Nuclear Blast

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    Cipher System – Communicate the Storms (2011)

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    Being huge fans of Melodic Death Metal, we are always excited when a good band finally returns with an impressive release. Cipher System’s last release was back in 2004 with “Central Tunnel 8”, and with “Communicate the Storms” they have returned with a very effective Melodic Death Metal sound that can easily position them among the best in 2011.

    Featuring ex-members of Anata and Nightrage, Cipher System delivers 10 tracks of unpretentious Melodic DM in a similar fashion to genre legends: Dark Tranquility. There are almost no fancy elements in this release, just a solid foundation of catchy riffing, atmospheric keyboards, tight drumming and very direct vocals. There is no need to re-invent the wheel, and Cipher system excels at creating a very traditional but effective sound that will appeal to any fan of the genre.

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    Threat Signal – Threat Signal (2011)

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    Two years have passed after releasing the excellent “Vigilance” and one of Canada’s finest returns with their new release “Threat Signal”. We are extremely divided when it comes to this release since the music is excellent, but some of the vocals are just WTF. So we kind of liked the album in the sense that Threat Signal has very nicely matured musically and all songs are just excellent, but when the Linkin Park style singing kicks in we just want to jump of the balcony.

    Opening very powerfully with “Uncensored”, the band delivers well crafted guitar riffs and tight drums, courtesy of two of the band’s newest members: Chris Feener and Alex Rudinger respectively. However, the band things really start showing when the clean ‘modern Metal/nu Metal’ clean vocals make their appearance. There are of course harsh screams to kind of balance things out but it is not enough to eliminate the bad taste. We can also listen to an edge of Gojira and Fear Factory in the sound of this release, and when paired with excellent solos, the music alone is truly entertaining and very good.

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    Edguy – Age of the Joker (2011)

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    After Edguy getting split-decisions (very good/very bad) in the band’s last few full-length releases, today we have “Age of the Joker”, another release that will surely polarize fans even more. It is hard to imagine that people are still expecting the older Power Metal approach to things that Edguy had in their first few albums, particularly after the last 2 releases have been heading in the same direction: 80’s styled Metal. So haters will be haters and trash this release, but if you actually give it a chance, you will find some pretty good tunes and an overall very solid release.

    The hard-rocking “Robin Hood” delivers a powerful introduction to this release. With its new psychedelic elements, this track is pretty much a continuation of where the band left off on “Tinnitus Sanctus” and incorporates the recent Avantasia sounds as well. As you can expect we have very epic chorus sections and Tobias Sammet’s amazing voice paired with very well crafted music. The buildup section around the fourth minute mark is excellent and allows the song to nicely grow.

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    Sabaton – World War Live – Battle of the Baltic Sea (2011)

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    Sabaton has to be one of Power Metal most popular and exciting bands of these days. After the crushing release of “Coat of Arms” one year ago, the band gives us an excellent double live CD from their latest tour. In the CD we got from Nuclear Blast, we have 15 tracks showcasing the live power of Sabaton and delivering almost 80 minutes of their epic War-inspired Power Metal.

    Shortly after a momentum gaining intro, “Ghost Division” sneaks up on you like a punch to the kidneys. Here you can listen to Joakim Bróden’s pipes ripping through the song just like it was recorded on the album. The epic chorus sections are here and the pounding guitars sound like a million dollars. The epicness continues with tracks like “Uprising”, “Aces in Exile”, and by the time we get to “Cliffs of Gallipoli” we are all-out head banging in our review room.

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    Doro – 25 Years In Rock (2011)

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    After some years in the pipeline, fans will finally get to have in their hands the double DVD/CD boxed set of 25 anniversary show of the queen of metal: Doro Pesch. While we are reviewing only the CD portion of this legendary show full of guest appearances, we are supper excited to get to see the DVD portion once it is released in North America.

    In terms of the CD only we are a bit disappointed by the track selection (CD only has 10 tracks and one intro), but it does cover some of Doro’s greatest hits and also is missing a lot of the newer ones. Also, only a few of the guest appearances made it into the CD (3 out of the 10 tracks), making it pale in comparison to the actual live DVD’s.

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    Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony (2011)

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    Can you imagine how Dimmu Borgir and Xerath sound on crack? Well Fleshgod Apocalypse is the answer to that question. As one of the most intense releases we have heard in 2011, “Agony” is by far a very though cookie to digest since there is just too much shit going on at the same time, and it’s awesome.

    The first impression the listener will get from the album is that this is just another overly exaggerated orchestral approach to extreme music. “The Hypocrisy” delivers ridiculous orchestrations (although very simple ones) on top of a brutal Death Metal foundation, something that might seem rather disconnected at first. The female sounding vocals (might be a dude) seem ripped off straight from the last Dimmu Borgir album and a bit of the darker atmosphere also sound very familiar.  

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    Lock Up – Necropolis Transparent (2011)

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    After almost 10 years since their last album, Lock Up bounces back from the death of Jesse Pintado, and delivers 16 crushing blows of Death Metal. Featuring Anton Reisenegger on guitars and Tomas Lindberg on vocals, Shane Embury and Nick Barker have managed to put together an even stronger line-up than before, and you can clearly hear this in “Necropolis Transparent”.

    Since the relentless opener “Brethren of the Pentagram”, the punishing drumming is the first highlight to be noted. Then as you keep going through tracks like “Accelerated Mutation”, “Necropolis Transparent”, “Anvil of Flesh” and “Unseen Enemy”, the powerful riffing of Reisenegger creates very brutal and engaging tracks. Bordering in almost Black Metal riffing, some songs are something you don’t quite hear everyday. The brutality is there musically and they just need Linberg’s screams, and Embury’s pounding bass guitar line to push the songs into full-on headbanging anthems.

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    All Shall Perish – This is Where It Ends (2011)

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    As you all know, we mostly have anything Deathcore/Metalcore related so we dreaded to review the new album of All Shall Perish titled “This is Where It Ends”. Three years have passed since their last effort (“Awaken the Dreamers”) and with a new drummer and guitar player (Adam Pierce and Francesco Artusato, respectively) they return with 12 punish tracks of unimaginative (but powerful) guitar work, vocal layering, and brutal drumming.

    Opening with the brutal “Divine Illusion” we can perfectly hear what most of the whole album is about: growls, shrieks, pounding bass guitar and traditional Deathcore riffing. If you are a Deathcore fan, this is pretty much as good as it gets for you, but if you are looking for something more ‘innovative’ or at least a bit different, get a different CD. A particular thing to notice is the guitar solos, they sound different than before a bit more creative we might even say, and this is probably due to Fancesco Artusato’s sick guitar skills.

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    World Under Blood – Tactical (2011)

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    Formed by CKY’s front-man/guitarist Deron Miller and super drummer Tim Yeung, today we have Wonder Under Blood and their debut full-length release “Tactical”. As you can tell, this seems like an odd combination but it actually works wonders and this debut release is a fine example of different sounding Melodic Death Metal. As we mentioned, World Under Blood does not sound like your typical Swedish Melodic DM or your commercial Melo-Death bands you have in North America these days. The band has their own different sound and nicely mixes brutality with brilliant melodic sections.

    As you can tell from the opening track “A God Among the Waste”, the band is not f’ing around and delivers powerful riffing with very well crafted drumming. The clean/growl vocal approach sounds a bit odd at the beginning, but it quickly grows on you. The music reminds us of the band Godless Rising, but with a bit less brutality. The quality of the solos never decreases through this release and on tracks like “Into the Arms of Cruetly”, “Dead and Still in Pain” and “Purgatory Dormitory”, they nicely highlight sections of very well crafted songs.

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    Decapitated – Carnival is forever (2011)

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    After the band’s tragic accident in 2007, Vogg went to play with Vader for a while and then decided to re-activate Decapitated again. As you can expect, fans of the band have been very eager to be treated to a new release of Decapitated, and “Carnival is forever” delivers a mixed bag of punches that sometimes are what the fans expected, but other times they are way off.

    If you remember and love the older Technical Death Metal Decapitated, you should forget about that and be on the mindset to listen to a Vader meets Meshuggah meets Gojira release. “Carnival is forever” presents us with a somewhat interesting Death/Thrash approach that bands like Vader have been perfecting for and entire career. Note that we are not saying this album is bad, we are only expressing that is quite different to what we expected from the band.

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