- Oct 22, 2006
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Thunderstone Evolution 4.0
Nuclear Blast No barcode March 19th
By Dan Fisher
With the success of their last album Tools Of Destruction, Thunderstone are back with a hot new release Evolution 4.0.
I will keep this short and sweet: the band truly have evolved into something interesting and exciting for the discerning listener. Elements of Meshuggah, Tool and other time-technical bands can be heard as the band strive to pull away from the power metal crowd, a genre that has starting to show signs of cracking under the weight of its own mediocrity. Production is excellent although the vocals still irk me. Every power metal band I listen to now seems to have the exact same vocal mix! It reminds me of that weird thing where certain English folk music vocalists sing in an Irish accent to make it sound more authentic. Down with identikit vocals I say! The over production extends to the guitars somewhat as well. Sometimes you get that sound where the guitars have been over compressed and they end up sounding like a horn section because they have no attack or timbre to them. Overall though, there are some inventive tracks such as Swirled and Roots of Anger that keep the album firmly in the able to listen to without gouging ones eyes out section of my reviews. My own interpretation of Evolution 4.0 is that Thunderstone are dipping their toe into a more interesting direction to see how their fans react. From what I am hearing this is a very encouraging and mature decision by the band and one that should be followed with (hopefully) some new and illogical conclusions.
Official Thunderstone Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
Nuclear Blast No barcode March 19th
By Dan Fisher
With the success of their last album Tools Of Destruction, Thunderstone are back with a hot new release Evolution 4.0.
I will keep this short and sweet: the band truly have evolved into something interesting and exciting for the discerning listener. Elements of Meshuggah, Tool and other time-technical bands can be heard as the band strive to pull away from the power metal crowd, a genre that has starting to show signs of cracking under the weight of its own mediocrity. Production is excellent although the vocals still irk me. Every power metal band I listen to now seems to have the exact same vocal mix! It reminds me of that weird thing where certain English folk music vocalists sing in an Irish accent to make it sound more authentic. Down with identikit vocals I say! The over production extends to the guitars somewhat as well. Sometimes you get that sound where the guitars have been over compressed and they end up sounding like a horn section because they have no attack or timbre to them. Overall though, there are some inventive tracks such as Swirled and Roots of Anger that keep the album firmly in the able to listen to without gouging ones eyes out section of my reviews. My own interpretation of Evolution 4.0 is that Thunderstone are dipping their toe into a more interesting direction to see how their fans react. From what I am hearing this is a very encouraging and mature decision by the band and one that should be followed with (hopefully) some new and illogical conclusions.
Official Thunderstone Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
