Album Reviews

  • Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here (2010)

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    We have been waiting for seven long years to get a new release from one of our favorite bands: Anathema. “We’re Here Because We’re Here” is the band’s latest album that will surely gain them a ton of mainstream fans, but will loose of the fans that have been expecting something completely different (and more inspired) from them.

    The band’s atmospheric rock has suffered a very drastic transformation since “A Natural Disaster” shifting into a more commercial-friendly sound. Even Vincet’s vocals sound different than in the previously mentioned release. With only three tracks that appealed to us, we must say that this album is a big disappointment (at least for us).

  • Solution .45 – For Aeons Past (2010)

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    After being kicked out of Scar Symmetry, Christian Älvestam didn’t get mad, he got even. Putting together Solution .45, a band that features musicians that are involved (or have been involved) with tons and tons of other bands, most notably: Jani Stefanović guitarist from Miseration (Christian’s other project) and Rolf "Stuka" Pilve on drums also from Miseration and Essence Of Sorrow.

    You will get a complete feeling of Déjà vu when you start listening to “For Aeons Past” since it sounds almost identical to what Scar Symmetry used to sound when Christian was in the band. We don’t say that cloning your old band is a bad thing, but I think that Solution .45 has gone a bit too far in this department. However, we loved Scar Symmetry with Christian, therefore we love Solution .45

  • Brain Drill – Quantum Catastrophe (2010)

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    We usually stay away from Grindcore bands, but Brain Drill was definitely one of the most interesting bands of that genre that we have reviewed in quite a while. With a very impressive mixture of Technical skills and traditional Death/Grindcore, they managed to grab our attention since the first track of this awesome release.

    With a very chaotic feeling to “Quantum Catastrophe” the band showcases their abilities to blend genius with brutality. Taking the genre into new heights (at least for us), the 8 songs in this album can be both appreciated by the technical wiz people and the brutality inspired fans. The album might not have any particular order, but it does a great job into reconciling two genres that have never merged well.

  • Skyforger – Kurbads (2010)

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    After listening to Skyforger’s new album “Kurbads” the first thing that comes to mind is: WTF. The band started out Pagan/Folk Metal with Black Metal influences, and now it’s reduced to a semi-inspired mixture of Trash/Heavy Metal with some Folk influences. “Kurbads” is far far away from what we are expected from Skyforger.

    Hailing from Latvia, it’s been seven years since the all-folk “Zobena Dziesma” album, and all these years have been wasted since “Kurbads” is downright terrible in our opinion. There are some good moments here and there, but mostly it’s just re-hashed Trash riffs with horrible vocals. The folk sections are ok, but during the band’s absence there have been great Pagan/Folk Metal releases that completely obscure this release.

  • October File – Our Souls To You (2010)

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    With their very interesting and modern sounding mixture of hardcore, industrial metal and even some metalcore-ish influences, October File is back with “Our Souls To You”. The band’s third full-length release and we must say a very shitty one. Featuring two mixes of the tracks in this album, to us it indicates that the band was not fully satisfied with the end result and decided to let the fans pick the one they like the best.

     “Our Souls To You” is a ‘good’ album for the first two songs, and later you discover that is the same stuff over and over (and we don’t mean because of the ‘double’ tracks featuring different mix). With “Holy Armour from the Jaws of God” the band left off in a high note, but with this new release it feels they forgot how to make good music.

  • Mouth Of The Architect – The Violence Beneath (2010)

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    American Sludge Metal monsters are back with “The Violence Beneath”, a four song EP that features two new songs, a live song and a cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”. While we feel that this EP does a good job to create anticipation for the band’s future full-length release, an anticipation that is currently burning inside us, since we really enjoy Mouth Of The Architect’s (MOTA) releases.

    Two years have passed since their crushing album “Quietly” and we were wondering what was going out with MOTA. With the two new tracks “The Violence Beneath” and “Buried Hopes” we get a nice continuation from where the band left off with “Quietly”.

  • Tarot – Gravity Of Light (2010)

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    The charismatic Marco Hietala brings us the ninth full-length release of his first band: Tarot. While this band is widely recognized in Finland and Europe, the band has been relatively unknown in the USA. With Marco’s popularity increase since he joined Nightwish in 2001, and his work with Northen Kings, Tarot is finally getting the worldwide spotlight they deserve.

    Playing Heavy Metal, Tarot is a band that has always released good albums over the years. “Gravity Of Light” is another one of their solid releases and if you like Marco’s voice, you need no other reason to get this release (even though he does not sign as much as we wish). The band’s music has always been ‘standard’ and we might even argue that feels a bit tired after nine releases that sound very much alike.

  • Great Awakening – Hit n Run (2009)

     

    Jumping on the Trash revival bandwagon we have Great Awakening from the USA. Having formed in Florida in 2006, the band does a great job in bringing the good-old days of Trash back. Great Awakening’s music is very decent for a Trash Metal release, but they do not offer any edge that would allow us to consider them a force to be reckoned with.

    Their 2009 demo titled “Hit n’ Run” showcase 3 very decent songs Trashy songs that have the old-school vibe, but are missing some soul and originality to them. While we don’t expect every band to re-invent the wheel, we do expect some level of originality when it comes to playing a genre that has been around for over 20 years.

  • Scarred – Haunting Memories (2010)

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    Next up we have Scarred and their Power Metal music with “Haunting Memories”, their latest EP. Hailing from the USA the band does a great job at incorporating influences from Metal Church and even the all-mighty Savatage into their sound. The album features 24 minutes of nicely composed songs that sound fresh compared to what most Power Metal bands are doing these days.

    Without exploiting the ‘let’s play as fast as we can’ approach, the band creates solid songs that feature ‘slower’ but crushing riffs. Sometimes they even sound a bit like Doom/Stoner Metal bands, and we totally dig this different approach to a genre that is full of virtuosos showing off.

  • Sabbath Assembly - Restored to One (2010)

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    With a highly elaborate theological foundation we have Sabbath Assembly, a gathering of musicians featuring Jex Thoth. Following the ideologies of Process Church of the Final Judgment a cult from the 60’s and 70’s, Sabbath Assambly’s “Restored to One” is a ‘re-charging’ of this cult’s hymns and brought to the general audience in form of psychedelic rock songs.

    We love anything that has to do with theology, and especially stuff about cults so “Restored to One” is a very interest release for us. The whole idea of having three great gods of the universe in Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan, sound like a crack-pot theory that my friend would cook up during an acid trip. However, not all ideas behind the Process Church were as crazy as this one.

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