Hans Zimmer - Crysis 2 Original Soundtrack [2011]

Now that I've let the crappiness of the game settle in my mind and be nearly forgotten, I can listen to the soundtrack with an open mind. Things start off creepy with "Insertion" and then move into more anxious and proud. "Battery Pack", has more tension. Epic, dark, proud, sometimes cliché, So, it's not all that creative, and I especially dislike the "PROUD AMERICAN" feel that sometimes crops up, but it IS pretty epic and polished to a perfect shine.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.hanszimmer.com/

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Metalium - State of Triumph - Chapter Two [2000]

Just when I think that Henning's voice couldn't possibly get higher, "Steel Avenger" proves me wrong. It's certainly following on the structure of the first disk, energy and all. "Years of Darion" is a bit more groove with quite a catchy chorus. "Break Out" starts off slow and eventually builds up to a moderate tempo... much more catchy guitar riffing than YoD, but the sound clip part after the solo is out of place and very distracting. "Erania" kicks it off fucking strong, but with a strange and quirky verse and eventually ending with what will surely be, by far, the peak of the album. Right into "Stygian Flames" which thrashes the listener around like a british nanny. The chorus of "Prophecy" saves the song a bit from the grip of boredom. This album doesn't have the same proficient songwriting or magic of the first one, but it's still pretty good in its own right.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.metalium.de/

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

Metalium - Millennium Metal: Chapter One [1999]

Fast and energetic start to the album with "Fight". EXTREMELY catchy as well. "Dream of Doom" slows things down a little. "Break the Spell" picks things up into a wonderfully catchy romp. The songwriting throughout this album is excellent. It manages to be more epic than bands with full orchestras and choirs behind them. Each song feels like it's own entity, but they all fit together to form what feels like a coherent story throughout the album. There's maybe only one weak song on here. They go through so many different types of Power Metal and writing styles that it's impossible to become bored while listening to this album... thrash, groove, heavy, melodic, ballad, and even a touch of folk. All that praising aside, the guitar distortion is too metallic and hollow... sounds like they're playing through aluminum cans.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.metalium.de/

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

Fleshcrawl - Descend into the Absurd [1992]

The intro track is not at all what I was expecting from a Death Metal band circa 1992... I would love for there to be more surprises like this scattered throughout the album. Ok, so a brisk start to "Phrenetic Tendencies" followed by extremely slow Doom Death Metal and then back to thrash. Well, they're certainly keeping me guessing, and it's only the first actual song. Damn, "Purulent Bowel Erosion" sort of explodes into a fury of blastology. Overall, the album has some good moments, but it mostly jumps between doom and thrash with fairly stock riffs... which, in all honesty, is to be expected of the period this hails from. It just doesn't really do much for me nowadays.

Rating: 6

http://www.fleshcrawl.net/

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.

Eminenz - Exorial [1994]

Definitely a promising intro… but it goes into a pretty weak first song. Production quality is weak overall. The guitars are low in the mix, so it doesn't feel like a heavy albums. It's a damn flat and boring album with bouts of cool keyboard parts.

Rating: 5

http://www.eminenz-germany.de/

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

Kai Rosenkranz - Risen [2009]

Three tracks in and I'm very impressed. There's no recycling from the Gothic 3 soundtrack at all, but it still creates flawless atmosphere. Beautiful, epic, extremely well-crafted, perfectly produced, and (at times) haunting. The soundtrack looses a bit of its appeal after the halfway point and starts to sound a little more generic than previous tracks. If the soundtrack kept its strength through the entire album, this would've blown Gothic 3's soundtrack straight out of the water, but as it is, Risen comes out equal to G3.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.last.fm/music/Kai+Rosenkranz

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

Kai Rosenkranz - Gothic 3 [2006]

Fuckin' flawless songwriting. Always has the feel of an epic fantasy movie. Perfectly sets the mood. There's not much creativity, but it's so flawlessly executed that there's no way I can bash it.

Rating: 8.5.

http://www.last.fm/music/Kai+Rosenkranz

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

X3: Reunion

This sound track is great. Very atmospheric. The massive reverb on all of the instruments and the echo on the techno effects really makes you feel like you're floating through space. Makes me want to play the game really bad. It's very slow moving, but it's such a serene listen that I don't mind at all. However, the "inner station" tracks can fuck right off. They're great in the game, but fuck do they clogg up the soundtrack. It's not their fault, of course, since I was the one that ripped the tracks straight from the install directory.

Rating: 8

http://www.egosoft.com/games/x3/info_en.php

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

Inzest - Grotesque New World [2008]

Punches you in the fucking cunt with the first track. Very heavy production. It's death metal, but they also throw some hardcore in there, which isn't so hot, but overall, it's a fucking heavy-ass album with a lot of energy and punch and a few surprises along the way. Definitely a pleasant surprise.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.myspace.com/inzest

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