A few new spins both old & new....

[Harvester]

AC/DC- Black Ice: Anyone else surprised as hell at how good this is? This is the only band that gets the free ride on "heard it before" complaint wagon. It's still missing that one big over the top anthem for me, but I'll take what I can get before they die from old age.


Empyrios- The Glorious Sickness: My my...they have gone from being a rather good Dream Theater clone with shitty production on their debut to a Scar Symmetry Jr./Eldritch combo. with a bit of an industrial influence. Excellent career move.

Hinder- Take it to the Limit: We all have our vices. I enjoy the hell out of this band when they turn it up a notch on tunes like "Use Me." They give off a a bit of Motley Crue/Buckcherry sleaze vibe then. However, the ballads are hit and miss with me. There is only so much whining from this dude I can take.

Katra- Beast Within: The potential to be the next big thing in the female vocal scene is right here. The songwriting approach is simply breathtaking with nods to the slower side of Nightwish. It's nothing new, but when it's this fucking awesome it doesn't matter. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Nickelback- Bite me. This disc is awesome. Chad has a great voice and knows how to write a hook. Every single song on this disc could be released as a single. You can't say that about too many albums these days. Mutt Lange produced and this will join his holy cash cow trilogy: Back in Black/Hysteria/Shania Twain. "Something in Your Mouth" joins the ranks of stripper anthems for all times. Head over to their My Space page and shake your groove thang to it.

Operatika- The Calling: Nicely done speedy, symphonic metal with one hell of a neo-classical shredder. The female vocals are nice, but she doesn't have the "wow" factor. Reminds me a bit of "Oceanborne" for those following along at home. The only problem is that they never really slow it down and that gets old quick with me. Mike LePond plays bass.

Tears of Magdalena- Myths & Legends: My buddy dweeb's review: "This is a Beauty and the Beast band from Finland and their new disc, Myths and Legends, sounds like songs from Nightwish / Once but with death vox added. The songs are crunchy with pervasive symphonic keys and they have well-captured the enthusiastic, upbeat, often dramatic feel of Once - honestly, some of these songs with Magdalena singing without the growler sound *exactly* like they came from Once. She has an excellent expressive soprano vocal style that is often melting in its beauty. The growler is competent though you won't be listening to the disc primarily to hear him - his style is almost spoken rather than singing but his tone is deep and rich and quite musical for death vox.

Trivium- Shogun: I hated the debut because of the constipated vocals. I LOVED "The Crusade." It was the best old school Metallica rip-off disc ever released. That leads me to the "Shogun" where they have attempted to combine the two to evidently satisfy the Hot Topic kiddies. My take on this is very simple: I love the music and regular vocals & despise his bowling ball stuck in my rectum vocal lines.

 

[edgeofthorns]

I haven't heard AC/DC's Black Ice yet, but I intend on getting it eventually. I was into Nickleback during a short time when they came out, but I lost interest in them shortly thereafter. With that said, I've liked some songs from them over the years that I've heard on the radio here and there. I'll check out the Katra, because I'm a sucker for these types of bands. As for Trivium, I'm totally let down about this new one after The Crusade. For some reason, they've went more melodic on this new one, lost some of their crunch and started growling again. In my opinion, Shadows Fall's Threads of Life buries Trivium's new one.

~Brian~

 

[General Zod]

Trivium- Shogun: I hated the debut because of the constipated vocals. I LOVED "The Crusade." It was the best old school Metallica rip-off disc ever released. That leads me to the "Shogun" where they have attempted to combine the two to evidently satisfy the Hot Topic kiddies. My take on this is very simple: I love the music and regular vocals & despise his bowling ball stuck in my rectum vocal lines.

If by debut you mean Ascendancy, I completely disagree. Ascendancy was a great disc. I hated The Crusade for the very reason you loved it; too derivative. However, more importantly, I thought the songwriting was very bland. As for The Crusade, I love the mixture of old school Metallica and the intensity of Ascendancy. And all of Heafy's vocal styles kick major ass.

I can see in their eyes, they've already died
Inside, but as for the outside... I'll take their fucking heads



Zod

 

[J-Man]

Tears of Magdalena- Myths & Legends: My buddy dweeb's review: "This is a Beauty and the Beast band from Finland and their new disc, Myths and Legends, sounds like songs from Nightwish / Once but with death vox added. The songs are crunchy with pervasive symphonic keys and they have well-captured the enthusiastic, upbeat, often dramatic feel of Once - honestly, some of these songs with Magdalena singing without the growler sound *exactly* like they came from Once. She has an excellent expressive soprano vocal style that is often melting in its beauty. The growler is competent though you won't be listening to the disc primarily to hear him - his style is almost spoken rather than singing but his tone is deep and rich and quite musical for death vox.

Love this disc, also another i am really liking is the new EBONY ARK.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

AC-DC will always have a place in my heart no matter how old they are.
I can't stand Nickelback,they have just to many pop sounding sounds for me.
I am a huge old-school Metallica fan so I love "The Crusade" album by Trivium.The new one is growing on me.
I would rather listen to rain falling on my tin roof than listen to 5 seconds of Hinder.I can't stand the lead singer,not so much because of his voice,but because their first video he was a COMPLETE spaz much like Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam(who I also can't stand).I can't get that image out of my head whenever I hear Hinder on the radio.I guess that is my fault,but oh well,I'm not perfect=)

 

[DADRocks]

Love the new AC/DC, I love the fact that they don't try to change their sound.

The new Hinder, bought that as well, not a bad cd. I've got to listen to it more to review it fairly.

I bought the new Nickelback and Sammy Hagar yesterday at Best Buy for $9.99 each, I haven't heard either of them yet but now I'm really looking foward to Nickelback's one after reading Glenn's review.

 

[nailz]

Love the new AC/DC, I love the fact that they don't try to change their sound..

ever.

But heck, I'm a big AC/DC fanboy as well.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

AC/DC- Black Ice: Anyone else surprised as hell at how good this is? This is the only band that gets the free ride on "heard it before" complaint wagon. It's still missing that one big over the top anthem for me, but I'll take what I can get before they die from old age.

I was very surprised. For the record, I haven't really "enjoyed" anything they've done since FTATR, but I wouldn't slag them either, they're AC/DC ffs!
Became a fan during the Bon era(when Powerage & If You Want Blood... came out), and I still feel that is THE best era for AC/DC. All that being said, Black Ice DOES rock. IMO, Brian sounds as good as he did on FTATR. Back In Black is still the high water mark for Johnson era AC/DC. I wonder if this will be their last release?

 

[Perditions Ghost]

Definitely going to have to give the Nickelback one a listen, they're one of my personal vices but haven't given the new one a chance yet. Been listening to All The Right Reasons quite a bit lately, though, so now's the time.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

If by debut you mean Ascendancy, I completely disagree. Ascendancy was a great disc. I hated The Crusade for the very reason you loved it; too derivative. However, more importantly, I thought the songwriting was very bland. As for The Crusade, I love the mixture of old school Metallica and the intensity of Ascendancy. And all of Heafy's vocal styles kick major ass.

I can see in their eyes, they've already died
Inside, but as for the outside... I'll take their fucking heads



Zod

I think he is talking about Ember To Inferno, it came out before Ascendancy.

 

[SharkBlack]

Trivium- Shogun: I hated the debut because of the constipated vocals. I LOVED "The Crusade." It was the best old school Metallica rip-off disc ever released. That leads me to the "Shogun" where they have attempted to combine the two to evidently satisfy the Hot Topic kiddies. My take on this is very simple: I love the music and regular vocals & despise his bowling ball stuck in my rectum vocal lines.

I can't enough of this album. They have come a long way. The mixture of vocals is cool by me. The music and song writing are great! The album just plain rips... You can really see these guys have been practicing because the guitar leads are excellent...

 

[Magius]

Tears of Magdalena and Empyrios sound cool. I may check out the new AC/DC.

 

[Kaosaur]

If by debut you mean Ascendancy, I completely disagree. Ascendancy was a great disc. I hated The Crusade for the very reason you loved it; too derivative. However, more importantly, I thought the songwriting was very bland. As for The Crusade, I love the mixture of old school Metallica and the intensity of Ascendancy. And all of Heafy's vocal styles kick major ass.

I can see in their eyes, they've already died
Inside, but as for the outside... I'll take their fucking heads



Zod

Trivium is one of those bands that everyone is telling me I shouldn't like, but every time I see them they blow me away. I felt kind of mixed about Ascendancy compared to Ember to Inferno and after that I kind of stopped paying attention to their CDs. I find them much better live and wouldn't mind seeing them again.

 

[kellsco]

Shogun has been in rotation since it came out. I'm not usually big on the current American Metal scene, but I really like this disc.

I listened to Black Ice for a couple of days, and while I do think it's a good disc, I just couldn't get into it. *shrugs* Maybe I'm just not the same fan girl I was back in the 70's. I'll take it out again in a few months and see.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

*bites you*

Not a Hinder, Nickelback, or Trivium fan. Cannot and will not ever see the appeal.

However, I do like the new AC/DC. So I agree on one count.

 

[Pellaz]

Dangit, looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and pick up that AC/DC album after all!

Hinder, Nickelback...... --okay. But if you start praising Three Days Grace, Glenn, I've a feeling Derek will blow a gasket.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

Hinder and Nickelback seem to be very derivative of well...they sound like Creed to me (without the spiritual vibe and in more of a sleazy direction like you said). But the vocals are straight up Scott Stapp style, which is monkeyed from Eddie Vedder...and I've not gotten into Pearl Jam past the album 10. Blah.

 

[Joe-×]

Love the new AC/DC, I love the fact that they don't try to change their sound.

I love the fact that they don't need to change their sound.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

AC/DC- Black Ice: Anyone else surprised as hell at how good this is? This is the only band that gets the free ride on "heard it before" complaint wagon. It's still missing that one big over the top anthem for me, but I'll take what I can get before they die from old age.

Been tempted to check this out. My and my brothers practically wore out the Back In Black album at the time. Just got so played out on AC/DC over the years that I've not really paid much attention to this. However, after all the talk and press about how good this disk actually, I'll have to break down and grab a copy.

Empyrios- The Glorious Sickness: My my...they have gone from being a rather good Dream Theater clone with shitty production on their debut to a Scar Symmetry Jr./Eldritch combo. with a bit of an industrial influence. Excellent career move.

I'll have to definitely check this out. I have found their debut album on eMusic, which I actually liked quite a big, shitty production not withstanding (still sound pretty good on my home rig, though).

Hinder- Take it to the Limit: We all have our vices. I enjoy the hell out of this band when they turn it up a notch on tunes like "Use Me." They give off a a bit of Motley Crue/Buckcherry sleaze vibe then. However, the ballads are hit and miss with me. There is only so much whining from this dude I can take.

Just never go into that whole "sleaze vibe" thing ala Buckcherry, Motley Crue and so forth. Will probably pass on this.

Katra- Beast Within: The potential to be the next big thing in the female vocal scene is right here. The songwriting approach is simply breathtaking with nods to the slower side of Nightwish. It's nothing new, but when it's this fucking awesome it doesn't matter. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This is a totally new one on me! Found this on eMusic and really like what I've heard from the samples. Still got 20 downloads left for this month that I need to use up before they expire. Will have to grab this one. They also have thier older album, Katra, on eMusic as well (I am assuming a debut). Unfortunatly, thier other album is not in English, so can't understand the lyrics, but still sounds really cool.

Nickelback- Bite me. This disc is awesome. Chad has a great voice and knows how to write a hook. Every single song on this disc could be released as a single. You can't say that about too many albums these days. Mutt Lange produced and this will join his holy cash cow trilogy: Back in Black/Hysteria/Shania Twain. "Something in Your Mouth" joins the ranks of stripper anthems for all times. Head over to their My Space page and shake your groove thang to it.

Never been a huge fan of Nickleback. Comes off as to "poppy" for me, but still an enjoyable listen non-the-less. I guess I just got to played out on these guys as well, especially as the local radio stations pretty much played them into the ground to the point that I could care less if I've ever heard another one of their songs again.

Operatika- The Calling: Nicely done speedy, symphonic metal with one hell of a neo-classical shredder. The female vocals are nice, but she doesn't have the "wow" factor. Reminds me a bit of "Oceanborne" for those following along at home. The only problem is that they never really slow it down and that gets old quick with me. Mike LePond plays bass.

I've heard of Operatika and really enjoyed them, but don't have any of thier albums. Unfortunately, nothing by them on eMusic, as I'd like to hear this one.

Tears of Magdalena- Myths & Legends: My buddy dweeb's review: "This is a Beauty and the Beast band from Finland and their new disc, Myths and Legends, sounds like songs from Nightwish / Once but with death vox added. The songs are crunchy with pervasive symphonic keys and they have well-captured the enthusiastic, upbeat, often dramatic feel of Once - honestly, some of these songs with Magdalena singing without the growler sound *exactly* like they came from Once. She has an excellent expressive soprano vocal style that is often melting in its beauty. The growler is competent though you won't be listening to the disc primarily to hear him - his style is almost spoken rather than singing but his tone is deep and rich and quite musical for death vox.

Another new one on me! Sounds pretty cool. Will have to try find some samples to give it a listen.

Trivium- Shogun: I hated the debut because of the constipated vocals. I LOVED "The Crusade." It was the best old school Metallica rip-off disc ever released. That leads me to the "Shogun" where they have attempted to combine the two to evidently satisfy the Hot Topic kiddies. My take on this is very simple: I love the music and regular vocals & despise his bowling ball stuck in my rectum vocal lines.

One of these bands that I just never really got into. I think I have one of their albums, but don't remember which.

 

[TheGraveDigger]

The new Nickelback is hands down one of my favorfite albums of the year. For those of you that say that they are too poppy it is simply because thats all the radio and MTV sheds light on from them. Sure they have their share of high school prom songs but they also have some really heavy stuff as well as just hard and fun stuff that reminds me of some of the best songs written and performed by the likes of Great White, Damn Yankees, and Bon Jovi. If when you think of Nickelback songs like "Photograph" and "If Everyone Cared" from their last album come to mind go back and listen to songs like "Next Contestant", "Side Of A Bullet", and "Animals". The last few seconds of "Animals" sounds like something off of an Overkill or Exodus album. Moving on to the new album, like Glenn said every song can be a hit. "Something In Your Mouth" is just awesome and the perfect way to kick things off. I also love "Next Go Round", the chorus is so 1980's Los Angeles brought into 2008 with the topic being having sex with your hot chick all night long until the sun comes up.

The new Hinder is another good one. I say it is about even with their debut album. A little heavy on the ballads but they do it well. The single "Use Me" is killer and the video even more so. Even if you do not like this band go watch "Use Me" on You Tube, the chicks are that smokin. If money wasn't such an issue I would so go see them on tour with Motley Crue in March.

New AC/DC is good but I agree, I am also missing that one over the top single. "Rock N Roll Train" is cool however and the album is very good despite the fact that it offers nothing new. Much like with Motorhead and Ozzy, when you buy a new AC/DC album you know what you are gonna get but youre gonna love it.

The Trivium is just starting to grow on me. I did not like it much at first because I loved the Crusade so much. My initial reaction was "Why is all this fucking screaming back!" After a couple listens it is starting to please me more. I understand the band was not happy with being labeled Metallica clones and they have more of their own sound this time around. I hope that they soon release a DVD as they are now four albums in and have plenty of material to put together a killer live set. The only album I am still not fond of is their very first.