Nuclear Blast

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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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    MaYaN – Quarterpast (2011)

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    MaYaN is Epica’s mastermind Mark Jansen latest creation and with this band he expects to fulfill other creative needs he has outside of Epica. This band in paper has a very impressive line-up since for the CD recording we had Jeroen Paul Thesseling on bass guitar, Frank Schiphorst and Isaac Delahaye on guitars as well as many guest appearances by Simon Simons, Floor Jansen and Henning Basse.

    If you are expecting another Epica / (early) After Forever album, please stay away from this release since Quarterpast is considerably different to what you have heard before. This release is more focused on progressive Death Metal sections with some symphonic elements, tons of diverse vocal lines, and some orchestral elements (very few). We also want to warn the listener that this release is definitely a grower, since it needs more than your average number of listens to fully be digested due to the richness of the music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Amorphis – The Beginning of Times (2011)

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    Having set the standard very high with “Skyforger”, Amorphis returns with an even better album with “The Beginning of Times”. Featuring 12 tracks of majestic Melodic Metal/Rock, the band is definitely at the top of their game and is set on a path of global domination with this near-perfect release.

    Featuring their characteristic Melodic approach to Metal, Amorphis does not compromise or goes mainstream and has put together a very impressive release that is both aggressive and beautifully crafted. Lead by the charismatic and versatile vocals of Tomi Joutsen, “The Beginning of Times” is an early candidate of album of the year.

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    Hammerfall – Infected (2011)

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    After the disappointing “No Sacrifice, No Victory”, Hammerfall returns to the basics and delivers a very powerful and effective Heavy Metal release with “Infected”. Featuring great vocal melodies and catchy song structures, the band might have a shot at best Heavy Metal album for 2011 with this release.

    With pounding riffs and a very simple structure, “Patient Zero” opens the album and delivers a very effective first punch. Joacim Cans vocals are the highlight of the song (and the album), but the catchy chorus sections and the guitar acrobatics nicely round out a very powerful opener for this release and give a taste of what’s to come.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Avantasia - The Flying Opera: Around The World In 20 Days LIVE (2011)

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    As one of the best Symphonic Power Metal projects in the world, Avantasia is one of our favorite bands and we anxiously waited for this live release. However, we only got the promo for the CD tracks and they don’t really show (in our opinions) the real sound of Avantasia.

    We all love the brilliant production and the countless guest appearances in the albums, but somehow in the live setting we get a much stripped down version of Avantasia. Having a less bombastic and more straight-forward sound, “The Flying Opera” mostly showcases Tobias Sammet’s singing abilities and some pretty solid Heavy Metal tracks.

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