new Zero Hour (I refuse to type the whole name) - Good, but not great. I like the vocals. The music sounds like a bit of a rehash though. Some of the passages are VERY reminiscint of their previous music. Too much so IMO.
Manticora - The Black Circus Pt. 1 - Wow! I liked 8 Deadly Sins, but I like this one even more. The only downside to it is that it feels like then ending is like watching a TV show and the screen goes black and it says, "...to be continued..." It really feels like it cuts off in the middle of what should be one continuous piece of music. Great CD otherwise though. I'd love to see them at PPIX doing the entire "The Black Circus" start to finish.
Benedictum - Uncreation - I found these guys on myspace and kinda liked what I heard. After listening to the CD, I'm completely blown away by the singer's voice. It's really cool. This is female fronted power metal for people who don't like female fronted metal bands. I kept waiting for her to start singing, then she switched to some higher register stuff and I realized it was her all along. The music is pretty straight ahead, American power metal with drop tuned guitars. The first two songs on the CD are very strong. The rest aren't bad, but not great. There are two Black Sabbath covers (Dio era) toward the end. Solid CD. Her voice is incredible though.
Thunderstone - Tools of Destruction - After seeing them at PP I thought they were pretty good, but didn't expect to be blown away by their CD. I'm not. It's really good though, and not at all what I was expecting. It is more varied than I was expecting, and the vocalist keeps reminding me of David Coverdale (though not nearly as blatantly as Jorn does). It's good, unremarkable, power metal.
Riverside - Voices in my Head - Not bad. Very mellow. Very Riverside. It's got 5 songs on it that were not previously released. They are good, but all very mellow. It's got three live recordings from the first album. They sound great, but don't really add to the disc. They should have just released it as a $9 EP.
More to come.
Manticora - The Black Circus Pt. 1 - Wow! I liked 8 Deadly Sins, but I like this one even more. The only downside to it is that it feels like then ending is like watching a TV show and the screen goes black and it says, "...to be continued..." It really feels like it cuts off in the middle of what should be one continuous piece of music. Great CD otherwise though. I'd love to see them at PPIX doing the entire "The Black Circus" start to finish.
Benedictum - Uncreation - I found these guys on myspace and kinda liked what I heard. After listening to the CD, I'm completely blown away by the singer's voice. It's really cool. This is female fronted power metal for people who don't like female fronted metal bands. I kept waiting for her to start singing, then she switched to some higher register stuff and I realized it was her all along. The music is pretty straight ahead, American power metal with drop tuned guitars. The first two songs on the CD are very strong. The rest aren't bad, but not great. There are two Black Sabbath covers (Dio era) toward the end. Solid CD. Her voice is incredible though.
Thunderstone - Tools of Destruction - After seeing them at PP I thought they were pretty good, but didn't expect to be blown away by their CD. I'm not. It's really good though, and not at all what I was expecting. It is more varied than I was expecting, and the vocalist keeps reminding me of David Coverdale (though not nearly as blatantly as Jorn does). It's good, unremarkable, power metal.
Riverside - Voices in my Head - Not bad. Very mellow. Very Riverside. It's got 5 songs on it that were not previously released. They are good, but all very mellow. It's got three live recordings from the first album. They sound great, but don't really add to the disc. They should have just released it as a $9 EP.
More to come.
