Symphonic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Xerath – I (2009)

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    Xerath has been touted as a mixture of Meshuggah and the symphonic sound of Dimmu Borgir, and this is a very accurate description of this band in our opinion. Having an amazing movie score like bombastic sound they are here to blow people away.

    Usually when a band is blown up to sound like this they end up being a big disappointment but for Xerath this rule does not apply, this band is all of that and way more, “I” is such a rich album that I had to listen to it more than ten times to fully appreciate and digest all the layers this release has.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Eternal Tears Of Sorrow – Children Of The Dark Waters (2009)

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    After being blown away by the promising new track from this album that was included in their single “Tears Of Autumn Rain”, I was expecting this album very much, since the band usually takes a while to release albums.

    “Children Of The Dark Waters” was well worth the wait of 3 years, the album picks off where “Before The Bleeding Sun” left off with the track “Angelheart, Ravenheart” and it never lets go. The band’s unique symphonic sound is one of my favorite things about the band and I must say that they have improved it since the last album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fairyland - Score to a New Beginning (2009)

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    After releasing a great second album “The Fall of an Empire” this French band fell apart and all members left except for the keyboard player Philippe Giordana. Fast forward 3 years and “Score to a New Beginning” is released as a solo effort by the keyboardist and with countless guest appearances by renowned musicians. By doing this the album maintains the standard of quality set by “The Fall of an Empire” and takes the band to a whole new level.

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    Black Messiah – The First War of the World (2009)

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    Black Messiah is one of those bands that is very hard to determine what kind of music they play. They combine Black Metal influences with Viking/Folk metal and they excel at it, creating a very nice blend of genres in a very diverse album. Every song offers different elements that will keep even the most A.D.D person paying attention all the way to the end.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Turisas - A Finnish Summer With Turisas (2008)

    This DVD does a great job capturing the intensity of this band while performing live. Taking songs from several different perfomances, this DVD will make you want to see this band live. The costumes and stage makeup is great and provides an authentic feeling to this bands music. Century Media also included english subtitles during the performances so we can understand what they are saying (this is one thing that is neglected in many live DVD's that I've seen over the years).
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    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
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    Adagio – Archangels In Black (2009)

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    After Adagaio’s great first two releases they have fallen into an identity crisis. They have been experimenting with several different styles of music, but failing to create decent release. “Archangels In Black” represent another attempt at creating different sounding release, but their repetitive heavy sounding guitars make this release another miss from this French band.

    Adagio’s original Progressive Power metal is still present in some songs, and there are many great moments in this album, but they are drowned by the repetitive heavy guitars, and some growls / harsh vocals here and there. The drumming style has changed a bit, but you can still hear the brilliant tempo changes and the intensity from before. There are also changes that accommodate the slower style of music, but in general they are still pretty good.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Hollenthon – Opus Magnum (2008)

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    The music of Hollenthon is what happens when you give a synthesizer to the demented Grandmaster Flesh (A.K.A Martin Schirenc) from Pungent Stench fame.  The band’s sound can be defined as an epic symphony of madness, the music I would probably hear in my head if I was confined to a mental institution. This release was in the making for 7 years, and it was well worth the wait.

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