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EASY RIDER
T.A. 6,5/10 K.P. 6/10 |
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ECHOBRAIN
T.A. 6/10 |
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ECLIPSE
G.K. 6,5/10 |
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EDGE OF FOREVER
T.A.
7/10 |
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EDGE OF FOREVER
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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EDGUY
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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EIDOLON
G.K. 7/10 T.A. 6/10 |
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EIDOLON
T.A. 8/10 K.P.7/10 |
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EIDOLON
T.A.
5/10 |
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EINHERJER
G.K. 7/10 |
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EISREGEN
G.K. 7/10 |
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EKTOMORF
G.K. 5/10 |
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ELECTRIC WIZARD
T.A. 3/10 |
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ELECTRIC WIZARD
T.A. 3/10 |
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ELEGY
A.S. 8,5/10 |
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ELEND
G.K. 8/10 |
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ELFMAN
T.A. 6/10 |
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ELIS
T.A. |
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ELIS “DARK
CLOUDS IN A PERFECT SKY” (Napalm)
T.A. 5,5/10 |
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ELVIRA MADIGAN
A.S. 4/10 |
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EMANCER
G.K. 5/10 |
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EMERALD RAIN
T.A.
7/10 |
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EMPIRE
T.A.
7/10 |
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EMPTY TREMOR
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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ENCHANT
A.S. 8/10 |
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ENCHANT
A.S. 9/10 |
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ENEMIES SWE
A.S.
6,5/10 |
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ENEMO-J
T.A.
4/10 |
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ENGINE
A.S. 7/10 |
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ENSHADOWED
T.A. 1,5/10 |
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ENSOPH
G.K. 7/10 |
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ENTOMBED
G.K. 6/10 |
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ENTOMBED
G.K. 5,5/10 |
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ENTROPY
A.S. 4/10 |
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ENUFF ‘Z’ NUFF
A.S. 6/10 |
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EOSTENEM
G.K. 5,5/10 |
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EPICA
K.P. 7/10 |
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ERIKA
T.A. 8,5/10 |
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ERIC MARTIN
T.A. 7/10 |
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ESQUARIAL
G.K. 7/10 |
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ETERNAL FLIGHT
A.S. 6,5/10 |
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EUROPE
T.A. 6/10 |
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EVANGELINE
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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EVENT X HORIZON
G.K.
6/10 |
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EVERDOME
G.K.
6/10 |
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EVERWOOD
G.K. 6/10 |
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EVIDENCE ONE
T.A. 9/10 K.P. 8,5/10 |
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EVIL MASQUERADE
G.K. 8/10 |
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EYES STRINGS
A.S. 5,5/10 |
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Even though their name will bring on your mind the almighty 70's
rock and hard rock period, I must warn you that the Spanish Easy Rider they play pure
heavy/power! The band seems to have many
influences from the great band, which is called Judas Priest! "Regeneration", is the fourth album that they have released and
although the whole result is not so genuine we can listen to some really heavy and good songs such as the
homonymous, the "Stranger"
and the "Spectre Of Sorrow". Also I have to refer that the singer of the band seems that he loves the one and only
"Metal God"
Rob Halford! Also in the song "Freedom Fighter" the solo is being played by the virtuoso guitarist Patrick Rondat
(Jean Michel Jarre, Elegy, Consortium Project). If the band will manage to create a moreauthentic
sound, they will be in position to release something
better than "Regeneration" in the future.
EchoBrain is the band that Jason Newsted
(ex- Metallica) has formed, after he left Metallica, and here we got their first homonymous
album. To tell the truth I was expecting from Jason to play Metal in his personal
band, but I was wrong. Their style is modern art - Rock with nice vocals melodies something that makes this record very
listenable. But I must confess that this is not my favourite kind of music and the elements that connect this album with Metal music are very
few. Some remarkable songs of this album are “Colder World”, ”Keep Me
Alive”, and “We Are Ghosts”. Let’s hope that Jason will remember his Metal roots and will be back with a Heavy album in a couple of
years. Till then… EchoBrain is a band that the metal fans won't like very
much. In the other hand the fans of
Foo Fighters and Radiohead, and not only are going to like this release.
Eclipse, after the interesting “The Truth And Little More” album
released in 2001, they release their second effort “Second To None”.
The line-up of the band is not the same since Anders Berlin (keyboards and
drums) had left the band and Magnus Ulfstedt (drums) took his place. Also
Fredrik Folkare (bass) has become a permanent member of the band and Mats
Olausson (Malmsteen) is the guest keyboardist. Erik Mertensson, the
mastermind of the band, still sings and plays the guitars together with
Magnus Henriksson (guitar). Their music style has not changed so, here you
can find interesting melodic hard rock and AOR music. The guitar work is
for once again wonderful and the tracks are full of melodies. The vocals
are excellent and the AOR refrains will satisfy most of the fans of this
kind of music. The only problem I had with this CD was that I found some
of the tracks boring (thankfully they were few) and some others were very
good. I hope their next release will make me find all of their tracks
interesting… The production was made by the band this time in order to
have the sound they wanted and I think it’s good. Listen to the
following tracks and decide if this album is for you: “All I Do”,
“Second To None”, “Street Of Gold”, and “Something You Do”.
Second
release for the Italian band, which is fronted by the great Axe-master Bob
Harris. The truth is that the debut album of the band “Feeding The Fire”
was just a good hard rock record but it hasn’t any new or something
special to offer. But now it seems that the band has worked well all the
songs and it presents a very strong album, which is much better than its
debut by any means. The production was made by Axe’s guitarist Bobby Barth
and it is simply fantastic. Also all the songs on this album are
well-structured and more melodic. It’s more than obvious that the band has
matured all this time and that’s why it managed to release a very good
album. On the other hand Bob’s performance through the whole album is
simply fantastic and that’s another plus on the CD. The band’s hard rock
has been influenced mostly from Rainbow and Y.G. Malmsteen without loosing
its EOF stigma and the necessary neo-classical hard/heavy elements. I like
this album better than the debut and I still believe that the guys can
release something even better than this one… till then this album won’t
disappoint any hard rocker out there. The best songs of the album are:
“Shades Of November”, “One Last Surrender”, “Let The Demon Rock
N’ Roll”, “A Deep Emotion” and “In My Eyes”.
Edge Of Forever is a new band and “Feeding The Fire” is its debut album. The band members seem to love hard n’ heavy music and to be rather influenced from bands like Rainbow, Malmsteen, Impelllitteri, Black Sabbath (Dio era) and Talisman. They have good ideas and they are very good players although their music isn’t the most original music in the world. The vocalist of the band is Bob Harris of Axe and he delivers the goods with power and melody! The production is very good and it was made by Marcel Jacob (he has also done most of the backing vocals), and maybe due to him in one song of the album Jeff Scott Soto is participating. Best songs of the album are the homonymous opener “Feeding The Fire” (in the album there is also a very good video-clip of this song), “Prisoner” (where Jeff sings along with Bob), the heavy epic “Mother Of Darkness”, the powerful, Rainbow-like “Bloodsucker”, the sensitive mid-ballad “The Road We Walked On” and the hard rocker “I Won’t Be A Fool Anymore”. To cut it short, this album is for the fans of the aforementioned bands that like to listen albums in that style of music. Edge Of Forever released a very good debut album so, let’s hope that their next one will be even better than this one.
Things are strange with this promo-CD from Nuclear Blast. To be honest this kind of promo does not worth a review and I at first I was ready not to do it and just write that it is was impossible to listen to it. You see the record company made tricks in order to prevent people from copying the CD and spread it possibly on the net. So every song is interrupted once or twice in the middle of it and appears Tobias Sammet’s voice talking about each song, how and why they wrote it etc. It is totally irritating, annoying and generally tests with our endurance. However it would be unfair not to make a review for such a great album! (Although even the band itself should have objected this practice). Anyway from what I’ve been able to listen from the CD (because once you start getting into each song appears the voice to ruin everything) this must be Edguy’s best album so far. They keep playing european power metal, but it is inspired, rigorous and not a rehash of what they’ve been playing in the past. The guitars are heavier this time and at times the songs have this unique capability to “rock you like a hurricane”. No joking now, songs like the thunderous “Mysteria”, the opus “The Piper Never Dies” and the power anthems “Lavatory Love Machine” and “Rise Of The Morning Glory” (very funny lyrics in both cases) kick asses!!! Power fans this is your choice for the month. I’m sure that my grade would have been better, if I could listen to the album properly. But for
now...
Ten years have past since the band Eidolon was formed in Canada and now the group releases its sixth album, titled “Apostles Of Defiance”. Since the group has signed with Metal Blade, it releases one album every year and makes only a few live appearances. Their music style differences from their previous releases, on the grounds that they have now emphasized more in thrash metal and less in the mix of thrash and power metal they used to play in the past. So, their new album is, first of all, more aggressive and dynamic than their past records. The riffs are very heavy and tough and can become dangerous if you listen to these songs very loud… The rhythm section is very tight and in some tracks sounds like a bomber coming out of your loudspeakers! Also the vocalist is really good, cause he knows very well how to use his voice and either he sings with high vocals and when the album calls for more aggressive vocals Pat Mullock (the singer) is there. Some extra musicians are also participating in this CD and these are: Andy Larocque solos on “Twisted Morality” and “The Test”, Voldamares Gollum (Eclipse Eternal) brutal vocals on: “Scream From Within”, “Apostles Of Defiance” and “Volcanic Earth” and finally Lord Abaddon (Eclipse Eternal) keyboards on “Apostles Of Defiance”. In this really heavy CD, you will find influences from Slayer, Testament, Agent Steel and Nevermore. The best tracks included here are: the super fast and aggressive: “Scream From Within”, “Volcanic Earth”, the melodic “Twisted Morality” and the power-epic “Apathy For A dying World”. The production was once again made by Glen Drover (the guitarist of the group) and is almost excellent. The first and limited edition of the CD includes an extra CD, which is the groups’ first album, “Zero Hour”. If you like Eidolon and you want something faster and heavier from their previous albums, then this is the CD you must get.
Well I was looking forward for a long
time, to listen to the new album (Coma Nation) of Eidolon; cause the previous release
(Hallowed Apparition) from the band was very good. And here we are
again: The album begins with a very interesting intro, which is called
"Nemesis" (Nemesis
is the ancient Greek Goddess of punishment), and after that, the homonymous song from
"Coma Nation" begins. A speed-almost thrash song where we can listen
to, for the first time, the voice of Pat Mulok, the new vocalist of
Eidolon. To tell the truth I prefer Pat in the vocals than the previous
one, cause he has more abilities in the way of singing and his voice fits better with
Eidolon. Another excellent song is "Scarred" (maybe the best of the
album), almost mid-tempo (the tempo in this song changes so many times!) I could
say, with a very beautiful acoustic break in the middle of the song. In this point I have to say that the album is very heavy with many
speed/thrash elements, and that is something that I didn't expect from the band cause the sound of
Eidolon, till now,
was closer to the heavy/power music. The production of the album is extremely good and the work that they've done on the guitars
(what a sound!), the vocals and the drums is incredible. Some other - killer songs are
"From Below", "The Pentacle Star" and "Lost
Voyage". Coma Nation is a very interesting album from a band that with every new release is growing
bigger.
I’m
sure that most of you know Eidolon not only ‘cause Glen (guitarist) and
Shawn (drummer), those two brothers have participated in some other big
bands but due to the good latest works of the band. Anyway, “Sacred
Shine” is not the new work of the band but a CD that contains the first
two demos of the band, which were recorded between 1994-1995. The music
here is in the same heavy/power music style of the band but a little bit
more influenced by Fates Warning and Queensryche and due to the not so
good sound it is obvious that you are listening to some demo work of the
band. Not to be mistaken the sound is not so good for an official album
and not for a demo release. On the other hand, I really do not know why
someone should get this album, if he has listened to the next works of the
band that are better than this one… so this album is only for the die
hard fans of the band that always wanna have everything that their beloved
band has released.
Einherjer is called the life after death of a Viking, in the Norwegian mythology. Apart from this Einherjer is the group from Norway that was formed in 1993 and it is one of the oldest Viking metal groups! As many of you may know, the group recorded its first demo in 1993 (“Aurora Borealis”) and their first album (“Dragons Of The North”) in 1996. Now after three full-length albums and many die-hard fans around the world they released this new CD. The main words that can describe this album are epic music! Imagine, epic-melodic guitars, atmospheric keyboards and plenty of warlike black metal vocals and you have the new album of Einherjer! You will not find here the ultra-fast speeds that the Norwegian groups create, neither the common black metal vocals, because the vocalist (Grimar) has the sense of melody and although that he uses brutal vocals he knows how to create a dramatic atmosphere. The keyboards most of the time are following the other instruments and have an epic-symphonic tone. Finally the drums (Ulvar) and the guitars (Grimar and Aksel) have a unique epic sound that can transfer you in the battlefield… The production is very clean and you can clearly hear every instrument, but I believe it could have been done a little heavier. I believe that the group succeeded or came closer to its purpose with this album, which, as I read, is to “try to capture the atmosphere and the feeling there is to Norse mythology, combined with the intensity of heavy metal music”. This CD is mainly recommended to the lovers of the epic music, cause any others may not understand what they listen to! Too bad that Einherjer split up some time ago.
Eisregen is a band coming from Germany. Their name, as I found out in a dictionary, means “Ice-Rain” and Wundwasser means “Wounded Water” or something like that. The band was formed in 1995 and I can’t say if this is their debut album or not, since I didn’t find enough information about the band in the English
language... The music that the band plays has very heavy guitars, a nice rhythm section and alternates between fast and mid-tempo parts. The singer sings in his native language (German) and he sometimes reminded me the vocalist of Rammstein (not only because of the German
language...). He sometimes approaches the black/death metal vocals and I also found some gothic influences. Although I couldn’t understand a word of the lyrics, I really liked the vocals, because I always believed that the German language fits the heavy and aggressive forms of music! The CD apart from the extra heavy guitars has many atmospheric keyboards, which are definitely influenced from gothic bands. I didn’t except that I would enjoy so much an album that I didn’t even know the existence of the band and secondly all the lyrics and the titles are in the German language! Very interesting and enjoyable work!
The fifth album of the Hungarian group Ektomorf that has been in the metal scene for almost ten years is a fact. After signing with Nuclear Blast last year, they released the “Destroy” album. Their previous album had many influences from Sepultura and Soulfly. This time the similarities with the above bands have been more than clear! I mean that when I put the CD in my stereo, I thought that I was listening to either Sepultura (of the “Roots” era) or Soulfly. The main thing that made me think of that are the vocals of Farkas Zoltan, whose voice sounds exactly the same with the one of Max Cavalera! The feeling of the album is almost the same when you hear a Sepultura or Soulfly album and I think that the fans of the above groups will like this album. The guitars (Farkas Zoltan and Schrottner Tomas) are very aggressive and are a mix of metal and hardcore sounds-riffs (like Soulfly). The band also uses some gypsy folklore melodies and traditional instruments and that makes this album more interesting. For example, listen to the track “From Far Away” where you can hear acoustic parts and female vocals! The production is really tough and heavy, thanks to Tue Madsen (Die Happy, Mnemic, The Haunted). Listen to the track I mentioned before, which is the best of this CD and then listen to these: “No Compromise”, “From My Heart” and “A.E.A” in order to decide if this album is for you…
What the fuck… what is that curse that is haunting when it comes to that band? I always find them in front of me when they are releasing a new album and… they always find me up against them when they have recorded something new. Well... I do not like this band. I never liked them and I never will. They always bring me headache. I don not give a shit whether are the heaviest band in the world (which they are not) not whether are the kings of doom/sludge music. Their music is soooooo fuckin’ boring that evil thoughts crossing through my mind when
I’m listening to them. I wanna turn on the volume to the max so that the neighbors will suffer along with me while
I’m listening to the same riff for about 20 minutes or someone who is trying to sing whenever he likes! I totally respect those guys who like music like this one and especially who like the Electric Wizard… but I cannot bear them for long. I should have passed this CD to any of my partners but some times
I’m too good with them (yes I am!). To sum it up, those who like this band or this kind of music will like this album too and those who do not like them will never like… even by listening to this one. Stan
Bush’s new album is waiting there for me… so I better go and listen to his album in order to calm down a little.
Electric Wizard is band that comes from England and
"Let Us Prey" is their new work. I was never into this band and I was easily getting bored from their long play monotonous
songs. And now with their new work this doesn't change at all: Long boring playing songs
(a riff can be repeated for 9 and more minutes! And I really can't see a purpose on doing something like
that), insipid vocals and a really noisy production, where you must make a good try to listen to the vocals and understand the
lyrics. In few words, monotony characterizes this album, and the only
song that saves the whole situation is the psychedelic and "sick"
"Night Of The Shape" which is based on a piano melody. If you are not fun of this kind of music
(doom/extreme metal-no this is not "stoner"), you'd better stay away from this
release. Also if you are fan of this band and you love doom metal, maybe you'll like this album very
much. Personally doom metal is not one of my favorites music kinds, and
especially I'm getting bored very easy when I'm listening to such noisy
and monotonous albums like "Let Us Prey". Maybe I'll never
like this band. 
Elegy seems to be veterans of the
genre. I think they must have a
10-year history on their back. I have to admit that I always liked their kind of
music, this prog/power based on Henk Van Den Laars's
magnificent guitar work. However their last couple of efforts were a bit
disappointing. Not that the records were bad, but for sure below the huge capabilities of the
band. I anticipated listening
to their new work, as I had the feeling it could be a really good album. And it is more than
that! Elegy seems to have returned for
good with a fresh, smashing record. There aren't many experiments with their music
here. They play what they play best: prog metal
with power outbreaks. They remind me a lot of their "Supremacy" album but I dear saying that the new one might be
better, as it
sound much more mature and Ian Parry's vocals are pretty enchanting. The songs have this quality that with each listening you get to
penetrate more and more into them. So the record becomes better and better with each
listening. The
keyboards contribute to the maximum towards the creation of paranoid / mysteriousatmosphere...I
strongly recommend you to listen to the magnificent anthem "The Inner
Room", which might haunt you for long! Choral parts
embellish the songs here and there. We are talking about a really complete
album. Try it.
Now what can I say for this French band that the last 10 years has turned our fears, loneliness, suffering and melancholy into music? What can I say for a band that makes your brain and body bleed, with their depressive music? What can I say for the band that doesn’t care at all about the music industry and doesn’t try to become popular? Well, the answer is nothing! Only those who have listened to the band in the past and those who are going to discover it in the future, will understand what I am talking about. Just for the record I can say that the band uses only an orchestra and a female choir of 50 musicians and a vocalist, who sounds like he is mourning! No guitars, drums etc. are here! Just some gothic influences and some samplers, which will tear your heart or better they will make you feel the soundtrack of darkness and sorrow! This album is the second one of a five-album releases and it is faster than their previous ones. This CD is not advised to people who feel depressed, because I can’t think of where this album may lead them… Generally, it is a very good album and of course it is not an album for every moment of the day or for everyone…
If I'm
right, "Common Sky" is the debut album of Elfman. The strange
thing with this band except their name of course, is the music that they
play. To be more specific I will say that sometimes they approach
the 90's rock sound (with some electro elements) followed by many nu-metal breaks in all their
songs. Maybe reading what I said before
confuses you, but things here are quite simple. Elfman seems to be searching to find their music style and that's why their first work
it may confuse many of you. But it would be a pity not to say that the have some very good ideas in some songs like
"Why Don't You Say" and "Glory D." (Where they appear to have many influences from Rage Against The
Machine) however they also have a long way in front of them. But
first of all they must clear their musical influences. Well, I'll suggest to the fans of
nu-metal and especially the fans of RATM and
System Of A Down to try somehow to listen to "Common Sky" cause they many like it or they may find many interesting elements in their
music.
Judge on your own.
What
a tragic irony… what a pity… Sabine Dunser
Elis
is a new band from Liechtenstein. They used to be called Erben Der Schφpfung
and they changed it to Elis in 2003. 
From the title of the CD you get the hint. You are almost sure that we are talking about an “atmospheric”, goth/metal album. However you are misled! Ho-ho, because what we have here is the two above, with the implantation (what a surprise) of black metal and “symphonic” elements... To be honest the music here is listenable... although the guys seem to have literally robbed Arcturus, Haggarth and Cradle Of Filth, among others. The “symphonic” introductions and the guitar bridges work well, but then the big laugh bursts out when the voice of the singer appears!!! He screeches and whines in such a way that really makes me laugh... plus the whole thing supports my theory that the majority of such “evil” groups are pitiful posers. I could listen to the CD if it was instrumental (despite the stolen parts), but with such
vocals...
Emancer were created in 1996 under the name Utumno and a few years later, after changing their name to Emancer, they released their first album "Utopian Illusions". Now, after a new contract with the above label they release their second album named "The Human Experiment". Their music is similar to the oldschool black metal groups, but I don't think that they can be compared with the great representative groups of this music such as Emperor, which they seem to love most. First of all, the drums are programmed and they are not physically played, but you can only understand this in a few moments of the album cause they sound pretty nice. The guitars are aggressive and very speedy, like the classic black metal groups, and have some interesting ideas. The vocalist (Gorbag), although that he is good, he has nothing to offer to the fans of black metal cause his voice is very common. The good point in the vocal part, is that there are some clean-epic vocals in this album, but this is something that Emperor have done in the past... The guitarist and bassist of the group (Mithrin) play some keyboards in this album that sound pretty good and approach the industrial sound. The production is professional and that gives an advantage to the group. The best tracks that can represent the whole album are: "In The Greatest Picture" and "The Greatest Of Pain". It is recommended only to the fans of the group and maybe the fans of Emperor.
The
Canadian rockers are back with their fifth studio album under a new label
this time. The music style of this album is moving in the same style of
the latest works of the band... melodic rock mixed with modern rock.
Emerald Rain is like a mix of Harem Scarem and (new) Bon Jovi.
“Sleepwalk” is a fresh, melodic and well-written album that will
appeal to the fans of the band and to the fans of the aforementioned
bands. The production is flawless and the performances (especially the
singer’s Murray Daigle) are excellent. I’m pretty sure that songs like
“Can’t Stop Bleeding”, “Face In The Mirror”, “It Ain’t
Over”, “Sleepwalk” (the best song of the album), “See It in You
Eyes”, “Torn In Two” and “Miracle” will make you like this album
a lot. All those who are following the band through the years have no
reason not to get this album. As for the others is never late to
“discover” a very good melodic rock band. For sure this is not the
best album of the band but still a good one.
Empire
finally became like an “all-star” band or something… Neil Murray
(ex-Black Sabbath, ex-Whitesnake) is on the bass, Andre Hilgers (Silent
Force, Axxis) is behind the drums and Tony Martin (ex Black Sabbath) on the
vocals. Of course the whole thing started from the band’s mastermind and
guitarist Rolf Munkes (Majesty) who had the great idea of bringing back on
stage one of the most underrated singers of rock history… Mr Tony Martin.
It’s true that I love the albums of Black Sabbath with Tony on vocals and
Rolf along with Tony are offering here some very good songs that are based
on those Sabbath’s albums (“Headless Cross”, “Tyr”, “Eternal
Idol”, and “Cross Purposes”). Tony is singing his heart out on this
album and Rolf has done a very good work on all levels, such as the
production (although I’m not totally satisfied by the sound of the rhythm
guitars) and the songwriting. Empire’s “The Raven Rides” is a very
good “old-school” hard rock album that will bring on your mind the days
where Tony was in Black Sabbath… if you like those albums then you will
like this one too, even though it is not on the same high level, as Black
Sabbath.
The
Italian band seems to have made a colpo grosso here. It hired Oliver
Hartman (ex-At Vance) on the vocals, who manages to lift off the - anyway
- good material of the band! Empty Tremor is prog metal band, whose
members are quite young. I ‘ve heard long ago bits and bobs from their
first album “Apocolokynthosys”, which showed their love for ancient
Greece.... and Dream Theater. Although the music wasn’t original it
showed that the band has potentials. And now this second album proves me
right. The band has evolved to a first class prog metal carrier. Their
approach is close to the lyrical sides of Dream Theater, Threshold and
Shadow Gallery, while at times it brought to my mind Soul Cages. But there
are two massive developments: first, as I mentioned, the singer who kicks
ass and second that this time the band in general sounds more original.
This means that the influences have been filtered in a better way to
present a more personal outcome. So we get 8 songs, which despite their
length manage to be very interesting and not tiring at all. I think that
Empty Tremor can be a new mega-name in the saturated prog scene of today.
Friends of the genre must check this one out.
Enchant is one of my beloved modern bands. Their prog rock (kind of prog metal in their first few albums) is really enchanting, very sentimental, melancholic and complicated at times. Plus I can tell you that they have not produced a weak album so far. All their works are good, very good and excellent! Their new CD falls in the "very good" category (basically because it follows the excellent "Blink Of An Eye"). There are no huge variations in the music the band delivers. The metal elements have subsided and the result can be called sentimental, inward looking prog rock (quite different than Spock's Beard for example). Most of the songs are long (over 7 minutes) which enables band's members to evolve their ideas to the maximum – without being boring. What I like the most about this group is the bittersweet taste the songs provide us after listening to the album. The keys "draw" wonderful pictures, while the guitars make the songs heavier and Ted in the vocals gives some wonderful moments. Plus the orchestrations in some songs are brilliant (listen for e.g. "Living In A Movie" or "Holding The Wind"). It seems that Enchant has found the right way. I'll be waiting for the unique masterpiece to come. Until then...
Enchant
is one of the secret treasures of prog rock. I really don't know why
they don't have met much more success, rather remain "hidden".
Anyway, I think that this CD can be a breakthrough for them, as it might
be their best release so far (I think this is their 6th album), even if
I am still stuck with "Blueprint of the World". For those who
are not familiar with their music, I can tell you that they play modern
prog rock. For those who still didn't get the point, imagine a mixture
of Marillion, Spock's Beard, Arena embellished with Genesis and Soul
Cages. However Enchant have created their own musical stigma, so that
one who has listened to one of their albums can definitely recognize
them at once in the future...it is this feeling in the guitars, the all
around melancholy of their music and of course the voice...In this new
album they haven't changed their style, neither present anything really
new. However, it seems that they just wrote some of their best songs
ever. As a matter of fact the songs here seem to be more complete,
better structured with clear beginning-middle-ending. In short they are
much more substantial. Don't ask me to propose a couple of songs. You
have to listen to the whole album to understand it and get into its
meaning...as happens with most prog releases after all. Just open your
ears.
One
more for the road... hmmm sorry, I mean one more time of the same things
we’ve listened again and again and again... the band plays a kind of
heavy rock or stoner rock with some “swedish” elements. Riffs that
make clear references to the 70’s are mixed with more contemporary
listenings, like Spiritual Beggars, Monster Magnet, Mushroom River Band
and Orange Goblin. But unfortunately the group does not offer something
really different or great. I mean they are really good for a fan of the
genre who likes the aforementioned bands, but is not suggested for anyone
else. The potentials are good, but the band has to work a bit on
originality and variety... Besides that I can tell you for now that they
are honest and seem to really like this kind of music.
Enemo-J is a new band from 
Engine
is the solo project of Fates Warning's singer Ray Alder. For the
beginning I have to say that Ray according to my opinion is one of the
best singers I've ever heard! But don't be misled as in this album he
doesn't sound like Fates Warning at all. For those who have heard the
previous Engine album, they know what to expect. Industrialised, heavy,
Tool-like in parts music. Even Ray's vocals are much "harder"
and in some parts a bit distorted - not brutal. To be honest I do
understand Ray (and Joy Vera who plays the bass here) who wanted to
"escape" from Fates' sound. After all this is what side
projects are for. However my obsession with Fates (one of my 5-6
favourite band of all time) doesn't allow me to be devoted to this
effort. The CD is very good and the songs well structured (what strucks
the attention is the amazing rhythm section which is as tight as cement
on the foundations of a skyscraper), without being boring or anything
like that. In fact fans of this sound might appreciate this album a lot.
As for me, I wait with anticipation Fates' new work.
Enshadowed is another Greek black metal
band. But although this band comes from Greece they do not follow the beaten track that Greek bands play
the black metal
music. They have many influences from the Norwegian black metal and the songs are mostly
fast-tempo. Even though their music style is old-fashioned, they have some songs that you might
like, like "Northbound". The album is surrounded by frozen atmosphere and is full of evil
screams! My only objection is, that I don't like the old-fashioned black metal
image, which is outmoded, the silly lyrical concept and also the artwork of the
album. The times have changed! All those things were really trendy in the beginning of the 90's but
nowadays? You might be called ridiculous if you do such things. Black metallers try somehow and listen to the new
-debut album of Enswadowed and let's hope that in the future they will fix all those problems that hold their music
back.
This is the first time I listen to this group, although that this album is their second release. Ensoph were formed in 1997, by Giuliano (guitars and programming) and Zenone (drums), in Italy. Before forming this group, the masterminds of the band had also released two demos with their previous band, Endaymynion. Now, after some line-up changes, they have already released two demos and one full-length album under the name of Ensoph. Their new CD is very difficult to be described, because it has plenty of influences such as: Gothic, Industrial, Black Metal, Ambient, Electronic and folk music! The vocals (Nicholas) vary from gothic to black metal very often and in one track, Giovanna makes the female vocals. The electro-industrial sounds (Guiliano-programming and Leonardo at keyboards) can be found in the whole album and that gives a gothic and ambient atmosphere. The guitars are heavy and sometimes sound very extreme, but they are very well orchestrated, if you realize how difficult is to combine all the above music styles. The other very interesting part of this release is the use of the flute, played by Anna, which gives a magical, romantic and folk feeling. This is a hard hearing album and I think that the lovers of the extreme sound will find a new interesting group! Finally, I would like to congratulate Cruz Del Sur for signing such a strange group, something that many other labels would never risk doing it! Give Ensoph the chance to enter your mind and after some careful hearings their music will haunt you!
This is a live album coming from Entombed. The “Unreal Estate” CD was recorded in the Royal Opera House in Stockholm and while the band was giving its live show, 35 members of the Royal Ballet were in the stage together with the band! The album was recorded live in March 2002. The band gives a normal live show with tracks, which are mainly based on these albums: “Morning Star” and “Uprising”. The tracks included here are the most melodic that the band has ever composed and I think this happened so that the ballet could “follow” the band and maybe because that night there were people in the Royal Opera House that don’t listen to metal music... I think this is a nice live album, but I would be curious to watch the video from this live show because apart from the ballet on the stage, the people from the Royal Opera House gave earplugs to the people who entered the building that night! Actually, there is a photo of the earplugs in the booklet… I think this is a good buy only for the fans of the band.
Today’s metal scene needs more bands like Entombed just for remembrance of the past. I don’t think that anyone of you or any member of Entombed believes that the band can ever outrank their three first albums that have historical value for the extreme metal scene. Taken this by granted, lets pass to their new CD, which is simply named “Inferno”. From the first listening you can understand that there is no progress (exception to that is the instrumental track “Intermission” which has a piano interlude) for the band, because you can realize at once that they sound like their last two or three CDs. This new album sounds like their “Uprising” CD. The only difference may be the production, which is very free and reminds nothing of a high paid professional production that the group should have! I can’t understand what some bands try to succeed by making the production in a very sort period without caring how clear or exact their sound will be. Some of them claim that this is happening because they want to give the audience a live feeling, but I say that if a fan would like to listen to the band with such sound he should go to see them on stage! Maybe I’m wrong but that’s my opinion and I recommend this album only to the die-hard fans of the band. For all the other fans I would suggest their three first albums. The tracks everyone should listen to, before buying this album are “Retaliation”, “Young And Dead” and “That’s When I Became A Satanist”.
Judging by the name I thought that it would be a power metal band, but I was mistaken. Entropy here plays a kind of "symphonic", gothic metal with female operatic vocals. There are some interesting ideas here, but the whole CD is so boring that I only recommend it for those who need to listen to music just before they go to sleep. The band presents all possible clichés of the genre and the climate doesn't change even when some "heavy" guitars appear. The music is based on
synths, which try to create a majestic atmosphere, but to be honest we have listened to all these things again and again many years ago. It sounds as if the early Theater Of Tragedy has been revamped, and the also early The Gathering days are copied without any respect. I really don't see any reason for someone to buy this album, unless he/she is really stuck with this sound.
This is a veteran band. I really cannot remember how many albums they have
released, but here the approach of the band has slightly changed. In
general, Enuff have always been leaning towards the melodic part of rock,
but this time the approach is even “softer”. This melodic rock flirts much
more with pop than with rock. One can at once diagnose the Beatles
influence here in both songwriting and forms. Taken into account that the
release is more modern you can imagine that Enuff here remind also a lot
of Oasis, but without having the unique stamp of the English group. The
songs can easily be digested, the music can play as a background at time
when you don’t have to pay attention to what you are listening, but I’m
afraid that’s all. Good, happy pop-ish based on guitar songs is what we
get here.
Another metal group that comes from France, which testifies that, the domestic metal scene of France becomes stronger day by day. Eostenem is a one-man band (Christopher Georges is behind this group), which was formed in 2000 and has already recorded two demos. His music is a mixture of death and black metal and the atmospheric-dark music. The main change with his previous demos is that he replaced the drum machine with Dirk Verbeuren (Scarve), who is the session drummer for this album. The vocals are sometimes clean and others brutal, and this antithesis give a nice feeling. The guitars are a little bit low and the drums are in front of every other instrument so, I was not very pleased by the production. Anyway, this is a dark and violent album and will please the fans of death/black metal that like groups that experiment with their sound. Finally, the electronic sounds have become a
cliché for many groups and I can’t say that this band has something interesting or different to give to us, in the use of these sounds. The audience that this album shoots for is very limited, but these few people may find it interesting. For the rest I say to taste it before buying it.
The new album of Epica with the weird title “The Phantom Agony” has been released and travels us to opera’s paths with its atmospheric choirs, vocals and melodies companied with brutal dark vocals and strong drums. The band sings about life, politics, religion and love. Their songs definitely are not simple and flat. Mark Jansen's (ex-After Forever, does also the brutal vocals in some songs) has formed Epica. He is the songwriter, and has also orchestrated and guided a brilliant choir, with eight strings: 3 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and a double bass. On the other hand there’s Simone Simons, a mezzo-soprano, who with the style of a classically trained opera singer stays on top of the material and underline with her majestic voice the difference between light and dark. Highlights of the album are definitely the song "Façade Of Reality", with fantastic vocal melodies, a speech of Tony Blair, atmospheric nice choir arrangements and solid rhythm section, the fantastic agonizing song “Cry For The Moon” and also the dynamic “Sensorium”. Most of the songs are not just nice songs but have something more to say, like “Feint” as it talks about the murder of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. In addition, I must say that the production of the album is very good and inspired. The only disadvantage of this album is that you may get bored if listen to it, two or three times in a row. But if you like bands like After Forever (Mark was one of their basic songwriters, and that’s why you may notice some similarities), Tristania, Nightwish, or even Sirenia, I’m sure that you’ll love Epica. Check out this album and you won’t regret it.
“In The Arms Of A Stranger” was officially released in 1991 through
Mercury. Many known musicians were participating on this album but the
most known of all is the guitar wizard Yngwie Malmsteen. The music of the
album is moving across pop and rock sounds with some AOR elements from
song to song. It will bring you many memories from the early 90’s when
this kind of music was still popular. I believe that this is the best
Erika album and the most mature of the three albums that she ever
released. Everything seems to work perfectly here... the wonderful vocals,
the excellent production, and of course the very good and catchy songs.
Every track here is very good and I’m still wondering why Erika didn’t go
big by that time. This album is far better than a lot of those woman
fronted groups from the 80’s or the early 90’s. Anyway “In The Arms Of A
Stranger” is one of those melodic pop/rock gems from the 90’s that is hard
to find nowadays. Thx to MTM Classix this album will be available again in
a reasonable price of course. So, if you love late 80’s-early 90’s
pop/rock music with emotional tunes and memorable choruses, and you like
to gather all the 80’s/90’s gems from this kind of music then try out
Erika’s “In The Arms Of A Stranger” without seconds thoughts. I’m sure
that you will enjoy this album as much as I did.
Eric Martin is back with his new album that does not have many similarities with his previous one “I’m Going
Sane”, as you may think. In “Destroy All
Monsters” Eric decided to go in a modern rock direction than he has done in the past. But also the album still has some melodic rock songs in the style of “I’m Going
Sane” like the opener “What’s The Worst That Can
Happen” and the rocker “I Woke Up 2
Late”. The production is very good and
Eric’s performance is excellent as usual. Nevertheless I believe that “Destroy All
Monsters” will not please so much the old fans of Eric but it will rather bring him new ones. Those who have related Eric with melodic rock songs and very good rock ballads will be quite surprised with the more modern direction of this album. Besides someone can find good songs here like “Where Are
You?”, “You're Too Good For
Him”, and “I Can Die
Now”. To sum it up, this album will surely satisfy the die-hard fans of Eric, but the most classic ones will be slightly confused, so better listen to it first before you buy it. Those who love modern rock music then do not forget to check this one, as well.
Esquarial is a band coming from Poland and it doesn’t play sick music, like most of the bands from Poland that I have heard of. Instead they play death/thrash metal and seem to be technical enough. Some melodic parts that they have added in their music make them differ from the mass of the death/thrash bands. Esquarial were formed many years ago, but this is the first time that I come upon the band and I really liked their mature music. The rhythm section is very fast, heavy, and tough, and follows very well the guitars. The vocals although that they are brutal, are appropriate for the band’s music style and I liked the aggressiveness and the more melodic vocals that they used in some tracks. Finally, the riffs and the solos are very mature and generally the guitars will remind you many great guitarists, not necessarily belonging to the aggressive metal scene… Despite the technical skills of the band’s members their music manages to sound mature, melodic, violent and fresh the same time! The very good production helps the band to highlight their very good songwriting! This album is a very good try for a band that I didn’t even know its existence! The fans of death/thrash metal will surely like it!
Eternal Flight has chosen to follow the cliché path of euro-power metal,
not very convincingly. The band produces good power metal, which
nevertheless does not present any peculiarity or characteristic that might
help it distinguish itself from the crowd. Ok, the approach here is not
the typical euro-power, as the band sounds heavier and closer to
traditional heavy metal, but this is not enough. It sounds as if I’m
listening to Primal Fear and various other similar bands once again. Fans
of the sound might praise it, but for me it’s just a repetition.
Europe is back on action!! Did you miss them? I did! I love the first three albums of the band and I will never stop listening to them. The big question is: how the band is sounding in 2004? That’s quite hard to say but forget the “old” hard rock days of the band. Take them out of your mind cause here you will find nothing that will remind you of those glorious days. Europe has embellished their music with many modern rock and nu breed elements and the production although is very good, is also very modern and not out of fashion at all. John Norum is sounding good but he seems
Judging
by the album’s cover and the band’s name I was expecting to listen to a
Nightwish clone when I pushed the “play” in my CD-player and the
atmospheric intro really confused me ‘cause I thought that this time I
wasn’t wrong… till I heard the second song of the album and everything
gone downside. Well, Evangeline (which it used to be called Testext) is an
Italian band that plays nu age punk rock music as I like to call it. But to
give you the musical stigma of the band I will tell you to imagine a mix of
new American punk bands (like Blink 182 for example) along with some pop
rock elements and many nu-metal influences. That’s why I like to call this
kind of music nu age punk rock ‘cause it mixes all the nu elements of the
music of our time… the music that it’s popular nowadays, especially in 
Event
X Horizon is a band coming from 
Everdome
is a band coming from Greece and was previously known as Bloodshed. The
“Tales Beyond Oblivion” CD is their debut album and combines heavy/
power metal music with thrash/speed metal. Their music has power,
aggression, melodies and some epic moments, but the vocalist (Nickos
Michas ) sometimes seems to be wick (especially when it comes to his
accent...). He sometimes tries to sing like Warrel Dane (Nevermore) with a
more epic feeling into his voice, without being bad... The guitars
(Andreas Sotiropoulos and Kostas Pourgiazis) are heavy, melodic and fast
and sound very good. As for the rhythm section (Antonis Kalamoutsos on
bass and Spiros Haralabous on drums), I must say that these guys must be
good musicians because the speed/thrash metal parts are played very well!
The production could have been a little bit better, but since this is the
band’s debut album they have time to improve. Generally, I think that
the singer must improve himself and add more personal style when he sings.
If the band pays the appropriate attention to the above marks, I believe
they are able to release a very good album in the future! The only thing
we can do is to wait for now, by listening to the following tracks from
their debut album: “The Crown”, “Wanderer Of Legendary Fields”,
“Beyond The Shores Of Logic” and “Divine Tragedy”.
Everwood is a band that was formed in 1997 in Hungary and it was firstly
named Neverwood. After many line-up changes and the release of some demos
the band has finally released its debut album titled “Mind Games”.
Burning Star Records is a new label that comes from Greece and this is the
first release of the label. The band plays power/progressive metal and
sounds pretty good. I admit that some moments reminded me of the Greek
band Sarissa (if you can remember them with the “Masters Of Sins”
album). Anyway, the album is full of melodies and the keyboards (Attila
Tanczer) play a vital role in their music while sometimes they sound like
an orchestra and others like typical progressive metal keyboards. The
other characteristic of the band is that the keyboards are in front of all
the other instruments... The guitars (Ferenc Farkas) are heavy and offer
some interesting ideas and so does the rhythm section (Viktor Erdos on
bass and Tamas Rabel on drums). The vocalist (Balazs Koncz) has a very
good and melodic voice and he doesn’t go over the line... The production
is good in general, but I would like it a little bit heavier. Just
for the story, Gyula Havancsak (Annihilator, Brazen Abbot, Grave Digger
and many others) made the artwork! Generally, I must mention that this is
an interesting album, but some ideas reminded me of other bands and so I
hope they will find a more personal sound in their second release. The
fans of the melodic progressive metal can check it out...
Evidence
One's debut album was a really surprise for me. So for those who might
wonder who are Evidence One I must inform them that this band is a side
project was formed by the guitarist Robby Boebel (Frontline), the
vocalist Carsten Schulz (Domain), the bassist Thomas Bauer (Frontiline),
and the drummer Roger Tanner (Shakra). So anyone who knows the bands
above might understand how good is "Criticize The Truth"! And
surely it is! Evidence One is not another side project that has nothing
to offer to the music, but it was formed to offer us one of the best
debuts for this year. I'm sure that if you listen to the album, it would
be easier for you to find out what Evidence One means. "Criticize
The truth" contains many incredible songs such us, "Trust Vs
Heart", "frozen In Time", "Fool's Gold", "different
Worlds, Different Times" and "Heavy Heart Betrayed". As
it concerns the music style of the band, I would characterize it as
melodic hard rock/metal music with some power metal elements. I believe
that from what I said above you may have a very good idea of how
Evidence One sound. But trust me cause when you listen to the album
things will be much better! Is one of the biggest surpises for 2002.
Don't miss the chance to taste it!!! I hope that the band's further
releases will be as amazing as this one!
Evil Masquerade is a new special band coming from Denmark.
They characterize their music as “theatrical metal” and after I listened to this album I believe that this term is suitable
for their music! Lets take a look at the band’s members. First of all we have the talented Henrik Flyman (Moahni
Moahna, Zool) on guitars, Henrik Brockmann (Royal Hunt) on vocals, Kasper Gram on bass and Dennis Buhl on drums. Their
sound is a little bit strange but open-minded fans will love it! Listen to the classical influences mixed with hard rock,
neoclassical metal, progressive and power metal together with the wonderful vocals! The CD begins with a classical theme
composed by Wagner and is followed by some neoclassical guitar playing. After this the title song begins and it is
very melodic and catchy. Then follows nine more tracks in the same theatrical style, which have many influences from
classical compositions. The whole atmosphere of the album is just like when you watch a theatrical performance or a hard
rock musical! Flyman wrote all music and lyrics and that’s why this album may remind you of the masterpiece that Moahni
Moahna released in the past (“Why”). The production (Henrik Flyman again!) is very professional, but I would prefer it
heavier... Also the guest keyboard players must in no case be ignored because they are experienced and famous: Mats
Olausson (Malmsteen, Ark), Andrι Andersen (Royal Hunt, Cornerstone), Richard Andersson (Time Requiem, Majestic) and
finally Lars Boutrup! Fans of Moahni Moahna, early Malmsteen’s albums, Royal Hunt and symphonic/neoclassical
metal music must defiantly listen to it!
Those
who keep in pace with the site, might know what a prog freak I am. In
general, I confront every new prog release in good spirit and this is what
I have done with the new (possibly debut) album of EyesStrings. However my
effort didn’t pay much as the band seems to need much work to reach a
really worth-buying record. I’m sorry, but the result here is hardly
listenable: unstructured songs, monotonous, uninspired, extra-long without
reason. Indeed, I can hardly distinguish some good elements, other than
the technical capabilities of the band and some mainly in the songs with
the sort duration. For example “Stagnant” is a great song (though it
reminds a lot of Radiohead of “Ok Computer” era). Don’t know, prog
metal/rock doesn’t mean long, technical songs and psuedo
intellectuality. Maybe next time.