After many thoroughly listened to both discs and I really feel that I already received my moneys worth. Why? Here are the reasons:
The Music: For disc #1, the music is very tight and the performance of each individual in the group is great. Ill look at each members performance.
The Amott Brothers: I love the fact that I can buy and album and hear the familiar sounds of Carcass in Arch Enemy. Its a shame that Carcass broke up, but we still can hear Michaels guitar work loud and clear with AE. Sometimes I feel as if Im listening to a Carcass album when I listen to various AE songs, thats why I like them so much. Anyway, as always, these guys bring excellent technical guitar playing with melody intertwined to almost every album they appear on, and this album is no different. The guitar trades between leads and openings are smooth and tie into the songs perfectly. The guitar effort for this album gets my two thumbs up.
Daniel: Ah, drumming its a wonderful part of music, especially in metal. I finally feel that this album truly showcases Daniels drumming ability. The production of the album highlights all the great parts of the drum kit: cymbal work, tom rolls, double-bass work and snare work. I feel that Daniel has finally done a little showing off of his skills behind the kit (adding his own flares, here and there) and Im glad to hear this change.
Sharlee: In my opinion, metal groups bass guitarists seem to get overlooked, for what reason I dont know why, but for me Sharlees works stand out on this album. The bass lines are heard loud and clear when they are needed to stand out and they flow well with the songs, yes I like it.
Angela: Well, I saved the Angela for last, not because I think her performance in the group is last, its because I have a lot to say about her. First off I have to say, WOW! I cant believe that a growl like that would come from a petite woman like Angela. Its pretty neat. I finally feel that Angelas vocal bring something to the table that AE has been missing since their first album, which is VOICE RANGE. Dont get me wrong I love old AE, but I my opinion Johan always had trouble projecting his vocals on the albums. It could be that it was a production issue, but I think it was his voice that was weak, not the production. Angela can hit the highs and low growls with preciseness and it flows really well with the music. Im happy to see a singer change and Im looking forward to more future work by her.
Disc #2: There are some interesting songs on this. Finally we get to hear the bonus tracks from the Japanese releases (that is unless youve already forked out the big cash for the imports) and the other rare songs. Who would have thought that we would get three cover songs on a disc? You get Judas Priest, Maiden (oh yes) and Europe; its an interesting mixture and but its a good one. The other tracks are so-so, some good some bad. Finally, the artwork is solid (Good choice of colors & disc design).
Overall, the whole album is great, and I hope all of you are enjoying. Thanks for taking the time out to read my thoughts; sorry its so long. I had to take a break from writing my new-editorial articles. I needed to relax a bit and talk about music. See ya
The Music: For disc #1, the music is very tight and the performance of each individual in the group is great. Ill look at each members performance.
The Amott Brothers: I love the fact that I can buy and album and hear the familiar sounds of Carcass in Arch Enemy. Its a shame that Carcass broke up, but we still can hear Michaels guitar work loud and clear with AE. Sometimes I feel as if Im listening to a Carcass album when I listen to various AE songs, thats why I like them so much. Anyway, as always, these guys bring excellent technical guitar playing with melody intertwined to almost every album they appear on, and this album is no different. The guitar trades between leads and openings are smooth and tie into the songs perfectly. The guitar effort for this album gets my two thumbs up.
Daniel: Ah, drumming its a wonderful part of music, especially in metal. I finally feel that this album truly showcases Daniels drumming ability. The production of the album highlights all the great parts of the drum kit: cymbal work, tom rolls, double-bass work and snare work. I feel that Daniel has finally done a little showing off of his skills behind the kit (adding his own flares, here and there) and Im glad to hear this change.
Sharlee: In my opinion, metal groups bass guitarists seem to get overlooked, for what reason I dont know why, but for me Sharlees works stand out on this album. The bass lines are heard loud and clear when they are needed to stand out and they flow well with the songs, yes I like it.
Angela: Well, I saved the Angela for last, not because I think her performance in the group is last, its because I have a lot to say about her. First off I have to say, WOW! I cant believe that a growl like that would come from a petite woman like Angela. Its pretty neat. I finally feel that Angelas vocal bring something to the table that AE has been missing since their first album, which is VOICE RANGE. Dont get me wrong I love old AE, but I my opinion Johan always had trouble projecting his vocals on the albums. It could be that it was a production issue, but I think it was his voice that was weak, not the production. Angela can hit the highs and low growls with preciseness and it flows really well with the music. Im happy to see a singer change and Im looking forward to more future work by her.
Disc #2: There are some interesting songs on this. Finally we get to hear the bonus tracks from the Japanese releases (that is unless youve already forked out the big cash for the imports) and the other rare songs. Who would have thought that we would get three cover songs on a disc? You get Judas Priest, Maiden (oh yes) and Europe; its an interesting mixture and but its a good one. The other tracks are so-so, some good some bad. Finally, the artwork is solid (Good choice of colors & disc design).
Overall, the whole album is great, and I hope all of you are enjoying. Thanks for taking the time out to read my thoughts; sorry its so long. I had to take a break from writing my new-editorial articles. I needed to relax a bit and talk about music. See ya
