Metal Reviews

I've just listened to NAG all the way through (minus the Bonus Tracks - which consist simply of a Japan-only song and three demos recorded about a year before the album's release) in the car this morning. Overall, great album. Though, if you've heard one LOG, you've pretty much heard them all. Dropped-D tuning in pretty much every song, semi-proggy Testament-style riffs, consciously technical Machine Head-style drumming, growling death metal vocals (though one of my favorite things about NAG is that it mixes the vocals up a little more than on the next two LOG albums - 85% of the time using the "deeper voiced Chuck Billy" growl, 10% of the time using a thrash metal scream, and the remaining 5% of the time using a higher pitched shriek). Not that there's anything wrong with LOG's sound (the guitar riffs on this particular album are awesome), but I really hope they continue taking the risks they took on Sacrament and perhaps even include a *gasp* ballad on their next album (or at least a song that uses a tuning other than D).

I should probably mention that what I have is the remastered version released last year, which sounds pretty good except that the drums have that "clicky" sound, which detracts a bit from the heaviness of the music.

Overall: 86/100. What does everybody else think of it?

I'd love to get an archive of this review in. It shows a much rawer version of the band and is a great display of Chris Adler's drumming. I have the original version, and though the bass drum sounds like cardboard, he rules.




Black Label grooves like no other.

I haven't heard it, or the Burn The Priest album, yet, and I want to. Love Palaces and Ashes, great band.

It's kind of odd. Palaces used to be my favorite LOG album. Now, I think it's actually become my least favorite. Part of it is that it was released during a somewhat bad time in my life, so listening to the album kind of reminds me of that time. And it just feels like a stripped down version of AOTW without the creativity of NAG nor the variety of Sacrament.

A Devil In God's Country is still one of my favorite LOG songs, though. And it also gets my vote for "Best Song Title Of 2003."

I have the remastered version of Burn The Priest, and let me tell you, it's fucking tits. Randy's most intense vocal performance of any of their albums, fans complain about how he doesn't sound like that anymore, but if he screeched and growled like he does on BTP, he would really hurt himself. I really like the way the album is mixed as well, it sounds both in-your-face and raw at the same time. The guitars have a thick sound, the bass punches through nicely, and Adler's drums have plenty of power to their sound. Still, there is a bit of constant fuzz through all this, like the band was playing very loudly. I like it, some may find it annoying.

The album grooves all over the place, never gets too complicated or boring, and is a great slab of aggressive American metal. One of the few albums I can listen to at almost any time and enjoy all 14 songs.