Stone Sour - House of Gold & Bones Part 2 review

Year : 2013
Genre :Alternative Metal with Radio Rock leanings
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 6.0 / 10

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Stone Sour emerges to declare the culmination of their - logically - previous effort, completing this body of - hopefully - ruthlessly defined modal doom with the informatively titled House of Gold & Bones Part 2 full length. Frontman Corey Taylor horizonted a more darker tone this time around, and so we shall inspect the statement on a per track basis in an attempt to determine if this culmination indeed is composed of flammable angry-gargoyle melodic spirit-tar. Still here? You must be desperate! Let's be honest here folks, Stone Sour is best when it is angry and dark, and it sounds like Aerosmith radiometal - I got nothing against that genre, just please bitchslap yourself if you are into it - when it seeks to go radio friendly. I invite you to this per track-review into the current psyche variant of the Corey Taylor! 

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Stone Sour - House of Gold and Bones Part 1 review

Year : 2012
Genre : Alternative Metal, Hard Rock
Label : RoadRunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 7.5 / 10

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I - a terrible letter to start a review with - just watched the new Stone Sour video "Gone Sovereign", and my expectations were met and not surpassed. Although the clip have sought desperately to put goose bumps on my skin in the process and failed at THAT secondary objective, I have heard a competent take on classic alternative - yes, I just lost a level now - rock. This is his.

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Megadeth - Endgame review

Year : 2009
Genre : Thrash Metal
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.2 / 10

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(K)illuminati connotations aside, - Dave Mustaine is a hobbyist -conspiracy theorist, as far as I know - Megadeth's 2009 LP Endgame is one exceptionally visceral statement, and this latter term of "visceral" seems to me as the most essential one amidst the many that reveal the global character of the disc.

Granted, the ideal-, the optimum form of thrash metal probably should be visceral as a thr(e)(a)shold minimum, but, if you are any kind of embracer of the genre, then you know that this is not always the case. Many is the number of the beast, -TUK! - as is the number of things that invite a thrash album to become its own parody from time to time, up to the point on which from this unfortunate transformation reigns evident and beyond the state of being preventable, since it has happened already.

Even THIS album, which I consider a pretty stellar delivery from Megadeth, features Dave Mustaine's trademark cabaret thrash metal in its full anti-glory, but the manifestations of said affliction gets assuaged by such a strong subsequent segment, that the cabaret side of things becomes tolerable, hell, even enjoyable (!!) when contrasted by the immensely eminent hooks the package packs a healthy dosage of. Yeah, there are tamer hooks on display, too, but the idea which permeates the release is something that sound to be unique : it simultaneously CRAVES acceptance, and, at the same time, does not give a FUCK if you give it to him.

It's like - Dave Mustaine would be happy to know that you love the disc, and could not care less if you would not. In other words, the disc embraces its deficits, which come to you exclusively throughout SOME points of the songwriting strategy, as the production is flawless in my book, and I'm pretty sure it is flawless in yours, too. Read on to find out more about one of the quintessential Megadeth releases.

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Periphery - Periphery II: This Time It's Personal review

Year : 2012
Genre : Progressive Metal, Djent with an Alternative Metal overtone
Label : Roadrunner Records / Sumerian Records
Origin : United States
Rating :  7.5 / 10 (rating evolved from 7.0)

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Regardless of my stoic subjective determination to refuse to review the first full length package of this formation due to the percept by which I personally have found said outing an exceptionally narcissistic one with its vastly out of proportion 62 minutes of playtime, the band now emerges with a full length weighing in at 69 - random series of facial ticks - minutes, that is an immediate sign of a super-possible - kind of : probable - false sense of proportion not only maintained but nurtured, indicating that the band might have ventured right through the periphery - daaaamnimdouche - to fall in love with their own mistakes. Even the premiere Periphery fan admitted that the debut disc of the formation overstays its welcome. Falling in love with your mistakes has tremendous entertainment value, and ridiculously-, even uniquely so if you are serious about this suggested affair. Nothing is more hilarious-, nor more miserable on the face of this reality surface than the Artist who explains how and why his Art works. Periphery thought they have the juice to be awesomeluciousandofcoursehighlyspectacularenough to reign rampant/evident during and for 69 minutes, which is an exhausting amount of time to spend even under a ravenous Nina Hartley in the 69 posture, so, the premiere US based Meshuggah fanband has a whole lot of things to prove to Yours, Truly to justify the Godzilla program length. The album is pretty good. Read on to find out what I think about this disc, if you really want to know but you are afraid to ask.

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Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage review

Year : 2012
Genre : Groove Metal, meshuggah Metal
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : France
Rating : 7.0 / 10

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Gojira's L'Enfant Sauvage is a solid musical accomplishment that does not exactly seek to reinvent the Tools - pun just might be intended - it relies on, but it does a more than decent job contributing similar patterns you have been witnessing throughout the recent days of modern - meshuggah - metal. The most notable leanings the disc conforms into are aggressive groove warfare, - think along the lines of Lamb Of God, minus the Southern fixation - gloomy black (!) metal that gets presented with the occasional quasi-angst of the alternative side of the parent genre, while the high definition Meshuggah influence is something you will have the chance to witness at work throughout the release, courtesy of the compositional methods the package is exhibiting. Like in the opening track, read more about that later. For now, read on if you want to know the most favored ways and charms of this decent runner-up from French.

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Red Lamb - Red Lamb review

Year : 2012
Genre : Cabaret Thrash Metal
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 6.5 / 10

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Red Lamb is the cartoon-thrash metal project of Dan Spitz, - don't believe the press release, there is nothing alternative metal on this - former lead guitarist and notability of Anthrax. Dave Mustaine, the key figure of Megadeth also has collaborated on this album, as co-producer. The material itself is pretty anti-staggering, and here is why : this spin almost entirely sounds to me as the latest Megadeth album.

This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing, - nor necessarily the opposite - and it can even be the best you could hope for if this is the kind of music you are looking for right now. I personally tend to think that the character of the sonic warfare obtainable on this release is pretty hyper-orthodox cabaret thrash metal, I dare say, family friendly thrash metal. (Yeah, I could say "tired", "non-inspired", or "routine" if I were to be a troll.) Read on to find out more about the release.


The songs seem to follow and utilize the compositional techniques so keenly used by Dave Mustaine himself, but the content itself, in my opinion never manages to deliver audio data that which I feel is a must to revisit after being subjected to it on one occasion. I feel you. Thank you, don't come again. The album, much to my sorrowful frustration, features the terrible rhetorics when the narrator spouts out pseudo-powerful rants and malevolent declarations to scattered-on-the-floor cabaret-guitar riffs, like a psychedelic circus director would while under the influence of needing a desperate attention-fix. This is exactly as serious for a musical experience as Inspector Gadget is for a psychohorror. It is easy to spot the points when Dave Mustaine has absofuckinglutely nothing to say to you, because those are the moments he utilizes this type of rhetorics by. Highly boring and tolling to endure, and I remember the day I came to this very realization, noting that the problem is not with me, Dave simply plays shit music sometimes.

There is zero place devoted to open-minded experimentation and/or notable ambition to deviate from hyper-orthodox, risk free lightweight thrash on this delivery, instead everything tends to weigh in as tireless, BUT very much tired variants on the tendencies and methodologies used by family friendly cabaret thrash metal. This is routine stuff, and this is the thrash metal you are free to show to your grandma, she will like it. Dan Spitz sings pretty much like Dave Mustaine does, what is the deal with that? Strange, strange development, but not a disturbing one. Dan, in fact, sounds to have an even more wider vocal range than the pipes of Dave Mustaine cover, as there are some vocal passages herein that Mustaine in my opinion would not be able to belt out, but, luckily, he would not even try to.

Believe it or not, I do not want to be a douché with this release, because the enthusiasm behind it is evident, - and nothing more or else behind it is such - but I am virtually forced to wrap this review up by saying that I could not find a single thing-, nor a single second on this spin that managed to register on my Geiger counter as being of the "this is the shit!" category. Hyper-orthodox-, pretty much traditional detective cartoon thrash with no vile intentions in it at all. Family friendly thrash. Cabaret thrash. Inspector Gadget thrash. This is Megadeth from 1992, and this is not bad. It's just Megadeth from 1992. Nothing less, nothing else. And you decide if this matters.

Rating : 6.5 / 10

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Lamb of God - Resolution review

Year : 2012
Genre : Groove Metal
Label : Epic / Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 8.0 / 10
(score evolved from 7.0 / 10 on 2012, September 13)

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With its 2012 LP Resolution, premiere Pantera clone Lamb of God declares that it still is the devoted follower of the T-Rex. The name of the game herein is traditional groove metal with minimal - if any - deviations from and/or additions to the well established primer formulas of the testosterone Heavy! Met'll! subgenre, and, if one tiny thing could be added that seems to draw somewhat of a promise of an identity to this ancient clone band right now, - that is more pronounced than "that" of other lambs of the large clone flock - then it is the album's much welcomed raw-meat heaviness, which utterly rejects the recent day sterile plastic sound. The robust meat-charisma sonic data of this release comes to you as the primordial benefit, and, as result of its relentless abuse, as the primordial hindrance of the stimuli, as well. Because, trust me, this LP has no novelty other to offer than the legitimacy of the new autonomous pattern - which is a splendid offering on its own merits - AND the character of the sound, which kicks your ass to hell and back. If you have expected anything else than highly traditional groove metal from this band, then you are obviously deluded, and in for a gentle awakening. Read on to find out more about this super-orthodox release, if you want.


Resolution is a risk free groove metal pill with a huge dosage of decently engineered T-Rex content, and tints and tints of brilliant variants of the exact same thing. It would be unfair and unnecessary to criticize this record for what it tries to do, as the band's intent once again is to duplicate - reinvigorate, ripof... TUKK! - that which does not need any of these operations, as the thing we are talking about, still is the groove metal of the early '90s, established by Pantera. Only (much more) neurotic. Check out this great Pantera clone with no (t that much) neurotic tendencies at all.

This new Lamb of God release, one must admit, at least exhibits the characteristic of being entertainingly and semi-convincingly angry on a comic book register, and also poses the question : what is the best age of your life to cultivate and resonate your primal rage in a fashion that you look the least laughable while at it? This is a tough question. The Lamb of God dudes are quick to address the peaking of their engineered product-(r)age herein to serve out "Y"ours with a capital reverse-"WHY??" , and, as such, this LP reaches its full potentiality in superfast fashion. The release no doubt is honest like a cartoon asskick by a cartoon electronic bull in this regard, yet I have a personal percept that the mere raw charisma of the grooving rumble oftentimes is utilized as a method to escape the need to deliver a new-, autonomous groove of reality punishment for. The best moments of the album demand immediate recognition, though. I especially like the track "Desolation", with its relentless minigun grooves and capricious shifts. I love the song, OK? But what is up with the timber of the guitars? Am I the only who thinks that they would sound better with a little bit more mid-and high frequency let through? Share your input, and please know : I do not want to give you the concern troll, nor the snob with this question. My question is honest.
 
I'm not too happy with the vocals on the album, but I don't have so much against them as if I had twice as much against them then I actually have. They mostly sound "just" neurotic to me, and the only instinctively perceivable emotion of the LP is the constant fucking nervous breakdown. Sure, some of you are in for that, exactly. The vocalist's Anselmo imitation became less raw and believable, in my opinion, and I'm relatively shocked to report that his delivery sounds to exhibit metalcoresque vocalfry screaming here and there. On the other hand, one can not take away from the band that they are sounding more "real" and aggressive than the latest album of them that I am familiar with, - here. The production values of this decent groove metal release are more than enough to call it a SAFE recommendation. And that is the problem with Lamb of God - Resolution, too.

Rating : 8.0 / 10
(score evolved from 7.0 / 10 on 2012, September 13)

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Nightwish - Imaginaerum review

Year : 2011
Genre : Symphonic Abba Metal
Label : Nuclear Blast / Roadrunner Records
Origin : Finland
Rating : 6.0 / 10

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Finland's Nightwish seemingly knows no insipid jokes when it comes to symphonic fairy tale metal. Imaginaerum comes to you with an exigently executed cover art and truly top of the heat production values, and it pains me relevantly enough to inform you that only 5 minutes and 22 seconds of this release is capable to offer something I'm eager to revisit.

Opening track, Taikatalvi is a gently presented musical introduction with Finnish lyrics to it, and this entry, one must assume, serves the attentive function to offer an initial compliment for the ruling atmosphere herein so it could exhibit secretly raging readiness to summon the heft to swarm you proper at any moment near you, with hopefully no less of an agenda than to carry your soul on the oh!, sooo fantastic sonic journey you're here for. Trallala. I got it, I got it. Show me the Animal.


Wish granted. Second track - virtually the first, because the intro is "just" a very nice intro - called Storytime engages Abba Metal Power about 101%, - for 5 minutes and 22 seconds, by the way - and one must imagine that this is the kind of music the so called "diligent metal fan" would be embarrassed to admit she/he totally enjoys, because it sparks, it flows, it carries you indeed, and, regardless of the oh!, so beautifully simplistic structure of verse and chorus, the mutual-, mere melodic tightness of these elements - add the soaring female vocals that hide no Camembert but pack legit power and bite - are more than enough to make GyZ a happy boy so far.

Third track, "Ghost River" has a mixture of seriously wicked masquerade and Rammstein vibe at the start region, in which the LP is quick to address its propensity to go fucking mental if it so pleases, and it is a pretty interesting notion you will be forced to take after its gentler-, but far from slimy direct predecessor. The track shows relative eagerness to go mildly experimental in nature at the mid section, inviting to mind the threshold-zone of the sublime rabidness so inherent to the trade of the avant garde silence massacrists forming the band called Unexpect.

"Slow, Love, Slow" is a slow love song, but, with a sensual menacing vibe to it, presented in a bar atmosphere in which you are not sure what will be the next thing in your mouth : someone's tongue, or a 45 Magnum. This delivery clearly marks an ambition to contribute a truly flamboyant fabric, as brass instruments and a guitar later on join in to deliver standard bluesy vibes. I'm sorry to say that the guitar solo is pretty meh, not much if any musical thought worth sharing behind it, but at least it is short. The song comes to a SUPERB catharsis, courtesy of the female vocalist, but it is SHORT!! Truly, the end section reeks Sam Brown's brilliant declaration Stop, and one has the feeling that the band members got afraid of this instead of embracing it while it is possible.

Next one, "I want my tears back" commits the mistake of nodding on such an exceptionally shitass-sucking track title, but, whatever. This song, unfortunately, shows regions of clueless wandering with Scottish pipes and other hideous things to crave the Michael Flatley. Irish folk song for you. Later on, clapping hands join in in order to exhibit the rhythmic structure for which you will do the Mike Flatley in the next moment if you absolutely are serious about coming across as a person a sober one would not enter into a lift with. This track, in my opinion, sucks ancient mummified mummy balls and I don't like it.

Scaretale tries to scare me with an orchestrated rumble delivered by 1 000 000 stringed instruments, and must say it succeeds. After a short, calmer interlude, an overly-bombastic symphonic build bordering on good old fashioned Bigottry Unlimited invites the rhythm guitars to cover its traces of escape. The singing in the song starts out at 2:55, and it quickly turns out that the name of the game herein is a cute/funny/scary/mehe musical-like piece you could have heard in the Sweeney Todd musical movie. Then you are invited to dismiss this notion, because the build takes a truly terrible turn for a highly idiotic pirate cartoon song, which would be immense dosage of fun in a Secret of the Monkey Island adventure game, but, it sounds like an insult on a professional record when offered as Content and not as a bonus track I get paid for if I'm consent listening to. The track later on returns to a more serious tone that refrains from slapping your face with a dead tuna fish, but, the memory of the horror is too fresh to appreciate any of it.

Arabesque summons the arabesque vibe with very nicely realized, lush orchestra that would flatter a Hollywood blockbuster no problem. Other than that, this indeed sounds more like a thorough-, and splendid demonstration of top level tradecraft skills from the producers - three men have worked on this release as producers - so they could proclaim : "Look! We can produce cinematic music!" Look! They can produce cinematic music!

"Turn Loose the Mermaids" is a gentle-, "emo bard by the bonfire" routine piece with some western overtones I personally got the shivers from in this context. It craves effect sooooooo desperately from me that I, for one, won't give it that courtesy. The song drops the western overtone at the end, and goes Flatley again. Aua.

"Rest Calm" features a man vocalist in a standard power metal stance. While his performance is acceptable, his charm and charisma in my opinion is overshadowed by his female counterparts joining in with a section that sports tad more inventive of a character than the power metalish verse structure. It is not entirely clear at this point what this track wants from me. It sounds like it wants everything, yet wants nothing sufficiently enough so I could give it to it. The piece comes to a bombastic bigottry build via its climax with every instrument in the studio seeking to declare its True Meaning, but the composition simply is not worthy enough to serve this valiant agenda out with me clapping to it.

"The Crow, The Owl and The Dove" is a radio friendly mid-tempo contribution with enough cunning to feature significantly different moods in the chorus and the verse, while a short, efficient interlude builds a safe passage so the band can sell the verse and chorus to you again without you getting caught sleeping. A solid "uhuh" song, but nothing beyond that.

"Last Ride of the Day", thank God & Co., once again goes for the Abba metal vibe which this release looks the best with, in my opinion. The delight is not necessarily unblemished, because the chorus of this entry once again goes for cheapass high fantasy, and, despite the bombastic and relentless repetition of it at the ending portion of the song, I'm not sure if it is as good as the band suggests it to be.

"Song of Myself" is a 13 minutes epic with some pretty superb Abba metal verses at the initial regions, and even more of choirs that go "hah hahh hahh!" relentlessly to interrupt the great lead singer Abba metal chick, who, in my opinion, is much better with her own program than the choir is with their cumbersome-, alibi "hah hahh hahh!", I'm sorry to say. The track comes to a virtual stall without it noticing this about itself, and it basically becomes the context-sensitive background music of any combat section of any fantasy related RPGs. The build escapes this suffocation by seeking out another kind of it, with a row of lengthy, I mean : leeeeeeeenghty narrative performances, and the release gives you the vibe that you are listening to a self help tape. Nothing wrong with that, but where is my direct entertainment you promised!

As for the last track, the titular Imaginaerum : the central theme is a solid, thoughtful melody that could be the invention of John Williams, and, once you are served with it a couple of times, powerful-, yet at heart formless cinematic music is applied, so you would be delighted when you get the then-familiar central melody back. Beware : there are Scottish pipes on your way, and Michael Flatley knows you are near, too. Once again, this is a cinematic soundtrack for a Hollywood blockbuster, and it does nothing less or else than you would anticipate if to expect that from it.

This release has a very limited ability to deliver its stunning top form it gives you via its second track, which, not too surprisingly, was released as an introductory single for a much more tepid full length you have just been reading about. I got super-enthusiastic with this release upon hearing that second track, "Storytime", and with massive disappointment I conclude that I could not find anything else on it to remain in that mood for.

Rating : 6.0 / 10

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Nickelback - Here and Now review

Year : 2011
Genre : Radio Rock, Soft Rock
Label : Roadrunner Records, Universal
Origin : Canada
Rating : 5.0 / 10

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Canada's Nickelback crushes into your radar zone with a cover art that has the Need for Speed Underground 2 going on right from 2004. OM fucking G. High Dynamic Range Photography for High Dynamic Range bubblegum rock of the pretty deceitful kind, and the only catch - huge catch at that - herein lies in the profound inconsistencies the album is prone to exhibit along its not too long spin time of 39 minutes.

Nickelback's Here and Now starts out on its highest note to offer with brisk, muscular album opener "This means war", - forget the pretentious platitude lyrics - in which the rule set is quick and efficient to reveal its surprisingly deceitful character : the name of the main game, you, oh!, tricked one would think, is up-tempo hard rock-accessibility with modestly tamed aggression that packs sufficient amount of grit, but you will find yourself further and further away from this hope along the spin's way. Read on to find out more about this release, that which relentlessly collides your face with every single sentence of the "here is how to build a risk free, catchy mid-tempo rock song for the family friendly radio audience!" textbook. Blooooeeeeeeeh.


As hinted, it is very easy to be totally enthusiastic and honestly hopeful for the record after hearing its intense opener, and I personally find myself with my mouth and eyes wide open by the bewilderment caused by a healthy 75%-80% (!!) of the latter segments of this radio rock release. There is one primer quality to this record that will determine its ultimate value in your eyes, and that is this : on this Nickelback LP called Here and Now, every single ear-friendly bonfire chord progression will have its ass bruuuutally, brutally abused to death and beyond, and the same goes for the melodic rock-lines. You have heard every single one of those before. Truly, I invite you to check out the superb first track of this LP, - the second, called "Bottoms Up" is solid, too, minus the shitdigger "let's be drunk,aye!" lyrics - and compare it with the last one. Once again : OM fucking G.

This LP shallows to as radio friendly soft rock as you have ever saw or heard, in fact, it does not refrain from the borders of annoying-ass pop, on occasion. Track number "When We Stand Together" starts to test the flashing red light with a "hey, hey, yei, yie!" chorus that makes John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance run to a corner, go fetal and cry, imagine what it does to me, asfjasklfjlsflasfsfas

Unfortunately, saved for its first two solid tracks, Nickelback's latest is so brutally fixated on the super-orthodox, radio-friendly compositional technique of verse - chorus - verse - chorus - intermission - huuuugechorus - not to mention that the content gets more tired and disturbingly sweaty with each song, as I will attempt to illustrate - that the listener is quick to learn how it is a vain idea to expect anything relevant after the first two contributions. (Which are the only two actual ones on this spin, in my opinion.)

OK, I admit, track number 4 "Midnight Queen" shows a little sear promise of plastic dignity yet, but nothing too serious : this is a relatively retarded, but at least, enthusiastic offspring from Aerosmith's Mama Kin and Guns N' Roses' Rocket Queen - Freud nods - and it also is the marker from which after the record turns into saliva-embarrassment and relentless anti-relevance.

Track number 5, called Gotta Get Some : the verse structure is Genesis' "I can't dance" from 1992, and the song gets a glam metal chorus to make daddies hide their daughters in the closet. Pha. Who gives a shit. Your daughter is ugly, Sir.

Track number 6, called "Lullaby" is a copy of "Winds of Change" from Scorpions from 1990 or so, only, the chorus is replaced with the instant love song chord progression a decent woman will flamethrower-, THEN butcher you for. The fact that I was able to sit through this shit without spontaneously igniting up in flames, is a testament of will bordering on the superhuman, to be honest. Never. Again.

Track number 7, "Kiss It Goodbye" goes '80s synthpop with distorted guitars, - the riff is stolen from the '80s "uaaa - uaaa - u" song, I don't know what its title is, sorry - and the whole track reeks Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammar, in my opinion.

Track number 8, called "Trying to Not Love You" is an unsuccessful radio-hack attempt/riposte to Stone Sour's "Through the Glass", only "Through the Glass" is a song with power and dignity, and "Trying Not To Love You" is recycled soft-ass rock vomitory in slime format and I don't like it at all.

Track number 9, "Holding to Heaven", supposedly is a separate song from "Trying to Not Love You", - not so evident at first - yet one has to admit with delight that this song shows more success in communicating itself as the epitome of an Aerosmith glam metal ballad, but, basically, this what this song is. That "Holding on for : EVVA'" at the end of the chorus is what the song is all about, other than that : bonfire open chord rapeage.

Track number 10, "Everything I Do" is about women. This sounds like a mid-tempo ZZ Top song, only - and unfortunately - much less successful than the classic declarations of the Texan Ancients. And here is why : Nickelback,. Your. Song. Has. No. Chorus. !

Track number 11 is just a hideous closure with the hackneyed "we are children forever, you know, and life can be so beautiful you know, when I'm not abusing these poor chords in THIS particular sequence, you know!" vibe with another chord progression that is an embarrassment to consider, let alone PLAY.

Honestly, I tremendously like the first song of this LP, the second, I consider a good one, - minus its platitude-ass booze-abuse lyrics for teens wearing flannel shirts with horrifying rectangles on them - and all other things on this release are epic fail, in my opinion. Five points, because my heart is Gold.

Rating : 5.0 / 10

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Megadeth - Thirteen Th1rt3en review

Year : 2011
Genre : Thrash Metal
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 6.5 / 10

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I like Megadeth and it will remain so even if the band decides to put out records with silent sermons on them from now on. Dave Mustaine is the creator of relentless bursts of brilliant songs, - let alone solos, you can have much of Symphony of Destruction's solo, but you can never have enough of it - and maybe it is just "normal" - bleh! - to put out an above average record from time to time. I can imagine that many fans will flame this LP right from the cover of it, stating : "The cover art, with the notorious Megadeth lich giving you its back, marks a conscious detachment from the meta-expectation resonated by the fanbase, as a hive entity. Oh yeah? Then let me rebel on high octane, because, frankly, I think the cover art is great, but I mainly am here for the music. So, let's see what Megadeth brings you with 13 in 11.


Opening track Sudden Death sounds to be an OK enough-type starter declaration, which does not at all mean that you must miss out on the profound sings of anti-inspiration the song's fabric exhibits. Notice the anatomy of the main riff. A cheap construction, to be honest. Fret abuse committed in the name of All Things Chromatic, only the "name" itself failed to accept the invitation, making this pneumatic computer riff pack everything but a playful function.

Public Enemy No. 1 is the hilarious anti-Rocky song of the '80s, and it has charm written all over it, just don't remove the clothes from this one. A verse with an interesting, odd rhythmic structure in the vocals is the peak moment of the track in my opinion, yet the chorus, unfortunately, is not all that tight. If the actual chorus would be a pre to introduce a catharsis the song in my opinion is lacking of, then I'd be sold without question. But right now, this is a song with a much more muscular verse than it can offer as its chorus. The chorus conveys a feeling of restraint, whereas you'd expect the mofo the song is about to embark on his rampant run. Absolutely great, classic Megadeth verse, and strange chorus. It reminds me of the staggering song Moto Psycho from Megadeth, which features a chorus that sounds surprisingly scant and uninspired to me, compared to the standards of the band. "Every! Body! izza! Moto! Psycho!" Me too, me too!!

The next track, Whose Life It Is is directed to the angst-fueled metalcore generation, probably. Dave Mustaine's start when he sings : "ooooooo" is kind of disturbing, I think. The song itself is a risk free microwave thrash statement, and its tools to garner the appreciation of your angst-ridden nervous system are limited down to the act of abusing good willed power chords who have no sin regarding the matter at all. It is an abuse in the sense that the melody on top of them is very lackluster, in my opinion. Dave asks with a pretended adolescent angst : "Hey, just whose life is it, anyway?"

Hey, just whose record is this, anyway?

Simplistic thrash mechanics, terribly submissive lyrics. Dave submits to the metalcore angst. "You hate the way I wear my clothes, you hate my friends and where we go, just whose life is it, anyway?" ... and so on and so on. Just whose lie is it, anyway? A present from Dave Mustaine to the apotheosis of metalcore frustration. Dave. YOU : don't need to do THIS.

Next track, We The People has this political rant-theme going on. Retrograde TV show metal riffage, with lyrics coming through the comfortably constrained armchair-rebellion register. The song has a frightening zoo metal vibe at its core, and, if you would be listening to this track with pop instruments, this one would be a Boney M piece the band - Boney M - decided it is not worth including on an LP after given a second thought for the matter. The song ends with a tight, short instrumental interlude, but this is a cheap attempt to bloat the virtually non-existent raw charms of a pretty pale delivery.

Guns, Drugs & Money starts out frighteningly enough, because a song with such a title invites grim suspicion right away. Fortunately, this caveat is eliminated on spot, because this song is one of the more stable installments. My most fond sentiment of it is that of a cute detective cartoon riff, on top of which Dave is singing : "Guuhhhhhuuns, Dhruuuugs, and muhhhhhhhuuuneeey". Oh, man. What about the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits, the tits??

(.Y.)

Never Dead starts out with atmospheric civil war drums, complimented later on by the first truly proper moment of the spin, finally! Superb rumble and killer "we don't give a shit"-grade riffing prepare the sonic domain for a classic Megadeth chorus that has that evil catchy factor. Tight verse, superb chorus, and an elegant instrumental break in the middle. A thoroughly fine piece with great pacing all over it.

With the next track, New World Order, Dave Mustaine offers his input on the Illuminati. Hello, Hollow One! The song has a restrained, tasteful structure that revolves around three primal sequences, and the short instrumental jam that lasts from the middle to the end, makes this one a better looking track than the majority of its direct predecessors.

Next track, Fast Lane, is another variation on Dave Mustaine's rampantly immense speed fixation. You can't pick the speed theme and crash and burn, pha. The riffing is sexily old school and orthodox, finds great pleasure in the resonance of the continuous chug. Stoic verse, a simple but truly efficient chorus both guarantee another acceptable routine cabaret thrash track. With 20 seconds remaining from the song, the band engages full power efficiency via a furious tempo to wrap the piece up, and this technique - a technique is a trick that works - to make you believe that you have listened to radically intense music, has no other chance than to work indeed, so there you have your 20 seconds of crazily intense music included on this release. Rinse, repeat, my love.

The track called Black Swan could be an OK-type Megadeth song that has that bluesy-, moody tint in its elegantly infectious melodies. Oh wait. I lied. Not entirely. In nature, elements of this song are sewn of the same exquisite fabric that superb statements like She-Wolf or 1000 Times Goodbye are composed of, yet, other elements of it are pretty rigid, and sound more like routine architectural works than legit sonic reflections of inner lamentations.

Wrecker unleashes a sense of restrained, playful female-bashing, and it is all right, as long as you adore women as the most peculiar creatures on this planet, and I'm pretty sure Dave Mustaine does that, too. Women rule, you know, and they are sexier than you. The song is an integral whole in character, yet its fabric is very simplistic, in fact, it is safe to say that it is rudimentary. The riffing your hear in this song is the background music for a Nascar DVD's menu selector feature, for a tender fuck's sake!

Millenium of the Blind reminds me of Guns 'N Roses' Civil War, only that song is more balanced and has much more weighty character. This track has a teenager-metal chorus, primarily assuaged by simplistic 4/4 pummeling , which is toppled by Dave's heavily processed narrative. Another track in the record's body that offers very limited supply of things worth revisiting, in my opinion.

In Deadly Nightshade, Dave Mustaine is your evil circus master in this archetypical cabaret thrash metal installment, and he invites you to enter a world only the brave and determined dares to frequent as a valiant visitor, or something like that. Once again, very standard, monotone 4/4 pummeling with unforgiving powerchord abuse, kicked in the ass for good measure by the ugly foot of a pale, enervated chorus. This song reeks Motley Crue from 1989, and I'm pretty sad about that, too.

Titular track, 13, is a spiritual rant about the paradigm of Nietzschean eternal return, but, if you do not feel like losing your mind right now, - which is a terrible thing to lose - then know that the titular song remains a risk free ballad at the end of the album. As for its main mechanics, it mainly revolves around a shy chromatic melody with which Dave's vocal lead collides in a sober, but not at all too exciting fashion. The mid section brings you TV show riffing for some bars, then, you will get the chorus in standard mid tempo. By that time, chances are that you will be asleep already, so, who cares, anyway. With a core riff that has quite limited capacity to intrigue in rapid succession, the titular track also tells much of this album. This song, 13, would have been the track you lose attention during on a stronger Megadeth release. At personal perceived value, Megadeth's latest has many solid moments, - none I currently perceive as instant kills - and a tad too much of the zoo metal nonsense to regard it as another true gem in the band's already timeless resume. The album feels a bit unbalanced. Whenever the band engages mid tempo on this album, you have that detective cartoon vibe, I think. Well, 13 is not always the lucky number, and the lucky number is not always 13.

Rating : 6.5 / 10

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Machine Head - Unto the Locust review

Year : 2011
Genre : Groove Metal with Metalcore allures
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 7.5 / 10

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Machine Head unleashes the ancient, stone-authentic groove lingo of Pantera, igniting its tremendous engines to bring you valiantly varied groove metal which though is in a relentless hurry to seek the catchy chorus in the vicinity as an extra service to the ears. Ah! What? You did not order that??

Unto the Locust shows no notable aspiration to reinvent the proper steel or the proper wheel, and the only derivation/addition you are likely to spot when you attempt to relate this album to its originator at heart Pantera, is the relentless and frequent addition of the aforementioned-, acceptable melodic choruses, supported by tasty, calm, guitar centered melodic intermessos to catch a breath or two on. The mid-tempo melodic choruses, while seemingly represent no particular interest in metalcorish suffering narrative, the look itself does not prevent the album from submitting to metalcore-panic on a healthy amount of dire occasions. Unto the Locust, though rarely if ever manages to command you on an immense melodic hook from which there is no escape, brings you the intact kind of groove-based full power variation that sells out the show no problem, and the choruses are not as long as they would be if they were twice as long as they actually are. Still here? Splendid. Read on to find out more on these briskly varied elements.


The name of the game herein, obviously enough, is the act of summoning the heft that may have the chance to stop an incoming bulldozer or two, and the thoughtful addition of re-occurring segments that radiate a more restrained musical stance, serve as efficient anchors to establish a soberly balanced field of operation amidst the sequences of intense sonic engagement.

The album has two primordial vibes it feels itself most confident with : the rumble itself it produces leaves no place to form a complaint on. It is summoned via a well researched, tight, at heart traditional sound, delivered by fat and mean guitars full of bad intent that dwell only a story above the direct depths of hell as far as their tuning. As hinted, melodic, misery-fixated mid-tempo is equally a key factor of this spin, and not the factor that me, myself and I have found themselves awesometacularly blown away by, but there is no doubt that the mid-tempo sequences are tightly realized, too. The only qualm one might give a voice to regarding this matter, is the impression that the mid-tempo-, chorus related approach of the album sounds to seek to put way too much of semi-metalcorish panic narrative into the builds, regardless how the first third of the release tells everything about the vibe that sounds worth to be told.

The Special Edition of this contribution comes with three bonus tracks on board. Let's address two of those. One of these is a nicely realized acoustic version of highlight delivery Darkness Within, while the bonus track called The Sentinel consorts groove metal with power metal on an adrenaline rush, and, if you think this will kick your ass to hell and back, you are pretty close to the truth.

Machine Head's latest is a safe bet to invest your listening time in, and, if you show propensity to find and omit the two, maybe three - and not more - tracks you think the record declares itself more muscular without, then it emerges as a groove metal affair worth revisiting.

Rating : 7.5 / 10

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Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Rock Metal
Label : Roadrunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 8.0 / 10

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Fanbase enigma Dream Theater comes forward with a release of fervently stacked ambitions, and the resultant stimuli is no doubt eventful enough of a contribution to assuage a secretive - but not exactly "silentive" - suspicion in the finely calibrated ear that a healthy amount of this delivery is soaked into-, and made out of compositional wizardry, exercised for the mere, grandiose sake of it.

Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events, not surprisingly, has a highly monstrous level of complexity to it, primarily consisting of its valiant will and granite determination to filter all its moods and favorite fixations through an adventurous approach to music creation. Read on to find more about this flamboyant release, or don't.


Many, but not at all of surprising character are the numbers of paths and emotional postures Dream Theater chooses to thread along on this row of statements. The band exhibits a particular interest in addressing their readiness to deliver on the respective fields of a sanely-, but harshly constrained genre palette. The basic vibes of gloom-trodden power metal, neoclassical sonic spellcasting, synthetic noteburst-parade, hell, even metalcorish undertones and odd time signatures are all part of the game, and everything the group delivers to the table, IS decently delivered and elegantly served.

DUDE?? What do you mean "decently"?? Dream Theater is like : my life!

I mean exactly that. From the point of view of ultimate value though, - check the very sloppily concealed irony herein - Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events fails to bring any dramatic turns of events to the fray. If you need to convince me that your album is a dramatic turn of events : you are failing. Dream Theater's latest is an accessible, and, as noted, doubtless extremely eventful output, yet also is one that never quite leaves you without the suspicion that some elaborate passages of complexity are simply there so you have something to chew diligently on, and serve no particular function in the actual DNA of the track you are listening to.

The band has a noticeable tendency to summon a pleasant, fluid feel via the simultaneous utilization of various devices suitable to cause aural vibrations, - a surprise! - yet, in actuality, these delicate sonic entities have a very limited field of operation if the mission they have been assigned to, is simply is to connect - in heart - traditional exhibitions of power metal/metalcore/I got the gloom again compositional techniques without end. When the group releases the kind-of experimental Animal for the worship of the oh!, so beautiful fractal-complexity, the result is OK enough, but far far far - and not close to - from great, particularly because these segments tend to lack vocal delivery. They are lacking vocal delivery because the agenda herein <> resonating music that has a story to it, the agenda simply is to

overcreate

layered sonic constructs into existence

because we can.

These are instrumental - uhm - "instrumentalizations", and once these sequences sound elaborately chaotic and chaotically elaborate enough, then the band gives the nod, yet, having a musical message you can spiritually decipher, is of no notable interest for the squad. It is not that this approach has limited potentiality, in fact, it has JUST that. But it already has been done much better recently, with vocals reigning in bloom in the chaos, by bands like Unexpect, see here.

The following matter is one that is prone to radical levels of subjectivity, but me, myself and I, along with the dudette who is writing this, find the lead singer's voice relatively uneventful, and when he is over-emoting in the slower declarations of lyrical aspirations of the record, threads of hairs I did not know I have stand still on my shell. These lyrical statements are reminiscent of the Pink Floydish suffering skills, and frankly, they are pretty efficient at annoying the living death out of me.

Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events still is a full musculature build with a whole lot of luscious sonic portions to bath your existence in, and its ubiquitous proneness of getting caught rabidly masturbating is as much of a likable defining factor of it as it is its relative hindrance.

Rating : 8.0 / 10

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Trivium - In Waves review

Year : 2011
Genre : Metalcore
Label : RoadRunner Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 7.5 / 10

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Metalcore has all the reasons in the whole wide world - and then some more - to show a reminder or two of a set of balls combined with a delicate suggestion of a well tamed layer of beastly chest hair if it wants to ignite an album via its own mechanics and favorite tools. A former metalcore/thrash attraction, Trivium's In Waves marks the group's shift towards pretty much unalloyed metalcore warfare, and now that this recognition is out of your way so it can invade your back and weigh down on you instead, this delivery still should not be dismissed based on negative bias for what it dares and seeks to be.

In Waves is on a constant mission to compliment a kind of moderately, but smartly varied instant-intensity. The tracks surely do bring without exception the everyday average metalcore urge to crave and reek accessibility with a tint of angst-spiced melancholy trustily embedded, yet the premiere benefits of this LP are a ripe sense of balance and the pure musculature musical skill it relentlessly showcases its elements with. The album manages to deliver individual components that paint well defined limbs on a body that is doubtlessly capable to express dignity, despite the ubiquitous presence of a pretty sub-dimensional, and frankly, almost weightless vocal performance. In Waves, while it certainly speaks one language and one language only, speaks that one pretty fluently. Trivium's latest does everything in its power to carve out the realized concept of the so called catchy tune using the premiere tools and various moods of extreme metal, but the question remains if it's sufficient to praise the bitchslap to the face. Read on to find out how this determination works in a practical sense on Trivium's latest spin to date.



Thank Heaven and Hell for the band's compositional techniques and abilities, the one and only essential component-group that separates this spin from the salivated hive subconscious flattered by the genre's less eminent practitioners. As result of taking the trade - and you, with this act -(un)dead serious, Trivium makes sure to not come up with anything that is not worth presenting to a set of legit ears, and only the one who is currently calibrated to hate eternally, reigns as the reflection that is likely to reject the flamboyant, serious fabric this record successfully declares itself as.

The tracks are consisting of smartly varied, organically connected elements that always pack the readiness either to give the vibe to bang the head over, or to invite you to immerse yourself into your favorite secretive frustrations, yet the verses, choruses, breakdowns all tend to have the ability to affect your awareness in a dramatic and much welcomed fashion. Funnily enough, the band ventures unto quite WTF?!-grade death metal territory on occasions, blast beating the remnants of your puny psyche away for half a minute or so. These moments are rare to come by though, and, strangely, this but-a-tint of pronounced death metal presence is absolutely refreshing to see, simply because they are now being partnered up with less aggressive, though not a tad less efficient metal methods.

While the spin is a pretty functional and strong delivery as an instrumental contribution, its decent and relatively rare to find sing-range vocals are heavily afflicted by this terrible metalcore urge to scream away stuff using the "now let's imitate how a half-beheaded bonobo on fire while in a free fall would scream this line" tradition. If metalcorish screaming is still your thing, then you will have a set of whole galaxies to stimulate your most private spaces over, but, if metalcorish screaming is getting tiresome to you, then know that Trivium's In Waves features strong enough of instrumental and compositional content - MUSICAL content - to make this evident flaw of bonobo screaming tolerable. Strangely and luckily enough, this reigns as a solid metalcore output, one that raises the bar of the genre via the act of claiming and refining the dignity of it. Trivium's In Waves is metalcore done seriously, and, as such, you have no other option than to take it serious.

Rating : 7.5 / 10

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