Amethystium - Isabliss [2008]

Another solid album. All the things that the previous albums were, but with just a little bit more variation.

Rating: 8

http://www.amethystium.com/

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Amethystium - Evermind [2004]

I <3 this project ^__^. This one starts off with more of a cave theme to it, but the theme doesn't feel like it lasts long. The rest of the material is more of the same... naturist and new age that soothes the soul.

Rating: 8

http://www.amethystium.com/

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Amethystium - Aphelion [2003]

More of that naturist new age that I like. There is certainly common stylistic ideas between their albums. Yet, they are separate from each other somehow. It seems like the songwriting has been tightened up just a bit on this album. It's energetic while maintaining the smooth calm of rolling clouds. Perhaps each album focuses on an element... I am beginning to notice that this album sounds more watery than I thought the previous one did.

Rating: 8

http://www.amethystium.com/

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

Amethystium - Odonata [2001]

This has much more of the naturist style that I was expecting their first disk would have. Very soothing. Well written. Wonderfully effective at taking the listener away from the current reality and in to a place thick with the morning mist and foliage.

Rating: 8

http://www.amethystium.com/

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Amethystium - Autumn Interlude [2000]

Less naturalistic and more New Age than I was expecting, but that's just fine. Very soothing and smooth, yet well-layered and captivating.

Rating: 8

http://www.amethystium.com/

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

Keep of Kalessin - Reptilian [2010]

Production is way weaker than I was expecting. Ok ok ok... this is gonna be tough for me.... gotta remain objective. "Dragon Iconography" starts off on the right foot, but less than two minutes in it breaks its foot clear off. Let's get this straight right off the bat, if this music was being produced by anyone other than KoK, it would be really good... but I listen to KoK for creatively riffed and epic BLACK METAL, not complex Death Metal with bouts of melodic (puke) thrash. Fuck, this song gets worse as it goes on... more and more into the stock and well-traveled melodic area of metal. "The Awakening" has potential, but loses it all at around 1:18 when the pointless technical riff kicks in. Damn, what a shame, the chorus really has a grand Black Metal feel to it. Oh fuck me, 3 minute mark and now it feels like fucking Nightwish... ugh. "Judgment" is different in that it STARTS off awful and attempts to get better. Fuck. You know what this album is? It's a hand-full of fucking great ideas sandwiched between legendarily fucking AWFUL ideas. This album had the potential to be fucking awesome. They had a 6 ounce perfect amethyst and then they buried it under 30 pounds of fucking cowpat. I've never been so disappointed and frustrated in my life. The only song worth a damn is "The Divine Land". Extra low score for being such a let-down. Plus the production is shit.

Rating: 3.5

http://www.keepofkalessin.no/

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

Myrkskog - Superior Massacre [2002]

Vocals are way cooler. It's definitely more Death Metal than DM. The production is definitely more clear, but it seems to have lost a bit of that chaotic feel. So far, I'm inclined to completely pardon that small lacking part of the production because it's so fucking brutal.

Rating: 8.5

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

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Myrkskog - Deathmachine [2000]

Very nice. I'm loving it so far. It's like slamming into a wall of death and black. Cool use of industrial effects and some (rare, but) creative use of guitar effects. Death Metal sensibility in a Black Metal context and they pull it off way better than Behemoth ever did. Last song was completely unexpected but damn fucking cool. Production is great. It's not the clearest in the world, but it's fucking heavy as hell and is not lacking in brutality at all. Brutally pleasant surprise.

Rating: 8.5

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

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Spiral Architect - A Sceptic's Universe [1999]

Very interesting song writing. It definitely blends Jazz and Metal in a progressive sandwich much better than most bands that make the attempt. The vocals are odd enough for this genre to be enjoyable. Normally, this vocal style would be better suited for Progressive Rock/Metal in a similar vein as Dream Theater. The music skips back and forth between Progressive Metal and Jazz. The music is extremely technical most of the time. The vocals are very accurate and bursting with talent. The production reminds me of 90s underground metal like Atheist. The creativity is quite excellent at times (i.e. "Moving Spirit" and "Occam's Razor") and plenty of riffs have a dark spin to them much to my liking.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.spiralarchitect.com/

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Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra [2010]

AWESOME intro track, if the rest of the album doesn't live up to this, I'll be pissed. And we're off to a really shitty start in "Born Treacherous". The production isn't very heavy at all, pretty disappointing; the guitars are much more buried than previously and they also fell a bit unbalanced. "Gateways" starts out much more promising, but then takes the opposite route of "Born Treacherous" and gets a bit crappy and the melodic harmonized guitars can go right into a closet and fuck themselves. It gets really catchy and beautiful towards the end, though; shame it wasn't that good all the way through. Finally, a decent song can be found in "Ritualist". I suppose I should be a little more forgiving since this is a very different style for Dimmu. The reduced guitars are the price they pay for trying to make the orchestra stand out more. I like the addition of the choir, though, and the orchestra is much more heavily integrated into the songs than previously. Dimmu was never a band that would put out a grind-fest album, but this is even less so than normal. Much of the excitement in this album comes in short spurts and it feels like there are way too many filler riffs thrown in the mix. This is definitely a step away from the Black Metal that I would expect Dimmu to put out. All the songs have the same problem of having very unexciting riffs that drag the listener down in between really good and catchy sections. "Dimmu Borgir" sounds identical to Nightwish's style of writing. So, the bite of Black Metal is completely gone, it's not brutal in the slightest, the guitars are too wussy, and there are way too many crappy riffs. Even so, props for trying to change things up, the orchestra and choir are extremely effective, and the riffs that are good are great. If I can approach this album as if it didn't come from Dimmu and as a Gothic Metal album with no pretentions to Black Metal, this would be a decent album (probably get a score of 7). However, I just can't ignore the fact that this is a large disappointment coming from Dimmu.

Rating: 6

http://www.dimmu-borgir.com/

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Keep of Kalessin - Through Times of War [1997]

Way better production quality than the following album, Agnen. This is really just a straight-forward Black Metal album. There isn't the level of creativity that is found on the following albums. However, it is competent Black Metal and the production is good.

Rating: 7

http://www.keepofkalessin.no/

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Keep of Kalessin - Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark [1999]

Let's get the bad over with first: The production is extremely crappy and the panning is purely retarded. However, it definitely has an underground recording feel. The music itself is very much Black Metal, but one can see the definite beginnings of taking the riffs into an interesting and unique area. There are some nifty effects and keys that come in here and there; they help keep things fresh. The songwriting is very good, not really creative, but certainly effective. If I'm looking for a solid, powerful, underground Black Metal album, this one will scratch that itch quite nicely.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.keepofkalessin.no/

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

1349 - Demonoir [2010]

Interesting production quality. It's more clear than Hellfire and I like that the vocals aren't so heavily distorted. The bass-drum is extremely powerful, but that's because it's now triggered. Not over compressed either. However, I feel like the guitars could have been a little higher in the mix. I like the use of odd instruments and style in the middle of "Atomic Chapel" and the song is certainly up to speed with what I prefer in my Black Metal. "When I Was Flesh" starts off just how I like it... fast and with no fucking mercy. There are some very interesting riffs in the song as well. It is at this point that I am beginning to realize just what a great album this is shaping up to be. If they can continue this song-writing quality through until the end of the album, it will be one of my favorite Black Metal albums. The intro tracks between songs are interesting and break up the action nicely. However, they are placed after every song on the album, making it a little too predictable for my taste, but I'm really just nitpicking now. They really have managed to keep the energy and song-writing quality up through the entire album. It's every bit as good as Hellfire, maybe a little less artistic in its form, but the production is a large step up. It may not be the most experimental or creative Black Metal album in my library, far from it, but Demonoir is fast, brutal, dark, catchy, and very enjoyable. Multiple listens are a must.

Rating: 8

http://www.legion1349.com/

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1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame [2009]

Extremely slow start to the album. Things finally pick up towards the end of "Serpentine Sibilance". However, I fear that this is going to be a mostly Doom-inspired album. The production is punchy, but over-compressed when the bass drum kicks in. "Maggot Fetus..." starts off with more of an old-school 1349 feel to it with the thrash drumming and catchy power chord riffs before it jumps into a nice blast. Overall, there are moments where things get good, but this album is mostly too slow, boring, and repetitive for my tastes.

Rating: 6

http://www.legion1349.com/

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

Tristania - Rubicon [2010]

"Year of the rat" is an extremely unimpressive beginning to the album. This album doesn't feel at all like a Tristania album. Perhaps it is the lineup changes. I definitely don't like the new female vocalist. I don't much care for her stock voice, nor do I care for her phrasing and (assumed) writing of the vocal parts. There are very few parts that feel like Tristania to me. On top of which, the songwriting feels like it's by the numbers. The songs aren't catchy. There's very little of the clean guitar parts that used to be all over the place. I just don't like the new style at all, and not only because it's different from the high standard that I'm used to with this band. This album wouldn't stand up alone if it weren't a Tristania album, so I don't see why it should stand up at all.

Rating: 3.5

http://www.tristania.com/

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

Tristania - Illumination [2007]

The classical elements of the keys have been mostly replaced with Gothic Rock keys and I must admit, I really like how it sounds. This definitely feels a lot more like "classic" Gothic Metal, but with more catchiness and more of an edge to it. The songs are beautiful and dark all the way through. The production has taken a very large step up and is now much more punchy and clear. Unlike previous albums, the heavy parts with distorted guitars actually have weight to them and really feel powerful. The album is, however, slightly over-compressed. It's equally as good as WoG, but for different reasons.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.tristania.com/

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

Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus [2008]

Starts off pretty weak compared to Armada, but it's different for KoK, so I'll roll with it. T3 is what they probably should've started the album with. The creativity is ramped up in this album and some parts even cross over into the Atmospheric genre of music. The production quality is strange. It's still heavy, but there's a weird type of re-verb to the guitars that's only really audible when everything else drops out. Not a bad thing, though. It gives the guitars a bit of an alien quality to them that makes listening to them interesting. There are more keys / piano in this album than Armada. One of my complaints is that the lyrics are a bit static and boring. Often verses are repeated more than once. Another complaint is that this album is definitely less brutal than Armada. However, it's almost a completely different style, which is great to see and the songwriting is still top-notch.

Rating: 8

http://www.keepofkalessin.no/

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Keep of Kalessin - Armada [2006]

Awesome from start to finish. Brutal riffs. Fast as fuck. Some of the most unique guitaring I've heard in Black Metal. Catchy. For an album with no keys whatsoever, it does an amazing job of creating an epic feel with the extremely well-crafted guitar riffs and song structure. Production quality is perfect for the style. There are a couple fillers in the middle-end of the album, though. Cheers for doing shit differently and expanding the boundaries of Black Metal.

Rating: 9

http://www.keepofkalessin.no/

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Tristania - Ashes [2005]

A much less epic start than what I had grown used to from the previous two albums. The songwriting style has progressed a noticeable amount, but it still feels distinctly like Tristania. When I first listened to this album, I may have been overly harsh and negative towards it since it contains much less keys than previous albums and the epic feel is mostly absent. However, the songs are quite beautiful and very well written. The production quality is definitely a step up; everything is much more forward and clear. In the end, the shift in style doesn't really hurt the material, and while there are a couple songs that feel like they drag on, it's still a very good and dark album.

Rating: 8

http://www.tristania.com/

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

Tristania - World of Glass [2001]

Beautiful from start to finish. However, the catchiness has fallen off a bit from BtV and some more patience is required for some of the songs. Even so, it's a great album that goes back to the slower and more depressingly beautiful style of WW, but with more "evil" inserted into the mix. Production quality is their best yet.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.tristania.com/

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