Latest Reviews
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TABERAH Live Sydney 7th Octoberr & Newcastle 8th October The Australian Metal scene has produced some amazing Metal bands, some of which have gone on to international success and recognition, and others, who unfortunately, didn’t or are not, getting the relevant breaks or support they deserve. TABERAH are a young outfit from Tasmania. The first time I... |
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Opeth - Heritage(deluxe edition) As possibly one of my most anticipated albums of the year, Opeth's Heritage makes for an interesting listen, particularly when compared to their earlier work. After an excruciatingly long wait for this album to be released, since it was recorded in late January and eventually released on September... |
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MORTAL SIN - Psychology of Death This album is absolutely relentless! From the opening note until the end, this CD will tear you apart. Mortal Sin has never released such a fast and heavy album. Psychology Of Death isn’t a very long album but I don’t think you could take much more than the forty two minutes of the albums duration... |
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BLIND GUARDIAN live at The Metro/ Sydney 30th September 2011 This is a gig that most Sydney metal fans have been waiting for, to quote Hansi(Kürsch, lead vocals), “twenty five years.” BLIND GUARDIAN is one of the stalwarts of power meta. They have released some of the most iconic metal albums of all time and have created a sound that is untouchable and... |
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SEPTICFLESH - The Great Mass I'm usually okay with admitting that the album I'm reviewing is the first I have heard of a band, but in the case of Greece's Septicflesh I'm actually quite disappointed that I had not even heard of this band until now. The Great Mass being their eighth full length release, it was recorded in... |
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ANVIL - Juggernaut Of Justice I have been a fan of Anvil since the release of Metal on Metal [1982] and have always struggled with the fact that it just hasn’t quite happened for this band. That was, of course, until The Story of Anvil created a buzz around the outfit, coinciding with the re-release of This Is Thirteen around... |
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TRIVIUM - In Waves Trivium is a band that I resisted for a very long time. Quite naively I saw the outfit as a “kiddy-metal band”, I guess something without substance and depth; and I have always been skeptical of metal bands that are openly embraced by young teen audiences, maybe I am just getting old. However,... |
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FORBIDDEN Live in Sydney This was a tour that was hotly anticipated by metal fans Australia wide, FORBIDDEN is finally in Australia. I know myself; I have been waiting for this gig for over twenty-three years! To be quite honest with you, I really thought that this gig was never going to happen. FORBIDDEN were the... |
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MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Unspoken Hymns The Unspoken Hymns is a compilation of some of Mournful Congregation's best work. Set for release in September this year, it is aimed at introducing one of Australia's best bands onto American audiences. The compilation features songs [and versions of songs] only previously available on long sold... |
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OUROBOROS – Glorification Of A Myth By musical definition, technical death metal is a sonic onslaught of fast-paced instrumental and vocal precision which, combined, evokes a vivid sense of power and intensity. Without fault, the same definition can be used for Sydney tech-death voyeurs Ouroboros, whose latest album Glorification of... |
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THE FUROR - War Upon Worship Three albums in, and the extremity doesn't slow down one iota for Perth-based black metal band The Furor. If anything, their sheen of raw professionalism amidst a sea of sonic power only adds to the complete aura of brutality and evil that rubs off every track. The band consists of just two men -... |
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ICED EARTH - Festivals Of The Wicked This DVD release has been hotly anticipated. Since Alive in Athens [2006] Iced Earth fans have been awaiting a follow up; especially Jon Schaffer [founding member, guitars] himself, who was extremely critical of the release. Festivals Of The Wicked rightly so involves performances by both former... |
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URIAH HEEP - Into The Wild To put this album in context you really need to look at a career spanning over forty-years and an amazing array of releases. Uriah Heep’s first five records, along with Rainbow’s first three, are blueprints for modern day melodic and power metal, and I implore any modern metal fan to listen to... |
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QUEENSRYCHE - Dedicated To Chaos This is a really difficult review for me. I am a long time Queensryche fan and believe that they have released some of the most monumental metal albums of all time, including Operation: Mindcrime, Rage For Order, Empire and Promise Land. But this offering just does not cut it in any way. This is... |
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PRIMORDIAL - Storm Before Calm [re-issue] Primordial is perhaps one of Ireland's best exports in the extreme metal scene. With a brand new record - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand - released this year, in February they also re-issued their fourth album, Storm Before Calm. Dubbed by vocalist A.A. Nemtheanga as "the album that got away",... |
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George Kollias Australian Drum Clinic Tour with Dave Haley As a leader of the extreme metal drumming scene, George Kollias is nothing short of a technically fascinating and slightly comical musician. Born in Korinthos-Greece, Kollias started playing drums at the age of 12 and has been a part of numerous bands since the commencement of his professional... |
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TORNADO - Amsterdamn, Hellsinki Funnily enough, when I was asked to do a review for a European thrash metal band and happily accepted, I had no idea that it would be Tornado’s upcoming debut album, Amsterdamn, Hellsinki, over French label Listenable Records. The reason for me having an “it’s a small world” moment when I... |
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MORBID ANGEL - Illud Divinum Insanus - VM's Second Verdict I admit to a certain level of trepidation upon agreeing to this assignment – review one of the most eagerly awaited albums, by a band with a rabid following, and give an honest opinion. I decided to avoid reading what all others had already said, and to listen to the album as objectively as... |
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MORBID ANGEL - Illud Divinum Insanus - VM's First Verdict Morbid Angel - there is nothing more I could say that has not been said about this band. They're practically a household name for metal heads worldwide, and anyone that has not heard Altars of Madness has to live under a rock. Illud Divinum Insanus is Morbid Angel's 8th album, this first since 2003... |
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DEVOLVED TECHNOLOGIES W/ Widow The Sea, Ignite the Ibex & Nobody Knew They Were Robots - Sydney Nobody Knew They Were Robots opened the night and although I only caught the second half of their set, I liked what I heard. They took a whole new meaning to stage banter, with front man Clayton Segelov showing off his newly acquired pinch harmonic skill to the crowd, which only really... |
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DIMMU BORGIR 'Forces of the Northern Light' Orchestra & Choir Show - Oslo, Norway On the 28th May, almost 8000 people from all over the world descended upon the Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, for a very special once-off show from Dimmu Borgir in their home country. The world renowned Symphonic Black metal giants teamed up with 53 members of KORK [The Norwegian Radio Orchestra]... |
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SCAR SYMMETRY - The Unseen Empire Out with the old and in with the new. Changes are overt not only in the vocal department, but even the genre of Scar Symmetry has shifted from the groove-laden tech death to the groove-laden melo-death, all fused with 80’s anthemic goth rock. Scar Symmetry is known for its superior formulaic... |
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SIRENIA - The Enigma of Life I'm a fanatic lover of gothic metal - especially of that which is female fronted - but seriously, I was so bored by this album that I considered relinquishing this review. It's all been done before. Every cliché that female fronted, gothic metal has is on this record, and I wasn't engaged, I wasn't... |
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HATE ETERNAL - Phoenix Amongst The Ashes Phoenix Amongst the Ashes is a bludgeoning assault on the senses. Coming as Hate Eternal’s fifth studio offering, this record is death metal battery. Forget melody, forget groove, and forget empathy, as all notion of charity has been battered, pummeled, violated and left defaced. Truly, this... |
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MORBID ANGEL w/ The Amenta and Ouroboros - Sydney After waiting 13 years for an Australian tour, Floridian death metal giants Morbid Angel returned for the second time in just 2 years to support their latest album Illud Divinum Insanus. Shattering the boundaries of creativity and intensity, the band stands alone as a true icon in the heavy metal... |
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THE HAUNTED w/ Nefaria, Lynchmada and Desolution - Brisbane The last gig that I attended at the Hi-Fi was Alestorm - just a few weeks earlier, and after the awesomeness of that gig, it was with a happy heart I wandered down to the Hi-Fi, eagerly awaiting a night of metal mayhem which would blow my face off. First up on the evening was Desolution, a great... |
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ACROSS THE SUN - Before The Night Takes Us Before The Night Takes Us has been in the making for 7 years, and the hard work has delivered an interesting record, but while Across The Sun isn't breaking new grounds, for what they do, they do it quite well. They have managed to deliver a solid melodic death album crossing into metalcore,... |
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DESTROY MUSIC TOUR w/ The Amity Affliction, I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts and Of Mice & Men - Sydney My initial shock at the amount of kids half my age lining up outside The Roundhouse didn’t hold on longer than a few seconds, as the doors opened at 6.30pm on the dot for the 2nd installment of the Destroy Music Tour in Sydney, featuring Of Mice & Men from the US, and of course our very... |
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THE HAUNTED w/ Dawn Heist, Recoil and Buried In Verona - Sydney Ever since their 1998 self titled, debut album release, Swedish thrash/metalcore quintet The Haunted, has drawn greater admiration from their Australian fans. Touring in support of their hugely anticipated and already chart-topping album Unseen, the band’s appearance at the relatively intimate... |
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PORTRAIT - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae The Swedish juggernaut known as Portrait, has released a mammoth album, Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae, featuring eight unrelenting tracks of fast tempo and groove-laden precision drumming, melodic harmonies and victoriously furious axe work, thundering baselines and the high pitched wails of... |
