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IAN ANDERSON
A.S. 7,5/10 |
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ICED EARTH
A.S. 7/10 for the music |
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ICED EARTH
G.K. 7/10 |
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I-DEF-I
T.A. 5,5/10 |
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IDOL
BILLY
T.A. 4/10 |
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IGNARUS
T.A.
7/10 |
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IKUINEN KAAMOS
T.A. 7/10 |
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ILLOGICIST
G.K. 7/10 |
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IMPELLITTERI
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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IMPELLITTERI
T.A. 7/10 |
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INACTIVE MESSIAH
G.K. 5/10 |
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INFECTED
G.K. 7,5/10 |
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INFERNAL MAJESTY
G.K. 7/10 |
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INFERNAL POETRY
T.A. 6/10 |
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IN FLAMES
A.A. 7/10 |
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INNER WISH
T.A.
8/10 |
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INNER WISH
T.A. 8/10 |
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INSOMNIUM
T.A. 8/10 K.P. 7/10 |
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INVOCATOR
T.K. 4/10 |
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IQ
A.S. 8,5/10 |
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IRON HORSE
T.A. 8/10 |
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IRON MAIDEN
G.K. 8/10 |
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IRONSWORD
G.K. 6/10 |
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ISOR
G.K. 5/10 |
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To be honest I didn't know this would be released under Ian's name alone. I thought it was the new Jethro Tull album. Plus when I saw them live in July they played one or two songs out of it (I remember "Eurology" for sure), and Ian said it was a Jethro Tull song. Anyway, it doesn't matter at all because the album is really good! What do I mean with that: it will definitely thrill all Tull fans, plus all those who don't put labels and barriers to what the listen. If you thought that Ian would vary his sound now his is a bit older (although time and age are concepts unknown to the elves!!) then you are mistaken and better try your luck somewhere else. The music is Tull-like, but leaning a bit more towards folk and acoustic sound, rather towards rock. Of course electric guitars are present here, but the play a secondary role. The songs are led by Ian's flute, other classical instruments and the rhythm of the drums. Needless to say that the lyrics are once more delightful and caustic! Above all I like "Caliandra Shadel (The Cappucino Song)", which I will promote to my coffee anthem! Very good effort, that travels us back to the past.
It took me a while to write this one, but better late than ever. To be honest I wanted to be sure about my review, so I let the album mature in me for a while. Let’s start: First of all I preferred Mat Barlow as a vocalist for Iced Earth. But then again Owens’ capabilities are huge and the vocal lines here are satisfying, although I think he doesn’t present all his talent. Now the good ones: we are talking about a trademark Iced Earth album that contains excellent songs, very good guitar melodies and riffs. The variety in the moods and tempos here is indeed remarkable. The webmaster argues that the group plays the same things since 1996 and to be honest I cannot defy that. However they do it with style and in general the quality of the songs is very high here again. In fact some of the best songs in the history of the band are here. How can I ignore anthems like “Declaration Day” or the opus “Gettysburg”? Setting aside the music part of the album, the really big problems begin. We are talking about a record where Schaffer and the rest release their nationalistic tendencies. I totally understand the tragedy of September 11, but I have serious objections in the way they chose to declare their sympathy (?). First of all there are more noble ways to do it (have a look at Queensryche’s “Tribe” or Springsteen’s “The Rising”). Second I dislike that they try to gain the american market with cheap tricks like the crap “When The Eagle Cries” or the beginning of the album with the national anthem. Third and more crucial I hate paying my money to listen to someone’s nationalistic vanity. Especially when this kind of nationalistic fanfare comes from a citizen of a nation, which sneezing without invitation in other countries issues. And my aversion for the band is strengthened by facts like that: Ralph Santolla asked and left a plain (on a flight from Florida to England) when he noticed just before take off that there were two Arabs on board “acting suspiciously”! I don’t know if Schaffer tries to convince us that he is a history expert, but he totally fails. For an american to show such nationalistic profile, it means that he is totally ignorant of modern history...
While the band’s fans are waiting for the new album (“The Glorious Burden”), Iced Earth released this single, which contains four tracks from the oncoming CD. The big changes for the band are that they worked with the vocalist Tim Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Winter’s Bane) and that the release of the album is made under the SPV label since they left Century Media. There are also some changes in their sound, because although the band’s mastermind, Jon Schaffer, writes all the tracks presented here, don’t remind much of the old Iced Earth sound when you expected what to hear. Their new sound is a mixture of Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden, the soft moment of Judas Priest and a little bit of the old Iced Earth. All trucks are very melodic and some contain very nice acoustic moments. The new vocalist is doing very well and I think that he is the cause for the refreshment of the band. Jim Morris for once again makes the production, which is a professional one, and finally, the recordings were made at Morrisound Studios .in Florida. Just for the history, the tracks included here are: “The Reckoning (Don’t Tread On Me)”, “When The Eagle Cries”, “Valley Forge” and “Hollow Man”. If all the tracks of the oncoming CD have such good moments, as the tracks included in this single, the fans will love it! 
I-Def-I is a new band from Manchester that follows the modern way of today’s metal music… you know… a little extreme, a little brutal, more melodies and a solid and heavy production. It’s is true that I like the specific kind of music and especially some big bands really get me into this music. I-Def-I seems to be influenced from bands like Stone Sour, Bullet For My Valentine, Soilwork, In Flames (new), Viking Skull etc. “Bloodlust Casualty” is the debut MCD of the band and since we are not talking about a full length album, we can’t draw safe conclusions by 6 songs only. The band seems to have studied well its modern metal lessons but we must wait to see whether it will continue to offer good songs in the future as well.
Billy’s
back after 12 years since his last studio album! Well it’s being a long
time, so what can we expect from him in 2005? The good thing here is that
Steve Stevens is back as well. Billy with this album covers his whole
discography as we can listen from punk-rock songs up to hard rock ones. The
production is good and powerful and in general Billy seems to be in a good
shape. In contrast most of the songs here are not so good and do not have
that freshness that Billy had in the 80’s and are way too modernized for
my liking. “Scream” is the best song of the album and in the vein of
“Rebel Yell”. I think that this song will become a hit and will have
some airplay. The other good song of the album is the acoustic mid-tempo
“Lady Do Or Die”. The bad thing here, is that the album becoming boring
after a while and you will be forced to play several times “Scream” in
order to have good time. To cut it short, I do not think that this album can
offer us something new in 2005 and sometimes it will remind you of some
stupid american punk rock bands while playing barbie wannabe hard rock
songs!! Only Billy’s die-hard fans will appreciate this album.
Ignarus
is a new band from Bucks County, PA and it was formed by the
singer/guitarist Kevin Showmaker and the drummer Dominic Vigilante. The
band plays hard rock music, which has many modern rock elements. The main
influences of the band seem to be Black Sabbath, 
Sometimes I have a strange feeling when I took some promos in my hands… the artwork and the band’s name sometimes gives me a good impression and I have an anxiety to listen to the album as soon as possible. That’s what happened exactly with Ikuinen Kaamos. Maybe the band’s enigmatic, gloomy artwork gave me that good impression. The truth is that I expected this album to be more “pure” black metal but I was happier in the end that it also has some nice melodies. So, let me take back to Finland in 1997 where the story of the band begins. The band managed to release two demos and after a while it broke up. Then in 2003 Jarno, one of the band’s founding members brought them to life… and the result is this album which is officially the debut album of the band. I haven’t’ heard any of the old demos of the band but I know that its debut album is a descent one that mixes black, death, doom and gothic metal along with nice acoustic guitars and melancholic atmospheres. I know that the weather in Finland inspires many bands to put out their “dark” side of their souls into music and that’s something that I like. The first album is very good and let’s hope that the fans of this genre won’t let them go by unnoticed ‘cause they do deserve
a piece of our precious time.
Illogicist is a death metal band coming from Italy. The band was formed in 1997, has given many live shows in Italy and has become popular in the underground scene. Their music can be characterized as technical death metal and sounds really good! All the band’s members have great technical skills without becoming boring. The guitars (Luca Minieri) will remind you of Death, At The Gates and Pestilence mainly. The vocals are not very brutal, but they are extreme and dark. All the tracks are very inspired and can reflect the sickness, violence and darkness the band wants to transmit! There are also some melodic parts and some very good riffs that many technical death metal bands will never be able to compose… The production is very good and heavy and the album was recorded at Luca’s personal studio (Dissonant Studio) although the mixing and the mastering were made at the legendary Finnvox studios in Helsinki. I believe that this band is one of the best and most talented progressive/technical death metal bands of our time and it is only popular in the underground scene although it deserves something better… Listen to this album!
New album for Impellitteri and once again it was first released in Japan. The album has not been released in Europe yet so the one that is presented here is the Japanese edition of the album. Impellitteri has also a new singer on the band the very good Curtis
Skelton, (x-member of the US nu-metallers Speak No Evil). Now as it concerns the music part of the album I must say that “Pedal To The
Metal” is
Chris’ most experiment work to date. He has also made a statement, which was saying that this album would be influenced from bands like Machine Head, Fear Factory, and Disturbed. I do not have anything against those bands and I believe that they are very good… but Chris has not accustomed us in such a change of sound all these years. To tell you the truth the album rocks like hell! There are some traditional hard
n’ heavy songs here like “The Writings On The
Wall”, “Destruction”, “Judgment Day”, “Propaganda
Mind” (the best song of the album) and “Stay Tonight”, along with some modern ones like the nu/rap metal “Punk”, which is good but I
didn’t expect to listen to such a song from Impellitteri. The production is very heavy and clear and as you have already guessed the person who is responsible for that is Chris himself. To sum it up, “Pedal To The
Metal” will bring some new fans to the band and I do not think that the old ones will be disappointed as well. This album was a good experiment for Chris.
Impellitteri,
the guitar virtuoso is presenting his new work, which is titled System X,
but this time with Graham Bonnet in the basic vocals. For those that
they may don't know, those two men have worked together again, some
years before in the second work of Impellitteri (the first full length
album), which was titled "Stand In Line". The new album is
quite heavy and as it was expected, it has those wonderful riffs and
amazing solos of Chris in combination with the hard vocals of the singer
Graham Bonnet. Very interesting are songs like the melodic "She is
A Nighttime Lover", (which might remind you the famous Deep
Purple's Highway Star,) the nightmarish "Why Do They Do That",
and also the "Falling In Love With A Stranger". Chis made the
production of the album and the result it's really fantastic. Especially
the sound of the guitars is so massy and it seems like it will blow up
your stereo! I' m sure that those who love Chris will buy and really
enjoy this album. Even if System X is quite far away from the classic
first homonymous Impellitteri's E.P. or the great "Stand In Line",
I must underline that it is a very descent and remarkable work.
This
band used to be called “Womb Of Maggots”, and under this name they
released one demo (2001) and a full-length album (“Life Odium”) before
they changed their name to Inactive Messiah. The band comes from Greece
and managed to sign a contract with Black Lotus Records. The guys play a
mixture of death metal and nu-metal with some electronic parts. The vocals
are clearly coming from the death metal scene, because they are aggressive
and brutal. The music is heavy and groovy and it has few influences from
death metal… The riffs and their music in general, sound sometimes
interesting while others sound boring or it will even remind you of some
vocal lines and riffs you think you have heard many times in the past from
other bands… This means that the band needs to try more on the
songwriting, since they seem to be good musicians. The production is clear
enough, heavy and groovy. One thing I must mention is that the band’s
drummer is a girl (Cathrine) something not so usual for the metal bands…
The artwork is very good as you can see by yourselves and this is a bonus
for the band. In the track “Tell Me One Reason” (which is the best
track of the album), you will be able to listen some clear vocals and the
guest appearance of Fotis from Septic Flesh, where he sings. Generally, I
believe that only few people will find this album interesting enough, but
I think that the band can offer us something better in the future.
Infected
is a new game for the PSP (PlayStation Portable), which was released about
two months ago. Some of you may have played the game so, you know what this
review is doing in a site like this. For the rest of you I must say that the
soundtrack of the game is released from Roadrunner and includes only metal
bands! I will mention some names so that you can understand what I am
talking about... This soundtrack includes tracks from: Opeth, Slipknot,
Chimaira, Trivium, 
The third attack of the Canadian band Infernal Majesty is released and I know that many of the band’s fans are very happy and anxious, because they have been waiting almost for six years, since the “Unholier Than Thou” album was released in 1998. Infernal Majesty is a cult band for the thrash/death metal scene and it is not so popular as it should be… The whole album is full of thrash metal tracks in the style of Slayer, adding some death metal influences! Fast guitars and solos (Kenny Hallman and Steve Terror) and crazy-aggressive vocals are still here (Chris Bailey)! I left the rhythm section for the end, because Eric Dubreuil (bass) and Kris Deboer (drums) are the new members of the band, but they seem to have been with the band for many years! The rhythm section is very fast, aggressive and violent and the general feeling when you listen to this album is just like you are in the battlefield! The production has a kind of oldschool sound but this is not so annoying… Finally, I must mention that almost all the tracks last more than five minutes, although that I would prefer to listen to more songs and riffs… Listen to this album, which comes from a very good band that has been in the thrash metal scene for more than 15 years now! Enjoy them and your head will not stop banging!
According
to my informations about this band, Infernal Majesty are coming from
Italy (if I'm not wrong), and as you have already guessed from the
band's name they don't play power metal! So, the band plays death/black
meal with some thrash riffs, which has also some influences from Death
and very few from Cradle Of Filth. The members of the band play really
good technically and their music has also a progressive feeling. The
vocals of the singer are quite brutal and especially a few screams nay
remind you Dani Filth. Some songs that are really good are "Deviation
In Sacrality" and " but I believe that the band must work more
if they want to have a better result than this album in the future. They
are not bad at all, but they must take advantage from the fact that they
can write good melodies (something that is obvious if you listen to the
instrumentals songs of the album) and they should orient their music
style in a more melodic death/black way. If you listen to "Not
Light But Rather Visible Darkness" you may find several good
elements in their music, especially if you are fan of this genre. This
album isn't something very special but as well not something if truth
were told, badly. 
In Flames are back this year with their seventh full-length album “Soundtrack To Your Escape”. Well this sounds very interesting! After their previous release, “Reroute To Remain”, In Flames confused us a bit with their completely new, more industrial sound. It was just an attempt to taste something else or they decided to alter their music style? Finally their new CD gives us the answer. If you were expecting an album similar to the classic death metal “Whoracle” or “Colony” then you’ll be probably dissatisfied. In Flames have matured and everything shows that they want to change and provide something different from just Swedish death metal. “Soundtrack To Your Escape” sounds like their previous work but it’s a little heavier. I can’t easily illustrate their innovative style. It could be described more like industrial metal with many electronic sounds and computerized vocals, which vary between death-like and gothic. I listened the CD many times but something was going wrong with the whole result. I can’t tell for sure what it was, the production or the vocals, but the most of the tracks provide a blurred dirty sound. While there’s great melodic rhythm and powerful riffs, some strange electro sounds in the background and the unclear vocals by Anders Friden reduce the quality. Except the tracks “The Quiet Place”, “Touch Of Red” and “Dead Alone”, which are really great, clear and catchy, the rest of the album unfortunately isn’t the In Flames I would like to listen to. And I’m not referring to their new style, which is remarkable and promising. We’re open-minded enough to understand that a band unavoidably changes through time. (Especially after 10 years of existence like In Flames). Something else is missing to stand out. The funs of the band already know…
One
of my beloved heavy/power European bands, Inner Wish, is back with its
third album. The guys released in 2004 “Silent Faces”, which was a
very successful album. So, they had a lot of work to do in order to
release something at least equal to “Silent Faces”… and in my
opinion they did it! Overall “Inner Strength” is better than “Silent
Faces” and features some of the best heavy/power metal songs of 2006.
The members of the band are being working together for a long time period
and you can tell that not only by their exceptional live shows, but from
the excellent heavy songs that the band has written for the new album.
“Inner Strength” was recorded, mixed and produced in 
Inner Wish is definitely one of the best heavy/power metal bands in Greece and this is not only my opinion. The band have gone through many difficulties and managed to stay alive in the hard Greek metal scene. Their debut album was released in 1998 and due to many problems; they took them almost six years to release a new album. But now I can see that a new era is coming for the band and the God of luck and work seems to be with them this time. They have signed a contract with a German label (Limb Music) in order to have a better distribution and support for the album and here they are again! “Silent Faces” is an album that was worth waiting for all those years! It’s has all those elements that a heavy/power metal fan longs for; heavy riffs, pounding rhythms, excellent solos, melodic hooklines and of course catchy melodies. The album also has something that is hard to find in a Greek release even nowadays… it has a very powerful and strong production! The man behind the desk, this time, was the well-known Dimitris Liapakis (Mystic Prophecy, Valley’s Eve), who did a really great
work. All the songs of the album are very beautiful and the singer of the band sounds truly great! As for the other guys, I believe that when you listen to the CD you will totally understand the phrase “excellent heavy players”. Highlights of the album are without any doubts, the opener “Dancer Of The Storm”, the hard rocker “If I Could Turn Back Time”, the heavy “Midnight Call”, the power, epic hymn “Hold On”, the homonymous mid-tempo “Silent Faces”, the
prog/power “Set Me Free”, the hard n’ heavy “Riding The Wind” and the heavy/epic anthem “Realms Of Tomorrow”. What else can I say about
this truly excellent work? Inner Wish released one of the best albums of this year in the heavy/power genre.
Every heavy metal fan that really loves this kind of music should get this album right away.
“Silent Faces” is heavy metal, nothing more or less…. Well-done guys.
Insomnium is another great band from Finland!
This brand new band can be one of the greatest Finnish bands, if you just consider that this incredible album "In the Halls Of Awaiting" is their debut release. They play melodic
death metal in a way that I had many years to listen to. They might bring on your mind the other unique and great band from Finland Amorphis, (in their beginning when they use to play death metal), but their sound even now, is personal I can say and will become more personal, of course, in the near future, when they will release their next album. I know (and they should know also) that they must use in the next releases more clean vocals so that their music could become more
aproachable among the metal fans. This album is full of melancholic, melodic and memorable songs such as "The Elder", "Black Waters" with the very good guitar melodies, "Shades Of Deep Green" with the acoustic guitar, "Medeia", and the amazing almost 11 minutes "In The Hall Of Awaiting". Insomnium have the ability to write heavy melodic and catchy songs and I consider them as one of the best (if not the best) newcomer bands for 2002!
I'm sure that this band will surprise us pleasurably
in the future with their music and with every new release. 
These fellows became a little known in the early 80’s because they wanted sound like Germans. Paradox, Destruction, Sodom and a spiff of US (Exodus). Now they are not waiting to become famous trying to sound as if they were Swedish.
NWOSDM-like guitars and melodies, tightly angry guitars, The Haunted, In Flames, Soilwork blah-blah… The problem is that they are from Denmark and that they are better in producing than in playing. Clean power “extra aggressive” vocals, modern production and easy-listening rhythms. It’s a pity this kind of intermediate enjoys quite a production. Poor inspiration, thousand-times-heard predictable story and (really hate it) catchy artwork. Probably the only reason why you will remember (or not forget) Invocator two years later is because they tried once again two become something else and establish themselves in safe grounds, and failed. Reunions and sudden comebacks need more effort to be reasonable. Boring.
The English band keeps producing albums for 22 years now! Nevertheless it
unfortunately never managed to exit the underground stage, despite the
release of monumental works like “Subterranea”. It seems that the
traditional prog rock sound of the band needs heavy promotion that IQ does
not have. But what the Hell! The group has found the place it deserves in
the hearts of prog fans. And all of us have a good reason to celebrate
with this new album.... which I have to confess now that I underestimated
at the beginning. I remember a thrilled webmaster bringing me the CD,
telling me that it kicks ass. But by the first listening I thought it was
flat. Now that I’ve given it some time to mature in me and after a few
listenings I can tell you that it is a great album. No, it’s not the
best one of the group, neither will bring much new fans. But it is an
album of pure prog rock full of lyricism, melodies, but also
“difficult” for the average listener to get it. Following the paths of
Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Marillion (and setting aside the more
electronic elements) IQ create a solid prog labyrinth for all of to get
lost into. We needed it in these “dry” prog days.
Iron Horse is Ronnie Keel’s and Gaetano Nicolosi’s brainchild. Those
guys met for the first time in Italy when Ronnie was playing some gigs
there and for everyone’s good they decided to form Iron Horse. Honestly
I didn’t know what I was going to listen to when I put the CD in the
CD-player but I didn’t expect something far away from the hard n’
heavy music of Keel. As soon as the CD started playing I was really
impressed. Iron Horse is a band that combines southern rock with hard rock
along with some country elements and the final result is just fantastic!
Descent song writing, excellent vocals, steady rhythm section and
fantastic guitar riffs and solos. Highlights of the albums are without any
second thoughts: “Three Sheets To The Wind”, “American Thunder”,
“I Can’t Stop You”, “Dixie Highway”, “The Best Move”,
“Desert Rain”, “Haunted Saloon” and “One Hell Of A Ride”. The
production is very good and was made by Kevin Beamish except from three
songs that were produced by D. Scott Miller. “Bring It On” is a very
good, listenable, well produced and well written album that will offer
many hours of good company to those who like southern rock and hard rock
music. I’m really expecting more big things from this band in the future
to come and it’s time for all the rockers to discover them now before
it’s too late. The guys must be kicking asses in their live shows! For
more info or in order to get their album visit their official site at: 
A new album for a group like Iron Maiden is a ceremony for all the metal community. I think that you all can understand why… This new album was waited from me with great anxiety because after Bruce and Adrian returned back to where they belong they released an album that divided the fans. This is not something new for an Iron Maiden album, because albums like "7th Son Of A 7th Son" and "Somewhere In Time" were reproved when they were released, although now they regarded as some of the best metal albums ever released! Considering the above I think that their previous album will find the apperception it deserves within the years to come. Their new album, now, will not find much opposition because I think that the songs will satisfy most of the fans. The album begins with the song "Wildest Dreams" which is one of the two wick moments of the album. This is not because the song isn't good. It's because it's a very classic Maiden track and that's why this track is the first single of the new album. The second song, "Rainmaker", is very powerful and catchy, with great refrain. Then comes "No More Lies" which is composed totally by Steve Harris. It's a great song, which unfolds little by little, but the refrain is so many times repeated and it's so poor that ends to become boring…. The forth track "Montsigur" is one of the best tracks of this album! Tracks like this, remind to everyone that Maiden are alive and still they can compose great music. It's an epic and religious song together with superb lyrics. After this, comes the homonymous track "Dance Of Death" which is a great composition of Harris and Gers with great rhythm and excellent lyrics. The following track "Gates Of Tomorrow" is, in my opinion, the second wick moment of the album. The seventh track "New Frontier" reminds British groups like Saxon and it is composed with the help of Nicko McBrain (!!!) for the first time after so many years in the group! "Paschendale" is an epic track and it is surely a majestic composition. You will have to hear it and read the lyrics to understand what I am talking about! Then follows "Face In The Sand", which is also a very interesting song and becomes much more interesting because of the theatrical vocals of Bruce. Two tracks before the end of the album and the speakers play "Age Of Innocence" a very melodic track that doesn't remind much of Iron Maiden but it's a very good song. The last in line is "Journeyman" which is the most melodic track in this album and it's a great finale. Finally, Kevin Shirley and Harris once again made the production although now the album is heavier than the two previous albums and sounds just like we would like to hear Iron Maiden in the year 2003! The artwork is a little bit strange for a Maiden album but it is still acceptable. The Beast is back and is gonna get you no matter how far! Up the Irons!
Ironsword
is a band coming from Portugal, which is a country with a weak metal scene
as far as I know. The band started as a one-man band in 1995, has released
one more album and now they released their second one with a new bassist
and drummer. The band plays what it is called barbaric metal so, as you
can understand this CD is addressed to a specific audience... The band is
much influenced from Manilla Road, Omen and bands like these. The vocals
of Tamn are epic/barbaric but he sounded a little bit strange to me,
because it was like I was listening to Lemmy while he is trying to make
his voice sound epic... On the other hand, the guitars are influenced from
Manilla Road, Iron Maiden and Running Wild. The lyrics (which are very
important for the epic bands) are talking about fantasy battles, warriors
(Conan) etc. and are nice! Finally, the production is pretty good,
although that it is rather old school. The band as far as I know is
considered as a cult band in the underground barbaric metal scene, but no
matter how much I like this kind of music I believe that there are better
underground bands... Anyway, if you are a fan of this music you wiil surly
enjoy this album and you will decide if the band is cult or not. Best
tracks: “Begging Of The End” (very close to the past days of Mannila
Road!), “First Masters”, “Way Of The Barbarian” and “Return Of
The Warrior”.
Isor were formed in 1999 in Chester, England. They started as a three-member band, but in “Post Mortem Peep Show”, which is their debut full-length album, the band consists of two guys, Dave Merricks (guitar and vocals) and Nick Homingway (drums and backing vocals). Their music can be characterised as metalcore with many thrash metal influences. Their sound is very aggressive and some times becomes really extreme! The first track, “Fake Smiles And Friendship Trials” has a very melodic and calm overture, which does not reveal what it’s gonna follow: extremely heavy guitars, brutal vocals, fast and fast-technical drumming. All the tracks have the same standards: heavy guitars, some nice-aggressive riffs, brutal vocals except some tracks that also have some melodic parts with acoustic guitars. The production is very good thanks to the experienced producer Dave Chang (he has worked with Canvas, Stampin’ Ground, Orange Goblin and many more bands). The album is full of nice ideas but this is not the kind of music I like, so the fans of metalcore or hardcore, in general, will surely find this album more interesting than I did. Check the following tracks and you will understand if this CD is for you: “Takes Smiles And Friendship Trials”, “We Are The People That Watch You Shower”, “Perfecting The Vegan Death Trip” and “Swimming On Thief’s Brody’s Day Off”.