Nuclear Blast

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sonata Arctica – The Days Of Grays (2009)

    cover

    Sonata Arctica is a band that has been constantly changing since its formation back in 1999 and have consistently released quality album no matter what changes they make to their sound.

    “The Days Of Grays” is the band’s latest release and it’s very bombastic and emotional in nature, Tony Kakko is probably one of the best metal singers these days, and in this album he has another killer performance that will surely satisfy all of the band’s fans. His vocal range is amazing as always and his ability to transfer emotions into the lyrics and music is unrivaled.

    • 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

    Amorphis - Skyforger (2009)

    cover

    Amorphis are back after 2 years of touring and promoting their highly successful album “Silent Waters”. This finish band is back with a perfect follow-up album with “Skyforger”. Capitalizing on the strengths of “Silent Waters” and using Tomi’s great vocals to the full extent they provide us with their highest quality release of to date.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Amoprhis - Silver Bride (2009)

    cover

    I have been a fan of Amorphis since “The Karelian Isthmus” and their fabulous transition into a more mature and fresh sounding Metal. After being a bit disappointed by “Silent Waters”, I picked up this new single that contains 2 versions of the title track “Silver Bride” and a track called “Separated”.   I was pretty satisfied with the quality of the songs presented here and made me be hesitant to the late May release date of the full album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Nightwish – Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places) (2009)

    The DVD part of this release, features a documentary about the band on the road during their tour for "Dark Passion Play" and it's a must have for die hard fans of the band since they show an 'inside' look at the band. The documentary features Tuomas point of view for 90% of the time, it would have been nice to have other band members talk more.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Samael – Above (2009)

    cover

    After their brutal single “Illumination” this album is even a step up from that. Samael is back and with a vengeance since they sound as heavy as in their beginning, but mixing some of their newer stuff as well. The opening track “Under One Flag” blows you away, and it sets the tone for this album.

    The drumming here is very fast paced and brutal, even for Samael, and it would blow away many black metal bands as well. I can probably compare it to good old Mysticum. But you can see that while it has some ‘real’ drums it’s heavily helped by a drum machine. But in no way this is bad, since it provides the perfect base for the songs of this album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Blackguard – Profugus Mortis (2009)

    cover

    The Canadians of Blackguard used to be called Profugus Mortis until they won a Nuclear Blast contest on myspace and got a record deal with them. I must say that I’m impressed with this band evolution from a symphonic black metal to a more Folk/Black metal band.  While they still maintain they black metal vocals, the music has been greatly revamped with folk influences giving the band a more dynamic sound and removing them from the ‘symphonic black metal’ clone band category.

    The only thing I’m disappointed they removed was the violin that separated them from other symphonic black metal bands. Other that this all their bombastic keyboards layered on top of excellent drum and guitar tracks gives this band an edge over any band from North America that plays this genre, and puts them in a competitive level against European bands that are masters of the trade.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Nightwish – Made In Hong Kong (2009)

    cover

    This live CD showcases songs from “Dark Passion Play” performed in live. I was kind of disappointed that they did not include any older songs performed by Anette on this release. While this is not a problem if you have seen the band live, it would have been a nice thing for all the fans that haven’t been luck enough to see them live.

    The CD features seven live tracks and 3 previously available studio tracks. While I think this CD is a must for all Nightwish fans, especially because of the DVD. I don’t think that this adds anything new to casual listeners, since all the songs are previously available and you can see countless youtube videos of the band performing live during their previous tour.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Candlemass - Death Magic Doom (2009)

    cover

    While I’ve never been a big fan of this band, I have to admit the legendary status they achieved by influencing many doom metal bands. “Death Magic Doom” is clearly one of their finest releases, musically speaking. One big improvement over the past albums, and the reason I did not liked their music was their old vocalists, Messiah Marcolin, was just annoying. And Robert Lowe has better versatility and his vocals go better with the music. Since they kicked out Messiah from the band in 2006, I’ve started liking their releases.

    This album features the typical Epic Doom metal style that the band excels at, but at some points it even sounds like ‘slow’ heavy metal!!, and Robert Lowe’s vocal range is perfect for this. The production of the album is stellar since you can listen to the album several times and still discover new things within the music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Samael - Illumination (2009)

    After listening to this single, I have to say that Samael is preparing for a strong comeback with something more brutal than their most recent albums. The two tracks included in this single blew me away they showcase the intensity Samael was known for in the past. The music is more guitar driven and the vocals are as good as ever, while they don’t rely much on keyboards they are still present. The intensity of the guitars and the drumming are the focal points of these 2 songs.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries