Review: Soilwork - The Living Infinite

Band: Soilwork

Album: The Living Infinite

Year: 2013

Country: Sweden

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

I really haven’t heard anything bad so far of the releases I have listened to so far this year. It seems Soilwork will continue this trend with The Living Infinite, which is a large offering and supposedly the first double album released by a melodic death metal band. For me Soilwork’s first 3 releases should be required listening for anyone interesting in experiencing melodic death. Yeah, I’m one of those guys who holds up their early releases as being great and writes off the rest. In fact you can say the band pulled an “In Flames” and after those albums  became very mainstream and softened their approach. So its with much pleasure that I say this  is a much welcomed return to form.

It’s interesting to note that neither of the guitarists were in the band around the period of Steelbath Suicide to A Predator’s Portrait which is funny because a lot of the riffing sounds exactly like those time periods. In fact a lot of the material like Spectrum of Eternity, This Momentary Bliss, and Realm of the Wasted sound like a mating between the thrashiness of The Chainheart Machine and melody heavy (and clean vocals) of A Predator’s Portrait fused together. The second CD is a bit more darker and experimental with a number of tracks slowing down, the opening instrumental Entering Aeons being quite doomy while Owl’s Predict, Oracles Stand Guard also stays at a far slower doom type pace until it gets close to the end. But all the riffs compiled from both CDs have one thing in common, they have quality melodic riffs whether fast or slow. I can’t say there are any bad guitar parts of the 20 songs on the release.

Bjorn Strid uses his screams to great affect and sounds more like he did in his early days though sometimes going down to lower growls to switch things up. His clean singing is really good and he has a strong voice. I’m glad its not whiny or it could have spelled doom for the album. In fact his cleans are so good that I would not mind if he had a project where he only sung as Antidotes In Passing clearly shows he can go a whole song only singing and do quite well.

The drumming by Dirk Verbeuren is incredibly well handled and is very much a highlight and important part of making The Living Infinite sound the way it does. He displays a lot of energy through the drumming and shows major chops, its very fun stuff to listen to.  Ola Fink sticks to playing along with the guitars a lot though he is turned up just enough in the mix to be heard and in some songs gets to the forefront like in Drowning With Silence where he gets a sort of bass break during the bridge. Keyboards are also very tastefully done by Sven Karlsson and never overstep their bounds.

Something I find  really cool about this double album is the fact that each CD seems to go by so quickly since these are all quality songs. You would think at 20 tracks it would drag somewhere along the way, maybe even on both discs at some point. But instead before you know it each is over and my guess is its because its such a good listening experience, you know the old saying “time flies when you’re having fun” surely applies here. There is no filler, not a single throw away track. It’s really impressive that Soilwork were able to create two albums worth of music and keep it interesting all the way through. While disc one is aggressive and has a lot of fast paced thrashing action the second is a little more experimental and they seem to complement each other very well. While there are a few slower tracks overall The Living Infinite reminds me heavily of their earlier material and I couldn’t be more pleased at how it turned out.

Score: 9.5/10

Standout Tracks: Spectrum of Eternity, This Momentary Bliss, Tongue, Vesta, Long Live the Misanthrope, Antidotes In Passing, The Living Infinite II

Review: Mutiny Within - Synchronicity

Band: Mutiny Within

Album: Synchronicity

Year: 2013

Country: USA

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

While I personally enjoyed Mutiny Within’s self titled first album apparently they didn’t sell very well and broke up. Now a few years later they reformed for a second go around with Synchronicity. The band is still playing its semi-technical/progressive melodic death metal and if you enjoyed their first release then you are going to be very pleased here.

The vocals Chris Clancy put out on Synchronicity are just as powerful as they were on the S/T. The guy has just got a great singing voice very akin to what you might normally hear in a power metal band. Yet at the same time he also has a decent growl as well. The growling ranges from high pitched to a more common “normal” type of growl. Clancy’s singing though is really where he shines.

If you are familiar with the band’s last album then you won’t be surprised that this one is chock full of melodic riffing. The majority of the riffs are uplifting and while any normal person would think they were really quite heavy those who are accustomed to listening to metal would probably say it’s a little weak. And they wouldn’t be wrong, though I highly doubt being heavy or aggressive is anywhere in the band’s mission statement.  Still there are moments in Machine and the bridge of In My Veins where the band noticeably cranks things up.

I really enjoy the drumming of Bill Fore as its more technical and energetic than that of many drummers in the genre they play in. Yet the drumming isnt overly technical and doesn’t become pretentious wankery. And Fore seems to know very well when its appropriate to go full blast and when to slow down.  Now apparently Andrew Jacobs played bass on this album but I didn’t hear it at all. Chock it up to the usual mixing of the bass out of the music and not enough breathing room between the guitars and bass to make it audible.

When it comes down to it Synchronicity is very much the predecessor to Mutiny Within and it wouldn’t be wrong to say this is like the second part of that album. Here we have heaps of melody, a great vocalist, riffs, and superb drumming.  And for me it’s Embers, In My Veins, and Falls to Pieces that really blew me away though there isn’t a filler track on the album.

Score: 9/10

Standout Tracks: Embers, In My Veins, Falls to Pieces

Review: World Under Blood - Tactical

Band: World Under Blood
Album: Tactical
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

World Under Blood is the brainchild of CKY front man Deron Miller. While I do enjoy a few songs by that band, I wouldn't say I'm overall a fan of theirs. Still, when I heard Miller had begun a metal project I have to admit I was intrigued. It seems you rarely hear of mainstream musicians jumping into the metal genre. What did he come up with?

WUB play what I guess you could call melodic death metal. The strange thing about it is that their music is both more technical and aggressive than your average run of the mill melodeath band. The guitars are played fast, sometimes at breakneck speeds for this sub-genre. I mean just check out A God Among the Waste or Into the Arms of Cruelty and the shredding that goes on there. The soloing is also intricate and pretty much integral to each song. There is even a nice little acoustic intro to Revere's Tears that slows things down a little.

The Drumming by Tim Yeung is really top notch stuff. The guy has got serious skills. There is a lot of blasting on the album and it stays just this side of being excessive. And the drumming is just as important as the guitar work on Tactical. I can't really speak for the bass as I don't especially remember hearing it. I'm guessing between the focus of the guitars and drum work it was kind of drowned out.

Miller turns out to have a really great voice whether it be for his cleans or or growls. Clean singing is pretty prominent and usually done during the chorus of a song. Though many times it is also layered over or under death growls. His growling ranges from a proper guttural death metal growl which is peppered throughout the album to his higher pitched more throaty scream which takes the forefront.

In my eyes Tactical is a success and something Derin Miller can be proud of. The band blends extreme metal and melody expertly and its a winning strategy. In fact I ended up listening to the album far more than I had to for the mere fact that I enjoyed it so much. It also helped that the band kept it to a respectable 33 minutes and 8 songs. I very much approve of their fewer songs but more quality.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: A God Among  the Waste, Into the Arms of Cruelty, Pyro-Compulsive, Under the Autumn Low

Review: Eluveitie - Helvetios

Band: Eluveitie
Album: Helvetios
Year: 2012
Country: Switzerland
Genre: Melodic Death/Folk Metal

Helvetios is my first trip into the discography of Eluveitie and it has left me with very a very mixed opinion. Unfortunately most of that opinion is negative but there are definitely some positives and some tracks on the album that make for an interesting listen. The Swiss band plays an amalgam of folk and melodic death metal. I personally have never delved into the folk genre myself so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

These days I'm not sure but some bands really try to push too much music onto one album. This can really hurt the overall feel. Helvetios suffers heavily from this with 17 tracks coming in at 59 minutes. This makes Helvetios a meandering long winded affair. In fact I've listened to the album 4 or 5 times and it is still difficult to pick out many songs from one another. That's not to say all the songs are bad or anything, but you could have easily cut the album in half and left the best tracks and had a really great album. Instead there are so many tracks that could have been trimmed that make this a hard listen to completely get through.

The only thing that makes it worth while are the good catchy tracks like Luxtos, Meet the Enemy, Havoc, and Uxellodunon peppered through out the album. These have the strongest riffs. Like I said before that doesn't mean the other songs are bad but they are painfully mediocre. A Rose for Epona stands out from the others probably because it starts off softly and gets heavier as it goes on and is entirely sung using female vocals. Otherwise most songs fail to differentiate themselves from one another, and they are rather "meh".

Vocally Chrigel Glanzmann has a rather "normal" harsh vocal style. They are rather standard when you look at the genre and the prevailing trends vocally. It's the clean vocals that are a bit more interesting. The female vocals appear here and there and are well done, especially on A Rose for Epona. The male singing done on Scorched Earth is especially good and sounds as if it was recorded by some bard from ancient times.

Helvetios is a pretty mediocre melodic death metal album. In fact if it weren't for the fact that the band heavily uses folk elements it would be your standard boring melodeath album without much to make it unique from others. But still even the folk metal fusion cannot save this album and bring it above the challenge that it is to get through. For every good song here there are one or two boring ones to follow it. Though there are still good songs here and that does count for something. Perhaps next time Eluveitie will try not to shove too many songs and too much material onto one cd.

Score: 4.5/10
Standout Tracks: Luxtos, Meet the Enemy, Havoc, Uzellodunon, A Rose for Epona

Review: Carcass - Heartwork

Band: Carcass
Album: Heartwork
Year: 1993
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Carcass started out as more of a grind band, and in fact are considered the founders of the goregrind genre. After their first two releases they moved on to what would be considered straight up death metal. Heartwork continues that progression further into a more melodic, simplified form of music. In fact this album itself is generally thought of as one of the first melodic death metal releases, and a classic of both death metal and melodic death metal.

Before I get to the band members themselves special mention needs to be made of the production. Firstly Heartwork has a very clean modern sound to it. So much so that even nearly 20 years later it sounds just as good as anything that is being released today. Having watched the documentary on the making of the album by the band you could tell much attention was paid to the guitar sound. It is one of the heaviest guitar tones I have heard and their hard work really paid off.

So it is mentioned in interviews that while writing the music for Heartwork the band had been listening to a lot of Iron Maiden. And it shows with their more prominent use of harmonized leads. Not to mention the solos seem to be even more influenced by that style than in their early days, probably due to Michael Amott's writing style. The songs run the gamut here, you have the more death'n'roll No Love Lost, the fast paced Heartwork, and everything in between.

I know people often like to claim that Ken Owen was a sloppy drummer, especially on Carcass' earlier efforts but he really pulls it together for a top notch performance here. I mean this is some of the tightest most on the spot drumming jobs in the business. While the blasts take a back seat they are still present just in places where they are more beneficial to the music rather than each song being chock full of them.

Jeff Walker does as good a job as ever with his vocals on Heartwork. The band may have spawned hundreds of clones and the same can be said for those who try to emulate Walker's high pitched rasp. Its interesting that while Bill Steer's deeper growls are non-existent on Heartwork I think it works to the albums advantage. It's kind of hard to imagine that style of vocals being used here and with this music, it just doesn't seem to fit. As for Walker's bass playing, well it's there and follows the guitars to a tee. Nothing real interesting but his vocals will always overshadow his bass skills.

Heartwork is easily one of my favorite Carcass/death metal/melodeath albums. Every song is strong and contains equal amounts of sweet melody and crushing aggression. Whether you like Heartwork or not, it's hard to deny the impact it has had one the genre. I for one believe that this is one of the defining albums of both death metal and melodic death metal.

Score: 9.5
Standout Tracks: No Love Lost, Heartwork, This Mortal Coil, Buried Dreams

Review: Sentenced - Amok

Band: Sentenced
Album: Amok
Year: 1995
Country: Sweden
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

This is my first foray into post Shadows of Past Sentenced material. I saw on Metal Archives that the band was playing melodic death metal so I figured I'd give one of the albums a shot to see whether I liked what the band had put out or not. After the first few seconds it became very clear that the band played something that bordered on melodeath but more so took what people accuse In Flames of doing, playing Iron Maiden but with harsh vocals, to the next level.

This is almost like listening to early Iron Maiden but with a bit more of a classic rock and even 80s rock influence thrown in for good measure. And its pulled off very successfully I have to say. The music itself is extremely melodic and at times has a pretty epic feel to it. I love the bits with the harmonized guitars which along with some of the riffing is probably what in large part calls to mind Iron Maiden.

Taneli Jarva's vocals are on a high register like a lot of the Gothenburg bands, which is neither good nor bad, it just is. He does here and there do something that is like a half growl/half scream to change things up. Simplicity is the key on Amok. Whether it be the riffs, drumming, song structures, ect ect, it is all simplistic. But this is one of those cases where it was probably for the best and in the end run helped the album become more enjoyable. It of course probably doesn't hurt that the style that the band chose to emulate is far more easily consumed than their earlier output.

I thoroughly enjoy Amok, both as someone who enjoys early Iron Maiden, and melodic death metal. I don't think its a stretch that both of those camps would enjoy what Sentenced produced with this album. Its got great production too and holds up quite well going on 17 years later. Amok is an album that I can see myself jamming to years from now due to its re-playability.

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Nepenthe, Forever Lost, Phenix

Review: Shadows Fall - Fire From the Sky

Band: Shadows Fall
Album: Fire From the Sky
Year: 2012
Genre: Melodic Death/Thrash Metal
Country: USA

I have followed the career of Shadows Fall since I first heard The Art of Balance. I then went back and listened to their first two albums which were far more in the realm of melodic death metal and went forwards into the more melodic death and thrash/groove albums. While I wasn't too impressed with The War Within and hardly even touched Threads of Life, Retribution had everything I loved about the band in it. I am happy to say that SF continue in the direction of Retribution with Fire From the Sky.

One of the first big things I noticed was the improvement in use of clean vocals. The majority of the time Matthew Bachand and Jonathan Danais provide the cleans and do a fantastic job. In fact they seem to be given the main focus when it comes to actual singing which I am perfectly ok with. Listen to the strong choruses offered by The Unknown or Save Your Soul. Brian Fair provides his one of a kind hardcore like shouts with the same ferocity that he did on Retribution. Some people seem to not like Brian's style but I quite enjoy it. Its like a brand, as soon as you hear his screams you know exactly who you are listening to.

The guitar duo of Bachand and Donais is just as strong ever. FFtS contains really strong riffing like most of the band's back catalog. Its kind of hard to place the style the band plays based on the guitar riffs played. There are the groovy thrash riffs that are almost always present but the killer guitar harmonies used by most melodic death bands is also heavily used. Its safe to say the guitar parts straddle the line between melodic death and mid paced thrash which makes for a very melody driven sound. The solos are pretty great too. They carry a very 80s type of style to them, they are pretty showy at times though I wouldn't say they go into wank territory.

I love the drumming of Jason Bittner. Listen to the first 20 seconds of Fire From the Sky, or the blasts on Weight of the World. The guy knows what he is doing and the drumming is just as fun to listen to as the riffing. Unfortunately I cannot hear the bass of Paul Romanko. It seems like the bass has sort of been buried somewhere in the mix. As always it would be so much better if it played a stronger part in the music than it usually does.

Fire From the Sky successfully replicates the heaviness of Retribution while including a little more melody than that album. Any fan of the band should be happy with what FFtS offers. There are strong melodies, great soloing, and the cleans sound even better than they have in the past. I've easily given this album more listens than I usually do for a review and its simply because its all around just a really great release.

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Save Your Soul, The Unknown, Fire From the Sky, The Wasteland

Review: Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions

Band: Arch Enemy
Album: Khaos Legions
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

The music Arch Enemy released has become so tired its almost painful. I really wish it weren't this way because the Swedish melodeath band actually started off really strong and consists aside from the vocalist, of very talented individuals. I have reviewed one of their Angela Gossow fronted albums in the past and while I felt the major reason I didn't enjoy it was her vocal performance on Khaos Legions there are a slew of different reasons I just wasn't feeling it.

This time around there are a couple of major issues that prevent this from being a good album. The new issue I noticed (and keep in mind I say "new" because this is only the second post-Liiva record I've given a listen) is that the riffs are mind numbingly similar sounding to what I had heard on Doomsday Machine. I mean they were just different enough that I could tell I wasn't listening to that album. But my god if I had a dollar for every time while listening to Khaos Legions I thought to myself, "hey this sounds like Doomsday Machine!", I would be a rich man.

It's not just the riffs either, there seems to really be no way to differentiate the solos from each other. They all sound about the same! I don't know what is going on with Michael Amott but it seems like someone sucked all the creativity out of his brain because if this were another band it would be getting a call from Arch Enemy's lawyers over how they stole riffs from the band. It's really difficult to get over as well. It makes listening to this album tedious and boring and you impatiently wait for the few unique moments before the creativity drought ensues.

The fact that there is actually a good song or two is what saves this album from being a drink coaster. But trust me they are few and far in between. The bass intro to Under Black Flags We March and the verse riffs of the song are actually pretty song. I especially what the Amott brothers made up for the chorus. Is it flashy or technical? Not at all but it makes for a good song and that's what matters. I also enjoy the guitar harmonies during the chorus for City of the Dead. It brings to mind the old school In Flames style of guitar harmonies Jesper Stromblad is so good at.

Another thing that really rubs me wrong is that Mike and Christopher Amott have so much talent yet they write music that sounds so similar to what they did in the past. That really polarizes the listener. And even if you like AE there is a chance that you might grow tired of what they are doing and probably won't like this either. Hell Daniel Erlandsson has played with Carcass, In Flames and Eucharist. We all know the guy has got chops but unfortunately he just isn't allowed to showcase them.

Angela Gossow once again proves she is a one trick pony. She continues to have her vocals screwed with giving them a fake robotic feel that just sounds terrible. You can easily tell this isn't really what she sounds like...in fact no one sounds like that because its messed with so much using layering and different things. Her lyrics are still atrocious as well. It has the angst and rebellion we have all experienced before...as teenagers. This topic is getting old and she really needs to expand her horizons to include different subjects instead of this lame stuff.

Arch Enemy continue their fall from grace with Khaos Legions. The material written for this album is so samey and similar to their previous work and not at all in a good way. The musicians all seem to be going through the motions and I can't help but think the song writers are going through a creative drought of sorts. Angela as usual is awful, nothing new there. If you were a diehard fan of something like Doomsday Machine then this album was made for you. If you are looking for something new or interesting I would move along.

Score: 3.5/10
Standout Tracks: Under Black Flags We March

Review: Norther - Circle Regenerated

Band: Norther
Album: Circle Regenerated
Year: 2011
Country: Finland
Genre: Melodic Death/Power Metal

I'm really not into the whole Children of Bodom clone deal. CoB themselves and the bands they spawned have just never really interested me. They are dull, weak, and try to rape you with their over use of keyboards. When you use a shit band as the basis for your sound, results should be rather obvious. So its not wonder that Norther's new album, Circle Regenerated, is just not my cup of tea.

First of all the vocals are trash. Its like an even further watered down version of Alexi Laiho who sounds like crap to begin with. Setting aside the harsh vocals, who ever does the clean singing here needs to be fired. Its not the fact that there are even clean vocals at all, I can stand them but they have to be good. This is just not good singing. While the singing is on the melodic side its just not very good.

Lets see what else, oh the riffs! There isn't really much to talk about here. I mean they are there but seem so shallow and poppy. Its hard to find much substance to what the band has come up with on CR. I will admit the solos are melodic and probably the best part of the album. But when you look at the big picture that isn't really saying much, is it?

The drumming and bass are standard melodic death metal fare. Not that I can really hear the bass at all, but like I said, standard melodic death metal. You get what you would expect from these kind of bands for drumming. A lot of double bass, but overall the rest is boring and unimaginative. Some creativity in the drums (or the album as a whole) would have been nice. And the keyboards? When they take center stage as they always seem to do with these power metal melodeath hybrids, its just annoying. I personally enjoy keys when they are used for atmosphere but bands like Norther just love to shove it down your throat. The production is ok, but the guitars seem a little thin. They have no punch and come off as very light.

I just cannot enjoy this drivel. Its so derivative and Norther are basically aping an already worn out style. The guitar solos are the only redeeming factor in this album for me. Some of the chorus parts are just ok but since the rest of the song is crap it doesn't help too much. We already have a Children of Bottom, must we be subjected to a slew of other bands who sound like them? I guess if you like CoB or the other bands that follow that trend you might like this, but I still don't get why.

Score: 2/10
Standout Track: Please don't make me listen to any of this again!

Review: Threat Signal - Threat Signal

Band: Threat Signal
Album: Threat Signal
Year: 2011
Country: Canada
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Threat Signal play some a sort of groovy melodic death metal along the lines of what Devildriver has done with their last couple of releases. But you can immediately tell they take a heavy influence from Fear Factory in the mechanical guitar riffs. With their third album the band streamlines their sound and becomes a bit more consistent.

The album starts off with what I think is probably the heaviest song here, Uncensored. TS shows they can get pretty heavy on this one and the blast beats are a treat, though I don't remember hearing them really on any other track. And I guess even if they were there they didn't stand out as much as they did here. A thing that began to bug me as time went on and I listened to the album a few times over was a certain sound the guitars made. Listen to just about any song on the album and you will notice the guitars make an almost snarling noise in every riff (which are repeated of course ad nauseum).

What usually bothered me in the past about Threat Signal was the clean vocals. Jon Howard has a dreadful singing voice. Its like hes channeling Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. Its nasally and comes off almost whiny, and not in the emo kind of way but the normal complaining manner that we all hate so much. Other than that his growls and screams are close to what Randy Blythe from Lamb of God sounds like. But a lot of what is used is like part Howard's singing voice half scream which doesn't really make the singing part of it sound any better. But his proper screams are decent and he throws in some lower death grunts here and there that sound really good.

The drumming is solid, though I wish Alex Rudinger had been able to throw in some more blasts. They sounded so well in Uncensored I think they missed a chance to keep that going for the rest of the album. And the bass seems to follow the guitars note for note, the norm for the genre. A nice fill here or there would be nice. I will give them credit for the great sounding production on the album though, its about perfect minus the annoying snarling guitar noise that is so prevalent.

Threat Signal (the album) is on the better side of average and actually even good if you can get over the parts I mentioned not enjoying. They have given us a decently crafted melodic death metal album that will please fans of the band and probably bring in a few more people who may have been on the fence. And on a closing note, they had a pretty sweet album cover made up as well!

Score: 7.5/10
Standout Tracks: Uncensored, Buried Alive

Review: Blood Stain Child - Epsilon

Band: Blood Stain Child
Album: Epsilon
Year: 2011
Country: Japan
Genre: Electronic Melodic Death Metal

The Japanese are known for being really out there when it comes to most things, their music included. If anyone was wondering what happens when you throw electronic music/melodic death metal/metalcore and bits and pieces of what seems like J pop in a blender Blood Stain Child have given you Epsilon. I had heard a song or two previously but I was in for a strange ride when I decided to review this album.

So there is some bad news. A number of the songs on Epsilon are extremely unbalanced when it comes to how much of one style or another they put in a song. Like Dedicated to Violator. Sure it has a cool name but the electronic portion totally pushes all the other instruments to the back of the mix. I mean I wouldn't be surprised to hear this playing in a club somewhere. The same goes for tracks like SOPHIA, Electricity, and the aforementioned Dedicated to Violator. In all these songs the band takes a back seat to the female vocalist and the electronic music.

There are other tracks as well which are more in the vein of proper melodic death metal but with electronic bits present throughout, just not to the degree that the others possess. These types of songs can be put into two camps, the melodic death songs with mostly clean vocals, and with mostly harsh vocals. With female vocals the woman actually has a pretty strong voice and coupled with the heavier music it works completely. La+ is catchy throughout, and Stargazer, and Moon Light Wave all play to the strengths I mentioned before. Catchy music, good vocals, all with strong pop sensibilities.

While growler Ryo is allowed to take part in most of the songs i've mentioned its in very much a back seat kind of way. He can be heard though his screams are usually muffled in order to give the female singer, Sophia, priority over him. Luckily there are a few heavier songs where both he and the music turn it up a few notches. This is pretty much when the band is at their best too, Sirius VI, Forever Free, and for the most part Unlimited Alchemist are all pretty much just good melodic death metal. The band seems to have adopted some of the metalcore riffing start stop kind of thing though which I personally have gotten tired of. Most every band in that genre and way too many melodeath bands do it already.

There are also some songs that just plain suck as well. Sai-Ka-No is a slow boring bit that sounds completely like a pop ballad. Merry-Go-Round is about the same though there is more use of guitars through most of it the over all electronic sounds they use are just yawn inducing. Dedicated to Violator is almost embarrassing to listen to. There are guitars way in the background and screams here and there but its just screaming for effect rather than anything intelligible.

One of the biggest issues I have with Epsilon and BSC is that the album does not flow well. The styles are so jumbled that the album is incredibly disjointed. You could probably separate the songs by what style dominates them and have 3 different EPs worth of music and each would sound rather different. This makes it really hard to listen to. And while the female vocals are good, she is given way too much time over the harsh vox. Sometimes it actually works well like on La+ where the woman does 90% of the singing but its so hit and miss on Epsilon as a whole. They also need to tone down the techno stuff a little, on some songs it overwhelms all the other instruments and even at times the growls its almost like there is no point having the band play when they are washed out by computerized garbage.

Epsilon has a few good songs (La+, Sirius VI, Moon Light Wave, Eternal) but the rest is challenging to listen to because it skips from domineering genres from song to song. The vocals also follows this same pattern. The good stuff here is really good, but the rest is forgettable and mostly annoying and weak. I guess at least BSC can say they tried something new, though it is a moderate failure.

Score: 5.5/10
Standout Track: La+, Eternal, Sirius VI

Review: Mutiny Within - Mutiny Within

Band: Mutiny Within
Album: Mutiny Within
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Melodic Death Metal

This band (and album) seemed to not be received very well by some people in the metal community. I honestly cannot figure out why! Sure it isn't "brutal", but not all bands have to be. Mutiny Within play some blend of progressive melodic death metal but you wouldn't be far off calling them progressive/technical power metal with harsh vocals. Either way the melodic tag is what really fits the band best.

This album has a number of good things going for it and one of them is singer/growler Chris Clancey. Clancey has an incredibly strong singing voice that is sort of in the vein of power metal in that it is usually done in a higher register. This guy can really belt it out for sure. A lot of the songs are done in cleans only, the strongest probably being Undone. He also throws in growls as well and while they aren't as strong as his singing it doesn't really sound forced. He seems to pick and choose the right moment to let out a scream so they aren't just shoved into songs for the sake of having harsh vocals.

Next is the music itself. The guitar riffs bash your brains out with melody. I mean a number of these songs could easily be put on the radio and become popular. Don't get me wrong they are absolutely a metal band but listen to songs like Undone, or Forsaken and you can see that the band clearly had the ability to become something big in the metal scene. The guitar playing is sort of technical in that it can be complex at times while keeping a thrashy speed. But as for speed as a whole the album is all over the place, but they were composed so that they flow well.

The drumming is straight up melodeath style but a bit more inventive than the norm. There is a good bit of double bass but there is some variety as well so it doesn't become boring. The bass is mostly inaudible accept for a few parts of the album where it is given the center stage for a moment or two (like at the start of the second verse of Images). There are also some keys and they are put to good use never really being pushed over the rest of the band but making it known they are there.

This album is a great piece of melodic/death metal and if I were to describe it the best I could say is that it sounds like an American version of Scar Symmetry. Maybe Roadrunner fumbled the ball with this band but there is no reason why they didn't become much bigger than they did and unfortunately they are now on hiatus. With strong vocals and music with a massive amount of melody its really a shame Mutiny Within were looked over by most in the metal community.

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Undone, Lethean, Forsaken, Year of Affliction

Review: Mercenary - Metamorphosis

Band: Mercenary
Album: Metamorphosis
Year: 2011
Country: Denmark
Genre: Melodic Death/Power Metal

Originally Mercenary were a mix of melodic death metal and thrash. Over time they evolved into a more power metal and melodic death metal mix. On Metamorphosis they also add a little bit of metalcore as well. This Danish band has in the past put out some pretty decent albums so what did they come up with for Metamorphosis?

Alright so the metalcore influence becomes most apparent when listening to the guitar riffs. On Through the Eyes of the Devil it is plainly obvious the band has taken a hint of the choppy sort of guitar play a lot of the melodic metalcore bands use and did their own thing with it. It doesn't significantly effect their sound but there is a bit more chug chug chug guitar parts here. The melodies are pretty sweet to the ear as well. But while a lot of the songs are pretty easy to listen to there are parts where the band shows more muscle. In A River of Madness has a part near the middle that practically breaks into symphonic death metal which is totally unexpected but completely awesome.

Vocally the band traded in two separate vocalists for just one. Rene Pedersen does both the harsh and clean singing on Metamorphosis and its a strong effort. He has a deeper voice when singing but can hit the high notes when its necessary. I also enjoy the screams/growls he does. He does a more normal sounding growl in between high and low and a higher one also.

Most of these songs range from decent to pretty good. The album opener while showing more metalcore like tendencies is memorable, and in a good way. As is most of the album. The first four tracks are especially good. The Follower has a nice break in the middle where it slows down and builds back up. In A River of Madness has the awesome symphonic section, and Memoria is full of excellent guitar riffing that has melody on steroids.

Now all those positives being said, the album has a couple of lemons. Shades of Gray is the poppy all clean sung song that every melodeath album seems to have. Its pretty boring and all the aggression and feeling is missing because its obvious this song was made for something resembling a single as its much more easy to listen to for those who don't enjoy singing. The Black Brigade is another strange addition to the album. The chorus has an almost sleazy rock feel to it and the whole song sounds a bit out of place being upbeat almost like a party song.

Metamorphosis is a pretty decent album and while its not exactly what a lot of Mercenary fans might be expecting I think fans of melodic metal in general would enjoy it. Rene has a strong vocal performance and most of the songs are unique, so you will probably never mistake one track for another. This isn't a good thing in the case of a few songs but it is what it is. All in all pick this up if you're into melody over dissonance, you'll get the most bang for your buck.

Score: 7.5/10
Standout Tracks: In A River of Madness, Memoria

Review: Insomnium - One For Sorrow

Band: Insomnium
Album: One For Sorrow
Year: 2011
Country: Finland
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

The Finnish melodic death metal scene just doesn't do very much for me. Whether its Omnium Gatherum, Mors Principium Est and up until this album Insomium. But One For Sorrow is a bit better than the rest, including Omnium Gatherum's album New World Shadows that came out earlier this year.

If I were to describe Insomnium on One For Sorrow I would say they sound like a slower In Flames (Pre-Clayman) with a focus on doom and gloom type riffs and atmosphere. In fact the guitar harmonies are straight up what you would expect to hear off of Colony or Whoracle. This isn't bad though, it might not be very original but In Flames always were my favorite with how well done the harmonies were. Its easy to see that band was probably the biggest influence on Insomnium, listen through Only One Who Waits.

But the slower songs rule this album though. Lay the Ghost to Rest (which has great riffs), One For Sorrow, and Inertia all exude the slower more depressing kind of sound that Insomnium are well known for. Not to mention the instrumental Decoherence which is an extension of that sound but even darker and softer.

The one thing I do enjoy about these bands from Finland though is the vocals. They completely drop the higher pitched growls that the Swedish bands make such heavy use of and go for a lower more obvious death metal tone. There are some clean vocals here but they are used sparingly and done very well. Its not really that the cleans are even that good as far as vocal quality is concerned, but that they are put into parts of songs where they add another dimension to it all.

The only real complaint I have is the thing that most people seem to enjoy about this band. The whole sad/depressing sound does get a little tiring. The songs are good but that atmosphere isn't as well done as I have heard on other albums, Mirrorworlds by Eucharist being the most obvious example. Though if you enjoy that sound as many people seem to it won't bother you at all like it does me.

One For Sorrow is a really solid album with great melodies and harmonies. The dark sound is interesting but it kind of became tiring to me. The vocals, both clean and harsh, are really well done and I enjoy hearing the guttural style that Niilo Sevanen uses. This has become probably one of my favorite releases from a Finnish melodeath band.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Track: Regain the Fire, Through the Shadows, Only One Who Waits

Review: Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising

Band: Amon Amarth
Album: Surtur Rising
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Genre: Melodic Death/Metal

I have never really enjoyed Amon Amarth. I mean my experience with the band is limited to having listened to Twilight of the Thunder God a few times. I have a big issue with that album and it holds true with Surtur Rising as well.

Amon Amarth don't seem to play melodic death metal so much as down tuned heavy metal or hard rock with death metal vocals over them. Lets keep in mind, just having death metal vocals does not make a band death metal. Are they catchy? Yes, so I can see why people like them. But in the metal community not many people seem to call them out for the fact that they play really weak melodic "death metal".

I mean is anything on Surtur Rising any heavier than Slipknot or 5 Finger Death Punch or even Killswitch Engage? In the vocal department I can give Johan Hegg credit. He has a very death metal sounding growl. But musically this is far from death metal or even the crud that passes for melodic death metal these days.

There are some fast picked parts in songs like Tock's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Pt 2 and Destroyer of the Universe which are actually more in line with what you would normally hear in the genre. But for every one of these parts you have stuff like The Last Stand of Frej or their cover of the System of a Down track Aerials. A Beast I Am is actually a pretty decent song and the furthest away from the heavy rock/metal style they play in. Its both aggressive and heavy which makes me wish they could have done this throughout the entire album.

So for those looking for good melodic death metal rather than hard rock on steroids I suggest you look elsewhere. While the vocals are good and some of the tracks (A Beast I Am, Live Without Regrets, Destroyer of the Universe) are good, most of it is just watered down metal lite with death metal vocals over it. In fact the best part of this album is probably the cool album artwork. I'm sure there are plenty more enticing bands and albums out this year than this drivel.

Score: 4/10
Standout Track: A Beast I Am

Review: Nightrage - Insidious

Band: Nightrage
Album: Insidious
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden/Greece
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Nightrage is back with their all start lineup that reminds one of the good ole days of Sweet Vengeance. I have been awaiting this album for a while as SV is an excellent melodic death album and the band's last album, 2009's Wearing A Martyr's Crown, was a decent outing starring their latest growler.

The music style isn't that different from WAMC but maybe a little more in the style of Sweet Vengeance. Of course I have to make mention of guitarist and founder Marios Iliopoulos who seems to do Gothenburg melodic death metal better than most (if not all) of the bands who originated from that scene. I mean the guy has got serious chops on the guitar and he writes more in the aggressive thrashy vein of old Soilwork but with almost a flair of old school metal to it, especially in the soloing.

But that may be thanks in part to the fact that Gus G. contributed to the album as he previously had and these two guys make one of the better guitar duos of the genre. The soloing on this album is outstanding and stands apart from most of the garbage that comes out under the tag of MDM these days.

Just listen to the riff during the chorus of Poignant Memories, or anything out of Hate Turns Black. The guitar harmonies are top notch! Try not to bang your head during Hate Turns Black, I dare you. Some of the tracks have Tom Englund as a guest vocalist making them reminiscent of SV. You have to listen to Solar Corona not just for his great vocal work but for the soloing on the song. Tomas Lindberg also contributes to a number of songs here but I would have to say most strongly on This World Is Coming To An End where near the end of the song he echoes Tom Englund's clean vocals making the second half of the song pretty epic.

Now main vocalist Antony Hämäläinen would have to be the only part of the album I may have issue with. While he doesnt have a terrible growl it seems like a weaker version of what Tomas Lingberg does. It becomes even more obvious when you hear both of them in the same song. The guy still does a decent job though but I wouldn't be upset if they found a new vocalist for the next album.

The drumming is very solid on Insidious. I am happy that Johan Nunez decided to throw blast beats into the mix. I can't say the album is heavy on blast beats but for a melodeath album it sticks out like a sore thumb, but in a good way. And poor bassist Anders Hammer...did you even do anything on the album? Can't really hear his contribution to Insidious for the most part which as always is a shame.

I was sort of surprised by how well this album turned out. It was the one I was looking forward to the most in this genre for the year 2011. After all the hype of having most of the players from the first couple albums back again in one way or another I have to say the band lived up to it. Insidious is a shredding aggressive melodic death album that you can listen to and really appreciate the musicianship and skill present. Whether its the beautiful harmonies, top of the line guest appearances, or crazy drumming, if you love melodic death metal this is the one album you should not miss this year.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Hate Turns Black, Poignant Memories

On Second Thought...

I had previously made a post a while back about what I thought was the needlessness people often exhibited in distinguishing the difference between melodic metalcore and melodic death metal. I thought about this again recently and came up with completely different conclusions that I previously had.

I have of late become annoyed with what exactly is being referred to as "melodic death metal". There are really three types of melodic death metal, one is the melodic metalcore variant that as the name obviously suggests borrows heavily from metalcore/hardcore. The second type is basically power metal or folk metal that uses harsh vocals. And the third is proper melodic Death Metal. Now this is Death Metal with an emphasis on melody, but is still Death Metal unlike the other forms of melodeath that are thrown in the genre.

Its not news to anyone that the genre has strayed heavily from what it originally was. In fact it only took a couple of years before old school melodic death metal had transformed into the pure Iron Maiden worship that the Gothenburg scene became famous for.

But for those who are confused here is a little help for you.

Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Got it? Power/Folk/Heavy metal + harsh vocals does not = melodic death metal. I really enjoy Evocation, they sound like someone mixed SotS era At the Gates with old school Swedish death metal. Bolt Thrower's 2005 album Those Once Loyal could probably count as melodic death metal in the purest sense, along with:

Carcass - Heartwork
The Black Dahlia Murder - Anything
Advent of Bedlam - Behold the Chaos
Desultory - Counting Our Scars
Chronicle of Tyrants - Nemesis MMIV
Arghoslent - Any
Edge of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow/Crimson/Crimson II/The Spectral Sorrows
Evocation - Apocalyptic
God Dethroned - Passiondale/Under the Sign of the Iron Cross
Impaled - Death After Life

Some of these bands are considered just regular death metal others are actually put in the proper MDM genre but they are all closer to what most people think of when you say melodic death metal than most of what is lumped into that category these days.

One of the new Arch Enemy songs

So I took a listen to one of the new Arch Enemy songs being streamed online iver at Metal Sucks and have to say I'm not all that impressed. The song is called Blood Stained Cross from the soon to be released album Khaos Legions (really?). The band is so far removed from their old school sound which I enjoy so much, and Angela Gossow's vocals doesnt help sway my interest in the newer releases. Though the music itself isnt too bad but it doesnt blow my mind either.

Review: Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

Band: Omnium Gatherum
Album: New World Shadows
Year: 2011
Country: Finland
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

First off the vocals on NWS are pretty killer. Jukka Pelkonen has a great growl and contrary to what is the norm for the genre, his are lower and more guttural. It is a joy to listen to him tear apart his throat while delivering the lyrics. There is also a clean section during the track New World Shadows where Dan Swano does guest cleans. I listen to this song if only to hear how epic the great Dan Swano is and how much he adds to the track.

I can say this is actually a decent album but there are a few problems that bring it down for me. The band adds a little too much softer/gentler/whatever to the songs and it sometimes seems a little forced. Most of An Infinite Mind would be a good example of this. The song is really lacking in heaviness through a significant portion of its length and it is boring and I literally am waiting for the heavy part to come back and smash me in the face. The same could be said for Deep Cold and the instrumental track, Watcher of the Skies. Certain parts of the album just feel a bit inconsistent and these more mellow parts take away from the flow of it all. I know they were trying to be melancholy and all that but it just doesn’t do it for me. This is especially true in the back half of the album.

Ok so besides the songs where the band tries to play depressing softer tunes there are actually some really good guitar riffs to be found on New World Shadows. Both Ego and Soul Journeys have really fun riffs and they wreak of Amon Amarth/Viking metal worship. And as a whole these songs are good, especially how the vocals/lyrics go well with the music during the verse and chorus parts of Ego. But like I mentioned before New World Shadows has one of the most memorable parts vocally and the guitars only add to it.

The drumming is solid. There are some blast beats thrown in at times like near the end of Everfields and that helps to change things up a little. Double bass is also pretty present through a lot of the songs whether no matter what pace the guitars are playing at. The bass is also very prominent at times too, especially during the verse parts of An Infinite Mind. Otherwise its your standard melodeath affair of “bass? we don’t need no stinking bass!”. The keyboards add some nice atmosphere and aren’t the annoying in your face use like some bands. The production is very clear and I guess you could say “modern”.

If it weren’t for the fact that the band tries to shove more “progressive” elements and softer parts of songs down the listeners throat I would have enjoyed this album much more. But as its done to the degree it is I cant help but take a big chunk off the score. Of course that doesn’t make this a shitty release. Like I said before, it’s a decent album and there are still plenty of reasons to go back and give it listens in the future. If you are looking for a more progressive minded approach to melodic death metal then New World Shadows is probably for you.

Score: 7/10
Standout Track: New World Shadows

Review: Darkest Hour - The Human Romance

Band: Darkest Hour
Album: The Human Romance
Year: 2011
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

When you listen to The Human Romance you kind of get the feeling that Darkest Hour weren’t quite sure what direction to go in. And this is one of the biggest and pretty much only problems with THR. Instead of balancing melody and dissonance in each song the band just used a formula of heavy song and a little bit of melody, melodic song and a little bit of heaviness. This just sounds a little strange and it feels a bit confused like they couldn’t tell whether to make another The Eternal Return or do Undoing Ruin over again instead of meeting somewhere in the middle.

I have to say though that doesn’t mean these (softer) songs are bad. In fact they are all really quite enjoyable. Maybe Love as a Weapon comes off as the weakest track and that’s because it sort of crawls and only picks up energy during the chorus which is quite superb. Wound is a really great melodic track that has some of the better guitar harmonies on the album and a great chorus.

Speaking of harmonies, they seem to be given a little more emphasis on The Human Romance. I enjoy twin leads a lot so this was quite a treat for me. Like I said there are some more aggressive songs and as is usual for bands playing melodic death/metalcore the shortest ones happen to be the meanest. Violent by Nature and Your Everyday Disaster are blistering tracks with a very in your face attitude.

The band even shows a progressive side with Terra Solaris. This second instrumental is almost 9 minutes long but doesn’t get anywhere near boring. It starts with a little piano intro and builds a couple of times. The solos add a lot to the song and there is a really catchy riff in the back half of the song I wait for. And you can’t miss the acoustic interlude that reminds a lot of how In Flames and Dark Tranquillity used to throw them into their older material.

The band plays their instruments pretty well for what it is. I’m glad Ryan Parrish got over his kick of just using double bass for entire songs. Like on The Eternal Return the drumming is more varied here than it was on Deliver Us. The bass isn’t really anywhere to be found but this is melodic death metal. As I mentioned there are some good harmonies in the guitar department and to be honest Mike and Mike sound their best playing the thrash influenced tracks on here and the last album. John Henry’s vocals are their usual gravely self and he hasn’t changed that at all.

So The Human Romance is actually a good album as a whole. The band seems to sort of stumble with what kind of path they want to take but barring that and one questionable song it’s an enjoyable experience. It has something for those who enjoy their more aggressive/melodic moments separately. If you liked any of the last 3 albums you would be wise to pick The Human Romance up as well.

Score: 8/10
Standout Track: Wound