Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Massive Slavery – Global Enslavement (2010)

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    Relentless and Brutal are probably the two best words to describe Canada’s Massive Slavery debut album “Global Enslavement”. Featuring inhuman vocals and drumming paired with skillful guitar and bass guitar work, this release is as crushing and technically proficient as you can imagine for a veteran band, which Massive Slavery is not.

    Since the opener track “MediAssasiNation”, the band will blow you away with harsh vocals, very brutal drumming and an array of guitar riffs and solos that will make your fingers and hands hurt just by thinking on how to play them. The band specializes in creating hyper-fast songs that feature almost equal amounts of aggressive and melodic sections, creating a perfect harmony between the two of the (e.g. “Shade of Corruption”).

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    Oyabun – Gods and Dogs (2010)

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    Hailing from France, today we have Oyabun and their very entertaining release “Gods and Dogs”. The band’s sound is a mixture of 70’s Rock with some psychedelic elements, Stoner Rock influences, and some Blues. All of these influences are nicely packaged into seven songs that while not extremely original, they are very catchy and well crafted.

    Opening with “Brontosaurus Blues”, the band gives a full view of what it is to come in this release: catchy and groovy guitar riffs, some Stoner/Sludge influences and very retro-sounding vocals. While many bands try to emulate the Psychedelic Rock influences, Onyabun sounds very naturally at it, and does not care too much about focusing on the ‘occult’ side of things.

    • 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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Gates of Slumber – Wretch (2011)

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    The tone is set to heavy with Gates of Slumber’s latest album; the riffs crawl along at a sludge-like tempo with an eeriness weaving in and out of the pattern. Moving away from their usual theme of swords and sorcery and into the real world was a wise choice for their part as well the pick for new drummer, J “Cool” Clyde” Paradis. His drumming has a vibe to it that sounds like it made even vocalist Karl Simon and bassist Jason McCash step up their game a bit.

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    Týr - The Lay of Thrym (2011)

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    The Progressive Viking Metal kings mark their return with “The Lay of Thrym”, and as we can hear it is a pretty convincing one indeed. Two years have passed since “By the Light of the Northern Star”, and with this new album the band picks-up exactly where they left of and continue their onslaught with very well crafted Viking epics.

    If you are not a stranger to Týr’s older works, you will definitely love “The Lay of Thrym”, however, if you are new to the band, this will be a very good introduction into the magical sound behind this very talented band. In the 10 tracks presented in this release, we are treated to very intricate guitar work, catchy clean vocals, and full songs that grab your attention and keep it for the duration of the release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Alestorm – Back Through Time (2011)

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    The Scottish Pirates are finally back with another epic of pirates, wenches, and drinking, but they seemed to have added time travel to the equation this time. In “Back through Time”, Alestorm delivers 11 tracks of exactly the same thing they have been doing for the last past years: catchy, wacky, and irreverent Pirate Metal.

    We all know that the band is not the most talented one when it comes to making the most complicated and elaborated songs out there, but they have managed to find a niche that allows them to be enjoyed by thousands of Metalheads (including us). If you are not aware of the band’s previous releases, this is a band you will either love or hate, no middle ground.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Origin – Entity (2011)

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    Origin has arrived with their highly anticipated follow up to 2008’s “Antithesis” and with brand new vocalist Jason Keyser joining the ranks as well they prove to be an unstoppable force of brutality. The onslaught of double-pedal drumming and shredding riffs joined by death metal growls and shrieks is enough to make your head explode like that one scene in Scanners but is it enough to hold your attention? These are all highly talented musician but there is the repetition factor that might turn off the listener.

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