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

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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

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