Metal Reviews

Tons of great power metal out right now, and much of it has arrived to the Metal CD Ratings site! 8)
http://www.metalcdratings.com

Here are some of the titles that have recently arrived:
Alogia - Secret spheres of art
Aquaria - Luxaeterna (debut!)
Battlelore - Third age of the sun
Bloden-Wedd - Eye of Horas
Caffery, Chris - W.A.R.P.E.D.
Casus Belli - In the name of rose
Catharsis - Wings
Circle ll Circle - The middle of nowhere
Cryonic Temple - In thy power
Custard - Wheels of time
Dark Horizon - Dark light’s shades
Derdian - New era pt.l (debut!)
Divinefire - Glory thy name (debut!)
Double Diamond - Stand up and fight
Eternal Reign - Forbidden path
Fading Starlight - Timeless fate
Gamma Ray - Majestic
Guarnerius - Arcanos abismos (debut!)
Horrorscope - The crushing design
Inner Visions - Control the past (debut!)
Jon Oliva’s Pain - ‘Tage Mahal
Karelia - Raise
Metalium - Demons of insanity/Chapter five
Nevermore - This godless endeavor
Nightscape - Symphony of the night (debut!)
Nocturnal Rites - Grand illusion
Pandaemonium - Return to reality
Primal Fear - Seven seals
Rawhead Rexx - Diary in black
Rebellion - Saga of Iceland: The history of the vikings volume I
Redemption - Fullness of time
Ruffians - There & back
Saeko - Above heaven, below heaven (debut!)
Savage Circus - Dreamland manor (debut!)
Seyminhol - Septentrion’s walk
Slough Feg (The Lord Weird) - Atavism
Space Odyssey - The astral episode
Star Queen - Your true self
Storm Hammer - Lord of darkness
Stratovarius - s/t
Symphorce - Godspeed
Syrens Call - Emoceans
Timeless Miracle - Into the enchanted chamber (debut!)
Unicorn - The 13th sign (debut!)
Vanishing Point - Embrace the silence
Warmen - Accept the fact
Widow - On fire
Windfall - Infector
Wizard - Magic circle
Xystus - Receiving tomorrow (debut!)
Zarpa - Infierno


Thanks for the support!
Clint/Site Manager
http://www.metalcdratings.com



Note: This topic is for the promotion of power metal music and the Metal CD Ratings site. Moderators feel free to “moderate” as desired.

Shut the fuck up.



*continues to listen cryptopsy at 110db*

*gets bored with cryptopsy and switches to the almighty DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!*

*shoots Husker in the head and then plays Hammerfall's Glory To The Brave*

Thrash, you vaginas!

do any of those bands have a little doom to them? I'm no fan of the happy stuff but I'm gaining a grudging respect for the more sombre bands..

hmmm...
I don't see any on the list that lean towards doom metal, but there are some bands on the site in that style, even some that blend power metal and doom metal. Domine comes to mind and there are a bunch by fellow colleague Kit, as he dabbles in the style. Candlemass and Thunderstorm are two that I can think of off the top of my head.

The best doom metal band I've ever heard (and probably the only pure doom metal band I have) is Doomsword.
If you don't mind female vocals added ("beauty and the beast" style), and a touch of gothic metal, check out Draconian.

Hope this helps... 8)

Ummm... Doomsword are a great band, but they're not pure Doom! They do get doomier progressively but not pure Doom, you don't have Bathory style breaks in doom! And also -and I don't mean to sound disrespectful - how can you be the admin of a heavy metal review site, without owning, or having at least listened to Candlemass?!? Because I'm sure if you had, you wouldn't consider (the otherwise excellent) Doomsword the best doom metal band you've ever heard!

Doomsword are fucking killer. I just wish they would hurry up and get a new guitarist so they can release another album.


OOOODDDDIIIIINNNNN!!

Ah, thanks. I know Draconian.. that fifteen minute track from Arcane Rain Fell was actually quite sexy, too.

The reason I asked was because I was picking up on the power elements in the Epic Doom subgenre, IE, Candlemass, Solitude Aeternus, that Tristitia album I reviewed.. I suppose there isn't that much epic doom being made.

Hey nice to see you finally updated your site . Actually I go there quite frequently now. Half of those bands have been there for a while.

Still no Cellador :x . Chris ran out of demos a while ago, but he'll be getting some more shortly.

You gave a 3.5/5 to the new Nevermore??? Are you fucking insane? At least a 4.5/5!

If you want some Killer doom get some Manilla Road!!

I'm not really into doom, so I really should have clarified that I only have 4 or 5 bands that are near that style when I said "Doomsword is the best doom band I've ever heard". Sorry about the misleading comment... 8)
So you're right, I don't have Candlemass, Solitude Aeternus and others... Domine, Doomsword, Draconain and probably a few others that slip my mind right now are all I have.

Just keep in mind, I'm pure power metal at heart, so although some "doom" exists on the site and we include it in the "range" of the site, It's not really a stlye that I'm into. 8)




I'm very pleased to know that you are a "regular" visitor of the site.
Thanks, and glad it can help you... 8)

Note: The site is updated every Friday, but new ratings/comments/reviews only occur about every-other-week (usually 2 a month). For the rest of the updates, I usually just add a "note" describing upcoming reviews. We RARELY have a 3 week gap between the main ratings/comments/reviews updates.

When considering we only cover one genre, I think we're doing great...




First off, thanks for checking out the site!
Secondly, yes I have been labeled "insane" before. :?
Thirdly, thanks for providing a second opinion on the CD. A 3.5 rating is quite high with the rating system, but to clarify... I like some of Nevermore's mid-era CDs better, but it is quite an improvement over 'Enemies of reality'.


Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I know, they are just crazy over there at that site! 2.5/5 for Jon Oliva's Pain! What!?!?! HUH!! *melts into a pool of slime and slides down a steep hill and into the towns water supply, contaminating it and killing hundreds* See what you did?!

Make sure you've read the "rating system"...
http://www.angelfire.com/music5/metalcd ... YSTEM.html

...as 2/5 is average, meaning the 2.5/5 for Jon Oliva's Pain is actually an above average CD. Plus, there are 2 opinions on the CD, as fellow colleague David handed out a 3.5/5.
I don't think there are many fans who consider the CD "excellent", which would be 4/5. 8)

It's a strict rating system, yes. But if we handed out a 4/5 or 4.5/5 for every CD, the site would not be helpful.
Don't get mislead by thinking 2/5 or 2.5/5 is "bad", this simply means "Average" or "okay".
1/5 would be "bad", or more specifically "below average".

Hope this helps... 8)

Jon Oliva's Pain would get a 4.5/5 from me, it was my number one album from 2004. Its however my opinion and I was only joking by flipping out.

Interesting...




Yes, I still wanted to make sure everyone undertands the rating system though. It's the whole key to the site... 8)

You have to write a few more actual reviews. The reviews you HAVE written are fine. But a few more would certainly be nice.

Thanks for your input/feedback.

I can promise you that all 5 of us reviewers are doing the best we can to produce FULL-reviews. This is why we don't deal with MP3's, forum, news, etc. --- so that we can focus on ratings and reviews only. We'll leave the other things up to great websites like this one.

Remember, the site's only been up for a little over a year, and we have updates regularly (described above at an earlier reply), so the site will certainly grow as far as content.

One other thing: Nobody has the time and creativity to write a review for every single CD that's released, and that's why I think the site is so valuable, we at least provide a rating/comment to make fans know a title exists. Actually, for those who haven't noticed... the site is listed discography-complete (alpha-links) as far as full-length CDs. Quite helpful I think... 8)

Thanks!