志方あきこ - 廃墟と楽園 [2003]

This album builds off of 緑の森で眠ル鳥. It's in the same Celtic style, but with more refined songwriting. Akiko's voice is just as beautiful and soft as ever. This is more soothing than the previous album as well.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.vagrancy.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - Reason of crying [2007.07.18]

Finally, properly heavy production. Much catchier songwriting than before, and even a hint of interesting elements mixed in with the more stock ones. I can tell that a lot more care went into writing these songs than previous crap. When I first heard this album years ago, I thought that the clean singing sections were more in line with "Emo", but obviously my ears were not adjusted to the sounds of Japanese Rock. "Melody" and "フリージア" largely fall flat for me. Ahh, here's the re-recording of "お前に捧げる醜い声" that I remember.

Rating: 7.25

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 13's reborn [2006.09.27]

I already recognize one of the song titles... hopefully there won't be many repeats of previous singles on this album. The bass sounds like it's coming straight from Korn's 101-level class at the community college. The songwriting on the other hand is definitely making constant nods to Slipknot's self-titular effort. Even so, they do have some decent ideas that tend to mix things up a bit... however, like so many other bands, they limit these ideas to the song introductions. Good idea executed poorly.

Rating: 6.25

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - お前に捧げる醜い声 [2006.04.12]

Production quality is a little better. Hmmm... I believe they did a re-recording of this on one of their later full-lengths. It's firmly rooted in the Metal genre. Not all that inspired, but still catchy.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 零-ゼロ--無景型円盤- [2006.04.05]

Production quality isn't the hottest. However, I AM liking the use of progressive drumming with a more tranquil Japanese rock aspect. The chorus and pre-verse go back to a more Metal punch. It's a good song, I can definitely see coming back to this one more often. It feels more than just 1-dimensional like the previous stuff.

Rating: 6.75

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 理性壊乱-乱調型円盤- [2005.11.30]

Off to a bit of a bad start here. "Яeality" is straight up Japanese Hard Rock with no real attempt at Metal. Unfortunate. "Dirty Blue Blood" makes a valiant attempt to rescue the disk and, while it's attempt was heroic, it only managed to save itself in the end.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 本能開放-覚醒型円盤- [2005.11.30]

...and they start right where they left off on 腐界の闇-迷叫型円盤-... but then, "沈む過去" takes a bit of a dive back into the J-Rock area. Luckily, "開戦宣言(D.B ver.)" kicks things back up a notch. Overall, production quality hasn't increased in the last three disks. I'm happy that they're getting more into actual Heavy Metal, but they still aren't innovating jack shit. At least it's fairly catchy.

Rating: 6.75

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 腐界の闇-迷叫型円盤- [2005.09.14]

Ok and catchy start to the album, but it feels like more of the same. Ahhh, now they're speaking more of my language with "Deceived mad pain"... much more like. I really hope to hear more of it in later albums. Not unique and hardly creative, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rentrer en Soi - Sphire-Croid [2005.01.26]

Post-Rock beginning to the first song. It's an interesting enough album. Definitely can tell that they were trying to stray from their established style. This culminates in "Eyes of forest" which has a charming Gothic bell section, driving drum beat, and interesting keys strewn throughout. It's odd because it's a very driving song that feels strong enough to move a glacier, yet it's very soft as well. Then, without warning, "Last word [ ]" starts off with pure acoustic folk... very nicely done. "Iconclasm" explodes from nowhere! Sure, it's another J-band ripping off a riff from the 007 theme, but it works and so much has been added that it feels fairly fresh. wow, I didn't realize that the secret scars song from Unending Sanctuary was based on the one from this album. I think I prefer this one. "Full Moon" starts mostly like a more typical Japanese Rock song, but some interesting effects and nifty break in the middle do the song well to not sound like everyone else. The first bit of the album didn't do a whole lot to capture my attention, but it's all pretty good in the end... certainly better than most, and the effort for breaking the mold is very much present.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Coal Chamber - Dark Days [2002]

It's strange, they go from the great songwriting of Chamber Music to this, a fairly large step backwards to the days of the first album. It definitely feels like most of the "magic" is gone. There aren't many gems in this album, but at least a few songs are overall good (Fiend, Dark Days, One Step, Row Boat, Drove). One production quality failing I've noticed is that the two guitars are completely different types of distortion and tone, making them feel very uneven while listening through headphones.

Rating: 7

http://www.myspace.com/coalchambermusic

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ジュリィー - アイデンティティ [2009.02.11]

Happy-punk start for the album with "グローリー・ジェネレーション". "卒える春" is fairly catchy high school-style j-rock that you could easily hear in a Japanese coming of age drama... still, not as bad as the shit I hear in American teen-market share movies. The pop-punk comes back with a vengeance in "夕空"! It's a catchy album overall that is set in the standard style for this band. So, nothing creative or unique about it, but the songwriting is pretty good.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.jully-web.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Nile - Black Seeds of Vengeance [2000]

There's a significant amount of exciting song writing here. Some decent creativity as well. It's not nearly as polished as later albums, but it's still quite awesome. The production quality isn't half as exciting as later albums, but what could I possibly expect from an earlier album like this? There is a nice amount of variation throughout this album with quite a few Ancient-Egyptian-themed folk songs thrown in.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.nile-catacombs.net/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ＬｕＬｕ - Dr.ステルベン [2008.04.23]

So, I've gone back in time after fucking up the sequence of these albums. "精神鎮痛剤" was re-recorded on a later album, and now I can say that I prefer the original more. This album is a blend of punk, j-rock, and background keyboards. I'm actually liking the keys. Not that good of an album overall, though.

Rating: 6.25



All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Kenji Kawai - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 [2006]

First four tracks are mostly dark atmosphere, but things seem to get more interesting with "怖震" when really dark and evil strings haunt the air. This OST is much more dark than the previous. However, it's also much more repetitive... one theme in particular has come up in at least 5 songs and I'm only halfway through the album.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.kenjikawai.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 獄-初犯型円盤- [2005.05.25]

A bit more catchy than 【開戦宣言】～企画型円盤～ and with slightly better song writing. Wow... "【獄】" is mostly a direct copy of a song from Slipknot's self-title album. The first four tracks are indeed fun, but uninspired. Production quality is pretty good, but it's more of a hard rock production than a metal production.

Rating: 6.25

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

girugämesh - 【開戦宣言】～企画型円盤～ [2004]

Catchy for the most part. A bit more punk rock than metal. It certainly has much better production than I was expecting... I suppose this band was aiming for the mainstream right from the beginning. It's okay stuff, nothing special, but nothing bad either.

Rating: 6

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

志方あきこ - 緑の森で眠ル鳥 [2001]

This definitely has more of a Celtic feel to it. It's not that calming, but it's wonderfully written and great for when I want to listen to Irish Folk with some Japanese tweaks.

Rating: 7

http://www.vagrancy.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Anomalous - Ohmnivalent [2011]

Shiiit. The technicality is just as maddening as the last album, maybe even more so. The keyboard and effects are still there in fairly large quantity for Death Metal. Atmospheric keys contrast nicely with the madness of the Tech. Death Metal. Ahhh, when "The Seraphim Veil" drops into clean guitars briefly, I know now that any fears I had that this album won't live up to the hopes set by the first one have been made into dust. The soft and light sections blend so amazingly well into the structure that it freaks me out. Now, it seems I can finally put my finger on it: Technical Death Metal with elements Dark Ambient and Progressive Metal. The production is incomparable to the previous album... very powerful, punchy, yet delicate at times. The main vox are a tiny bit low in the mix, but the wall of sound attitude really makes up for it. It is a bit long, though, and it doesn't feel quite as fresh as the first album.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.myspace.com/anomalousmetal

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

志方あきこ - Navigatoria [2005]

Ahhh, now this is more like it. Seemingly New Age at it's core, but also naturist and even rock. However, what I find the most charming thing is her voice: very restrained and almost polite, with Japanese folk subtly mixed in... and she's quite an incredible singer. It's like a gentle scalp-massage. Great album all the way through. I will certainly be putting this in my regular rotation. Creative, very soothing, beautiful, catchy, very well-produced, but lacking in variation of the songwriting style. It's so obvious that a massive amount of care and work went into the writing of this album. Wonderful. Well done, Shikata, well done.

Rating: 8.75

http://www.vagrancy.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

分島花音 - 侵食ドルチェ [2009]

"真紅のフェータリズム"..... Cello mixed with keys, effects, and a distinctly electronic rhythm. It could've been awesome, nay, incredible, but it's not very well put together and it's attempts at combining classical with modern gothic are faux because the vocals are obviously geared towards the pop crowd. In fact, it seems like most of it is aimed at pop. The cello parts aren't particularly inspired, more like clichéd. What this really feels like is Moi dix Mois ver.2, but a little more catchy. While some parts are quite good and I can feel the amazing potential, it's never really done correctly and she (or whoever wrote the stuff) just can't seem to make the blend seamless. Goddamn, this REALLY sounds like Mana's songwriting... potentially incredible, but constantly falling short. Massively disappointing, and yet, I just can't give it an awful rating. At least some kind of effort was made in the writing of this album.

Rating: 6

http://www.kanonweb.jp/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Kenji Kawai - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Original Soundtrack [2006]

I was actually expecting this to be crappy for some reason. However, if the first track is to be any indicator of the rest of the album, I may end up loving it. Album starts off with a sedate orchestra and vocal "ooos" with a calm electronic beat that is overall quite ominous yet soothing. "散策": ok, so here's the reminder that this is indeed an Anime soundtrack... gotta have the happy town music. I'm almost laughing over the monstrous extremes displayed on this album: adorable cuteness one minute, brooding evil the next. At times, things become atmospheric and soothing; this is where the album really shines for me because the atmosphere is incredible yet not boring or noisy. Rarely, there will appear a song that tickles my epic-nerve. I wish there were more of those songs on here. Overall, not bad, but not the art-house I was hoping for based on the opening track. The cute stuff is ridiculously adorable, putting a smile on my face, but it always feels a bit out of place on this album. The evil stuff, while not directly evil, is quite ominous and dark. OH FUCK!! I THINK I'VE FIGURED IT OUT: I'm pretty sure that all of the tracks with "!" in them are the cutsie ones... if this is true, I want to hug Kenji and thank him for making them easily identifiable.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.kenjikawai.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rentrer en Soi - wither [2004.10.27]

"wither" starts off much like "The flow of time -in a cradle-" in the vein of Electronic, but switches to a tranquil ballad. "season" is leaning more towards the stock Japanese Pop-Rock side of things. Unfortunately, the only actually interesting song is "からっぽの箱" and it still manages to drag its feet a bit. This is definitely a disappointing album coming from ゆりかご.

Rating: 6

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders [2009]

I'm really getting into this album. This almost feels like the DEFINITION of Progressive Metal. The songwriting is superb. The technicality is suicidal in short bursts. The emotion and care to which this album is crafted is nothing short of inspired. It's also managed to pull off a neat trick in that it has a good amount of variation but still feels cohesive. It's fairly creative as well, and the style blending often goes between new-age, electronic, and post-rock in addition to the Metal base. Hopefully I'll hear slightly better guitar distortion in the future.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Rentrer en Soi - ゆりかご [2004.03.30]

Wow, "The flow of time -in a cradle-" was not what I was expecting at all. It's very electronic and New Age-like. "Sincerely" is where the band-aspect of ReS comes in with all of its tried and true Japanese Rock inspiration. "Re-birth" takes on an electronic hybrid attitude with some Metal qualities. This album is great. The variation makes my heart sing. The songwriting is better than some of the most veteran artists out there. But most of all, the album has its own identity thanks to the interesting blend of styles and structure. Even so, some of the material is pretty contrived and the production definitely can use an upgrade.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - Departure [2010]

Well, they poured all of their focus into one song and it shows. However, it's fucking Soilwork + Emo + 1 small section of Prog Rock. So it's just as contrived and derivative as ever, and I just can't respect that. They are really interested in only one thing: copying what's popular in American "Something Core" (I can't bare to call it Metal) scene... That said, it is pretty catchy, but it fucking should be since all the shit they copied it from was also catchy.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Venetian Snares - Fuck Canada // Fuck America [1999]

It's like what pure ADHD music would sound like. It's fairly interestingly put together and every single section sounds meaningful. However, it's a very repetitive album with the same trick being repeated endlessly... and it does certainly get old. I'm also not a fan of the border-line Noise element.

Rating: 6

http://www.venetiansnares.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Watain - Rabid Death's Curse [2000]

I know a guy that would say that this is very "organic"... normally I think he's full of shit and say that it's actually shitty playing. Even though that's the case with this album, it manages to capture the charm of the underground and unprepared recording very well. The production isn't bad, it's got sufficient punch and it's fairly full in its sound. "The Limb Crucifix" bounces between typical underground Swedish Black Metal and catchy chorus. Even though "On Horns Impaled" reminds me a lot of Dark Funeral, for some reason it doesn't feel as contrived. Overall, I have a love-hate relationship with Swedish Black Metal. Most of it is pure derivative shite, while a few bands are fucking incredible (see Marduk and Naglfar).

Rating: 7

http://www.templeofwatain.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Yoko Shimomura - Parasite Eve Original Soundtrack [1998]

Wow, "Primal Eyes" is very impressive... I wasn't expecting this much depth at all for a horror game soundtrack; hopefully this will continue through the album. The album skips between dark atmosphere, beautiful and atmospheric, orchestra, upbeat break beat, and techno/piano wonder. One major complaint is that the file samples for the orchestra and opera vocals is clearly just pitch-shifted/bent, making it sound very fake and obnoxious... and now I'm really beginning to hate the fucking vocal shit in "Phrase of Eve". They just meander around with no purpose or structure... it's just random crap shit out by a five year old with a keyboard. It's annoying because the other stuff is quite awesome. Another complaint is that there aren't any particularly epic or hair-raising songs on this album, which is a bit strange for a horror/survival game. No matter, the other music certainly makes up for it a bit. The songs themselves are a bit repetitive, but I prefer this soundtrack to many other more typical horror soundtracks because it actually uses real MUSIC instead of just filling three hours with industrial and ambient effects.

Rating: 7.5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Shimomura

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ジュリィー - 「現」と「真」の実 [2008]

"バースデイ" is a bit too poppy for a kickoff, but it's quite catchy once it gets going. "東京" has a somewhat fun bluesy feel, but it's not all that inspired until the solo. Damn, the rest of the album is pretty much throwaway stuff. Unfortunately, it's very clear that there's no real progression to their albums. They all are very much in the same style and every once-in-a-while they hit gold with a really good song.

Rating:　7

http://www.jully-web.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Disillusion - Gloria [2006]

Much better opening track for this album, but I hate the use of auto-tune on the vocals. Very good use of keys, much more catchy, no more melodic Thrash, plus more interesting and unique songwriting. Very much contrary to what other reviewers have said, I think that this album is far better than the previous one. Much better songwriting, it's not so derivative, more catchy, and NO MELODIC FAG METAL!! Every single song feels as though it was written as carefully and lovingly as possible. No song feels weak, yet few feel repetitive. The progressive elements are entirely gone... in fact, if the band name wasn't the same, you'd have literally nothing to compare the two albums. This is certainly a very good Industrial Metal album.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.disillusion.de/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor [2004]

It's a love hate relationship I have with this. There are moments of greatness and the Progressive aspects add a level of depth to the material. However, it's let down by the reliance on Melodic Thrash as the main energy driver and the use of the stayed and popular Folk influences that crop up in the writing every once in a while. Even so, I can't despise it because it is genuinely catchy and fairly solid song writing.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.disillusion.de/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment [1998]

One hell of an opening track. Actually, one hell of an album. While it may not be the most purposefully unique material I've heard, it certainly has a creative feeling throughout the album culminating in the "Three Minute Warning" improv tracks.

Rating: 8

http://www.yesiknow.net/lte/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Coal Chamber - Chamber Music [1999]

A thousand times better than their self-titled debut. The song writing is wonderfully refined and the production is better, though I don't agree with the type of guitar distortion. Songs don't over-stay their welcome, catchy writing, unique style, essentially gothic, and energetic. This is one of those albums that you feel more than listen. The lyrics strike the perfect balance between being direct and being obtuse. It may not be pushing the envelope, but it's consistently great all the way through.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/coalchambermusic

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Amogh Symphony - The Quantum Hack Code [2010]

Mixed feelings about the introduction's use of exposition, which I strongly dislike. However, I do like the fact that they're creating a story for this album, and "Dvorzhetskii's Prophecy" certainly starts of very unlike the previous album. The production quality is a bit more clear, but the guitars still lag behind with bargain-price distortion and a fairly low mix position. I do like the more avant-garde songwriting and sections like in "Osiris 1" really bring depth to the material. Bonus points for bringing the music to a new creative level, but get rid of the exposition at the beginning of every track and beef up the guitars please.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.myspace.com/mohenjadaro

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Amogh Symphony - Abolishing the Obsolete System [2009]

Not at all what I was expecting for the intro to what I assume will be a brutally technical Death Metal album. I'm fairly impressed with the song-writing, structure, and diversity in "Cyborg Activation" which shoots through Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Indian Folk, and Techno. Production is a bit rough... quality isn't bad at all, but the guitar distortion sounds like a bargain-priced solid-state (or shitty software) and I can VERY clearly hear hard-cuts for sections that they obviously had to punch-in on guitars. Even so, I am very pleased with the variation that this album has to offer. The playing is pretty good, too, despite the obvious production cuts and such. The slow folk sections are wonderfully calming. The more energetic Metal parts, while not all that unique or creative, still are well performed and have a good feel to them. Pretty good for a first album, but I'll definitely be expecting some more refined writing on the next one.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.myspace.com/mohenjadaro

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ジュリィー - ストロボ [2007]

"ストロボ" is very stock and doesn't have a soul. "木漏れ陽" is much better; it has more feel to it and the buildup towards the end is quite enjoyable. For that matter, even "晩餐" is better than the opening track. This seems to be quite a trend among the Japanese bands, where they put some shitty sell-out song first to capture a large fan base and then the real songs come after it.

Rating: 7

http://www.jully-web.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - Frontier [2010.06.16]

Promising riff, but then right into melodic metal. It's fairly contrived, and I'm kind of sick of the copy-cat attitude that they've been taking on the last 5 disks. Though, if I'm in the right mood, it can be catchy.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - The farthest [2010.07.14]

Haven't started, but I'm going to assume this will be more of the same from Frontier, but perhaps they'll copy some newer style that we've done in America. So, more Metalcore with just a dash of Progressive Metal. Now they've been looking at either Dream Theater or Between the Buried and Me with light bulbs going on over their heads, an index finger pointed up, and a truncated "あ！！". "Departure" starts off so nicely and really makes me think that all will be well with this song, but then the fucking verse kicks in and ruins everything. This album is so goddamn thick with auto-tune that I think I'm going to fucking puke. I get the feeling that this band will never again go above a 6.5.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - ユグドアライヴ -Yggdalive- [2009.11.04]

Impressive beginning track that shows off the more electronic side of DELUHI. However, "G.A.L.D" ends up feeling like the US's Pop Metal/Metalcore filth with the goddamn awful auto-tune vocals. "Revolver Blast" is much better and feels more like a proper Heavy/Thrash Metal song. They've jumped on the bandwagon by adding blasting sections. "Flow Snow" shows that DELUHI has been looking at Soilwork with envious eyes. Many of the verses and chorus' retain their Japanese rock identity. This album definitely has better structure, better writing, more soul, and higher energy than JAGANNATH, but it's all very clearly derivative and designed to sell.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play [2007]

The first track of this album and let's not fuck around, the music is epic. However, it only takes the very first vocal line to make me miss Tarja. Sure, the new broad is a good singer, but she sings mostly in a pop style, which comes across as out of place and obnoxiously bitchy. Some of the transitions in the middle of the song feel a bit lazy as well. "Bye Bye Beautiful" is a throw-away song, but then "Amaranth" is a great popcorn song that's catchy and displays some of the better sides of the new girl's voice. "Cadence of Her Last Breath" has a pretty catchy chorus. Whereas "Master Passion Greed" is a waste of some good guitar riffs ruined by the vocals, an awful chorus, and piss-poor lyrics. "Eva" is a nice and beautiful song where the vocal stylings of Anette actually make sense. Overall, the music on this album is quite good. It doesn't have the feel and emotion of "Once", but it's still fairly proficient song writing. However, there are still quite a few fillers and more than a few riffs that just sound like they were thrown in there to lengthen the song. The lyrics throughout the album are just bad, though, and Anette's vocals are quite unwelcomed in my ears. You get the feeling that she is quite proficient in classical singing, but rarely uses it. Lower score for almost ruining the music with crap vocals and lyrics.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.nightwish.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill Original Soundtracks [1999]

Well, Akira sure didn't waste any time jumping into a creepy feel. 11 tracks in and it's plainly obvious that this is mostly an atmospheric album that uses industrial hits and effects. "Claw Finger" is one of the few tracks to catch my attention. This album would be great to create atmosphere in the background and for falling asleep, but I can't say that it has much artistic merit at all because it's 45 tracks of mostly repeated effects with the occasional sudden punch. Standout tracks: "Claw Finger", "Don't Cry", "Ain't Gonna Run", "Die", and "Silent Hill Pianissimo". Towards the end of the album, the tracks start using more music than effects. However, the album is still too long and has way too much just faffing about for me to enjoy listening to it actively.

Rating: 6

http://www.blog.konami.jp/gs/cat67/index.php

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

The Faceless - Planetary Duality [2008]

Ok, half-way through the second track and I can already tell that the songwriting has improved quite a bit. Some riffs aren't all that powerful, but at least they still feel like they serve a purpose. Contrary to the mainstream opinion, I think that the use of robotic vocoder is nifty and interesting. "Shape Shifters" flexes the deeper songwriting muscles responsible for creativity in a song before bashing my face in with "Coldly Calculated Design". This feels like a much more energetic and brutal album than the first one. It's actually quite good, this album. More catchy songwriting combined with some creativity, great consistency throughout the album, extremely precise technicality, and ESPECIALLY the near-exclusion of that shit-fest known as Melodic Thrash Metal make this album the first one from this band that I will listen to regularly. Even so, it's not exactly ground-breaking or pushing the limits of Metal to some amazing new area, but it is very well-done and with a style that is mostly their own.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/thefaceless

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

The Faceless - Akeldama [2006]

It's pretty straight-forward Technical Death Metal. Unfortunately, some of it feels a bit cliché. However, there are bouts of creativity and interesting keys thrown in the mix to set the music apart from the rest. The technicality is quite impressive. Some of the transitions could use working on to make them more smooth and increase the song's flow. I'm certainly not a fan of the Melodic Thrash sections littered about the album like plastic bags in a state park. One other thing I don't like is that I can clearly hear all of the hard-cuts performed by the recording engineer. Overall, it's a competent first album that has some creativity mixed into a fairly stock but effective style with bouts of catchiness. The reality is that I will probably only come back to this album for one or two songs.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.myspace.com/thefaceless

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.