I first came across Pale Divine a few years ago through their album “Cemetery Earth”, which sound is like a mix of Black Sabbath and Alice In Chains. The songs would plod along like your average doom metal, but would include portions of really energized guitar work. “Painted Windows Black” follows in a similar fashion but doesn’t really bring any new ideas to the music. Although there is nothing blatantly wrong with it, “Painted Windows Black” was not as strong or interesting as “Cemetery Earth”.
On the first listen I almost wrote the album off as garbage do to the fact that it starts with a six minute instrumental track (that’s much faster than your average doom metal), followed by the first song “The Prophet” which is probably the weakest track on the album and do to the faster tempo feels more like a grungy stoner rock song then doom metal. So now eleven minutes in to the album I’m thinking they changed their sound to be more accessible to a broader audience, ruining what I liked about them in the first place. By that time I was irritated and lost my focus on the music and wound up only listening to a couple more tracks before I turned it off. It was not until I decided to start writing a review for it that I actually picked it up and started listening again.
This time I made it through the whole album but my opinion had not changed. As I started to write the review I put the album on again (as I do with most reviews so my mind is on the music.) Then just when I was getting ready to completely trash the album I get to the track “Angel of Mercy”, and I start to change what I’m writing to mention how this track is not so bad, it’s actually rather good. So I stopped writing and started listening again then that’s when it clicked. “Angel of Mercy” is as good if not better than most of the tracks on “Cemetery Earth”. The rest of the album just doesn’t have that same impact with the exception maybe of “End of Days”.
The sound and style hasn’t changed much so it’s unlikely that anyone who doesn’t like “Cemetery Earth” would get anything out of “Painted Windows Black”. With only one song that really makes the album worth buying, the only people I would recommend it to are people who have already listened to “Cemetery Earth” and really want more material like it, even if it is inferior.
(I give “Painted Windows Black” a 3 out of 5.)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Tomorrow's Outlook - "34613" (2012) Album Review
When I first heard the sample clips from "34613" it caught my attention but I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. It sounded like progressive power metal similar to Crimson Glory, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning but it didn’t quite grab me. Still because I like that kind of stuff I decided to give it a chance. After all clips from a song can be misleading when taken out of context. Sadly after listening to the album I can say this is some powerless power metal.
Now being that I really love power metal I'm a lot more lenient on it then other genres. Basically if it sounds like the band is passionate about what they are doing and the songs have lots of energy its going to get a decent review from me. The majority of "34613" sounds forced and generic. Everything on the album has been done by many other bands only significantly better. It seems to me the problem it the central force writing the music for Tomorrow's Outlook is the bands manager and the bass player with the rest of the band being filled in by guest musicians and vocalists. So part of the problem is probably due to the inexperience of the composers and the other part may be due to the fact that the gust musicians don’t feel connected to the project. Most of the vocalists sound board and uninterested in what they are doing, with the exception of Mike Gorham who really shines through on the albums one redeeming song "The Ethereal Dream". It’s also worth noting that Michael Kiske (You know, the guy that sang on those legendary Helloween albums.) also sings this song as "The Ethereal Dream (Reprise)" for the albums closing track. Kiske's although good, still sounds weak and lacks emotion in comparison to Gorham's.
All together unless you’re a close friend of someone in the band, you’re really not missing anything if you don't hear this album. My advice to Trond Nicolaisen and Andreas Stenseth would be if they plan on continuing Tomorrow's Outlook then try and work on some original ideas, find some more members who are interested and excited about the project and hire Mike Gorham as a full time vocalist. On the other hand my advice to Mike Gorham would be to find a better band; your talent is beyond Tomorrow's Outlook.
(I give "34613" a 2 out of 5)
Now being that I really love power metal I'm a lot more lenient on it then other genres. Basically if it sounds like the band is passionate about what they are doing and the songs have lots of energy its going to get a decent review from me. The majority of "34613" sounds forced and generic. Everything on the album has been done by many other bands only significantly better. It seems to me the problem it the central force writing the music for Tomorrow's Outlook is the bands manager and the bass player with the rest of the band being filled in by guest musicians and vocalists. So part of the problem is probably due to the inexperience of the composers and the other part may be due to the fact that the gust musicians don’t feel connected to the project. Most of the vocalists sound board and uninterested in what they are doing, with the exception of Mike Gorham who really shines through on the albums one redeeming song "The Ethereal Dream". It’s also worth noting that Michael Kiske (You know, the guy that sang on those legendary Helloween albums.) also sings this song as "The Ethereal Dream (Reprise)" for the albums closing track. Kiske's although good, still sounds weak and lacks emotion in comparison to Gorham's.
All together unless you’re a close friend of someone in the band, you’re really not missing anything if you don't hear this album. My advice to Trond Nicolaisen and Andreas Stenseth would be if they plan on continuing Tomorrow's Outlook then try and work on some original ideas, find some more members who are interested and excited about the project and hire Mike Gorham as a full time vocalist. On the other hand my advice to Mike Gorham would be to find a better band; your talent is beyond Tomorrow's Outlook.
(I give "34613" a 2 out of 5)
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Crimson Shadows - "Glory On The Battlefield" (2012) Album Review
Crimson Shadows "Glory On The Battlefield" is an interesting album in respect that it has an unusual blend of melodic death and power metal. The best way I can describe their sound is Children Of Bodom meets DragonForce. The band definitely has talent and they play their songs with an intense passion, however they fall short do to the lack of originality. Each of the songs tends to lean towards one style and in the end it just comes off as a hodgepodge album catering to too broad of an audience.
The song that had initially got me to buy the album was "Beyond The Mountain Wasteland"(It shouldn't come as any surprise that this is the song that sounds most like DragonForce.) The song is actually very reminiscent of DragonForce's predecessor Demoniac and their album "The Fire And The Wind". I imagine its what DragonForce could have sounded like had they stuck with the harsh vocals. If the rest of the album had sounded like this it would have sat better with me given my preference to speed/power metal. This was actually the kind of thing I was looking for when first got into metal back in 2006.(DragonForce's "Inhuman Rampage" was the first album I had ever bought.) But alas "Beyond The Mountain Wasteland" is the only song on the album that really captures the fun silly kind of "Epic" power metal DragonForce plays. "Kingdom Of Ale" is a close second but it just didn't grab me.
Most of the album still has the bits that sound like DragonForce, but is structured more like the kind of galloping power metal similar to 3 Inches Of Blood mixed with melodic death metal. The main vocal style is the typical harsh vocals herd in most melodic death metal and some black/death metal bands and at parts more of a weak sounding death growl bordering on pig squeal. There are clean vocals at times mostly used on the chorus lines. In some parts it starts to sound a lot like metalcore which is very off-putting to me. Where it really gets to me though is the slow chugging brutal death metal like breakdown in "Quest For The Sword", I really hate that stuff and throwing it in just completely ruins the song for me. It just comes off as the band trying to show how EXTREME!!! they are.
Lyrically the songs are all related to an overall theme of a Lord Of The Rings style fantasy war. All the songs are vary basic and don't really have a lot of depth to them. It all revolves around drinking, fighting, brotherhood, and longing for home all dealt with in a very unpoetical manner. It will appeal to teenagers looking for some metal about war or good background noise for playing video games, but it lacks substance to hold appeal to an older audience.
Overall the album wasn't terrible but really not my taste. The band is still fairly new and still might be trying to find their sound so I would keep an eye on them. They may just turn into one of those melodic death metal bands that eventually regresses into a very mainstream sounding metalcore/deathcore band but you never know, we just have to wait and see.
(I give "Glory On The Battlefield" a 2.5 out of 5.)
The song that had initially got me to buy the album was "Beyond The Mountain Wasteland"(It shouldn't come as any surprise that this is the song that sounds most like DragonForce.) The song is actually very reminiscent of DragonForce's predecessor Demoniac and their album "The Fire And The Wind". I imagine its what DragonForce could have sounded like had they stuck with the harsh vocals. If the rest of the album had sounded like this it would have sat better with me given my preference to speed/power metal. This was actually the kind of thing I was looking for when first got into metal back in 2006.(DragonForce's "Inhuman Rampage" was the first album I had ever bought.) But alas "Beyond The Mountain Wasteland" is the only song on the album that really captures the fun silly kind of "Epic" power metal DragonForce plays. "Kingdom Of Ale" is a close second but it just didn't grab me.
Most of the album still has the bits that sound like DragonForce, but is structured more like the kind of galloping power metal similar to 3 Inches Of Blood mixed with melodic death metal. The main vocal style is the typical harsh vocals herd in most melodic death metal and some black/death metal bands and at parts more of a weak sounding death growl bordering on pig squeal. There are clean vocals at times mostly used on the chorus lines. In some parts it starts to sound a lot like metalcore which is very off-putting to me. Where it really gets to me though is the slow chugging brutal death metal like breakdown in "Quest For The Sword", I really hate that stuff and throwing it in just completely ruins the song for me. It just comes off as the band trying to show how EXTREME!!! they are.
Lyrically the songs are all related to an overall theme of a Lord Of The Rings style fantasy war. All the songs are vary basic and don't really have a lot of depth to them. It all revolves around drinking, fighting, brotherhood, and longing for home all dealt with in a very unpoetical manner. It will appeal to teenagers looking for some metal about war or good background noise for playing video games, but it lacks substance to hold appeal to an older audience.
Overall the album wasn't terrible but really not my taste. The band is still fairly new and still might be trying to find their sound so I would keep an eye on them. They may just turn into one of those melodic death metal bands that eventually regresses into a very mainstream sounding metalcore/deathcore band but you never know, we just have to wait and see.
(I give "Glory On The Battlefield" a 2.5 out of 5.)
Friday, July 27, 2012
Pandaemonium - "The Last Prayer" (2012) Album Review
Pandaemonium has been one of my favorite Power Metal bands for quite some time now and do to the fact that there last album was released back in 2005, a new album from them was a big thing for me. I had initially found them through there album "Return To Reality" the first song I herd was "Time of glory" which I had downloaded from the bands website. The bands basic sound is lighter Power Metal with elements of Folk and Classical but the thing that struck me most was the vocalist Daniel Reda who sounds like a zealous phantom, with his voice being both jovial and haunting.
Sadly Reda's voice is greatest area where "The Last Prayer" falls short. Though its not entirely bad as I still like it over many other Power Metal bands vocalist's, it just isn't what it used to be. That being said I would hesitate to recommend it to people unfamiliar to the bands previous works.Though I still think "The Last Prayer" is a great album I would recommend listeners new to the band to check out "...And The Runes Begin To Pray" or "Return To Reality". The second is probably more accessible though if I had to pick a favorite of the three it would be "...And The Runes begin To Pray".
Once I got past the brief disappointment about the vocals I still found "The Last Prayer" to be a solid album. Opposed to the predominantly joyous sounding "Return To Reality", "The Last Prayer" has an overall sound of melancholic desperation. The album has a connecting theme about a Dark Lord bringing forth a new world and an unspecified Hero who is referred to in the first person. I think the lyric's were intentionally left somewhat vague to be open to interpretation, it also helps the songs hold there own when taken out of context of the album. Basically what I got from it was that there is an evil entity reshaping the world. The first part of the album deals with a hero battling against this enemy and eventually the hero believes he defeated the enemy, though it returns as a voice disguised as a holy entity misguiding and corrupting people including the hero throughout the center of the album. Then the last few songs deal with the hero braking away from the evil power and ultimately defeating the Dark Lord and restoring order to the world.
Despite this overall connecting theme the majority of the songs are strong and hold up as individual tracks unlike many concept albums that have several tracks that dont quite hold up on there own when taken out of sequence. The only track like that on the "The Last Prayer" would be the instrumental piece proceeding the final song. Braveheart was probably the least memorable track on the album though for a brief moment at the end of the song Reda's voice almost reaches its past glory. The rest of the album stays with me for days after listening to it and its one of the few albums I purchased this year that I keep coming back too. Now half way into 2012 I have probably listened to this album more then the nine other 2012 albums I picked up put together. Despite the flaws "The Last Prayer" still holds up as solid Power Metal album that I greatly enjoyed.
(I give "The Last Prayer" a 5 out of 5.)
Sadly Reda's voice is greatest area where "The Last Prayer" falls short. Though its not entirely bad as I still like it over many other Power Metal bands vocalist's, it just isn't what it used to be. That being said I would hesitate to recommend it to people unfamiliar to the bands previous works.Though I still think "The Last Prayer" is a great album I would recommend listeners new to the band to check out "...And The Runes Begin To Pray" or "Return To Reality". The second is probably more accessible though if I had to pick a favorite of the three it would be "...And The Runes begin To Pray".
Once I got past the brief disappointment about the vocals I still found "The Last Prayer" to be a solid album. Opposed to the predominantly joyous sounding "Return To Reality", "The Last Prayer" has an overall sound of melancholic desperation. The album has a connecting theme about a Dark Lord bringing forth a new world and an unspecified Hero who is referred to in the first person. I think the lyric's were intentionally left somewhat vague to be open to interpretation, it also helps the songs hold there own when taken out of context of the album. Basically what I got from it was that there is an evil entity reshaping the world. The first part of the album deals with a hero battling against this enemy and eventually the hero believes he defeated the enemy, though it returns as a voice disguised as a holy entity misguiding and corrupting people including the hero throughout the center of the album. Then the last few songs deal with the hero braking away from the evil power and ultimately defeating the Dark Lord and restoring order to the world.
Despite this overall connecting theme the majority of the songs are strong and hold up as individual tracks unlike many concept albums that have several tracks that dont quite hold up on there own when taken out of sequence. The only track like that on the "The Last Prayer" would be the instrumental piece proceeding the final song. Braveheart was probably the least memorable track on the album though for a brief moment at the end of the song Reda's voice almost reaches its past glory. The rest of the album stays with me for days after listening to it and its one of the few albums I purchased this year that I keep coming back too. Now half way into 2012 I have probably listened to this album more then the nine other 2012 albums I picked up put together. Despite the flaws "The Last Prayer" still holds up as solid Power Metal album that I greatly enjoyed.
(I give "The Last Prayer" a 5 out of 5.)
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