Kamelot : "Dark Asylum"

The 14th album by the band finds them leaning further into conceptual grandiosity. With a bigger symphonic sound. Their last album The Awakening," was disappointing, as it was filled with melodramatic power ballads and only earned 7.5, which, considering what they have proven themselves capable of  is more of a letdown than that score might suggest. However, they are still at the top of the game for a genre that can get mired down in flowery layers of synths and orchestras.  The opening song "Ashen World  " is heavier. It features death metal vocalist Ignacia Fernandez, who created a bit of a buzz for winning Miss Chile. She is lower in the mix, so hard to get a grasp of her vocal power. The title track is too anthemic for its own good and the chord progressions feel too happy for my taste.  It compromises their brand and identity by sounding like everyone else.

In many ways, you can hear on "Sanctuary" how they are making many of the same mistakes Dream Theater did over the years by sounding more like something Andrew Lloyd Webber might have written, instead of making metal. Though this works better than the previous song. They redeem themselves a bit with "One Last Masquerade" . Tobias Sammet from Avantasia lends his voice; he sounds better than he has sounded on his band's albums, and these guys find more grit in the verse riffs. The chorus flirts with the kind of power metal cheese I am not a fan of, but overall the song balances out.  "Ivey, My Dear" finds them reverting to ballads; this one has almost more of a folk metal feel, emphasis on folk.It's ok for what it is but I can see this opening the door to the mistakes made on the last album. 

Then things begin to get hit or miss. Where "Godlike Alchemy " works with more grit, they seem to dial into their formula for the more predictable "The Sleeping Mind". Then we are back to metal with the chug of "Kaleidoscope", that recalls the "Ghost Opera" and "Black Halo" era of the band. I'm ok with some of the more melodic ballad songs if they are done right; "Enigma" serves as a good example of what works for them. While "Cassandra's Disease" is not a ballad, it lacks the aggression needed to give metal its balls. "The Puppet King" gains their footing until hitting some of the genre tropes in the chorus. I will give this album a 9, it's unlikely that I am not going to listen to one of their earlier albums over this when I am in the mood, but for their fans who do not need them to be at their heaviest and listen to symphonic power metal regularly, this will exceed expectations and is a much better direction for them than their last album. It drops on Napalm Records on August 28th

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Heavy Maytal- Dimmu Borgir : "Grand Serpent Rising"

 One of Norway's biggest bands, and one of my faves, they have picked up where they left off with the last album, the first actual song that is not a dramatic symphonic-tinged intro."Ascent" has just enough blast beats in the periphery to remind you they were once a black metal band, but that is far from the primary focus. The flash and finesse of the guitar solo on this solidifies their roots in classic metal. There is a similar shifting of arrangements that we heard back on "In Sorte Diaboli". What is more interesting is the darker, more melodious atmosphere to "As Seen in the Unseen." The drumming that explodes when they build it up as you expect them to continues to excel as Daray is still behind the kit. The creepy spoken vocals with heavy effects are, of course, making an appearance. 

"The Qyrptfarer" comes clsoer to bringing the type of hooks that have not been at the forefront since "Abrahadabra." That is not to say they are not bringing the big sound you want from them. It's tradmark grandiosity in peak form. I do like the creepy descending passages that sound like they are from a haunted house ride. "Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel" or 'wolf debt blood guilt' was the first single, which features a return to vocalizing in Norse again. It brings the big symphonic bombast that has become their calling card. With a very deliberate marching riff as the backbone. Choral chants and folk sounds buried deep in the mix add needed color. 

"Repository of Divine Transmutation" offers a respite from the thunderous riff churning for a minute before cranking back up into a more blackened sentiment, for a few seconds, but they wrote the book on how to make this dynamic so muh so that they took themselves out of the genre. The guitars are catchier here. Shagrath is doing nothing new, but refining what works for him. He makes declarations with a snarl more than outright screaming or growling. Majestic guitar harmonies chime in. The speed up in bursts makes it a brief stab to accent what they are doing. "Thus, An Alchemist Remembers" opens with a more traditional metal riff and shifts into the brooding symphonic metal that dominates this album. There are passages of clean guitar to give some breathing room. 

"Phantom of the Nemesis' stands out for me as it works off a different throb that is bigger and darker. The guitars feel more nuanced on this one. Ironically, Shagrath is snarling about how nothing is new under the sun, when this is another song that sounds like it could have been on "In Sorte..." but that was one of their best albums, so it is hard to argue against this. They speed along similar lines and drape "Recognizant" in similar sonic colors as what they have been on the other songs thus far. Perhaps this just needs to grow on me. "At the Precipice of Convergence" is more memorable than the previous song, though it takes its time winding around the intro. There is more of his croaking talking on this one. The more vampiric talking also shows up, which is fine by me to switch things up, but it does feel like they are very deliberately peddling their trademarks. The guitar solo is a bit chaotic, which is the most different element on this one, but it falls into place, as you want it to. 

Once you come to terms that ICS Vortex is not sweeping in to save the day with a big operatic hook, then the bar is pretty low for what they can deliver, which is creepy riffs that are catchy, and they deliver this with "Shadows of a Thousand Perceptions". They create more breathing room going into the last song, wisely opening with a very steady drum beat. I was not expecting it to be an instrumental, but at least it's a change of pace and very melodic. I will go ahead and round this up to a 10, as it's better than the last album, and delivers what they know fans want, even if it feels a little formulaic in this regard, I think it will grow on me.

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Cradle of Filth : " the Screaming of the Valkyries"

 These guys are one of the biggest black metal bands, and Dimmu Borgir can headline larger venues depending on where in Europe they are. This band has not fared well here as past reviews have ranged from an 8 at the highest, which is not something I would listen to, but well made and what their fans want so an effective product but not stellar, to a 4.5, which is not worth listening to really anything under a 6 is a failure..  Two other albums fell in the 7's, so once again skilled musicians doing what they do for a living well, but not that inspired, This one is off to a pretty good start and I think most of its success depends on what Dani is doing. I know he has had problems with his throat, to the point of even having to go on a special diet to save his voice. So less shrieking and more purpose. The strings fall in the background as the guitarists step up more. 

This is the band's 14th album so there is no doubt they know what they are doing. What that is seems to be leaning in the direction of their more thrashy influence, forcing Filth to take a more punchy role with his vocal accents, making the choruses stand out more. Filth is the sole original member so this is basically just his solo show at this point. Perhaps that is why the songwriter feels more focused because he is narrowing things down to what his vision as a songwriter is. Things do not take on the more romantic goth drama until "Non Ominis Monar"  This is not the band's most inspired take on this sort of Hammer Horror anthem, but it works for what it is.  They can never deny that King Diamond was a huge influence on them. 

At first, I thought "White Hellebore" was just a transition the previous song, had made, which shows how the uniformity of their sound affects the dynamic range of their songwriting. To this band's credit, they do offer more songwriting and melody than most Black Metal bands who are just preoccupied with blast beats and tremolo picking though these guys might benefit from a bit of balance a more hints of those elements. "You Are My Nautilus" finds the twin guitar attack leading a more harmony-based charge when it kicks in amid the more grim storytelling. They are incorporating dynamic themes that go back to their ill-fated cover of  "Hallowed By Thy Name" here. The lack of spoken word narratives helps things. 

The gothy elements play to their favor on "Malignant Perfection" as I can imagine goblins waltzing around to it. Rather than write a concept album all sorts of things that go bump in the night is heralded here. "Ex Sanguine Draculae" is about vampires so it is surprising that it's not more goth and basically a blackened thrash song. The keyboards sit further back in the mix on this album. But they do have much crunchier riffs, so perhaps this was to shift the mood and make way for them, "When Misery Was a Stranger" closes the album in a manner that feels like it is marginally truer to who they are as a band, though the fact that none of the original guitarists are involved does stand to reason why they have shifted in less of a black metal direction with Dani the last man standing. They are playing fast, but it's thrashing fast and not the buzz or even gallop of black metal. I will give this album a 9, as, despite the fact I will not likely listen to it again, they have managed to write songs that are more enjoyable for me than what I have heard from them in the past, though it is not as dark as their previous work, and more in line with mainstream metal. Napalm Records is releasing this March 21st.  

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November is Doom - Aeonian Sorrow :" Katara"

 This Finnish band is certainly interesting. Looking back I see I really enjoyed their previous album and sang its praises upon its release, had almost forgotten about them until I became aware of this release so, how much of an impact did it really make on me.  The opening track feels more like symphonic metal than doom with its lavish layers and romantic mood that the deliberate chug of guitars churns under. I forgot they had death metal vocals to create a Beauty and the Beast vibe, so they surprised me when they roared to life and things got heavier. 

Once we begin to get into the meat of the album, everything sounds great in terms of the sounds being executed and captured, but the second and third songs have too much of the same feel to them. Their singer has a great voice though with this album it's tipping things further in a more Night Wish direction. "Her Torment finds things darkening a little. The low growl of the male vocals serves as a more convincing narrative voice, as the female vocals answer this call and response with a lighter mood on the chorus. This is also the first song on this album that really feels like doom to me. The title track finds them hovering around the darker heavier mood created on the previous song. I like the female vocals, but once again we are hearing that when the growls take over the songs improve. She is a great singer and puts her voice to better use 

"Forbidden City" is well crafted, but it feels a little middle of the road, while dark and heavy enough to fit in their wheelhouse, not taking a dynamic enough stand to push either element in a direction that makes you really pay attention. The last song bathes you in an excess of romantic ambiance with the piano taking things into balladry. It swims in this languid malaise for the duration of the song, which owes less to the Gathering than they did on the previous album. When the growled vocals come in things do not really shift much.  I will give this album an 8, it's go for what it does and they accomplished what they set out to do, so it's hard to fault them in that regard, but is also is not dark enough for what I want from doom. 

Gothtober- Cradle of Filth : "Existence is Futile"

 It is understandable why these guys are a metal that crossed over into a goth audience. Dani Filth\s screech has long annoyed me, but I appreciate what the band does and they have grown as songwriters as the years have gone on.  I mean they have had since 1994 to perfect it. I prefer Dimmu to these guys , but hey, I have reviewed every album they have released since this blog started so why stop now. Let's be clear this is symphonic metal and not black metal, got it? Ok preceding with the review. The opening track finds them further refining the sound, there are no surprises , you know what you are getting , it is more of a question as to how fresh they are keeping. "Necromantic Fantasies " does not feel as inspired. Lyrically there is more of a focus on  the human condition than horror framed as Satanic gibberish.  "Crawling King Chaos" is more of the same old same old from them. 

The operatic soprano vocals play a larger role on "Black Smoke Curling From the Lips of War" .  They slow down and get a little more deliberate with the riffing to accommodate this .  Making this a half way decent song. Which considering how long these guys have been at it is the least we should expect from them. 'the Dying of the Embers" is the first song that catches my intention, there is a more rock n roll flavored riffs that stands out in the landscape of shifting dynamics. Dani's vocals works well with this here. The next great song is " Suffer Dominion" . The samples involved help create the mood for the narrative. 

There is a better sense of songwriting on the hookier "Us, Dark , Invincible".  It goes to show heavy music can still be catchy. Granted decades for them to finely tune it past the point of battering your ear drums almost annoyingly and bookending it with spooky melodrama.  "Sisters of the Mist " proves when they lean into their more thrashy influences the results are better.  The last song kinda splits the difference on it and reminds me of what Europe might sound like if they were a black metal band. I will give this album a 7. It sounds good for what it is, but feels like they are punching a well oiled time clock than really writing songs with a passion for what they do.

Carach Angren : "Frankensteina Strataemontanus"

I normally have to brace myself for the theatrical narrative of this band, but this album is about "Frankenstein" or at least monsters as the lyrics from the first song throws black cats and other ghoulds into the mix. The drums are a little thin and the vocals are way up front. Might just need head phones for this album. They stay at a pretty speedy pace, but while in the same sonic zip code as Cradle of Filth, I prefer what these guys do. The bounce to the title track gives a nice groove that I can get on board with. Not as heavy, but it is cool,There is also carnival like bounce to "the Necromancer'. They are like a more playful less proggy version of Sigh with how the strings sit on "Sewn for Solitude" . The sung vocals are even better than when they first appear. Not giving a hook , but introspective musing. Normally the vocals are an articulate snarl.

They get more death metal on "Operation Compass" . It gets more melodic as it progresses. "Monster" is more deliberatly paces almost likea death metal version of Tom Waits. "Der Vampir von Number" we have skipped over to Nazi scientists, so maybe it is the concept of re-animating that this album is about unless we are tying that into Frankenstein mythology , which the movie  "Frankenstein's Army' did. This song is more jarring in the fun house turns it takes. They return to the heaviness on "Skull With a Forked Tongue" . It is not in your face a hundred percent, but has a more aggressive death metal drive aside from how a few blast beats are used. We are not even going to talk about what happened with these guys being black metal as they crossed that bridge moons ago. The drumming is pretty impressive how he comes around the kit. Their synth player is also earning his pay, every one else does their job and serves the song , but do not take the spotlight.

"Like a Conscious Parasite Roam" could very well be a Dimmu Borgir song, as it indulges in symphonic bloat. It loses the flair that gives this band it's personality. While well done it could be one of a hundred symphonic metal bands. They regain their sense of self on "Fredrick's Explosion" that loses some of the song writing magic they had and feels like Stephen King dialing in an edngin just to finish. Overall this is one of their better albums so I will give it a 9. If you are a fan you will like it.

Nightwish : "Human, : ll : Nature."

"Dark Passion Play" was the last album by these guys that I was super into . This is my first time with them since they joined up with Floor Jansen. She is has more of a Kate Bush influence in how she phrashing things with a more progressive touch, than the gothic symphonic soprano of Tarja. Annette was more rock n roll mixed folk. The progressive touches extended past Floor's vocal stylings and into the arrangement of the opening track. There is more of an operatic drama to "Noise". It is also more metal . Though overall compared to their past work the metal side of the band has been dialed back. The male vocals backing her don't have the kind of grit they used to. What plays into the song's favor as the drive it has.

They retain the more progressive touch going into "Shoemaker". The male vocals play a larger role when the song breaks down. They have a more set formula with their sound than the song writing here. Things are so well executed and produced it's hard to fault them for anything except maybe not being as heavy as they once were. "Harvest"  is so happy it sounds like it could be Christian rock. "Pan" starts off  more piano than flute which thematically is a problem. I can also here how some of the theatrics are beginning to get to me. The trashier guitars are a plus though. I think part of the problem is the bass is low in the mix. Having the bass more present in the mix particularly when you are dealing with music that has power metal tendencies is important, because you can have operatic bombast and still sound heavy, case in point Iron Maiden.

"How's the Heart" is more radio rock, but it is well written. The melodies are strong. Two things that will sell me on this kind of music. I think one thing that says a great deal about this band is how after the first two singers they still manage to retain their sound no matter then singer, that sound is just more metal at some times than others. "Procession" works for what they do it's subtly darker than the previous ones. They get even darker and heavier with "Tribal" which proves you can still have symphonic elements in your metal if you do it this way. This is without question the album's heaviest moment so far." Endlessness" is back to a more progressive melodrama. The bass sound improves. The male vocals take on a little bit more of a rock touch, it is not as aggressive as what they used to do. If they had made a rock version of "Cats" the sound might have been similar. The vocals are almost whispered, that makes me wonder why does he not sing with more balls, is it his age?

 Did I mention this is a double album? Well it is. They continue the conceptual sounding theatrics. "Vista" is almost so symphonic that it sounds like it is from a Disney movie. This second album is not metal or even rock, it's more like a film score. Since they are more like movements in a larger symphony they run together "Moors" stands out as it uses more folk instrumentation. l will just score this based off the first album and not the symphonic second one, which plays to the band's favor.  I will give it an 8.5, better than most of this sort of thing, though a clear example of why I do not listen to this sort of thing in the first place.

Dimmu Borgir : " Eonian"

An 8 year wait from an album is asking a lot. These guys are one of my favorite bands. I don't expect them to be black metal, I expect them to do what they do. This involves their ever evolving sound that retains the core of who they are. The opener " the Unveiling", finds Shagrath croaking his way through the verses. There is a huge choral sound midway into the song. This confirms they are more of a symphonic metal band than a black metal band. I heard "Inter dimensional Summit" before the album came out , while I think the choral refrain used for the chorus is a little over top and some of the melodies could stand to be darker overall the song works. The blast beats are sparse and subtle often place under guitar riffs that are more staccato, the galloped groove are more the meat of the matter on songs like "Aetheric".  I can see how a point of contention for some might be the fact that rather than using one powerhouse metal vocalist like ICS Vortex they are employing an entire choral section to tackle places clean vocal hooks would be.

The songwriting has been refined to the point of polishing off the edge even their last studio album held, though it's not as drastic as what I was bracing myself for due to reviews I had read going into this. I like the darker intro to "Council of Wolves and Snakes" . I noticed when I leave this album on it is like the songs are movements in a larger work. This song breaks that up and sits on it's own a little more than most where some of the others run together. So far it's one of the album's darker moments and since they are no longer black metal, all I am asking them is to be dark and not Nightwish. The chorus singing " We are gods in the making" works better than some of the more grandiose moments early on.  The first song I found to be generic filler that just takes a bunch of parts that sounds like Dimmu and throws them together with less inspiration is "the Empyrean Phoenix".

This album is mixed in a way that is so clean you have to really play it loudly for it be truly heavy. I noticed this when it comes to the majestic stomp opening "Lightbringer". The double bass could stand to have more guts in the low end, but gives me what I need from these guys. They use King Diamond like vocals going into "I am Sovereign" then it is less inspired from there. They do come back and prove to be my favorite part of the song. Though they hit a pretty wicked groove after the second time and that's not even half way into the song. So there is a ton being crammed into these songs. The double bass is cool "Archaic Correspondence"  along with impressive experimentation with programming. They also give me just one singular voice singing rather than 30. Though this still had to grow on me. They need to get rid of the major intervals the choral sections sing on "Alpha Aeon Omega" it's too happy. "Rite of Passage" thankfully breaks up things by avoiding the formula that was beginning to develop. It's more mournful than dark, but that still works. Though as an instrumental it's more of an outro. I'll round this one up to a 9, which when all of their other albums are 10s is a little bit of a let down considering the wait for this, but them dialing it in is better than most bands can do on a good day.

Kamelot : "The Shadow Theory"

The album opens with "Phantom Divine" which is certainly good enough to help me continue to get over the fact Khan is not coming back. It's pretty much what you want from Kamelot other wise. Not their heaviest song, but not weighed down by an over abundance of symphonic fluff. Not that the symphonic elements are not in the synths lines, they just don't obscure the fact this is a metal band. Karevik gets credit for a very nuanced vocal performance that is high lighted on " Ravenlight". This album marks the debut of new drummer Johan Nunez from Firewind / Nightrage. He has a punchier double style. They wrestle with wanting to get heavier and the generals pit falls on modern power metal on "Amnesiac". They combat these very same power metal moments on "Burns to Embrace" with a quirky almost folk metal syncopation in places that feels like they just put more thought into this one. The guitar solo is very tasteful for this sort of thing as well.

For this kind of melodic power/ prog metal the songs are very compact. They throw a lot i in under the six minute mark. "In Twilight Hours" feels like it is going to be too much of a sappy piano ballad going into it.The female vocals that trade off with him don't help things stray from Celine Dion territory. It's just cheese all the way around . I would much rather have another song along the lines of "Kevlar Skin" that than. "Kevlar Skin" has enough muscle to it's chug to compensate for the more frolicking build the song speeds up into.  I would not say this song is as good as any track off "Ghost Opera" but it works for what they are doing now. This album doesn't feel as thematic as the others. The keyboards that open the more up beat "Static" could appear on most of the songs, but lyrically they are all over the place. Its the chorus where things seem to border on being too happy. The verses are darker and more brooding then it's like they hit the jack pot at a self help seminar.  This was not an issue with Roy Khan.

"Mindfall Remedy" takes another stab at getting heavy. Here is my theory. Karevik might have more colors to his vocals, but Roy Khan had more balls. The inclusion of growls vocals in the background, is not unfamiliar to what these guys do , but I am not sure it is as convincing as what we have heard them do in the past.  As  you might know the rule around here is "cool riffs alone do not a good song make" here this could be applied to vocal phrases , as there we be a cool passage that pops in here or there on "Stories Unheard" that keep it from being totally middle of the road , color by numbers by a few degrees. "Vespertine"  finds more balls in the solo section , but is otherwise to hopeful mood wise for me to really connect to it. This persists to a greater extent on " the Proud and the Broken". It is this problem that makes me round this down to a 7.5. To put this in perspective "Ghost Opera" was a 10. Sure I have continued to out grow power metal, so some of the cheese I can stomach a little less, but these guys used to be dark enough to make me not have so say "Oh, they are good for power metal"  Power metal should be as good as any other genre I can think of a dozen awesome power metal albums this one is just an " Ok for what it is " which is still better than most modern music of this kind.

Gothtober- Moonspell :"1755"

The long time gothic metal act from Portugal is back with a concept album. The title refers to  the  year an earthquake hit Lisbon, which is the story this album tells. So it' a good thing it's sung in their native tongue rather than English since that is an odd story for these guys to tell. It's hyper dramatic with the vocals being barked out in his gruff voice. Exotic instrumentation  joins the big choral arrangement that over accents the song's punches on the title track. The more gritty vocal approach works better for what they are doing here. "In Tremor Dei" has more groove than the first two songs. The big chorus that makes everything sound like something from "The Omen" sound track is present for this song as well. They stomp along more of a middle road here as it's neither death metal or doom. Sung vocals come in midway into this song , though they are not of the Type O Negative variety that these guys used to employ.

Production wise this album sounds really good. It would have to considering all the elements they have added to their sound here. The whose title translates to "Disaster" has a riff that would not sound out of place on a more recent Ozzy solo album. It gets a little more tempo than what Ozzy would do and the vocals continue using a more Sepultura like approach. They continue to stay on the middle of the road, making this feel like symphonic metal. The vocals start sounding a little stale once we get to "Abanao". The problem becomes for this to be metal I need it go to some extreme in once direction or another. The narrative doesn't really invoke any feelings of depression , dread or even anger. I need metal to at the very least be aggressive. I often complain that death  metal is only focused on aggression, while this is true that is a feeling they can sell me on. But I also don't go see disaster films.

"Evento" struggles to reach thrashing speed. There is not enough power behind it to make me bob my head. So nothing here is really drawing me in. It sounds good and is put together well, but there is nothing below the surface. "November 1st" finds attempting to somewhat sing a little more. I guess it's a good thing he is not doing to the crooning as when I some him try to attempt it live it was typically terrible. The riffs sound like Ozzy b-sides. Though the sung vocals that come in as the song progresses are an improvement if that is him. "Ruins" is another mid tempo stomp that seems like it might go over better live. It's one of the first songs that shows memory of their goth past. The last song also brings out some of the ghosts of their past. I think the use of synths here is more well done than the bulk of melodramatic orchestrations that have made most of the songs on this album feel the same. I'll round this album down to a 7.5. They play all the right notes , but miss most of the heart strings they should be pulling.

Cradle of Filth : "Cryptoriana the Seductiveness of Decay"

These guys continue to polish what their brand of dark symphonic metal.

Misteyes : "Creeping Time"

The beauty and the beast dynamic is at work here. This is heavier than I thought it would be going into it. Death metal vocals clash with the operatic female vocals . The symphonic metal waltzes around with tight chugs. There is some interesting bass playing taking place in the murk of the song. Very progressive in the arrangements, the song is written in movements more than the traditional verse chorus model. They really milk a lot out of the six and a half minutes. With a title like "Brains in a Vat" we can't be too shocked that the second song is more death metal than the first. This Italian band is a little darker than most takes on symphonic metal. "Inside the Golden Cage" finds them conforming a little more closely to the balance of opera and metal that early Nightwish struck. These guys are just willing to take it a little further and dip harder into the metal. There are a few sections here and there that get as theatric as King Diamond or Cradle of Filth.

The melodrama thickens with the piano intro and the more balladic vocal that starts off "Lady Loneliness". She is a talented singer, but her choice of melodies often leans to what dances around the song rather than fits tightest in it like a rock singer would. It builds more gracefully than you might think and flows as well as any other band in their pirate boots. "The Prey" hammers in much harder with the tight double bass of modern death metal. The two styles are not blended as gracefully as they are on the previous song. Their singer hits some impressive notes in her soprano register, she is by and large a Sarah Brightman worshipper. It's not until the song breaks down in the middle that it really hits it's stride. The guitarists and the drummer are all very skilled at their trade and these guys nail the execution. I think some of the pretense could be slightly shed to appeal to my tastes, but for the typical crowd who is into this stuff in Europe it will go over well.

"Destroy Your Past" focuses more on a modern metal groove until the soprano vocals come in. The good cop/ bad cop trade off with the growled male vocals is not overly formulaic, when the growls reach above the guttural death metal style they sound a little like a less annoying Dani Filth.This song is pretty tightly written with only winding drum fills sometimes slowing it's momentum, until the really elegant acoustic passage comes in.It's pretty unexpected, so if you can surprise me you are doing something right."The Demon of Fear" is heavier and has some impressive piano soloing but doesn't draw me in like some of the earlier songs. The Phantom of the Opera homage "A Fragile " feels more like an interlude rather than a song that is cohesive with this album despite the fact this is a part of who they are as a band. It's a fast forward classic to my ears. Of course "Chaos(Awaken the Beast)" is going to be heavier. They play it pretty safe and leave the symphonic elements in the closet for this one. They blend heavy with their symphonic bag of tricks, which you don't realize how much you appreciate them until they set the cello section aside for a song. I think one of this band's strengths is the fact they can dazzle you without taking you on long sprawling prog epics that don't seem like metal songs. "Decapitated Rose" might not be the album's strongest song, but it does high light a good balance of dynamics. the clean vocals are kinda weird as it sounds like the backing vocals from a Frank Zappa song.

 They close with the eight minute "Winter's Judgement". For these guys an eight minute song is really letting themselves thicken the melodrama. When it does begin to build into metal, the vocals have the kinda of rasp that band's like Emperor and Cradle of Filth took away from "Them" era King Diamond. This darkens things up which in turn makes it a easier sale on me. At the strongest moments it sounds like more straightforward Dimmu, but the Night Wish like fringes at a lacey undercoating. Overall this album is surprising and fans of symphonic metal will find a fresh  and heavier approach to the genre. I'll give it an 8.

Leaves Eyes : King of Kings"

I Haven't reviewed any big overwrought symphonic metal in sometime so lets take a stab at this one. It opens with more of a folk metal feel, which I prefer to a horde of cellos chiming in, but it's merely an intro piece as the more Nightwish like title track proves to be the first song. The first thing I notice is that former Theater of Tragedy singer Liv Kristine's vocal has gotten stronger and more operatic. The album is a concept album that tells the story of Harald Fairhair the first King of Norway. "Halvdan the Black" finds things getting really Nighwish like, with layers of vocals and a pretty straight ahead power metal chug. Truth be told this kind of music has always been power metal for goth kids who outgrew Lacuna Coil. These guys can play and know how to fuse dynamics, in fact this album has more kick than what I have previously heard from them.

There are a few formulas these bands tap into one of them is get off to a delicate start, driving drum beat, not metal but not quite pop either though the vocal could have come from any anime soundtrack and then build it up from there. They mix the guitars a little further back than some to achieve this effect. The drummer doesn't relent on the double bass when this comes about. So now in rating this album I find myself looking for the moments that are uniquely Leaves Eyes and are not afraid to stray from the book of Symphonic Metal 101. Its moments like the Bag pipes and other folk instruments frolicking in the interlude before "Vengeance Venom" that is a clearer direction of where the band should go and while these elements are sprinkled about if pushed forward in the mix then the band would be onto something. Never the less the elements that are there keep things varied enough to make this one of the first real stand outs to me. There is a more melodramatic take on the folk thing on the double bass driven "Sacred Vow" which finds a more pop tone taken while she sings about the viking nation waging warfare.But like this kind of thing or not you have to admit Leaves Eyes are just as formidable as any of the other diva metal bands.

The divas battle it out as Simone Simons shows up for "Edge of Steel" which has some of the albums most metal riffing on it. There voices blend well. After the more folkish interlude "Blazing Waters" Linda Fay Hella from Wardruna lends her voice to this one. For what it is it is well done, it just depends how much frilly shirted bombast you can take with your metal. They do combine this with more folk on the closing song "Swords in Rock". You know for what this is it's well done , there is nothing on it that makes me cringe , I will acknowledge I am not the biggest fan of this sort of thing aside from Kamelot, who is a little darker and heavier , even with the more growled death metal vocals that sometimes scream out from the background on this album. There is not a lot of darkness , however they have pulled off the preformance they intended which is ambitous so they deserve and 8 for that.

Up From the Underground : CalatrilloZ's "Psalms of Zahyin"

Don't let the false advertising of Calatriloz's corpse paint fool you they are keeping the halls of power metal open. Often the redheaded stepchild of metal these days, Power Metal has a proven staying power. It has been around longer than thrash, death and black metal. Having it's roots in the first wave of British Metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, whose edgier hard rock drive balance out some of the gaudier Dungeons & Dragons trappings fully embraced by another one of the pioneers Ronnie James Dio . The fact that the genre really came to it's own in the 80s the same decade that saw hair-metal as the poster-child for arena metal, often makes power metal guilty by associates. It does share the falsetto yodels that immediately bring the 80s to mind. Calatrilloz  might not go as over the top with hitting notes only a dog can hear, but does have a similar operatic quality. The layered vocals are pretty soaring. It only takes the first song to conclude that if you are into symphonic progressive metal, then these guys are well worth your time. 

So the challenge for Calatrilloz is not to get mired down by the over indulgent pretense of the 80s, but pay homage to the roots of the genre. It's a very delicate balancing act.  The chug to "I'm Alive". The guitar has some ample blues licks holding the solos down rather than it just being shredding for the point of shredding. Vocals are always way up from for this genre. While they have a some of the majestic sway of Kamelot  and "Ghost Opera" could very well be one of the albums that inspired this, the singer is not just doing a Geoff Tate impersonation. If you were going to say he sounded like any one I would say Dennis De Young of Styx. To be from England the accent is coming from somewhere else. I can also hear strains of Crimson Glory, which is much more welcomed than the typical Helloween  or Iron Maiden lite. "The Long Winding Road" is pretty ambitious to the point of sacrificing some of the heavier elements, with the only edge being the bridge that is a little darker. When they roll out the Victorian pageantry on " A Glimpse at a Fool's Destiny" the hints of darkness return to an even greater extent after the refrain four minutes in. the arrangements are meticulous. Every thing transitions smoothly and the only problems I have with these guys are the similar problems I have with even the likes of Kamelot Some of the gaudy romanticism takes the metal edge off of things. "Z The Psychopath" is rightfully the heaviest song on the album. This is slightly compromised on the brighter melody where he sings" I can't stand it / I won't let it."

These guys are going to be converting any one who doesn't at least own a Queensryche. fans are still split when it comes to the use of actual singing rather than death metal growls, however fans of the genres more melodic leanings and penchant for keen musicianship will find plenty to sink there teeth into. Though not as hard as Iced Earth or even Symphony X they understand the classical element of neo-classical and have created an impressive piece of work. 

 

Nightwish: "Endless Forms of Beautiful"

I have liked Nightwish more in the past than you thought I might have. 2007/ 2008 was the peak of my interest in the band. Now after replacing their replacement singer the band have thrown their new singer t the wolves on the new album. It sounds like they want to carry more than her fair share and she need their help on this one. It doesn't sound like she finds her voice until "Elan". I have noticed this about the bands previous work , but on this album it's more apparent that they should be making soundtracks for melodramatic anime.

These songs begin to make you think that her voice doesn't have the balls to it their previous singers have had even when preoccupied with operatics, this is later corrected. The folk elements are still intact, but the band could stand to darken things up, this is way too happy, like the lyrics say they are dancing a jig at the funereal. They do gather a more powerful chug on "Your is an Empty Hope" which finds Floor Jansen bringing more metal to the mic.This would have been a better choice of an opening song."Our Decades in the Sun" finds Floor relishing the songs ballad like qualities. The  guitar here is pretty tasteful, and though this kind of fluff isn't my thing , they are doing a good job of it. It is not unlike some of the post-Roy Khan Kamelot.

The album doesn't find the groove Nightwish needs to be in until "My Walden" then they hit the perfect blend of power-metal and folk that makes them who they are. Floor finally figures out what she is supposed to do with this band. The chorus is pretty happy, but it works for Nightwish and is consistent in the type of post- "Once" metal they kept churning out after Tarja left. The title track ebb and flows with another good cross section of metal with pop folk. To me the big choruses are on the cheese laden 80s side, but I also prefer black metal over power-metal. The intro of "Edema Ruh" sounds like it's going to go into something from a Disney princess film, but breaks down into a more subdued pop. There is some impressive guitar work sprinkled over it all.

"Alpenglow" sticks to a formula that at this point in the album is beginning to feel worn out. Sometimes Floor's melodies carry a little more bite than others. While she is going out saying it's the leak of the first single that is ruining the albums sales it's more likely going to be word of mouth that her studio debut with the band is pretty lukewarm. "The Eyes of Sharbut Gula" really needs to bring it at this point, but it's just an interlude leading up to the twenty three minute epic" the Greatest Show on Earth". This is a dramatic symphonic build for the first six minutes until any sign of rocking out occurs after a brief narrative. It finally gets heavy. Floor voice is coated in effect making me wonder why this hasn't been happening for the rest of the album. The first hints that she might actually be the soprano her bios all say she is. If she is she must be a second soprano, she doesn't wander to much above an alto register.They are none the less ambitious here so I'll give this an 8, but I don't think it's an album that I need to own.

Unfathomed of Abyss:"Arisen Upon Oblivion"

This Texas based project is the sole work of Kevin Price , who employed Kevin Talley of Dying Fetus / Daath fame to provide the drums . Price forsakes the more organic approach taken by the flux of American Black metal band and goes off on it's own path woven from a discordant geometry.  Opening with a 14 minute "To Unequal the Balance of the Cosmos" the album gets off to an oddly uncertain beginning. The uneven mix is some what a distraction, not that black metal is always known for the best production. The lo-fi "Necro" sound tends to work better for rawer more atmospheric shades of black metal. While Kevin Talley is certainly not shabby as a drummer, he is not a black metal drummer and a drummer more versed in the genre would have known where to throw in the appropriate blast beats to create the desired sound. Never the less Talley does ore than just dial it in, adding a few creative accents of his own.

The main element of black metal to this album are the vocals do captured to most Emperor growls, with more  death metal like  lows providing a good  counterpoint to the more Ihsahn like snarls. The vocals sit better placed in the mix that the keyboards that sound like they are a little lost in the song as the moan in the forefront like ghosts trying to find their way through purgatory. The darker doomy passages the song ends with is one of the song's stronger moments. The angular dissonance that pervades the song  works best when it allows it self to melt into something looking more like free form jazz.

The second song finds the guitar is fuller and  the drums are really far back in the mix. These placements shift over the course of the album, mainly with the synths and guitars trading placing for the spotlight, though always leaving the drums in the distance. I suppose they were recorded at Talley's Florida Studio and emailed over, which seems to be more common practice for session drummers. Saving travel expense and they can bang out a few of these sort of things in an afternoon. People aren't buying records so you gotta do something to pay the bills. Perhaps it's the compression crammed onto them in the transfer that create the distant element, it just feels like an odd karaoke of sorts.

It seems when shorter and sweeter the song are often heavier. There is much more of an atmospheric death metal vibe to "Within the Glory of Other Lights", making me question if this is really black metal, sure it's dark and has the dissonance, the vocal when reaching up into a more venomous register are more black metal than death metal, but it lacks some key elements like tremolo picking and blast beats. This is flirted with on "Within the Glory..."  There is almost a Meshuggah like pound to the bass at times that would make this more aligned with death metal. Despite what ever genre it is aligned to it's heavy and effective.

The more conventional black metal sound finally emerges from it's tomb on "To  Nothing" which is also one of the album's strongest songs.Like the Emperor comparison is not unfounded, it is much more like Ihsahn's solo works than say "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk". "Within the Void' does hit the perfect balance in what this project sets out to do , set the more atmospheric elements against an angular tangle of progressive mathematics. Where it falls short of say coming closer to Emperor is at their heart despite all the pageantry and progressive elements Emperor's main goal was to grab you by the throat and none of these song do that for long before indulging themselves in the atonal poly rhythmic grandiosity.When it comes to doing this sort of thing around here...well we know Ihsahn personally so the black metal bar is raised pretty high. But I think if you go into this expecting something more along the lines of Cold World, that is heavier on the atmosphere than the metal, but in doing so creates a more spectral oppression of it's own, then you have a better idea where this is going to be coming from.

He gets credit for aiming high.  Really the production is  this albums only problem and it's mainly where everything is placed in the mix. The vocals are well executed and I think there are plenty of good ideas here. I think if he took this project in a more atmospheric death metal direction like Ulcerate , it would really shine. What's missing is a certain nastiness and sense of evil or disturbance missing since most American Black Metal bands are more about catharsis rather than darkness. Price is obviously going for something different here and he is successful at creating something that defies most genres unless you want to string them all together and say it's Atmospheric blackened death metal, with an emphasis on the atmosphere, there is certainly nothing wrong with that it just takes a few listens for it to settle in and properly unsettle you.

Equilibrium: "Erdentempel"

We recently started D&D nights on Sunday at our house, and of course the fitting soundtrack is to put Last Fm on "folk metal" radio. Last night my girlfriend rediscovered this band, so I decided to give their latest album a shot. It's much more symphonic than I expected almost like Night Wish without the female vocals. The Folk metal scale tends to be very major and happy so that is one thing the genre normally has going against it for me.

These ale swigging Germans have been pumping out this sort of thing since 2001. They know what they are doing and all the songs flow very smoothly. The 3rd song "Karawane" is the first song on the album that strikes me as being heavy, the frolicking is in full effect early on. The first two songs employ things like speedy almost power metal like gallops and growled vocals, the rousing clean vocals are sparser than expected. They do join in on the chorus like movements. The Celtic like instrumentation rolls along the same lines as the Night Wish riffs. Composition is one of this band's strong suits as the songs are relativly catchy and pieced together in almost movements, so the chorus are more like a dynamic melody that swings in rather than the typical arrangement.

Some of the album's happier moments would annoy me if I wasn't at Dragon Con.From time they dip into a more rock n roll, at others they are more symphonic death metal, so there is a lot going on here. Some of the more progressive elements offset the happy vibe and take it to a more Jethro Tull place. "Freiflug" is another of the album's strong points, it is epic but still has some balls and aggression it, while not forsaking melody. However "Heavy Chill" defaults back into the more power metal mode.

"Wirtshaus Gaudi" brings the heavy back, surprisingly in the days where everything is trying to be black something or another, they do not , instead as the album moves forward the delve in quirky bits of gypsy polka.There are some moments when they hit all the same classic ride into battle glory moments all the other bands of this ilk indulge in, but their song writing generally sets them apart. The seems to be key as "Wellengang" works in the context in which is is used , by taking what could have been a power ballad melody and chugging over it.

They do take more twists and turns on "Apokalypse", which is one of the album's heavier moments.They close on a proggy note with "Unknown Episode" and it's very 80's sounding keyboards.The vocals get even more guttural to offset this with mixed results.Overall I enjoyed this album for what it is, not sure how much mileage aside from Dragon Con I will get out of this , but if this sort of high fanstasy metal is your thing round it up from the 8 I am giving it to a 9.

Therion : Les Fleurs Du Mal

It's safe to say if you are waiting around for something really brutal to happen on aTherion album then you haven't been around for sometime. Where their last album " Sitra Ahra " wasan outlandish occultic caberet, their newest effort, is less Andrew Loyd Weber and shoots for Puccini . It's too romancitc and delicate at times for the more metal comparisons of say Wagner. the emphasis is more on the symphonic than the metal though the songs are more concise and plentiful with sixteen tracks .though the first three sound all like one song to me though,give me a another listen and I'll get back to you on that.

I really dig the sultry turn the female vocals take on the song " initials b.b " the song has more swagger to it than you would expect Swedes to be capable of.  The bulk of this is duets some stellar bass playing. The guitar on this does remind me a little of  " dr feelgood " .  The song pretty much sticks to one groove and a lot of the keyboard. Parts reming me of the opening theme to " Game of thrones".

Winter is not coming so soon, as they back off for some moonlight contemplation. The female vocals draw Nightwish comparisons and not unlike the last album it's in the same territory of metal though mostly darker and if I say goth its frilly shirt Theater of  Trajedy variety not Sisters of Mercy flavored

"Polichinelle" is  more operatic, though it has the slight feel of Sigh , when the solos parade in, this song has a "fiddler on the roof" feel as it stil has movement rather than being an aria for the sake yodeling.

While they are not going to be everyone's cup of  tea, the operatic female vocals sound very genuine and do what they do better than even Tarja Turunen's pseudo diva warbles. How many time have you read in reviews that some one is a trained opera singer ? Just Becuase your voice teacher has you sing out of one of those fifty Italian songs for the female voice doesn't mean you are trained to sing opera. The catch here is even her best dramatic soprano begins to make her parts all sound the same.

I miss Snowy Shaws  vocals even if he was only on one Dimmu album, he has a quirkiness to his tone which negates the power metal cheese leaning.  He could have really off set this album and I don't feel he is being utilized enough here.

The guitar work on the last album was more interesting, the solos had colors of their own to add to the musical land scape being laid out. Here it seems obligatory much like Transiberian Orchestra where it's almost like they are trying to say.

" oh yeah , did I mention we are also a Rock band, so don't let that other Yanni non sense fool ya"

After repeat listens the song " Mon amour, mon ami" grows on me as it is dark enough where a lot of these other arias are a little too much like one of Sarah Brightman's albums where she is pretending to be an opera singer because she was in a musical about one. Metal with classical aspirations can be done effectively as long as the band is not apologetic about being a metal band, Therion's problem is they try to hide this fact,allowing strings to take a more dominate role than what is most effective. So it end sup being mediocre classical music with guitars doubling what a bass section would be doing. The guitars are often too low in the mix which clues me into the albums guilty conscience. At their most present the stay on a night wish chug never building up to the needed gallop.

"dis moi poupee" starts with goth affected vocals ans then waltzes off into middle of the road opera territory. The guitar solo is rather decent in this one, but the build swell of the chorus chiming in distracts from the rest of the song.

With a song entitled "Lilith" I wold have expected something a little darker, which is a reoccurring theme with this album. Theres some nice bass playing on it and the chorus of layered vocals is not as intrusive here.

"en Alabama" gets off to a good start but the male vocals cock block the chorus. The song has a good slink to it otherwise but it's almost like a lacuna coil thing where the males vocals come in and spray a canister of hard on begone.

Snowy Shaw's thunder get stolen after he delivers a Ripper Owens quality yodel, things get happy and feel like they devolve into a Blind Guardian song. If you think that's a good thing you don't know that I view that flavor of power metal as randy eld music, and elves are way less metal than dwarves or even hobbits.

The arias keep coming with more divas than devils at this party is a misstep, by the last two songs I begin to think this might have been better branded under a different name. When a gallop does resurface it lacks any real drive, perhaps this is a production mistake? Granted this was one I was surprised to see had come out so it's not like my expectations were very high or it is an album I eagerly anticipated, so I'm pretty objective here and in fact trying to make allowances for what they they are trying to do. I will go ahead and give this one a 4 , if you like flowery power metal that is more Sarah Brightman than Manowar you might even add a point, not sure how Therion fans will react to this offering as metal is less of a color than the powdered wig feel to the majority of the album.



n the last album.