Latest CD Reviews
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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... |
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SWITCHTENSE - Self Titled It’s a fusion that has been laboriously duplicated in heavy metal scenes across the world. While some consider hardcore-infused heavy metal to be wonderfully energetic, others see it as a tiresome mix of chug-chug riffs and exhaustive breakdowns. But while ‘metalcore’ [as it is known] has been... |
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SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA - The Corruption Of Mercy Sarah Jezebel Deva is certainly not an unknown voice in the world of metal. She has been around since making her debut with Cradle of Filth back in ’94 closely followed by playing parts in multiple other bands. Releasing her first solo album, A Sign Of Sublime, early last year, was a huge... |
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KATABASIS - Self Titled As the vocals seep through in the first few seconds of the opening track, an undeniably Opeth-esque tonality comes forth. The music of Katabasis is infections from its foundation, with the continual guitars leading into an abrupt void that quickly changes into a brilliant dynamic with fantastic and... |
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SOMNOLENT - Renaissance Unraveling Renaissance Unraveling is the sophomore release from Ukraine-based five-piece, Somnolent, and is, without a doubt, one of the strangest albums I’ve ever heard. This isn't a bad thing – as all the tracks are very well played and produced, and the odd, almost disjointed effect comes more... |
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KATANA - Heads Will Roll Are you sick and tired of modern metal? Do you long for a time when lyrics were all about having fun, when guitar riffs were fast, and solos wept for five minutes? Well, Katana has heard your prayers, and offer up their latest album, Heads Will Roll, as a humble return to simpler metal times. After... |
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SYNPERIUM - Elemental Disharmony Elemental Disharmony marks Southern Highlands-based Synperium's debut album and follow-up to their 2007 EP release - which in itself, was quite well received. Since witnessing this band live, I have been keeping an eye out for their album's release, and it is far from disappointing for a... |
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KAMLATH - Stronger Than Frost The first thing you notice about Kamlath's Stronger Than Frost, is the beautiful, interlacing vocal harmonies which are woven throughout the whole album. This lends the album a heavy ethereal feeling, making it easy for the listener to imagine wandering the vast Siberian wastes, becoming immersed... |
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PANZERCHRIST - Regiment Ragnarok Danish death metal quintet, Panzerchrist, has been well noticed throughout the death metal scene - incorporating themes of war into a crunching and chaotic death metal sound leaving many addicted. What really interests me about this band, however, is how they have managed to keep a constant sound... |
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Fallstar - Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. “If what these men do is of God… you will never be able to stop them.” This is the opening line of the track ‘Lurchers’, from Oregon-based hardcore outfit, Fallstar, taken off their first full-length album, Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. Due to the slightly prophetic opening, I was initially a... |
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The Amenta - V01D As an avid Australian metal-head, it was with nothing but sheer delight to receive the news that at midnight last night, the new The Amenta website - carrying a freely downloadable copy of their new E.P VO1D - went live. The one and only newly-written track for this E.P, titled ‘VO1D’, instantly... |
