Official Album Review Thread

[Thorns On My Grave]

I know we all listen to some killer music. Some of us are writers. So, let's see if we can get an album review thread going. Remember, this is a review thread, so if you write a review of an album that sucks, be sure to post it here, so we can know what to stay away from as well as check out

I'll go first:

Arsis - Starve For the Devil (2010)

With four full length albums since their debut in 2004, Arsis is one of the most hard working bands in the scene today. They play a distinct style of melodic death metal, adding elements of thrash, speed metal, and heavy doses of progressive metal. While it may sound complex, and it is, Arsis has a unique and delightful knack for straddling perfectly the sweet spot between technicality and melody, as well as a killer ear for catchy, well structured songs. Their newest full length "Starve for the Devil" showcases their best work yet, and the band shows no sign of letting up any time soon.

In a nod the cheesy 80's metal they draw a substantial amount influence from, the intro track Forced to Rock is a tongue in cheek heavy metal anthem, filled with goofy lyrics and a very friendly song structure. An excellent, if curious introduction to the record, the rest of the album is a more serious affair, and it moves forward at breakneck speed. The return of original drummer Michael Van Dyne is an extremely welcome one, with songs like Beyond Forlorn and Closer to Cold really showcasing the chemistry that exists between him and front man James Malone. Attention must also be slathered on new guitarist Nick Cordle for his gorgeous leads and careful attention to detail in the song writing process .

The production is superb, which, given the band's record for upping the ante with each subsequent release, is not a surprise. The leads are powerful, the vocals cutting but not too overwhelming, and the percussion in particular being magnificently mixed. Every cymbal crash, snare crack and bass thump resonates beautifully across each song, and Van Dyne's skills have only gotten more impressive since his departure from the band. There is very little to say about Starve for the Devil that is not glowing. There is groove, technicality, blasting heaviness, and passionate soloing that, more important than anything, are instantly recognizable and memorable.

The intensity of the songs are reminiscent of their debut A Celebration of Guilt, which was pretty much absent on United and Regret and strongly diminished on We Are the Nightmare. The album is dense, with so many riffs and leads it is impossible to absorb it all without several spins and careful attention. The final two tracks Escape Artist and Sable Rising are immensely heavy, and bombastic, a perfect ending to a consistently solid record.

The Bottom Line: Arsis has crafted their best work yet, and it is a must buy for early 2010, certainly in the running for album of the year.

Songs to Watch Out For: Beyond Forlorn, Closer to Cold, Sable Rising

 

[BurntOfferings666]

Love the idea Thorns.

Here we go

Charred Walls of the Damned - Self Titled(2010)

Lineup

Richard Christy - Drums
Jason Suecof - Guitars
Tim "Ripper" Owens - Vocals
Steve DiGiorgio - Bass

The debut album from what started as a one-shot project from renowned drummer Richard Christy. Charred Walls of the Damned features 9 balls to the walls power metal tracks (ten if you purchase the Japanese import) that are sure to please pretty much any fan of the metal genre.

Christy got the name of the band from a Minister while doing prank calls on The Howard Stern Show. The name of the band, he says, was inspired by his unrelenting assault on various Christian swap-and-shop radio hosts. Christy says one of them caught on to his larks, and lambasted the drummer and his cohort, Sal Governale, on the air, saying he wanted to “see you sitting beside us there, at the marriage supper of the lamb, saved by God’s grace and not in a Devil’s hell, where you’d be putting your nails into the charred walls of the damned.”

Production is top of the line thanks to Jason Suecof and his AudioHammer studios. The album is quite melodic with heavy almost death metal undertones. Christy's drumming is a la Death, while Suecof's guitar work and DiGiorgio's fretless bass work is stuff that [metal] dreams are made of.

Ripper. A lot of people like his vocals. A lot of people can not stand his vocals. For me, being an "on-again-off-again" fan of the Ripper since his Winters Bane days, Charred Walls of the Damned is Ripper at his finest and most versatile (much like Matt Barlow's performance on Immortal). He, for one of the first time that I can recall, emotes way better than he ever has and uses his voice for more than just being the scream machine.

While the album is short (around 45 minutes), it takes the listener on an auditory and metal journey from the opening riff of Ghost Town through the outro of Fear In The Sky. Charred Walls of the Damned is destined to be looked back on as a modern classic metal album. With the tremendous out-pouring of positive reviews, reception and fan support the band will be announcing North American tour dates in the very near future. Even though CWotD was suppose to be a one-off deal, don't be surprised if you see another CWotD album on store shelves in a few years.


The Bottom Line

A fucking killer album. In my mind this is the album that Iced Earth should have released after Horror Show, considering Christy and Digiorgio were in the band at the time and Ripper joined shortly after the recording of The Glorious Burden began. Richard Christy and Co. has crafted a modern masterpiece of metal announcing to North American audiences that real metal is still alive and kicking - that there is another option to all those horrible, untalented, cookie-cutter, sound-a-like emo metal bands that are being signed and force fed down our throats on a daily basis by the likes of MTV and MuchMusic. Charred Walls of the Damned is a very strong contender for album of the year at this point in time.


Tracks to Look Out For

From The Abyss, Manifestations, Voices Within the Walls, (all of them really )

 

[Thorns On My Grave]

Manifestations is just... fuck... so good. Ridiculously good song.

 

[Thorns On My Grave]

Dream Evil - In The Night (2010)

"In the Night" marks Dream Evil's first full length album in nearly four years. Born of the mind of famed Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, Dream Evil was bound to succeed, originally with the talent of Nordström's superb production and then young guitar whiz kid Gus G. While the group has had a series of lineup changes over the years, including the eventual replacement of Gus G, Nordström has managed to keep the band alive and thriving. Their most recent release is no exception.

Riding the winds of their well established sound, In the Night will do nothing to convince detractors that Dream Evil are worth another listen. Fans of the band will be pleased with what they hear, as songs like Bang Your Head and Electric retain the heavy, forceful tendencies of previous releases, and songs like See the Light and In the Fires of the Sun showcase the band's trademark melodic heavy metal songs, chest thumping choruses and all. It must be noted that this album contains one of the best heavy metal ballads ever written, amusingly titled The Ballad. Long time vocalist and founding member Niklas Isfeldt delivers yet another superb performance, his soaring, powerful voice being the real draw of this record alongside Nordström's bedrock of solid songwriting. Dream Evil know exactly how to please their fans, yet it certainly has become apparent that they are comfortable in their current time and place, and their sound could use some updating if they want to avoid becoming stagnant.

Given Nordström's extensive and impressive resume of producing records from a huge array of the most recognized and successful modern metal bands, it goes without saying that this album sounds good. Really good. Every instrument rings crystal clear, from the sharp crack of the snare to the melodious rumbling of the bass, each member gets their chance to shine. Unlike most bands of the genre, Dream Evil have never been too overbearing with the shredding guitar solos, and the tasty leads of Nordström and fellow guitarist Daniel Varghamne keep the listener constantly engaged without being too overbearing. Songwriting always comes first with Dream Evil, and In the Night, while not as memorable as the band's debut Dragonslayer, is another fine album by a consistently enjoyable band.

The bottom line: A solid slice of melodic heavy metal

Songs to watch out for: See the Light, The Ballad, In the Fires of the Sun, The Unchosen One

 

[RedCriss]

NEVERLAND - Ophidia

Neverland is a project of the Turkish metal band Dreamtone and the Greek singer Iris Mavraki. As far as I know, "Ophidia" is the second release of the band. As I only have this album though, I can't compare it to tell you if it's a step forwards, backwards, sidewards, or... well, you get the point.

The whole sound reminds me a lot of Blind Guardian and a little Dream Theater with an oriental touch. Most of the songs do not follow a simple verse-chorus-bridge-etc pattern. On one hand, I like that as the songs do not get boring and I can discover something new with every spin of the album. On the other hand, I think it's a bit too much at times and some songs are somewhat overloaded with ideas.

The album starts with five great songs in a row, and they all show that this band can write some real interesting and entertaining songs with lots of variety within each of these songs. Great guitar riffs, solos, breaks, nice keyboard melodies, good vocal-arrangements, some oriental touch, all you could ask for is there. The lead singer has quite a good voice that suits the music well, he does not lift the music up to an even higher level though.

The following eight songs are still really good, but cannot keep the high level of the first songs. The highlights of those songs might be "Ashes to Fall" due to its exceptional bass work (I really love that!) and "Speak to Me". The weakest song to me is "Forests of Hope". It’s a quiet song that lasts only two minutes. Though I like the oriental touch and the choirs, I just do not like the female vocals on that track. The other song with the leading female vocals (the fourth track "Will of God") is just so much better!

This album features three guest-vocalists that add a nice variety to the vocals of lead singer Oganalp Canatan.

The first one to appear is Urban on the second song "Silence the Wolves". As expected, this is my personal highlight of the album! The music of this song is already amazing, but Urban's vocal lines take this song to a much higher level. The backing vocals on the chorus add much depth to this song. No other song has such good backings, though the other backings are not bad at all.

The second guest vocalist is Jon Oliva of Savatage on the fifth track "Invisible War". Savatage is one of my favourite bands, I like the songs with Zak Stevens on vocals most though. Jon Oliva has a unique voice for sure, but the first time I heard "Invisible War" I was shocked. I didn't like his vocals at all and I was glad that this song is a duet with the main singer. However I got used to Jon's voice after a few more listens and I really love that song now. As far as the music is concerned, I even like this song more than "Silence the Wolves". But whereas Urban takes *his* song up to a higher level, Jon Oliva could not do so. But the oriental touch, the keyboards and the main singer are really amazing on this song!

The third guest vocalist is Edu Falaschi from Angra on "Ashes to Fall". I don't know anything about Angra, but the vocals on this song are quite good. Nothing less, nothing more. The bass work here is outstanding though and really worth to be mentioned (again).

The bottom line:

All in all, it's a great album with just one weak song. I already listened a lot to this album and I certainly will listen to it more often. Trust me, when I write such an extensive review to an album, it must be worth having it. So, check it out!

Songs to watch out for:

Silence The Wolves, Invisible War, Ophidia, This Voice Inside, Will of God, Ashes To Fall, Speak to Me

Criss

 

[Thorns On My Grave]

You forgot to mention one thing in the review: The Wheel Weaves As the Wheel Wills!

Seriously, great review, and I had a nerdgasm when I heard This Voice Inside