Metal Reviews

Discussion Thread...

I'd have to say the two very best albums so far are:
Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia
Blitzkrieg - Sins and Greed

the other three
Jacob's Dream - Theatre of Ages
Kamelot - The Black Halo (I'd replace this one with Lana Lane but it can't be called metal really)
Force of Evil - Black Empire

blitzkrieg mp3 http://www.blitzed-alive.com/standingstill.mp3

Overall pretty disappointed with the year. Although good albums, blitzkrieg and morgana lefay wouldn't reach over 90%.

The latest Lanfear and Catharsis are going to be the top two for me for sure.

Close behind...
The latest Kamelot, Power Quest, Wonderland, Nocturnal Rites, Kapel Maister, and I'm sure there are some others I can't seem to recall right now.

Clint

NP: Thy Majestie - Jeanne D 'Arc

Hey MetalNESS....

I think you flip flopped your Prog votes and you Power/Trad votes.

Let me know if I should change them.

I'm putting Sigh - Gallows Gallery in here. It's very weird H/PM, but fits in.

What do you guys think? Should Nevermore go in Heavy/Power/True or somewhere else?

Jesus, I was dissapointed by Freedom Call, Stratovarius and Hammerfall and this was still a killer year for power and heavy metal :shock:

Contenders:

Timeless Miracle - Into the Enchanted Chamber
Gamma Ray - Majestic
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Nocturnal Rites - Grand Illusion
Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution
Savage Circus - Dreamland Manor

And I still haven't heard the new Nevermore ( :? ) and I have probably forgotten some...man this is gonna get hard : :?

Well, he is retarded, so he probably meant to do it. :roll:

HAHA!
Have you stheen my bastheballl?


IT WAS EARLY!!!! I hadn't had my coffee!!! Actually no, I'm just a dumbass. Yeah go ahead and switch them Mike.

This will probably be my hardest decision since 70% of the metal i've listened this year is mostly in this category.Too many good releases to fit in a top 5.

Hahaha. Any time I see that I laugh! Hahaha...LOL, if you will.

Hey buddy, I think I know where your ball is. That girl over there has it, but she doesn't call it a baseball, she's got another name for it...

Copied from voting thread:

1. Primal Fear -- Seven Seals
2. Grave Digger -- The Last Supper
3. Helloween -- Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy
4. Paragon -- Revenge
5. Judas Priest -- Angel of Retribution

Actually I'm not even all that crazy about the bottom three. The Helloween, as much as I love the band with all my heart and soul, I have to say it is probably their worst with Andi Deris, the Paragon is as derivative as usual and also a step down from their last and the Priest is merely OK.

Like Helloween, Primal Fear is a top ten band of mine and while they have indeed strayed pretty far from the all-out rippage of 'Nuclear Fire' with the new album, it's still a huge step up from the previous 'Devil's Ground' which was their worst to date by far. This album continues in the same slightly experimental and less leavy vein of that album, but turns out far more successful results. Admittedly, the Sinner "cover" (or re-recording if you will) is clearly the album's finest moment, but the man's not completely out of ideas yet, I say.

Although the idea of a concept album about the last supper of Christ before his crucifixion may seem like somewhat of a stunt, musically 'The Last Supper' plays it really safe. It's essentially what you could call "another solid 'Digger release", so you can't really go wrong with it - but this is almost assuredly their most "recycled" release to date as well as the one where the songs sounds similar to each other the most.

But then, there's a ton of stuff I haven't heard yet, like the new Running Wild for instance. I generally don't download albums in their entirety, unless they're demos or OOP's or something.

You're DQ'd by way of retardation!! :shock:

Maybe it'd be better in the Avant-Garde poll?

8)

Well, to go a little bit into detail on the matter: the songwriting on the album continues in that derivative typical Euro-power sound that flawed the previous 'Rabbit' and made it a notable step down from 'Dark Ride'. I don't like the idea of veteran bands standing on the shoulders of younger bands that were influenced by said veteran band in the first place much.

Now, there are some real winners on there (particularly "My Life for One More Day", a newborn classic of theirs), but also a whole shitload of filler. Then, the two epic songs are both kind of overlong and the lead single "Mrs. God" may be catchy and fun, but gets seriously old after a while. It sorta resembles 'Better Than Raw''s "I Can", but is nowhere as good.

I think probably 'Dark Ride' is the band's strongest moment due to consistency alone, with 'Time of the Oath' a close second.

Yep, moved it!

I have the feeling you lot have completely forgotten Slough Feg's Atavism which is a great traditional heavy metal album... the best in its category this year (Judas Priest & Bruce Dickinson just can't compete to it)... you have to try it !!!

I tried it, and there was a reason why I forgot about it. That reason being, it's forgettable.