Progressive Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fates Warning – Parallels (Re-Issue Special Edition) (2010)

    Almost 20 years after the original release of “Parallels” we get a great re-issuse that features a bunch of goodies that will please ALL the fans of this legendary band. And to top it all there will be a few select reunion shows to support this re-release, so be ready to travel in order to catch a glimpse of the band live.

    This re-release features the full original album completely re-mastered and sounding more impressive than even. The extra CD features 8 live tracks (that have great audio quality) and 6 demo versions of tracks from “Parallels”. We particularly love the demo tracks, which allow you to get a more in-depth insight of how the band intended the tracks to sound originally, before going to the studio. They also allow you to discover little differences here and there.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR (2010)

    Orphaned Land has the very daunting task of creating an even better release than “Mabool”, and they have somewhat succeeded in this almost impossible task. The band has refined their music greatly, and while this release is very good, they are miles away from the complexity and intricacy that “Mabool” offered us.

    “The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR” is a great release and it brings the Middle Eastern Folk influences that the band has showed in the past to be the main focus of this release. I love when bands use different elements in their music as a complement, not as a main gimmick in order to create shock value.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Negură Bunget – Maiestrit (2010)

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    Negură Bunget hails from Romania and their musical style has evolved into a completely autonomous beast that many try to emulate but nobody can quite get. The mysticism behind the band’s sound creates chilling passages that freak out even the bravest metal heads of the world.

    Maiestrit is a re-interpretation of the band’s legendary album “Maiastru Sfetnic”, plus two unreleased acoustic versions of two tracks of this album. As you can expect from the band, you get a master piece in Atmospheric Black Metal that is definitely better than the original incarnation of these songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Ihsahn – After (2010)

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    “After” is one of the first albums of 2010 that I had the pleasure of listening to, and it blew my mind from start to end. Ihsahn is clearly one of the few musicians that are true visionaries and are not afraid of bending the boundaries of music in order to share their vision with the world.

    With each album topping the previous one, Ihsahn has constantly been evolving and incorporating different elements to his music until “After” where he blended the use of the saxophone in a highly impressive way that had me listening over and over to make sure my ears were not deceiving me. This paired with brilliant musical composition skills make this album one of the most complex and intricate I’ve reviewed in years.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Anthropia - The Chain Reaction (2009)

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    After bouncing around the US postal service for a few months, this CD (And the band's earliest album) finally arrived in my hands last week. Having heard a few of their songs on their myspace I was very excited to give this album a few spins in order to write this review.

    Anthropia is a very good Progressive/Symphonic Metal band from France, and their music sounds a lot like Ayreon's and StarOne's music, but with its own identity. "The Chain Reaction" is a concept album with a futuristic theme and provides for a very interesting read once you go through the booklet while the music is playing.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Requiem For Oblivion - Requiem For Oblivion (2009)

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    As you first listen to track number one on this self titled release, you expect some good old Progressive Metal, but as the album progresses you are headed for an acid trip similar to something out of a David Lynch movie.

    The band's style is a very peculiar mix of Progressive Metal and some Ambient elements, as well as some weird vocals. The band self claims to be heavily influenced by Rush, Dream Theater, Katatonia among others, and that is not completely far out.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

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    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

    cover

    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Xerath – I (2009)

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    Xerath has been touted as a mixture of Meshuggah and the symphonic sound of Dimmu Borgir, and this is a very accurate description of this band in our opinion. Having an amazing movie score like bombastic sound they are here to blow people away.

    Usually when a band is blown up to sound like this they end up being a big disappointment but for Xerath this rule does not apply, this band is all of that and way more, “I” is such a rich album that I had to listen to it more than ten times to fully appreciate and digest all the layers this release has.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Spheric Universe Experience – Unreal (2009)

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    Spheric Universe Experience (S.U.E for short) is a 5 man band from France that plays traditional Progressive Metal. “Unreal” is the band’s latest album that offers us 9 tracks, each one telling a story about different paranormal phenomena.

    The music of S.U.E sounds like a child of Dream Theater, Symphony X and <insert major Progressive metal band’s name here>. While not original in any way, the band is pretty good at mimicking the previously mentioned bands.

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