These are the old ones I posted on some other messageboards. You may not like a lot of this stuff, but some people might. No scores on these because I'm not going back and scoring all them.
Nor are there song clips and website info. Sorry.
KARABOUDJAN - SBROUDJ (EP)
What the hell is wrong with Dan Swanö? I can't review this thing! I don't even know where to begin...and it's only three songs long! This EP is labeled by some as death metal, but with it being an instrumental album it's hard to agree with that label. The only words on this EP are random spoken word samples in Swedish. The music is a mixture between metal, sludge, and psychedelic rock with keyboards, electronic effects and noise, and the aforementioned sampling. With that said, I did quite enjoy this little EP. It just grooves in its own heavy-to-melodic weirdness, and the odd samples give it an eerie sort of feel. It is good, but only recommended for fans of all-things-Swanö because it offers little more than weird, grooving background music for others.
CATARACT - WITH TRIUMPH COMES LOSS
There's not much to be said about
Cataract. They're a metalcore band from Switzerland and stylistically they're not much different than any of the other bands out there doing this style of music. But where most of those bands are pretty much unimpressive due to the corporate saturation of the genre,
Cataract transcend due to their crafty songwriting skills. Instead of employing the standard scream-verse-melodic-chorus formula, they instead go for the throat for most of the album with crushing riffs, guttural vocals, and extremely heavy and catchy songs. This is not to say there is no melody, because there is,
Cataract have just chosen to use it intelligently when it fits into the song instead of building the song around a predetermined template (i.e. scream-verse-melodic-chorus-repeat both-breakdown-possible solo, but doubtful-repeat chorus-repeat chorus again but with overlaying scream and melodic vocals) that so many other bands are clearly doing.
Cataract impressed me with great songwriting, which is far more important than originality, style, image, and every other aspect of music. Great songs rule the roost. So, simply put: This is one of the best metalcore albums I've ever heard. Buy it!
PAIN OF SALVATION - BE
The prog-rock/metal style has never been an easy one to swallow for some people and the reason is all of the over-pretentious, self-indulgent, and overtly demanding yet non-rewarding music within the genre. Unfortunately,
Pain Of Salvation's
Be falls into this category. I wanted to like this CD so bad—and I listened to this album at least 5 times to make it happen—but Daniel Gildenlöw's 9-years-in-the-making project is just too weak to conquer it's ultimate goal of connecting the listener to theories on creation, whether it be the human race or the universe itself. This CD is packed full of vocals, but most of them are spoken word vocals instead of singing, which makes it extremely difficult to get into because there is virtually no hook, nothing to suck you into the song. And, sadly, with the spoken words you forget about the music, it becomes background music and totally inconsequential. Of course, without following along with the CD booklet you're completely lost as to what the spoken bits are supposed to convey, and that's only if you can get past all the ridiculous Latin— which 99% of us will not understand—and contrived "lyrics." The song "Vocari Dei" features real messages to "God" left by fans on the band's own answering machine, this is interesting the first time you hear it, but gets annoying by the second spin because it's not involving you, the listener, it's just a bunch of people from around the world speaking to someone else.
As for the music, well it's not so much heavy and progressive as it is slow, meandering and unmemorable. It just sort of slowly plods on with the occasional bright spot sparking your attention only to be replaced too soon with more nonsensical spoken rambling. The musicianship, vocals, and CD packaging are top-notch, but it's hard to believe that anyone but the most patient and loyally blind
Pain Of Salvation fans and Daniel Gildenlöw, himself, could enjoy this CD.
CONSPIRACY - THE UNKNOWN
A prog rock band featuring a member of the 70's prog band, Yes. Everything about this CD is great—from the cover to the musicians to the production—except the songs themselves. Unfortunately, like many a prog band, it becomes rather tedious and boring. There are some really good songs here, but the majority of them are just meandering prog rock jams with few memorable moments. If you like The Flower Kings, Enchant and Yes, you may enjoy this, though.
TWILIGHT OPHERA - THE END OF THE HALYCON AGE
Nordic black metal from Finland! The good thing about this CD is that the singer has more of a melodic death metal voice and not the standard higher register rasping of a lot of black metal bands, the music is also much more dynamic than your traditional black metal outfit utilizing a variety of musical styles, instrumentation and song structures to break up the monotony that plagues many bands in this genre. There are also clean male and female vocals interspersed throughout the CD and with elements of power metal, traditional metal and gothic rock this CD comes highly recommended! And I'm usually no fan of black metal.
NO WARNING - SUFFER, SURVIVE
You can't help but compare these guys to Sum 41! Anyone who has heard what Sum 41 are capable of when it comes to heavy metal (listen to "The Bitter End" from the album Chuck) then you can get an idea of what this band is like, just think heavier. This is very much a punk rock heavy metal band. On certain songs the singer sounds a lot like the singer from Sum 41, but at other times he sounds like the singer from Obituary, or both combined! The music is slightly heavier than the heaviest track the afformentioned Sum 41 have done, but the combination of punk and metal just mixes beautifully. If you want a quick glimpse as to what they sound like, combine Sum 41 with Metallica and Obituary, mix, and serve. This is No Warning. And it's excellent.
VIENNA TENG - WAKING HOUR
Think Tori Amos and Sarah Mclachlan and you'll be able to grasp where Teng's musical style resides. The songs range from quiet, solo piano ballads to more uptempo piano-driven rock tunes and they all showcase intellectual, poetic lyrics and great melodies and hooks, and strong, emotional vocals. This is her first CD, and from what I've read her sophomore CD—released this year—blows this one away, and this is a great CD.
STARWOOD - IF IT AIN'T BROKE, BREAK IT
The only thing that this band has going for them is that it is fronted by the legendary Lizzy Borden! This is what has garnered them the slight media attention they've gotten, it had to be because it sure isn't the music. Brides Of Destruction caused a buzz this year because Nikki Sixx was in the band, but Brides fell victim to the same problem that haunts Starwood: mediocre songs. Maybe in 1983 these songs would have been better accepted, but it's 2004 and songs like "all My Girlfriends Have Boyfriends" is just plain stupid, especially coming from men in their 40's! This isn't to say the album is bad, I feel that it was well worth my $2 spent, but much more than that and I would have been a little upset. It's nostalgic in it's style and that is great, but the songs get boring very quickly. That's the glaring problem with this album; it's just boring.
TONY C & THE TRUTH - DEMONOPHOBIC BLUES
For those of you who find yourself digging on Everlast, but are turned off by the I'm-still-a-rapper banter, then Tony C might be something you'd be interested in. This is funky, beat-oriented bluesy rock, but with more a live band feel. Tony C, the singer, even comes off as an Everlast clone, but less raspy and more singing ability. I was surprised at how good this CD was, it catchy as hell, and just a really good funky blues/rock album. The killer bluesy jam-fest cover of "Fight For Your Right (To Party)"—originally by the Beastie Boys (in case you're retarded and didn't know)—just puts the final stamp on this album of quality songs.
THE DISTILLERS - CORAL FANG
Gritty, hook-laden, early 80's style punk! Think Bad Religion with Cortney Love singing. Great CD, hot singer (not that it matters, but it's good to know).
BAD ACID TRIP - LYNCH THE WEIRDO
Take one ounce of Mr. Bungle insanity, one cup of Dog Fashion Disco romp, a few shavings of black metal, mix it all together, and you'll have a slight idea of what Bad Acid Trip sound like. I found myself listening to this CD going, "Man, this is crap...no wait...this is pretty kick ass...no...it definitely sucks...well, nah...this pretty fucking good...um...now it sucks...hmmm...pretty good" and so on and so on. I've listened to it since and it's the same thing, it's like each song is bi-polar! It's weird, but if you like unstructured insanity for music then you'll probably love this CD.
SKINLAB - REVOLTING ROOM
Once a promising band, but this CD is just too nu-metal for me. When they first came out I could hear a lot of "Burn My Eyes" era Machine Head in their music, but this CD is just too generic in scope compared to their earlier releases. Still OK for what it is, but nothing great.
TWELVE TRIBES - THE REBIRTH OF TRAGEDY
Metalcore! Nothing new here. Not bad, but aside from the sometimes rap-like vocal delivery this is your standard 2004 screamo-verse-melodic-chorus metalcore band.
HAZEN STREET - S/T
This band asked for it: What do you get when you combine Madball with H20 and some Fun Loving Criminals? Answer: A watered down CD that isn't fun and has no balls—mad, happy or indifferent. HA! I'm a journalistic genius! Anyway, I can live without the Fun Loving Criminals, and I love Madball and H20, but this CD is just pop punk with a darker, more inner city vibe. It's catchy, but it's nothing spectacular! Freddy Criecen (Madball) and Toby Morse (H20) trade off in the vocal department, Hoya (Madball) is on bass here, Mackie (Fun Loving Criminals) is found on drums and some other dudes round out the rest of the band. Combined there is a lot of talent in this band, but with the guys from Madball here I would expect some more of a hardcore edge mixed in with the punk rock of the band H20. Instead, it's just bland and typical.
LULLACRY - BE MY GOD
Lullacry are part of that overseas crop of female-fronted metal bands. They play a mixture of rock and metal; somewhat heavy, somewhat mellow, but mostly they're rooted somewhere in between. They've been around for quite a while, but they've only released two full length albums. Most recently they've put out an EP, and they have some singles floating around but they're only found through import shops. This particular album features their old singer, but not surprisingly she sounds almost identical to their latest singer. If you want a good idea to what this band sounds like, think Evanescence and Sinergy combined. Very catchy rock/metal mix. Definitely worth a listen if you like female fronted metal bands.
THE APEX THEORY - INTHATSKYISSOMETHINGWATCHING (EP)
[ Click Here For Image ]
The Apex Theory was a band that just blew me away when I first heard them. Their music defies categorization. It's rock, it's metal, it's punk, it's jazz, it's poetic, standard time signatures are a rarity, and it's 100% original. That's what drew me to them. No other band has their sound. Their old singer, Andy, was once the drummer for System Of A Down through their three years as an unsigned band playing on all three demos, so the subsequent success of System Of A Down surely helped get them more exposure; especially since the band is from LA and three members were Armenian (with one American) and the Armenian population there jumped on the bandwagon "just because." Regardless, the band deserved that exposure and though those factors may have helped them, I still think their talent and ability to craft great songs is what carried them. I can name quite a few Armenian bands from LA that simply suck and get almost zero exposure.
So, now the band returns after a little lay-off and they're without Andy as a singer (he's gone on to start to new projects, Vokee and Ontronik). Art has taken on double-duty as guitarist and vocalist and the choice was a good one considering he has the same vocal style as Andy had. Unfortunately, Andy's creativity is quite different from Art's, so the lyrics and melodies sound decidedly different. This EP is still a great EP, but if you expect the band to sound like the Apex of old, you'll be disappointed because it does not really sound like the old band. Musically not much has changed, though, so the foundation is still intact. It's the words and melodies that have changed. Not for the better, but not for the worst either. The Apex Theory are still on course to greatness.
THE MUSIC - WELCOME TO THE NORTH
I first heard The Music while in England. I remember the song "The People" came on the Kerrang! channel and from the other room I could hear this song just jamming! It was like Perry Ferrel joined this funky disco rock band, and I had to go out and see what it was. That was my favorite for song at least a month straight and then I started picking up their CDs, which were mainly three or four EPs at that point. Their full length later convinced me even more that this band was great. Surprisingly, they even got some exposure over here in the US, so I was pretty happy when their latest album was released here and I didn't have to pay $30 for it. Good thing, too, because I don't really like it as much as their last album and the EPs. This album is just missing those driving disco rock jams that were on their last album. Don't get me wrong, this is a good album, but it's more mellow. The first single "Freedom Fighters" is the sort of song that I expected more of, unfortunately there's not much more than this song on the album to wake me up when listening to it. The new album is a "chill" album, meaning I'll listen to it when I'm chillin', but I won't be kick-stepping in my red velvet underwear to this album any time soon. I'll have to continue doing that to their other releases.
PILLAR - WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
Christian rapcore. Typical, but really good. Better than P.O.D., there's not much more to say on this one.
PROJECT 86 - SONGS TO BURN YOUR BRIDGES BY
I buy a lot of CDs by Christian bands considering I'm not religious! Is God trying to speak to me?? This is yet another Christian band. There are some rap influences here, some rock, some metal, some nu-metal, and I like it. Nothing special really, nothing we haven't heard before, but I like this band. They have some crap songs, don't get me wrong, but they do have some really catchy tunes for the most part.
SKINDRED - BABYLON
Have you heard the single "Nothing?" Wow! That song smokes!! Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't come close to the greatness of that song. Just like their first album, good but not great. It's unfortunate that the song "Nothing" set my expectations so high, if not maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed in this one.
SOCIAL DISTORTION - SEX, LOVE AND ROCK 'N' ROLL
Social D is one of my all-time favorite bands! Mike Ness can do no wrong! I even like his country-tinged rock-a-billy albums! But now Mike seems to have mellowed out quite a bit. This album is no sellout album, but it's definitely got a different vibe going on it and I think the word "love" in the title might give some insight into this. It seems that maybe Mike isn't angry anymore. This is still a CD I can enjoy, but it took some getting used to. The hard-edged punk of old is gone, and a new introspective, almost lulling, beauty is present. It's different, and it's been a long time coming, but I can't complain. Mike Ness and Social D still rule!
THERAPY? - NEVER APOLOGISE NEVER EXPLAIN
God, this band is so good!! I first started listening to Therapy? back in the early 90's when a manager of mine at a music store I worked at introduced me to their "Nurse" CD. At the time, I wasn't very impressed because back then I was still fairly close-minded about music. But then they released their "Troublegum" album and that CD blew me away. It was just too good to not take notice. After that, "Nurse" became more appealing. It's still not their greatest album, but aside from a track or two it's a killer CD. Since then Therapy? have consistently given us great music. They've release about 10 EPs and more singles, most of which having unreleased songs on them, and not to mention all the full length albums they've put out. They also continuously release live songs, demos and unreleased tracks via their website. This band owns!
Over the course of 10 studio albums the band has consistently given us greatness, but at the same time they've evolved their sound. No two albums sound alike, some sound similar, but on each their is something that makes it unique. "Troublegum" is very alt-rock oriented, "Shameless" is very punk rock, "Suicide Pact - You First" is experimental and noisy with longer songs, "Infernal Love" is almost poppy, "Semi-Detached" was a poppy alt-rock album, "High Anxiety" was a return to their "Troublegum" sound, but heavier and more mellow at the same time, and this new album is simply ferocious punk/metal album...and it's so good!
From first song to last, this album kicks ass. It's full of hooks and melodies and noisy heaviness that you just can't find in a band every day. Yet, after 15 years Therapy? continue to make great, amazing music. The one thing that is unfortunate about the band nowadays is their lack of singles. With no good record deal since their days with A&M (where they released about 20 singles) it is hard for them to release new singles because they're just can't afford it. They released two singles from "Shameless," one from last year's "High Anxiety" and so far nothing from this new album with no plans for one either. Truly sad, but by no fault of the band. Hopefully, we'll get a b-sides album someday so we can hear the unreleased songs they would have undoubtedly released on singles had there been anything remotely close to label support for these guys over the past few years. Anyway, iIf you haven't ever heard this band, I cannot recommend them enough. You won't be disappointed.
WAR AND PEACE - LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
War And Peace started as a side project for Dokken bass player Jeff Pilson in 1993. So far they have released four albums, this being the third and first where Jeff plays the role of primary songwriter and musician. The overpowering role he played in Dokken's sound over the years is clearly evident here. Jeff's vocal performance is very strong and his melodies sound almost indentical to how they sound on Dokken albums. The music is a mix of 80's rock and a more modern rock sound. The songs themselves are excellent and very catchy. And considering that this album came out after Jeff left Dokken I can't help but wonder how much better Dokken's latest two CDs would have been if Jeff had been in the band and contributed some of these songs to those albums. They were good albums, but this is a great album. Fans of Dokken, or those who crave an ode to the old school should try and find this album.
A bit of advice—something someone should have mentioned to the band—NEVER use the "Nightmare Before Christmas" font on ANYTHING!!
ABYDOS - A LITTLE BOY'S HEAVY METAL SHADOW OPERA ABOUT THE INHABITANTS OF HIS DIARY
This CDs cover caught my attention in the record store. It's on Inside Out Music so I knew it was some sort of prog rock/metal band, but I'd never heard of them, or him as it turns out. There is a prog metal band called Vanden Plas and this is that band's singer's first solo album. His name is Andy Kuntz, what a name! Imagine if his name was Randy! Anyway, the title is a little too long, if not odd, and it is clearly a concept album. Abydos, in Egypt, is reported to be the birthplace of theater, so with that in mind you can sort of see where this CD is going to take you before hearing it (and apparently this will someday be an actual musical).
Andy's vocals sound quite a bit like James Labrie, and often times he sounds identical, so he is quite a good vocalist, as you could imagine. The music varies from track to track, each one is unique and offers something a little different to keep it from becoming a boring prog metal album, which happens quite a bit in this genre that breeds too much self-indulgent wankery. The music ranges between hard melodic rock to full-blown prog metal, and while it is very good, it is not original, nor mind-blowing. But with a running time of 70.20 minutes of very solid music, you can't really complain about originality.
WHERE ANGELS FALL – DIES IRAE (EP)
[ Click Here For CD Cover ]
Where Angels Fall are a gothic doom metal band. They play a style quite similar to Sirenia and Tristania, but without the male death metal vocals and slightly on the mellower side. The music is very atmospheric with a lot of keyboards and background chanting. Lead singer Eirin has a great voice that fits perfectly with the music. The songs are very well written and none of the four songs found on this EP are anything short of excellent. If I had to complain about anything it would simply be that it isn’t long enough. Hopefully this band will get a full-length out there soon. I’d recommend this EP to anyone who enjoys dark, gothic doom metal.
RHAPSODY - SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS: I & II
I figured I'd finally check these guys out by buying their second album from 1998 and it's sequel that came out this year. Last year I purchased Luca Turilli's (Rhapsody's guitarist and one of two main songwriters) "Propheth Of The Last Eclipse" album and loved it from the second the first song kicked in. It was way over the top epic, symphonic power metal with what sounded like a choir of 2,000. I loved it. After picking up Luca's other album, and his two singles, I decided to check out Rhapsody. Simply put, Luca's solo stuff sounds EXACTLY like Rhapsody. The same style of songs are present here. This time, though, it's all about fantasy with warriors, dragons, castles and all things Tolkien-like. Cheese factor aside (which is very high, by the way), these two CDs are excellent! Very fast, very atmospheric, HUGE sounding songs. I'd recommend this band and Luca's solo CDs to any fan of this type of power metal. Luca's solo stuff is a bit better, though.
EMINEM - ENCORE
Still an extremely talented wordsmith, but is he getting a bit boring now? I mean, haven't we heard enough of his goofy songs like "Just Lose It" or songs about how he hates Kim, and loves Hailey and will murder anyone who mentions her name, or how he hates his Mom? I mean, in "Just Lose It" and "Mosh"—the albums first 2 singles—he even samples himself for crying out loud!! Now, there are some excellent songs on this album. It's rap, so it'll get boring real quick if I listen to it all day, but this album is no stinker by any means. I just feel that Eminem has dug himself a hole and he's sort of regurgitating old ideas. He is, however, seeming to play a bigger role in producing, which in the rap world means making beats, and occasionally he shows promise like on the song "Just Like Toy Soldiers" where he samples Martika's hit from the 80's "Toy Soldiers," but unfortunately the transition from rap verse to Martika's chorus doesn't seem to blend well, and on top of that there is this annoying drummer boy cadence that goes on throughout the song and is just a little annoying. Still, on the whole this is a good album. Not as good as his last two, but worthy nonetheless. I just think it's time for him up the ante a bit and try something a little different.
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