won", not the artist. What, then, is the surefire way to determine if an artist has "made it"?<br /><br />It's very simple, really: There is no way for an artist to definitively "make it".<br /><br />Consider the case of Metallica. They're a band who invented a genre with their debut album, and have at least 3 definitive, almost unarguably "classic" albums, <i>Kill 'Em All</i>, <i>Ride the Lightning</i>, and <i>Master of Puppets</i> (for the sake of playing devil's advocate, I'm not including the hotly contested <i>Justice</i> or the black album). Just a few years ago, however, the band put out what I (and many fans) would consider an awful album, <i>St. Anger</i>. Regardless of the album's content, I've seen statements from at least three well-respected artists saying that Metallica can do whatever they want muscially because they "won" for whichever album (usually in reference to Puppets or Black). They do have a point, in the sense of the aforementioned classic albums. However, they also put out <i>St. Anger</i> -- something of an extremely lacking album for a band who "won" as definitively as is said of them, don't you think? Thus is my point made: the band didn't win, as almost everyone has noticed since about 1991 until the present, the art won.<br /><br />Artists cannot ever "win", in terms of the big picture. Eventually, every artist fails, either through inattention or simply through stopping recording. The art itself is what "wins". Audiences "win", as they experience the effect of art that "wins". Until artists understand this, we're going to continue to be bombarded by all this weak, sophomore-slump, "we just got a big check so we can do whatever we want, because we're famous and we WON" crap. No exceptions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FPCA080M">Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QAZE21VM">Metallica - Kill 'Em All</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F56G8NS4">Iron Maiden - Killers</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-36480115149833666992007-02-23T21:24:00.000-08:002007-02-24T15:18:59.690-08:00Upload: Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/91/Winterheartsguild.jpg/200px-Winterheartsguild.jpg"><br /><br />When I reviewed another Sonata Arctica album, <a href="http://andras-reviews.blogspot.com/2006/10/upolad-sonata-arctica-silence.html">Silence</a>, I only had a few real complaints. One of them was the cheese factor, one of them was the bad ballad factor, and one of them was the AWFUL lyrics factor. I am pleased to say that these have been heavily mitigated with Winterheart's Guild, while both remaining true to the core sound and innovating. It's almost like they took a time machine from some time in the future and read my articles back to 2003, changed all that shit, and then went on like nothing happened. Except that would probably, y'know, open up a GIANT WARP PORTAL of redundancy. INTO HELL. Whatever, my point was that everything improved universally. Fuck.<br /><br />Anywho, I was impressed right off the bat with this album. Like "Weballergy" of <i>Silence</i>, the first track of <i>WG</i> is a nice, speedy song, but with a lot less uber-gay than the other aforementioned opener and a reasonable sense of urgency. The next song really threw me for a loop the first time I really listened to it -- clocking in at 7 minutes, "Gravenimage" is definitely the best Sonata Arctica song I've ever heard, hands down. Even if the song didn't really kick in after a few verses, it would still be the best slow Sonata Arctica song. As it stands, the kick-in is probably one of their best ever, and the vocal leads within are absolutely to die for. The lyrics, the instrumentation, the non-tongue-in-cheek-ness, the structure...it all works SO well together with Sonata Arctica's unique qualities. <br /><br />After that song, it remains pretty good up until "Broken"; even more "fun" songs, and even their single, "Victoria's Secret", stay mostly within the region of decent taste ("Champagne Bath", with its flanged solo and stupid lyrics, toes the line a lot). "The Misery" is a great slow song, albeit a little cheesy; it gets nowhere near the cheese levels of, say, "Tallullah", though, so even that was cut back a little. "Broken" is the one fluke bad song on the album; like "Sing in Silence" from <i>Silence</i>, it serves no purpose and nobody likes it. After that, though, we're back to good music: the album ends with "Ruins of My Life", a fast track, and "Draw Me", a very tasteful ballad. A very impressive effort, and one I've been listening to almost daily (especially "Gravenimage"...now THAT is an amazing song).<br /><br /><b>8.4</b> general, complete sound improvements out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y3LAC5YN">Grab thy mouse, and with its unholy power smite the undeserving linkage</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-55025829962561249792007-02-15T13:06:00.000-08:002007-02-15T13:56:57.450-08:00Upload: Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Riders on the Storm<img src="http://www.los-weimar.de/previews/riders_on_the_storm.jpg"><br /><br />I'm not going to lie, this album is really, really confusing from a reviewer's perspective. For one, it's diverse as all hell, while maintaining enough similar themes to seem cohesive. At its most basic core, the album plays mostly kind of like old, punk-based, 3-or-4-chord metal, with pretty decent/fitting soloing and leads, a drummer who (occasionally) goes into thrashy and deathy territory, and a vocalist who switches between guttural growling and guttural singing (in both German and occasionally English) and sounds rough and possibly slightly drunk. It's the stuff on top and between that which brings the real interest: the power metally orchestra-hits and sweep arpeggios in the intro of "Friede Sei Mit Dir", the odd prechorus acoustic guitar in "Riders on the Storm", the violin leads throughout "Seemann", the one-two of neoclassical instrumental "In the Land of White Horses" and slow song "Liebe," and many more. Almost every song (except "Revolution", almost definitely the weakest track) has some distinct quality to set it apart from the others on the album. This album is really hard to do justice in words, so I'm just going to leave it at that. All in all, a very enjoyable listen that goes good, interesting places. Not my favorite album, but definitely worth it for an interesting listen.<br /><br />To sum:<br /><br /><b>7.3</b> riders of the apocalypse out of <b>10.</b><br /><br />Interestingly, packaged with the album was a bonus track which is "Friede Sei Mid Dir" in English. No, I don't understand why they recorded it either. Whatever.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QE116HV1">Zu downloaden Klicken</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1169861958259136102007-01-26T20:00:00.000-08:002007-01-26T17:39:18.276-08:00Upload: Celtic Frost - Vanity/Nemesis<img src="http://www.celticfrost.com/vnreissue.jpg"><br /><br />This is probably the most forgotten Celtic Frost album. Granted, I understand the reasoning: it came on the heels of <i>Cold Lake</i>, an album even Celtic Frost admits was forced upon them by monetary concerns and heavy-handed record labels. Celtic Frost made at least a worthy effort, if not a 100% return to form, but nobody was listening, and the band broke up soon afterwards. Luckily, I have procured this forgotten album, and for you, O loyal downloaders, I am making it available. Although the album was forgotten, by no means should have it been!<br /><br />The album starts off with "The Heart Beneath", which starts off slightly midpaced, but soon the drums kick in and we get a very thrashy song. Most of the album is either midpaced or slightly fast, which is good -- it fits Celtic Frost's style pretty well, and allows for Tom Warrior's trademark chordal variety to really shine in certain songs. That being said, their slower number, "Wings of Solitude", sounds like it partially invented half the non-chick goth sound (ex. Tiamat). The songs themselves sound less like, say, "Progeny" and more like "I Won't Dance"; these are mostly fun songs with an overdose of metal, and I definitely hear a hint of a Pantera-esque vibe on some songs. This does take away sometimes from the songwriting, as parts of some songs can be a little contradictory, but it usually rights itself quickly enough. The drums are nothing special for the most part -- they fit well, but the drummer isn't exactly Tomas Haake -- but the vocals often remind me of Tom trying to channel the Dave Mustaine sneer (of Megadeth; if this means nothing to you, go listen to <i> Peace Sells, But Who's Buying</i> on the double) or something. Female vocals are also on at least half of the songs, and they work very well (a la <i>Into the Pandemonium</i>). I wish the production was a little more bass-audible, but the drums, guitars, and vocals are also fairly well-mixed. <br /><br />As a whole, the album plays very well; I have no issues with trackorder, and the songs seem to fit fairly well with each other. I especially like the two title tracks and how they play off each other to create a unified effect...that adds quite a bit to each. If only every album I heard was at least this good...<br /><br /><b>7.6</b> people with glasses on pieces of glass <b> out of 10</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y4HIG5R0">Don't click here to download the album. Really.</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1168759521649761712007-01-13T22:14:00.000-08:002007-01-13T23:25:21.666-08:00Review: Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun<img src="http://www.porcupinetree.com/images/thumbs/full_albumart.stupiddream.jpg"><img src="http://www.porcupinetree.com/images/thumbs/full_albumart.lightbulbsunse.jpg"><br /><font size="-1">(l to r, <i>Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun</i>)</font><br /><br />Unlike my other two negative reviews, this might garner dislike from people I don't think are subhuman in intelligence level. Deal with it.<br /><br />To truly describe the feeling of disappointment and betrayal I felt when hearing this album for the first time, I will require to give my (obviously unbiased) description of Steven Wilson's state of mind up until this album. Wilson started out by making a "fake" 70's prog outfit (complete with fake bio) and making music for it on several demos. After releasing an album's worth of this material (<i>On the Sunday of Life</i>), he decided to cut the bullshit and make the music in earnest. His first "real" album, <i>Up the Downstair</i>, was a great, fairly soft proggy album, filled with interludes, little jams, and other stuff to make for a very unique and interesting experience. Moving on, <i>The Sky Moves Sideways</i>, his next release, was a 49-minute, 5-track, 4-song monster of an album (the title track is split into 2 17-minute sections, with an intro track into the second half). Here, he moved a bit away from his original Pink Floydish material to tread often upon very modern sounds. Then, my personal favorite, <i>Signify</i> is published, and shit really starts being torn up in earnest, as the album had the darkest Porcupine Tree sound to that point, and was cohesive as all hell. <br /><br />Sometime between 1996 and 1999, Steven Wilson snapped. Suddenly, Porcupine Tree's direction veered way the hell off. Sure, the music still had some vaguely proggy tendencies, and some tracks would remain fairly long (as average songs go). However, two important, important things changed. For one, that previous darker, more sinister underlying qualities and slight trippiness? All but gone, musically. For another, the previous sense of mission, the idea that each track was an important part of a larger picture? Abandoned, in favor of interchangeable, faceless songs. Thus did <i>Stupid Dream</i> come into being. And if that wasn't enough, the next album, <i>Lightbulb Sun</i>, subtracted any residual testosterone from the equation, making the music a fucking mess. <br /><br />Each album has its high(er) points; ironically, one of the only songs on <i>Lightbulb Sun</i> that I could get into was "Four Chords That Made a Million", a song about selling out. I say ironically because that's what Porcupine Tree did in those two albums. I say this with no stupid scene-like preconceptions about the music industry or what music should do (though I do belive that as well); I mean this in the most basic way possible. They changed their core sound to something more marketable, thus, selling out. The song name is stupid, too -- as I have tried to show by means of Dark Lunacy, and others, a band can make a musical buffet fit for a king from a shit taco of basic ingredients. It's all in the preparation, and I think this -- to drop the food-esque metaphor, the songwriting -- is where the albums truly turn from disappointment to betrayal. <br /><br />Most of the songs on the albums are either unlistenably, sickeningly happy (like the title track of <i>Lightbulb Sun</i>) or angsty and complaining (like every other track on <i> Stupid Dream </i>). Add guitar effects here, different instruments there, slap it together with a few particularly longer songs and not-always-standard song structures so prog nerds can defend it, paste in some shitty story about being dumped that would make an emo kid snicker in schadenfreude, and go. I don't seperate the albums in this case because they are so similar in their shoddy construction. There's no point to going into the specifics on these; the albums were churned out in the same shit factory of awful music, so why bother?<br /><br />For Stupid Dream:<br /><br /><b>5</b> stupid, unfulfilled dreams of <i>Signify</i>-lovers <b> out of 10. </b><br /><br />And:<br /><br /><b>10</b> things I think Wilson stared a little too much into before recording these albums...<br /><br /><b> out of 30. </b> Sucker.Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1168138359993192962007-01-06T21:27:00.000-08:002007-01-13T22:14:13.913-08:00Upload: Porcupine Tree - Signify<img src="http://perso.orange.fr/religionnaire/artistes/porcupine_tree/art/signify.jpg"><br /><br />This is definitely one of my favorite albums ever, and I've been wanting to do this review for some time. I would describe the band's sound on this album as perhaps a much darker (lyrically and musically) Pink Floyd, sans the drugs. I don't think that description does it justice, either... this album is a truly unique experience. Like many of my favorites, one must listen to this one front to back for the full effect. <br /><br />The album starts with an interestingly sampled piece, "Bornlivedie", combining phone noises with various other things and some keyboards. The piece ends with someone, in a stereotypically uninterested phone operator voice, simply saying "Signify" then hanging up a phone. From there, the album segues into the artfully fractured title track, an instrumental. The album continues on between traditional songs and more jam-like pieces. This is a concept album about apathy and avoidance, and it shows; songs like "Sleep of no Dreaming" and "Sever" have especially dark, nihilistic lyrics, and even some of the instrumentals have names like "Idiot Prayer" or "Intermediate Jesus" and include creepy or odd samples, fitting the mood very well. The album is not so much about focusing on a certain instrument or anything as it is about creating a specific mood for the song and matching lyrics almost perfectly to the mood. This results in spine-tingling combinations, such as "Every Home is Wired", a song which seems cheerful on the surface but contains much darker motives. <br /><br />This is an album you have to devote time to listening through. Try it out, and it will reward you handsomely. <br /><br /><b>9</b> freaky-looking tied-up old-fashioned chicks out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GOLVLXCH">You've just had a heavy session of electroshock therapy, and you're more relaxed than you've been in weeks. All those childhood traumas, magically wiped away...along with most of your personality.</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1165726461863547222006-12-09T19:52:00.000-08:002006-12-09T20:54:21.876-08:00Upload: Dragonland - Astronomy<img src="http://www.hardrock.hu/files/dragonland.jpg"><br /><br />I got this album from loadown.blogspot.com... drop him a comment for this one, because despite some oddities, kinks, and flaws, it's pretty damn good.<br /><br />The album starts with one of the strongest tracks, "Supernova." The song gives a great idea of what is to come: orchestral elements and electronics added to semi-power metal (I hesitate to use the genre name, because this album isn't really all that power metally), with soaring vocals, solos on both keyboard and guitar, etc. There's definitely a heavy, heavy emphasis on the electronics, though; I would categorize the band's sound somewhere between Dragonforce and Dark Tranquillity. "Supernova" and "Casseopia", tracks 1 and 2, are a bit more midpaced than most other songs on the album, and I think this actually suits their unique style a little better, as many of the faster songs, like "Contact" or "Direction Perfection" are more derivative of other power metal. The best track on the album is definitely "Beethoven's Nightmare," with fluid, mobile piano over a metal background and small clips of Beethoven piano pieces blended in seamlessly. "Too Late for Sorrow" just doesn't quite fit with everything else, a vaguely listenable song though it is. <br /><br />The other side of the album, though, is the classical and neoclassical side. This starts in full force with "The Book Of Shadows Part IV: The Scrolls Of Geometria Divina," an entirely orchestral piece -- there is no guitar, no vocals, nothing except the orchestra. The album also ends with a trio of neoclassical instrumentals, making up "The Old House on the Hill"; these tracks do include the band. While these are nice, in the end I'm not really wanting to listen to these as much as I want to spin "Supernova" or "Beethoven's Nightmare."<br /><br />And one more little, tiny complaint: it's like this is a concept album that was abandoned halfway through. The album name is Astronomy, the first 5 songs are named after celestial bodies or spacey things (Supernova, Casseopia, Contact, Astronomy, Antimatter), and then it just drops off. I don't get it. <br /><br />A little flawed, a little iffy, but overall very much satisfactory. <br /><br /><b>7.3</b> half-assed album concepts out of <b>10.</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MCJGLGM5">There is no link, Neo</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1163475515935803972006-11-13T18:51:00.000-08:002006-11-13T19:38:35.953-08:00Upload: Dark Lunacy - The Diarist<img src="http://www.masterpiecedistribution.com/shop/cover/dark-lunacy.jpg"><br /><br />I downloaded this album on a whim awhile back, I don't remember from where. This one is quite a piece of work, despite some initial misgivings. <br /><br />First, the bad. The riffs in the album are for the most part generic melodeath fare. Don't expect to be seeing massively technical, amazing solos here, either. The sound on the surface should be very familiar by now, and many of the songs don't move beyond chorus-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus format. <br /><br />But to start off the good news: none of those things really matter here!<br /><br />This album's greatest strength is making something really new and interesting out of 1/3 elements boring old dogshit, 1/3 classical elements, and 1/3 kickassery. This is a concept album, folks; although you *could* listen to it by individual song, you'd be missing the massive story behind the album: the WWII battle of Stalingrad and its human repercussions. Not to mention, this is a well-done concept album -- even if you can't understand the lyrics (considering one song straight-up isn't in English, this is understandable), you can at least understand kind of what's going on and what the album is about from the music and skits alone. Speaking of the skits, there are two -- the title track and Prospekt -- and they are both quite descriptive in their content. In terms of classical elements, a chorus and some female vocals are used on some songs, and they sound perfect along the orchestration provided (strings, piano, and horns on a few songs). When I say these are used, I mean used in the sense of "all the freaking time, seamlessly", and it works so amazingly well. <br /><br />Overall, SUCH a good album. I'd say this is at least at my top 10 for 2006. <br /><br /><b>8.9</b>sampled Russian victory marches out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LQR232O6">Click, and thou shalt receive!</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1162572868280046392006-11-03T08:07:00.000-08:002006-11-03T08:57:07.006-08:00Upload: Kansas - Kansas<img src="http://mitkadem3.homestead.com/files/reviews/pics/Kansas1974SelfTitled300pix.jpg"><br /><br />Yes, I know this isn't metal. I don't care. I said in my first post that some of the stuff I post won't be metal. Tough shit, deal with it. Or better yet, keep reading.<br /><br />If I had to pick a favorite classic rock album, this would be it. This is mainly because it engenders the two best things about music of the era. Side one of the album is basically side blues-rock. The music isn't going for too much depth, though it is certainly there in the arrangements; this side is here to rock and to please the fans and sell albums, plain and simple. That being said, it's still great stuff; notable is Robby Steinhardt's expressive violinwork and gritty vocals. Third track "Lonely Wind" is a slow ballad-type song, and it soars far above almost any other song of the type, especially with the harmonies on the third chorus. <br /><br />Side two is where things get interesting. Excepting the fluke song "The Pilgrim" (which isn't bad at all, it's just kind of out of place), two of the songs are 8 minutes long, and the other is about 9:30. Considering this was 1974, holy shit! The first, "Journey to Mariabronn", tells a story in a very expressive manner. Instrumental breaks, subtle time changes, and violin and keyboard work make this one shine like nothing else. The 9:30 song, "Apercu", is all about the buildup and the grandeur. The song takes a very mellow break in the middle, then comes back full-force at the end. It transitions exactly into the next song, "Death of Mother Nature Suite". This one is fairly straightforward in the beginning, but a similar mellow break happens in the middle, which transitions to a fairly hard part, then an interesting, different coda. <br /><br />A great album even today, 22 years later. An even better album considering when it was released. Good stuff.<br /><br /><b>8.5 </b>crazy violin solos out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O6KXRR58">Clizzle to Downlizzle, Hizzle</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1162244410363637682006-10-30T12:54:00.000-08:002006-10-30T13:42:43.883-08:00Upload: Dio - Master of the Moon<img src="http://www.rockdetector.com/assets/img/covers/183651.jpg"><br /><br />If you don't know who Ronnie James Dio is, there's a "back" button on your browser, tailor-made just for you. Granted, it hasn't been that long since I first heard the excellent, incredible <i>Holy Diver</i>, but I learned, and you can too. Listen at least to "Stand Up and Shout", "Holy Diver", "Gypsy", and "Rainbow in the Dark", then get back to me here. The guy fucking INVENTED the horns -- show some fucking respect, you ingrates.<br /><br />For the rest of us: metal knowledge is oh so sweet. Dio has come a long way since the aforementioned 1983 debut, but hasn't gone so far as to turn his back on his fanbase. The opener, "One More for the Road", would sufficiently rock the face off any nostalgic 80's metal fan, and even the slower tracks like "End of the World" have a distinct hardness to them, more so than any weepy 80's power ballad ever could. Unlike <i>Holy Diver</i>, the album doesn't end on a subpar track, either -- "In Dreams" is a very worthy send-off. I guess we developed better anti-frontloading technology over the years along with the cheese-reduction software.<br /><br />The instrumentation isn't the most technical out there, but it's very fitting to the music -- fairly simple leads and rhythms are adorned by soloing and occasional, slight keyboards, backed up by an audible bass presence, and vaguely held together by the drums. Although this sounds like it would be 80's central, it comes off as fairly modern regardless. Props to Dio for at least not making the same album over and over. Also very un-80's are the production and the cheese level: the production is crystal-clear, giving the guitar and Dio's (still surprisingly good) voice precedence, and the album is not nearly as cheesy as it could have been (and not nearly as cheesy as <i>Holy Diver</i>, dear to my heart though it is). <br /><br />If I said this album had a tragic flaw, that would be stretching it. This album is beyond good. That being said, as with any album of this nature, some songs are always better than others, and "The Eyes" is my target here. It doesn't feel like it fits in the album, and sort of carves an uneasy niche for itself in the middle of the album. That, and Dio's vocal range isn't nearly as good as it used to be. Then again, for a guy who's been performing since 1970 (in his original band "Elf"), it's certainly understandable. Age happens, and I cut him a LOT of slack for still sounding so incredibly good after 35 years.<br /><br />All in all, a very worthy purchase for me. I love this album. A lot. You should, too.<br /><br /><b>8.9</b> really, really old metal vocalists who will never die out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EC39ZLJJ">Click to download!</a><br /><br />P.S. Apparently Dio is reuniting with the old crew over at Black Sabbath for a tour (under the moniker "Heaven and Hell"), supposedly happening in early 2007. If this happens...holy shit. Best. Tour. Ever.Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1161150689021298712006-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:002006-10-17T22:51:29.080-07:00Review: Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies(no pic, I got the album quite a while before it actually comes out. Am I good or am I good?)<br /><br />I have to say, even as they've got progressively worse, I always had a soft spot in my heart for this band. After all, they got me into more extreme, less mallcorey stuff back in the day when I didn't have the inner soul of an underground yunki. Even today, I at least acknowledge <i>Alive or Just Breathing</i> as at least an influential album to the rapidly growing trend of melodic metalcore, and at most possibly the best metalcore album of the time. I'm not one to give <a href="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/trivium_cd_voted_album_of_the_year.html">unwarranted, trendy praise</a>, but I'll give a band its due when they do something significant. Granted, 90% of this trend is utter shit (see aforementioned Trivium), but that's never stopped a trend yet (see, for example, hair metal, garage rock, post-grunge, mallcore, etc., etc., etc.). Even when the subpar follow-up, <i>The End of Heartache</i>, rolled around, we could at least acknowledge that it was semi-decent and had a few really well put-together tracks, such as the strangely decent "Rose of Sharyn", even if the whole album didn't quite jive the way <i>AOJB</i> did.<br /><br />When I heard that a new KsE album was coming out, I was filled with slight interest, but still apprehension. When I saw the link to the leak someplace (I forget where), I couldn't resist. I got that shit and gave it a spin. What I got was not<i>AOJB</i> material. What I got was not even <i>TEOH</i>-worthy material. Shit, it wasn't even <i>TEOH</i> b-side material. This album is pure and utter shit. <br /><br />The album begins with an electrical, keyboardy intro which makes me think at first that something is new, exciting. BZZT. Wrong, bitch! The opener "Daylight Dies" goes straight into a chuggy, one-powerchord riff punctuated with 4-note harmonized gothencore fill(er)s and a melodic chorus we've all heard before, breakdown where any other band would put a solo, etc. If you've heard any song by any band that <i>KERRANG!</i> has said was the greatest thing ever in the past 4 years or so, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The rest of the album alternates between this self-cannibalization, Soilwork-worship (listen to the chorus of "This is Absolution", and compare to Soilwork's "The Flameout" from <i>Natural Born Chaos</i>. Shit, Jones's voice even sounds like Speed's), emocore (damn, Howard Jones really needs to learn how to write decent lyrics), and just shamelessly weak parts (such as the ill-fitting, really commercial post-chorus to "Absolution"). Shit, they even have a Trivium-style emo song. "The Arms of Sorrow" is like "This World Can't Tear Us Apart" part 2, but to KsE's credit, it doesn't completely blow balls like that (awful, awful, AWFUL) Trivium song. That being said, "My Curse" is like the retarded, autistic younger brother to the excellent, soaring "The Element of One" of AOJB past (at least in the guitar lead), except for the odd, misplaced syncopated screams of "THIS IS MY CURSE". Odd, misplaced time changes seem to be a theme to many songs -- it's like they were saying, "Look, we'll prove we're sincere about not selling out by making parts of the shitty songs unbearable, jerky, and pretentious instead. Happy?" Assholes.<br /><br />Oh yeah, and Howard Jones's growls suck now for some reason. I remember the days of Blood Has Been Shed past with nostalgia and uprasied horns -- now those were some fucked up growls, screeches, and occasional singing. That Howey sounded like he was clawing out his own liver while eating someone's babies, and his singing fit really, really well without having to change song dynamics in the middle (that beauty-and-the-beast shit was really, really old in <i>TEOH</i>, and two years later it still hasn't become creative). This Howey sounds like every other metalcore singer. What a surprise, as this album is a bad metalcore album. And damn, Adam Dookieatrociousunspellablename needs to shut the fuck up. His vocals worked in VERY small amounts in previous albums, but damn, the guy sounds awful here. He's not that great a guitarist, either, while we're taking notes. <br /><br />That's another thing about this album: no member other than the vocalist really stands out in the production. I can't hear the bass, the guitars are just doing their chugga-chugga-harmonized shitty lead thing, and the drums are decidedly vanilla. Pop quiz, what type of music emphasizes mostly the vocals? Oh, yeah, pop music. Haha, pop => pop. That's punny.<br /><br />Fuck you.<br /><br />Anyhow, I give you a month and 3 days advance notice. Seriously, look at the release date, I'm amazing. Don't buy this album. DO NOT buy this album. I repeat myself for emphasis: stay the FUCK away from this turd.<br /><br />(Note: this only gets a higher grade than the Trivium album because I genuinely, truly, completely, fully, unequivocally hate Trivium and Matt Heafy. Lick my nuts, Matt!)<br /><br /><b>3.7</b> disgraced founders of a trend that was fairly shitty anyway out of <b>10</b>.Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1160633820695568002006-10-11T19:42:00.000-07:002007-02-23T21:23:18.843-08:00Upload: Extol - Burial(Edit: whoever owned the initial image apparently couldn't stand the bandwidth requirements of a shitty blogger account. Assholes.)<br /><br />The Christian music scene is, for the most part, a stale imitation of music as a whole. So-called "alternatives" to non-Christian bands (as if one could really have an alternative for classic bands like Metallica, Slayer, Death, etc.) abound in the marketplace, especially when it comes to the ever-cursed metalcore and hardcore. This is especially true considering that some fans will listen simply for the lyrics, rendering the actual substance (being the music) a moot point. In such a scene, one might pronounce any hope of a truly standout, creative band dead on arrival.<br /><br />It is with great relief with which I say that the true spirit of music does occasionally poke through the muck in the Christian scene. It happened in the early nineties with Believer and Horde, and it happened in 1998 with Extol's debut, Burial. While subsequent efforts would never quite reach the peak achieved here, this album is definitely a milestone in the Christian music scene, simply for being so creative and generally not derivative. <br /><br />If we were to put a specific genre on this, I would call it progressive black/death/melodic death metal. Progressive because it's got some seriously out-there songwriting and great guitarwork, black/death because it's, well, black/death. In some ways, this is pretty straightforward, but in many ways this is quite complicated. Varying synths, effects, and odd instruments (a sitar-like sound occurs on "Reflections of a Broken Soul", there are some jackhammer sounds in the title track, the list goes on) add to the songs without sounding cheesy or overbearing. The production resembles what many black metal productions should be, a mix loud and thin on drums and guitars, not too much distortion, some slight bass in the background, and growl vocals with effects unto oblivion. Speaking of vocals, the guitarist brings in his incredible range on a few songs, and it's quite classy in comparison to a lot of metal with clean vocals. It really adds to the mood, rather than falling into the "beauty and the beast" songwriting cliche (contrasting pummelling with soft parts), as they often do later in their career. <br /><br />Some people say that the follow-up to this, <i>Undeceived</i>, is the true masterpiece. I disagree. This album never gets old, while I can hardly listen to <i>Undeceived</i> after hearing it straight through a few times. <i>Undeceived</i> is alright, but this is way better. This album broke the mold, and I don't think they'll ever get close to re-attaining the glory acheived on this album. <br /><br /><b>8.1</b> names that sound a lot more awesome than their meaning out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MXB7ZOBS">Click to download!</a><br /><br />NOTE: The upload isn't the best quality, and it can change from song to song. That being said, if anyone out there wishes to donate a better quality upload, I would be quite appreciative.Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1160023408052055402006-10-04T20:54:00.000-07:002006-10-04T21:43:28.070-07:00Upolad: Sonata Arctica - Silence<img src="http://www.metal-inside.de/cdreviews/covers/911.jpg"><br /><br />This is quite clearly a power metal album. If the cover and that sentence didn't completely scare you off, keep reading. I personally don't mind power metal bands, but a lot of people do. While I do love <i>Silence</i> to death, points of it certainly make me see why power metal isn't meant to be taken completely seriously. <br /><br />First off, this album is the cheesiest cheese that's ever cheesed. From the spoken-word in the beginning and end to the narrative dialogue at the beginning of "The End of the Chapter" to the full-blown, epic "The Power of One" ending the album, this is for the most part full-speed power metal. In some ways (and certainly in the attitude), this is very similar to 90% of power/speed metal. The album flows quite well from track to track; it definitely doesn't attract a "string of singles" feel to it. Tracks like the uber-uber-uber happy sounding "Weballergy" and "San Sebastian","False News Travels Fast" (my personal favorite), "Black Sheep", and "The Wolf and the Raven" are speedy enough to snap any headbanger's neck. The guitarwork is at times decent, at times amazing, and the solos are satisfying. The real winner here, though, is the keyboardist. This guy uses quite a range of effects, from harpsichordish shit to ambient pads to whatever --this is what gives them that extra-special, new-fangled "symphonic" tag to their genre. The last song, "The Power of One", is quite notable, mostly for being a really good album ender, but also for being 10 minutes long and being as cheesily epic as possible. I love it, but a lot of people will pass. Screw all you people, it's a great song.<br /><br />The problems occur when the album slows down for ballads, which happens far too much for my taste (2 slow songs and 2 midpaced songs for a 12-song album). There are points in both full ballads, "Last Drop Falls" and "Tallulah", when I subconsciously turn down the volume on my speakers for the sake of maintaining street cred. The music for these is sappy to the point of being ridiculous. The lyrics on the slower/more serious songs, especially "The End of This Chapter" and "Last Drop Falls", are at times laughable, and at times made me look them up in the (really hard to read) booklet to see if their singer actually said what I thought he said. On that note, randomly putting the phrase "without underwear" without context in a slow song (in "Last Drop Falls") is a definite way to get my attention. Oh yeah, and "You must keep it real to find her" (in "Weballergy", which is a really strange title for a song that is only nominally about the internet or anything web-related) has to be one of the strangest sentences I've ever seen. Just a thought.<br /><br />So, my rating stands: <br /><b>7.5</b> album covers that have fuck-all to do with the album out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OH1DTWLU">Click here to download!</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1159295946965044502006-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:002006-09-26T11:39:08.390-07:00Upload: Celtic Frost - Monotheist<img src=http://www.musik.terrorverlag.de/musik/images/general/Celtic-Frost-Monotheist.jpg><br /><br />As I said in my intro post, I'm a college student. I wasn't exactly alive when the original greats of metal were getting started and touring. To top it off, I only started seriously listening to music a little while ago. Thus, I only caught "classic" metal albums on the second or third go-around, and there are many more that I have yet to listen to. <br /><br />This being said, I had just heard Celtic Frost's <i>Into the Pandemonium</i> (killer album, by the way) when I read that Celtic Frost were reforming and coming out with a new album after 14 years or so. I was happy, but also a little scared. Would this be a masterpiece or a dud? It was impossible to tell up until the last second. Critics were completely divided about the album, either hailing it as a work of genius or denouncing it as the worst they've ever done (well, second-worst...almost nothing can get worse than <i>Cold Lake</i>). The two singles I heard from their site sounded alright, if not inspirational, so I figured I would at least get an enjoyable experience.<br /><br />What I got was a truly unique album, and a lesson from the forefathers as to how dark, dark music (and metal in general) is really done.<br /><br />The first two songs, "Progeny" and "Ground", are the two singles, and they're decent, if not exactly inspired. "Progeny" uses maybe 5 notes, and Ground doesn't have many more. This is very simplistic stuff, but damn if it doesn't get the blood flowing! That being said, these songs serve as an effective counter to the incredibleness that is to come. "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh" is next, and it's impressive. The song uses simple riffs, but the buildup in the song borders upon apocalyptic. This seems to be a theme in the album: building really complex songs out of complete simplicity. "Drown in Ashes" starts with some industrialish sounds, then a female singer comes in and creeps the hell out of anyone listening. This track has a more industrial, almost goth feel to it. As the album goes on, the music gets more doomy and more reflective, culminating in the triad of "Totengott" (a distorted spoken-word track), "Synagoga Satanae" (an impressive 14:24 sardonic look into the nature of evil), and "Winter"( a classical instrumental string quartet piece). "Winter" is a really calming piece, as if to give one a cooldown or respite from the awesomeness of the whole rest of the album. That's right, this is a full-album deal. To get the full effect, this really has to be listened to at night or during the winter; preferrably both. This is one of those albums where atmosphere means a lot. Listen in the right place and time, and it will mean so much more.<br /><br />Final word:<br /><br /><b>8.3</b> creepy mo'fo's eating spiders out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br />Highly, highly recommended.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BWT2HOH0">Click to Download!</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1158715234451420022006-09-19T17:41:00.000-07:002006-09-19T18:20:34.586-07:00Review: Trivium - The Crusade<img src="http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/shared/pictures/Trivium/TRIVIUMCRUSADECOVER.jpg"><br /><br />I never really liked Trivium. I would like to say I did in proxy, in that I used to be one of those 'core fuckers that piss every metalhead off. But as far as I'm concerned, these idiots missed the boat, in that they missed me. I came in as late as humanly possible to the 'core rush, weaning myself from Killswitch Engage's "The End of Heartache" and Shadows Fall's "The War Within". I soon moved onto bigger and better bands. These guys released their first (non-demo) album in '03; I completely missed them. That being said, while I look upon KsE and SF with some nostalgia, this is one band I am proud to say I never liked.<br /><br />Then I heard this cover of Master of Puppets. The CD it was on ("Re-mastered" Master of Puppets) was a complete clusterfuck, but that track stood out -- partially because Heafy didn't do either his trademark puke vocals or his harmonized emo-wail. Instead, he opted for a very appropriate Hetfield-esque "tough" voice. The instrumentation also improved in subtle ways on the original (as blasphemous as that sounds, listen to the cover). I was pleasantly surprised, and as such opted to at least try their next album. Then I saw it on <a href="http://metal--head.blogspot.com">MetalHead</a> and figured, fuck, I might as well.<br /><br />I have to say, I have rarely made such a bad choice in my life. <br /><br />This album starts off with an admittedly decent track. The vocals worked, the piano thing in the chorus was vaguely reminiscient of Dark Tranquillity, and being a DT junkie like crazy, I kind of dug it. I could almost see myself enjoying this album. Then we moved to the next track. "Detonation" is a slightly decent song, made worse by the awful ripping-off of various Metallica riffs. This would be the theme for the rest of the album: blatantly ripping off as many bands as possible, even to the point of combining two ripped-off themes at once. Not to mention, that damn emo voice returns by the second track! Matt Heafy is one tricky bastard. I noticed too that even though he ripped off so many bands, the music still doesn't stand out that much. Why? Oh, right, because he has almost no songwriting skills. Smooth. <br /><br />On the other hand, "Anthem (We Are The Fire)" actually made me laugh during the midsection, it was so bad.<br /><br />I was having a pretty bad time for the first 2/3 of the album. Then "This World Can't Tear Us Apart" came on. Even the most diehard, fanatical Trivium fan should have to pause a few seconds to find a proper way to praise this song. I mean, fuck, look at the title. That sums up what the song sounds like. I can't think of anything honest that is good about this song. Wait -- it'll bring more chicks to concerts. +1, Heafy...I can't contest that. <br /><br />I was almost dreading the final, 8-minute title track, but it actually turned out to be instrumental (and surprisingly good). I suppose every genericxcore tree has a few good apples, though. <br /><br />So, here's the lowdown.<br /><br />-This album started off with a 7.5 or so, not counting "This World".<br />-The fucker's gonna lose 2 points for ripping off so much, so blatantly. Influence is one thing, plagiarism quite another. Not to mention combining so many classic thrash/melodeath riffing with emo-core...*shudder*<br />- -1 point for recording "This World".<br />- +.5 point for recording the title track (it was, admittedly, decent enough to pull the grade up a little).<br />- -.5 point for WEARING THEIR OWN FUCKING T-SHIRTS TO THEIR CONCERTS. Arrogant, conceited little Matt Heafy.<br />Finally:<br />- -1 point for saying they were going to be "the next Metallica" or whatever the fuck they said. Pride breeds bullshit (and bad grades).<br /><br />So, that would leave us <b>3.5</b> cliched sung choruses out of <b>10</b>.<br /><br />Fuck you, Matt Heafy. Fuck you. I raise two middle fingers and two swollen ears (from listening to your garbage) in your general direction. Your music almost made my balls disappear.<br /><br />[/angry, pissed off metal rant]Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1158640401082328142006-09-18T20:56:00.000-07:002006-09-18T21:33:21.093-07:00Upload: In Flames - The Jester RaceLet's start on a positive note. I'm an In Flames fanboy, unabashedly. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. <br><br><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rockdetector.com/assets/img/covers/20555.jpg"><br><br><br /><br />In the past, I have been asked why it's so up there in my estimation. It ain't the most technical guitar album, it doesn't have the greatest songwriting skills in the world, it's neither completely brutal nor completely melodic, the songs aren't long/short enough, etc., etc., ad infinitum, STFU already. My answer to this is: balance. It's got some really great melodic moments, such as in "The Jester's Dance", "Moonshield", or the midsection of "Lord Hypnos". It's also got some seriously buffeting riffs, such as the intro to "Dead Eternity" or the intro to "Dead God In Me". It's got a lot of electric, but some acoustic is mixed in for serious effect. The songs aren't that out of the blue in terms of songwriting, but there's often not a distinct verse, chorus, etc. There are no ten-minute Malmsteen-esque wankfests for solos, but damn if the solos and leads that are there ain't absolutely delicious (not to mention comprehensible and melodic). 40 minutes, 10 tracks -- not too long, not too short.<br><br /><br />My question is, what do people have against this album? There's so much right with it, why <u>shouldn't</u> it be one of my favorites?<br><br /><br />The answer: it is, and it should be one of yours too. Bitch. <br><br /><br /><b>9</b> oddly shaped jester head thingies on fire out of <b>10.</b><br><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2G99YAL0">Click to download</a>Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34650248.post-1158637189770406242006-09-18T19:16:00.000-07:002006-09-18T20:39:49.780-07:00This is the first post of the rest of your lives.A few months ago, I was introduced to sites such as metalcentral.blogspot.com and loadown.blogspot.com. In the spirit of these, I will upload albums. Many of these will be metal albums (80-90%); some will not. If I use an album somewhere else on the internet without reuploading it, credit shall be given. That being said, I will also include a review for that uploaded album, and maybe a few others I didn't upload. We're not talking some serious-as-shit magazine review. I'll review the damn album any way I fucking want, and it will be <u>my</u> review. Check out <a href="http://www.globaldomination.se/">Global Domination</a> for an idea of how I want my reviews to go. This being said, judging by the hatemail GD has gotten in the past (most of which was responded to brilliantly), I'll likely piss someone off; if that happens, fuck off.<br /><br />Because of the text-heavy content (and because I'm a lazy, poor college student), uploads will only be once a week or so. If it happens more often than that, count your blessings; this will be quite rare. If you want to contribute a uploaded album to this particular site, send me the link, and I'll see if it meets my standards (aka, would get above 6/10) and is something I've never heard (as in a band/album I haven't heard of yet). If it does, you get a seat of honor next to Odin--err, in the sidebar, with the number of uploads. I also review your album. If you are the person with the most uploads, YOU = WINNAR!!!@!!1! Or not.<br /><br />A word of caution: this does not get you off the hook for buying the album. I strongly encourage you to get the album if you like it. If you don't, do us all a favor and delete it.<br /><br />Another thing, if you downloaded it, be sure to thank by means of comments. It's appreciated.<br /><br />Yet another: I don't do requests for uploads. If you want me to review an album, refer to the upload contributing. <br /><br />Have fun, download a lot, buy what you like, and stay fuckin' metal! \m/Andrashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746699083766534228noreply@blogger.com0