REVIEWS ARCHIVE - P |
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PAATOS
"Silence Of Another Kind" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - ½ out of 5 points - |
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I don't appreciate this kind of music at all, sorry! It's extremely annoying to listen to, and I feel close to having a stress-attack coming on everytime I even think about it. Imagine Björk mixed with Opeth mixed with Landberk mixed with Portishead mixed with Porcupine Tree. It's some kind of electronica pop music infused with progressive rock (nope, not really metal), and if you think that sounds interesting, then by all means go ahead and invest in this album. I just choose to shut off the CD player and tend to my oncoming stress-attack.
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Claus
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PADOVANI, LELIO
"The Big Picture" (Self financed - provided by Lelio Padovani) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Actually I do not know who this guy is? And does it matter? No it doesn't, this guy knows how to handle his guitar - that is without any doubt. And, he knows how to composite a lot of great scales into his music. But unfortunately the music has a tendency to become easily dull. I think the reason for this is probably that it is only pads, which fills out the background music; this means that the "whole picture" becomes boring.
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Benjamin
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PAGAN'S MIND "Celestial Entrance" (LMP Records - Provided by Nordic Metal) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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This Norwegian power progressive metal act has got what it takes to make it all the way through, and from the very first spin in my player I clapped my little hands together in total enjoyment. Pagan's Mind manages to come up with this perfect mixture of progressive metal combined with some modern power metal but still with a healthy dose of good old heavy and tough guitar riffs. The use of an atmospheric sounding keyboard blends in perfectly, and at times it even makes you think of Ayreon's "Flight of the Migrator". But it's still clear that Ayreon is not the main inspirational source. Other great progressive bands like Dream Theater, Rush and Queensrÿche have set their footprints on Pagan's Mind's second studio album "Celestial Entrance". This, though, doesn't mean that we are merely dealing with clone of one of the bands mentioned above. Pagan's Mind still have their own unique sound and style, with beautiful and well performed musical passages and great melodies on the vocals - especially the chorus on virtually every track leaves a mark in my memory. It's very difficult to put a finger on this album, but if I have to, it's gotta be the vocals. Niels K. Rue has a great voice, but it's just a little bit too processed and that's a shame 'cause it's still perfectly clear that he is an experienced singer with potential of joining the big league of top progressive metal singers. So, in conclusion, if you like melodic power progressive metal, you won't be disappointed when you buy this album. Oh, and by the way, it definitely doesn't make the album any worse that it's been produced and mixed by the man behind bands like Hammerfall and Synergy, Fredrik Nordström.
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Martin J
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PAGAN'S MIND
"enigmatic: calling" (LMP / SPV - provided Target) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Like Pagan's Minds last album, this album also really hits the spot when it comes the satisfaction of my expectations to power progressive metal. "enigmatic: calling" is full of progressive elements, power, melodies and harmonies. And like the previous album, "e: c" really reaches the atmospheric attitude that suits so well for a conceptual album on the extraterrestrial origin of mankind - although I think that albums with concepts like that are totally unoriginal as it has been done so many, many times before. Anyways, that doesn't spoil the fact that Pagan's Mind plays some good goddamn metal. In my review of "Celestial Entrance" I seem to remember putting singer Nils K. Rue on quite some pedestal, but now, when I have the chance, I have to pull him down again. He is not the gifted singer I once tried to convince you of, but he is not the worst either. What's wrong with his voice is that it's very unique - not in the positive sense of the word - and he tends to be a bit out of tune sometimes. But if you can cope with that, Pagan's Mind is definitely worth a buy to all power and progressive metallers.
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Martin J
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PAIN OF SALVATION "12:5" (InsideOut / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Daniel Gildenlöw, in my opinion one of the three absolute best vocalists in the world, and on "12:5" his voice really comes to show. So much, it sends shivers down my spine. "12:5" is an acoustic concert done for a Swedish radio station containing acoustic (naturally) versions, of various songs from all of Pain of Salvation's previous releases. The idea is quite good, and their music is very much suitable for acoustic instruments such as guitars, bass, piano and cello. All the fantastic details we know from their albums, really get in focus when played acoustically, and you really get the idea of how insanely well composed and technical their music is. This is a "mood album". Sit back, close your eyes and let yourself be carried away from reality on a cloud through a musical experience that is completely out of this world. Sit back, and enjoy these virtuosos. The only thing that actually pisses me off with this album, is the fact that they ruined one of their absolutely best songs, in my opinion, "Ashes", by playing it in major!!
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Martin J
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PALLAS
“The Dreams Of Men” (Inside Out / SPV – provided by Target) - 3 out of 5 points – |
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Scottish band Pallas is now ready with their 3rd album after the reformation a couple of years back. A strange thing to put your career on hold 15 years, and then return once more – well, Pallas has decided this is the way to go, and since both “Beat The Drum” and “Cross & The Crucible” were good discs, there’s no denying they actually have a relevance in today’s scene. “The Dreams Of Men” continues in fine line with what the band has done on those last two discs, which is a nice mixture of hard rock, prog-rock and celtic-rock. The big guitar sound is typical Scottish, (just think of Runrig, Big Country or Simple Minds), and with good vocal performances (yes, it seems all members of the band can actually sing), Pallas are on the road to something right. My only beef with the disc is that it would be nice if the band would add a bit more power to their tunes, as they often tend to become too soft for my taste – and also that 9 songs in 73 minutes is just overdoing it; yes, I know it’s possible to put nearly 80 minutes on a CD, but noone says you HAVE to do it that way, so please cut down the length of the songs a bit, ok?
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Claus
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PANZERCHRIST
"Batallion Beast" (Neurotic Records - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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One of the most brutal bands to ever come out of Denmark has now returned after 2003's brilliant album Room Service, which was a big contender for album of the year for yours truly. So it goes without saying that the expectations were high when I popped in this monster. The music is still brutal death / Grind, but on Battalion Beast the vocals emphasizes a lot more shrieks, which has a big reminiscence to black metal, and especially the riffs reminds you of Emperor and the likes at times. One of the forces of Room Service was the uncompromising aggressive sound and the beyond brilliant drum work delivered by none less that Reno Kiilerich (Exmorten, Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child a.o.), but here it sounds like he isn't doing his very best. It still sounds awesome, but he has done better. Bo Summer (Illdisposed) is still one of the best growlers in the world, and he really proves his worth on Batallion Beast. While all songs on Batallion Beast are consistent, and are never boring (well? who could be bored when going 300 m/ph?), but with all the funny elements gone and only a few standouts like the hitter "Infants Graves" and "Beep No More", it just doesn't go any near Room Service, which is a damn shame if you ask me. Nevertheless this album is good and far above average in the genre, but it is kind of useless if you already own Room Service, unless you want to hear Panzerchrist do some more black metallish stuff, or just is a death metal fan like myself.
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Mads
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PANZERCHRIST "Room Service" (Mighty Music - provided by Target Distribution) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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I guess if you're a fan of brutal death metal with brutal vocals, brutal blast beats, brutal guitar sounds, and an overall brutal as fuck production, then Panzerchrist should be right up your alley. If not? Well, stay the fuck away from this disc! Okay, let's be fair towards these Danish guys, cause it ain't as bad as I make it out sound like - in fact I have to say that their music in parts have a groove and (dare I say it…?) MELODY that makes even such a musical wimp as yours truly like what I'm hearing. A song like "Creature", with it's freaky - almost King Diamond-like - use of keyboards, is a real groover that sticks on your mind after having heard it. I do also have to compliment the band for the cool cover version of Metal Church's classic "Metal Church", which (although undoubtedly much heavier than Metal Church ever intended it to be) stays true enough to the original for me to reckognise it within the blast beats, the growls and the wall of massive power. Great! Moreover, I can't help being impressed by Bo Summer's vocals, that are much more extreme here than I ever remember them from his other band Illdisposed, and drummer Reno Killerich, who with this album proves that it wasn't just a coincidence that he won the prestigious "fastest drummer in the world" award at this years NAMM convention in the USA. "Room Service" is, as I started out by saying, a definitely must for fans of brutal death metal - for the rest of us … oh well, it doesn't hurt to give it a listen or two :-)
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Claus
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PANZER X
"Steel Fist" (Metal Mind Productions - provided by Metal Mind) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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17.35. That's how long this disc is and Hooray for that. The info sheet tells me that the band hasn't been able to meet for the recordings and finalization of this piece of crap for 4 years, but now it has finally happened. If it has taken so long, it is beyond me why it is so horrible? First up are 2 songs that could be decent, if produced better and performed better. The style is thrash/power. Then comes a HM/Elvis imitation that is horrendous. Then some melodic stuff that is not good, and finally a cover version of Rolling Stone's "Paint It Black" that I am very sure Mick Jagger and company would kill to get it stopped from being released. This CD is in my top 5 of the year so far….from the bottom.
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Lars
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PARRY, IAN
"Visions" (Escape Music - provided by Zink Music) -1½ out of 5 points - |
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"What happened with the Consortium Project Ian"? And what is this that you are trying to put down on us? This can't be serious, well okay it isn't that bad, but we have heard it all a thousand from your side? This can't go on, or can it? I could have hoped from more when I saw the musicians that you have had to play on this album, but nevertheless, this doesn't help the music, when they're not the ones who write the music. To be honest a major disappointment
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Benjamin
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PECCATUM "Lost In Reverie" (Mnemosyne Productions - provided by VME) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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I think I know what Ihsahn (ex-Emperor) and wife Ihriel is trying to create with "Lost In Reverie"; atmospheric progressive and jazzy dark metal - with more emphasis on "dark" than "metal". And they do succeed here and there - by delivering a very strange output with lots of intriguing passages, lots of strong technical parts, plenty of string orchestrations and a very moody overall atmosphere. But, and this is the reason why I can not give the album more than 1½ in rating, it simply bores me to death to listen through the whole disc. This is too weird to listen to, too eeire and it's too "avantgarde" to hold my interest. I miss melodies or at least a common thread throughout the disc. Peccatum is challenging, but perhaps too much for its own good.
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Claus
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PELL, AXEL RUDI
"Mystica" (Steamhammer / SPV - provided by Target) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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Wow, can this man go on and on without any regrets at all. It is to MY big regret that he hasn't said "okay I'm old and enough is enough, I can not develop anything more"! So sorry to say to all the Axel fans out there but yarn this is soooo booorinnggg, that sitting writing this I would have wished that I have gone to sleep instead of wasting my time. There is absolutely no energy on this album at all.. I looked in the cover several of times to see if this was another ballad album, but to my big surprise it is an ordinary album, or is it?? Axel do us all a favor and be a producer or something and save us for this yet again boooorrriinnng music.
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Benjamin
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PELL, AXEL RUDI
"The Ballads III" (Steamhammer/SPV - provided by Target Distribution) - ½ out of 5 points - |
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Ohhh my goodness, torture has a new defined tool to be used! Imagine yourself get chained to a chair and listen to this crap over and over again "TORTURE"!! Crap and more to that can be added to the scandal of a CD. What happens when a guitar "hero" decides to make a ballad CD (not to mention that this is the third of it's kind from Mr. Pell) ... Well the answer to that must be money? This is without any doubt the most boring album ever! I wouldn't even dare to put this CD on to a candlelight dinner. Wow this is a joke of the century or of SPV to make a stunt like this!! The half point is given for the production.
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Benjamin
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PELL, AXEL RUDI "Kings And Queens" (SPV - Provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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It is now the 10th solo album from guitar legend Axel Rudi Pell, so I would dare to say that he does not need any further introduction. With his new album "Kings And Queens" he once more convince the metal scene that he is still going strong!!! But I would also be so bold and say that not much has happened since his previous album and the one before that. The music remains the same, but nevertheless he knows how to write a melody that hangs on. Secondly the voice of Johnny Gioeli up lifts the music twice, with his fantastic performance.
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Benjamin
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PENDRAGON
"Believe" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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I like the mid-period of Pendragon's career; "The Window Of Life" and "The Masquerade Overture" but otherwise I'm not really a fan of this UK-progrock band. Their sound is too much rock and too little prog for my taste, and I feel that (although all great musicians) they don't have what it takes to write solid prog-rock tunes together. Kind of funny actually, considering Clive Nolan (keyboards) writes some of the best neo-prog tunes in the world with his other band Arena. "Believe" is a much more simple album than my 2 favourites of theirs mentioned above, and some of it almost have a touch of Dire Straits/Simple Minds/The Hooters/U2 guitar-driven rock to it. Oh well …
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Claus
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PENUMBRA "Seclusion" (Seasons of Mist - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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What we have here is some melodic metal that would soothe most fans of Evanescence and Lacuna Coil … and perhaps even fans of Nightwish. The reason why I mention these bands should be quite clear, as they all have something in common: They all have female vocalists. Penumbra, though, differs from the fact that they also use black/death metal vocals and clean male vocals, which is actually quite a good idea as these vocals represent 3 different characters dialoguing with each other. Not only the vocals lead your thoughts to the afore mentioned bands, but the music is just as rich and full of feeling, and the guitar riffs are all melodic and comprehensive. The use of grand orchestrations and choirs give the music a special theatrical and melancholic approach and when these things are combined with occasional flutes, back pipes and the sensible female vocals, you sit back with a feeling of completion. Unfortunately, like most melancholic bands in my opinion, you tend to get fed up by it when you reach the end of the album. I guess it just gets too gloomy.
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Martin J
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PERSUADER
"When Eden Burns" (Dockyard1 - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Judging by their previous album, Persuader was well on the way to become the new Blind Guardian (I even thought so) and here they are, presenting their new album, where all melody is sacrificed on the alter of screaming and kick-in-your-face attitude. Lead singer Jens is screaming his way through the album and since his range is so wide and he can go up into the Mariah Carey layers of screaming high pitch, he also has to have 6000 cubic meters of air on the voice (a bit of singing lessons would cure this). The air destroys the melody as it has a tendency to block out tones instead of enhancing them. The songs are pretty well performed, but unfortunately not well written. They are un-structured and they soon become a pain to listen to as there's no point to hold on to, like a chorus or a strong verse. It is with a mixed feeling I review this album, as the last album seemed to grow in my mind, whereas this just doesn't after several spins. I believe the band needs to slow a bit down on the aggressive elements and write some more melodic choruses, like they had on the previous album. Note that this is definitely not a bad album - it just won't go down in world history as one of the trend-setters for the future.
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Lars
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PERSUADER "Evolution Purgatory" (Noise / Sanctuary - provided by Target Distribution) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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File under: BLIND GUARDIAN! Rip-off, rip-off, rip-off (etc., till you don't want to play any more). I don't feel the need to say anything further than if you like Blind Guardian, you really need to let your ears have a try on this one.
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Lars
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PERZONAL WAR
“When Times Turn Red” (AFM Records – provided by Target) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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This is my first encounter with Perzonal War, and it reminds me of a mixture between Metallica, Paradise Lost, Nevermore, Sanctuary and Paradox, without coming even close to any of the bands mentioned. I must admit that first of all, the snare drum is ruining everything for me on this album. It sounds like a cardboard bow being hammered with a wet towel or something. A big fuck-you to the producer for this. On top of it, the drumming is dull and static in an irritating way. Having said that, it is also a genuinely fine album with groove and a bit of aggression. The biggest problem here is that all the songs are just blurs of each other. It’s impossible to remember certain refrains or outstanding solo’s as they are simply not present on the album. Passed, but no more than that.
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Lars
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PETRINI, ARMANDO
"Good Mood" (Selffinanced - provided by Armando Petrini) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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Take a demo from Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Iron Maiden, and mix them together. Take a fan of all 2 artists and provide him with a guitar. Make him play this mixture of demo's and what you'll get is this disc. Damn, we're down to reviewing low-budget home-demo's.!!!!! This is not good. Get the real deal instead, and let Armando practise for another 10 years.
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Lars
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PHARAOH
"The Longest Night" (Cruz Del Sur Music - provided by Cruz Del Sur Music) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Iron Maiden meets American power metal (read: old Iced Earth/Jag Panzer)!!! This is really interesting music from the American dudes in Pharaoh. For an old power metal lover like me, it's pretty cool to receive an album like this, made by great musicians that are not yet well-known, but will be in due time, if they continue down this path of well composed and intelligently designed metal. A song like "By The Night Sky" goes right into your head and won't disappear again and several of the other songs also carry the potential of becoming classics, if people allow for this album to be sold in greater numbers than the usual underground band. Tim Aymar on the vocals sounds like Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin from Jag Panzer and backed up by great guitar twin licks and great songs in general, it is a large playground for Tim. My only complaint about this album is the production that lacks some energy in the drums once in a while, and the occasional scratching sound from overproduction somewhere along the line. However, these are minor complaints, compared to this very fine album.
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Lars
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PHENOMENA
"Psycho Fantasy" (Escape Music - provided by Zink Music) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Yes, I definitely do remember Phenomena - a band that was kind of like a sparkling light on the hard rock scene back in the eighties with their 3 very good albums, (especially "I" and "II - Dreamrunner"). Musically it was a tour-de-force of who-was-who back then in the scene … Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, John Wetton, Kyoji Yamamoto, Max Bacon, Don Airey and Scott Gorham a.o. … but what was most impressive was that it was all put together and composed by one man; producer Tom Galley. You might want to liken this to our days Ayreon, Brazen Abbot, Avantasia or whatever all those "rock-opera's" are called, where you have a billion musicians joining one creative genious. In the case of Phenomena it worked out very well, and the first 2 discs were huge successes in the market. With a mixture of old and new business partners around him, Tom has reformed (if that word can be used about a studio-project) Phenomena, and are now ready with "Psycho Fantasy" - another album of 100% classic hard rock, musically stuck somewhere between Deep Purple, Queen, Black Sabbath and Whitesnake. Glenn Hughes is once again the main-voice of the album, but also Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath) and Keith Murrell (ex-Mama's Boy's) lend their great singing talents to the album. MY favorite tracks here are the heavy "Killing For The Thrill" which is pure genious with it's mixture between rap-like vocals and classic hard rock, "60 Seconds" with the female lead part of Joy Strachan's voice and the Queen-like rock tune "Higher". Great disc, that brings back a lot of memories to a time when this kind of music were "it" …
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Claus
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PINK CREAM 69 "Thunderdome" (SPV - provided by Scanbox) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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"Thunderdome" marks the first release for PC69 on their new label SPV, and oh my, is that a good way to start. I'm sure that when PC69's contract with Massacre Records expired last year there were lots of label executives standing in line to get Readman, Zafiriou, Koffler and Ward to sign the dotted line. PC69 have over the past 16 years evolved from being just another melodic metal band to become one of today's very best in the genre. "Thunderdome" is the perfect example of why PC69 is a major factor on the melodic hard rock scene today - it's great songs with lots of nice sing-along-melodies, it's never boring and never get's too repetitive of itself, the musicians are superb, the vocalist is one of the very best in the world, and the production is simply put better than 99.9% of what other bands accomplishes in a studio setting. Now, here's the question of the day: if I really like PC69 that much how come I'm not going to give them full points? The answer to that question is: I hate the song "My Sharona", and even PC69 can't make a cover version of such a horrible song interesting. That alone drags ½ point away from the band - and the last ½ point is because I've seen the band live 6 years ago and they did a fantastic show, from which I miss just a bit of the energy on the studio albums. But all in all, PC69 is a force that you just can't ignore if you happen to like melodic hard rock/metal.
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Claus
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PLACE VENDOME
"Place Vendome" (Frontiers Records - provided by Atenzia) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween vocalist) teams up with members from Pink Cream 69 and Vanden Plas. Interesting project on paper, and on the final CD I must say that this is really worthwhile spending some time with. Okay, I probably had expected a mixture of power metal, classic heavy rock and semi-progressive metal from these guys, but instead we're served a mixture of hard rock, AOR and tear-dropping love songs. Musically and lyrically we're in other words running around in the "cheese-department" (you've gotta be a fool for not enjoying the irony of song #2 titled "I Will Be Waiting" and song #4 titled "I Will Be Gone" hehe), but even though it's all extremely light-hearted, it's done with great expertise and the song writing is stellar. I for one regard this as a welcome return for Michael Kiske to quality hard rock (after his horrible solo albums and the Supared failure) and it reminded me why it is that he was once one of my favorite vocalists.
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Claus
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P.O.D.
"Greatest Hits - The Atlantic Years" (Rhino Records - Provided by Quite Great Publicity) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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In my cynical black/white world of music business there are 3 factors that can make a band huge; image, quality and money. Image and money are quite given, whereas money is an "x"-factor that usually is applied once one of the other 2 are in place. In the case of P.O.D. we're probably more leaning towards the "quality" factor than either of the other two, seeing as P.O.D. never really had an image (I personally do remember their songs but not what they looked like) - except their Christian/religious lyrics, and they actually became a hit before they even signed to Atlantic Records (who of course boosted their sales even more by applying lots of money) - but yeah, I guess that the success of P.O.D. in the past 7-8 years is mainly due to the fact that they write strong songs and perform them with an energy and attitude that people appreciate. Personally this isn't the music I listen to much - it's a bit too simplistic and too "MTV-generation"-like for my taste. However, I have to admit that most of the songs here on this greatest hits album are very good and for a band that mix metal with hip-hop, funk and reggae it really ain't that bad. Production values are in top, the performance of all musicians are spot-on, and vocalist Sonny Sandoval has a voice that fits the music perfectly. P.O.D. deserved their success, and that's more than can be said for most of the bands out there reaching these enourmous amounts of sales (we're talking about 7+ million albums sold worldwide). For a band known mostly for their major hits "Alive" and "Youth Of The Nation", this greatest hits album contains more memorable high-quality songs than I would have thought, and that proves P.O.D.'s musical quality and relevance on the music scene.
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Claus
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POISONBLACK
"Lust Stained Despair" (Century Media - provided by EMI) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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If you mix Metallica and Paradise Lost, you get Sentenced, and this is what it sounds like on Poisonblack's new album. Well, surprise!!!! The lead singer is no less than the former Sentenced singer Ville Laihiala and it is to be heard in the music. It is a fresh and ultra melodic approach to dark and modern metal. Extremely deep guitars, kidney shaking bass, powerful drumming and possibly the most melodic guitar work on any metal album this year. Ville's voice reminds me of a James Hetfield with the flu, which means good-sounding in my ears. The keyboards on top of everything really makes the final touch and twists this album into new dimensions. I am not left with the impression that any of these guys are extra-ordinary musicians, but they are able to do the most important thing when creating music, and that is to write the SONG. Sometimes people are overlooking this fact in their search for ultra-wanking on various instruments. Song writing always comes before show-off. Poisonblack has learned that, and they are well on their way with this, their 2nd album.
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Lars
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PORTNOY, MIKE
"Prime Cuts" (Magna Carta - provided by Target) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Yawn, yawn, yawn. Another one of those compilations from Magna Carta, with a collection of an artist's performances of various bands - this time Mike Portnoy. Even if Mike is one of the best drummers in the world (if not THE best, according to me), this is a release that is not necessary, unless as an introduction to the various groups that are present on the album. I find it hard to listen to all the jazzy rhythms where people are playing odd notes and disharmonic tones that irritates the ear so much - JUST to play it and be able to say: "We did stranger music than Dream Theater and Watchtower" ... I'd any day choose my Dream Theater discs over this one if I want to hear Mike Portnoy play drums, and I don't really care who are performing with him or not on this album. DT is just better.
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Lars
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POWERWOLF
"Return In Bloodred" (Metal Blade - provided by Target) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Powerwolf? Come on - this has got to be one of the worst band names in the history of power metal (perhaps just with the exception of Steel Seal!!!). Allright, let's pretend we don't care about the horrible name, and let's also pretend that the cover artwork isn't as bad as it actually is, and … while we're at it, let's pretend that we honestly believe Metal Blade when they claim this is a German/French/Romanian band (even though the names are as fake as can be) … oh, and why don't we pretend that the concept about Vampires is something brand new and definitely not something overdone. Yes, we've weeded out all the weak and annoying elements about this release, and what's left is a quite well done mixture of power metal, classic heavy metal and a gothic atmosphere, enhanced by a great production. What really impressed me about this album is the way the church organs are a very integral part of Powerwolf's sound. It's reminding me quite a bit of Type O Negative, which isn't a bad thing. The power metal riffs are very groovy, not like most other bands in this genre, and that definitely sets this band apart from the rest of the scene. Cool! Allright, I have just one more thing to complain about (am I evil or what?), which is the vocals of Attila (arghh, what a f***ng fake name) that according to the biography by Metal Blade should be unique and extremely great, since the guy is opera-educated. Opera? My ass! This guy is not a bad singer, but he definitely doesn't enhance the music, and he has never been anywhere near an opera-hall. Okay, I know - enough rambling about - "Return In Bloodred" is a fresh approach to the power metal scene, and I appreciate the disc for that. But I won't buy into any of the hype Metal Blade is trying to build around it, sorry.
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Claus
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PRAYING MANTIS "The Journey Goes On" (Frontiers - provided by Nordic Metal) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Hey, this stuff is quite good! Let's be totally honest here; I have NEVER listened to Praying Mantis in my whole life … would you believe that? I know, I know … I'm hopeless. How can someone call themselves a heavy metal fan, and having been listening to this style of music for 20+ years, yet never listened to one of the bigger bands from the NWOBHM scene? I don't know, it's just the way it is. I've never cared to listen to this band, until now, when this CD ended up in my mailbox and I decided to at least give it a spin to check it out. And what do you know - this is actually quite cool. Praying Mantis might have been one of the influential bands on the NWOBHM scene back in the early eighties - back when Iron Maiden, Saxon, Judas Priest and Samson all were cutting their teeth, but nowadays I can't really find music heavy metal in their music. What is at hand at "The Journey Goes On" is instead some ultra melodic and nicely pompous hard rock, not that far from Asia's last couple of releases, or perhaps even some Ten / Journey style music, just with a bit more rock'n'roll bite to it. Opener "Tonight" is damn good, and vocalist John Sloman (ex-MSG) has a cool voice that fits the music nicely. Dougie White (Cornerstone, Malmsteen, ex-Rainbow) is singing on half of the album (with Sloman doing the rest) and he is of course also a great vocalist. In other words, the performances from the singers, as well as the rest of the musicians, are top-notch, and with some good songs this album is a sure winner for fans of melodic hard rock. Hey, I might have to go check out some of the other Praying Mantis albums now…
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Claus
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PRESIDENT EVIL
"Trash 'n' Roll Asshole Show" (AFM Records - provided by Target) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Sorry, but this is not moving any borders as the bio so nicely says. Mixture of very early Metallica and Motorhead, but with a little more groove and some more aggressive vocals. The biggest problem for the band is that all the songs sound the same and you can get away with that if you only write 10 songs, but 15!!! The production is clear and dirty at the same time, the songs are pretty decent, the riffs are a lot and the only thing I can complaint about is the fact that the album begins boring me to death after 8 - 9 tracks. Variety gentlemen. Anyway, I am sure that this music is really meant for live situations, so I look forward to seeing the band in Copenhagen if they ever get here. Moshtime!!!!!!
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Lars
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PRESTO BALLET
"Peace Among The Ruins" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Kurdt Vanderhoof is not a new name on the scene … not at all. Most of us old headbangers remember him from the glory days of Metal Church in the eighties - a band that he as the guitarist was an integral part of, and for many years it's main composer. However, Kurdt quit the band (a couple of times actually) mainly due to internal problems as far as the story goes. Seeing that the subsequent releases from Kurdt were in a much different vein (the Vanderhoof albums sounded like a second rate Deep Purple), my guess is that Kurdt simply got tired of power/thrash metal and wanted to do his own thing. Presto Ballet is a continuation of the music on the Vanderhoof-discs, but perfected to such a degree that I found "Peace Among The Ruins" to be a very good disc that I'll definitely be listening to much more in the future (whereas the Vanderhoof discs now are collecting dust on my shelves). The album starts out with a HUGE Hammond-organ sound, and from that moment on we know what's in store; classic semi-progressive rock with a heavier edge. Musically this is best comparable to Deep Purple, Kansas, Dixie Dreggs and a bit of Yes - in other words somewhere between the US pomp-rock of the Seventies and some classic British hard rock with a light blues touch. And, if you want some contemporary comparisons, you might put this up there with the Ayreon discs, as it has some of that vibe to it. My only grudge with this disc is that the vocals of Scott Albright aren't exactly on par with the rest of the music. By no means he is a bad vocalist, but I just find myself longing for a different kind of voice. Either a cleaner one like Steve Walsh of Kansas or perhaps a rougher one like Jorn Lande. Anyway, the disc definitely has something on it's own merit, and I must admit it was way better than I had expected after the 2 Vanderhoof discs.
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Claus
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PRIDE OF LIONS
"The Roaring Of Dreams" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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I'm really happy I have to review Pride Of Lions on their musical merits and not on their bandphotos - seriously, one look at the band photo accompanying the disc had me on the floor laughing my ass off. But yeah, we're here to talk about "The Roaring Of Dreams" which is a wonderful hard rock album, that really took me by surprise. Opener "Heaven On Earth" reminds me of a mixture between Meat Loaf and Bryan Adams; in other words a very pompous melodic rock tune. And so it continues on through the album with tunes inspired by the aforemention 2 gentlemen, but also occassionally it's possible to draw references to bands such as Survivor (duh, Jim Peterik is the main-man here), City Boy (ahhh … those happy, happy pop-tunes), Asia, Balance, Ten (the guitar playing reminds me of Vinny Burns in places), and so on … classic melodic rock. . What sets Pride Of Lions appart from so many other "smaller" bands in this genre (and pulls them up to where I don't feel ashamed by naming them alongside the aforemention ones) is that Jim Petrik and co. knows how to write such tunes as the amazing "Turnaround", which simply put blows most pomp-rock semi-ballads back to the caves. Wow! Okay, I've mentioned Meat Loaf, and it's actually one of the main references throughout the disc, due to those big voices of Jim Peterik and Toby Hitchcock, but also very much the edge of pomp-rock that this disc constantly leans towards. The production is superb - fits the album perfectly, and although I'm sure there's 1 million dollars that stops the band from ever getting Mutt Lange to produce a disc for them, the sound really reminds me of something that could have been on a Bryan Adams or Def Leppard disc: full, but with enough room to let every instrument breathe. "The Roaring Of Dreams" is an album I didn't have big expectations for, but that really convinced me that they are among the strongest melodic hard rock acts right now.
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Claus
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PRIMAL FEAR "Devil's Ground" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Primal Fear is a band that needs no further introduction as they have been on the metal scene for nearly a decade. Their new album "Devil's Ground" shows why they are amongst the most well respected metal bands around the world. It is not because they have changed much in their way of making music, it's more that this album reminds me of how talented they really are. Secondly, Ralf Scheepers shows his real potential as a singer, as he also did on the Ayreon "Flight Of The Universal Migrator, Part II". This is something that I've always have been missing, since I first heard him appear on the Ayreon. The music is as always Pure Metal, with fantastic melodic guitar solos. This album is actually the best that they have made since their debut album. This is not something new or creative from Primal Fear, it is just one of the best albums within the genre.
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Benjamin
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PROBOT "Probot" (Southern Lord - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Who would have thought that Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana drummer, singer/guitarist of Foo Fighters) was a huge underground metal fan? Probably not a lot of people, unless they remembered the appearance Grohl did on Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi's solo album a couple of years ago. But the truth is that Grohl probably have his facts about heavy metal more together than most of the guys who claim to be a true metal fan and run around all clad in spikes and leather. With Probot Grohl has collected a bunch of real heavy metal veterans and asked them to perform their own idea of one song each; Cronos (Venom), Max (ex-Sepultura), Lemmy (Motorhead), Mike Dean (C.O.C.), Kurt Brecht (ex-D.R.I.), Lee Dorrian (Cathedral), Wino (ex-Obsessed), Tom G Warrior (Celtic Frost), Snake (Voivod), Eric Wagner (Trouble) and King Diamond (Mercyful Fate). Wow!!! Impressive line-up and the result is quite impressive as well I must admit. Of course you'll get what you expect from each of the participants, and that's what makes this album a bit predictable and less convincing than I had hoped - Lemmy does a head-on metal tune, Wino delivers an Ozzy like performance, Snake sings a song that might as well have been a Voivod tune, Cronos is fed with an old-time NWOBHM song, Eric Wagner comes up with a psychotic mooded tune, Max Cavalera with a death/thrash tune and so on … nothing really surprising, but still well done and big kudos to Grohl for having the heart and mind to do something like this. It shows true metal spirit, and that deserves respect.
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Claus
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PROJECT : FAILING FLESH "A Beautiful Sickness" (Project: Failing Flesh - provided by P:FF) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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I won't spend too much time on reviewing this disc right now, as it will be seeing an official release real soon through Karmageddon Media - but just to keep you all up-to-date and hopefully spark some interest, I'll say that this is one of the weirdest bands I've heard in a long time. Imagine the psychotic sounds of Neurosis and Voivod mixed with some modern elements a la Tool, having a string ensemble a la Kronos Quartet blending into the soundsphere and topped off with a growling death metal-like vocal performance by Eric Forrest (ex-Voivod, E-Force), and then you're close to describing P:FF. When it's good, it's really awesome, but unfortunately not all of the material lives up to that. This is an album I'm sure will become a classic for some, and a total pile of shit to others. www.projectfailingflesh.com.
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Claus
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PRONG "100% Live" (Locomotive Music - provided by VME) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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Yiiihaaaaa, another live disc, and we all know just how much I like that…NOT. I have never been a fan of Prong's music as it is much too simple a music form for my taste, and now I even have to review their live performance. Lucky me. Here goes: Drums are boring, bass is too deep, guitars are just boring chords, and the lead singer is desperately trying to keep things above water. He sounds to me like a brutal version of Courtney Love, that is: He can't sing! I must admit that the overall sound is pretty clean but that's not enough to make me like this disc one second.
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Lars
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PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT
"Left In Grisly Fashion" (Neurotic Records - provided by VME) - ? out of 5 points - |
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Sorry, I'm not gonna do it. I'm simply not gonna spend time on listening to a CD by a band called Prostitute Disfigurement in order to review it. I bet you I can already now (without even unwrapping the disc from the shit it came in) tell you what it sounds like. Horrible grind metal with deeper than deep growling and ravingly mad lyrics about how we should kill women and fuck their cunts in the most grizzly fashion. There - that's it - I'm quite certain I'm close to how it sounds like, right?
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Claus
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PROTO-KAW
"The Wait Of Glory" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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The debut album of Kansas-offspring Proto-kaw was released a year or two ago, and was a very good disc of typical US-prog rock in the vein of … you guessed it … Kansas. No real surprise there, seeing as Proto-kaw in fact was the band Kerry Livgren had going before forming Kansas years ago. With "The Wait For Glory" he returns with another solid disc combining the sound of Kansas, old school Genesis and a good deal of Jethro Tull (yup, the flute parts bare a lot of resemblance to Ian Anderson at his best). This is a solid disc, where most of the material are quite superb, with the exception of "Old Number 63" which is just too funky for my taste. Kerry's guitars are the main focus on this album, with lots of wonderful solo parts and brilliant "groove" (can I really use that word when describing a prog-rock disc?) throughout the entire album. Also a huge plus is the clear production that makes the song come to life right in front of you. Great stuff!
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Claus
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PROTO~KAW "Before Became After" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Scanbox Entertainment) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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"Former members of Kansas" is what this CD is being marketed as … and already there my attention was awaken. Yes, this is of course prog-rock in the 70's American style, with lots of hints at the sound of Kansas, a bit of Southern Rock and some jazz parts - all makes it an interesting disc, but not necessarily METAL (as some would have expected seeing that it's released by Inside Out). I've seen people compare it to Genesis, Camel or even Van Der Graaf Generator, but I honestly don't hear much of any of those in "Before Became After" - what I do hear is Kerry Livgren (from Kansas) creating a very nice disc, and all fans of Kansas should rush out and pick it up.
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Claus
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PROVENANCE, THE "Still At Arms Length" (Scarlet Records - Provided by Scarlet Records) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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The Provenance strikes back with another avantgarde metal album. Their debut album was a nice surprise for me and was one of the best releases that year with its strange and complex black metallic music. On the follow up "Still at Arms Length" we get more of this kind, although the black metal is more or less gone. The music is full of '70th keyboards, not unlike Borknagar. The vocals in songs change from beautiful female to growling male to well performed male choirs, as like the debut. I especially appreciate track no. 4 "The Ardbeg Experience", it is a damn good single Islay malt whisky. Songs like "World of Hurt" and "At Arms Length" are very near to the characteristics of Opeth and it is symptomatic for this release that it is the introspective melancholy that rules this album.
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Martin P
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PSYCROPTIC
"Symbols Of Failure" (Neurotic Records - provided by VME) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Last month I reviewed the new disc by Polish technical-death metal act Decapitated, and now the time has come to a band from the opposite side of the earth, Tasmanian Psycroptic, that plays a style quite similar to Decapitated. Yup, once again a full-speed death metal band with sick drumming and twisted guitarleads. Psycroptic is a band with a technical brilliance I've rarely seen in death metal ever since the hey-day of Atheist or Pestilence, and that counts for a lot in my book! "Symbols of Failure" is filled with one amazing neck-breaking technical part after the othe going at a grinding speed, and sometimes it's impossible not to drop everything you have in your hands just to stop and stare at the speakers wondering what-the-fuck that just was that happened in there. Believe me, Psycroptic will full-fill ALL your hidden desires for tech-metal … and even more. My only complaint is that the grind-metal pace makes it extremely tough to listen to, and after the first 5 songs you're not really sure if you can stand listening to the last 4 without losing your mind. I didn't get quite that bewildered when listening to Decapitated (due to them being more thrashy death metal and less grind), and that makes the Polish guys just that little tad better in my book - but, trust me, Psycroptic is by far the best Aussie death metal band I've ever heard, and if you have any interest in technical death metal, you NEED to listen to "Symbols of Failure".
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Claus
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PUNGENT STENCH
"Ampeauty" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Death metal + rock'n'roll + humour + slow paced groovy thrash metal + gory lyrics = Pungent Stench. The Austrian weirdo's are returning to form with a very interesting album, that not only holds the title for sickest album cover of the year, stupidest band pictures, but also for coolest album title. That said, the band really hasn't changed much over the years, as they still steal all their riffs from Celtic Frost, their groove from Bolt Thrower and their humour from Carnivore. However, it's the mixture of all this that makes PS to something out-of-the-ordinary, and it's what makes "Ampeauty" a very interesting disc, that however do demand a certain mood from the listener, in order for you to sit through the entire hour that this disc lasts.
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Claus
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PURE INC.
"A New Day's Dawn" (AFM Records - provided by Target) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Pure Inc. from Switzerland is a welcomed breath in the hard rock area. Without the usual appealing to all the old 80'ies hard rock fans, they simply rock outta the highway. With a world-class front man as Gianni Pontillo, who must be Chris Cornell's Swiss cousin, it can't really go wrong. Musically, Pure Inc. is a mixture of Soundgarden and Skid Row, with emphasis on the former, and with a touch of Creed in it. This, mixed with these raw and wild vocals, topped with cool solo's and a feeling that is so rare in today's scene, makes the 4-piece a contender to move into a higher league. I certainly expect to see these guys on tour in the fall and on various summer festivals. Their music deserves to get out to the masses. Move your ears into their homepage and hear some songs now!
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Lars
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