Metal Reviews

I liked it a lot on release and it's grown on me - I still think it's comfortably bottom of the Tool discog, regardless. Outstanding discography overall though.

NP:



Yes, Blut Aus Nord are still doing their thing, and yes, it's still leaving me largely cold based on how similar it is to their other work in the past decades now. Memoria Vetusta IV, please.

I would have to say that 10,000 days is a bit more agreeable to my taste, if I had no other way but to choose. And on the Blut Aus Nord front, yes, it appears that Vindsval is perhaps liking his psilocybin journeys a bit too much, as we speak, and feels very comfortable indeed, with no immediate intention of stepping out.

I've always preferred Emperor live than to the studio records. The live drum sound fattens up the bottom end and really helps drive the music, especially on the speedier tracks. For my money, The Loss and Curse of Reverence never sounded better, or more metallic, than from the Inferno Live record. The whole performance is top notch, but then again Emperor always delivered the goods.

Mixed bag for me. Big parts of Fear Inocolum feel like a work in progress. The band would build on ideas in a song that either wouldn't pay off or just lead to nowhere. It's a solid enough record, but I expected something a little more cohesive after a 13 year wait. Also, not including the interlude tracks on the physical release (download only) was a big headscratcher. What's up with that, Maynard? 7empest was a banger though.

I would tend to agree with you, Joshua. All the 4 full-length album's drum sound is rather dull and dim, without any real staying power underneath Ihsahn's riffing. Considering that Trym is a great drummer, it does really do a lot of injustice to his abilities. I am not entirely sure why they could not aim for better drum sound? A budgetary issue?

I would also agree with you that the drum sound on the live albums sound radically better and that Emperor as a band sounds completely mind-blowing.

I can't say I listen to a great deal of Candlemass but when I do, I generally enjoy it very much. Then again, I've always liked early 'Mass, the seldom times which I play it.

This album has been on rotation for a very long time. I will say that the lyrical theme on this album is excellent, and the music too, but I find it as I have aged it does not always agree with my mood, though that is entirely my issue and not a thing that is inherently flawed with the album.

My taste for the avant-garde I have been able to sustain throughout time, but I will confess that the frequency with which I play this lovely album has unfortunately decreased and I take no pride in this at all. Nevertheless, a charming and absorbing musical experience, despite all the rather ephemeral difficulties which I have with it, nowadays.

A totalizing and most damning experience. Still heavy as hell, still quite frightening even though I know what friendly lads all the main Sabbath gentlemen really are. What comes from the heart has a lasting power on the heart. I know this to be true.

This album has some perfectly wonderful and beautiful moments on it and plenty of positive attributes which I truly admire. I may not love their entire discography but there is plenty to enjoy and love most specially their early outputs and their most recent offerings. Ian Gillan sounds terrific on this album even if I don't always like the lyrical content. And Ian Pace is completely cemented in my mind as one of the most brilliant drummers in rock history.

This album is love at first sight, or rather at first heard. A beloved and most memorable album, a cultivated and most cultured album that I have not listened to in many years but I have missed so much that the temptation not to buy I could not resist. So here it is. I hope it retains its hold on me, yet. Stellar.

Well, these lads certainly don't take life lightly! Since Deathspell Omega's Paracletus album they have been constantly on my playlist with occasional divergences to pre-Paracletus era. I can't listen to them every day but there are very few bands that I can listen to two days on repeat, ever. This particular album was not received very well but as per usual I am in the minority who thinks this album is completely outstanding. Personally, I put a limit to how far I would like to criticize music in general beyond which makes the noble pleasure of music listening vacuous, and so I avoid it at all costs not making a new album some sort of grave misfortune that has been incurred upon me.

I find this album to be stunningly somber and absolutely glorifying and elegant. No one I know sounds like them. To be able to write structurally straightforward music with so much depth and emotion, without needless complexity.