Empty Space Orchestra - Empty Space Orchestra review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Instrumental Rock
Label : Independent
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.6 / 10

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The music of Empty Space Orchestra recognizes no value dearer than its right-, its mere freedom to go anywhere, anyhow. This self titled affair is a commandingly elegant and very natural-sounding - very REAL sounding - instrumental album with huge capacities to cast a variety of top level spells on you, each having warranty to calibrate you at the core if you let them. The reason for this is none other than an ubiquitous sense of - this may sound strange at first - organized randomness, to which the band exhibits lifting faithfulness throughout.

Here is what I mean by organized randomness : Empty Space Orchestra shows superb melody-, rhythm-, and hookcraft to keep your receptors stimulated during the interstellar compositions, and the sense of incidental occurrence of these finely presented elements also is maintained by the band. Nothing is served without crystal clear thought and crystal clear emotion, and there always is a lot going on on this special spin as far as the actual ways of relevant musical development. This LP is one simple hook lasting for 50 minutes. The flow is exceptionally free and so abundantly content-rich musically even when witnessed from the most rigorous field of view of ultimate value scrutinization, that the 50 minutes this record schedules the thorough space trip for, reign far beyond the safety-need to offer a money back guarantee, and this becomes super-obvious by giving the simple act of focus to any single moment of this significant disc. There are no weak parts on this baby, and you really owe yourself to check this one out, in my opinion. Read more to - a dramatic turn of events - read more about it.


Empty Space Orchestra worships any mood any time of the day as long as it has entertainment value, and demonstrates superb sobriety by making the offered moods reveal their ultimate meaning. As noted, I personally have found no blemishes on this release, - and stopped looking for them pretty soon, too - "just" pure progression of super-exigent audio content that speaks a special kind of sci-fi music, a dialect that has equal capacity to calibrate your imagination and to immerse you into a bottomless wormhole of treasures containing fine sonic data. This album packs so much significance, despite not having a single comprehensible word sang or spoken on it, "only" the freely interpretable-, to-be-deciphered information that is created by the pitches, the timbers, the gaps, to be internally assembled and registered as the delicate purpose of this fine nervous system hack device! Furthermore : !!exclamationmark

Empty Space Orchestra is the equivalent of rampant wild space running amok on you, just to surprise you with the fact that it actually shows no interest in eradicating your existence. The album, in character, shows a peaceful stance all the way, and packs virtually no aggression or function-lacking heft for the sole sake of the brisk tempo. What I consider exceptionally nice from this album, is the following : the efficiency level of the tracks is never traded in for self-indulgent behavior, - wankery solos - and the constant serving of melodic/harmonic hooks remains the key agenda. In another review I wrote that the creators do not satisfy with "just delivering", they seek to deliver with a clear conscience. You can say the same about this album, too.

This release emerges exceptional by having zero clue about itself doing it, as it never aspired to do so at the first place. It just wanted to exigently entertain in the sonic domain - the complete lack of vocals is a "delicate" - < - irony - sign of this. This release is more significant than you currently contemplate it to be, and also is a special ticket for a special ride, and the best part of it is that you can take it numerous times, and you will want to, too. Ripe, super-focused, and hooky as hell by a hot summer day, Empty Space Orchestra is instant ear candy with immense capacities to calibrate your nervous system. Open up your ears, schmuck!

Rating : 9.6 / 10

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Cormorant - Dwellings review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Metal with Black and Sludge tendencies
Label : Independent
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.5 / 10

Cormorant is an independent progressive metal band that exhibits zero interest in modern day production wizardry, and brings to you instead all elements of the classic-, stone traditional metal sound in their unalloyed bare amp lushness. This strategy equates to a fabric that is out to affect by sheer-, intimate amp charisma, but the compositional work on this release breaths life to a series of so bravely varied songs - mainly epic ones in proportions, around the 10 minutes mark - that the album's much welcomed "seriousness" about ripe musical entertainment is truly rare to witness and a privilege to hear.

Cormorant, thank God and Co. and the band members, does not take you, the listener for a lobotomized sloth on newly developed sedation pills, and assumes that once you have been served a nice arpeggiated section, then you - mysteriously enough! - will know that you have just been served a nice arpeggiated section without having to listen to it for yet another minute. In the next moment, you find yourself in an exceptionally unforgiving black metal build, and you can't be sure how long it will last, and where it will take you. As such, this LP exhibits much more ripeness and ultimate value than an average commercial record - even a solid one - does, because it is not satisfied with "just" delivering, it is in a constant-, superb effort to do that with a clear artistic conscience. Not something you can assume from every one of those. (Artists.)

While this behavior of delivering traditional metal with top production values rhymes with that of robust relative soulmate act Hammers of Misfortune, Cormorant sports a more rabid spectrum of favorite moods and genres to stroll along. Fear not : everything the band touches, is operated with a sober mind and trusty hand, and "ambition", as mere entity, is never enjoys the position to project itself as a malevolent harasser of the resultant stimuli, which no doubt is of top of the heat quality herein, packing that especially rare trait of being able to offer true sonic content, no matter the turn the flow of the music takes. Read on to find out more about this significant LP.


With 55 minutes of relentless-, stone classic metal sound in which the only-, but, doubtlessly quite relevant variant is "just" music, - yes, I have just lost a level - Dwellings is as triumphantly efficient as it is demanding, which is yet another similarity the band seems to share with Hammers of Misfortune. This LP, though stable as a stronghold with a Lich Emperor in it, is exhausting as a full spin, yet, once touched, it satisfies with nothing less than that. At least. The instrumental content on the album is especially organic as far as the dynamics the record is fond of utilizing, and no doubt the fabric manages to remain complex and soberly varied without having to rely on cheap techniques like forcing random scale patterns into existence along the function of doing just that, like in a Dream Theater "let's see who ejaculates next!!" wankmarathon.

The record, wisely enough, refrains from seeking to declare one particular favorite sense of mood to build for all the way per song, and has no problem trading grandiosity for chill or especially rabid-, zombie-in-your-bed-grade black metal for legit sludge. During 55 minutes, the album has a whole lot of real estate to prove that it knows how to entertain the ears, and you will never find this release being afraid of letting something go, or being obsessed with any of its creations. Track number 4, called "Junta" is a good example of how flamboyant and restless the fabric can develop to be as herein, and, take note that you hear the majority of these elegant sonic elements only for a brief amount of time. Which is all the more reasons for you to revisit them later.

Thanks to its commanding behavior of not being afraid to release something, - to release anything, for that matter - and entertain on without you protesting for the elements your ears have been just deprived of, Cormorant's Dwellings emerges as a rare contribution that simply does not acknowledge the concept of running out of legit musical ideas, regardless what direction the music takes. And it takes a lot of those, and it is safe to say that the territory it arrives to is never vacant of a central mood that is reigning on that particular territory with a crystal clear mind an an iron fist. Make no mistake, the most powerful drug of them all is sobriety. For your information, the album demands multiple listens, which is the least you can expect from music worth doing that with.

You can buy the album through > - this < - site, and doing so goes directly to the artists, so they can continue to work and deliver.

Rating : 9.5 / 10

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Amantyde - Mädchen review

Year : 2011
Genre : Alternative Metal
Label : Red Pony Records / Audioglobe
Origin : Italy
Rating : 8.8 / 10

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Amantyde's latest features an effect craver cover art and a lead singer chick who has the bar code sticker removed from her mouth already. This Italian act, for the most part, is a less aggressive variant on the music primarily proposed by bands like Kidney Thieves and Solsikk, and this conscious utilization - or, rather non-utilization - of less aggression and less adrenaline both make this release a solid "peaceful variant" on anxiety-fixated borderline metal music. One that exhibits a mid-tempo character, and shows no particular desire to communicate bloated boring misery via "radical" shortcut ways like the worthless fry screaming. While over-the-top raw intensity, one would think, is inherent to-, and a must for this genre of analogue alternative cyber metal, Amantyde's latest actually registers as a particularly strong LP despite its natural stance that knows and bows to no fixation of going speedy all the time. Which is somewhat of a trademark of this musical direction, as it becomes obvious when its absence emerges evident, courtesy of this Amantyde release. Read on to find out more about this fine contribution.


This LP, interestingly enough, has a capacity to reveal a blend of cybernetic industrial and hasty sludge at its core, - delicate chorus of track number 2 "Join Me In the Desert" is a great example to this, according to my personal percepts - and it never sinks into the need of the furious tempo in order to come through as a force you have to reckon with. Largely mid-paced in character, Amantyde's latest packs particular aptness to entertain the ears with soulful, relevant, delicious choruses, coming through as very efficient stimuli replacements to ease the burden on the verse as an entity. Not that it is anything wrong with the verses, either. Quite the contrary : this sounds to be a pretty song release from a musical point of view, with great awareness placed on playing through a good amount of sonic registers via changing keys flamboyantly and bravely in a way that the character/the message of the music still remains faithful to the general mood of inventive, colorful borderline comic angst. Which, to make this clear, is a very entertaining mood to be immersed in.

During this sexy spin, the intentions of the lead singer chick are quite easy to grasp. While her voice is somewhat generic female to me, - which would be the number 1 reason to kill if I would be a female singer, so excuse me - at least she does not delude herself into thinking that she needs to do THIS affectation or THAT mannerism to sound more like a borderline woman who is about to bite neighboring man noses off. Her affectations are absolutely minimal and well tamed if there is any surfacing at all, and there are compositions on this release that are pretty kickass contributions for the "mere" genre of analog cybernetic alternative metal they seek to inventively enrich. And with what superb efficiency! The chorus of track number 1, "Creepy Crowlies" is one Kidney Thieves' fronter Free Domninguez, too, would be glad to sing to you, and, amidst 6 or 7 more, one particular track also comes to mind that I find utterly relevant as it packs a great and successful summoning of what this genre wants. Track number 6, called "My Enemy" probably is the most aggressive one on the whole spin. Herein, a little distortion is applied on the voice of the lead singer girl, and a good verse gives place to a totally out of control chorus that I personally love, and I think you should check it out, too.

The weaker parts of this otherwise surprisingly likable and tight delivery are some relatively lame-, nevertheless entertaining verse structures, like in the otherwise pretty good song "Nothing But The Rain". In the verse, the lead singer chick delivers a performance of rapping/singing, kind of early Nina Hagen-like, only Nina Hagen is fucking borderline indeed, so you can imagine the difference. This album has a cover of the song called "Zombie" by the Cranberries, too. Regarding my percepts of this cover, I totally like how they approach the song : they are giving it the relentless metal heft, and the song likes it tremendously.

Amantyde's Mädchen is a brave, musically inventive package that has all the chance in the whole wide world to grow on you to make you more, courtesy of its abundant supply of legit, exigent musical hooks and well articulated compositional ideas. I'm especially happy to see the band's decision of coming forth with 39 minutes of legit music than coming forward with 5 minutes of delicacy riding on top of oceanic mediocrity. Hopefully, that never ever happens again, and this would be a solid night wish, as well. Blehe. I'm a snob and I dare say that you can't go wrong with this Italian analogue cybernetic borderline alternative metal delivery. You want this.

Rating : 8.8 / 10

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Chevelle - Hats Off To The Bull review

Year : 2011
Genre : Alternative Hard Rock
Label : Epic
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.0

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Chevelle's latest delivery called Hats Off To The Bull brings clever, accessible song writing that manages to remain original, melodic and meaningful despite its consorting-, relative radio-friendliness. It is important to note though that this band does not at all seek to be radio friendly for being nothing beyond that, like the latest Nickelback LP of devoted shitsniffing aims to. Here is a review of that shitsniffer Nickelback release.

Chevelle, luckily enough, is putting out much more serious and ripe music, that, despite growing more and more gloomy in character in my opinion as the spin progresses, never loses its focus for the strong melody, the fat, meaty harmony and the tight, straightforward production. A particular set of mood-similarities surface to the receptors during this delivery, and you will need to read on to find out more about these sublime reflections.


Chevelle sounds to me like an elegant blend of the following remote-, and very inventively cultivated influences : a little bit of Cure, - especially because of the lead vocalist's soulful upper-mid timber - a little bit of Mastodon, a little bit of The Killers. The character of the fabric mainly is welterweight-, but at heart restrained hard rock wit not much intent to crush you proper, as the emotion behind the builds, as hinted, is more often of a lamenting character of inner struggles, rendered by clean vocal work that is on a continuously inventive presentation of collision courses occurring between this lead singing and the fat harmonies. It seems safe to say that, though everything is straightforward on the release in the sense that you immediately know what to do with the current element you are subjected to, it takes you, the listener and itself seriously, and features no element whatsoever that would lack the melodic/harmonic elegance which is a primer attitude of this fine contribution.

With 42 minutes of program time, Chevelle's latest gives out a quite well balanced initial flow, which later on consciously ventures for a more sorrowful direction, but honesty and heart are never left behind during this impressive run. The verse and hook as separate entities both are capable to give something extra when measured to the other, which is especially rare and a definite treat to witness. This is very easily accessible, and, regardless : likable music in its nature, and your probable attitude towards it will likely depend on the feelings it is able to invoke from you right at the very first seconds of its respective elements. That particular feeling of relative gloom that I think the album is becoming prominent of during the climax, is quite inventively presented all the way through, and the LP remains a solid, tight delivery with no blemishes or hindrances worth mentioning or seeking for. Once again : it is all up to the personal calibration of your nervous system if you will like it or like it very much, - disliking this album sounds totally idiotic to be honest - because, if your heart speaks the same mood-language the album does, then this probably is the best album of the year for you. As for me, a damn fine welterweight release, say I.

Rating : 9.0 / 10

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Helstar - Glory of Chaos review

Year : 2010
Genre : Thrash Metal
Label : AFM Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.0 / 10

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Texan metal act Helstar brings you thrash as authentic as electricity since 1982, and, popping this 2010 gem into your music player device is the equivalent of releasing a testament on your hide that feeds from the most rabid and restless thrash ethos - the vintage thrash ethos - that in my opinion is currently conceivable.

Helstar's 2010 LP, Glory of Chaos, as mixed martial arts notability Don Frye would say, "is like prison sex : fast, hard and violent, and there is a lot of noise." Some noises are more than they sound as first though, and the situation is only partly similar herein, because this album wastes no moment to emerge as top of the food chain vintage thrash delicacy, regardless how it has been released in 2010.

Glory of Chaos brings the structure, along with the "mere" sound of the ethos we are talking about. What you hear on this release is supremely faithful to the most mythical / popular thrash releases. Megadeth's earlier work - Killing Is My Business, Rest In Pieces - and pretty much anything I currently know from Kreator comes to mind, though it seems safe to say that the teutonic thrashers are even more aggressive in nature than Megadeth is, for most of the time. Check out track number 2, called "Pandemonium" on this Helstar release, which is extremely similar to what an early Megadeth song tends to come through as, in my opinion. If someone would say to me : "this is a lost recording of early Megadeth ", I would totally believe it!!!!exclamation mark

Helstar, as an exigent and committed keeper of an ever-rabid style others have decided to venture away from, remains faithful to this vintage thrash ethos, and exhibits doubtless capacity to deliver material that emerges as pretty much equal to the classic-, aforementioned deliveries. Read on to find out how this release works.


It works as a tight vintage thrash release, of course : mid-tempo is very rare herein, while cunning and ferocity are both permanent companions. From a musical point of view, this is good old fashioned - not a negative notion in this regard - thrash sound operating via the genre's vibrant mechanics, and the collective timber of the release has awareness enough of its own nature to not include glitter and too massive presence of anything. The elements you hear on these tracks are absolutely well defined, but they do not seek to overwhelm you by their occupied volumetric proportions, they instead seek to form an intricately fragmented wall of sound experience in which the vocals can live in a raging hell without being endangered by their direct surroundings.

As hinted, the structures of the songs are quite similar to the meta-architecture established by deliveries that to this day outline the cream of this style, and, one is free to conclude with great delight that the presence of genuine musical effort and inventiveness is ubiquitous on the LP when scrutinized from the angle of ultimate value. Glory of Chaos has a playful fabric that never trades in the legit bite for alibi-technicality, while it also shows zero interest - OK, not shows - in going for the tolerance-hook.

One interesting attribute that separates this LP from its mythic predecessors is a pronounced tendency to sport vocals that border on aggressive, melodic power metal. The lead singer finds efficient notes - relating to the harmonies - to take them across interesting arcs and lengths, and has a reoccurring agenda to go Rob Halford at a couple of exceptional occasions. The power metal component should not make you believe that the release exhibits the fabric of a thrash / power hybrid, as this is not the case. Glory of Chaos is relentlessly thrash, and the vocals merely pack more propensity to exhibit uncensored vocal melody than the genre most often cares to tolerate.

Helstar's Glory of Chaos consciously resonates from a musical field that gave birth to the original form of thrash, and this-, pretty much scientifically cultivated, unconditional faithfulness necessarily guarantees a vintage thrash metal experience that gives no place to disappoint on. An immediate-, safe recommendation for every rabid fan of the genre.

Rating : 9.0 / 10

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Royal Hunt - Show Me How To Live review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Metal Hard Rock
Label : Frontiers Records
Origin : Denmark
Rating : 9.2 / 10

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Denmark's Royal Hunt delivers its eleventh studio album to date. This band has been around since the late '90s, experiencing great success in Japan and Europe, primarily. The album marks the return of American lead vocalist D. C. Cooper who has been absent from the lineup for 13 years, while the band also claims that this particular release represents a conscious return to the "classic Royal Hunt sound".

The record starts out with an atmospheric fantasy battlefield ambient section drowning into a programmed pinball machine orchestra, and, when the actual music starts, the primer agenda emerges in great haste to outline its ambitious silhouettes. Luckily, as the rigorously tamed guitars join into the fray, the monumental pinball synths immediately gain a much more stable and relevant function of absorbing a healthy amount of the bare grit of the guitars, claiming the right to go with their new found partner to wherever they want to. The spin utilizes these hugely bloated synths with great keenness and inventive tendencies, and their beaten-but-not-defeated timber gives and gains all kinds of justices to-, and from the guitars that the band consciously collides them with. Their volumetric presence is so prominent in the mix that they emerge as equals to the guitars and claim focal role amidst the heft-related tools the record has at its disposal.

The resultant-, global character of the sound incorporates a special kind of Bertold Brechtian cartoon-gloom and a funny sense of self-parodistic hopelessness that did not yet decide to end its own suffering or laugh out loud at it instead, combined with a toy-classicism that seeks to emerge as utterly determined through the synthetizers, and I feel it is great fun even when it manages to do that, as well as when it is becoming an intentional parody of itself, because this always happens in a hilarious fashion. Thank God and Co., the record takes itself mad serious and looks more and more good while doing that, so, as the spin progresses, its relentlessness at INSISTING becomes especially likable. Read on to find out more about this sexy release.


As it quickly becomes evident, Royal Hunt has a superb sense for delivering legit, full musculature choruses. The way they sing "One! More! Daaaaaaaay!" in the opening track on top of a gently varied power chord, simply rules you and me and that guy and that, too, and invites the oh!, so delicious Abba metal to mind. As the LP progresses, it turns out that what you are getting is similar in its instinctive nature to an Yngwie Malmsteen album, but this similarity mainly boils down to a mutual tendency of relying on elegant, at heart simplistic classical compositional techniques. The solo releases of original neoclassical hypershredder Yngwie Malmsteen seek to bulldozer you proper into the wall like a Taurus demon who does not love you, while this particular release is not afraid to attempt to entertain with a tamer-, but similarly bombastic and unusual sound in nature. This special sonic alloy is the result of a combination of super-prominent, fluid synth-anatomy and the aggressive guitar work. If you give the ear thoroughly, you can hear how the guitars and the synths are playing different riffs that are flirting with each other, while both instruments are enjoying full administrative rights in the mere character of the sonic rhythm section.

After a tight opening track with a brilliant chorus, I personally feel that the second installment, "Another Man Down", while acceptable, does not pack the same high octane efficiency its direct predecessor spills on you. Consecutive track, "An Empty Shell" starts out as a rabid cinematic score that had enough of its own character and related limits and decided to go me(n)tal. A thrilling, relevant musical experience. A lush, wide, strong instrumental background compliments a verse structure that comes to you right from a particularly disturbing Tim Burton movie, then a strong pre-section of discomforting anticipation and unfolding drama reveals lurking hell that decides to break lose instead and simply does not capitulate until its flames managed to lick off all threads of hairs from your body. The track has a notable tendency to throw in truly impressive instrumental interludes with avid solo riposts traded between synth and solo guitar, and the fact that the performers do not venture into wankfest territory, appeals to the overall experience in extremely convincing fashion. Another superb track.

"Hard Rain's Coming" starts out with an Abba intro, and continues to thread along that superb direction. I especially like D. C. Cooper's content "ha! haaa!" at 0:41, with which he acknowledges the epic belt he just started off the fabric of the song with. This one is a mid-tempo metal ballad with a tremendous rumble and a flamboyant flow, and the chorus finds a way to go Abba instead going for the communist marching song mood, producing another home run. A decent guitar solo also is thrown into the fray to ride on top of phrygian chord structures - yes, I'm a fucking snob - that will make you sit on the edge of your seat if you are not banging your head(s) yet. (Have to be PC with the mutants, too.)

"Half Past Loneliness" is a definite highlight for me, this is what I call a kickass chorus, bitches! The chorus has the 101% Abba going on with a pop metal vibe that reeks irresistible sex appeal all the way through, especially with the backing vocals. My mom heard the song and immediately wanted it on her mp3 player, and expressed on-spot fandomism towards the creators. Pure late '70s brilliant vintage power-pop mounted on a relentless metal wartank, and I like it tremendously, and I think you need to check it out, too. The other part I consider pretty strong on the delivery, is the instrumental section of titular delivery "Show Me How To Live", as the Bertold Brechtian cartoon gloom and the Abba-like pop-determination masterfully clicks together herein.

This release is ripe and sexy all the way through, and has no weaknesses worth pointing a finger on. Strong for the most part, brilliant at certain spots, obtaining this Royal Hunt - Show Me How To Live LP should be your top priority if you want deeply melodic metal that has dignity, charming hooks, a decent amount of brilliant choruses and overall musical exigency.

Rating : 9.2 / 10

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The Unguided - Hellfrost review

Year : 2011
Genre : Metalcore
Label : DespotZ Records
Origin : Sweden
Rating : 4.0 / 10

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Hellfrost is in a hurry to claim all tops of all mountains reigning on moral high grounds, as the band's "melodic death metal" debut starts out with a blaming index finger in humanity's face, and, as it turns out, it has this fixation on keeping it close to that particular collective nose all the way through the spin. So, expect a "melodic death metal" album which isn't that at the first place, because, this sounds much more like family friendly metalcore with tastefully sculpted electronic elements. If you find yourself in the hurry right away to advice me to choke on a row of dead anacondas for not acknowledging this release for what it is on PAPER, then do yourself the courtesy of checking out track 3 on this release, called "Betrayer of the Code" : - oops, Freud nods¿? This is pretty standard metalcore with the weightless fake screaming and some nice goth synths as extra on top. Insomnium's great One for Sorrow DOES sound like melodic death. But this sounds as metalcore, yes, salivated chorus included. Guys, let's talk about the music.


As noted, The Unguided's debut, for the most-, if not for all the part of it, sounds to me like very disciplined, family friendly metalcore stimuli - yupp, even your mom in those hair rolls nods on this music, because she secretly enjoys a chorus from that handsome young man - with quite skillfully/safely provoked production values. The Hellfrost chorus, as an autonomous entity herein, could be the catharsis of any soft rock song, and the main-, yet only deviations from those the record is able to present are the results of the fact that now you are hearing these soft rock choruses with angry, fat guitars at their bases, and there you have your screamo dudette as well, who has the sole function to repeat every single fucking line the lead singer is singing IS SINGIIIIIING! and it is annoying like ass LIKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!!

It is notable that the record shows NO notable struggles to deliver relevance beyond the song template it is utilizing, and comes steadily and sorrowfully short in the department of serious entertainment, in my opinion, and here is why : granted, a little bit of effort is put into the verse, then you get your soft rock chorus, - synonym : cheap way out, congratulations - and, you are lucky if a techno-spiced interlude is coming your way yet in the fabric before your receptors being subjected to yet another verse and yet another chorus. You have just been served, biatch. Track number 7 called "Green Eyed Demon" is a thorough example of how 75% of this album sounds to me like. It has SOME better moments, - none of which I could regard exceptional or worth revisiting - but few and far between, and all drowning miserably in the galore of "so what." grade soft rock metalcore choruses.

I like the intentionally computerized/cybernetized guitars in track number 8, called "Iceheart Fragment", and the inevitable soft rock chorus of the song sounds extremely shitty after the sexy cybernetic guitars of the verse, at least in the world I seek to project. This release has an awesometicularly hard time delivering a chorus I can give a dime with two lost holes in it for, and I have no extra intention to make The Unguided fan even more angry of me then she/he probably already is, so I will attempt to wrap this review up on a more positive note, as I have no desire of coming across as a megatroll who wants to spoil your enjoyment. No, I want you to have it, and have the possible best of it, and my opinion is that what The Unguided's debut gives is not that, but a row of play-it-safe alibi declarations that seek to serve out your assumed-, extremely low level needs without any capacity or desire to calibrate, to elevate those levels at the first place. If you are serious about your melodic death metal fix, check out Insomnium's One for Sorrow, which is a vastly superior and serious release. I must admit that I think there are some pretty thoughtful lyrics on this The Unguided debut album, more precisely : thoughtful lines in some of the lyrics, - "some wounds are not meant to be heal at all", "no one comes to love pain, we can only hope to endure it" - but, as for the music, this one still is below average fantasy action figure toy-metalcore to me. These guys need to put immense efforts into their song writing capabilities in my opinion, because what I have heard on this release from a musical point of view, is relentless metalcore mediocrity delivered with top of the heat production tools.

Rating : 4.0 / 10

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