Bassnectar - Mesmerizing the Ultra [2005]

Not a fan, really... it feels like a whole lot of nothing. Throwaway songwriting that never sticks in your head nor leaves an impression. This is something you just put on in the background to keep you company while you're doing something else.

Rating: 5

http://www.bassnectar.net/

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Sister Machine Gun - [R]evolution [1999]

The drums are more natural and free-form. "Carbon Copy" is much more rock than Industrial Rock. "Transient One" is the first time this album feels like it's more of an electronic album. It's interesting stuff, regardless. Average catchiness as well. There's quite a combination on this album; Rock, Blues, Kawaii electronic, Industrial, to name a few. The main problem is that it's not nearly as exciting of an album as Metropolis and it feels like a lack of focus. Songwriting isn't as catchy either.

Rating: 7

http://www.sistermachinegun.com/

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Mitochondrion - Archaeaeon [2008]

"Into the Pit of Babel" is certainly what some would call "organic". Underground production, but it's not too bad. Interesting songwriting. There's a bit of sophistication to these songs. I can't really call it unique, but they've gone for longer songs with changing moods throughout. From pure Death Metal reminiscent of Gigan to clean guitar sections and even a hint of progressive. I think that this album would have been more exciting if the production didn't have such a soft touch and the edges hadn't been rounded off. Other than that, the music is pretty damn good. Sections like the ending of "Wraithlike" really feel like a wonderful massage, and others feel as satisfying as putting a baby in a blender feet-first. It doesn't feel all that creative, though, despite the clear focus on making the music deep... and even with that, it doesn't feel as deep as it was intended to be. Maybe it's just me reacting to the current trend towards "deeper" and more "introspective" songs in metal, or maybe they really didn't pull it off as well as bands like Gigan and Ulcerate. At any rate, I can't wait to hear this stuff with better production quality.

Rating: 7.25

http://www.myspace.com/mitochondrion

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girugämesh - girugämesh [2007.12.26]

Tribal-like intro track. "patchwork" has a great Heavy Metal punch to it. "Vermillion" isn't nearly as heavy. "stupid" invokes Slipknot. "shining" has a lighter feel that brings things closer to J-Rock. "Shiroi ashiato" is a particularly beautiful song that gives way to the kick in the nuts that is CRAZY-FLAG. Overall, it's a good album. Heavy, but with nicer songs to switch things up a bit. The techno/industrial effects add some depth to the songs. There's good energy throughout. Some songs have sections within them that fall a little flat, but 90% of the time I'm listening to a very enjoyable riff/section. All that said, yeah, I can easily point out that there's not much new here at all and no chances were taken. However, the soul is there and the songwriting is good.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.girugamesh.jp/

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

志方あきこ - Harmonia [2009]

Akiko, you were doing very well until "風と羅針盤". It was soothing and beautiful with the combination of Celtic and Japanese folk that I loved so much from Navigatoria, but with the newer vocal style. But then, "風と羅針盤" ventures waaaay too far into the pop area. Whoa, EXTREMELY uncharacteristic evil feeling in "調和〜焔の共鳴〜"... not sure if I like it. Songs like "久遠の海" really re-ground the album in it's beauty and soothing appeal. However, this is definitely a new direction in many ways... I'd even say that the album leans a bit more towards Pop than New Age and/or Folk. It's neat that she switches between the new vocal style and the more airy style that I prefer. I wonder if the more recent soundtracks she's done has affected her writing style. All the negatives aside, this is still a very good album with a fair amount of easy-going Classical Japanese and Celtic influence. Wow, "謳う丘〜Salavec rhaplanca.〜" is one hell of a journey. Overall, there are only a few songs that change the style significantly. It's a good album, but I still prefer Navigatoria.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.vagrancy.jp/

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/

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Sister Machine Gun - Metropolis [1997]

Awesome intro track. Less than a minute into "Desperation" and I can tell this will be a much better album than Burn. The production is a bit weak, but with a simple adjustment to the volume it changes drastically. Turn this fucker up and all is well. Damn, this is a really good album! Through and through, every song is good in some way. "Admit" radically changes the style to something as beautiful as a rain of rose petals. It's not the most creative, but that lacking is made up for with very good songwriting.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.sistermachinegun.com/

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ミドリ - swing [2009]

Fairly KAWAIIIIII first track. Not all that catchy, but it's smooth, jazzy, and easy-going. "あかん!!" is much more chaotic, but it's a bit let down by an extremely repetitive section of screaming in the middle of the song. Overall, it's much more cute than the previous album. I like the jazz as well. It's pretty catchy, too. However, I really miss the larger punk influence of the first album. That's where most of the crazy energy came from, and most of it is noticeably gone now.

Rating: 7.5

http://midori072.com/

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Rentrer en Soi - PROTOPLASM [2006]

Definitely a different start to this disk. I'm only 50 seconds in and it already feels better than the previous album. Though, I'm not a fan of the Heavy verse sections of "PROTOPLASM"... they sound too stock and too much like something a rap/pop artist would do. However, the heavy chorus sections are very catchy and much more to my liking. Things drop to the more orchestrated and goodly "太陽の届かない場所〜棺から絲　光を手にしもう一度還る深海〜"... it's pretty effective overall, but it doesn't much stick in my head. "月で涙 (Inorganic Sanctuary MIX)" doesn't much do anything for me. The only cool part is the middle where everything gets all electronic. Overall, it's a good effort, better than Klein, but not as good as I was hoping.

Rating: 7.25

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

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

Rentrer en Soi - Keinの棺 [2005.08.24]

Another serene introduction track. Much more punchy production. Continues from Astre, but "太陽の届かない場所" doesn't really do anything for me... feels a bit too stock. "浮遊追想", back to spastic Metal with screaming... quite odd for ReS. "空夢見る水中花" starts to feel more like they're hitting their stride... though, it's a bit late in the album. This album really doesn't enthrall me at all and I can't really explain why. It just doesn't feel as strong and creative as some of their previous efforts.

Rating: 7

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

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

Damageplan - New Found Power [2004]

Slightly weak production quality, especially for the guitars, compared to Pantera. Wow, that's a bit strange, but it feels like the guitars actually got a bit heavier for "Breathing New Life". I think that the problem is that "Wake Up" is a weak song overall for starting the album. The production definitely isn't the best... I can hear over-driven distortions throughout songs. It doesn't really call too much attention to itself, though. "Energy through songwriting" seems to be the motto for the majority of songs on this album. Many times, the catchiness is so high that it breaks the meter. Other times, not so much. Songs like "Pride" are a nice break from the more sustained aggression of the other songs. Some complain that this is very much "unlike" Dimebag... but I can understand the appeal. Sure, I miss the insane solos and maddening creativity of Pantera, but that's been done and it's cool to hear Dime try his hand at what is basically a slightly more complex Nu-Metal. Naturally, I would have liked to see the next album change up to more interesting and creative music... but it was obviously not to be.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.damageplan.com/

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Decapitated - The Negation [2004]

Quite heavier production right off the bat. GREAT first track... very heavy songwriting, energetic, and brutally technical. "Three-Dimensional Defect" slows things down just a bit and brings in some Fear Factory aesthetics. The songs go back and forth between slow death and grinding shreds... but most of the stuff is slower as the album progresses. Ok, so the slower parts are certainly catchy and well-written, but it's a bit unfortuitous for the listener that the album that starts with such blazing energy sags so much in the middle. However, this is a much more refined version of the style change that began with Nihility. If I'm in the mood for more groove than fast-tearing-speed, this will be perfect.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.decapitatedband.net/

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Decapitated - Nihility [2002]

Significantly more technicality on the guitars and drums. Overall, the style is quite different. A bit more mature. It's a bit of a weird album, though, because the groove continually gets broken up making it very difficult to settle down with this album. Too much of it feels clinical despite the style change. The production is a bit odd as well... it's lost much of the heaviness of WoC, but has gained more clarity. An interesting effort, but despite the new style and increased technical prowess, it's not all that catchy and it feels rather like a dulled razor.

Rating: 7

http://www.decapitatedband.net/

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.

Decapitated - Winds of Creation [2000]

What a start. Heavy as hell; punchy-ass production; catchy as fuck; BRUTAL. Wow, I've forgotten how good this album is. Not all of it is catchy, but it's certainly better than I initially thought when I first purchased the album 10 years ago. There is one production issue that has been nagging me: the left guitar is not as loud as the right guitar... poor mixing. Other than that, this is an awesome first effort that makes most bands' peak albums look immature by comparison. Well done.

Rating: 8

http://www.decapitatedband.net/

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

志方あきこ - RAKA [2006]

She's changed her voice a little to be less airy... which is initially a disappointment to me since I LOVED her voice. However, after hearing one song, I know that I will grow to accept and love the new vocals. The album starts much in the vein of new age, but the second track jumps head-first into the Celtic style that she seems to be most comfortable with. "金環蝕" is a bit surprising since it is not at all calming, it's much more epic and quick-paced; it also is missing that small Japanese element that I loved from Navigatoria. "春告げ〜Raggi di primavera〜" calms things down SIGNIFICANTLY and, very rarely, a hint of Japanese Classical in the vocals. The cover of "Ave Maria" is interesting. Overall, there's more up-tempo and attempts at being a bit more epic, but there are still plenty of soothing and calm songs. It's certainly not as good as Navigatoria, but still wonderful.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.vagrancy.jp/

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ＬｕＬｕ - 毒 [2008.07.23]

Very punky start, but with a hint of progressive metal. Interesting keys. "白濁妄想テリトリー" has even more of a punk feel and the chorus is as infectious as Ebola. This is much better overall. The vocals are still awkward, but I'm starting to get used to them. The music is pretty catchy most of the time. The production has quite a long way to go, but it's not unlistenable. Wow, they have a karaoke version of the first track...

Rating: 7



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Rentrer en Soi - Astreの絲 [2005.08.24]

Atmospheric/industrial intro track. "星屑の螺旋" is extremely catchy, but without being cliché or rehashed. "廃墟と化した箱庭" is a very strong foray into metal with a pinch of noise for additional chaos. "月で涙" is much more benevolent with post-rock-styled echoing clean guitars surrounding me like the morning mist. Seeing as how this is one of the first Japanese bands and albums that I listened to, I can see that I was clearly spoiled by the songwriting. It's not a very active album after the first two tracks... it really calms down quite a bit. So, it's not great all the way through, but it's still pretty damn good.

Rating: 8

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

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

Rentrer en Soi - 水夢見る蝶々 [2005.05.25]

More interesting stuff here. They're really pushing out of the J-Rock mold now. Lots of progressive drumming and more experimental sections within songs. Very strong song writing. There's much more confidence and conviction. Through all of this, they've still managed to make a catchy album. Production is slowly getting better (mostly notably regarding the drums). Atmospheric, progressive, hard rock, post rock, and even new age at times.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

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

Rentrer en Soi - 全景色腐り果てる今、唯一… [2005.02.27]

Interesting song, no other way to put it. Pretty catchy with a large blend of styles.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.rentrer-en-soi.com/new.html

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