Zombi’s selling point is that it’s compositions recall sci-fi / horror soundtracks from the heyday of the ‘80s. I grew up in the ‘80s, and I never watched horror movies. I thought they’d be too scary for me.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized that "horror" films really aren’t that scary after all (I had a similar revelation about roller coasters). So, to me, Surface to Air doesn’t conjure up images of crazed, hockey-masked murderers, chainsaws cutting through flesh, or, yes, zombies. Don’t buy this album expecting horrific sounds; rather, the album is quite pleasant and relaxing.

What Surface to Air does sound like is a very interesting and passively engaging instrumental record. The three main elements are drums, bass guitar, and keyboards, which play the strongest role. The keyboard tones are an utter success, evoking a sort of ‘80s period sci-fi sound, the kind of thing you might hear in a movie like "Escape From New York," but polished to contemporary standards. Rather than weedy, twerpy syntheses that plague many metal-related releases, the keyboards have an analog, organic sound while still evoking the fantastic. These tones also remind of Rush circa their mid-‘80s output, like on albums such as Power Windows and Signals.

The drums are on the simple side, but the deliciously rich, organic tones and relaxed style of playing make them perfect for the album’s goal. Likewise, the bass has all the room in needs to be heard in its entirety, which is fortunate as it contributes a great deal to the tracks melodic hooks.

We called Surface to Air passively engrossing. The album’s five tracks over 45 minutes range from a four-minute exploration to an 18-minute quest. However, the relative lengths of the compositions don’t affect their effectiveness. Unless you watch the counter attentively, you might not notice how long you might be listening to "Night Rhythms," for example. Standout tracks are the first couple, "Challenger" and "Digitalis," for their most remarkable keyboard work. While Surface to Air is not the kind of record that you might put on your best-of list, it is the kind of CD that you’ll always feel up to listening to. The tones and their applications are great fun, especially if you’re a child of the ‘80s or a fan of John Carpenter’s soundtracks. (7.5/10)

Finally a decent funk metal release!

No, it’s not that I’m an avid fan of funk metal, but given that the genre’s popularity has declined considerably, a release such as Evolocity’s debut is refreshing in a way.

This is not to say I’m taking this album light headedly, as surely these guys need more than a lame genre association in order to convince me to convince you to get it; and you should.

The songwriting is concrete and catchy, with lyrics bitching about common man’s matters that deserve the grumble. In fact, even when the lyrics are a bit abstruse in their delivery — often equipped with thickly treading bass lines and an assured vocal performance — they are convincing enough to make you buy it (pun intended).

The rhythm section is righteously placed upfront, and on songs like the jumpy "Cockeyed" (which hints at Red Hot Chili Peppers) it makes all the difference. This sleight of hand as well as the fat sound can be attributed to co-producer and engineer Bill Kennedy, whose resume includes albums by Megadeth, Nine Inch Nails, Monster Magnet and others.

At times, the songs exhibit a slight nu-metal tendency, but as a general rule, the riffs are more hard rock-driven and whirlpool-like in nature; kind of like Moist mixed with Incubus. There are also some well-arranged sections within the songs, like the rhythmic introduction and midsection of "Natural Drag," the sax playing on "Duh Wayne," or the somewhat dramatic slowdown of "4th Wise Man" (which also includes nice syncopation), serving as a showcase for the band’s above average cleverness.

Some songs could have used the scissors ("Dog Lover" with its rather plain chords, is an example), or an extra dose of funk (the System of a Down "Aerials" flavored "Pyramids"), and I certainly hope that Evolocity’s evolution will soon result in another album that is even more focused and funked up. Despite the minor flaws, these guys definitely deserve your attention now. (8/10)

The vision laid on the third release by Florida’s Cryptic Vision is definitely in tune with some of Logotherapy’s concepts. The quest for life’s meaning, extending beyond one’s self, the immortality of the past and even the need for a supreme being are all entwined rather cleverly as an integral part of Cryptic Vision’s lyrics.

Less clever, however, is the music, whose Kansas and Yes influences are easily detectable underneath the disguise of neo-prog and some pseudo-metal riffs. It has already been stated in past Maelstrom issues that soloing over power chords is not exactly the most accomplished maneuver, and yet it is still a popular form of stretching songs; Cryptic Vision is another band that utilizes it to some extent. Also, one could have hoped that at least the limited, heavy metal-oriented sections of the pieces would roar; alas, the production does not seem to bring out their strengths.

The vocals, while attempting to be emotionally loaded, focus mainly on the high range (yet without reaching falsetto dimensions). They sound too clean and lack the required amount of depth.

To its credit, the band does have strong musical moments here, and some guests, like violinist David Ragsdale and Spock’s Beard’s guitarist Alan Morse, help to shape things up. The 16-minute long title-track, for example, features a symphonic work that manages to rise above its parts, as well as an impressive Latin-jazz inspired section.

The songs are not highly memorable, but they are nicely developed and flow smoothly within the framework of their slightly pompous, arena rock (think Journey) sound. (6/10)

"What We Do" might be a risky title when it is used to describe an album full of covers. However, in the case of Scott McGill (electric and acoustic guitars), Michael Manring (electric and acoustic basses) and clever powerhouse drummer Vic Stevens, it is a manifest.

Sure, covering others’ tunes is a common and widely acceptable jazz tradition, but in the rock world it is often a suspect act. Thankfully, MMS, whose music bridges between the two musical worlds, shows enough creativity in its takes of jazz standards here to intrigue listeners of both camps.

MMS dissects popular jazz tunes and shreds them to pieces in a manner that is true to the outfit’s jazz-rock, electric fusion reputation. It would be impossible to top Bill Milkowski’s liner notes, and yet it is also impossible to avoid mentioning the glorious treatment of Bill Evans’ "Blue in Green," which, besides some lyrical bass work, features an aqueous tone that is one of the most captivating tones I’ve ever heard produced by an electric guitar; or the way these guys turn Coltrane’s "Naima" into an ambient number. While other fusion releases are often straight shooters, every cut here is delicate, electrifying and sparkling with innovation and thought!

But wait! That’s not all. Although you won’t find it mentioned anywhere (not even in the aforementioned liner notes), this release includes a second CD — "What We Do Too" — which captures a 2001 live performance (70 minutes in total) of MMS’s originals, leading into wild collective jams. The adrenaline here is understandably higher, and cutting short the ambient factor, this performance is terrific in its drive, its unified cohesiveness and, once again, the high level of creativity, which surpasses most of the genre’s other releases.

If you are a jazz purist or a straightforward rocker, you are definitely not the target market for this. However, if jazz-rock fusion is your thing, you can’t afford to miss this fantastic release! (9.2/10)

Ludicra is one of the bands that Hammer of Misfortune’s John Cobbett plays guitar in. This is especially noteworthy as specific and superb parallels can be drawn between the style of the two groups.

Hammers is the cure for anyone who likes melodic metal, yet can’t stand sappy, gay power metal; but also is totally unimpressed with the rehash/retro acts that are repeating the old school bands. Check out any of our reviews to learn more about this essential group. In the case of Ludicra’s Fex Urbis Lex Orbis, Hammers of Misfortune’s The Bastard is particularly of note, as Ludicra’s tone here is much like an entire record of the most despondent, misanthropic parts of Hammers’ debut masterpiece.

You might say that Ludicra is kind of like the black metal Hammers of Misfortune. This is largely due to Laurie Sue Shanaman’s exquisitely anguished and convincing harsh vocals. We first saw Shanaman on stage around 2000, and were suitably disturbed by her straightjacket-worthy, passively raging performance and all-too-believable expressions of utter mental disconnect into a very cold and bad place. (These glass-gargling screams are exactly the kind of thing that Cobbett tried to pull off but fell short in doing in The Bastard.) But the added bonus of reverberating sections of clean vocals, either soloed or in conjunction with the harsh vocals, add an outstanding counter-balance to the gripping, chilling brutality of the screams. These elements are the most effective in "Dead City," which as a result is the most memorable song on the record, and "Only a Moment," where the clean section pairs up with a soul-obliterating melody for the album’s single greatest highlight.

Fex Urbis Lex Orbis’ production is huge and crushing, without being slick. In these aspects, the sound is a total success, as Ludicra’s record is monolithic, deliberate and dirty, yet rich and full. This works particularly well for the drums, which are effectively simple and highly enjoyable, coming across as being hit tremendously through the resonant, organic tones of the shells and the rich, unfettered voices of the cymbals.

The guitar tone is a fine combination of heaviness with subtlety, which is an apt choice to convey the signature misanthropic, melodic melancholy that Cobbett infuses into his compositions, which benefit from his love of classic heavy metal harmony. Fex Urbis Lex Orbis may only be five songs, and its forty minutes running time may seem a little short, but that’s only because when it ends, you want more. Hopefully, next time Ludicra can further develop the wonderful remarkability of Fex Urbis Lex Orbis’ most poignantly emotional sections throughout an entire album’s running time. (8/10)

PS: I, as well as others with whom I discussed with, had written Ludicra off after their first record, Hollow Psalms, as a rather uninteresting band that apparently unsuccessfully joined punk and black metal. I was told by the same detractors that the group’s second album was much better. But now that the third recording has landed, I’m a believer. You should be, too. If you like anything that Cobbett plays/played guitar for (Hammers of Misfortune or The Lord Weird Slough Feg), pick this one up without fail.

In my last year’s review of a Vialka live gig, a certain recording session was mentioned, in addition to the similarity to Kruzenshtern & Parohod. So finally, here it is: the session and the match up.

The Vialka portion of this split album includes five original songs, four of which are sung in French (one features lyrics by Haruki Murakami and was previously released in a less impressive English version on the band’s Curiosities of Popular Customs) while the last one is in English. Language doesn’t matter much, though, as Vialka’s tongue is its ecstatic performance. The post-rock songs are a product of nothing but drums and baritone guitar, and still they include so many unpredictable twists and turns, as well as a convincing vocal performance that is full of drama and of wonderful pronunciation. On "USAisamonster," Marylise Frecheville sings with such a theatrical, prophetic tone that she manages to bring Dagmar Krause to mind (albeit less fragile).

However, as nuanced and rhythmically engaging as the recording is (especially when contrasted with the aforementioned, vague and punkier previous release), I sometimes wished that the duo would have chosen to use some overdubs in order to enrich its thrash-folk performance with yet another layer of cacophony, as was the case on the live set I had attended.

The Kruzenshtern & Parohod section comprises two previously recorded tracks and two new compositions, all of which are purely instrumental. The "with accordion" in the parenthesis of the familiar tracks indicates the band’s newest addition, but doesn’t really do the new versions justice, as these new arrangements provide a glance into both the evolution and the vision of K&P.

For starters, the version of "Tort" here sounds sharper than on the debut release, most possibly thanks to the skilled hands and ears of producer Udi Koomran, but it’s not only that; even "Young Ones," which has already been given the Koomran treatment on the album Songs sounds fresh, and this credit goes to K&P’s talent: much like in the band’s live setting, these musicians explore the fine line between free-jazz, chamber rock (at times hinting at Univers Zero) and post punk, all within the well-defined frames of their compositions. In other words, even if you know the piece, you can always count on K&P to revise it to some extent; and in the case of this set, the results are invigorating.

The comparison between the previously recorded versions of the aforementioned tracks with the versions found here also brings out the evident change in emphasis throughout the entire session: while on previous recordings, Igor Krutogolov’s bass and quirky vocals dominated, this K&P recording relies even more on Ruslan Gross’ clarinet excursions and Guy Shechter’s forceful drum bash for the variations and the drive. Latest recruit Olya Yelensky occasionally contrasts the wild temper with her soft accordion playing and at other times complements the playful themes, giving more flesh and ambience to the overall sound (this is a bit of what the Vialka material lacks). All in all, this recording holds some of the most beautiful thrashing I’ve ever listened to. (9/10)

This Angel Air release rescues the band Carmen from oblivion. Given the music, it’s not a difficult thing to do, but we give credit when credit is due.

A bit of background: the finalized form of Carmen took shape in 1973, after relocating from Hollywood to the more daring Britain — there the band’s lineup was revised with a British rhythm section, which included John Glascock, formerly of The Gods and later of Jethro Tull, allowing the band to finally unleash its flamenco-infused progressive rock.

This double release includes the first two Carmen albums (on two separate discs), Fandangos in Space and Dancing On a Cold Wind, with two favorable bonus tracks and a worthy booklet in the tradition of Angel Air Records.

Fandangos in Space is particularly refreshing. The band uses footwork and castanets to augment the sonic palette, in addition to a fine, well harmonized, vocal performance of both male and female vocals. Sure, the vocal harmonies and the hard rock-meets-progressive textures are reminiscent of Uriah Heep (which, by the way, featured another The Gods refugee, Ken Hensley), but they are enriched so well with flamenco-derived ideas that they manage to achieve a singularity of their own.

Above all, though, it is the percussive punctuation with which everything is served that provides the album its unique, punchy, hard edge. At times, the tradeoff between the rhythmic approach and the compositions results in slight fragmentation, but the guiding hand of renowned producer Tony Visconti (who produced both albums) certainly helped to round up the edges and emphasize the qualities: the rhythm section kicks upfront, and more than once a wise synthesis of synths and mellotron with the other instruments creates a noteworthy atmosphere. The result is grandiose yet natural, escaping pompousness.

1974’s Dancing On a Cold Wind continues where the first album one left off (in fact, its first track even corresponds with the first track of the debut), and features an expanded lineup. Impressive electric and acoustic guitar playing, fuzz-rich bass sound and a spacey aura paint the earthly, human scenes with exotic fascination. The songs flow better as a unit (half of which function as a lengthy love affair suite), and manage to sound less fragmented, but they lack some of the previous album’s rhythmic vitality.

Carmen released a third, allegedly more commercial album (The Gypsies) before splitting up in 1975.

Anyway you look at it, the Carmen material on this release should be considered classic, and is therefore highly recommended for fans of ‘70s progressive rock, if only for the taste of something a bit different. (9.1/10)

Some people say that music's not advancing any longer. While I personally disagree about 100% with them, it's impossible to deny that there are big retro movements right now. We've seen it in bands like The Strokes, and if you haven't lived under a rock for the last 10 years, you'll know about the myriads of Black Sabbath and Pentagram clones we've received in this vastly underrated genre called doom metal. And they all followed this norm, in pretty much all genres: they were all fun, but not even trying to innovate. See the Circle Takes the Square and Converge clones, or the Hellhammer ones. So, can we say Burning Saviours is another one of those bands? Somewhat, but thankfully not that much.

Yes, Burning Saviours blatantly copies Pentagram and Black Sabbath, and it does it really well. The riffs are just a carbon copy of Iommi's style from Black Sabbath and Witchfinder General's full lengths. The vocalist is the biggest and best Bobby Liebling clone ever (so much that it made me think it was his new band for some seconds). The production is pretty much one of a ‘70s rock album, kind of like Witchcraft's first album but not as analog sounding. Atmospherically, Hundus is a new Witchfinder General album.

The huge difference is that Burning Saviours is actually trying to play something — while not unique — of high quality. We don't see many bands infusing their doom with Jethro Tull. In the same regard, we don't see many metal bands influenced by Lynyrd Skynyrd outside southern doom or sludge. Another incredible addition is the flute in "Let's Dance" that adds a folk atmosphere to the song (which makes you wonder why doom sounds so good with "foreign" instruments). The point is, what initially sounded like a run of the mill rip-off is actually a full-on, retro band playing some incredible traditional doom.

Obviously, mixing in influences from random bands is not gonna give a band any quality, but Burning Saviours is actually good at playing. The songs are simple, jam-sounding but incredibly catchy, melodic but heavy. The leads are easy to play but effective, and the vocal work is perfect for the genre. Hundus is precisely what a worship band should be. The compositions are all different, so the replayability is quite high when compared to other traditional doom albums (meaning that it's not just for nostalgia purposes).

Can a metalhead not like Burning Saviours? I really, really doubt it. (8.5/10)

When I say that the Japanese can do any genre better than anyone else, I often get called a "stinking Japanophile." But the truth is, they've taken the lead in pretty much every genre, if only for their wacky aesthetics. We've seen Boris redo doom and stoner, we've seen Japanese people start modern noise music, modern video game music, and that's without even mentioning the whole Jpop/Jrock or visual kei thing.

So, what if I told you that they can even be good at pop punk? Yes, the genre that Blink 182 and all those bands made famous, and the genre that back in the ‘70s groups like Buzzcocks arguably played. We're talking about more Blink 182 stuff here, though.

Just like pretty much every single pop punk band, Ellegarden is about as marketable as it gets, and they even sing mostly in good English so there's no language barrier here. And, as opposed to the whole US pop-punk "scene," they are not marketable just because they appeal to teens, they are because they are an unadulterated catchiness and fun package.

The differences don't end there. The music is really loud, mostly fast and not emo in any sense of the word, even with visual kei-ish metal-sounding riffs in "Snake Fighting." Surprisingly, all the songs have memorable rhythms or instrumental parts, while still containing the easy to listen to vocals of American pop punk.

Basically, what we have here is a record that fixes every hole of their American counterparts, while developing even more their good points. It doesn't, however, sound especially Japanese, except for the awkward lyrics and more positive than usual vocals.

Riot on the Grill shows a far more developed composition more akin to The Pillows than to Simple Plan. And technically, the latter doesn't even come close, with Ellegarden having actual riffs, tempo changes, good clean guitar parts and different vocal styles. Oh, and none of that emotional stuff either, they're serious about making fun material.

Atmosphere-wise, Riot on the Grill is far happier than the bands in the genre, in songs like "Marry Me," and even in tracks like "I Hate It." Riot on the Grill is the perfect album for when you aren't feeling too well: no thinking needed, not extreme, catchy, fun, and actually good. Did I mention it even has solos?

Stuck up metalheads will surely hate it, but anyone open-minded enough will surely find it enjoyable, if only for the fun factor. And the Japanophiles can rejoice. (8.7/10)

The Frozen's a lot like Sentenced. Fittingly, it suffers from the same thing Sentenced suffered from for years. That is, making "mixed bag" songs and albums without exception of such tunes.

It's almost as if they do it on purpose. The Frozen can play incredible leads and they can compose well-structured songs with catchy choruses, and then they can ruin it with highly dubious-quality rhythms and misplaced or plain terrible songs. Yep, just like Sentenced's The Funeral Album. No, wait, not that bad.

Blue Virtue is a far less serious than the standard attempt at creating something like atmospheric, gothic-ish rock. The thing is, the result is nothing more than standard. Like said above, there are some moments, like the whole song "Violet," that would certainly be some of metal's highest points in all 2006... if it weren't for some not so minor details ruining it. Namely, the vocals. Then, we have the decent or worse songs filling the album, of which nothing can really be said other than "a more Danzig version of Sentenced."

Besides the vocals, the other huge problem is the illogical riffs. It's a fact: the chromatic scale doesn't fit extremely melodic music.

You can tremolo pick random notes while you play black or thrash metal, but you can't do it while you're playing gothic metal.

As minor as it might seem, it's something that will invariably get in the way of enjoying the album far more than once. Thankfully, there are no unlistenable parts, though honestly the whole album needs a lot of polish.

And that leads us to another problem. The technical aspect is decent enough, but the instruments are kind of disconnected, sometimes as bad as making you wonder if every member composed its part without knowing what the other members were doing... something that really ruins the album when it only has the standard rock instruments.

So what, if any, elements makes Blue Virtue a remarkable album? Pirate influences. No, no, no Running Wild stuff here (but definitely as fun as some of their older stuff). As the band itself calls it, the "Pirate Choir" is without a doubt the best thing on the CD. In the same fashion, the instrumental, piratey parts easily surpass the others. And, as you expected, it does make the album feel REALLY incoherent... not that it'd be coherent without them.

Also, the non-serious approach to the genre makes it a lot more fresh than 90% of the bands playing it. However, that's not enough to make Blue Virtue an above-average album at all. Overall mediocre, but deeply flawed by bad vocal delivery and incredibly awkward and sometimes atonal rhythms. The Frozen should definitely go pirate metal all the way. (3.95/10)

Hey, how about the 463,986,536,093th nu-metal / hardcore album? Ok, ok, I promise you that this time it'll come with some groundbreaking additions like electronica-ridden pieces and sampling! Didn't convince you? Don't worry, it didn't convince me either.

Seriously, I doubt many people with an actual taste in music care for the whole nu-metal genre. It's been bashed by rock fans, bashed by metalheads, bashed by rappers, and overall bashed by pretty much everyone. I try to hold the "no genre is inferior" position, but it's not that easy when a style is overwhelmed by commercial products and boy bands with guitars. And it's weird, because bands like Deftones have shown that the genre does indeed have potential, but it's obviously easier and cheaper to limit your technical ability to drop-d or go the Korn way.

If this didn't have an inventive DJ, Another Education would be run of the mill stuff in a largely terrible genre.

And yet, I have to admit it, it's not as bad as most of the bands in the genre. Yes, it has the same elements, but by being a little bit more like Prodigy, it's at least a little bit fun. There's even a really good song in there, "Under Control." By good, what I mean is "Deftones-worship," pretty much, but it still works.

Of course, a single song still can't save the album from being just a more refined version of the same stuff we've heard for years. Yes, it does include things like sampling and scratching and who knows what else, but it's not really original, just a little bit better.

At least they tried. (4/10)

None of Us’ Further Hangin' Menace is one of those albums that no matter how hard you try, you just won't be able to pinpoint successfully. It's extremely angular in every single aspect, and repeated listens emphasize one or another part, but it's as if it always were a different album. Unexplainable, yes, but genius in its own way.

Seeing as we reviewers love to put things into genres, I'll do the same. Post-rock influenced emocore post-hardcore with some Anathema thrown in. Confusing? Not that much, actually. Post rock because it uses quite a lot of build-up, even if the album doesn't have many of those epic Godspeed! You Black Emperor-like moments you usually hear. Emocore because, essentially, it's really similar to Rites of Spring, but sounding less death-rock and more modern. Post-hardcore because on the surface, is definitely post-hardcore, with those abstract riffs typical of the style, but quite slower and more organized. To finish, the Anathema influences are mostly in the way all the emotional aspect is handled: in a more romantic way, instead of modern emo's "slit your wrists" kind. Then, they have other influences such as Dredg, Deftones and Smashing Pumpkins.

A mish-mash of genres, nonsensical influences, call them what you will, but the finished product is outstanding. Yes, it goes pretty much all over, but it's coherent and really original. Thankfully, None of Us decided not to play that kind of emo-ish pop-punk that seems to be on the rise lately with bands such as My Chemical Romance and other formulaic acts. Yes, like them, it's emotional, but it's not cheesy.

What sets None of Us apart from the whole of the post-hardcore bands is its uncanny ability to create, manipulate, destroy and recreate different kinds of atmosphere within a single song. When you think you've finally figured out the song, they change it in a way you just don't know it anymore. The screamed / clean vocals aren't really original, but they are used perfectly, and they don't turn Further Hangin' Menace into a melodramatic album.

The riffs are easily the best part, being mostly angular and abstract without making it all a chaos or just silly. In songs like "Bleeding Through," another central factor is the sampling and synths as build-up mediums. As a whole, it's an incredibly melodic album with lots of sing-along parts, while still being hard to approach and definitely complex. It's all quite different from, say, Converge, where the atmosphere is singular for each album.

This, folks, is precisely what post-hardcore needs. It's precisely what hardcore in general needs. And it's precisely what you'll want to try if you like those genres. (9.1/10)

PS: I've heard people calling None of Us nu-metal. What the hell?

Isn't it nice to listen to a garage rock album that actually sounds garage? Seeing as the media's tried to sell us for years that brand of mainstream-rock-that's-not-as-mainstream as garage rock (The Vines and The Hives, for example) it's actually quite a rare feeling. In fact, the last real and good garage rock album I can name is Guitar Wolf's Jet Generation, and even then, it was sometimes a noise rock album more than a garage one.

The Rodeo Carburettor is everything you can relate to a garage band. It's raw, it's dirty and it smells like oil. Which is kind of weird, since the cover depicts them as being either dandies or gamblers. Fear not, however, this is about as high culture as $50 amplifiers and Korean Squier clones. Thankfully, they don't use cheap amps and Korean Squier clones, but you get the point. Also, consider that they are actual musicians, not just teens kidding around, so don't dismiss this as yet another immature Japanese record.

Musically, the album is in fact a lot like Jet Generation, minus all the punk part. It sounds like rockabilly, it sounds like Jrock, and it sounds like what those new bands whose name start with "The" would play if they knew who Link Wray was. But most of all, it sounds Japanese. Even while playing a mostly American style, The Rodeo Carburettor really have that crazy edgy Japanese sound that they force into all of their music. Powerchords are used, but they are used the old way, a lot like Wray's Rumble, that you should already know if you're reading this.

Compositionally, The Rodeo Carburettor is quite simple and well-structured, but that's not where the emphasis is. It's obvious judging by the sound that The Rodeo Carburettor care a whole lot about their overall sound and production. Again, the comparison to Jet Generation is obvious, as the production is just like that but cleaner and almost feedback-less. For those who haven't heard it, it's wall of sound-like and the instruments aren't necessarily distorted but they sound screechy and raw. A lot like if it is like if it were a ‘70ss recording, with lots of high-end and fuzz. It all makes it extreme in a weird way, but not metal at all.

The Rodeo Carburettor is obviously song-based, being tremendous fun while not being time-consuming. Don't expect it to be a concept album, but for what it is, you'll love it if you like ‘70s rock or anything raw but controlled. (7.8/10)

The genius of Isole’s Throne of Void is in its simplicity. Heavily Candlemass-derived? Sure. But Candlemass just ain’t what it used to be. So while most of the metal press will be doing sycophantic cartwheels about each of the re-united doom gods’ albums, the little pocket known as Maelstrom will instead be rejoicing in the albums of bands that, although obviously owing their existence in a major way to Candlemass, are far outdoing their masters. Heard of Memory Garden’s Mirage? You should.

Isole is another band to stop a melodic doom metal fan in his tracks. We’re talking about slow, heavy music with melodic singing, but not in the bluesy, stoner mold. Think While Heaven Wept, Doomsword, or the god to end all gods of heavy metal doom, Solstice. There aren’t enough quality bands in this genre.

For a quick comparison, think of Isole as a mix of Candlemass and While Heaven Wept. The Candlemass influences are obvious in much of the riff writing, and the While Heaven Wept parallels come through in the way Isole brilliantly makes simple compositions and performances eminently worthwhile.

Unsurprisingly, in bands such as this, the vocalist really has to carry the music, or all is lost. Luckily, Isole’s singer is about as ideal as you could hope for in the genre. He has a lovely, dark and heavy voice that’s soothing and somber. All of which is augmented by the masterful use of multi-tracks and reverb, resulting in a vocal experience that is nothing short of reverent.

Isole’s songs are about the lulling, blissfully catchy vocal melody. Their songs can take quite a while to develop, like on "Demon Green" — which features one of the most striking melodies on the record — where the chorus doesn’t show up till almost four minutes into the song, and then again around the nine-minute mark. Certainly the album wouldn’t be a success if the parts between the superb vocal work wasn’t also of high quality. Again, the rhythms, solos and melodies are all simple, but always effective. None of the parts, even the singing, is of virtuoso level, but it’s rather how all the layers come together in harmony that makes Throne of Void an eminently worthwhile album. Listen and get swept up in the doomy grandeur. (9.3/10)

School Girl Knife Fight is a five piece outfit from Texas who, although unknown on a national herald, aren't afraid to take the bar set by their local counterparts and raise it to the next level, that level being the inevitable smashing of said bar into the rest of the local scene's face.

Amidst a sea of pathetic hardcore and screamo bands, School Girl Knife Fight easily tears the competition a new one with their fusion of hardcore, death metal, and grind.

True to their fusion, the lead vocals are a mix of styles, each of which is handled incredibly by vocalist Dustin Faust. Screams and hardcore yells dominate the mix but not without decent death growls and telltale grind-influenced pig vocals.

Like most other high pitched, dissonant noises, the screams start to plunge into annoyance the second song in. Screams are like little after dinner mints at Chinese restaraunts: sweet for a bit, but then it just starts to leave a bad taste in your mouth until you're forced to spit it out. In the interest of higher goals, screams should be used sparingly and at the right moments.

As far as drumming goes, it's basic, with fast rolls for fills and lots of double bass. It seems that the band elected to substitute a tom for the snare and put it way too high in the mix. One can only hope that someone realized this folly and put their boot through the offending drum and then straight up the studio mixer's ass for allowing this to happen. Furthermore, the drums really seem to kill any speed that the intros bring up, deciding to rely on double bass kicks and laid back stick work. This, sadly, only works in black and doom metal. Whoever miked the drum kit needs to be flogged. Period.

The music seems to be heavily riff based, which is its greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness. Where's the unique touch that can be distinguished between this band's hardcore counterparts? Melody is sorely needed as well as a few new tricks from the metal community.

School Girl Knife Fight shows a direction that most other bands would snort at. Most of the metal community is already in an uproar over the monotony and lack of talent displayed by many hardcore, metalcore and screamo bands out there, and would most certainly write off this band as just more mindless metalcore, but lo and behold: this beast has a mind; a mind to show that metal and hardcore can be combined without becoming the unbearable pseudo-music that is metalcore! While much needs to be worked and refined, School Girl Knife Fight is most definitely a diamond in the rough. (6.5/10)

Before Dragonforce hit the big time with their new album, most critics had declared power metal on its last leg. Now that the genre has been given a much needed jump start, it's time for a new wave of revolutionaries to rise up to the new level that either has or will become the new standard for power metal.

Enter Outworld.

Although Outworld has been around since 1997, it has only recently begun to surface, not only on a local level, but also a national, and even international, level. With their debut scheduled for worldwide release and the band already writing their second album, they're showing no signs of slowing down, and for good reason. To say that Outworld's self titled debut is amazing would be an understatement.

Right from the beginning, the music hits hard, fast and heavy and stays such without overexertion or repetition. Wonderfully rich riffs are complimented by active drumming, masterful keyboards and intelligent bass lines, all of which blend and transform from one section to the next in unbroken unity. Songs such as "City of the Dead" will whisk you away to a new world of wonder and excitement while others will transform even the most conservative of people into headbanging lunatics. This is the epitome of what power metal shall become in the fantastic rebirth of one of the oldest genres in extreme music.

Then there are the solos.

For those of you that love your solos, Outworld is ready to deliver them. Not only are all the musicians undisputed virtuosos, but they dish out a plethora of instrumental wizardries; whether it be guitar, bass or keyboards, you're bound to be amazed and awestruck at the speed and proficiency as well as the musical integrity of each and every solo. Unlike most power metal acts, Outworld has but one guitarist: Underground shred hero Rusty Cooley. Renowned by many as one of the world's fastest shredders, Cooley makes good on those claims with monstrously fast solos. And the funny thing is, once you think he's reached his top speed, he only goes faster.

There's very little left to possibly say about this album; the bottom line is that this is simply a fantastic record that should by all means find its way into the collection of every single metalhead on the planet. (9/10)

Right next to funeral doom metal, hardcore has to be the easiest genre to play, hands down. Talent? Not necessarily needed. Musical integrity? The less the better in most cases. Professional demeanor? Screw that, your fans want to see you thrash like an epileptic at a rave. What about originality? Hell, no! The more material you steal from your influences the better! And hey! If your vocalist can't yell tough enough, they can always scream and you become screamo!

Nights Like These are an amazing exception to all the prerequisites to being a hardcore band in that they've failed miserably at all of them. They've somehow managed to take an already embarrassing style and turn it into a mockery of music itself.

The guitars are too damn loud and it seems that they either forgot to tune them properly or decided to intentionally make nearly every riff as disharmonic and incoherent as possible. In this entire album, there's maybe about five minutes of actual music while the rest of the album is a bunch of demented, unintelligent riffs [on crack] loosely strung together in no apparent order.

As mentioned a few issues back, being a hardcore vocalist is relatively easy: you scream as incoherently as possible and act like you're some spoilt five year old brat on stage throwing a temper tantrum. Just like every other vocalist in the genre, all this guy can do is yell in the same damn monotonous drawl. Combine this with the fact that he NEVER shuts up, and you have one annoying frontman.

But to look on the bright side, the five minutes or so of random decent riffs that they do have will make for very deceptive advertisements on media outlets, which is a plus to them and their album sales. However, you can be sure that once the customers [read: suckers] get home with their new album, they will find that they spent their hard earned money on an album whose sole purpose is to be a $15 drink coaster. (Bullshit/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Come on, now. Nights Like These isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s pretty good. I was pretty into the band’s rough, meaty brutality. Metalcore it may be, but it’s pummeling and heavy kind of like a death metal mentality. It made me think of the kind of experience I had when listening to Norma Jean’s Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child. At least, that’s what I thought of The Faithless. If you like aggressive, bludgeoning metalcore, I’d say check this out. (7/10)

This review is now two years in the making, but sharp Maelstrom readers might have noticed that Angra’s Temple of Shadows was my #1 record for 2004. While we’re doling out superlative praise, I’ll go on record and say Temple of Shadows is the best power metal album ever made... and a concept album, at that. Can Angra do no wrong?

We’ve lamented power metal bands whose fast, double-bass driven songs can be palatable, but once things get slow, it all goes down the drain. Why? Because the material isn’t all that great to begin with; playing it fast makes up for creativity and composition through energy, but slowing it down makes its generic nature all the more apparent.You don’t even have to pick out the also-rans in the genre. Just check out Dragonforce for the ultimate example.

With Angra, in contrast, it seems that the songs might even get better as they slow down in speed and density. Check out the flamenco intro to "Shadow Hunter" that develops into the rest of the florid song, the sublime melodies and instrumental layers to "Winds of Destination," and the colossal melody in the chorus of "Sprouts of Time." All this is made possible because all of Angra’s instrumentalists are absolute geniuses at what they do. We know for sure that guitarist Kiko Loureiro has got a number of musical degrees in composition, and his and Rafael Bittencourt’s rhythms and solos reflect a deep knowledge of musical theory application. Felipe Andreoli’s bass parts are anything but simple bottom-feeding, and are in constant lock with the astounding drumming of Aquiles Priester, one of this reviewer/drummer’s favorite players. All these elements are why the slower movements in Angra’s repertoire stand out so, as the band is more free to create anything-but-standard rhythms and compositions that break from the all-too-formulaic power metal mold.

But the album wouldn’t be the best power metal album ever if there weren’t any good fast songs. And certainly Angra can play with the best of them. "Spread Your Fire" is an orgy of classical-influenced power metal, with two soaring choruses, one by frontman Eduardo Falaschi, and another by a classical choir. "Angels and Demons" takes the all-out speed down a bit, but is perhaps a more interesting song, again because Angra has more stylistic room to infuse its originality. There’s one more ripper on the album, "Temple of Hate," with an eminently engaging, lively classical riff intro, superb loud/quiet, fast/slow dynamics, and guest vocals by Gamma Ray’s Kai Hansen, who’s ironically appearing on an album that is by far superior to anything he's done since the late '80s.

"Winds of Destination" is perhaps the best song on the record, being the best of both worlds and all those in-between that this album showcases. It starts off with a heavy cello riff, then goes on for a while with some speedy double kick and tom-tom pounding, topped off by a guest appearance by Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kursch, who is also appearing on one of the best recordings of his storied career. (There’s one more highly notable guest appearance, Sabine Edelsbacher of Edenbridge, who supplies an always gorgeous performance on "No Pain for the Dead.") The song slows down through an ethereal passage, followed by some of the album’s most interesting rhythms, yet another astonishing solo, and finishes as the energy gets amped up again.

Any great record can not achieve its rightful status without an equally remarkable production. In this regard, Temple of Shadows is also one of the best ever. The drums are nothing short of a triumph, with the bass drums and toms being both heavy and having the tightest attack to make them perfectly audible through all of Priester’s patterns, just as the cymbals ring or shimmer with the utmost respective tight ping or wash. Priester’s got a MONSTER kit, and it sounds like it (unlike Nicko McBrain’s set on the latest Iron Maiden). The guitars and bass have the knack of all being up front and full, yet all ideally audible. Lying beneath the main players’ instruments is a great deal of classical acoustic or synthesized keyboard underpinning, which pushes the warmth of the melodic blanket up even further. There are also some very cool post-production touches, like the way the bass shifts from left to right speakers in "Waiting Silence."

The production shines no greater than for Falaschi’s vocals, which have finally convinced me to be superior (albeit less flashy) than Angra’s original singer, Andre Matos. But don’t be fooled that Falaschi can’t do anything that Matos could. Check out the final, insanely high note as "Shadow Hunter" fades out. It’s in songs like "Wishing Well" that you are reminded of why Falaschi was once a top candidate to replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden. If he had, he would have been their best singer ever. It’s a good thing he didn’t, though, as we wouldn’t have him in this currently far superior band.

If you’re a returning Angra fan, you’ll find that Temple of Shadows is the group’s most progressive record to date. Rebirth was a fine, fine album with exquisite songs, but in comparison it seems standard.

There is so much more to be said about what works on this album, but suffice to say that it ALL works beautifully. If you love power, progressive or melodic metal, and you don’t have this, there’s something very, very wrong. (10/10)

If Count Raven were a heavy metal band instead of a doom metal band, this is exactly what they'd sound like. Or hell, this could just be an unreleased album from Count Raven. Nevertheless, this is some slow, doom-paced heavy metal with a nod back to the absolute roots of metal, namely Black Sabbath and the bands who have shaped their sound around them.

There are many disks with which active listening makes for a well played albums. Never is passive listening a bad thing on its own when it comes to slow music.

The guitars are wonderfully done, with a tone reminiscent of, you guessed it, Black Sabbath. The bass is prominent and on the floor, creating a rich, thick atmosphere that fills the room completely while the drums are simple and well thought out. Vocally, this album kicks ass. Nice lyrics complimented by a laid back singing definitely influenced by Count Raven really bring the music to life.

So sit back, prop your feet up, open up a cold one, and have a listen to Suffer No Guilt. If you don't like the music, you won't be totally cheated: the cover art is badass as well! (7/10)

The music contained within this album is great: slow, earthy doom reminiscent of the legendary Count Raven with excellent musicianship and decent vocals.

There's just one problem. This album is friggin' boring.

Every song sounds the same and it's hard not to nod off during its playtime. The album picks up near the tail end of the third track, but not by much, and then it's right back to the chord based sludgedoom. The leads just chime in every once in a while in a direct guitar harmony with the rhythm; not very creative or original considering what's now mainstream these days. Not very pleasing when you're hoping to hear something in the music other than the same damn passages played ad ifinitum.

C'mon guys, you can do better, we all know you can, this band has potential, lots and lots and lots of it. Listen to stuff, get influenced. Oh, and get some voice lessons. That'll help a lot. (5/10)

Apparently things like knowing how to play one's instrument and good composition is slowly becoming less of a requirement to get an album out these days. As long as you can write one catchy tune for your label's annual compilation and samplers, you're set. It is still baffling how excellent unsigned bands such as Escape the Day remain unsigned while shit like this Gaza album gets recorded, processed, packaged and shipped right into the underground.

Given that grind is probably the hardest sub-genre of metal to listen to, and therefore the most prone to diverse opinions, I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die is hands down one of the most irritating grind releases ever. The riffs are half-assed and so is the recording of said riffs. What isn't half-assed is ripped off from other bands, which is almost a blessing in disguise considering that the rest of the album is the musical equivalent to being raped up the bum with a live wire. Now if that was intentional and done in the true spirit of grind, then Gaza should be commended. (2/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Rabies Caste is a shining example of why there are a plethora of musical instruction courses out there for not only guitar, but bass, drums and vocals. Hell, there are even courses for songwriting and production. There are even entire schools dedicated to music! You'd think that with music instruction near literally around every corner that Rabies Caste would take a hint. Nope, not a chance in hell.

Everything about this album is downright pathetic. The tracks were all recorded in three separate sessions, one of the sessions being a live gig.

In every single instance, it seems that the recording equipment was bought from Toys 'R Us as well as the instruments, and was mixed and mastered by a stoned chimpanzee. The music shows a complete lack of talent and knowledge of the way musical instruments work.

And who's that on vocals for two of the tracks? It sounds like Eric Idle of Monty Python fame doing his old lady impression the whole way through. Indeed a dark day for sludge. For what musical integrity there is, it's heavily disharmonic, repetitive and chord-based with a godawful tone to boot.

If there would be any good side to this album, it would be... wait, no, there is no good side to this album. (1/10)

Although Pillar claim to be rock 'n roll, they present more of a modern rock/emo sound. In their newest release, Pillar takes their sound and pushes it straight into brilliance, digging into a plethora of new genres and styles to make this their most original release yet. The music on the CD is lush and vibrant, fully inspired and wonderfully produced while every track brings a new realm of enjoyment.

The guitars, both acoustic and electric, bring natural stock riffage to the mix along with fresh rhythms and great riffs. Back this with great bass work and active drumming to achieve a perfect world for the vocals to narrate to.

Tracks such as "Everything" and "Angel in Disguise" show true new direction in this band, as their sound has decidedly been laid back and grooves much, much more. In a way, it's an improvement from their last album.

All in all, this is a feel good album with an uplifting groove and is sure to eke a grin out of you... unless you're the type of person who stomps puppies and kittens for fun, then you might want to skip out on this.

Pillar's special edition of The Reckoning brings along what is probably one of the most uncomfortable live DVDs ever. In a nutshell, the band walks on, plays, and walks off. That's it. Only once in their entire performance did they even acknowledge that the crowd was there, not with an introduction, a greeting, or even a thank you, but a command from their frontman to see everyone jump. Other than that, crowd interaction was limited to taking an Oklahoma state flag out of the crowd and affixing it to the drum riser, throwing water onto the crowd, and pointing out an object to the stagehands that was thrown onstage. Hell, there was even a catwalk that protruded a good goddamn ways from the stage and only half of it was ever used.

In music there are just some things that you just don't do, and especially in live performances, you don't ignore your audience. Ever. Fans are the backbone of every single band, and the more devoted, the more extreme measures they will take. Fans will fly across the world and drain their finances to see you play. Others may just roll out of bed and walk three blocks to the venue. Nevertheless, they have spent their money on your albums, your shirts and your concerts. They've had to stand for hours through opening bands and have taken time out of their schedules for what? A forward-facing band practice. It doesn't matter if you've just flew across the world and haven't slept in a day, you thank the crowd for coming out. You thank them for supporting you, you thank them for taking time out of their lives to come see your performance, and you thank them for putting money in your pocket, however little it is.

There is absolutely no charisma whatsoever in Pillar's performance. As a result, the crowd turns colder about halfway through the set. As far as the music goes, it was great, phenomenal, an amazing performance. The only problem is that if you took all those songs from their respected albums and burned them to one disc, you'd find that it'd be the same kind of experience, except without the occasional cheers from the crowd.

The special edition of Pillar's newest cut isn't worth the money, as the DVD does nothing but waste packaging. Stick with the standard edition and use the saved cash to get yourself Opeth's DVD if you want a truly spectacular live performance. (CD: 8/10, DVD: 3/10)

Well, the new wave of Finnish metal is rolling out bands like a deranged neighbor handing out razor blade-filled candy bars on Halloween. Following their 2004 debut, Shade Empire returns with Intoxicate O.S., a black metal/electronica hybrid that fits comfortably into the newfound genre of dark metal. There is just one question that begs to be asked, and that question being "why in the hell does this sound like the Cradle of Filth album that never was?"

The answer to that question is quite simple: Because this album, unlike Cradle of Filth's entire discography, kicks ass and doesn't feature Dani Filth. Shade Empire has created an amazingly complex yet simple aura with their music, annoying vocals aside. Keyboards are the definite driving force in this album, as the guitars take second stage and are only there to produce whiny tone and cool little rhythmic pieces. Seriously, what the hell is up with the tone on this album? It's pathetic as far as guitar tones go. There are hardcore bands with better tone, and that's saying something.

Lyrically, the album suffers, with only a small dab for each song being repeated into oblivion. Other than that, this album is good in small doses, great for when you want some hectic electronic metal. (7/10)

When it comes to American rock 'n roll, Michigan isn't exactly known for their big bands. However, that may all change with Chrome Helmet. The band is already huge locally, proving their dominance with victory after victory in local battles. Now with their sophomore release, they're showing the spirit it takes to be unique and one hell of a band.

Most bands today have two guitarists as a standard. Chrome Helmet has flipped that around and employs twin bass guitars. You read that right. Two bassists. This makes for some seriously wicked low end and a tremendously heavy sound.

The music professes a distinct northern rock sound, although shows bluegrass as the taproot of the band. The songs can sometimes lose a little flow, but they pick themselves right up, making for a great album and a badass new sound that will be sure to be a welcome addition to any collection. (8/10)

These Shreveport natives sure aren't the quiet types. This has to be one of the better hardcore bands in the scene, given that they don't suck and they're not afraid to be original. To be fair, their music is borderline metal, as there are no panic riffs and no godawful hardcore breakdowns. The vocals say otherwise, as it's hard to tell whether or not they're screamo or black metal.

The demo just breaches 12 minutes in run time and in those few minutes there are more musical directions than you can shake a stick at. As far as the future of the band goes, it's up to them to chip away at their direction and get comfortable with what they want. Oh, and smack the vocalist. (5.5/10)

The riffs throughout To Scale the Throne’s black metal demo are extremely well thought out and arranged, with icy hate permeating through each passage. Although the drums are probably programmed, it doesn't stop them from producing an absolutely awesome demo.

However, there seems to be something missing that maybe a second demo could remedy now that their lineup has changed and improved. Until then, try to catch one of their awesome live performances. (6.66/10)

Seediq Bale is proof that not everything from Taiwan is constructed poorly. In fact, the songwriting is superb even by the highest symphonic black metal standards. The keyboardist provides layer after layer of melodic goodness that couldn't possibly be reproduced in a live setting, and the songs are catchy as heck due to those elements and others. They've got a female vocalist throughout the album as well, and her style is more straightforward and with a slight vibrato, though she isn't quite as plain as some Goth female vocalists, and doesn't drift into horrible off-key tangents like you might expect. In other words, her performance is tight and adds a nice dynamic to the band's grim sound.

For some odd reason, they've got the first four tracks listed as data files on the CD. So, if you listen to your CDs on a computer, then seek out the "DAT" files in the "MPEGAV" folder. The first music video is a fairly standard black and white live-footage compilation to make up "Indigenous Laceration." Second is the far more impressive video for "Quasi Putrefaction"; Impressive because it is in beautiful color and features actual actors playing different parts. The live video for "Bloody Gaya Fulfilled" shows the band in all their cute, same-height Taiwanese glory. It's true, they are ALL very cute and you've got three music videos to attest to that claim. Check out their bass player, who is also the aforementioned female vocalist. Wow. The live performance is pulled off perfectly, and the sound quality is fantastic. Almost makes you wish they had released a DVD. There are large screens in the background flickering some video for the audience, and they've even got a female vocal choir on set to provide some eerie grooves.

Needless to say, the video portion is very satisfying, (if you can find it!) but let's not forget the actual CD! "Progeny Of Rmdaxtasing" starts out with layered scream dialogue, and then whips into a brilliant torrent of black metal with a spooky church organ playing in the background. Really, you will probably be addicted to the band after hearing just this single verse. Each song is crafted to perfection with the necessary hooks and melodies, however the vocalist's scratchy cat-like screaming performance keeps the brutality up a bit, as does the percussion performance with its punchy kickdrum and great patterns. They don't rely on constant blastbeats and for that, they have more space for experimental patterns, and even some "power metal" type flows.

Seediq Bale is an album with great songwriting backed by an honestly awesome looking group that can be seen in the sweet music videos they have provided here. It's like a gift pack that is sure to please. (9/10)

The new Henning Pauly (Chain, Frameshift) concept album was originally conceived as a double album. The vision, based on a true story about a former professional athlete who is fighting his present paralyzed state, was eventually shrunk into concise 75 minutes.

Jody Ashworth (previously featured on Trans-Siberian Orchestra and other Pauly releases), James LaBrie (Dream Theater) and Matt Cash handle most of the vocals on the album, yet the casting Pauly did for the recording is impressive not only in names, but also in the roles they play. Choosing the self-assured, crude Ashworth to play the part of the main character, Nick (who, I remind you, is in a very fragile phase) was a tricky selection. However, as odd as it is at first, it becomes logical as the story goes.

LaBrie handles the crucial physician part convincingly, adjusting to the different situations — from the mellow attempts at persuasions to unsettled fury. However, it is Matt Cash, who plays the role of the caring stranger, who seems to be totally wholehearted. A closer inspection reveals that both Cash and Ashworth (especially the former) contributed to the lyrics, and it is highly reasonable that this spirit of collaboration helped to make the album sound all the more persuasive.

Musically, this release is less exaggerated than the two previous Henning Pauly releases we examined (Frameshift’s An Absence of Empathy and Pauly’s Credit Where Credit Is Due), but "humble" is far from being an insult. Pauly, who handles most of the instruments himself, does so brilliantly: he does not over-speed, he does not over-stretch and he does not get too technical; instead he leads the vocals with melodies, energetic riffs (check out the great melodic bass playing on one of the album’s most conflict-charged songs, "What do you know!?") and changing sceneries. Even the five instrumental pieces that are distributed throughout the album are articulate and to the point rather than being a hollow showcase (a common case in progressive metal).

Instead of being filled with pompousness, this album tells its story with great focus and relevance. The result is exactly what this release strived to be: a clear storyline, served with engaging performance that emphasize its drama to create a meaningful, empathic listening experience. (9/10)

If there ever was a band to inherit The Beatles it was Stackridge. Why the band has never received the deserved level of admiration (eventually leading key members to form the alternatively poppier The Korgis) is a mystery, even though this compilation is only my first attempt at confronting the band’s classic material.

This best-of release is, in a way, a preview to the Angel Air re-mastered series of the entire Stackridge classic catalogue, set to release in 2007 (so they promise). It represents most of the band’s 1970s releases, showcasing different aspects of the multifaceted sound. Cleverly enough, only one song from the debut release is featured here, and I tend to believe this move is more of a strategy to encourage you to buy the November release rather than a declaration about its quality.

The opening instrumental is a catchy yet intricate symphonic piece. "Syracuse the Elephant" follows and presents the succession of late Beatles (think Abbey Road) characteristics: the vocal melodies (slightly favoring Lennon), the suite structure (including a lengthy instrumental section with a vibrating violin playing) and the British humor — these are not only Beatlesque in flavor, but also mark a step forward from the Fab Four, with the lyrics being more surreal, the humor being more sarcastic and the instrumentation being true to the art-rock spirit of the day.

Later on, one can find "Anyone for Tennis?" which preceded and predicted Queen’s more delicate output; and "Friendliness" — a simple, chord based song, augmented by a magical interlude.

All the aforementioned tracks, by the way, are taken from the January 2007 due release of 1972’s Friendliness, and "friendly" is indeed a proper word to describe Stackridge’s music, as the detailed and complex arrangements never sacrifice the thoughtfulness, and even the reputable idiosyncratic lyrics ("has your sister ever twisted at the Holocaust?") are kind and lovely (again, much like the Beatles).

The band’s third album, The Man in the Bowler Hat, was produced and orchestrated by none other than George Martin (yep, the legendary Beatles producer), and is represented here extensively by tracks such as "The Last Plimsoll," which in parts sounds like hybrid of Genesis and Jethro Tull, and features some ridiculously cute, childish instrumentation.

The instrumental "Coniston Water" (off the band’s concept album, Mr. Mick) is yet another example of Stackridge’s crafty orchestration, built around wind instruments and keyboards. The mood is somewhat restrained, but there’s a scent of devastation in the air, suggestive of Van Der Graaf Generator.

There are other tracks of course, almost each carries its own mark. You also get a booklet with the lyrics and the band’s biography. Unfortunately, the sleeve notes don’t help to ascribe each track to the album from which it was taken (which is quite crucial for anyone who is interested to dig deeper, as the tracks are not placed chronologically).

Like every self respecting collection, this one also has a unique track: a recently recorded rendition of the instrumental "Purple Spaceships Over Yatton," which is very neat and yet loyal to the glory days of Stackridge, hence serving as a fine closure. Essential, at least until the separate albums reissues become available. (essential, for now/10)

review by: Larissa Glasser

One of Leviathan’s last DIY offerings came on the eve of his official label debut, Verrater (tUMULt, 2002). While many first impressions of Leviathan come from his 2003 Moribund Cult LP, The Tenth Sublevel of Suicide, many may not be aware that he released plenty of hate-vapor upon the Bay Area since he began this project in 1998.

Fifteen is the fifteenth demo, in case you haven’t gathered that. Overall, the sound is much more reverb-drenched and aquatic than the stabbing tones of The Tenth Sublevel of Suicide. (Ed’s note: we often have no idea what the songs are called, so in those cases, they will be referred to as a Roman numeral in the order in which they appear.)

"I," a brief, "Fantastic Planet"-sounding instrumental, brings down the black shroud slowly and with a creeped-out menace. One thing that always sets Wrest’s work apart from his USBM peers is his ability to conjure and coagulate nightmare landscapes out of thin air.

Fifteen contains early versions of Tenth Sublevel songs: "II" contains bludgeon from "Scenic Solitude and Leprosy," "VII" is "The Bitter Emblem of Dissolve," "VIII" is "Sardoniscorn" (sped up a tad!). These offer considerable insight into Wrest’s creative process with alternate arrangements, additional instrumentation / voicings, and atmospheric departure.

Nevertheless, the entire sequence of Fifteen functions as a whole, and should be considered thus rather than as a rough draft for The Moribund Cult. Many of the other riffs and motifs contained herein sound admittedly unfamiliar, and cold as a razor across the eyeball. May the torture never stop. (10/10)

Los Burbanks meld a number of influences to create Latin-tinged, hard-driving rock. At times the experiment is more successful than at others, but the overall effect is pleasing. Expect to be blown away by the fast-moving title track, "Snake." "Big Sur" also attacks with fierce guitars, a machine gun of noise that quickly calms down to a more melodic line.

The lyrics on the album are sung in both English & Spanish, oscillating between James Hetfield-like intensity and mall-punk dude voice (more the latter than the former). The final few tracks explore a more peaceful, ballad-like side to the band, though the aggressive rhythms of the rest of the album are not far off. Recommended if you like the softer side of hard music — this will not make your ears bleed, but it won’t make you into a mopester either. (7/10)

So, a maniscalco maldestro is a clumsy blacksmith. I’m not sure what this has to do with the band I’m listening to, though perhaps the juxtaposition of such a dangerous profession as blacksmithery and clumsiness should offer a clue. What I do hear is a variety of sounds, brought together such that sometimes you think you’re listening to the weird Italian outtake from Tom Waits’ Mule Variations. And then you think it’s something else, maybe one of those neo-swing bands? It is hard to categorize these guys, and one may as well not try.

What to expect: a lot of sounds, a lot of Italian, a big hint of big band, a taste of the eclectic. Recommended if you’re looking for that new novelty album to scare and amuse your friends. Not recommended for anyone who could never understand the genius of They Might Be Giants or who doesn’t appreciate the beauty of the random. (And seriously, listen to track 4, "Ego," and tell me this guy isn’t channeling Waits. I dare you.) (7/10)

I put this album into rotation the day I received it in the mail, and have seen no reason to take it out yet. Sybarite (masterminded by Xian Hawkins) makes clean, organic electronica, complete with chanteuse on a few tracks. So much electronic music sounds so, well, electronic, that it is a pure pleasure to be able to pick out the real, live sounds emanating from this recording. But don’t worry — there are clicks and beeps aplenty.

But when a proper trumpet lays down a line over the szhoop and swip of an electronic drum line, one has a hard time not being pleased. Somehow, it all fits together and works. Highly recommended, particularly for fans of the like of Fourtet, Herbert, slow Underworld tracks etc. Don’t let the brevity of this review make you think this isn’t a great album. It is. Now go listen to it. (9/10)

So: good sound, one fantastic song, four cloned ones, 28 minutes. Enough? Your choice. (4.4/10)

Urna hits the black, evil nail squarely on the head with their original, stylistically progressive mix of the black and doom metal genres, featuring the exact right amount of lull and rage to punctuate the largely apocalyptic slowness and make it all the more engrossing.

Can an album be unsettling and relaxing at the same time? Check out Sepulcrum for proof. Stylistically, think of the latest stuff by Blut Aus Nord — the stuff that goes slow and mooooos you to death — but with a fresh, dynamic take. Urna’s sound is subterranean and cavernous, with you at the bottom, barely perceiving the sinister rock outcroppings of the interior of the mountain’s wall, and the pernicious sounds escalate as they rebound and echo.

Cavernous — think wet: damp, cold walls and air, preternatural droplets running off the monolithic stones into pools of who knows what. Each crash cymbal and hi-hat hit off of the ideal drum machine is like a great leviathan of the deep ejecting a stream from its blowhole.

For the most part, Urna’s material, although played with distorted instruments, is atmospheric. Individual riff recognition and enjoyment is a distant second to the way all the layers and blackened effects mix together in a stunningly massive, artistic sound within a superb, unique production.

Urna also eschews the conventional trappings of doom. First, they don’t go slow all the time. Some listeners dig on the painfully slow groove and can ride it for an hour. Others, like me, need dynamics. Sepulcrum’s got some, in the form of a pocket-full of black metal fast beats here and there, and static gasps before the leviathan surfaces again. Second, the beats the band uses aren’t a monotonous afterthought. Third, while Urna’s music is superlatively morbid and brooding, it’s not melancholic, so you will be instilled with antediluvian awe, but you won’t want to slit your wrists. Fourth,  the use of passages that would be at home on perhaps a dark ambient record (think aqueous/sidereal keyboard tones that reverb out alone, building up an atmosphere that cleanses the palate for another epic traipse through the Urna caverns). But the distinction is clear: were any of these stylistic approaches used as the album’s entirety (as they are on a great number of records), Sepulcrum would be a redundant bore. As it is, it’s always been a pleasure to listen through it.

Sepulcrum will no doubt be on many a die-hard funeral doom fan’s best of list for 2006. That particular style has largely been lost on me, but I can say that this album is one of those that transcends a genre and will appeal to a wide variety of fans of staggeringly heavy and dark music. (8.9/10)

Dol Ammad’s debut, Star Tales, grew on us like a rash that felt soooo good to scratch. It took a while to realize it, but Dol Ammad’s take on power metal making love to dance club electronica while a 14-piece classical choir belted it out in always grand, often absurd fashion is unique. Hopefully it will inspire more bands to go this pompously glorious fashion. Check out our review of the first album to learn more.

Make no mistake, Dol Ammad is unabashedly campy, silly, and, well... gay. But in being all that, it is also beautiful, stirring, triumphant and undeniably essential. It’s like the music is of the making by a person (Thanasis "Lightbridge," keyboarder and lead wonky madman) who is equally enamored with opera and video game music, who has an equally good time at the symphony as he does a Eurotrash rave. And he’s also got a ton of talented friends, like the choir, Rhapsody drummer Alex Holzwarth and prog metal notable DC Cooper, who guests on "Aquatic Majesty."

Now it’s a question of comparing album one and two. Since day one, Dol Ammad’s stylistic voice has been clear, but Ocean Dynamics sees the project veer slightly away from the power metal domain. Still tons of 4/4 double kick groove of varying tempos, but elements like pseudo-black metal blastbeats and deeper explorations of a more relaxed atmosphere make this album remarkably different. The elements of heavenly, layered vocal lines, slick, hi-tech drumming, endless layers of keyboard and keyboard effects (dolphin chatter, anyone?), and totally incongruous electronica / trance bits are still in full force, resulting in a genuinely fun and wondrous album. And when the warm bass picking, noodly keyboard melody, and wall of bass drums kicks in with the singing troupe of angels, it’s always totally great. As one would hope from album to album, the production is a little bigger and fuller.

There are a couple gripes, though. The main one is "Descent," a languid and otherwise atmospherically appealing track that is unfortunately a throw away as the great majority of the vocals are done in some in-time whispered female talking. If there’s anything we’re checking in for, it’s not this. Also, as good as DC Cooper is a vocalist, his presence here is rather awkward, just as it was guesting on Edenbridge’s third album. Here, his more typical for the genre voice brings the proceedings down to earth, so to speak... where Dol Ammad needs to stay up there in the fantasy stars, not caring what anybody down here thinks of it.

That’s really it. Long live Dol Ammad. May they keep putting out totally absurd and brilliant albums. We hesitated to give the debut a 9+. We sometimes think we should, just for the sheer uniqueness of this project. We should probably do the same for the follow-up, but "Descent" is a drag. Same score. (8.8/10)

review by: Brandon Strader

Ocean Dynamics starts out with an extremely long ambient synth piece with some female dialogue voiceovers and angelic vocalizing. Four and a half minutes later, however, comes "Thalassa Dominion, part 2," and the introduction to the metal. Indeed, a band pretentious enough to hold the banner "electronic art metal" isn't fooling around. They've got the electronic, and they've got the metal, but where is the art? It's like slapping a synthesizer into Nightwish and calling it art, although it is really cool hearing two dueling choirs; the seven women (who are quite hot), and seven men (who are quite hot as well!)

"Art" may be a bit strong of a word to use, though the music is pretty awesome, it's not exactly on the level of Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre, or that one painting with all the dogs playing poker. And not only that, it's got a lot less power metal than their previous album, Star Tales, and thus less excitement!

The "Thalassa Dominion" is in four parts, and drags itself along with a lot of electronics, and happy sounding arrangements. One comparison would be Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which is downright weird. The kickdrum has a strange sound like a loose piece of semi-thick plastic strapped over the frame, though the other pieces of the kit sound magnificent — especially the snare. You don't really hear a snare sound like that on too many albums, which suggests that these guys really know what they're doing when it comes to snares... maybe not so much kickdrums... but it's not too bad.

After the harmonious, proggy movements of "Thalassa Dominion" finally come to an end, we get the first fast-paced power metal explosion of the album, yet surprisingly the chord progression contains a lot less major, and a lot more minor (meaning it doesn't sound as happy, folks!). Actually, it almost sounds maniacal! This also marks the occasion when the choir vocals began to sound more similar to Therion's style. There are so many electronic elements throughout every song, there is no way they could ever perform this music live, even if they somehow figured out how to get all 14 choir vocalists on that small club stage with the 5-piece band.

"Descent" ditches the percussionist and employs an extremely corny electronically programmed drumbeat. Think $2 rap studio in the friendly neighborhood gangster's basement. Again, electronic elements are applied like the icing on the cake — and enough of it to give you a heart attack — and a female vocalist sings some lines for what is probably the riskiest track on the album. "Lava" has a techno groove and some funky guitar chops that you wouldn't have expected or believed until you heard it. It's also the first occasion when we noticed the male portion of the choir put to action. "Aquatic Majesty" continues with the male choir, and reintroduces the power metal beat for some cool thrashing. When the full 14-piece choir sings the chorus on this track, it is pretty astounding, though it could have been better if all of them had sang different harmonies. I'm sure Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian fame could have pulled off such a huge layer on his own, which is evidenced by his recent work on A Twist in the Myth.

Ocean Dynamics is part pleasant listen, and part hair-tossing metal fiesta. The electronic elements do add a dimension of focus to the music, and are sure to grab your attention on several occasions, but they overpower the music a bit. It does seem to be pretty original, though. (8.11/10)

The recipe for stereotypical hardcore bands is simple. Mix anger, attitude, mediocre talent and a shitty life together and you've got a hardcore band. Metal has evolved to complex levels, whereby having talent, innovative ideas and dedication is necessary. With the emergence of so many hardcore bands, I thing there is regression or devolution of these qualities. This is not saying that I hate hardcore bands; on the contrary, there are many that I can appreciate and even grow to love. However, xRepresentx's music is too embryonic, too raw and although they make an attempt at creating a good album, it just does not quite reach levels of high quality material.

True at All Costs maneuvers a variety of tempos, and there are stages during which a stable impact on the listener is possible, but it just does not happen. It commences by invoking anticipation, but any hope I had towards the potentiality of the music soon dematerialized. There is a rebel quality to the music, since the vocalist, Derek Ski, makes use of the word "fuck" and demonstrates the variety of ways that "fuck" can be used to construct sentences. Sure, the guitars may be hard and heavy, but what is the point of having it that way just for the sake of projecting anger and not for creating good music that is not solely created out of emotions but also out of motivation and skill. In Derek Ski's own words, "Your meaningless swords turn into meaningless songs, which are a waste of fucking time."

My advice? Save the money for a band who puts a little bit more effort into creating worthwhile songs. (3/10)

These Swedish rockers never fail to amaze. With each new album that The Haunted release, there is a mutation, a musical evolution. Nevertheless, they manage to cling to the same sound that they had since the start; the same sound which granted them praise and popularity. Swedish death metal, Gothenburg style, is the backbone for their music, but within the structure of The Dead Eye, there is a pronounced blues influence in the vocals.

There is stamina, a flow of intensified vehemence that bleeds out from every song. Instantly, there is a stream of dynamism. "The Premonition," a short instrumental introduction, paves the road for "The Flood," which pumps out puissance for the majority of the time but then, unexpectadly, simmers down into a state of serenity as Peter Dolving sings with a clear, yet full-toned voice. This same marvel, this alteration between speed and emotions, occurs during "The Drowning," "The Reflection," "The Fallout," "The Cynic," and to an extent, during "The Failure." "The Medication" demonstrates the successful use of animated repetition throughout the length of a song. The rest of the songs maintain more uniformity.

The album’s last track, "The Guilt Trip," is very interesting, for there is a few minutes of tangible silence before the music begins; it is ten minutes of temperamental transmigration.

The Dead Eye is successful not only because the musicianship is brilliant, but because it demonstrates the fact that death metal has no actual borders. (10/10)

Burning Skies are one of England's most talented bands. Their music is fast-paced, progressing from intense moments of forecasting force to explosive flashes of viciousness. It is all black metal interlaced with different categories of death metal, as well as periodical manifestations of hardcore. While it seems logical to compare them to a large number of bands, their music can be thought as closely related to that of Zyklon's.

The songs on this album are relatively short, brief and powerful bombs averaging to a length of three or so minutes. The majority of compositions are hypersonic, invoking mobility within the listener. "Bauer Power" and "Desolation... for the Denial of Ignorance," the fourth and fifth tracks respectively, are ones that definitely stand out. The seventh track, "Fairytale Supremacy," begins with a melancholy tone and then shifts to a faster tempo, still retaining an emotional quality. The ninth track, "Lurid Demolition," makes use of repetition of musical patterns that emerge at given ticks. The last track marks the end of the album, entitled "Could you sink any lower?"; it consolidates black metal guitar-playing with death-metal spirit.

Burning Skies is a fine example of one of those bands that smoothly blends different categories of extreme music. (9/10)

Solace of Requiem, even though they are labelled as death metal, are definitely much more than just that. Their music integrates features from a multitude of styles, ranging from doom metal, black metal, thrash metal along with the unmistakeable death metal sound. Lyrically, they are atypical, for their songs are not centered around profanity and atrocity, but rather on philosophical themes.

During the first few moments of Utopia Reborn, the composition and texture of the music may seem dull and uninspiring, but that soon changes. The songs are filled with bursts of energy at unexpected moments. The thought that the songs may take any direction is exhilirating, and offers a new perspective on what extreme music is comprised of. "Lost Vapours," the fourth track, is a brilliant example of how variable their music is, also featuring Dirk Tatzel on guest vocals. "Language of the Gods," the third track, includes Brett Hoffmann as guest vocalist, who sings alongside a very prominent black metal sound. As the text progresses, containing religious and esoteric overtones, the harmony between word and sound is noticeable. The album ends with the crestfallen atmosphere that "Cry out for Mercy" establishes.

While there are tons of death metal bands that emerge each day, few manage to embed themself onto the space of the scene. Solace of Requiem deserve to be granted with the ability to become a solid within the metal world. (9/10)

As soon as you see the artwork for Grimoire of Ruin, you will know that this album is, for lack of a better word, unique. The style of the band logo is heavy metal mixed with the artistic flair of black metal. The actual art looks very grim, and extremely dark with a lot of blacks and diminished reds that actually look more like pinks, but it works splendidly nonetheless. The artwork accurately describes the musical nature of Grimoire of Ruin.

During the first few moments of "A Dream of Dreams," the first track, the pace is slow in an almost sludgy manner. Male vibratos enter the song with a majestic sound and change your initial impressions of the album. Your first impressions are further changed when the album mutates into a dakr version of power metal: heavy metal with a dash of tremolos, a powerful percussion performance when plenty of smooth-traveling double bass, and heavy male vocals that are performed with such a fervor that they really sound like the vocalist is putting 110% of his ability into them with overly masculine results. There's also plenty of thrash to keep your head banging well into the night.

Grimoire of Ruin gets better and better with each oncoming song. "The Dark Citadel" shows some of the first growls, which grind like a chainsaw through cement, as well as some very well-performed Hetfield (Metallica) imitations with somewhat of an Araya (Slayer) influence in there as well. Heavy metal riffs spew forth like pus from a blister on "...And The Meek," which also holds a fantastic chorus with catchy, layered vocal melodies.

"Brave Murder Day," the name of which is most-likely a tribute to Goth rock group Katatonia, is one of the more tiresome tracks on the album due to a lack of experimentation, though the clean guitar section half way through sounds pretty spooky when combined with the vocals. Oh, yes, there is a demon lurking in the shadows preparing to devour you and/or your small children this Halloween, beware...

Grimoire of Ruin is an extremely potent journey through the lands of thrashy power metal where the songwriting is a major focus. While the performances are not perfect, they cause the album to be more enjoyable in their modesty. The occasional shred, or rock 'n' roll influenced solo peeks out from time to time and never fails to impress, adding to the mood of the album most resplendently. Definitely give Grimoire of Ruin a chance. (7.77/10)

The first 15 seconds of this prog-melo-death masterpiece left my mouth agape. Edenshade is here with their second full-length offering that incorporates the best qualities of so many different bands and genres. They've got the incredibly fast keyboard solos of Dream Theater along with some of the more progressive instrumental flows, and the keyboardist constantly puts his mark on the music with synthesized strings and various tones. The vocalist has a strange range of vocal performances from the insecure ramblings displayed on "That Blind" to the monolithic growls featured on most tracks, and clean vocals similar to the ones you'd hear in hardcore bands. They've also got some spoken dialogue-type vocals somewhat similar to Bal-Sagoth.

The songwriting is extremely spontaneous with many verses being so diverse that they don't even seem to link properly with the other sections of the song. For example, a short acoustic break will bounce out in place of a verse and link back into a heavy verse. "That Blind" has a couple of these occurrences, and overall proves to be a very intense tune. The keyboardist even puts an accordion solo in there at the end during another one of those acoustic breaks. You can tell they've used an electric-acoustic guitar for these parts, as the acoustic tone has that bodiless, electronic sound.

The progressive elements that occasionally pop in are really enjoyable, like the piano arpeggios in "They" and the touching Dream Theater-style chorus of "Contemplate," the latter of which is also a good example of the spontaneous songwriting that Edenshade protrudes. The verse is completely different from the chorus in an avant-garde style one would imagine from a band like Unexpect. Sometimes the vocal performance can become a bit too chaotic with the vocalist doing pretty much everything he can do during one small section which, despite being awesome, can also lead to a minor headache.

The percussionist is grand as well, and his double bass is some of the fastest I've heard recently. By songwriting standards, Edenshade is obviously a cut above many with their fusion of so many genres and spectacular arrangements. For only their second album, this is very impressive. The only thing one could consider bad about The Lesson Betrayed is the regular clean vocal performance, which can sound a bit too sloppy. Also, there's no vibrato on those vocals, which also takes away from what they could have potentially been. Regardless, The Lesson Betrayed is nothing less than spectacular and should be beheld by death and prog-fans alike. (7.8/10)

Images of Eden is advertised as a progressive rock band... If you like the more modern and literal progressive rock bands, then you most likely will not enjoy this one too much. The vocalist's vibrato is stronger than your average heavy metal vocalist, and that is saying something; I mean look at Bruce Dickinson. Now imagine his vibrato twice as strong. It can be good at times, but a vibrato like that is really too strong for its own good.

The music incorporates more heavy metal vibes than you would expect, yet it has the vague resemblance of prog rock with some of the chords and the progressions that lie therein. This album is definitely one you have to hear many times before you begin to like it. "Kaleidoscope" feels like it is just breaking into a hefty groove and really rocking out, but the song suddenly ends and very unsmoothly links into "Beyond the Horizon," like Images of Eden didn't know where to go after that part. It was like a chicken with its head cut off, except it didn't flop around afterwards; it just lay there lifeless and pathetic!

Speaking of "Beyond The Horizon," this is really the first song that puts in the required prog rock solo section. Possibly the only genre that can get away with enjoyable and skillful solos without being called "wankery" or "cheesy" — progressive rock. Images of Eden rely heavily on verse / chorus arrangements rather than the free, almost orchestral feel you get from some of the more outstanding prog rock outfits, however the choruses are catchy, and the solo parts put in nearly every song are really outstanding. The major-chord progressions and arrangements really add to the vibe, and make Sunlight of the Spirit an uplifting experience.

The songwriting is pretty diverse, but sometimes the vocal melodies sound vaguely familiar. The keyboardist includes the almost necessary elements of piano, square wave, and even some organ throughout the album. The square wave solo on "Dream-Catcher" sounds totally retro, and the keyboard strings on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" really add to the atmosphere of the track. There's always a sense of subtlety regarding the keyboards, and they are always exactly where they need to be and never overbearing.

Images of Eden are displaying a brand of simplified prog rock lacking the epicness of some of the more prolific groups, yet having enough redeeming qualities to make it worth listening to more than once, but not too many times. It'll take a few to get used to it, and if you still enjoy it after that, then you've got a keeper. It is strangely attractive and repugnant at the same time.

"Sunlight of the Spirit - Emerald Rain" has more minor chords, which is strange since this is one of the positive titled ones, after all. It's also got some nice strings from the keyboardist, and some genuinely cool bongo performances. The three part title-track may be the most interesting thing on the album, as it flows pretty smoothly between the three, thus making it much longer than the other tracks, and a lot more epic. Those seeking epic should seek out Transatlantic, or The Flower Kings... Those seeking a more short-time engagement with little commitment (but an overall enjoyable relationship) should seek out Images of Eden's Sunlight of the Spirit. (6.5/10)

Just in time for winter, Jack Frost provides us with MORE heavy metal with Out in the Cold, his second solo-project release. There are eight different vocalists featured throughout the album, including Frost himself. There are five bassists, three drummers, and one keyboardist making up the rest of the line-up for Out in the Cold, with Frost on guitars. Frost arranged three covers to be featured here as well: Foreigner's "Cold As Ice," .38 Special's "Hold on Loosely," and April Wine's "Sign of the Gypsy Queen."

"Wasting Your Luv" crawls gloomy over the starting line with a slow, doom-like guitar riff covered in a rotary effect. The song quickly evolves into a heavy metal "hunting theme," and Ted Polly provides his tame, yet sometimes gruff, metal vocals. The song itself is pretty docile and doesn't really leap out at you from the canvas. "Hell or High Water" continues almost seamlessly from the first track with a slow tempo and grinding riffage you'd expect from the Frostmeister. Alan Tecchio, Frost's pal from Seven Witches, handles the vocals on this track really well with his signature style, falsettos, and even manly growl-type vocals.

As to be expected, Frost shoves a ton of great heavy metal riffs into this solo album, and pulls out some great noodly solos as well. Neil Turbin busts out the first ‘80s falsetto rise in "Crucifixation" and the song thrashes a bit harder than previous tracks. The mood of each song seems to be overly slow and sludgy heavy metal, which can get old after a while, and the lack of fast-tempo ball-busters is somewhat disappointing. "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" is a particularly catchy tune with a good vocal performance from Ted Polly again, and some genuinely awesome double-bass, mostly due to the natural drum sound!

The pleasant ballad "Passage to the Classical Side" is probably the best track on the whole album. It's got a great melodic vocal performance with a good vibrato from Dale Toth, and a really cool piano arrangement that sounds pretty emotional, paired with a string set and some choir sounds played through the keyboard in there as well. Sure, the piano ballad doesn't quite fit in with all the heavy metal tracks, but it is really good on its own. If Frost would release an album with just a bunch of ballads like this, it would probably be much more successful...

Frost himself provides vocals for "Hold on Loosely," which is one of the faster, catchier tracks on the album. It's surprising how good his performance is as he does gruff heavy metal vocals, and clean melodic vocals with ease throughout the song. Out in the Cold is constructed pretty well with good, classic songwriting and a lot of tight performances from a wide variety of performers. This disc will probably appeal most to Seven Witches fans, and those who love the traditional heavy metal scene, but it isn't catchy enough to warrant many repeated listens. (6/10)

Seven Witches has been around since 1998 and has released six full-length albums brimming with traditional heavy metal glory. The band has been through a ton of line-up changes, but is now somewhat sturdy with the arrangement of Alan Tecchio on vocals, Kevin Bolembach on bass, Jeff Currenton on drums, and Jack Frost (his solo album is also reviewed in this issue) on guitars.

After so many years, it was a good time to release a live DVD, so here we have it: Years of the Witch. There are a lot of songs included here for a total of 16, and the band makes sure to please the older fans by including previous material in their set. The menus all function correctly, and look fairly stylish... so what are we waiting for? You can select a song, or hit "Play All."

The live show is shot professionally, and features high quality video, as well as a great sound quality. Although the sound quality is great, the audio mix is simply terrible. The percussion is strong as hell, which is always good. The guitar and bass, however, are at an extremely low volume. You can barely hear them amongst the percussion, and when the vocalist rips out with his awesome vibrato, you basically can't hear the guitar work at all. You can barely hear Frost ripping out his guitar solos, which is really sad, because I was under the impression that he was pretty good at his craft. The vocalist does a great job though, as he always stays on key, in time, and even rips out some fabulous falsettos. It's good that he puts on such a great performance, as that is basically all you can hear amongst the percussion.

Seven Witches put on a great show though, and really exert themselves honorably. Due to the bad audio mix, you don't really get to experience the true essence of the group, or the awesomeness you would probably experience if you had actually gone to one of their shows, but you get a glimpse into the world of Seven Witches that is pretty enjoyable despite the bad mix...

Also included on the DVD is a good amount of bonus features, including "Story of the Witch," which features an interesting telling of the group's history by Frost, an interview with Frost and journalist Mark Roman, "The Man Behind The Music" which is another interview and history telling type situation... It's incredible, Jack Frost starts talking and he talks, and talks, and he talks fast like he's hopped up on sugar or something. He also seems very thankful to these people he's speaking with, as he spends a couple minutes on each section thanking the guys very ferociously.

There is also live footage of the song "Camelot" spliced together in "Journey Through Camelot" that looks like a compilation of your average bootlegs with the smeared video and amateur camerawork, and the muffled, sometimes static audio. The video clips are interchanged throughout the song to display the new member changes, all the way to the new vocalist featured on the main DVD recording. The band seems much more excitable in the future, as they hop around like madmen and really go crazy. There's also some archived concert footage included that contains various clips from concerts throughout Seven Witches' history.

Overall, it's a very interesting DVD and the performances on the main show and throughout the bonus features are fun to watch. Like mentioned above, however, this DVD could have been a lot better had the guitar volume been raised quite a bit during the audio mix for the DVD. (6/10)

Fresh from the triple-live DVD, Wrath of the Norsemen, Amon Amarth’s new full length is a vast improvement over the moody and sometimes sedate Fate of Norns.

There's Meshuggah in here somewhere, I swear it. Sweden's By Night are the new signees to Lifeforce, which means A New Shape of Desperation could go one of two ways, and surprisingly, By Night are actually a fairly decent band.

They played a brand of metalcore that's definitely something new. It's melodic, no doubt, but there are traces of such bands as Extol, Opeth, Meshuggah and Fear Factory. Rhythmically, By Night are sticking to moments that are highly reminiscent of Meshuggah at their most melodic from Chaosphere and Opeth's brand of death that has nothing to do with tremolo riffing; and like Extol, the structuring is pretty technical and complex, especially on songs like "People Like You" and "Through Ashes We Crawl."

One of the best things about By Night, however, is the guitar tone. Talk about absolutely delicious. While the vocals seem to be a bit overpowered, the tone is extremely thick and crunchy, and a perfect example of how "dirty" production can really work in contrast to something extremely clean and crystal clear.

Although By Night definitely have selling points, they've still got a good bit to worry about in the way of flaws. For instance, there's no vocal variation at all, which would've been nice, and while the album tends to be pretty diverse, they have a structural formula and stick with it for all of two songs, which isn't exactly worthy of a full listen on most occasions.

By Night could end up being a great band in the rather boring metalcore scene, and A New Shape of Desperation is definitely a good start, but nowhere near album of the year. (6/10)

Katatonia are a doom metal success story, and it started with Dance of December Souls. So it's only natural that such an album would inspire several understudies, the most recent of which is Ablaze in Hatred.

The Finnish which should tell you a number of things, doom is about as regionally different as death metal is) doomsters' debut, Deceptive Awareness, isn't necessarily album of the year, but it'll please several fans of Daylight Dies, Swallow the Sun, and of course, earlier Katatonia; The vocals especially are amongst the Swallow the Sun variety, relying on atmosphere-intensive melodic death / doom that conjures forth epic feelings of a vindictive depression, and they do so well.

These songs bring a very heavy feeling to your heart. Their only real problem is that the music, though weighty, tends to meld together after awhile, feeling like it could've been one fifty minute-long song instead of splicing it in to seven.

Regardless, Deceptive Awareness is a decent album that should tide everyone over until Swallow the Sun's next release. (7/10)

Tears of a Clone is the second album from Icy Demons, and it really, really makes me wish I had the first one. Psychedelia is a term that's extremely misused today in music. Little about the Beatles makes you wish you were trippin' balls in contrast to the mental assault that Meshuggah are.

However, Icy Demons are a band that remove all doubt about the ambiguous and ever-fleeting sound of psychedelia. This is the epitome of it.

Amidst the frolicsome and naive overtones, this is quite the avant-garde disc, mixing jazz, electronia, and rock into some urban-sprawl type sermon of slight cynicism. It's awkward and complex at the same time, achieving a schizophrenic quality that becomes endearing after a little while, sounding like robotic lullabies. The rhythms are awkward and ascertain an extremely groovy feel, such as songs like "This Is It!" You can imagine some giant overly-pink bunny staggering through a field of flat water-color green as mechanic animals graze in the field next to it.

Of course, that's not to say there's not a facetious or cynical element to the album, because all of the songs have a feeling of self-parody. The vocals have a tone to them that sounds distinctly like Maynard from Tool, as the music and lyrics suggest a higher intelligence to it, encrypted somewhere in all the comic aspects of them album. However, that's actually Tears of a Clone’s appeal. It's got a duality to it that's nowhere near serious, yet you always find yourself looking for some deeper meaning in the content.

Kind of like life in general: weird. (8/10)

Georgian sludgesters Kylesa are a band that consistently progress with each release. To Walk a Middle Course was one of the better albums of 2005, and definitely showcased an extremely original approach to sludge that sounded nothing like Eyehategod or Crowbar, but more like Neurosis in their less "Neurosis-y" days, but with a slight crust feel. Kylesa’s new album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth is not only an exceptionally intriguing listen, but a release that's going to stay with you for awhile.

Pinpointing the exact sound is a pretty decent chore. There's Cave-In's style of progression with some pretty masterful effects useage, Mastodon-like rhythms, and even hints here and there of Queens of the Stone Age in tone, but there's still so much more to it. Although still sounding distinctly like Kylesa, the band has undergone a major songwriting evolution.

Few new doom and sludge bands have songs that are just as outright vicious as what's on Time Will Fuse Its Worth. The tri-point vocal attack(featuring a chick, which adds much more of a dimension than you'd initially believe) layered on top of thick, oozing grooves and harsh atmospheres presents an all-encompassing and enthralling mood of doom and gloom. "What Becomes an End" has a furious trudge to it, and lyrics that recall a laughing prophet of doom while the bone-grinding machine edges on with tempo variations screech it to a near-halt before the upheaval starts again.

"Hollow Severer" also blasts into being with an anthemic shouting of disgust and gives way to a passage reminiscent of the aforementioned Cave-In effect multitude.

Kylesa also don't mind getting caught up in some extremely atmospheric illusions, like "Between Silence and Sound." Taking a break from their standard tirade of ominous, swaggering tempos, there's a much more arid and hallucinogenic feel to them, filled with mental vitriol. Things continue until "Ignoring Anger," which is the epoch of the album. Keeping the songtitle in mind, it starts out with birds chirping and a piano melody happily growing apathetic to the wails of feedback underneath it, until the momentum and anxiousness gives into itself and breaks into one of the heaviest songs on the album.

Kylesa's Time Will Fuse Its Worth is a sludge album right up there with The Abominable Iron Sloth and Mouth of the Architect for best sludge and doom of the year. Excellent music, and completely original in contrast to all the Iron Monkey and Isis / Neurosis worship coming out. A definite must-have. (9/10)

One of the best things that ever happened to metal and rock is the introduction of jazz fusion, and if Gordian Knot and the Jelly Jam weren't convincing enough of that, now you have Nebelnest. And fortunately, they have nothing to do with Dream Theater.

Their new album, ZePTO, is a disc that's equal parts Rush and equal parts Allan Holdsworth. The band plays dark instrumental rock that's been laced with jazz, oftentimes sounding like a side-project of Yakuza on their more acid-flavored binges of space jazz. It's dark, and the ambience is extremely eerie, but in a very cerebral and creeping way. It's not unlike the band to throw in some Primus-like guitar noise, or then unleash a massive, swaggering wall-of-sound, reminiscent of Behold... the Arctopus!

It's not until the third track, "The Old Ones," that you get the feeling that this album is really alive. It's like the mad scientist who reasoned his was into insanity. Fuzzed out bass lines compliment synthed-out midi melodies as the chorus breathes life and awe into the insane, but at-peace sound that pretty much epitomizes ZePTO.

Essentially, if you've ever wanted to know what elevator music in an alien spaceship sounds like, Nebelnest can make the revelation for you. Fans of Allan Holdsworth, Rush, Zombi, and Gordian Knot will definitely appreciate this. (8.5/10)

When Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till, both from the mighty Neurosis, released solo albums, you were suddenly able to distinguish which of them was the author of certain respective sections of Neurosis' music. In the case of Cave-In’s Stephen Brodsky, that's kind of what's going on here.

Octave Museum is in a completely different league than the creator’s regular band, which is extremely surprising. The music here is borderline indie, but throws back years before to bands like Steppenwolf and the Doobie Brothers (at their most electric, of course). It's so playfully surreal that it's almost like an extremely absurd daydream that lasts for more than half an hour.

Of course, it's not to say that there're no elements of Cave-In here, because this album is full of distortion and dreamy soundscapes, but the tempo doesn't rise above a mid-paced, rhythmic groove or slower, acoustic sound.

However, the Neurosis comparison is warranted because of the aspect of Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum that does draw from Cave-In: The music on this album is incredibly dreamy and surreal, revealing a completely abstract theme and feel. Melodies are skewed in fuzzed out and completely distorted melodies, making the album sound lost in its own comfortably unaware happiness. Although it sounds extremely far-fetched, this is one of the few albums that will make you just want to laugh.

Amongst all the facetious absurdities, there's still an underlying feel of sincerity that gives the album a cute feel about it. It's all extremely light-hearted, and it's even evident by the cover art and liner notes. It's obvious that Steev'n Brawdskeez wanted to do this for awhile, but never really got the chance. After this album has become widespread, I have a feeling a lot more people will be wanting him to do this again, other than himself. (9.5/10)

Although the press release says horror punk, The End's new signees Stolen Babies have much more in common with Mr. Bungle than a band like the Dresden Dolls. Whether it's on purpose or a prerogative thing, well, that's to be determined.

However, There Be Squabbles Ahead is for damn sure an album that won't be forgotten any time soon. To say that Stolen Babies are of the goth persuasion would be a massive understatement, because this seems to be the band Tim Burton would thrash around to, especially because of how theatrical this music gets. The high energy and volatile rhythms are accompanied with instruments like a euphonium, accordian, glockenspiel and violin, coupled especially with the Mike Patton-esque, schizophrenic vocal variations of Dominique Lenore Persi make this album seem like a musical of "Phantom of the Opera" that's just gone way, way out of control.

Where Stolen Babies excel, though, is that as completely pretentious as this album could've been, the end product is so listener friendly that it's almost like you forget they're in league with bands like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. The rhythms are evocatively creepy and trade off with thrashing moments of punk frenzy, all the while keeping some pretty complex arrangements in key.

Not to mention it can't be stated how much an asset that Dominique Lenore Persi is to this group. Her vocals have such a duality to them that at one second her croons are almost arousing, while not even twenty seconds into the song, it sounds like she's murdering her vocal cords in cold blood.

Overall, There Be Squabbles Ahead is an excellent debut from Stolen Babies, and highly addictive. Fans of Mr. Bungle and Tomahawk would be very appreciative of this music. (9/10)

On the promo sheet, it says, "For fans of Hatebreed, Full Blown Chaos, Earth Crisis and Terror." See, this is the kind of inconsistency that annoys me as a review writer. Earth Crisis are good, see.

And Suffocate Faster.. Well.. The fans of Hatebreed part was right, no doubt. Suffocate Faster is definitely hardcore. It's thick, fairly mindless and repetitive, and the only moments of heaviness are lodged in the breakdowns, which themselves are void of any kind of creativity. Not to mention the only thing about this band that's creative is the packaging.

It's got some decent cover art, but everything down to the lyrics are pretty standard, sometimes even reaching into nu-metal regions. For instance, the first track is called "Pieces." Didn't Hoobastank have a song called that? And Linkin Park? And Adema? What about track number three, "Taste My Steel"? Judas Preist had similar songtitles, and that's why it wasn't surprising when Rob Halford came out of the closet.

Don't bother with Suffocate Faster, it's completely boring material, and if you're a fan of Earth Crisis, they're all you need anyway. (3/10)

You ever find a band that you feel like you correlate with immediately? For yours truly, that's what the Esoteric have done. Subverter is by no means redefining of anything, but it's proof positive that if you know how to write a song that has the whole package, you're going to be reaching a hell of a lot of people, and that's what Esoteric have done.

When you read that Esoteric have the whole package, that's exactly what they have. Everything on this album, down to the lyrical concepts, is just brilliant, especially in songs like "Destroy, She Said" and "Science Is Sexy." Riffs are memorable, and the splashes of melody here and there do nothing to water down the momentum, but instead propel the band into this region of furious angst that should encompass metalcore / hardcore bands today.

But more fucking importantly: You know that whole Gothenburg sound? Gone. Botch worship? Not here. Of course, would any less be expected from a band containing former members of Coalesce?

One of the most impressive things about Subverter is that the music actually varies. "Destroy, She Said" starts the album out on a furious note that's completely indicative of The Esoteric's ability to write something to get a vein pulsing. Then, you have songs that seep into post-hardcore melody like "Shipyards of Foreign Cities," which also happens to be one of the premier songs from the album, conjuring forth Fugazi-like rhythms and Red Sparowes-esque atmospheres that even takes a turn for the vicious later on.

"We Will Not Be Convinced" races full-throttle with disdain for apathetic music as the lyrics are shouted: "The scene is dead and so are you. If this is where it's at, then we're through."

And clearly, that's not just some statement to make the poetic flow work. Subverter is a work full of boundary-crossing music that breaks up the notion of stale hardcore from bands like Hatebreed and their ilk. Easily one of the must-haves of the year, and comes with the highest recommendation. Make this your band. (10/10)

We’ve been telling you great things about Drudkh for years, and how the project is one of the few that outdoes its main band’s work (that being Hate Forest, in this case). We’ve had this CD lying around our review pile for months, now, but it wasn’t until this month that it finally clicked. It definitely has everything to do with what season it is.

Drudkh’s signature sound that it has created over its now four records is most powerful and relevant at this time of year, as the trees turn to beautiful shades of orange and gold, and the oncoming chill is the pleasant, romantic version of what will be uncomfortable weather in a few months. Drudkh has achieved this through its unique take on the established genre amalgam of black metal and folk (in this case, Ukranian folk).

Like seemingly all the projects that come out of Ukraine, the music has been infused with a strong, almost macho sense of national pride (see: intolerance). This comes through certainly with the hoarse black metal bark of the vocals, but also in the inclusion of Ukranian cultural noteworthies (as in the last record, The Swan Road), and always gorgeous artwork.

Blood in Our Wells is no exception to the visual tradition, featuring perhaps the band’s most appealing cover art, a painting that sums up feelings of hardship, dogged work ethic, nature that is at once bleak and beautiful, and pride in all the above (this album also comes in a deluxe, oversize edition).

Drudkh’s style took a turn on the third record, The Swan Road, going from the warm yet cold, autumnally reverent ambiance of the first two records to one that expressed a very similar voice through more overt, aggressive metal leanings. Blood in Our Wells continues in this vein, sporting the biggest and warmest production in the group’s discography. Drudkh seems to have refined its balance of the headbanging with its more relaxed, drone-loving, shoe-gazing self into an album that brings out some of the best of the two approaches.

There are certainly plenty of highlights throughout Blood in Our Wells, which sees the sense of national pride continue unabated. Fierce, proud folk hymns abound amongst charging, stirring, warmly distorted guitar. Drudkh employs its most involved use of the breakdown interlude on this record, which boasts the project’s most complex arrangements to date.

But for this fan, the first two, objectively more "boring" albums remain the best. The production is far more reserved and the music more nebulous, but the feeling is stronger. Certainly any fan of this band or of this genre owes it to him/herself to buy any if not all of Drudkh’s records. Indeed, each passing release is another minor celebration. However, Blood in Our Wells, although abounding with wonderful compositions, feels like it runs a bit out of poignancy towards the last track or so. Could this be a result of being spoiled by the band’s previous genius output? Maybe. For once, it would be nice if it were a bit less metal. (7.7/10)

For any of you ooged-out by the allegations of plagiarism against Velvet Cacoon this past year, fear not. Spectral Lore pounds the Velvet-brand of mist metal several steps deeper into unhallowed ground, and to magnificent ends.

Lone instigator Lycaon Ayr hails from Greece, and combines the dieselharp, classical guitar, sub-Varg-synth, WOODWINDS, and a thorough understanding of both soundtrack and black metal ethos into an excellent full length that should appeal to fans of Xasthur, Striborg, and Velvet Cacoon (anonymous or not).

Each listen to these seven tracks provides a whole new slog through the wetlands. Indeed, cuts like "The Cleansing Rain / Morningside in the Eternal Fields," "The Drowning," and "The Descent" meld so well together, it’s hard to tell where one stops and the other starts. With that in mind, perhaps the narrative is interchangeable; the sparse vokills project a sub-Goblin yawp, most assuredly disconcerting and generous with their despair. Considered along with Spectral Lore’s seasoned instinct, rest assured that Lycaon Ayr is NOT a one-trick frostgoat.

This cassette is meant to be experienced in isolation, perhaps even hibernation. Curl up and shrivel to this commendable darkness. Spectral Lore achieves Hrimthurs (of Australia) level. No small feat. (9/10)

The best case for reissue of long-past recordings ought be artistic by ideal, business by rote. But the importance of Sol Inviticus is easily accredited with the release of the 18-year old Sol Veritas Lux. Dark / neo- folk has grown and flourished over the eons, but there is so much music today that obviously owes a debt to Tony Wakeford, the nervous system of this project. Everything from black ambient to industrial, new wave to cabaret noir can be traced back to this exquisite capsule of this alternately seething and soothing pagan shaper.

Admittedly, this is my first exposure to Sol Inviticus. But from the first measures of "Angels Fall," the new wave drone of "Long Live Death," and the distorto-death trudge of "Abbatoirs of Love," my Swans-radar went into full ping and some cursory research brought this ritual into fuller view. In these songs, Wakeford channels untainted pagan lament with confidence matched with vulnerability. It just brings mind the plight of the condemned one — the town outcast languishes in the stocks for all the provincials to see.

For the most part, the style of this unit encompasses sharp acoustic (or clean electric) guitar, Gira-low vokills that fill the world, repeated mantra, industrial beats. Tony Wakeford was part of early Death in June, so that ought to speak volumes for the folk who live on the wrong (good) side of the hill. This re-release comprises almost 20 twenty tracks of classic Sol Inviticus. Sign with blood. (8/10)

It’s already Angra’s fifteenth birthday as a band. Hard to believe. They’re still putting out fresh, energetic, and gorgeous power metal records, and they look like they might be able to hang around for fifteen more.

2004's Temple of Shadows has been heralded by yours truly as the best power metal album ever. How does the follow-up, Aurora Consurgens, stack up compared to that? Not even close. But Angra is incapable of making a bad record, and even an album that is a step down for them is still a masterwork.

The disappointing thing about Aurora Consurgens is that it’s a stylistic regression from the wealth of ideas and approaches, and the fabulous dynamism of Temple of Shadows. Basically, Angra has made a more by-the-book power metal album, albeit one replete with this amazing Brazilian five-piece’s flair, signature touches, and ever virtuoso musicianship.

In terms of music, think of Aurora Consurgens as being more in the stylistic mold of 2001's Rebirth, the band’s break out album after some years of limbo and indecision. Think more typical power metal rhythms and constructions. Vocalist Edu Falaschi sounds more like he does on that album as well, not pushing up so much on his high register as he does on Temple of Shadows. However, the songs on Rebirth are probably on average better. For example, you might call track four, "Breaking Ties," as a filler song — for Angra, of course. Much of the other tracks nearly abuse the fast double bass rhythms at the expense of some more tasty variation that this band has proven it can do. "Passing By" is perhaps an attempt at being radio-friendly, with its super catchy and appealing chorus repeated many, many times, and augmented as the hook through the song’s easy-listening arrangements. "The Course of Nature" is a bit stale as an album opener, and "The Voice Commanding You," although featuring some magnificent riffs, falls a little short throughout.

One thing for sure is that Angra has never sounded better. Aurora Consurgens’ production is the biggest ever for the band, even bigger than Temple of Shadows. You won’t be able to tell the difference all that much unless you A/B the albums, but suffice to say that every note on these albums is gorgeous.

We’ll stop with the critiques, lest you think Aurora Consurgens is a poor product. Make no mistake, it’s still one of the best power metal records of 2006, if not #1. Angra’s continued knack for penning beautiful melodies through their instruments and vocals, and pulling them off with unparalleled panache is the reason for this. As always, if you’re a power metal fan, this album is a lock. Is it the first one you should buy from this quintessential band? For that answer, look to the review below. (8.6/10)

Prince of the Poverty Line" is a masterful piece of metal. Some may claim that it is far from being refined, and they are right; but then again, refined is something that this type of metal should not be.

First and foremost, this album is a protest. While few of the songs cry on a personal level ("The One Piece Puzzle"), most of them take social conscience as their lead ("Civil War Dance" and the London-inferring "Cardboard City" are but a few examples).

Skyclad is of course primarily known as a folk metal band. This finds expression not only in the musical themes, which feature well-integrated, rasp violin playing and engaging thrash-metal riffs that often recall the Irish-soaked Thin Lizzy; but also in the rage-driven lyrical content, occasionally corresponding with Britain’s heritage ("And did those feet in ancient times walk bare upon these lonely streets like mine?").

Everything here is raw. The guitars splash anger; the vocals are roared with wrath. There are few bursts on which the bass takes the forefront, but most of the time the bass and the dry beats of the drums are just tightly interlocked. The guitar solos are cut down to the bare necessities, intertwining with the dominant leads perfectly and never wasting time. There’s no need for technical virtuosity or elegance — Prince of the Poverty Line is simply a truism form of progressive metal.

There is also eclecticism to be found: "Land of the Rising Slum" opens with a keyboard passage that is almost Depeche Mode in its nature, but later features a ‘60s-styled organ solo. The way the riff on "Sins of Emission" is executed, and this may be an entirely subjective observation, is reminiscent of Steve Hackett’s violent lash on Genesis’ "The Musical Box" (like Skyclad, Genesis also had a foot or two in folklore).

The songs’ structure seems typical at first, but Skyclad frequently breaks it, augments the verse with further instrumental depth or skips the chorus. The clever arrangements prevent the songs from being too obvious or repetitive; This is evident on "Gammadion Seed," which is also noticeable due to its lyrics — a sharp wakeup call against racism.

On this album, Skyclad reveals itself as the gut-answer to the Orphaned Lands, Wuthering Heights and Amorphises of the world, and some of the material here deserves to be the anthem of the working class, the unemployed and socialists whatsoever.

P.S.: The version of the album I hold has three bonus tracks, which seem to be culled from a 1992 EP release. The first of which, a cover of Thin Lizzy’s "Emerald," is especially noteworthy as it is a beautifully realized adaptation of the song into the Skyclad mold.