tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11975369174588458702024-03-12T20:32:10.502-05:00Biased Music ReviewThese are simply music reviews that I wrote for myself so that I could remind myself of what I think of one of the many thousands of albums in my library. These reviews are biased because they are written with my own interests and preferences in mind.Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.comBlogger482125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-84112238746165077692011-08-29T01:44:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:44:36.912-05:00Odious Mortem - Cryptic Implosion [2007]<span style="font-family:arial;">The vocals are WAY more powerful than they were on the previous album. "Fragmented Oblivion" starts shit off on the right foot with catchiness, brutality, energy, and a massive amount of technicality. Shit, half-way through the album and it's still fucking brutally ripping its way through my ears. It's non-stop technicality and energy. Excellent production quality. It's clear, heavy, and punchy all at the same time and seemingly without any compromises. The album is a little shorter than most which works in its favor since the material isn't diverse or experimental.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_mortem" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_mortem</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-67858731776336709242011-08-29T01:42:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:42:25.459-05:00Odious Mortem - Devouring the Prophecy [2005]<span style="font-family:arial;">Short as hell Technical Death Metal album. It's pretty damn heavy and it's very technical. The production is quite good as well. I'm not a fan of the vocals on this album, though. They feel weak. There's clearly an air of Cannibal Corpse on this album with the harmonized guitar trills. It's not a particularly catchy album and after listening to it, nothing sticks in my head. So, the songwriting could use some work, but if all I'm looking for is a solid Technical Death Metal album to throw on to kill some time, this will do nicely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 6.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_mortem" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_mortem</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-90513484144846347662011-08-29T01:38:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:38:15.075-05:00Novembre - Wish I Could Dream it Again [1994]<span style="font-family:arial;">The production quality is what I'd expect for a first album. It's pretty interesting stuff. Really feels like they've stumbled onto a style while it was just beginning to break out. Just when everything felt like it was getting mundane, they break out with the ending section of "Novembre/its Blood" and redeem all of the interest that was lost. The Black Metal parts are wonderful. The singers pitch control is lacking to say the least, but I've heard worse and it somehow isn't that distracting. The album is a MONSTEROUS length, making it nearly impossible to listen to the whole thing in one sitting without falling asleep. Crop the songs a bit, take some singing lessons, and the material would be top notch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.novembre.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.novembre.co.uk/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-82030723360501916792011-08-29T01:31:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:31:19.242-05:00Sarah Marie Mullen - The Wild Woods [2006]<span style="font-family:arial;">It's shocking how, despite being predominantly harp music, this album is in a completely different style than LF. Some more instruments have been added to the mix, like flute and guitar. It feels like LF was for more of the upper classes of society while this is geared more towards the common folk during a party. I'm not really a big fan of a fair amount of the material on this album. Maybe it's the arrangements, but it really doesn't feel all that much like period music and doesn't get me in the renaissance mood. One of the standouts is "Nonesuch".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 6.25</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://sarahmariemullen.com/" target="_blank">http://sarahmariemullen.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-67745525404885505342011-08-29T01:29:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:29:30.183-05:00Sarah Marie Mullen - Luna's Fancy [2004]<span style="font-family:arial;">What can I say. It's beautiful stuff. Pretty well played with only a few significant mistakes that stand out. I can't comment on the songs themselves since I don't know if she wrote them or is just playing them. Either way, it's a wonderful album full of passion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://sarahmariemullen.com/" target="_blank">http://sarahmariemullen.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-89222946478870126662011-08-29T01:22:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:22:12.602-05:00Iced Earth - Horror Show [2001]<span style="font-family:arial;">The first four tracks are quite good. Of them, only "Jack" seems to capture the energy that they used to have. However, the songwriting has improved and become more complex. "Im-Ho-Tep" is a bit of an oddity that really doesn't float my boat... makes me bored. "Jekyll & Hyde" is much more like it: catchy, energetic, and wonderfully written. "Dragon's Child" has a very validating feel to it. "Transylvania" has a very boring and contrived first half but then goes into a really cool second half with good solos. "Frankenstein" is a straight-forward and largely uninspired song that feels flat. "Dracula" has more energy. "The Phantom Opera Ghost" has lyrics that are cringingly cliché, but the music is quite good. Overall, it's not as strong as Something Wicked, but the good parts are very good. It's a very polarized album.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.icedearth.com/" target="_blank">http://www.icedearth.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-7285777416371193532011-08-29T01:18:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:18:00.675-05:00Hatebreed - Satisfaction is the Death of Desire [1997]<span style="font-family:arial;">So, yeah, it's a bit of Metalcore and a bit of Hardcore. Neither are winning genres for me, but Hatebreed is quite good at capturing the energy of those genres without being too annoying about it. That said, one recurring theme for this band will be the AWFUL vocals of Jasta. He has the vocal range of a fucking cricket. All vocals are exactly the same. All words are exactly the same. Monotone doesn't even go far enough to describe it, and it gets really fucking annoying after a couple songs. The positive message is also really fucking gay. Even though this album is short, it's still not short enough. I get really tired of the same riffs cropping up in song after song. Sure it's pretty heavy, but it's not particularly catchy and the vocals are relentlessly boring and shitty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.hatebreed.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hatebreed.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-25698608501443688442011-08-29T01:12:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:12:51.241-05:00Slayer - World Painted Blood [2009]<span style="font-family:arial;">They've obviously gone back to the "less is more" approach for guitar distortion... which is really fucking annoying since the music could be so much more with heavier guitars. "World Painted Blood" really is some of the best songwriting Slayer has done in Decades, and then "Unit" makes me want to forget entirely about the dismal guitar distortion and hail Father Satan that this record exists!! "Snuff" isn't bad, but not as strong as the first two songs. "Beauty Through Order" returns us to the days of the slow-and-fucking-evil songs that were prevalent on Seasons... "Human Strain" just emanates darkness and evil. "Americon" is possibly the only weak song on the album. "Playing With Dolls" uses some of the new-school ideas that they've had and blends them perfectly with South of Heaven-era evil and style. It's wonderful; the writing is excellent. Evil is back in the foreground. It's as if Slayer took everything that I loved about their various styles over the years and very carefully slammed them all together. That said, they also grabbed a couple things that I really don't like about the newer stuff (like the stuff that reminds me of a nu-metal riff). The only real thorn in the side of this album is the guitar production. Yeah, fine, they wanted to be old-school about it, but they went back to the Seasons distortion and that's not really "old-school". So, they ended up with a really weak distortion for an ideal that isn't even correct in the first place. It's easy to look past the production issue, though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.slayer.net" target="_blank">http://www.slayer.net</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-78786172742138784322011-08-29T01:10:00.000-05:002011-08-29T01:10:13.853-05:00Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka [1998]<span style="font-family:arial;">No time wasted here at all. "Smashing the Antiu" jumps right into the fray with grinding. It's good stuff all the way through. Very brutal, pretty catchy, and quite focused. It is technical, but not quite to the extreme that the later albums are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.75</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.nile-catacombs.net/" target="_blank">http://www.nile-catacombs.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-6802284500752885802011-08-28T14:44:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:44:48.805-05:00The Doors - The Doors [1967]<span style="font-family:arial;">There are quite a lot of the classics that everyone knows on this album. It's quite ethereal and the music skips through varying degrees of madness, excitement, and calmness. It has that charming '60s recording feel to it, complete with the drums in the left speaker only. Nicely varied, but somehow all cut from the same cloth. There's a good amount of consistency in the songwriting. So none of the songs feel particularly weak or rushed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://thedoors.com/" target="_blank">http://thedoors.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-77667547077960831912011-08-28T14:38:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:38:46.148-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Gore Obsessed [2002]<span style="font-family:arial;">Another push on the production quality makes this the heaviest CC album by far. There's a lot of good stuff here. There's more catchiness and blasting, too. While all of the songs have very good riffs, a worrying amount have filler riffs blended in as well. So, it's a bit uninspiring at times, but awesome at others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.75</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-38784142618325158402011-08-28T14:36:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:36:30.272-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst [1999]<span style="font-family:arial;">New production quality isn't as warm as Gallery, but it is a bit heavier much more clear. The overall level of excellence for this album is much higher than anything CC had done before. It's more brutal, more active, more technical, and more focused. Very good album. It has everything that I love about the new style of CC and it's all well-executed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-57150929600311734462011-08-28T14:34:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:34:31.001-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Gallery of Suicide [1998]<span style="font-family:arial;">After the thrashy "I Will Kill You" and the incredibly catchy and brutal "Disposal of the Body", "Sentenced to Burn" dives into the more mid-tempo and chunky side of Death Metal. "Blood Drenched Execution" has a few catchy parts, but most of it feels pretty weak compared to the previous songs. "Gallery of Suicide" drops into the slow-tempo'd style for the first bit. It's not all that catchy or gripping, but it does have an evil twinge to it. It even feels like Black Metal at a few points. "Dismembered and Molested" picks things up on all fronts. Then, there's "From Skin to Liquid", an epic and purely evil opus that can easily get every hair on my neck to stand straight up. "Unite the Dead" is a heavy romp that brings more catchiness to the CC sound. It's a tiny bit gimmicky, though. "Stabbed in the Throat" largely passes by unnoticed. "Centuries of Torment" brings that low pitch evil guitaring that I love back to the album. Overall, it's got good production quality and some good writing. There are a decent number of standouts as well and it's always heavy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-10412172000642154132011-08-28T14:29:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:29:19.255-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Vile [1996]<span style="font-family:arial;">Kick in the nuts start to the album. "Devoured by Vermin" really seems to set the stage for the newly evolved CC to push the brutality and complexity of the music to a level far beyond what they've done before. Admittedly, I don't like the flow breaking sections in songs like "Mummified in Barbed Wire" and "Perverse Suffering". All seems to be redeemed by the awesomeness of "Disfigured". "Bloodlands" initially takes the dark, doomy, and evil CC style before breaking out with an explosion of thrash and technical guitaring. There are a lot more stand-outs in this album than the previous one. "Devoured by Vermin", "Disfigured", "Puncture Wound Massacre", "Relentless Beating", "Absolute Hatred", and "Monolith" stand out in my ears.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-68432077203708672582011-08-28T14:26:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:26:23.188-05:00Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding [1994]<span style="font-family:arial;">Right from the start, it feels a bit more like the passionate brutality that CC is known for. Hopefully it will last through the whole album. I'm a bit worried that they may have front-loaded this album with good songs... I mean, shit, they just keep coming one after another: "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead", "Fucked with a Knife", "Stripped, Raped and Strangled". It's hard to imagine that they can keep such a level of song writing throughout the rest of the album. I must say, Chris' vocals are starting to fucking annoy me, especially his high-pitched screams that sound like a five-year-old is yelling while holding his nose. For the most part, the material does actually stay pretty strong through the rest of the album. However, there aren't really any standouts like the first three songs of the album.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.25</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-76596438029009164682011-08-28T14:22:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:22:47.514-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated [1992]<span style="font-family:arial;">Off to a catchy, heavy, and grinding start with "Hammer Smashed Face". It doesn't have the excitement of their later works overall. I'm not sure if it's the dead production quality or the filler riffs, but it just doesn't feel as exciting. There are a few tracks on here that will get my blood pumping: "Hammer Smashed Face", "Addicted to Vaginal Skin", and "The Cryptic Stench".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 6.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-32765322960509520432011-08-28T14:20:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:20:36.747-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth [1991]<span style="font-family:arial;">There's a lot more doom to this album. There are also places where the album drags quite a lot. It feels like the writing for this one isn't quite as strong and forceful as Eaten. There are definitely a few classics like "Meat Hook Sodomy", and "Covered With Sores".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 6.75</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-7841351371157980662011-08-28T14:17:00.000-05:002011-08-28T14:17:19.170-05:00Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back to Life [1990]<span style="font-family:arial;">Heavy writing. It's a lot more thrash inspired than CC's later stuff, but the classic CC style is still buried in the music for those who know. It's not down-right catchy, but it's invigorating and energetic. The production quality is surprisingly clear and clean for being the first album. Pretty good distortion on the guitars as well. It's still mixed in that early Death Metal style. So, the guitars could stand to be higher in the mix and contain more punch. It's still a good album, even by today's standard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.25</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-54721437467603396932011-08-21T21:43:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:43:13.129-05:00The Devin Townsend Project - Ghost [2011]<span style="font-family:arial;">Judging by the beginning of "Fly", this will be an album more in the style of Ki. Fuck, it's so damn calm it's impossible not to feel relaxed. Good use of Native American flute... not too forward, but certainly audible. "Heart Baby" seems to reinforce what the album is leaning towards in style and mood. "Feather" is a large song that relies more on the atmospheric natural world to get by. "Kawaii" picks things up a little by switching focus to more of what the album started off as. Then, "Ghost" somehow changes style entirely to something reminiscent of southern folk, and "Blackberry" continues the direction with the addition of more traditional American folk instruments and writing. "Monsoon" and "Dark Matters" opt for a very ethereal, natural, and atmospheric feel. "Texada" brings the music more forward. This album differs from Ki in that the style feels much more like it was influenced by New Age. It's a very pleasant album that seems to sooth the soul. It's very impressive that Devin has managed to so accurately mix New Age into his own style.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.hevydevy.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hevydevy.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-76270008293950859042011-08-21T21:38:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:38:21.869-05:00The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction [2011]<span style="font-family:arial;">Wahey! I was NOT expecting an electronic almost break-beat style to the beginning of the album. Damn, nice way to ease the music into epic and crushingly heavy metal. "Stand" drags a lot during the middle, but tries to make up for it with a validating end. "Juular" is quite an epic and energetic song... it is much needed after the very long and drawn-out "Stand". "Planet of the Apes" is all over the place. Thrashy, dragging, energetic, validating... it's got the lot. "Sumeria" flexes some of the catchier and more brutal muscles that Devin has. It's a strange album, this. It's so all over the place that it never really settles on anything that I prefer. So, there are times when I feel it's just boring. It's also not the catchiest or most gripping album. Even so, there is a lot to like about this album. The creativity is nearly burning the album alive. There are some really great riffs thrown in here as well as a lot of madness. Most of what I don't like about this album I can chalk up to me simply not being in the mood for a concept album. I can still see what an epic album this is despite my mood. As the album progresses, I feel myself diving deeper into it... it could be that my mood is being altered, or maybe it's that the songs have gotten better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.hevydevy.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hevydevy.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-16868721320872206592011-08-21T21:14:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:14:12.401-05:00Testament - The Gathering [1999]<span style="font-family:arial;">The production quality is nearly perfect. Even 12 years later, this album is still one of the heaviest I've heard. Nearly every song is excellent. There aren't any filler riffs to be found on this album. Every second is a triumph of heaviness, yet, there is a good deal of variation on the album. Some songs have ominous clean guitars. Some are 6/8 romps through a metal fortress. Others are forays into the thrashing days of yore. All are energetic and hair-raising experiences overall. What an awesome album. When one concentrates, creativity can be found in some of the background effects and guitar slides that are barely noticed. The lyrics are very strong as well. Everything just feels so tight, like everyone was on the same page for the writing of this album.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.testamentlegions.com/" target="_blank">http://www.testamentlegions.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-26971106905489328912011-08-21T21:13:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:13:04.865-05:00Testament - Demonic [1997]<span style="font-family:arial;">FFFUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!! "Demonic Refusal" is one fucking hell of a way to start the album. It's so fucking heavy and evil. Chucks vocals are purely his own brand of Death Metal. "Together as One" would have been great if they didn't include that really fucking gay and repetitive section with such a shitty riff. Shit kicks back into gear with "Jun-Jun" and "John Doe". Things actually even go back to Thrash Metal for the first time in years with "Murky Waters". The songs from this point on are all fucking great... except for "Nostrovia". This is an INCREDIBLY heavy, evil, angry, and destructive album that makes me want to mosh against the world. That said, there are a couple weak songs and some riffs throughout the album feel a bit half-assed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.testamentlegions.com/" target="_blank">http://www.testamentlegions.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-57544228866630696832011-08-21T21:08:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:08:00.182-05:00Testament - Low [1994]<span style="font-family:arial;">There is finally an appreciable increase in production quality. It's pretty damn heavy. Chuck has even taken to doing some growls that are more Death Metal now. Good use of 6/8 to create the feel of a heavy groove. There is also a blending of traditional Rock into the heavier sound. They're all heavy, but not all of them capture my attention. "Low", "Hail Mary", "Trail of Tears", "Dog Faced Gods", "Chasing Fear", and "Ride" stand out to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.testamentlegions.com/" target="_blank">http://www.testamentlegions.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-39532218090171060252011-08-21T21:05:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:05:36.954-05:00Testament - The Ritual [1992]<span style="font-family:arial;">"Electric Crown" is already better than anything that was on the previous album. "So Many Lies" is completely pointless until the chorus. So, it's mostly boring. "Let Go Of My World" is acceptably energetic and heavy. "The Ritual" manages to inject a smidge of evil into the style. "Deadline" has a pretty damn catchy chorus and a decent amount of energy. This album is obviously the point at which Testament started driving their style more towards the Heavy Metal genre and away from Thrash. It's pretty good. Most songs have a good beat and heavy riffs with energy. It's a bit more Rock inspired in some parts which takes away from the attempted darkness of the album. There are a lot of good songs in here with good energy. It's not a breakthrough album that has the polished songwriting and perfection of style that I was hoping for. However, there are two gems that outshine the rest, "Electric Crown" and "Return to Serenity".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 7.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.testamentlegions.com/" target="_blank">http://www.testamentlegions.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197536917458845870.post-366869630303073322011-08-21T21:02:00.000-05:002011-08-21T21:02:27.068-05:00Testament - Souls Of Black [1990]<span style="font-family:arial;">A short and pointless intro track for "Beginning Of The End". "Face In The Sky" is pretty good. However, it's almost all groove metal with no semblance of the thrash they used to have. "Falling Fast" has a little thrash to it, but it's mostly a very aimless song with few riffs that are any good. "Souls Of Black" tries to redeem the album a little with a darker intro, but then drops into very non-evil groove metal. "Absence Of Light" is possibly the most disappointing thing I've ever heard... the beginning sounds like they're going to kick in with some insane thrash, but instead they just jump into a moderato beat with a boring and shitty guitar riff. "Malpractice" is one of the very few songs that actually a good verse riff to it. Extremely large let-down. This album is a very unpleasant turd. I'm not sure how it went wrong, but the riffs are lifeless and sound like they were taken from the reject bin. The only possible exception to this is "The Legacy"... and it's still not that great. Also, why the hell hasn't the production quality increased at all in the last four albums? What the fuck are they doing?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;">Rating: 5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.testamentlegions.com/" target="_blank">http://www.testamentlegions.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100); font-style: italic;font-size:9pt;" >All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.</span>Valafarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06320726409896204934noreply@blogger.com0