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/

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

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.

Nightwish - Once [2004]

For the most part, this album could not be more different from Century Child. Epic songwriting and the best of their entire career (including Dark Passion Play). This is the proper way to integrate Orchestra and Metal to create a masterpiece. There is much less of the gimmicky songwriting that I hated from CC. The writing of the orchestra parts has finally become respectable on a Classical level as well. However, it's quite a long album with a decent amount of fillers in between the amazing songs.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.nightwish.com/

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

Nightwish - Century Child [2002]

It's fairly catchy stuff. The production quality is mediocre, but the bass-drum sound is pretty much crap. My biggest problem with the album is that they use gimmicky song writing techniques rather than the respectable complexity that can be found on later albums. The songwriting is not really up to par for a Nightwish album. Mostly uninspired, campy, and fairly boring. The catchiness can only make up for so much.

Rating: 5

http://www.nightwish.com/

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/

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

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.

Sigh - The Curse of Izanagi [2010]

Wow, straight-forward old school Black Metal start for this album... of course, it doesn't last long. The production is pretty shitty; sounds like it was recorded on old tape tracks and then left in the sun for too long. However, it does have the charm of the Black Metal of old, plus, it definitely sounds like they recorded it live instead of recording each instrument separately... probably a money/time issue. I like the change of pace that this album has to offer versus previous efforts, but I don't like how it gets me into the mood for some solid Black Metal and then leaves the genre tied up in the trunk of a car until the last song, which is a cover.

Rating: 7

http://www.myspace.com/sighjapan

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

Sigh - Scenes From Hell [2010]

The production has taken a hit since Hangman's Hymn. It's not nearly as heavy. However, it is much more creative, harkening back to the days of Scenario IV but with more thrash influence and much more active songwriting. The drums are probably the worst produced instrument on the entire album, which is a shame. Fuck, the songwriting is definitely their best yet. I'm three tracks in and if they keep this shit up through the entire album, I may be willing to entirely forgive the really shitty production. End of album: WOW... they actually fucking kept the wonderfully spastic creativity all the way through the album. Every song is excellent. By the end, I had completely forgotten about the shitty production. However, I am left to wonder what could have been if the production were up to modern standards.

Rating: 9

http://www.myspace.com/sighjapan

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

Cephalic Carnage - Misled by Certainty [2010]

Ugh, off to a really disappointing start. Things finally get interesting around 2min in to "The Incorrigible Flame", but it doesn't last long at all. "Abraxas of Filth" FINALLY shows a little creativity and carefully crafted songwriting. God damn, this album really drags on. It truly feels like time is moving slower as a result of listening to this album. There's very little creativity at all and I'm still missing the dichotomy of the older albums a lot. This album has declined in quite a few ways from Xenosapien. There are some catchy parts, but most of it feels bland to me. Production quality is ok, but the overall bass seems to have been cut a bit.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.myspace.com/cephaliccarnage

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

Septic Flesh - Sumerian Daemons [2003]

Jesus fuck, "unbeliever" starts the album off as a completely different animal than I had gotten used to on Revolution DNA; so fucking powerful it's scary. "Virtues of the Beast" puts all of my fears to rest by returning to the more sedate Gothic feel that they effectively captured on RDNA... and then "Faust" switches things back to the more brutal feel that "Unbeliever" had. Well, in the end, this album managed to come damn close to fixing one of the main issues I had with previous albums: the feeling of repetitiveness by the end of the album. There are a few songs in the middle that feel fairly similar, but the nearly constant switching back and forth between brutality and sedatives in between songs really kept the album interesting for me. The keyboard parts deserve special mention as they are flawlessly written and executed. The addition of choir really adds depth to the music as well. Overall, this album is a great step forward from RDNA.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

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

Septic Flesh - A Fallen Temple [1998]

Still has a dark tone to it. Production isn't as polished as RDNA and the songs aren't as catchy. Still, good and unique Gothic Metal.

Rating: 7

http://www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

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

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/

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

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.

DELUHI - JAGANNATH [2008.12.31]

Starts off with a breakdown riff, the pain of which is eased by the nifty keys and effects. It's pretty obvious now that DELUHI have been taking a few pages from the chapter of one of Soilwork's "books" for most of the last few albums. However, even that can't really make me feel better about the first song after the fourth time a breakdown is played. It's really holding the song back a lot. "RebelSicks, ShadowSix" is quite flat. Looks like their running out of new ways to write the same song.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

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

DELUHI - Mahadeva [2008.11.26]

This one has the most American quality to it to date. The guitaring is much more furious than previous albums. "Hybrid Truth" is a cross between the Melodic Thrash and Hardcore genres while "Ivory and Irony" brings the Japanese Rock into the mix. However, unlike many of their previous singles, the second track is actually good enough to listen to multiple times. Once again, it's mostly stock stuff from an American perspective, and like before, the songwriting is very well-done, catchy, and mature.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

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

Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien [2007]

The brutality is still there in spades. In fact, this is a much more brutal album than Anomalies. Even farther than that, this album is better in every way. The songs are catchy, brutal, heavy, and creative. However, while they are using pretty creative riffs throughout the songs, I am missing the other kind of creativity that came in the form of the more "stoner-music" and druggy-atmospheric feel that was crammed to great effect in the earlier albums. There's hardly any of that anymore in the music. The production is the heaviest and best yet. Because of the lack of the extreme creativity that was in the older albums, I'm inclined to give it lower marks, but thanks to the increase in song quality I think it's better than Anomalies.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/cephaliccarnage

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

Juliadoll - Eternity [2007]

Heh, I've forgotten how sick of the generic Japanese rock vocals I am. However, once the first verse of "Eternity" kicks in, it's pretty catchy and almost even enjoyable despite the quite stock nature of the music. Overall, I'm happy that it's got some heavy songwriting and it's definitely catchy. They keys are well-done. However, I'm not happy about the stock nature of the vox and songwriting.

Rating: 6.5



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

Yasuharu Takanashi - Naruto Shippuuden Original Soundtrack II [2009]

The start to this sequel is much stronger than the previous one, and understandably so since the events take place in a more turbulent time in the series. Though, "Critical" makes me think of 80's Synthpop until the shakuhachi kicks in. There's two realities with this album: First, it's a direct continuation from the first OST; and second, I like the heavier songs more because they're darker and more often associated with fight scenes. The writing does feel like it's gotten a bit more aggressive than it was in the first one. There's a slightly more epic feel to the heavy songs as well. However, I have noticed a slight decrease in the emotional weight of the slow and beautiful songs. So, there is some kind of trade-off, but I still think this OST eeks out it's predecessor.

Rating: 8.5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto#Naruto:_Shippuden

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

Soulfly - Omen [2010]

Whoa, style change. "Bloodbath & Beyond" kicks the album off to a much quicker thrashy start than previous albums, and with no sign of the tribal influence at all. "Rise of the Fallen" is a creatively interesting song. There are some progressive elements that manifest in a really cool guitar part towards the beginning and later riffs bring in a large Black Metal influence much to my surprise. "Great Depression" brings back the thrash and heaviness. The middle songs are filled with heavy romps and bouts of thrashing. This is even more of a return to the thrash/heavy metal roots of Sepultura. However, I'm missing the creativity that I loved in Soulfly. "Rise of the Fallen" was pretty creative, but that's the last of it besides "Soulfly VII" and the ending of "Off With Their Heads". There's no more tribal influence at all. Some of the material is pretty catchy (mostly the beginning and ending songs of the album). I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of creativity.

Rating: 7

http://www.soulfly.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.