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Noctis Imperium – Nihil (2010)

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Out of the hundreds of bands we receive every month, we have three main categories for them: great, terrible, and average. Noctis Imperium is one of those that fit exactly in the average category, there is nothing really wrong with it, but there is also nothing impressive to this band. The songs are catchy and brutal, but asides from this you can fast forward in between songs and everything will sound the same.

Hailing from Venezuela, the band does a solid job in creating energetic Death/Black Metal songs. The band’s guitar work is pretty solid and catchy, and the solos are very well placed in the songs, we venture to say that the guitars and drumming (courtesy of Nicholas Barker) are probably the strongest elements of this band, since the rest falls on the ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ category.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Therion – Sitra Ahra (2010)

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The legendary Therion is back with yet another very solid release that will please all fans of Symphonic Metal. As you can expect, Christofer Johnsson  does a great job in creating very epic songs that feature amazing choir sections, brilliant vocal solos, and the overall Therion sound. The only downside of this album is that you get more of the same and nothing else, so if you are a huge fan of the band this will surely please you to no end.

Featuring 11 tracks, “Sitra Ahra” takes you into a very majestic journey into the bands unique world. You will get that the riffing and guitar solos is very simple to what we are used to get from Therion since the “Vovin” album. Keeping things simple and catchy, songs like “Kings of Edom” will greatly made you remember the “Vovin” era of the band. The choir sections of this song are great, and fit the overall pace of the song.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Return to Earth – Automata (2010)

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With a very interesting and hard to peg sound, today we have Return to Earth’s second album “Automata”. Featuring ex- The Dillinger Escape Plan and current Coheed & Cambria’s drummer Chris Pennie, the band is ready to step in a bigger spotlight with this very solid sophomore release.

“Automata” features 16 songs that range from weird sample/loopy stuff to full-on hard rock anthems that will stick to your head like duct tape. The album’s flow is very interesting since you wouldn’t expect such different songs to come together as they do here, the interludes between groups of songs (the tracks “1.0”, “2.0”, and “3.0”) create a very efficient separation of ‘movements’ in this release.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Revolution Renaissance – Trinity (2010)

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“Trinity” is the swansong release of Revolution Renaissance, a band formed by Timo Tolkki after his departure from Stratovarius in 2008. This release features a vibe very similar to Stratovarius back in the old days, and for over 45 minutes, we get treated to some brilliant simple-yet-elegant Power Metal songs that never sound dull or pretentious.

Love him or hate him, Timo Tolkki is one of the best guitarists that Metal has produced over the years, and his music songwriting abilities are equally impressive. Most of his stuff with Stratovarius and Revolution Renaissance previous albums are proof of his abilities (except for his terrible last two ‘solo’ albums). In “Trinity” he sticks to the basics of traditional Power Metal, with epic vocals (courtesy of Gus Monsanto), catchy guitar melodies, brilliant solos, super tight drumming, and subtle keyboard arrangements.

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