The metal music webzine- reviews galore

Why on earth would I choose to enjoy and exploit heavy metal as a genre and a way of life? In my past several years of really experiencing the way of life that is metal music, I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed most of it. Albeit, in the early stages I once deemed anything that screamed Satanic and obviously of the "evil one." The fact of this day is that metal in and of itself is not evil or negative in any way. There will be people who are offended by the frequent anti-Christian/anti-religion message in heavy metals lyrics, but these scared people need to look beyond the face of heavy metal and embrace the cloak to which it wears. Only then will the inhabitants of this earth be capable of understanding the aspects of heavy metal that so frequently go unnoticed by mass media, popular culture, and such institutions as these.

I will be honest, I did not hear this band until about a week ago and I do not know much of there lineup or of their previous works. They are an underground viking folk black metal-influenced band.

Tremulous- The Great Ash Awaits is a great release. I am not sure if I got a hold of all of the songs on this EP, however those I do have certainly give me a good idea of who this band is!

In many ways, I have fallen in love with The Vala. I have only heard four of their compositions and they are excellent.

Pros:

-Great compositions
-Great classic black metal-style vocals
-Some amazing melodies and guitar playing (including some intense sweep picking sections)
-The folk influences are used awsomely. Acoustic guitars, synths, horns, chants, choirs, and other sounds make these songs great.

Cons:

-The recording quality lacks severely. I feel like the songs we recorded in a tin can.
-It is unnecessary to have the sound of horses galloping through the entire duration of an intro (Song: "Tremulous- The Great Ash Awaits")

Rating 4/5

The EP can be downloaded for free via this link: The Vala's Purevolume

The main reason for this being my first review is the simple fact that it is free music! And great music at that! I hope you all enjoy!

I am going to attempt to be as little biased as I can in this review. There is no denying in my mind the grand scale of this album, in all aspects. Dimmu Borgir's musicianship is incredible, and very unique in many ways. Some reviews have said that this band is like "Cradle of Filth on Steroids." In many ways, this is not far from the truth. At the time of this albums conception, Dimmu Borgirs drummer was ex-Cradle of Filth drummer Hellhammer, whom is widely known in the black metal/extreme metal scene. Lead vocalist Shagrath has a somewhat unique variation of the typical black metal rasp vocals, and bassist/backing vocalist Vortex lends an amazing voice in the compositions.

This is perhaps Dimmu Borgirs best effort. The symphonic elements are beautifully arranged and used to their fullest extent. Specifically the song "Eradication Instincts Defined" is purely incredible in usage of synths and various horns. The introduction to this song can actually be found on one of the trailors to the original Hellboy movie!

The other instruments are also beautifully arranged as well! The guitars are at their best on this album, as well as the bass, and especially the drumming. There are many intense blast beats that beautifully compliment the music and the atmosphere is all the better due to the intensity.

Dimmu Borgir, at least on this album, have mastered the art of blending intense, thought-provoking music with the beautiful aspects of classical music. There is a classical mood on this album which is highly comparable to works like "Moonlight Sonata." It is fascinating and amazing!

-Summary-

Pros:

-Beautiful arrangements on all instruments.
-Great vocals from both Shagrath and Vortex
-Interesting lyrics
-A very high production quality
-This album can potentially reach into the hearts of classical music lovers as well as extreme/black metal lovers!

Cons-

-While the lyrics are interesting, they are about the standard theme of "Satanism." While they avoid cliches (generally), Satanism is just an overused topic.

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

This is a list of albums that I recommend. I own all of these albums and highly suggest people buy them!

Death Cult Armageddon

Ashes Against the Grain

My Arms, Your Hearse

Tulimyrsky EP

Dark Passion Play

It seems that my initial reviews are just of albums I already love. Perhaps my bias is setting in towards a few of my favorite albums. I suppose in some ways, this is not a bad thing; especially for those of you who have not heard these albums. Today I am reviewing Opeth's "My Arms, Your Hearse" and I must say it is truly a masterpiece!

If you have read reviews of this album found on other sites, they may mention that this was truly the "turning point" for Opeth. That is not to say that their albums prior to this were "bad", they are just different in many regards.

The album's mood is very melencholy and is comparable to a walk in a foggy park by a river. For those of you who enjoy atmosphere in music, look no further. Vocalist/guitarist Michael Akerfeldt is an incredible musician with a talent that would force an individual to consider the existance of a higher power. There are many beautiful songs on this album.

The album opens with the quiet, rainy texture aptly named "Prologue." All of the songs on this album from here on out are great. There are no fillers. Even the interlude "Madrigal" is beautiful and fits the album, and adds to the album! There are also three (yes, three) staple, classic Opeth songs to be found on this album: "Demon of the Fall", "Credence" (the one clean, acoustic song on this album with a beautiful outro I might add), and "When."

The arrangements and mixture of the instruments is also incredible. Throughout the album looped sounds such as rain can be heard, as well as instruments ranging from organs and piano to electric and acoustic guitars. It is a fairly unique blend that works excellently.

To add, from a lyrical standpoint alone this album excels. I have found myself reading the lyrics in the booklet, all sprawled across two booklet-pages in one huge paragraph. How the song lyrics flow together is nothing less than amazing. This is also a "concept album", which means that their is a story to be told amidst all of the tracks. I am not entirely sure of the story, and it could be left up to each individual. If you decide to buy this album, read the lyrics carefully and be amazed at how the songs titles fit into the writings. It is very unique and clever.

Summary:

Pros-

-Good production value
-A great mixture of death metal and clean acoustic songs
-Amazing lyrics
-Great melodies/harmonies
-Interesting arrangements
-For Iron Maiden/Celtic Frost fans, there are 2 bonus songs which are covers of some classic songs: "Remembering Tommorrow" (Iron Maiden) and "Circle of the Tyrant" (Celtic Frost)

Cons-

-None

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

The Breathing Process is a fairly new band, with an interesting sound. In some ways, they sound like a band on the border between symphonic death metal and new age "hardcore." While they definitly lean more towards the first, it makes for some interesting moments on the album.

One of this bands top influences is Dimmu Borgir, and they are truly one of the top bands that are highly related. The Breathing Process dishes out the good production quality, death/black metal composition style, and synth overlay in a very similar fashing. However, the best attribute to The Breathing Process is that the listener does not feel like they are stealing from their influences, which so many bands do feel like. This band is fairly unique and highly enjoyable.

While there are 12 tracks on this album, 4 of them are instrumentals. In some ways, this takes away from the flow of the album. Just as things start to speed up, the speed departs and its back to hearing a piano. The interludes are enjoyable by all means, but not really necessary; and to an extent feel just like fillers.

One big problem I found from a musical (and metal) standpoint is the lack of tempo changes. There are a few scattered around, for example in the song "Dear Antigone." Beyond this, no song really directly comes to mind. Which leads to my next issue with these songs, most of them sound extremely similar. There are 3 highlight songs on this album, however: "Dear Antigone", "Prey", and "The Treasonist."

I would highly recommend listening to some of the songs before buying, at least a few. After hearing "Dear Antigone" which is the epitome of these songs, I decided instantly to buy the album (and a shirt). While I am not dissapointed in that decision, and definitly feel this band has potential to turn out great albums in the future (this is their first!), I do feel the album lacks in many respects. If you enjoy what you hear, definitly look into buying!

In terms of the artistic qualities of the album I feel there are many high points. The album cover is actually in a reddish-color, not black and white, however I could not get and picture to show this. Lyrically speaking they are fairly enjoyable, though you can hardly hear what they are saying generally (which is typical of the genre). The compositions, overall, are also enjoyable beyond the prior complaints I had earlier. Synths, tremelo picked guitars, great vocals, and some sweep picking really add to the complexity of the album and makes it enjoyable despite its negative aspects.

Summary:

Pros-

-Good production quality
-Great vocals and instrumentation
-Interesting lyrics

Cons-

-A very short album (less than 30 minutes, I believe)
-4 interludes, and an introduction makes the album appear longer; but in reality they just fill the space irregularly
-Lack of tempo changes, meaning it may get stale to some people

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Children of Bodom is a band that is not to be taken seriously,apart from their musical aspects. Lyrically speaking, they are just silly. If you are in the mood for lighthearted, straight-forward metal music with no intention of moving its audience in any way other than to have fun (and possibly get drunk); than Children of Bodom is probably for you.

I had not heard much from this band prior to buying this EP. I actually bought the EP because it was a cheap way of checking out the band. I am very glad I bought it, to add.

I personally enjoy this band because they are able to successfully blend power metal, symphonic metal and to some extent death metal (especially vocally speaking). In some ways, the atmosphere of this album is a more complex (extensively, actually) form of punk rock.

Musically speaking this band has got it down to a science. The guitar tones are great, the drums are fairly standard for metal (blast beats and all), the synths really add an interesting effect. There are only 4 song on this EP (hey, it is an EP) but they are certainly enjoyable songs in and of themselves. The title track and "Knuckleduster" are both COB songs unique to this EP, the other two songs are covers of Alice Cooper's "Bed of Nails" and "She is Beautiful" by Andrew Krier.

Prior to this release I had never heard either of the original songs that were covered, but from the sound of them and my thorough enjoyment of COB's renditions; I feel they will certainly stand up against fans of those bands as well as COB fans.

From the standpoint of musical composition analysis, Children of Bodoms arrangements are great. There are definitly classic metal influences to be found, especially (if not obviously) on "Bed of Nails." Tremelo picking, sweep picking, tapping, tempo changes all abound on this EP. There is really no reason to deny the excellence of their music in terms of compositions.

Summary:

Pros-

-Good production quality
-A very affordable EP
-4 great songs, all enjoyable
-The compositions are great musically speaking
-These are songs you can have fun and mosh to. There is nothing serious to be found on this EP, and probably nothing serious about this band as it is.
-There are 2 extra videos found on the same disk of some live performances

Cons-

-For those of you who are more into atmospheric and moving songs, these may not be for you
-The lyrics are just stupid, really

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Let me start by saying that this is Nightwish's first album with new singer Anette Olzon. For long time Nightwish fans this may have been a disappointment. I know from reading around about this band that many fans became enraged by this outing. It is very fair to say that Nighwish's original fan base split in half, but they gained many more fans from this release to make up for it.

Nightwish is one of the top known bands in the genre of symphonic metal, so to list influences would really be pointless; because so many bands are influenced by them. This band is not overly unique in their creation of music, however in the genre of metal itself they are easily a standout. I have met people who despise metal music, who enjoy Nightwish. I could, laughably, subtitle this module with "Pop Metal" and that genre title could likely describe this band, almost perfectly.

Besides the first song, "The Poet and the Pendulum" all of the songs on the album are prime picks for becoming singles. They are just that catchy and enjoyable. The aforementioned song, however it the epitome of this album. It clocks in at over 11 minutes and is just an amazing piece of music.

Musically speaking, this album excels with flying colors. The synths and piano, violins, chiors, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, solos, male and female vocals, all contribute to the complexity and intricacies of the compositions. Some songs, such as "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful" are catchy and simple, standard-style (verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus) songs; but none the less catchy. "Eva" is a beautiful ballad thrown amidst the pop-mayhem. "The Islander" is a real folk song, filled primarily with acoustic guitars, wind instrument, and the male voice of bassist/backing vocalist Marco Hietala, and vocal harmonies from Anette. I will be honest, it is one of my favorite slow, acoustic songs ever. While there are some less complex compositions, there are also some other more complex ones. "The Poet and the Pendulum", "Meadows of Heaven", and "Seven Days to the Wolves" are perhaps the most prime examples.

As I am reviewing the collector's edition, I may as well make mention to the second disc, which contains all of the songs in an "orchestrated" variation. I specifically bought the collectors edition thinking I would get some great classical pieces as well as some good symphonic metal. This is the biggest let down for me. The "orchestrated versions" sound like they just took the song cuts without vocals and through them on another disc as a "special edition." Unless you are obsessed with Nightwish, don't waste your money here.

Lyrically speaking, Nightwish is great. They are not my favorite lyricists by any means, but the lyrics certainly add to the music's atmosphere; which is important.

Summary-

Pros-

-Great production quality
-Great compositions
-Good lyrics
-Nice album art
-Nightwish proves they are able to take on a monumental album filled with many genre's of music and influences

Cons-

-The last song, "Reach (Amaranth Demo Version" is disturbing to hear. Marco's voice is just frightening on this song. It actually ruined the song. I know it is a demo, but its unnecessary to scare your fans.
-Some individuals may find a few songs to be filler like, including: "For the Heart I Once Had", "Sahara", and "Cadence of Her Last Breath." I personally do not think so, but to each their own.
-The "orchestrated" disc is just unnecessary and a waste of money.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Every once in a while people enjoy getting to experience a band live, from a home setting. Some bands being reviewed hardly tour in my country (The USA) and this inadvertantly makes it difficult to see them. Concert DVD's are a great way to experience bands, through audio and visuals!

Opeth
Lamentations
(Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003)

Amon Amarth
Wrath Of The Norsemen
(3DVD)

Slayer:
Unholy Alliance Live

Iron Maiden:
Live After Death
(Two-Disc Set)

The Invaluable Darkness

Amon Amarth is one of those bands I was happy to stumble upon. They are loved by me for several reasons, one being they were the first real death metal band I ever heard. There music opened the door for me to get more interested in death metal, Norse mythology, and other sub-genres of metal such as folk metal.

Amon Amarth relies primarily one a basic set of instruments: guitars, bass, and drums. Generally, I am not into simple set ups as this; but the band is excellent at composing awsome riffs and music altogether, that there is no way to really dislike them (if you like this type of music, mind you).

I do not dislike any of the tracks on the album, for starters. Some are ultimately more enjoyable than others, but none of them are fillers by any means.

The vocalist is very unique in his way of death metal vocals. What was funny to me the first time I heard them was that you can nearly comprehend most of the words, more so than most death metal vocals. That in itself makes Amon Amarth unique, as well as an easier band to get into when you are not used to the death metal style of vocals.

The lyrics on this album are fairly enjoyable. There is nothing like building an atmosphere of war and vikings pillaging. Really, how much metal can a band get? These guys pretty much represent, at least symbolically, what vikings would have listened to had their been metal back in the days of old. The lyrics are not serious, but they add to the fun of the album (if I should be saying "fun" is questionable).

Songs such as "Gods of War Arise", "Cry of the Blackbirds", "Runes to My Memory", and "Under the Northern Star" are on my top favorite list of this album. They are just perfect pieces of metal, really. If I were to recommend any song on this album specifically, it would be "Gods of War Arise" do to the amazingly melodic solo, tempo changes, and perfect vocals.

Summary:

Pros-

-Lyrics about vikings are awsome
-The guitar parts are generally incredible
-The vocal are unique and enjoyable
-All of the songs are great!
-The artwork is great!
-There is a bonus cd of some live performances and demos

Cons-

-None, however I do feel in my soul that something is lacking due to the lack of other instruments. This is not necessarily a negative, but for viking metal/folk metal I would love to see these guys break away and use more ethnic instruments in their work, as well as their awsome guitar parts.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Cradle of Filth is one of those bands that you either hate or love. This is particulary due to their widespread popularity amongst the teenage crowd. Perhaps it is due to typical drear themes of vampyrism, dark love, satanism, potentially anarchy, suicide, death, and anti-religious views.

Despite these potential warning signs, I feel that teenagers of this day and age do not tend to take lyrics in a metephorical way. The sheer beauty of the lyrics (and not to mention synth laded soundscape that is profoundly used on this album), just make the listener (whom has an open mind!) enjoy this band to the fullest extent.

Midian is one of those albums that contains both purely amazing pieces of compositions, as well as some unnecessary songs. It is somewhat difficult to condemn Cradle of Filth, as most of their albums have been related to a story in some way, this album included. The meer fact that a story is contained within the album should lead the listener to take the lyrics with a grain of salt, as if they are in the context of a story.

I know, I keep mentioning the lyrics. Why do I do this? Because I feel that many people will overlook the lyrics, or perhaps the band in its entirety due to the dark themes. However, upon reading many of their songs, these things overarch with some beautiful themes such as love and beauty. Sure, there are some highly unnecessary lyrics from songs like "Lord Abortion" and "Tearing the Veil From Grace." However, given they are apart of a story to which monsters dwell; they are understandable. If you are seeking the epitome of undying love lyrics, go no further than "Her Ghost in the Fog." They are simply amazing.

Musically speaking, this album is fairly genius. Dani Filth has an amazing array of vocals. He ranges from deep, borderline death metal vocals to high pitched squeals. Most unique to this band is his usage of talking, grunting, and whispering. His voice is more of an instrument than anything else. Frequently, even the way he says words is moving. In the vocals department, frequently the female opera singer adds extensively. Her voice is a beautiful contrast to Dani's, and when they have duet like parts it the song just becomes incredible. The guitars are also great! Their are some intense riffs to be found amidst this beautiful album! However, guitars and drums alone would not make this album what it is. The synths completely add to the effect of the album and make it sheerly beautiful. The amazing effects found on the introduction "At the Gates of Midian", as well on the rest of the songs; especially "Tearing the Veil from Grace" just add to the songs in so many ways.

Despite all of my praise, the album has a few flaws. For one, "Satanic Mantra" is completely pointless. It is just an acapella interlude with about 3 lines of repeated lyrics for 2 minutes. Completely and utterly unnecessary. It is a filler if there ever were fillers.

Summary:

Pros-

-Dani Filth's unique voice adds to the band in a special way
-The compositions are great
-The synths really add to the mood of the album
-The lyrics are incredible
-Alot of tempo changes to keep the songs interesting
-Most of the songs are not written in the standard verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus format, which is great in and of itself!

Cons-

-The song "Satanic Mantra" is unnecessary and disturbingly annoying. I can't describe how badly it ruins the flow of the album, and is just a pure disappointment to someone who just picked up the album expecting some real music, not some random filler "song" that is pointless.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

If you enjoyed this review and would like to read the lyrics to "Her Ghost in the Fog" as well as hear the song, I suggest visiting my poetry lense

Okay, I am a bit biased towards this album, as it is one of my favorite concept albums of all time. The albums "concept" is loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Bathory (The "Blood Countess" of Hungary) who, legend says, bathed in the blood of virgin girls who she had murdered so she would remain young. If you are into vampires and darker stories such as this, this album may just be for you.

Let me say that the album's title Cruelty and the Beast is just an interesting play (potentially) on the film "Beauty and the Beast." What is most interesting about this album lyrically and conceptually is that the band does not set out with a "Bathory was a purely evil woman" mindset that many media sources tend to go with. Instead, they view her as a woman acting animalistically, yet also sometimes in a more feminine, "why am I doing this" sort of way.

The production quality of this album is decent. It all sounds good, however it has long been debated as to whether or not the drums sound "good" or "muddy." To me, either way, they sound good for the atmosphere being created. To add, the drumming is great (from Hellhammer of Mayhem/Dimmu Borgir fame). The other instruments/vocals are also good. The guitar is probably the weakest sounding in terms of tone, however it does still get the job done. The synths and purely beautiful as usual, as are the moments of other instrumentation such as violins and pianos. Dani Filths voice is at its peak on this album, ushering in his trademark whispers, black metal-esque rasps, and deep growls.

Lyrically speaking, I can not stress enough the sheer brilliance of this band. In a way, all of the lyrics should be read straight through while listening to the album. I found it best that way.

As far as the compositions are concerned, they are also top quality. "Once Upon Atrocity" opens the album COF's traditional instrumental, and leads directly into "Thirteen Autumns and a Widow" which is a brilliant album opener really. Next, "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids" which has been a staple of the band's live set since they released this album. If any attention should be brought onto a song or set of songs, that focus should be brought onto the final three. After listening to this album on repeat for about a month, I came to the conclusion that the final three songs could have been combined into one epic masterpiece. "Bathory Aria" (the 11 minute beauty), "Portrait of a Dead Countess" (a beautiful interlude), and "Lustmord and Wargasm" (the amazing album ender filled with beautiful violins at a high tempo playing with lighting fast guitars and blast beats) are these three songs. They quite frankly blow most music out of the water. They are about as perfect as perfect can be.

Summary:

Pros-

-Decent production quality
-Great compositions/arrangements
-Dani Filths voice is unique and great
-The instruments all interact with each other well
-The synths are beautiful and add to the atmosphere excellently
-The concept story is interesting, and while not that deep has given rise to alot of great material both musically and lyrically.

Cons-

-Some say a "muggy" production value
-"Beneath the Howling Stars", while not a filler or "bad" song by any means; is just kind of out of place in a way. Not to mention most songs about wolfs in metal are just getting annoying.

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Who doesn't like Slayer now a days? Thats an honest question. Somehow this band has managed to be in service for a few decades, get a song ("Raining Blood") in the Guitar Hero video game, put out a few skateboard decks with Plan B (a skateboard company), and ultimately be one of the biggest names in metal alongside Metallica. However, being big doesn't necessarily make the music.

In some ways, I think it is fair to an extent to be somewhat leniant when reviewing a classic album such as this. Slayer dates back to when metal music really began, so can I complain that much? I will admit I gave into the recent hype and decided to buy this album a few months ago. I learned how to play some of "Raining Blood" on my own guitar, not to mention enjoying it on Guitar Hero. I reasoned with myself and bought this album to see what else Slayer had in them. My question at the time was, "Is Slayer a one hit wonder like so many pop-bands these days? Or are they something more?" Based on this album I lean more towards the latter, though I still have my qualms.

When I put the album on my computer I was surprised that most of the songs are about 2.5 minutes on average. That was a dissapointment considering most of the music I listen to on average ranges from 5-30 minute long masterpieces.

The album opens with "Angel of Death", which has been a hit for a while and understandably so, it is a great song. Sadly, it is the longest on this album also (4:51 minutes).

Musically speaking, Slayer is thrash at its finest. They play fast, most of the time with no real melody. Most of the songs just kind of blend together, sadly causing most of them to not stick out in any real way. There are alot of solos, however I am not sure why people go crazy for them because they are fairly weak (fast, but they don't really do anything for me). They put to much focus on the whammy bar, actually. People who enjoy excessive use of the whammy will probably enjoy them, and I suppose I would be lying to say I dont "enjoy them"; however there are many better solos from other bands. The vocalist is pretty good, but I feel the mixing put his voice to far ahead of the other instruments. He yells and talks (similar to hardcore punk rock type of vocals). The drums are the only instrument I have no real complaints about.

Lyrically speaking there is not much to go crazy for. They are not "bad" lyrics, they are just what I deem as "something enjoyable to yell over guitars and drums." At the time, I am sure these lyrics were extremely offensive especially to religious individuals and churches. Actually, I am sure the music in and of itself was offensive. This is likely one reason why Slayer has lasted so long, by creating an underground, anti-religious group who enjoy lyrics about Satan, gore, and death. I personally enjoy these things, so this is perhaps why I can enjoy this band.

Songs that I personally enjoy most off this album: "Raining Blood", "Angel of Death", "Jesus Saves", "Piece by Piece", and "Criminally Insane."

Summary:

Pros-

-Slayer is a classic band from the early era of metal, so it is hard to dislike them.
-Entertaining lyrics
-Some decent guitar parts
-Lots of solos
-Good production considering the time period

Cons-

-The solos seem exaggerated and frequently pointless and unmelodic. They have the atmosphere of a child wanting to solo over everything.
-The reliance on the whammy bar is somewhat annoying.
-Most of the songs are incredibly short.
-Many of the song introductions sound very similar.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Usually when I begin a review I try to avoid sounding like a fan-boy. This review is going to be completely fan-boyish. Over the past year I have been listening solely to Equilibriums song "Blut Im Auge", and this Christmas I received their full album. Needless to say, this is the most impressive album I have ever heard in my existance.

There is nothing negative about this album. Seriously, I can't even look for negatives because the music is so beautiful.

As far as the compositions are concerned, they are top notch. I find that many folk metal bands tend to put the guitar in the background, almost exclusively as a rhythm and noise source. On this album, this is not the case. Some of the guitar riffs are just incredible, not to mention the solos on many of the songs. The guitar tone is also awsome. For a while on the aforementioned song ("Blut Im Auge") I thought the main riff was just a synth, to my surprise it was the guitar with backing synth. In terms of instruments, they abound on this album. Guitars, drums (with double bass), bass guitar, synths, horns, chiors, flutes, bongos, and so many other bizzar, unknowable instruments create an awsome atmosphere.

Typically, many bands have interludes comparable to classical music. This band takes this a step further to actually sounding like someone just swiped some Amadeus during the interlude "Heiderauche."

To add, this album is entirely in German. But, it does not really matter because the musical qualities are just amazing, not to mention everything is screamed so you don't really realize the lyrics are not in English.

While all of these songs are incredible and all need to be heard, I will select a few of my favorites for you to check out: "Blut Im Auge", "Unbesiegt", "Heiderauche", and "Mana."

Summary:

-Positives

-Each song is composed excellently
-All the instruments interact with one another amazingly
-The guitars are not dulled down like in most folk metal music, solos and heavy riffs come to the forefront on many occasions
-The songs are very atmospheric. Take "Unbesiegt" for example, the first 2 minutes sound like it was recorded in a rainforest (you must hear this song!).
-"Mana" is an incredible instrumental album closer. At 16+ minutes and many tempo changes, it is just awsome.
-Great recording quality
-Great vocals ranging from a black metal rasp to death metal growls (and in the intro some talking)

-Negatives

-Nothing!

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

In this section I will be linking to many band's links that have free music. In this day and age where heavy metal cd's frequently run near the 20 dollar mark, free music is a beautiful thing. I will be adding to this as time goes on!

The Vala's Purevolume