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GAIA EPICUS
G.K. 7,5/10 |
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GAMMA
RAY
T.A. 6/10 |
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GARDENS OF GEHENNA
G.K. 6,5/10 |
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GARWALL
T.A. 4/10 |
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GAS GIANT
A.S. 3/10 |
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GENEROUS MARIA
A.S. 6/10 |
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GENGHIS TRON
G.K. 3/10 |
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GENIUS ROCK OPERA
A.S. 7/10 |
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GIRLSCHOOL
A.S. 5/10 |
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GLOOMY GRIM
G.K. 5,5/10 |
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GLUECIFER
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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GLUECIFER
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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GODDESS OF DESIRE
G.K. 5,5/10 |
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GOLDEN FARM
T.A. 8,5/10 |
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GORATH
T.A.
7/10 |
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GORATH
G.K. 6,5/10 |
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GORGASM
G.K. 3/10 |
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GOTHIC KNIGHTS
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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GOTTHARD
T.A. 8/10 |
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GOTTHARD
T.A. 8,5/10 |
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GRAND ILLUSION
A.S. 6,5/10 |
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GRAND MAGUS
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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GRAVE DIGGER
G.K. 6/10 |
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GRAVE DIGGER
A.S. 7/10 T.A. 6/10 |
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GRAVEWORM
T.A. 4,5/10 |
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GREEN CARNATION
T.A. 9/10 A.S. 9/10 |
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GREENHOUZE
A.S.
7,5/10 |
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GRIP INC.
G.K. 8/10 |
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GUNN TREY
A.S. 4/10 |
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GUT
T.A. 5/10 |
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GUTTURAL
G.K. 7/10 |
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GUTTURAL
G.K.
7/10 |
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GZR
A.S. 5/10 |
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Gaia Epicus is a group that was formed in Norway in 2001. The mastermind of the band, Thomas Christian Hansen (lead guitar and vocals), has been around the metal scene of Norway for more than a decade. He has created and some other bands in the past and every time he played different style of music. He has already played punk rock, hard rock, thrash and progressive metal! His latest band Gaia Epicus plays melodic progressive power metal. All the music and lyrics are written by Thomas and are really very interesting. He and the rest of the band are very talented musicians. The big surprise is that Morty Black (guest appearance), from TNT, plays the bass! Another interesting part is
Thomas’ vocals, which reminded me something of Kai Hansen’s voice (is it a coincidence that they both have the same second name?). The guitars are very heavy and melodic and the heavy and technical riffs will make you listen to this album at maximum volume. The keyboards are excellent and give a progressive atmosphere to most of the tracks. The artwork is great and the production, although it could have been a bit better, is ok. The booklet, at its back, contains little useful information about the name of the band and the word-name Satrap. My only problem is that this album was released last year and I
didn’t listen to it on time so that I could vote it in my list with the best albums of 2003. Thankfully, their second album “Symphony
Of Glory” will be released on October and if they can make me have a wonderful time again, as I had with their debut album, I will surly vote them! Listen to these masterpieces and you will understand what I mean: “Heavens
Gate”, “Fire And Ice”, “Inside The Storm”, “Innovation”, “Freedom
Calls” and “Watch The Sky”.
Four
years have passed since the last studio album of Gamma Ray and the band
finally released “Majestic”. No, the album’s title has nothing to do
with what the band is offering us here. This album is not majestic... and
to tell the truth they haven’t released something really majestic since
“Land Of The Free”. Then again the album is not bad but is a typical
Gamma Ray album. No surprises here and not something truly mind-blowing.
In that case, I wonder if Gamma Ray offers us albums like “Majestic”
then what the other power metal bands should do and what shall we expect
from them to do? Nowadays, power metal bands a far more than beans and
they mostly playing third-rate power metal music that we have heard many
times before. But if Gamma Ray releases so plain albums then this genre is
damned to go down. Fortunately things are not so bad. I mean there are
some really good heavy/power metal bands that can take a leading part in
the genre... for example why should I buy “Majestic” instead of
Nocturnal Rites’ “Grand Illusion”? Why... because Gamma Ray is a
bigger name? All that matters is the music and not the name of the band.
After all most of the big bands are in a coma for many years now. Gamma
Ray luckily are not in the above category but they are moving in
mediocrity for many years and that will cost them in the end. They can
surprise us nicely but I do not know why they haven’t done it till now.
I really like this band and that’s why I’m a little bit disappointed
by this album. This album can touch the new fans of power metal that are
still trying to find what’s going on with this genre and they are happy
with every new album that is released from this genre. But what about the
old fans? Those who are listening to this kind of music for over 15 years?
Do you believe that an album like “Majestic” can please them? No way.
I’m waiting for the new album of the band and I hope that it won’t
take them another 4 years to release it.
Three years have passed since the last release of the brutal-atmospheric doom metal band, Gardens Of Gehenna. The new CD “Mechanism Masochism” is their third full-length release so far. This new album is mainly characterised by the heavy-doom guitars, the brutal vocals, the atmospheric keyboards and some computer-related sounds. After the first listening, I realized that the band was less brutal and extreme than I had expected before listening to it, and I was very glad that I was wrong. These guys play doom metal with some quick parts (that come closer to the black metal music), use brutal vocals and keyboards in order to express melancholy, hate, darkness and bitter. In a way, they succeed their purpose, and I believe that the fans of this kind of music will find it interesting enough, although that some parts will remind you the “Passage” album of Samael.... The production is good and clean and that’s a bonus for the band. My only complaint is that most of the tracks last over five minutes and that’s something tiring for my ears. The best tracks included in this CD are: “The Downfall Of Jezira”, “Demon’s Diaspora”, “Opus Noctis” and “The Anatomy Of Melancholy”. Recommended for the fans of the group and the listeners of brutal doom metal only!
“Black
Beast” is the debut album of the French band Garwall. The band plays
extreme black/death metal music with fast drumming and furious guitar
themes. The vocals are very brutal and the band will remind you other big
bands from the death/black genre like Dimmu Borgir but it’s difficult to
create something very original on their own. They play good and the
bassist of the band is female. I really cannot find something special on
this CD and I was bored to death while listening to it. Maybe black/death
metal fans will find this album more interesting than I did… and it’s
not that I do not like this kind of music… because I still listening to
extreme metal bands, but I cannot bear for a long time the followers.
Anyway, the CD will be available in a limited edition with a bonus DVD
including their complete live show in La Locomotive, filmed in
multi-cameras with3 bonus audio tracks, including an Iron Maiden cover
song.
Here I’ll tell you how a part of today’s music industry works: A totally
ignorant about rock/metal music guy funds a “record company”, a label
through which he will release “masterpieces”. Of course the label will
promote bands that play music related to the new trend. These days the trend
is what came to be known as “stoner rock”, which in essence is only heavy or
doom rock, in the vein of Black Sabbath, Iron Butterfly, Black Widow,
Trouble etc. Then this “distinct” businessman finds some friends of his who
have a band that plays this way, or finds totally ignorant, one handed
musicians, who play worse than the 17-year old neighbours I have, and
releases their albums. The worst thing is that the owner of the label wants
to push his groups by all means, even though the musical value of the CDs
would only make them suitable discs for serving our dogs,! You see, he has
to make a profit by his efforts... This is the case with all Elektrohash
groups I’ve ever heard. Stay away!
This band struck my attention because of the name in the first place. Quite an unusual and intelligent name for a band, right? But then
the title of the album is a bit silly..."new rock" ...bullshit! There is only one rock music. Furthermore their rock music is totally
not new! They play old-fashioned heavy rock, or what came to be known as stoner rock, which sometimes reaches the doom frontiers.
Guitars are tuned low, the songs are mostly mid-tempo, and the music is as if it is crawling in the mud. Thank God the vocals are rather
clear, something that makes the listening pleasant. Now, do they have to offer anything new to this stoner
movement? I don't think so. The album is quite good for what it represents, but I doubt that
they will trace any new roads with their music. But does every band open new roads with each album? Definitely not. So why do I mention
that? Maybe because by listening to the album I get a feeling of being incomplete. I
expected throughout the album for something great to happen, but it never did. The band plays "safe" without daring
much. There are some really good songs like "All Good things" and "Bridge out of time", but at least to me the album is missing
something. However this Maria is much more generous than many others that I've known, so...
Genghis Tron is a new-coming band and this is their debut EP that contains
five songs and lasts about 13 minutes… Their music is very strange, sick
and cannot be categorized. Here you can find grind, thrash, noise and
metalcore parts, brutal vocals together with electronic sounds, electro
music, dance beats etc.! A drum machine plays all the drums and beats and
you can easily understand this, by the sound of the drums… I can’t find
something interesting in their music, because many kinds of music are
mixed together without a reason and a conclusion. I can’t name this kind
of music, but I think it is only addressed to schizophrenic people, who
may understand the band’s sounds better than me...
As the title states this is the second part of the rock opera trilogy that Deniele has concieved. To be honest I have not heard the first part “A Human Into
Dreams’ World”, but according to everyone who has this second part is much better. And why not? It does sound good, yet interesting. However I should say that the whole style has not much to do with an actual rock opera. It more sounds like a concept album of prog/power metal with many space elements. Imagine a mixture of Ayreon with Avantasia and you have complete picture. What makes this CD “yummy” are the guest artists: Mark Boals, Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), Russel Allen (Symphony X), Edu Falashi (Angra), Jeff Martin (Racer X), Rob Tyrant (Labyrinth), Eric Martin (x-Mr. Big), Liv Kristine, Oliver Hartmann and many more. Not bad huh? If the third part is even better, then we will be talking about a masterpiece. Until then, let us enjoy what we have in our hands, which is a distinct effort.
“Female
Motorhead” are back! Girschool is a legendary band of four ladies, which
experienced days of glory back in the early 80’s, especially because of
the live shows, that were like dynamite. Indeed the four ladies used to
have more power, attitude and guts than many other “men” groups. Now
they are reunited and offer us a new album. Well, I’m not sure that the
whole thing works really well. I mean, they keep playing in their
traditional, “dirty” way and their hard rock is still fanciful.
However the songs seem to be a bit superficial this time. I cannot
distinguish a song that will make me think “wow, this one’s great”.
All of them seem to be in good standards, but that’s it. I personally
don’t think that Girlschool have anything more to give, rather try to
take advantage of the reunion wave of the last years. Sorry.
The black metallers from Helsinki (Finland) strike back with their forth
assault! The whole album is very blasphemous (anti-Christian content) so,
as you can understand, most of their violent lyrics concern the band’s
anti-Christian feelings and thoughts… The mastermind and keyboardist of
the band, Agathon (ex-Thy Serpent, Corporal Punishment, Soulgrind) created
once again a gloomy black metal album. Their music is described as horror
black metal (mainly because of some samplers and horror keyboards that
they sometimes use in their tracks…) and you will find influences from
oldschool thrash, black and heavy metal and also a few doom metal
influences. Most of the tracks are up-tempo, with some very fast moments
that create a hellish atmosphere, especially when Whisper Lilith (Tanja
Kemppainen), the vocalist, spits the lyrics with wrath and hate! The
production is very good for this style of music and the artwork is extreme
enough, as you can see by yourselves... The fans of the oldschool black
metal and those who love the anti-Christian or blasphemous lyrics will
enjoy this album very much. I must also inform those who are going to buy
this album, that the limited edition includes a bonus DVD, which I didn’t
have the chance to watch it, since it was not included in the promo
package...
The band is the direct Swedish answer to
Norway’s Hellacopters. I think that the two bands are the leaders of
Scandinavia’s first division of dirty rock
n’ roll. It seems that the band has realized it and seems to be rather “free” this time, having nothing to prove after its previous very good album “Basement
Apes”. And from what
I’ve heard the guys are kicking ass when playing live too. In this new album the approach is more straightforward r-n-r, with the band presenting a “darker” style and the production being “dirtier”, while the whole outcomes exhales a punk attitude. I can guaranty you that this music is the appropriate one to party all night long and of course to drink a few bottles. Anthems like “Take It” and “Put Me On A
Plate” will rock you to the ground! So I have to warn you that it is a “play it loud” record! There
aren’t really much to write about this record. If you like this sound you will love it. If you are neutral to it, then give it a try as it promises much fun.
This might be the best album of the guys from Norway. An album full of
straight, dirty rock-n-roll, embellished with heavy riffing. I am sure that
Gluecifer is one of the great names of the genre these days. Short songs
that stuck directly in your head and remind you a bit of AC/DC,
Motorhead, Hanoi Rocks, Ratt etc. Furthermore some songs carry punk influences,
something of a cliche for this kind of music. It's a good album, but sometimes I have the feeling that I am listening to the Kings of the
genre, The Hallacopters. And to be honest I prefer listening to the
original. However it is not fair to compare Gluecifer with The
Hellacopters. If you
are into this sound and you are looking for a good hard-n-heavy album, then
"Basement Apes" is a good proposition for you. By the way the song
"Losing End" is a hymn!
Goddess Of Desire started as a fun idea in 1995 and turned to be a normal
band later. This is the forth album for the band and the first one for
Armageddon Music. These guys, which started by playing cover songs of the
80’s era, seem to be honest and claim that they only want to compose
tracks similar to the 80’s era and nothing more! This is 100% true,
because when you listen to this album you will think that these tracks
were composed in the middle 80’s, if we pass over the very good
production... Their music is mainly influenced from bands like Venom,
Sodom and Motorhead! The guitars and the feeling comes from the 80’s
classical heavy metal but the vocals and the general sound makes it more
aggressive than the classical heavy metal and that’s why I mentioned the
above bands as their influences, instead of Iron Maiden and etc... The
production is very good and heavy and that’s the only thing that makes
this band different from the 80’s bands... These guys are in no way
pioneering, but they are sincere on what they are doing! I believe that
those who fell nostalgic about the 80’s metal era should listen to this
album. The rest of you will not find something really interesting here,
but you will have a nice time if you listen to this band and this is the
reason, as far as I believe, that the band played in the Wacken festival
this August...
I have noticed lately that many bands (new and
old ones) are releasing very good and excellent melodic hard rock albums. And that is something that I really like cause the specific kind of music is one of my favorites and also this is against all the seers who said that good and quantity hard rock music doesn't exist anymore. Maybe I should recommend them to listen to Golden Farm's latest album "Angel's Tear". This an album full of excellent hard rock melodic songs, like " I Can't Tell You", Tears Of Loving", "Everything Sometimes", "Why These Years" and the unique rock-ballad "Time After Time", which you're going to love from the first listening of this admirable album. Of course a few songs of this album such as "I Want To Know", "They Say" and "When The Morning Sun", have all the presuppositions to become radio-hits and generally those songs can't be written from anyone and everyday! If still I haven't persuaded you to buy or at least to listen to this
album… well it's ok with me but you're gonna loose some of the best and sentimental songs of this year and not only. And something else that I want to add is that if you like hard rock/AOR music and you haven't listened to a really good album for a long time now, Golden Farm's "Angel's Tear" will compensate you and that's a fact!
I
remember that Gorath has left us very good impressions with its previous
work “Elite” and I was looking forward to listen to the band’s new
work. Although, I’m not a big black metal fan anymore I still enjoy some
good works especially from the big bands of the genre. Gorath as we have
told in the past is from 
The American underground label, Black Owl Records released one more, black
metal album after the releases of Emancer and Martyr about a year ago...
Gorath is a band coming from Belgium, which was formed almost a decade
ago. After the release of two demos and two split albums it’s time for
their debut album “Elite”, which includes two re-recordings of their past
demos and a cover of Britney Spear’s song “Toxic”!!!. The fact is that
very few people will be able to recognize this track, because the band has
turned it to a really black metal/aggressive song! Their music is mainly
influenced from the Norwegian black metal and sounds old-school. The
frozen atmosphere and the guitar riffs will bring on your mind bands like
Darkthrone, Immortal, Carpathian Forest, Enslaved etc. Despite their
aggressive part, you will be able to listen to some melodic parts and
acoustic guitars. The vocals and the rhythm section are really old-school
and will remind you of how the black metal bands sounded almost a decade
ago... The production is good and clear and that is a bonus for the band
and the label. The fans of the old-school black metal music will
appreciate the band’s music and the effort to keep alive the authentic
Norwegian black metal spirit. Best tracks: “The Lizard Creature”, “White
Deep Embrace “, “The Fall Of Winter” and “Suppress My Grief”.
Gorgasm have been around the death metal scene for more than a decade. Their third album is released and the fans of the brutal American death metal that also like some grind parts, may find this album interesting. I listened to this CD and I found many influences from bands like Deicide and Cannibal Corpse. The guitars are very fast, but sound almost the same in the whole album and this is a very boring point! The drums are incredible fast and there are plenty of blast-beats that sound like the early days of Deicide. The vocals are really brutal and sick. I think that an album like this only sick people will love it or people who have never heard of any other American brutal death metal band. The artwork, as you can see beside, is really sick and this makes the whole package more accessible to sick people… The production is very good for the style of the music these guys play and that is the only plus of the CD together with the drumming! Finally, the gore lyrics that will remind you many other groups, is one more evidence to affirm that this group has nothing new to offer to you. Ignore them!
The band is an american one, but the mastermind behind it is a guy named John Tsantakis...which is a pure Greek name. Anyway, the approach here is typical heavy power metal, which could be characterised as American power, as it has direct similarities with huge names of that scene, like Jag Panzer, Kamelot, even Omen. However some plain heavy metal elements point directly to European contemporary scene and bands like Brainstorm. The big plus of the CD is the crystal clear production, which allows the songs to shine on in the best possible way. What I like the most here is that the music is guitar-oriented, with good riffs (at times thunderous, at other times mid-tempo) and great solos. I know that some might say that the genre is a
cliché in its own right. Yes, but that doesn't mean that good works cannot appear. To be honest the more I listen to the album, the more I like it! Melodic and powerful at the same time, with a great vocalist leading the path. Gothic Knights' CD cannot bore you, even though it is "traditional", because it is full of breaks, changes and variety. Songs like "Warrior Of Faith", "Up From The Ashes" or the Running Wild-like "Sleepy Hollow" are not to be neglected. Power metal fans you'd better check this one out.
I
was longing for this album in order to see which way the band would choose
to go. The previous album “Human Zoo” was excellent and it was balanced
between AOR and melodic rock music with some hard rock elements. The old
fans of the band weren’t totally satisfied by it, as they are waiting for
Gotthard to return on the hard sound that it had on its three first albums
before they softened it. To be honest, I like the first three album of the
band but I also like next ones and the best from the second era of Gotthard
is without any doubt “Human Zoo”. So, the band had to choose in which
music way should it go... it also has to think about the big metal label
that supports them from now on. That’s a strange case ‘cause I have seen
many metal labels making deals with hard rock groups... that reminds me a
little the grunge era where all the big labels, metal or not, were signing
grunge bands... hard rock music is very popular nowadays and I hope that
those big labels should only help it to go bigger and not shoot it down.
Anyway, I feel that Gotthard although they hardened its sound (not as much
as in its begging), it finally moving on very safe music paths. I mean that
all songs are very good, with good hooks and a big production... but
Gotthard still is in safe places... this album will probably sell many
copies but still I’m looking for an album that will combine the elements
form their three first albums and from “Human Zoo”... you know huge
hooks, and hard rock guitars but with an AOR feeling. This album will appeal
to Bon Jovi fans of the second era and to Gotthard fans of the second era as
well. It’s good, well produced and it surely some songs like “Everything
I Want” or “I’ve Seen An Angel Cry” can have some air-play. Other
good songs from this album are: “All We Are”, “Dream On”, “Cupid
Arrow”, “I Wonder”, “Anytime Anywhere”, “Said & Done” and
“The Other Side Of Me”. A very good melodic roc album that will please
most of the band’s fans and of course will bring the much-desired sales
that the band and label want to.
Well, I believe that Gotthard managed with "Human Zoo" to combine the elements that they had in their three first albums and the mellow and softer ones that they had in their last efforts. So, the album has great hard rock songs that will please the fans of the band that didn't like the changed of Gotthard from hard rock to melodic/AOR act and also their newest fans of them who like the soft side of the band. If you listen to the homonymous "Human Zoo", the terrific mid-tempo rocker "What I Like" (one of the most outstanding songs of this genre that I heard lately!), the hard rocker "Top Of The World", the catchy rocker "Where I Belong" and the guitar driven "One In A Million", you will be satisfied from the hard rock direction of the album! Yes, Gotthard when they want to rock, they know how to do it pretty well! So, as you understood, almost the rest of the songs are slow-tempo ones like the fantastic acoustic "Janie's Not Alone and some great ballads like the touching "Still I Belong To You", the wonderful semi-ballad "No Tomorrow" and the amazing
"What Can I Do". To tell the truth "Human Zoo" is a very good melodic hard rock album and I'm sure that it will "force" the older fans of the band to listen to it and to return to Gotthard, as long as it will also satisfy the new ones! The fans of melodic hard rock should at least listen to this album.
The band made quite an impression two years ago with its album “View From The Top” which was a hard rock diamond. It is said that nowadays it is really hard to create two subsequent great albums, and this is the case with Grand Illusion too... preys of the rule, shall I say?? Not that the new album is bad, but it definitely stands beneath the glorious previous CD. The style of the band hasn’t changed. We still get lyrical hard rock that sometimes flirts with melodic rock and AOR. The opening track (“Devil’s Advocate”) can be a smash hit, but the rest of the songs are not equivalent. Some of the refrains (like in “Gone For Good”) are average and at other times (like in “1982”) the melodies just don’t seem to fit... at least to my ears. Unfortunately when you know that a band has the capabilities to produce excellent music the expectations are bigger. Special reference should be made at the multiple vocals the band uses, which in songs like “Pull You Down” work well. Respectful effort, but I had more expectations from Grand Illusion.
Well first of all let me tell you a short
story. Once upon a time there were three persons from Stockholm, Janne
(vocals-guitar), Fox (bass), Trisse (drums), who lived in the 00’s and they believed that not a single day had past from the 70’s, so they insisted to play pure 70’s hard
rock! Now you can guess what’s the name of this band! Grand Magus! Their style is a mix of hard rock with blues and with a little dose of stoner
rock. The funs of the 70’s hard rock and of the Stoner will be very glad if they listen to such a
release. Really this album can take you back almost 30 years, but without becoming boring or being
old-fashioned and without loosing the freshness of the 00’s. If you like
hard/stoner rock and bands like Mountain and Cream and Spiritual Beggars, this record is just for
you. Personally this kind of music is not one of my favourites, but I can tell that songs such as
“Legion”, ‘Never Learned” and “ Lodbrok” have a true hard rock 70’s feeling and Grand Magus have also the quality that a few bands have
nowadays! 
After
the “Rheingold” concept album (2003) the Gravediggers are back with a
new work, which is not a concept one as many would expect from the title
of the album and the artwork you see... Only three tracks are referred to
Jesus Christ (“The Last Supper”, “Desert Rose” and “Divided
Cross”) something which doesn’t make this album a concept one. The new
CD is a classic Grave Digger album and I don’t think that anyone will be
surprised, although that it is better than their previous release. The
classic vocals of Chris Boltendahl, the riffing and the guitar sound of
Manni Schmidt, the dynamic/80’s rhythm section and some keyboards here
and there are still here. Many of you will wonder why to listen or even
buy this album and I can’t give you other reason than if you love the
80’s heavy metal and the sound of Grave Digger you will spend a pleasant
hour with this CD... The rest of you can try something better and more
classic from the band’s releases like “Tunes Of War” and “Heavy
Metal Breakdown”. In any case this is a good heavy metal album from a
band that plays this music many years and has offered us many excellent
moments. Listen to the following tracks and figure out what can a band
like Grave Digger offer us in 2005... “The Last Supper”, “Desert
Rose”, “Grave In The No Man’s Land”, “Crucified” and
“The Night Before”.
It's not a secret that the nice German band has based its career on others' sweat. It always managed to combine elements from Accept, Priest, Maiden, Manowar to create a good amalgam. In this new album they are inspired by Wagner's opera tetralogy
"Der Ring des Nibelungen", and create one more concept
album. This is their the second album with Manni (x-Rage) on guitar. Well, I don't think that anyone would expect any significant diversification from the group from
Koln. To be honest "Rheingold" seems to be better than their previous "Grave Digger" album, but at least to my ears it sound like a repetition of what they band
plays for twenty years now. Fast, Accept-like riffs, choirs in the refrains, sample-orchestra parts for the needed atmosphere etc. The worst of all is of course Chris Boltendahl's annoying vocals - although some fans like them as cult. Some might disagree, but I don't think that this is an album, which has something to offer. Not bad (not at all), but just a good heavy metal album. Their fans will be satisfied, those who have no GD album in their collection, they'd better go for "Tunes
Of War", as for the rest...try your luck some place else. Just like to add that the best song of the album ("Sword") has distorted the main riff of Manowar's
"Blood of my Enemies", a fact that by each own is sacrilegious! With all my leniency...
The Italian band, Graveworm, released its forth album, hoping to become a little bit known in the black metal community, if we consider that they signed a new contract with a very known label. This new work is a mixture of mid and fast-tempo melodic black metal with many atmospheric moments, emerging from the piano and the keyboards, which creates a dark atmosphere. Each member seems to be good enough at his instrument but all together cannot hide their love for Cradle Of Filth. Most of the tracks reminded me a mixture of the old and the new albums of Cradle Of Filth. Not only the overall atmosphere and sound, reminded me something of Cradle Of Filth, but also the vocals, the guitar, the bass and drum rhythms! I don’t want to be cruel but if the band has not its own identity and depends exclusively on another band I believe that there is no reason for them to continue existing as a group. I wouldn’t mention this if it was the first or the second album for the band, but as I mentioned before this is their forth album. Except those they decided to make a black metal cover of the all-time classic song “Loosing My Religion” (R.E.M.) without making out something good at all. The only good part of this album is the piano and the keyboards because they sound lively, dark and very atmospheric. I wouldn’t suggest this record unless you want to listen to every group that covers Cradle Of Filth…
Green Carnation surprised us all last year when they released the very good “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness” and left us wondering how far could this band go. I believed that they can and also they will release a better album than their previous one, but I couldn’t imagine that they would do such a turn in their sound! What a sweet surprise! Some say that the third album of a band is like a “barometer” and it shows whether the band can do a breakthrough or not. Well, although I do not agree totally with the people that maintain such a thing, I have to say; as it concerns Green Carnation, that this thing stands! I strongly believe that Green Carnation, put their money on, and they won! They took a music volte-face and left us all with a big smile in our faces. So, better forget the
atmospheric doom that the band used to play. Now, they are exploring in new music paths... paths that can provide them with more ideas and space to experiment. If you really love progressive music and melody then you should listen to “A Blessing In Disguise” as soon as possible, cause that’s what I call progressiveness! Green Carnation mixed elements from prog rock (Pink Floyd
have influenced many bands, even nowadays) music, psychedelic seventies and of course the atmosphere and the sadness from bands like Katatonia and they managed to release an excellent album! I truly cannot say which songs I like most, cause this is an album that must be listened from the beginning to the end, and every song is there to offer you something
special... just like the pieces of a puzzle, you miss one and the picture is not finished. The production also is terrific and crystal clear! Of course you must pay the appropriate attention
on the lyrics of this album and for sure you will travel through atmospheric, psychedelic, gloomy paths, while listening to this album! Rock music in general, needs albums like “A Blessing In Disguise” in order to gain its popularity back, along with people’s confidence. A fantastic work!
That’s
a really good record. Despite the unavoidable clichés of the genre,
Greenhouze in their debut album manage to present a solid proposal of hard
rock, that is based on good melodies and catchy vocal lines. The songs
remind me a lot of Def Leppard of the Hysteria/Adrenalize period...
especially in the guitar bridges and fillings, which make clear reference
to Steve Clark. Just to help you understand the musical identity of the
group further, I could also say that you could imagine a version of White
Lion (without the trademark riffs of Vito Bratta of course) and with more
extended use of keyboards - by the way the vocalist here reminds me of
Mike Tramp. No joking now, the guys here offer us a perfectly suitable
album for the upcoming summer days. Good melodies, a loose feeling,
“sunny” compositions, that sometimes emit a bittersweet feeling of
melancholy make an excellent soundtrack for these days. Have fun!
Gus Chambers, Waldemar Sorychta and Dave Lombardo, the famous trio, known as Grip Inc., strikes back nastier than the past. Five years have past since their last release, “Solidify” and the fans that waited anxiously their comeback, can smile again because this strike is the best of the group! Yes, you have understood very well! Here we have a masterpiece of the extreme music, which cannot be categorized in any music labels. I think that this is one of the most mature albums I have heard in the extreme music. The talent and the inspiration of the above musicians is something that I can’t describe. In this album you will listen to aggressive music, many great riffs, vocals that hit straight into your heart and your brain, wonderful and catchy refrains, many flamenco rhythms and a drumming that is unbelievable! You will also listen to the friendly participations of Eicca Toppinen (cello) of Apocalyptica, SamiYli Sirnio (sitar) who has worked with Kreator and Tiamat, Su Maha Ya (violin), Stuart Caruthers (bass) and some effects that add a strange feeling to the album. The production is great - very strong, clean and extra heavy - as I was expecting and was made by Waldemar Sorychta. I don’t think that I can tell some of the best tracks included here, but listen to tracks like: “Man With No Insides” – very dark track with great refrain -, “Built To Resist” – mid tempo track with a great feeling because of the cello and the vocals -, “Skin Trade” - Lombardo reveals his technical skills… -, “Enemy Mind” - one of the best tracks of the last years! - “Curse (Of The Death)” –
marvelous riff, absolute vocals and a thrashing tempo after the half of the track, which will nail you down (there is also the first video for this album). Listen to this album because it has music coming straight out from the heart and can make you love the aggressive music. Now the only thing that we can hope to, is to see the band live!
Trey Gunn is a great guitarist who has been Robert Fripp's close colleague for many years. His course all these years in our music is valuable and distinct. So I have remained speechless when listened to this new album, which in essence is a musical freak. I know that he is in constant search of new roads, but I just cannot digest this horrible amalgam of ethnic, fusion, jazz and I don't know what else I should name it. Some songs like "The Third Star" and "Sozzle", which present a normal structure, are listenable - without being anything great. But most of the time the music is flabby, monotonous, boring and innervating! Whoever can prove to the site that he/she can listen to the whole album at once, wins Tripod's debut album - a good suggestion for the long cold winter nights... while we'll be listening to Green Carnation.
Is it just a coincidence or two thrash releases came one after another on purpose? Well, Gut is a band from America and “Shrubbery” is the band’s first E.P. The band is more influenced by Pantera’s thrash music but in general the thrash 80’s influences are more than obvious. The production is kind of poor especially if you want to have the sound the Pantera use to have, or else this is an OK production if you only want to be a “true” underground band. I believe that the band has along way had of it in order to achieve its goals but firstly they must have a better more powerful and clearer production.
The
Frenchmen, after the release of the very good “Set Swords To Music”
album in 2003, strike back with a new release. During the past one and a
half year, when their debut album was released, the band signed a contract
with Steelborn Records and left Brennus Music label. The band’s music
style hasn’t changed a lot so, you can listen to the melodic heavy/power
metal that the band has offered us in the past. The main difference with the
past release is that the progressive parts have mainly replaced the hard
rock influences of the past. The vocalist Laconic Van Lierde has done a very
good work again with his strong and melodic vocals (despite his French
accent in some words...). The same goes for the guitars and the rhythm
section, which are technical enough. The strangest thing about this album is
that the band has composed a very good track that lasts almost 17 minutes
and apart from this, it is the opening track of the album, something that
heavy/power metal bands don’t do very often! The only thing that
disappointed me is the weak production something that I had mentioned on
their debut album too... Anyway, this is a good album for the melodic
heavy/power metal fans because of the good vocals and the nice songwriting
and I believe it’s a worth listening album.
Is
it just my imagination or the metal scene of France becomes stronger day by
day? Here is another band from France, which was formed in 2000. “Set
Swords To Music” is the debut album for this band that plays melodic heavy
metal with some power metal and hard rock parts and all these under their
personal style and an epic atmosphere, which embellishes all the tracks of
the album. The vocals of 
Ok,
please tell me that this is a joke!... but then I think that it is not,
given the past solo releases of Sir Geezer Butler and his intentions to
experiment with the more modern heavy sound of these days. But then I
cannot listen to one of heavy metal music’s creators play this kind of
shit. What we get here is nu-metal, in the vein of Korn, Slipknot etc,
with a horrible singer, average work on the guitars and lack of
inspiration. Ok, I understand that Geezer might want to experiment a bit
and not glue to the classic things. But then this album here is barely
listenable - at least by someone of my tastes. Taking into consideration
that I have passed puberty long ago the grade here would have been
smaller. However I give this grade because some nu-metal fans might like
the album