Machine Head - Through the Ashes of Empires [2004]

There are a few songs on this album that are extremely high-energy all the way through. The one ailment of this album is the use of filler riffs in many of the songs. Songs like "Bite the Bullet" and "Seasons Wither" are half weak-sauce but with some really catchy heavy parts thrown inside. The production is great. It's damn clear and always heavy as hell. There are some annoying vocal sections like the end of "In the Presence of my Enemies", but there aren't enough to really piss me off. There is a little variation on this album as shown by the lighter and more validating "Days Turn Blue to Gray". However, too many of the songs fail to stimulate my interest and passion. Standouts include "Imperium", "Left Unfinished", "In the Presence of my Enemies", and "Days Turn Blue to Gray".

Rating: 7.25

http://www.machinehead1.com/

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

Slayer - Christ Illusion [2006]

Whoa, no time wasted jumping into the fucking old-school Slayer sound. "Flesh Storm" really feels like something that could've been on Reign in Blood. It's so focused! "Skeleton Christ" is the first song that feels like it's dragging a bit, even though the thrashy sections are wonderful. I'm very happy that Tom's vocals don't sound like they're monotonous anymore. The production isn't quite as punchy and insane as the previous two albums, but it suits Slayer perfectly. There's much more Punk influence in this one as well. There are a few missteps... it's not all that catchy and the shoe-horned nu-metal riffs are as inappropriate as incest. That said, it's a damn good album that recaptures much of what had gone missing in recent Slayer albums.

Rating: 8

http://www.slayer.net

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Slayer - God Hates Us All [2001]

It's even more heavy than DiM. Despite the influx of Heavy Metal influence, this still feels very much like a Slayer album. The blisteringly hateful "Disciple" and "God Send Death" set the album on the right path to crush some skulls. One major complaint is that Tom's vocals feel a bit monotone on this album for some reason. It's also less focused on evil and more focused on hatred. "Cast Down" and "Threshold" feel a bit like they're dragging the album through the mud. There are a fair number of really powerful songs on here, but I must admit that the material feels like it has lost some of its potency. Maybe it's the shifting focus to lyrics about hatred instead of evil. Maybe it's the Heavy Metal influence being improperly handled. Not sure, but it has lost a little something.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.slayer.net

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Slayer - Diabolus in Musica [1998]

YES! This is the fucking guitar distortion and production quality that Slayer always deserved! I don't think I'll ever get tired of "Bitter Peace". "Death's Head" is a leap into the groove territory, but it also shows that Slayer is musically expanding and experimenting with their sound. Just in time, too, because I was getting a little tired of being able to predict the entire Slayer album. It's truly dark even when it's a bit more catchy and heavy. Even the really slow sections that feel like someone is being dragged through the mud don't bother me because it's just so fucking black. That's not to say that the album is perfect... it's not. "Stain of Mind" is all weak if the lyrics are disregarded and "Love to Hate" is simply awful in every way. It's very impressive that they've managed to change their sound so much and still make it incredibly dark and keep that Slayer feel. It's a real kick in the nuts to all the other bands that were around at that time with "modern" sounds and purely shit writing. All of that praise aside, this is probably one of the least thrashy album that Slayer has done up to this point, but it certainly is the heaviest by far.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.slayer.net

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

Slayer - Divine Intervention [1994]

Well, they've mostly fixed the guitar distortion problem from the last album. The first thing I noticed was how much punch the bass drum has. "Killing Fields" has an amazing start, but it's followed by some pretty questionable transitions. Very angry, though. "Sex, Murder, Art" makes the album feel a bit more like a Slayer song. "Fictional Reality" is the first weak song on the album. "Dittohead" is a fun speed metal song for the majority of the song. "Divine Intervention" is a slow evil pounding before "Circle of Beliefs" takes a jackhammer to your face. This is much more of a continuation from Seasons. There are some really great songs, and some that are flat and boring. The evil has been diluted a bit, replaced with violence that reflects the punk phase that Slayer was in when making this album. Though, "213" really recaptures that evil feeling that was prevalent in the earlier stuff, but with a more modern twist.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.slayer.net

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Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss [1990]

The production is much more clear now. However, the guitar distortion is quite weak for the style of music. It works well when they aren't palm-muting, though. "War Ensemble" is, of course, a planet-powered kick in the nuts. "Blood Red" drops some of the energy, but keeps most of the evil attitude. "Spirit in Black" brings back the energy in the form of more mid-tempo Heavy Metal, eventually giving way to string-busting thrash. "Expendable Youth" drags quite a bit, but then "Dead Skin Mask" kicks in with some hardcore fucking slow evil shit. This is quite a mixed bag, songs like "Hallowed Point" and "Spirit in Black" have that thrash feel that I love, but there are also songs that are slow and evil as fuck as well as ones that are more up-beat Heavy Metal oriented. There are quite a few flops, especially when looking at the previous two albums from Slayer. However, the biggest problem by a light year is the weak-as-paper guitar distortion. You kind of get used to it, but fuck, every time they palm-mute it's just powerless.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.slayer.net

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Slayer - South of Heaven [1988]

One hell of an evil start with "South of Heaven". It's so obvious that they've perfected the hell-spawned metal writing. Fuck, I had forgotten how awesome "Silent Scream" is. On top of that, I had forgotten how fucking evil "Live Undead" is. Sure, things slow down a bit, but damn it's dark. "Behind the Crooked Cross" and "Mandatory Suicide" slow things down a bit and push everything into the evil heavy abyss where demons shall shred the listener's flesh for all of eternity. "Ghosts of War" returns the album to thrash brutality before "Read Between the Lies" drops things into catchy and heavy hammering. "Cleanse the Soul" and "Dissident Aggressor" decline a bit on the evil. So, the album as a whole is quite a bit less thrashy than RiB, but it's definitely as evil and there are quite a lot of catchy riffs thrown in the mix. However, the energy isn't quite as strong.

Rating:

http://www.slayer.net

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

Slayer - Reign in Blood [1986]

"Angel of Death", the song that got me in to Slayer. What's there to say? It's evil; there isn't a single riff that is anything but awesome; heavy; energetic; chaotic. It's been many years since I listened to this album, and it's wonderful now to almost rediscover how awesome this album was. "Piece by Piece" is another brilliant thrash piece. It's very obvious when listening to this album that it has set the stage for Death Metal with it's brutal lyrics about death and the damn complicated guitar riffs. It's astonishing that Araya can pull off such chaotic and rapid-fire lyrics and still articulate with such excellence. This album is still great by today's standards and there isn't a weak song within. It's shockingly ahead of its time and the prototype for Death Metal. Nit-picking: it's a bit two dimensional; very little variation throughout the album.

Rating: 8.75

http://www.slayer.net

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

Slayer - Hell Awaits [1985]

Evil kick-off to the album. In fact, it's all evil, all the time. This album really shows that Slayer has settled in to their new more thrash-based sound like a comet settles into a planet. Every song is an old-school thrash masterpiece. However, the production really needs work. The guitars feel dead and their distortion is quite week. The bass has very little actual bass to it and sits more in the mid-high frequency range.

Rating: 7

http://www.slayer.net

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Slayer - Haunting the Chapel [1984]

"Chemical Warfare" is one hell of a great kick-off to this album. This is definitely the "missing-link" in slayer's stylistic transition to what they would be for the next few decades. The production is pretty good. It feels alive and it's not weak at all. Certainly my favorite of the early Slayer albums. This is one of the wonderful things about EPs, the band can focus on making an awesome album from start to finish instead of a long album.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.slayer.net

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Testament - The New Order [1988]

"Eerie Inhabitants" sports a much more proficient and mature writing style with a good deal of variation and catchy riffs with a lot of heaviness. Four tracks in and it's clearly an excellent album so far. Thrashy, heavy as hell, and quite catchy. None of the riffs so far feel like filler. This is a much more hard-core Metal album than The Legacy. It's got much better songwriting. However, there's not a lot of variation across the album, so by the end I'm starting to get a little bored. There are a few weak songs towards the middle-end of the album, as well. The production also should be stepped up quite a bit.

Rating:

http://www.testamentlegions.com/

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

Testament - The Legacy [1987]

Wow... it's been so many years since I've heard this album that I completely forgot what it sounds like. "Over the Wall" kicks in with the thrash energy that Testament has always been known for and throws in a BLISTERING guitar solo just to rub it in all of our faces. "The Haunting" is a bit more catchy, menacing, and groove oriented. Obviously, the production is not so hot, but at least it has that charmingly nostalgic feel to it. The uniqueness in this album is much more subtle than many modern artists, but it's definitely there. The drums stick to Skolnick like shit on Velcro to give a very unified feeling between the rhythm and melody. It's pretty good all the way through. Nothing insane, but it definitely manages to keep the energy high. Only a few songs drag a bit. It does get a bit repetitive and the production definitely needs to be improved.

Rating: 6

http://www.testamentlegions.com/

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

ZONE - N [2004]

Typical High school Pop Rock song to introduce us to the album. At least the chorus is pretty catchy. "BeaM" is certainly the highlight of the album. I still think that they don't realize what makes their band desirable. It's not good songwriting, because it's mostly average. It isn't serious vocals or slow ballads. IT'S THE CUTENESS. So far, they are averaging about 1 cute song per album, which isn't good enough. I listen to ZONE for the cute, happy, feel-good shit. But ok, if they want me to review it like a serious album, then I will. The songwriting is average. The creativity is... well, there isn't any. It's cliché and copy-cat all the way through. There aren't any high-points to the album at all. It's not all that catchy. It's too long of an album for what they have and there's a shit-ton of repeats. Props for the one song that breaks with the normalcy of the ZONE sound, "prayer". "true blue" is ok, too.

Rating: 4

http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/ZONE/

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ZONE - O [2002]

The appeal of a pop band like this is the cuteness of the songs. "証" starts things off trying to be all serious, but ends up being derivative and gutless. I expect the shameless copy-cat nature of the underlying music, but there still needs to be an actual reason to listen to this. Unfortunately, "さらりーまん" continues with the boring and predictable seriousness. At least "Sae Zuri" is soothing and calm. Thankfully, "GO!" gives the listener a small taste of the cuteness that we were fucking looking for all this time. "一雫" is acceptable, if nothing more. Overall, it's pretty weak and mostly what one should expect from a pop band. Not all that catchy. Boring. Derivative. Amateur. Though, it isn't flat-out bad.

Rating:

http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/ZONE/

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

Dir en grey - UROBOROS [2008]

Ominous and quite cool first track. "Vinushka" establishes this newer style as one that is much more deep and beautiful than previous albums. If the rest of the album is this carefully written, I'll love it. It even dives very suddenly into thrash metal with some death metal vocals before dropping back into a more acoustic section. "Red Soil" is sadly a bit more straight-forward even though I like the Death Metal section in the middle. Though, the second half of the song does redeem itself a bit some more creativity and psychotic vocals. Unfortunately, the more metal sections on this album are produced in a very flat way and with weak guitar distortion that removes most of the metal punch from the songs. That said, there's a lot to love in this album; "nice" sections are absolutely beautiful, metal sections offer a nice change from the norm, there's still some creativity thrown in there, and acoustic parts create a wonderful mood. The album is a bit too long, though. So, I start to get bored just after the half-way point. Stand-outs include "Inconvenient Ideal", "Sa Bir", and "Vinushka".

Rating: 8.25

http://www.direngrey.co.jp/

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

Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever [2011]

Jesus fuck... "The Knife" has one of the most confusing verse riffs I've ever heard. Unfortunately, it's much less Death Metal and more like Swedish Thrash. Not a fan of the Soilwork-wannabe vocals either. Though, his high-screams are quite good. Another confusingly difficult and technical energy bomb can be found in "United". Towards the end of "United" it actually starts to feel like a Decapitated song. Hey hey! Very Decapitated riffage in "Carnival Is Forever". Oddly enough, the vocals seem to inch themselves more towards Death Metal as the album progresses. "404" flexes more of the creative muscles with crazy squeals that sound like they should never come from a guitar. Well, there's no argument at all that this is a very technical album. It's also very high-energy. I like the fact that they didn't just repeat what they had tried before. However, it just doesn't feel like Decapitated and the vocals really push the songs away from Death Metal for me. It's also lacking in the blast-beat department... a lot. Perhaps I'm being to harsh, after all, Decapitated has never put out an album that sounded like the preceding one. Maybe I just need to warm up to this one like I did with Organic Hallucinosis. Must listen to it a few times before I actually give it a rating. Once I get past the vocals and general replacement of blasting with thrashing, this is a very good album that has a lot of brutality and energy. It just takes a while to get accustomed to it.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.decapitatedband.net/

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

The Devin Townsend Project - Addicted [2009]

First thing I notice is that the vocals a bit more buried than I thought they'd be. "Addicted!" is attacking the heavier side of Devin that reminds me a lot of the stuff he did with SYL. "Universe in a Ball!" is more punchy and a little more catchy. Large up-tick in catchiness with "Bend it Like Bender!". "Supercrush!" keeps the catchiness and adds beauty into the chorus. Wow, "Hyperdrive!" is more of the same from the previous two tracks. The album started heavy, but not catchy and not in sync with itself. However, after that uninspiring start, things really pick up and great songwriting comes through. The focus of the vocals on this album is on female lead vocals. "Resolve!" really passes by without even being noticed, but "Ih-Ah!" yanks the attention back to the music with it's beauty. Boring start to "Numbered!", but it does mostly redeem itself by the middle of the song. There are extremely effective and pretty unique uses of effects littered around the album. I just can't believe what a turnaround this album had after the beginning couple tracks. It went from a creative but boring style to an excellent emotional adventure through beautiful soundscapes.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.hevydevy.com/

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

The Devin Townsend Project - Ki [2009]

Extremely easy-going start to the album. It's quite soothing and gentle. I love the way "Coast" slowly eases into a bit of chaos without actually committing to it... it's quite suspenseful. "Disruptr" demonstrates perfect and very well-through-out placement of effects with a gritty guitar jabbing through. The accents really come through as well. This one also eases into metal, but ends up somewhat committing to it... the vocals do at least, the guitar distortion doesn't really change, making it a very unique sound. "Gato" really catches the ear and wonderfully massages it... with warm butter. "Heaven Send" has quite a nutty solo to it. This is such a soothing album that I don't even mind that it's pretty long. It does have some creative elements to it like the slow crescendo of chaos that occurs occasionally. The chaos has double-duty, though, in the form of also being the sole variation found in the album. I wish there was a bit more variation. At the same time, the songs are very carefully crafted and the soothing nature of the music is so relaxing and effective.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.hevydevy.com/

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

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient [2007]

Entertaining intro track with plenty of camp. Hilarious concept, but "By Your Command" demonstrates amazing use of musical dynamics even though it's not all that catchy for most of the first half of the song. "Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!" kicks up the catchiness with a great groove. "Solar Winds" and "Hyperdrive" take things into the realm of a more calm and thoughtful space. It may not be the catchiest album in the world, and the songs don't really stick with the listener after hearing them, but damn is it a fun album to listen to. It's quirky as hell, funny, and dynamic.

Rating: 7.75

http://www.hevydevy.com/

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

Genitorturers - Blackheart Revolution [2009]

Good start, it's nice and catchy but still hard-edged. "Kabangin' All Night" takes the swing approach. "Devil in a Bottle" starts off in stock-town with a very standard riff that I swear I've heard at least ten bands use. Rob Zombie has clearly been a huge influence for this album. "Falling Stars" is a nicer side of the band with a catchy chorus. This comes across as much more of a stock attempt at a Gothic Metal album than something that has darkness oozing from it. The production quality is as weak as it's ever been. However, it's much more clear this time around. I was hoping for some more heavy production, but this will work so long as the songs stay well-written. When all is said and done, "Revolution" and "Confessions of a Blackheart" are the only proper Genitorturers songs on here; the rest are lacking in darkness, originality, and passion. The album does get better towards the very end, but it's too little too late. Standouts are "Revolution", "Falling Stars", "Confessions of a Blackheart", and "Cum Junkie".

Rating: 6.5

http://www.genitorturers.com/

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