Metal Reviews

i have decided to change my ways of listening to albums 2 years after they come out. from now on i'm listening to them 1 year after they come out.

after reading the lists i'm checking the following out:
thy catafalque*
cellador
coheed and cambria
cryptopsy's new one
sigh
taake
terror 2000
children of bodom's new one
wintersun
vanishing point
velvel cacoon
klabautamann
jesu
pelican
drudkh
napalm death's new one

*already listened to two songs i downloaded from the link provided by Misha+, very very nice.

and also Aghora which i was told to check out over 1 year ago but still haven't anyone heard them?

if you feel i'm missing something please recommend more stuff (from 2005 i mean).

also, Hammefall - what's their best album? and the fastest one? i love Kamelot, will i (probably) like Hammerfall?

+ http://www.shockmagazin.hu/english/down ... wnload.htm (scroll to thy catafalque - it's in alphabetical order)

Dreamcatcher
Nightingale
Pro-Pain

Since you've mentioned Pro-Pain roughly 400 times in this thread, and described them as being hardcore with loads of thrash, I'm going to check them out more thoroughly.

All I have is Fistful of Hate, and I dislike it. Should I pick up Prophets of Doom or something else entirely?

Certainly their two fastest are the first two - Glory to the Brave and Legacy of Kings, of which the former is better. Regarding Kamelot, it depends which Kamelot albums you like, but really the two bands are very dissimilar. If you like The Fourth Legacy and Karma then you'll most likely enjoy HammerFall's earlier works.

I didn't say loads of thrash, but it is there. More of that hardcore thrash, though, like Anthrax, not Exodus, you know?

Each album is a little different. Shreds Of Dignity is much faster, but that lends a more punk/hardcore sound. On Round 6 they tried clean singing in a few choruses, then tried it again on Fistful Of Hate. On Prophets Of Doom there is a little acoustic work at the beginning of one song (a first) and some death metal vocals (another first). The Truth Hurts is easily their heaviest album, at least the vocals make it appear to be. The one problem with that album is a guest spot on "Put The Lights Out" by Ice T, he fucking sucks.

Anyway, after all that, I don't know! =) If you don't like Fistful Of Hate you probably won't like anything else they've done as their style has only slightly changed album to album.

I'll try Prophets or The Truth Hurts, then. Maybe I'll like one of those.

Eyesore what do you think of "run for cover"? i like cover albums, should i check that one out?

Yay Eyesore pointed out that a7x do in fact suck!

I love you <3

I skimmed through the other lists and noticed a serious lack of Arsis

Like most covers albums it's a bit hit or miss and uninspired in spots. I attribute that mainly to the choice of material. Discharge, Agnostic Front, Black Flag and some of the other hardcore covers are great, but it's hardcore, you know? There's not a whole lot you can do with it so those covers kind of fall flat. The Sepultura, Life Of Agony and Slayer covers are great, the Celtic Frost cover is pretty cool, too, the solo is great. Gary can bust out with some killer solos. The Crumbsuckers cover is cool, too, definitely a great old school hardcore band (which Gary was also in). I don't know, it's not my favorite by them, but it's definitely not a stinker.

Now, now...I didn't say they suck. I do sort of like them (serious emphasis on "sort of"), but they're not fucking power metal.

Maybe I'll get heat from this but: Am I the only one who liked Stratovarius this year?

It can't be a disapointement for me as I had never heard of the band before. But, when I listened to this album, I tought it was pretty good. There's some great songs like:"Fight", "Just Carry On" and "Gypsy in me".

I guess people were expecting something else, but like I said, I wasn't expecting anything. It's in my top 5.

I still don't own that album, but I'm pretty sure at least one reviewer put that in their top 15.

Many who didn't like the album are the ones that followed Strato for a long time.Put in albums like Infinite,Destiny and Fourth Dimension and you will see a damn big difference.The album is shallow,stale and cold unlike their other stuff.

Let me change what I said here, I just put the CD in after writing this and gave it a listen. I haven't listened to it in a long time. The songs don't sound uninspired, in fact, they're done quite well and show that Gary is actually a damn good singer. He pulls of a great Lemmy, an equally good Max Cavallera and a pretty respectable Keith Caputo (who's a stunning vocalist).

The problem is that it's just not completely hard-hitting like Pro-Pain normally is. The punk covers are just that: punk covers. So, it just comes of as Pro-Pain Lite sometimes, I guess. Uninspired was a bad description.

That's exactly my take on the album. Never hearing the band before would definitely be a fresh perspective, but if you've heard the above albums, this new one just doesn't cut it (for me at least).

Individually I like almost all the songs (despite a few "what the fuck" moments along the way), but the disappointing thing is how toned-down it all is. I like the way they stripped down the OTT keyboards after the two Elements albums, which probably killed a few diabetic listeners, but Strtovarius without noodly neo-classical guitar just ain't right. Could have done with some more double bass as well.

And might I recommend, if you're going to check out early Strato, start with Visions. That is their best work, IMO.

I'll just comment on the power/prog metal albums you listed. Sigh is weird, but very good. After my first listen I was confused as to why they got a power metal label (they are not power metal). Then I gave them a few more spins and they were on my top five avant-garde. Wintersun, again not your every day power metal, are very good (I believe the debut was released in 2004 though). Vanishing Point is a progressive/power metal band. It took a couple of spins to get into them, but they were definitely worthy of making my top five prog releases. And Cellador, I can't say enough about these guys. They are going to be one of the more promising bands of 2006. Right now they are in Florida recording for their debut album due out in May, I believe. I've heard a few samples and they will not disappoint. As for Hammerfall, take Radagast’s advice.

The only Starto albums I own are the two Elements albums and Intermission, so I may have to pick up the new one first, before I delve deeper into their catalog. They have a lot of fucking CDs! :shock:

As for Cellador, I agree. I put them as one of my 2005 surprises. I've had in only—what?—a month? I've listened to it about 200 times. Hehehe. I thought I read that they've finished recording the new one somewhere?

Fourth Dimension, Episode, Visions and Destiny are the most recommended Strato releases from me. Everything after Destiny is mediocre, but those four I mentioned are all excellent power metal, some of the best in business.