REVIEWS ARCHIVE - I |
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I
"Between Two Worlds" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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I really like Immortal, I really like Enslaved and what I have heard from Sahg was pretty solid. "Why the mention of these bands?" you might ask. Well, I consists of members from these 3 bands, mostly carrying the weight of the sound from Immortal because of the guitar sound. The music is rock'n'roll black metal ala late period Satyricon. I had some great expectations to this album, because I was expecting something in middle of the progressive Enslaved and the dark and cold black of Immortal, but I was soon to find out that it was a mixture of Motörhead, Immortal and late period Satyricon. This just doesn't work for me… AT ALL! Surely I can hear there is some quality in the songs, but I am just so bored with this album. What a huge letdown this is. Maybe because I was expecting something completely different, maybe because it just bores me or maybe because this product just isn't as good as it could have been. At least I can joy myself with hearing the fine vocals and guitars of Immortal once again not to mention the spotless production.
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Mads
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ICED EARTH "Tribute To The Gods" (Century Media - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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Bands who have grown to be a part of the trendsetters and great distributors of quality metal have a bad habit of wanting to let people know where they got their inspiration and playing-style from. This is not always a welcomed action for me. In this case, Iced Earth has "iced" some old classic tracks by Kiss, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest and Blue Oyster Cult, and done a decent job, but it is unfortunately nothing that make my sweaty balls rock. Everyone who has heard IE, knows that they stand for the fast, energetic and furious American power metal that so many like, and by trying to limit themselves within boring songs as "Creatures Of The Night" or "Dead Babies" they kill all the energy that normally shines through in their own songs. Matthew Barlow sounds like Matthew Barlow without balls (and God knows that this man rules SUPREME normally). Jon Schaffer has not concentrated on incorporating his own well-known playing style into these old tunes. The drums are non-inspiring, when one knows what Richard Christy is capable of. I can't really say that this disc is bad, as I think that Iced Earth is unable to do bad music. I'd just hope that they'd stuck to their own stuff, coz' that's the real ear candy that we are all waiting for!
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Lars
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ICED EARTH "The Glorious Burden" (Steamhammer / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Jon Schaffer has decided to bring us a legacy of the American civil war, and so he has done. The Glorious Burden is a historical flashback to a time when a man was a man and a faggot was something you played on (ok, bad joke…). The music on this album is definitely in the vein of Horrorshow and it offers nothing new in that sense, but there's a little twist, and that's the very aggressive vocals by Tim Owens. I have always considered Matthew Barlow THE guy in Iced Earth, with his huge and full voice/range. Tim Owens is another kind of singer, but he does this job just as good as Barlow - if not better!! Just listen to the opener "Declaration Day", where the chorus gets stuck in your head from spin no. one. Followed up by the ULTRA-American hero song "When The Eagle Cries" (song about Sept. 11th), and onto my absolute favourite track of the album "The Reckoning". We are then dragged through some songs about Waterloo, Attila The Hun and other war related moments in history, before entering the trilogy of "Gettysburg 1863". This is a tribute to the people that fought for America…the men who suffered and died for the nation. It seems extremely personal to Schaffer, and it seems that he has finally done the album of his dreams. The orchestrations and all the sound effects (canons, men shouting, dying and fighting) gives the whole thing a grandiose feeling that has not appeared on the previous albums by Iced Earth. I only miss the extreme aggressiveness of the first albums by the band. It's like there's something missing - a raw gut-grinding screaming guitar, that shreds your ears to pieces. The production is a little bit too cheesy and that takes away a little of the "FUCK, this is good" feeling. Anyway, you'd be a complete jerk, if you didn't give your ears a chance to enjoy "The Glorious Burden"
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Lars
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ICED EARTH
"Gettysburg DVD" (Steamhammer / SPV - provided by Target) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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Boooooring. Jon Schaffer is known to everybody to have a big thing with the American civil war and he has set out on a quest to teach us all about it. First came the album "Gettysburg" which was not the best album in the history of Iced Earth (actually one of the worst), and now we are being thrown a crappy DVD that is obviously supposed to make us all know EVERYTHING about this war (is this some kind of new imperialism???). Look, I have had history as a subject in elementary school and we were being taught about this war, so I feel confident that I have been told what there is to be told. I don't need a "Heavy Metal" DVD to tell me. Had Schaffer included some live material or a decent video for this, it would have made more sense….who the HELL wants to spend a couple of hours listening to Schaffer or anyone of the historians he's interviewing tell about their perception of what went on at Gettysburg, and why this general did this and why the other took a crap, etc.?? Not me! There's also a "video", which is just the whole Gettysburg song, with pictures fading into each other…pictures of maps, fallen soldiers, more maps, fire in the background, more maps (get the picture??). Ergo: no money for a real video, and this is where this whole product fails. It seems like an amateur video from 1984, and I can't in my wildest imagination see who'd buy it and get something useful out of it, other than more facts about a war that was fought 140 years ago, but in a very boring way. If I want more knowledge about history, I'll take a night school course. Mr. Schaffer, you just go about making some new and interesting music, and leave the history teaching to the professors.
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Lars
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ICON - WETTON/DOWNES
"Icon II - Rubicon" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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I totally slammed the last offering from this duo - heck, I even said I'd rather clean my room than listening to their crap release … In all fairness, since the latest album was a horrible acoustic live performance of Wetton and Downes playing old Asia classics, you can't really blame me for hating it, right? Now, the Icon project (as this new album will apparently show) holds a lot more than just that. In fact, "Icon II - Rubicon" is a brilliant disc, that almost makes me regret my review of their live-disc (naaah, just kidding, I stand by my review!). "Icon II - Rubicon" is a very diverse affair, that thanks to a spot-on huge-sounding production kicks itself right into the heart of those listening. Starting out with the symphonic tune "The Die Is Cast", this album sets off on the right foot, with a little nod towards both the old-school symphonic rock of Asia, but also a more modern hard-rock element not too far away from UK's hard rock band Ten. On this song John Wetton sings better than ever before, and I'm totally hooked already from the start. "Finger On The Trigger" jumps into 80's Asia pomp-rock territory, and that's not a bad thing at all. "Reflections (of my life)" starts out as a ballad, and once again John Wetton shows how great his voice is even though he must be around 145 years old now (hmmm, perhaps more like 56, but you get my drift…). "To Catch A Thief" features a wonderful soft and hypnotic vocal performance by Anneke von Giersbergen (from The Gathering), that goes straight into the lower regions of my body (okay, I'm a pervert, so be it!). "Shannon" (featuring 15-year old violinist Katie Jacoby) is a real folk-rock tune, that would make The Dubliners proud … hehe, okay, perhaps not THAT folky, but still … And so the album continues with one good song after the other. In many ways I can't help but think of the Gary Hughes project "Once And Future King" that also lends a lot of its musical inspiration from celtic-folklore, pompous hard rock and a bit of progressive/symphonic rock here and there. Throughout the album, the magnitude of these compositions also reminds me quite a bit of a softer Ayreon, so I guess it's safe to say that this is as close to a "rock-opera" as we can come... I am glad I actually gave these guys a second chance and sat down with "Icon II - Rubicon". This IS a great disc, and for those who like Asia, Gary Hughes, Ayreon or just some pompous hard rock tunes, you can't really go wrong with this.
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Claus
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ICON - WETTON/DOWNES
"Acoustic TV Broadcast" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink Music) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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The time for doing un-plugged albums expired years ago in my book … so why on earth ex-ASIA members John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes have decided to do a such is absolutely beyond my comprehension. I guess it's rough times for all nowadays, right? What we are presented with here are really stripped down versions of Asia tunes, and seeing as Asia's whole existance was based on being pompous, it all crumbles into something not even a vacuum cleaner would be able to pick up from the floor. Speaking of vacuum cleaning, I better pull the CD out of the player and get on with some serious home-cleaning instead of vasting more time on this totally useless silver-disc.
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Claus
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ICYCORE "Wetwired" (LIMB / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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Hmmm…I was told that this was extremely cool and exactly what I'd like. Definitely not. Icycore plays melodic progressive metal a la Dream Theater and Eldritch (or so it states in the info sheet), but I fail to hear anything that would justify for me to even compare them to these two bands. The drum sound alone kills this entire album (sounds like only the drum samples are used, and the actual drum sound is totally removed, and the drummer is un-tight, doing the same fills again and again as well as jumping up and down in tempo - overall, sounding like a guy who played drums for no more than 2 months. The rest of the music is ok, but not in the top league of what's coming out these days. I still have the problem of remembering any choruses, as is the problem for a lot of bands today. They might make beautiful music, according to themselves, but for the listener, it REALLY needs to stand out icyclear, in order to separate it from the rest of the releases. I actually think that with a proper production, this album would have been rated much higher, but this producer (Luigi Stefanini) obviously doesn't know what the H… he's doing. If Icycore want to become bigger in this business, they should first of all fire the drummer, and then find a new studio to record their next album in, coz the ideas are there for the future to come.
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Lars
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IGNITE
"Our Darkest Days" (Century Media - provided by EMI) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Intelligent power punk-rock from the US. This sounds like a heavier version of Bad Religion, and since I have always found BR a little too whimsy, I like this harder version of that music. Lead singer Zoli Teglas has a very strong voice that is light and ranging into very high layers. He's using it well, and combined with choir voices, it makes this album go straight into the pencil. The music is the straight forward punk-rock style that is hard to revolute but Ignite actually manages to do just so, by adding odd breaks and having a drummer that possesses the ability to make things flow easier than the usual bop-ti bop-ti rhythm of this music. This is very surprising, and a welcomed breath within the genre (note the cover track of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday"….very interesting). Check out now or stay ignorant.
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Lars
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ILLDISPOSED
"Burn Me Wicked" (Roadrunner - provided by Bonnier Amigo) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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At first listen I thought "Holy crap, what a piece of nonsense", but already after the 2nd listen, the album began to make sense. On this third spinning, there are small intriguing parts that begin standing out as special for Illdisposed, and it appears to me that I can distinguish between most of the songs. It's aggressive and it's fucking brutal! However, the guys in the band have made the wise decision of having Mikkel from Mercenary sing on 4 of the songs and it really makes a very interesting sound-picture between the deep and heavy growl from Bo (he's credited for Subwoofing in the bio instead of singing…cool stuff!!) and the light and screaming voice of Mikkel. The sad part of this is that it takes an outside person to make the tension that makes the most interesting songs of the album. I do remember liking the previous album "1-800 Vindication" very much, and I had some expectations towards this new one, but "Burn Me Wicked" does not reach the same heights musically, as the drums sound too triggered and the music has become a bit too groovy in my opinion. Take a listen if you are in doubts about this album.
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Lars
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ILL NINO "Confession" (Roadrunner Records - Bonnier / Amigo) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Here is one of those albums that I expected to be utter crap, but instead turned out to be a nice listening experience, and an eye-opener in some way… I've been walking around for the past 5 years thinking that everything that comes out and gets labelled as nu-metal must be horrible. But with "Confession" I'm definitely beginning to see things from another perspective, as this is a very good disc, and without a doubt one of the most listened to CDs of the last months for me.From the great opener of "Te Amo … I Hate You" to the closing notes of "How Can I Live (spanish version)" this album have me grabbed by the balls, this is an album filled with a street attitude, a great melody sense, lots of powerful metal and an interesting blend of Latin-American rhythms. The single, "How Can I Live" is brilliant - it's one of the best MTV-songs I've heard in years, and that song alone is reason enough for you to buy this album … even, if you're like me, a true metal fan who never thought that anything labelled nu-metal could be good … well, it's time to change your mind.
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Claus
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ILL NIÑO
“One Nation Underground” (Roadrunner – provided by Bonnier/Amigo) - 5 out of 5 points – |
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„One Nation Underground“ is the best nu-metal album I’ve ever laid my ears upon. Simple as that! I’m not a big fan of the genre, and I honestly feel 99% of the bands out there playing nu-metal, metal-core or whatever you call it, are boring beyond belief. But Ill Niño has that certain something that makes them stick out from all the crap, and in my opinion this band is simply too good and too special to label as just “nu-metal”. What we get here is a perfect blend of metal, latin-percussion-rhythms, thrash, melodies and tons of attitude. The entire disc is perfect, and I can’t find one single thing I’d like different about this one – music is amazing, vocals are filled with the aforementioned attitude and the production is in-your-face. Brilliant!!!
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Claus
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IMAGO MORTIS "VIDA - The Play Of Change" (Die Hard Records - provided by Die Hard Records) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Brasilian band. Normally that means utter aggressiveness, tending to the madness stage or extreme melodic power. Well, Imago Mortis is theatrical and doomy progressive melodic death/grind metal…..pheeeew, that was a long description, but when the band mixes so many kinds of music together, I cannot help but presenting it this way. It's not the best concept disc in the world, but it's fairly good. Cool ideas and pretty well performed, but it's just too damn much for one cd!! I think that if they had taken away some of the more extreme parts and put them on an album for itself - like Ayreon "The Universal Migrator", the product would have been better….like an aggressive part and a melodic progressive part. The disc holds different CD-R features that can be amusing to the listener. It's really a cool concept and a cool product. Just a little overdone here and there. I' d like to point out that the vocalist needs a bit more training to convince me. I know that the band probably feel that they made the disc of their lives and I must admit that the lay-out and the cover do look very professional and special. It's just not enough to crash my balls. Read about the concept of the album on the bands homepage www.imagomortis.com.br
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Lars
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IMPELLITTERI
"Pedal To The Metal" (SPV / Steamhammer - provided by Target) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Another guitar hero is back with a new brand album "Pedal To The Metal" which is a very suitable title for this album. Since the "failure" with the former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet (and original Impellitteri singer, back from when their debut album), a new approach has to be found to fill in the big steps of legend Rob Rock, who sang on all those I consider the classic Impellitteri discs. They (or he, if you consider this only Chris Impellitteri's band) found a new fresh approach and an yet unknown voice to the metal world in Curtis Skelton, who delivers a solid performance throughout the entire album. The music hasn't changed much since whenever, but if you dig in to this type of music it is a great album. Impellitteri does what he is best at on this new album, and if you are a fan of any of the previous albums this is 100% a must. But it does not reach "Screaming Symphony" which for me will always stand as the most divine album ever made by Impellitteri.
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Benjamin
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IMPELLITTERI "System X" (Steamhammer / SPV - Provided by Nordic Metal) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Impellitteri (II) is back with a new and yet a different album compared to the albums he has been doing for the last decade. Secondly (II) has succeeded in getting Graham Bonnett (Ex. Rainbow, and singer on the first (II) back in the line of (II). "System X" is not a bad album but more likely and album in the middle as he has done nothing creative except changing the lead singer, which is a petty because in my opinion Rob Rock rules and Graham Bonnett doesn't eventhough that I know there are two different singers. Back to the music of (II) the music has been become much more rock and rollish then any of the previous albums, but damn he still knows how to handle the guitar no doubt there! "The boy has talent"!
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Benjamin
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"Stained" "The Art Of Dying" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Heavy metal from Finland - okay, it's either going to be a rip-off from Stratovarius, Nightwish or Children Of Bodom, right? Yes! This is a 95% rip-off from Children Of Bodom, but perhaps with a bit more of a power metal attitude put into it. Imperanon is melodic death metal, fast power metal, and screeching vocals. Occassionally with added female vocals (and not any good ones) - it's well crafted, and I'd actually like listening to the disc, as there are some amazingly good melodies to be found on it - but calling it original in any way is impossible. Do we need another C.O.B. copy? I don't think so, but if we do, then Imperanon is by far the best one I've heard yet.
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Claus
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IN FLAMES "Come Clarity" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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Finally, a new release from the kings of Swedish Death Metal. To be honest, I didn't have any expectations for their new release since their release of "Soundtrack To Your Escape". But once again this band has a tendency, to surprise when you least expect it. "Come Clarity" has removed what doubt I might have had for this band; the new album reminds me of a mixture from their albums "Whoreracle" and "Reroute To Remains" which is a perfect blend in my opinion. The only thing that I have a hard time placing for their new release is their production? Either it is genius, or it is lack of time? Well my point is that the drums and the bass have a much too leading role compared to what actually provides the great melodies. But this album is superb don't get me wrong, but buy it and judge by yourselves.
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Benjamin
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IN FLAMES
"Soundtrack To Your Escape" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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After the big success of "Reroute To Remains" In Flames are now back with their 6th album "Soundtrack To Your Escape". There has been a lot of expectations from my side to their new album, and it feels like I have waited forever, but it has only been for two years, but still it seems like forever. After I have received the single for the new I must admit that I was a bit disappointed, it was not exactly what I have expected. The tracks on the single sounded like that In Flames was following the footprints of the Nu-Metal genre, which is very disappointed, when you know that their previous album "Reroute To Remains" was such a completed album the genre within. The new album "Soundtrack To Your Escape" is a "complete" album with 13 tracks, but not all of the tracks are in same high standard! The track "The Quiet Place" sound like a typical attempt Nu-Metal song, the exact same build up as all of the others Nu-Metal bands "Disappointment"! The track "My Sweet Shadow" is one of those tracks that I have expected thought out the entire album, a beautiful composed song with all elements such as melody, aggresivity, raw guitars etc. This track is where they stopped at the "Reroute To Remains" and said, "we have to keep up the appearance"! "Evil In a Closet" has nothing to do with In Flames whatsoever!!! It is a very poor attempt to be something your not to be honest it sounds like a song from a Nu-Metal band, which is not bad! But it is just not suitable for In Flames. The critics from my side may sound a bit to harsh, and sounds like there is absolutely nothing good about this album, but there is! But yet again I can imagine how difficult it must be for In Flames to follow up on such a big success as the "Reroute To Remains", but there are still some great kick ass tracks on this album, which should not be forgotten.
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Benjamin
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INNER WISH
"Silent Faces" (LMP / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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Someone obviously misunderstood the concept of having a little click in the bass drums!!! They are NOT - repeat - NOT supposed to sound like a baseball bat, being hammered full throttle into a cardboard box, covered on the inside with liquid plastic. Please keep this in mind, when you make another album, as it can really ruin the whole experience of an album that is otherwise pretty decent! I am not really that impressed by the lead singer of this album. He sounds as if he is nervous and uncertain of what he's supposed to sing - like, floating in between the tones, enhancing the voice outlet with the back of his throat/mouth in stead of using the belly for that. The music is ok, but not overwhelmingly interesting. I'd say, it's one of those albums, where you are left with a feeling of not remembering any of the songs afterwards, and that is never a good sign. There's nothing to point out and where you can say "Whaaaauw, that's a cool solo" or something like that. Decent half-naïve power metal, that will probably get better in the future. For now, they have to do with mediocre points.
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Lars
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INTO ETERNITY
"The Scattering Of Ashes" (Century Media - provided by EMI) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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Into Eternity keep on doing everything right - from the brilliant cover art courtesy of Mattias Norén, the superb production by Andy Sneap, the major label back-up from Century Media (and in Europe full distribution and promotion by EMI), down to the songs themselves that are 100% pure I.E. material. I asked Tim Roth 2 years ago if he felt that Into Eternity had their own style, or if they were still developing … he said that they were really close to their own sound now, and with "The Scattering Of Ashes" sounding like absolute noone else but I.E. it's impossible to disagree with him. Here's a band that have that unique element that 99% of all other metal bands lack. We're talking about a musical entity taking the best from the melodic death metal scene, modern metalcore and progressive rock … and here and there infusing it with classic heavy metal (listen to new vocalist Stu Block's high pitched screams in "Out" and tell me this doesn't sound like Judas Priest). The blend of all these things is the backbone of Into Eternity, and as long as it's delivered with such conviction it doesn't really matter that Tim Roth once again changed most of the band members. This is even better than "Buried In Oblivion" - and next to "Dead Or Dreaming", I'd say "The Scattering Of Ashes" is the best Into Eternity disc so far … if Tim and I.E. continue doing everything as right in the future, I'm sure by next album I'll say the same again; Into Eternity is one of the best bands out there, daring to be original, still sounding extremely accessible. Man, I love this stuff!
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Claus
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INTO ETERNITY "Buried In Oblivion" (Century Media - provided by Target Distribution) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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"Album Of The Month" in Rock Hard Magazine - the most important metal zine in the World. Wow, that should count for something, right? Well, yeah - it does. It shows that Into Eternity has become accessible for even the most critical journalists and that they finally have a musical backbone (not to mention a commercial label back-up) to reach a wider audience. Into Eternity has for the past couple of years been one of my hottest insider-tips on becoming HUGE and I have to admit that there's no album I've been looking forward to with as much anticipation in the past year as "Buried In Oblivion". Into Eternity have with their previous two discs set the standard for combining death metal and progressive metal - growls and clean vocals - aggression and technique. And now with "Buried In Oblivion" they have achieved to do so on a commercially accessible level. In the process of doing that however, the band have changed one of their trademarks - the clean vocals of Daniel Nargang have been exchanged for the somewhat more nasal voice of Chris Krall, and (at least to me) this is a negative thing. I simply can't get as moved by Chris' voice as I was with Daniel's. And, be it for the positive or negative - you'll be the judge of that, the music is now a bit more "predictable" than on the previous two discs; something that'll for sure help the band break thru' to the larger audience. All in all, "Buried In Oblivion" is a damn good disc - I just prefer their two previous ones, and especially "Dead Or Dreaming", to this one.
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Claus
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INTRONAUT
"Void" (Lifeforce Records - provided by Lifeforce Records) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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I heard so many great things about the EP "Null" which acted as Intronaut debut. I never had the chance to listen to it myself, but now I am sitting with their debut full length record. Let us make it clear that I understand the hype that has been going on in certain circles in the metal underground. This band is truly unique. At first listen I thought "Oh well… this sounds a lot like progressive death metallers Burst and Textures", not that this means it is bad, because I love both aforementioned bands quite a bunch, so this alone would be good in my book. But the second time you hear "Void" you begin to think: "Oh… there is also a lot of Celtic Frost in this", which again, is an awesome thing if you ask yours truly, then the next time you begin to hear similarities to brit-rock bands like Editors and Interpol. And this pattern kind of continues for each and every time you listen to it. In Void your hear genres combined in a way I have never heard before, and not making it sound confusing, which is where so many other bands miss. The instrumentation is awesome and a thing that often turns me off by this kind of death metal is the vocals, which often sounds a bit hysterical as in math-core bands like Isis and Cult of Luna. But in Intronaut this isn't the case, not saying the vocals are enjoyable, they are just not a factor of annoyance. The song writing has a lot of twists and turns, surprises, groovy parts, melodic parts and just pure greatness, but sometimes it just doesn't sound like a specific part should be there, as if they didn't work enough on the song to make it flawless, and this is what draws down the grade for them. Maybe this is just me, and maybe I need to give it more spins, but after 15+ spins I believe I have done what I could. Intronaut has probably made the debut of the year with "Void", and I am in no doubt that this band is worth watching out for in the future. Whether you like Dream Theater, Burst or Celtic Frost, I am almost sure you will find something very enjoyable on this excellent album named "Void".
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Mads
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INVICTUS "Black Heart" (LMP / SPV - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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This is a boring and totally ordinary melodic power metal release from French act Invictus. The music is characterized by melodic and symphonic elements, and normally this kind of music would really light my fire, but Invictus unfortunately tries to be something they're not. They are NOT Nightwish and they are NOT Stratovarius. Apart from the unoriginal music writing, the vocalist isn't what you could hope for. Sure, he can carry a tune and he hit the notes fine, but it is as if his voice lacks character and depth. You forget his voice shortly after you're done listening to this cd. And that goes for the entire album, actually! Finally, the production of the album is laughable, and especially the drums are very poorly produced, and that makes it even harder to speak positively about this band. But if you are into mediocre and unoriginal melodic metal, Invictus is good enough for you.
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Martin J
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IOMMI w. GLENN HUGHES
"The 1996 Dep Sessions" (Mayan / Sanctuary - provided by Target) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Iommi goes Soundgarden????? Hmm, I'm facing a review of some old demos that Toni Iommi did with Glenn Hughes in 1996. So, 8-year-old material is obviously good enough to be released today, even though it obviously wasn't back then? This whole album reeks "I wanna sound like Soundgarden, no matter what". Problem is that it sounds like an extremely bad version of aforementioned band. Toni Iommi has always been called the riff master, whereas I have always called him the leader of the "Overrated guitarists" club (counting members such as Janick Gers, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Slash etc.). Iommi is so predictable and boring that it hurts to the bone sometimes, and mixed with a demo production (ok, remixed and re-mastered) and some unfinished vocals, though Glenn Hughes is doing better than most vocalists out there today, it all becomes what it intentionally was: a demo session between 2 aging men, that didn't have anything else to do with their time at this point in life. The music wasn't released back then, as no record label was probably interested in this messy piece of in excess boring riffin'. Now, someone at Mayan/Sanctuary obviously has received a blowjob from someone and has put the company's money into a demo, 8 year's old. Do some Black Sabbath with Ozzy or Dio, make some money, promote Heavy metal, and then shut up for the rest of the time. The world doesn't need more boring riffs from your hands.
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Lars
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ÍON
"Madre, Protègenos" (Equilibrium Music - Provided by Equilibrium Music) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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Duncan Patterson (known from Anathema and Antimatter) returns to the music scene after a few years absence with a very laid-back and beautiful album under the banner of Íon. In terms of heaviness we're quite a bit removed from the doom/goth/avantgarde days of both his former bands, although the basics of Íon really isn't that different … as I've often noticed before, music based more on emotions and ambience than melodies as such, have a weird way of going in under your skin, and with "Madre, Protègenos" it goes in deep! I would really hate to compare this disc to anything else, as it's a beautiful release on it's own, but just to please those who want a guidance-line, I'd say it sounds as a very stripped-down and laid-back mixture of Tiamat's "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber", The Gathering's "Nighttime Birds", Orphaned Land's "Mabool" and Loreena McKennit's "The Mask And The Mirror", and considering that those are all albums that I love, it's no surprise that Íon's debut release hits the spot for me. Mediterranean folklore, celtic folklore and dark atmospheric ambience all entertwines on this disc, and the outcome is outstanding. One of the most moving debut albums of this year for me.
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Claus
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IQ
"Dark Matter" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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IQ is one of the most well known bands within the neo-prog/symphonic rock scene, with a lot of releases over their more than 20 year career, but to be honest I only know a few of their discs ("Are You Sitting Comfortably" 1989, "Subterranea" 1997, "The Seventh House" 2000). To my taste IQ has been a bit too soft and mellow on those releases to really catch onto me, but "Dark Matter" is definitely an improvement. Sure, it still has a lot of Pink Floyd, Yes or Genesis stuff in it, but just like the title and cover suggests, it also has a much darker edge to it, which I find suits the band very nicely. Definitely a strong album by a band I usually don't care much about.
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Claus
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IRON FIRE
"Revenge" (Napalm Records - provided by Target) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Decent power metal that lacks the final touches to get up there in the fun layers. I must say that it's hard for me to judge this product as I know the guys in the band, but to be honest, I am positively surprised by this album. I believe I gave Iron Fire's last album 0 points as I found it directly repulsive to listen to. Iron Fire stopped and re-formed and they have come back much stronger than before. The music is now straight ahead power metal in the vein of Manowar and the likes. Martin Steene on vocals is still a bit nasal and has a LOT of vibrato on his voice, but he is tolerable now, which he didn't use to be. What surprises me the most is the groove in the music. There seems to be joy in the playing and it seems that the band has thought a lot more about the music this time than ever before. Take a listen and decide for yourself. This is surprise of the month.
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Lars
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IRON SAVIOR "Battering Ram" (Noise / Sanctuary - provided by Target Distribution) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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I liked the first Iron Savior discs, especially "Iron Savior" from 1997 and "Unification" from 1999 - but after that I lost interest in the band. I guess what originally made me listen to the band (and liking it) was the fact that Kai Hansen (Helloween, Gamma Ray) was involved in the band back then, but when he left the novelty of the band kind of wore thin, and I didn't care for it any longer. So whether the previous two discs "Dark Assault" and "Condition Red" were any good, I can't tell you - but what I do know and am more than willing to tell you, is that "Battering Ram" is one ass-kicking power metal album, in the well known German speed/power style, with lots of inspiration drawn from such bands as Blind Guardian, Helloween and even Judas Priest. This is very well done, and it's one of those albums that you can listen to again and again, and each time you get a happy smile on your face, and slowly you just start to headband faster and faster. As if it had a life on it's own, my hand suddenly starts transforming itself into the "metal-fist" doing the devil-sign, lifting itself up in the air - and that's the proof I needed to realize that "Battering Ram" really is METAL through-and-through. Piet Sielck is not the world greatest singer (but hey, neither is Hansi from Blind Guardian or Kai from Gamma Ray), but he does very well with what he has, and with great guitar playing from both Piet and Joachim Küstner, powerful drumming from Thomas Nack and some cool bass from Yens "Cheyenne" Leonhardt, Iron Savior has what it takes. I mean, listen to songs like "Break The Curse" or "Battering Ram" and you'll quickly come to the same conclusion as me - Iron Savior 2004 sure beats the latest offerings from fellow German power metal bands Blind Guardian, Primal Fear, Helloween, Gamma Ray and Running Wild. Well done guys!
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Claus
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IVORY NIGHT
"7 - Dawn Of The Night" (Self financed - provided by Ivory Night) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Ivory Night sounds like a demo mixture of Iced Earth, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, with a vocalist that reminds strongly of Matthew Barlow or Eric Adams from Manowar. It's pretty decent, and the band has a lot of good ideas. Only problem is that you can hear that the professionalism of the recording is lacking. There are a lot of "almost-in-tune" vocals (and of course a lot of VERY good ones as well) and the guitars/bass doesn't always sync precisely with the drums. If Ivory Night manages to get a record label to finance proper recordings, this could very well be one of Germany's next big power metal bands. The lead singer should try to get some training for the "ballad" as his voice simply doesn't function for that one. However, he's got a very strong and full voice that is perfect for Heavy Metal in the fast lane. I am pretty surprised about this one, and you can surprise yourself by clicking in to the band's homepage and order this disc for just 10€. www.ivorynight.de
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Lars
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