Grief of Emerald - The Devil's Deep [2011]

A more clear production quality, but the snare and toms really sit low in the mix, thus hurting the impact of blasts. Clearly, more effort went into the keys for this album than previous material. The beginning-middle section of "Famine" snapped me right out of my article-reading trance and immediately into the music. Unfortunately, it's been two songs since I was captivated like this... so it really doesn't have that catchy and shouty attitude. Nearly all of the Death Metal influence that I loved from Christian Termination is long gone, replaced by some more generic Black Metal. There's really nothing much that's unique about this album. A few risks here and there, but nothing substantial. I was really hoping for more... power and boldness.

Rating: 7.25

http://www.griefofemerald.se/

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Grief of Emerald - Christian Termination [2002]

Nice and scathing start to the album. While "Alas, Spiriti Sancti" is certainly Black Metal, it has a wonderful tint of Death Metal to a few of the guitar parts. This album seems to be one of those secret gems... the beginnings of almost all of the songs are very weak, but wait it out for about forty seconds and all hell is brutally delivered to your fucking face. The guitar riffs, once the real shit storm begins, are WONDERFULLY brutal and merciless. However, they are too often repeated ad nauseum in their respective songs. Sure, this is a victim of quite a few standard problems when talking about Black Metal bands... no variation in style, a bit drawn-out, production could be better, etc. However, I do like much of the writing style and it's definitely got bigger potential for even more energy if the production and songwriting are polished up.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.griefofemerald.se/

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Grief of Emerald - Malformed Seed [2000]

Very appealing old-school Black Metal keys combined with some more modern guitar riffing and the high-reverb production qualities of yesteryear. It certainly creates the dark and grind-stone atmosphere of Black Metal that I love so much. Beyond that, it's all fairly straight-forward and what I would expect from this type of band. No risks taken. Though, the material is pretty catchy at times.

Rating: 7.25

http://www.griefofemerald.se/

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Darkane - Rusted Angel [1999]

As is typical with these guys, the first track is a beguilingly epic start. "Convicted" wastes no time and takes no fucking prisoners. Not a fan of the vocals. They're a bit weak and it feels like he's constantly at his limit, but not in a good and ballsy way. I really get tired of the mono-tone singing by the end of the second track. I wish he'd either use a different note or fucking stop singing entirely. What a useless fucking vocalist... this band would be much better off without him. It's an energetic album, but it's waaay too long and has little to no variation. So, I got bored really fucking easily.

Rating: 6

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

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Watain - Lawless Darkness [2010]

The songwriting is a little more polished. Besides that, not much has changed at all. Good Black Metal effort all around. It is significantly longer than SttD was, though, and that makes it a bit tough to get through in one sitting without getting a bit tired and bored. So, there isn't that much variation, but that's par for the course in this genre. It's still pretty damn exciting, but it's absolutely too long.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.templeofwatain.com/

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Watain - Sworn to the Dark [2007]

Certainly a promising start to what looks to be a very long album. The bass drum finally feels like it has some meat to it. The guitars are still a bit thin, but they fill the space a little with the bass guitar. The vocals are nicely balanced and better sound overall for some reason... and more powerful. "Legions of the Black Light" feels like it has a bit less of that typical Swedish melodic shit to it and more focus on slower, darker, and more purposeful riffs. Just as I was beginning to think that things were getting a little repetitive and boring, "Underneath the Cenotaph" kicks in with an exiting urgency and main riff. Very good all the way through. Some parts feel just a bit drawn out, but they lend atmosphere to the song without being boring. This really feels like blackness has soaked all the way through the album right down through the marrow. The album is only a tad too long and a bit more of the faster high-energy stuff would have been nice as well to break up the dredge of the slower sections.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.templeofwatain.com/

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

Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast [2010]

Wow, that's a fucking promising start. Pure grind, but not the evil type. There's definitely a style change in "Late for the Kill..." Hopefully I will hear more of the industrial/techno influence that I loved about the older stuff. "Two Lives Worth of Reckoning" continues with great strength; catchy-as-hell chorus and clean singing; strong songwriting; appealing thrash rhythm; still no techno :(. There's a massive focus on fast-moving melodic guitar lines on this album compared to the more subtle guitar work on previous efforts. The aggression seems to have taken a bit of a back seat on this album, though. On STD, most of the songs felt like the listener was being savagely beaten. Whereas this one feels more like intermittent moshing in between holding a lighter high in the sky while singing along. Most of this change can be attributed to the change in the guitar writing style. There's much more rock and rapid-melodic riffing of the benevolent type on this one than the more thoughtful and plotting riffs of old. I have finally gotten my first real taste of that techno influence that I was looking for in "Deliverance is Mine". "Night Comes Clean" and "King of the Threshold" are a bit weak in their writing (even though "KOTT" is fairly powerful in other ways). There's much less fatigue when listening to this album thanks to more variety between the songs than I have previously experienced in a Soilwork album. Quite catchy most of the way through with only a few songs feeling weak. It's not as insane and brutally heavy as it used to be thanks largely to the guitar riffs, but it's certainly some of their strongest writing yet.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.soilwork.org/

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Watain - Casus Luciferi [2003]

Fairly crappy production. There's no bass at all. The production is clear enough, but it fatigues the ear because of the large amount of treble. The songwriting is pretty damn good, though. It's rare to find a Black Metal band that has such a stock style but still makes it feel energetic and exciting. The excitement keeps up throughout most of the album, pausing only for the occasional doom riff.

Rating: 7

http://www.templeofwatain.com/

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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/

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The Haunted - The Haunted Made Me Do It [2000]

Nice new production; it's a bit heavier and more clear. After the really cool intro track and "Bury Your Dead", things begin to deteriorate. The songwriting isn't as catchy or spirited as the previous album was.

Rating: 6

http://www.the-haunted.com/site/

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The Haunted - The Haunted [1998]

As stock as this style has become over the years, I truly miss the melodic thrash from this era because it had an energy and soul that the new shit just doesn't fucking have anymore. Sure, it's nothing new, but it's catchy and has some kick. There are only a couple fillers throughout the album. The rest are all well-written, energetic, catchy, and heavy. However, there's very little variation between the songs. So, towards the end it feels a bit repetitive.

Rating: 7

http://www.the-haunted.com/site/

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

Regurgitate - Sickening Bliss [2006]

Continuing on from Deviant with clearer production.

Rating: 8

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Regurgitate - Deviant [2003]

Fuck yeah. Good production, heavy, fucking brutal, and loud. There's even some creative riffs for the Grindcore/Goregrind genre. Definitely their best one yet.

Rating: 8

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Regurgitate - Hatefilled Vengeance [2002]

Production is stepped up a notch. The volume isn't soft and the heaviness is still there.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Regurgitate - Carnivorous Erection [2000]

The heaviness is ramped up. The vox are more gurgle style. My one complaint is that the album is a bit quiet. Much better production overall.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Regurgitate - Concrete Human Torture [1994]

Sounds very much like ERoBRR.

Rating: 7

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Regurgitate - Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood [1994]

FUCKING DISGUSTING intro track. The rest of the cd is exactly what you'd expect from a grindcore/goregrind band. However, this sort of shit never really gets old for me. More importantly, it's pretty obvious that these guys were on the cutting edge of the genre's creation back in '94. I can hear a lot of influence for Inhume. There's also quite a bit of catchy riffs in the mix. I'm not even sure it's worth talking about the production quality for a Grindcore band, but here it is anyway. It's not good, but it's actually damn fucking impressive given the time period and the production quality of other similar artists. Definitely has a more natural and unrefined sound to it.

Rating: 7

http://www.regurgitate.net/

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Abyssos - Fhinsthanian Nightbreed [1999]

A bit melodic for my tastes in the beginning. Cool song writing, though. Beautiful clean section towards the end of T2. Good clean vox sections. Definitely has damn creative song structuring and riffs. It's very effective and extremely well-crafted. Because it relies so heavily on complex melodies, it does get repetitive by the end. The production is not so good, but it's not distracting.

Rating: 7

http://www.zenial.nl/html/abyssos.htm

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Profundi - Omega Rising [2006]

Album is very well-written and chaotic from start to finish. The songs are catchy, but brutal. Very good use of melody throughout. The style is a bit too consistent at times, but that's being nit-picky in this case. There's plenty of variation to keep things interesting until the end. The production is my only serious complaint. It's necro, sure, but it's a bit too chaotic and there are plenty of times where lead instrument lines will get buried by keys or effects. It's definitely not a really heavy production, but it's passable and tolerable. It's also not the most creative of albums, but the writing on this album earns it high marks.

Rating: 8

http://www.profundi.com/

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Nightrage - Wearing a Martyr's Crown [2009]

Very good start. Production quality is far superior to ANDiB. The songwriting has changed again. It's a bit more predictable, but it's still pretty catchy. I don’t really approve of some of the really slow drum beats. There's only a little bit of the SV style left in this band, it seems. However, this album does give me a bit more hope for the future of Nightrage.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.nightrage.com/index.asp

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