Them : "Sweet Hallow"

These guys used to be a King Diamond tribute band that was formed by former Coldsteel vocalist Troy Norr, who employs his multi tracked falsetto. But unlike King Diamond when it comes to a mid range singing voice he goes into a cheesy power-metal like voice and can't nail the more pained croon King does. If you are going to rip off King Diamond then you gotta go all the way. Musically it's heavier, though there are some "Conspiracy" like break downs. "Down the Road to Misery" is not as interesting and  more straight forward , but not as heavy as the first song. Norr has assembled a pretty stellar cast with the bassist from Symphony X and Kevin Talley sitting behind the drum kit. Members of Lanfear man the keys and guitars.

He sings in his more dramatic power metal mid range for the bulk of "Ghost in the Graveyard". Like King Diamond, they are trying to weave this all into into a concept album. He does alternate between the higher falsettos and the lower demon voices. "the Quiet Room" works more with the story creating a darker musical like atmosphere. Mood wise they come closer to capturing the feel of King Diamond's solo work on "Dead of Night" , but when Norr is in his normal singing voice he loses it and it really needs to be darker with less off a arena rock sound coming from the guitars and more diminished runs. They lose the King Diamond feel on "CarnEvil" even though Norr comes closer to getting King's pained crooned. This feels more like something Psychotic Waltz would have done or older Kamelot. The spoke word dialogue inserted into to song are pretty terrible and the music should do all the talking.

"the Crimson Corpse" finds them getting heavier again. It sounds like the King Diamond parts in this song are being forced at the sake of sacrificing what could be an otherwise decent song. The first listen to the song "Blood From Blood" breezed by me so I had to give it another shot. It is more of a thrash affair. The more thrashing styled attack doesn't let up on "the Harrowing Path to Hollow" which strikes me as having more in-common with Flotsam and Jetsam. I'll give this album a 7.5, for my money it needs to be darker and less of the refined power-metal brand of cheese.It is however a helluva lot more metal than Ghost's King Diamond tribute.

ThrOes : " This Viper Womb"

This newer form of death metal is not really out thing, but here it is down in a dark enough manner that we can appreciate. This one man band employed Kevin Talley of Suffocation, Six Feet Under, Daath, Dying Fetus...etc  to play drums on this oddly mixed piece of modern metal. Talley has been doing session work with various artists in a manner many session drummers do these days, you send them the tracks and they play over it. It creates an odd mix. There is little organic sounding about this. The vocals are way to forward in the mix overpowering the guitar and drums. This unfortunate because the vocals are actually the weakest link in this equation. They are screamed in a rather spastic manner falling somewhere between metal core and death metal. The second song is a little cohesive, though the layers of vocals can be a little much. The weird transition into the more hard rock section of the song, could have been segued a little better. The guitar solo is on the better side of decent and could have used a little more love in post-production.

The guitars on this album have some interesting ideas that get a little crowded in the death metal explosion around it. The vocals scream in a heavier manner than the song might actually be asking. The guitar does lock into some grooves that might inspire head banging in the more thoughtful death metal fan. Of course Talley's double bass is immaculate and it's clear to hear why his services are in demand. When the bass steps into the spotlight on " Conscience Makes Cowards" the overall sound finds renewed sonic depth. The vocals are once again the heaviest element of the song, and it's really a matter of the mix that keeps it from really enthralling me. But like I said before this kind of metal takes more to win me over. There are so many layers of vocals dripping with effects that it is heard to really hear what is going on at times and the cool guitar lines need to blast out of the din. Things begin to improve as the album chugs on with the guitar on "Nothing Left For the Vultures" given more room to breathe. The vocal screech in more of a black metal register here. There is a more straight forward churn to "Nowhere Else" which is the second place I hear more of a rock influence creep in. The guitar shines when not being crowded out by the vocals.

Of course I like when things take a darker turn on the title track. The guitar finds a pretty cool groove in the songs final minutes. They return to a more blasting and sonic take on modern death metal with the kind of passion that could care less if "Altars of Madness" ever came out. There is more of a furious blast to "Feed It" with the guitar fighting against the deluge to add nuance. The relentless shrieking of the vocals adds abrasion to what would otherwise be an almost melodic flow. This project struggles against the urge to stay heavy even if it means going against the grain of what a better quality of song might call for. This is a plight many extreme heavy bands struggle with not wanting to compromise their heaviness, but I think a song like "Feed It" proves at the end of the day good music will always win out. I'll give this album a 7, the project has promise if the vocals are toned down, maybe it's not an issue of delivery but where they sit in regard to the guitar.