Trollheart

Trollheart’s Sixty-Second Samplers


A new idea I had. Yes, another one, what of it? My favourite music vendor website allows you to listen to sixty seconds of each track off an album before you decide to purchase, so I thought this might be a good way for me to review new albums without having to listen to them all the way through. I mean, there are albums I would not even shell out sixty cents for, and while of course I could go a-Soulseeking, again some of them I just wouldn’t want to bother. But this way I get to hear snippets without having to put my hand in my digital pocket. It’s how I usually decide anyway whether or not I intend to buy an album, and while there’s not a huge amount you can learn from sixty seconds of a track, in some cases this could be a quarter of the song, so you might glean more from it than you might think.

Clearly, I won’t be writing much about the actual songs, and even that which I do could be way off, as songs can change halfway through, and some samples may give me little more than an instrumental intro or whatever, but I’ll do what I can. Each track will be rated 1 - 10, as below, and then the album as a whole will also be rated 1 - 10. You can expect absolutely every genre here, as I am going to take every single album the website puts on its front page (its new releases) and go through them one by one. If I really hate an album after a few tracks I’ll reserve the right not to continue, but in general and as best I can I will try to get to the end of each one. Feel free to comment, add information, ask questions, or send large donations of cash.

Rating system

There’s a difference to my normal rating system here. In addition to numbers from 1 - 10 I’ll be using letters. This is to account for the fact that many of these will be albums I have little or no interest in hearing, or artists I don’t even know, but that, outside of my own personal preferences, they may be good albums in themselves. So I don’t want to give an album a low rating just because it’s a genre or artist I’m not familiar with, or like. Therefore the following suffixes will apply.

A = Artist or genre I’m very familiar with. An A indicates that I should have a pretty good expectation of liking at least some of the tracks on this album.

B = The same, but perhaps to my surprise a big disappointment where I had expected/hoped to enjoy this

C = An album I did not enjoy, but did not expect to enjoy, as I don’t like or have much experience of the genre/artist

D = As above, but one that, to my surprise, I did enjoy.

E= An album I had absolutely no clue whether I was going to love or hate

F= An album I had a reasonable expectation of liking, and did

G= An album I had a reasonable expectation of not liking, and did not.

H= An album I had a reasonable expectation of liking, but did not

K= An album I had a reasonable expectation of not liking, but did


L= Other (who knows?)

The letter ratings only apply to albums, not tracks.

The numerical ratings run as follows:
(tracks)
0: Unlikely to be used much, but this will cover any track which has maybe excessive intro using sound effects or whatever that prevents me from being able to get a proper handle on the track.
1 -2: Hate this after sixty seconds, or less; never want to hear it again
3-4: Not very impressed with this; have no desire to hear any more
5 -6: Meh. Not bad, but I can live without hearing any more
7: Pretty decent; wouldn't turn it off if I were listening to the full track
8: Good. I’m enjoying this and I could certainly stand to hear more.
9: Excellent! Have to hear more of this.
10: I would probably buy the album just based on this track alone.

(album)
1-2: Would not take this album for free, not even if they paid me.
3-4: Pretty poor. Doubt I’d be interested in hearing the full thing.
5-6: Meh. All right, but no particular interest in hearing any more.
7: Pretty good; could possibly see listening to more.
8: Very impressed. Would definitely like to hear more.
9: Really great: have to hear the full album.
10: I’m buying/have bought/will buy this album, and possibly others by this artist.

So an excellent album which I expected to be excellent would rate a 9A or higher, while a disappointment might rate something like a 6B. One I knew I would hate, and did, would be perhaps a 3C while one I expected to hate but did not could be a 7D. Clear? No? Tough. Here we go.

And by the way, in case anyone thinks I’m going easy on myself by choosing an album that is from a genre and artist I know, it’s pure coincidence: I’m taking these exactly in the order they come on the front page, going top left to bottom right, leaving out nothing. It just so happens that I’m lucky this is the first one on the list.


Album title: Saints and Sinners
Artist: House of Lords
Genre: Hard Rock/Melodic Rock/AOR
Nationality: American
Familiarity (artist): I have heard two albums by them.
Familiarity (genre): I’m a big fan of melodic rock/metal and of course AOR, as well as heavy metal and hard rock, so this is right in my wheelhouse.

A word before I jump in: My experience of this band has varied. I’ve heard two albums as I say above, One, 2004’s The Power and the Myth, I was distinctly unimpressed with, however 2012’s Indestructible was a totally different proposition, and I loved it. Will this continue the trend of the latter? Let’s find out.

Tracks
“Saints and Sinners”
It’s straight into it with a rocking beat and a quasi-Maiden riff leading in a lowish vocal that reminds me a little of Jon Bon Jovi and then kicks up just as my sample ends.
Rating: 9

“House of the Lord”
A digital piano leads us in with a real feeling of Tony Banks - could this be the first ballad already? But then the thundering drumbeat belies that, and it’s followed by chugging guitars and a soarway keyboard run as we rock out again.
Rating: 9

“Take it All”
With another soft keyboard intro, perhaps this is a power ballad? But again I’d say no: hard guitars punch up and the tempo, though it doesn’t quite rock as fast as the previous two, is still in a kind of stomping, marching kind of style, and I would categorise this as what I like to call a rock cruncher.
Rating: 9

“Road Warrior”
Trumpeting keyboard arpeggio blasts into a boogie-style rocker which sounds like it has a lot of fun and energy in it.
Rating: 9

“Mistress of the Dark”
Longest track on the album at just over seven minutes, and begins with a suitably long and atmospheric synthy intro - take up most of the sample actually - which reminds me of the opening of Dire Straits’ “Private Investigations”, then a hard rock seventies-style guitar riff kicks in, and off we go!
Rating: 9

“Avalanche”
And surely this is the ballad, with a slow piano line and a soft vocal. Yeah, deffo a ballad, and a damn good one too.
Rating: 10

“Roll Like Thunder”
Rocker whose main melody is a little too close I think to Palmer’s “Addicted to Love”. Meh.
Rating: 6

“Razzle Dazzle”
I must admit, before the track even starts I have my reservations about this, just because of the stupid title. But we’ll see. Well it certainly comes roaring out of the traps with a big growling nasty guitar sound. Could live without the way the vocal is constructed. Not bad though.
Rating: 7

“Dreamin’ it All”
And we keep rocking, though kind of almost more in a metal way - well, to be fair, if anything this sounds glam or hair metal, kind of a late eighties vibe to it, maybe Great White or early Guns’n’Roses, maybe. Gimme a break! I got sixty damn seconds to make comparisons. Overall, not bad but not great.
Rating: 7

“Takin’ My Heart Back”
Another rocker, with the sort of nod to “Kashmir” in the opening riff that a lot of bands seem to use. Kind of more AOR than the rest of the album.
Rating: 8

“Angels Fallen”
Hard, choppy guitar with a nice rising keyboard line in again quite the Bon Jovi line, sort of a slower song with a sense of a semi-ballad about it.
Rating: 8

Average Track Rating: 6.18

Comments: Up until the last few tracks these guys can do no wrong on this album. It’s pretty much gold all the way till about “Roll Like Thunder”, and then it take a dip in quality. It’s not, to be fair, a serious dip, but the high standard is not maintained throughout the album like it is on Indestructible which is a pity. It starts out promising much - and generally, delivers on that promise - but there’s a sense of disappointment and of fizzling out somewhat as we approach the end of the album. It does pick up for the last three tracks, but it never seems to quite regain the excellent quality of the first six. A worthy effort though, and still deserves the highest rating.

Album Rating: 10A

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

music_collector

Hear hear. The self titled album from 1988 is good too. I've yet to hear this one.

Trollheart

Album title: Legend
Artist: John Legend
Genre: Soul/R&B
Nationality: American
Familiarity (artist): Zero (may have heard the name)
Familiarity (genre): Not a lot; as much as other people who don’t know that much about soul. I know the greats, and the singles, a few albums here and there but I would not in any way characterise myself as a fan of the genre.

Tracks

“Rounds”
Nice smooth kind of motown-y feel to this, good solid bass, lush organ, good voice too, from what I get to hear of it. Not at all bad for an opener.
Rating: 7

“Waterslide”
Slightly more uptempo, puts me very much in mind of later Prince. Good beat, and again I like the organ. Again, decent enough.
Rating: 7

“Dope”
Lot of funk in this one, very danceable, again pretty cool. The bass is (ahem) dope, and the backing vocals work very well.
Rating: 7

“Strawberry Blush”
Dancey again, sort of a George Benson/Alexander O’Neal idea to this one. Reminds me of the seventies soul bands I used to hear on TV like Odyssey and The Crusaders.
Rating: 6

“Guy Like Me”
Strange kind of percussion driving the tune, but again dancey and perhaps a little throwaway? Not mad about this one.
Rating: 5

“All She Wanna Do”
Well all right. I was ready to call this the first ballad, with its slow lush synth and a sort of aching vocal, but then it kicked up into a funky little dance number, and while I frown on his taking the title almost directly from Don Henley (though I suppose he grabbed it from Tina Charles) it’s a catchy song and, yeah, I like it.
Rating: 8

“Splash”
Odd one this. Music is kind of staggered, with the vocal all but acapella, and some nice backing vocals coming in. Sort of stripped-down and basic but it works.
Rating: 7

“You”
Mid-paced dance number that doesn’t seem to have too much about it in the lyric - basically “All I want is you”, which is kind of rehashing the other track above. Meh. A bit generic.
Rating: 5

“Fate”
Lovely sprinkly piano and haunting sax, with some sort of sound effect (I think children’s voices?) in the background, but despite that I don’t think it’s a ballad. Good start but it feels like it quickly slips into that generic groove again.
Rating: 6

“Love”
Sumptuous blues/gospel ballad with a nice female duet going on. Pretty cool.
Rating: 8

“One Last Dance”
Ballad taken right out of the Chi-Lites/Smokey Robinson playbook, nice and relaxing with a reflective, melancholy air. Decent.
Rating: 8

“All She Wanna Do”
Different version, I guess, though I don’t see that much of a difference. Can’t really rate this as it is basically the same song,

“Memories”
Oh the acoustic guitar here is so nice and unexpected. Maybe the best track so far. Very cool.
Rating: 9

“Nervous”
The digital piano opening is really nice here, and again this might be one of the better tracks on the album.
Rating: 9

“Wonder Woman”
Kind of an almost country feel to this, slow again with some slick guitar. Touches of gospel with a little flavour of Lighthouse Family.
Rating: 8

“Honey”
Seems so far they’re all generally slow tracks on this, the second CD. The distant sax here is very effective, and the beat rocks.
Rating: 8

“I Want You to Know”
Oh the gurgly organ here is beautiful. Surprisingly though, it pops up into a reggae number as the tempo rises. Still pretty good.
Rating: 8

“Speak in Tongues”
Back to the ballads? It would seem so. Another Smokey style song which a nice driving melody behind it.
Rating: 8

“The Other Ones”
Gorgeous piano opening this, and what sounds like orchestral strings. A ballad which reminds me of Ten (who?) at their best. Superb.
Rating: 10

“Stardust”
Another ballad led by acoustic guitar, though it’s very much Legend’s voice which holds court over all. Nice.
Rating: 8

“Pieces”
For some reason this puts me in mind of Deacon Blue. I know, what can you do? Very hard bassy piano running the tune, sounds like another ballad.
Rating: 8

“Good”
Bluesy ballad with a lot of seventies motown/soul in it, sort of doo-wop idea too. Sweet.
Rating: 8

“I Don’t Love You Like I Used To”
Another piano ballad. I guess it’s to his credit that with so many ballads it doesn’t get boring.
Rating: 8

“Home”
And one final ballad to wrap it up. And it’s another really nice one, and I reckon a good closer, which sounds to me as if it’s advice to his child. Lovely.
Rating: 10

Average Track Rating: 7.41

Comments: Considering I’m not a fan of this genre and don’t know much about it, I have to say that what I sampled here I mostly enjoyed. There was little I didn’t at least like, and a lot I loved. As I mentioned in the tracks rundown, given that it seems the second CD is pretty much all ballads, he doesn’t bore you with generic love songs, and it never gets samey. Quite a talent, as I’m sure his fans and fans of this genre already know, and while I wouldn’t be buying the album I would not, I think, turn this off if it were played on the radio. For a double album, which gave me pause when I realised and made me wonder if this would be an ordeal or a struggle, it was a pretty pleasant way to spend a quarter of an hour.

Album Rating: 8D

(Sorry: can't find a YouTube of the album that isn't a playlist, and playlists don't work here)

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Norg

DO behemoth new album so i dont have 2



behemoth- opvs contra natvram

Trollheart

I'm not taking requests. If you read the OP, this is only the new albums on that site, in the order they come up, so I don't get the choice of picking and choosing what I listen to. If that one comes up, fine. If not, not fine. Guess you'll have to wait and see. Also, you'll still have to listen to it even if I do, as these are only sixty-second intros to the tracks.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Album title: The Cosmic Cauldron
Artist: Needless
Genre: Death Metal/Thrash Metal
Nationality: Hungarian
Familiarity (artist): Zero
Familiarity (genre): Some; thrash metal I can handle, death metal not so much, though I have heard a decent amount.

A word before I jump in: Showing how badly my vendor can get it wrong, these guys are shown as being from Finland, when in fact Metal Archives, whom I trust more when it comes to metal bands at least, have them hailing from Hungary. Bit of a difference there, guys! I also wonder if the genre is correct. Look at the titles: “Astrogate the Spectral Lane”. “Prism Fortress”. “The Predation”. Are these the kind of song titles we associate with thrash or death metal? And the final track is 10 minutes long! I have to wonder, but I guess we’ll see.

Tracks
“Warvoid AD”
Very atmospheric, dramatic, epic opening to this, with dark synth and feedback guitar then are those sound effects or the vocals? Hard to be sure. Odd.
Rating: 0

“Astrogate the Spectral Lane”
Well this one is certainly rocking from the beginning with a real thrash metal feel. Suppose it depends on the vocal - oh there it is. Screechy, raspy, very death metal indeed. Okay. So maybe the genre is right. Oh, we have a growly one there too, just for good measure.
Rating: 2

“The Predation”
Fast, hard guitar (duh) in a sort of epic vein, and if you ignore the vocal (which I do) it’s not really too bad. Actually, I could get used to this. Maybe.
Rating: 4

“Mournful Heavens”
Begins with almost a celestial sound which then quite cleverly warps downwards and becomes almost a Doom Metal beat with roars and screams and all that good stuff. Meh.
Rating: 4

“The Cosmic Cauldron”
Hammers along at a fine pace, going for the throat and not letting go. Some almost neoclassical guitar going on there and the drummer is really going for it.
Rating: 4

“Odium”
More neoclassical guitar, rising and then the vocalist laughs nastily and we’re off again. Reminds me of Vai or Malmsteen at their best, though it’s quickly reduced to the level of a basic thrash guitar assault. Pity.
Rating: 5

“The Prism Fortress”
Slower, with a kind of chant going on and some ringing guitar. Neoclassical solo and it picks up tempo and heads off into the stratosphere.
Rating: 5

“Chrononaut”
Good thick bassline opening this one with some wailing guitar and then a good grind gets going.
Rating: 5

“Planet Oblivion”
A really unexpectedly introspective guitar intro with what sounds like soft synth and wind tones in the background. I wonder does this qualify as their version of a ballad, their “Planet Caravan” on Paranoid?
Rating: 7

“Transgalactic”
This is the ten minute closer, and it pounds and roars from the beginning. A bit chaotic, a bit disjointed, not a lot to say. Not so sure I’d be ready to wade through ten minutes of this. Thankfully, all I have to suffer is sixty seconds.
Rating: 2


Average Track Rating: 3.9

Comments: Yeah I remember this one. My magpie attention was drawn to the cover, and I thought it might be something I would like. However as I say, death metal, and particularly the vocals that go with same, is not for me, and neither is this. There seems to be some pretty sterling guitar work, which is good to hear, but it’s not an album I would be interested in hearing all the way through. Obvious pun #39,404: needless to say, I won’t be adding this to my collection.

Album Rating: 4G

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Album title: Searching for the Eagle
Artist: Black Fat Cat
Genre: Experimental/Psychedelic
Nationality: German
Familiarity (artist): Zero
Familiarity (genre): Very little

A word before I jump in: This band proved a little hard to track down. They have a Facebook page, but as a rule I try not to go near the FB, as I immediately afterwards get bombarded with “welcome back!” “So-and-so wants to be your friend” messages, and they piss me off as I don’t use the damn thing. Black Fat Cat also have a bandcamp page, which unhelpfully fails to show a single genre tag, so I’m going in terms of genre with what the vendor’s website says, and this could very well be completely off the mark, since they’ve made such stupid mistakes as having a death metal band down as eurodance. Yeah. But we’ll see.

Incidentally, on some albums they run the three words of their band name together, as BlackFatCat, on others they don’t, so I have no idea which is right. I’m going with the way it’s arranged on this album, which is as three separate words.

Tracks
“Leaving Home”
Kind of a standard rock opening, sort of an almost country rock feel to it. Can’t see much experimental about this, though of course it’s just the first track. Good start.
Rating: 8

“No Man is an Island”
I hear a sort of less aggressive Big Country here, good vocal harmonies. Powerful guitar.
Rating: 8

“Coming Home”
More uptempo here, kind of a bit like Dylan on speed. Maybe. Slight touches of metal perhaps.
Rating: 8

“On My Way with the Devil”
Melancholic feel to this, sort of puts me in mind of Strawfoot. Acoustic-ish then it picks up with a good staggered riff. Yeah definitely Strawfoot for me.
Rating: 9

“Bottom of the Bottle”
More laconic and slow, maybe slide guitar, lot of bass, dark and ominous, again very Strawfoot. Like this.
Rating: 9

“Riding Home”
Back to the uptempo songs, with a good driving guitar and a sense of fun.
Rating: 8

“Burn”
Dropping down to slow, powerful, dark and grinding with a sort of idea of Nick Cave circa Let Love In.
Rating: 9

“Searching for the Eagle”
Keeping slow and grindy for the closing track, not so sure about this one.
Rating: 7

Average Track Rating: 8.12

Comments: I have to say, I don’t hear anything in the least experimental and nothing vaguely psychedelic about this. I’m not the greatest with genres, but I would place it in a sort of midway point between maybe indie rock and country, possibly alt-country (note the comparisons to Strawfoot). I’d question the overuse of the word “home” - “Riding Home”, “Coming Home” and “Leaving Home”; just seems a little, I don’t know, unadventurous or lacking imagination? Overall I’d say a half-decent album, but I don’t think I’d be rushing to buy it. Not bad.

Album Rating: 6E


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78wSKltph8Y

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Album title: Ready Now
Artist: Jimmy Hall
Genre: Blues/Rock/Country
Nationality: American
Familiarity (artist): Zero
Familiarity (genre): The usual; I like the blues, but only certain types. My exposure to the genre is mostly through the greats, and contemporary artists such as Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore.

A word before I jump in: I read this guy is the lead singer for southern rock band Wet Willie. This means nothing to me, but may to some of you. He’s also said to be a harmonica player, so perhaps we can expect to hear some of the old mouth-organ? I find the blues to be quite repetitive and generic - don’t expect there’ll ever be such a sub-genre as progressive blues (though having said that, I’ll probably find if I look that there is one): you can usually make pretty good guess at what you’re going to hear, from Howlin’ Wolf to Robert Cray and Son House to Samantha Fish. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s rare I hear a new sound in blues, though again, it’s not like I listen to a lot. I do think though that with the blues, you kind of know what you’re gonna get.

Tracks

“Girl’s Got Sugar”
And what we get here is a pretty raucous start with piano and yes indeed, harmonica. Love that harmonica! To be fair, this isn’t really what I’d call blues per se, more a kind of hard rock a la early Deep Purple.
Rating: 7

“Jumpin’ for Joy”
Great honky-tonk piano here, tempo bouncing along nicely with a kind of a rockabilly beat is what I hear.
Rating: 7

“Risin’ up”
More low-key, reminds me of Donald Fagen (how funny is it that the system censored his first name?) or maybe Robert Cray, some nice sharp geetar in there. The sleazy organ and rippling piano are sweet, and there are touches of gospel in the backing vocals.
Rating: 8

“Dream Release”
An acoustic start with brass and nice soft piano which sort of makes me think Jackson Browne, maybe Bob Seger or someone like that. Pretty nice.
Rating: 8

“Ready Now”
Nealy acapella opening with single guitar chords leading into a kind of testimonial with a bubbling organ in the background.
Rating: 8


“Holding On for Dear Love”
Sounds a bit funky, with some good handclaps and a whining organ a la Roy Bittan, and I feel this is a ballad.
Rating: 8

“A Long Goodbye”
Long rising organ (yes yes, ooer!) leads harmonica into a true blues ballad, the kind of thing I love when hearing the blues. Really nice.
Rating: 9

“Will You Still Be Here?”
Strides along on an arrogant organ line from the start, certainly makes your toes tap and your head wag from side to side. Smooth.
Rating: 8

“Without Your Love”
Oddly enough, the opening of his brings to mind Chris de Burgh’s “The Traveller”. Guess that’s just me. Nice mid-paced rocker that moves along with purpose.
Rating: 8

“Love for it”
Almost a “Mama” (Genesis) opening here, with electronic drum machine and a thick organ laying down a gospelly beat.
Rating: 8

“Eyes in the Back of Your Head”
With the harmonica kicking things off this has a country feel, the kind of thing I could hear Steve Earle sing.
Rating: 8

Average Track Rating: 7.18

Comments: Yeah, again I don’t see it necessarily. It’s not what I’d call a blues record, more a kind of - well, I don’t know: rock? Blues rock maybe. Definitely some blues in there, but it doesn’t dominate the album as I had expected, and there’s to me a fair bit of country knocking around in there too. Interesting.

Album Rating: 7D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmN4LWTXUCU

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Album title: With the Magic of Windfyre Steel
Artist: Power Paladin
Genre: Power Metal
Nationality: Icelandic
Familiarity (artist): Zero
Familiarity (genre): Ah yes, power metal. I do love some power metal. I mean, it’s all pretty laughable and generic, but you gotta love it. One of my favourite metal sub-genres. Unleash the wibbling keyboard runs!

A word before I jump in: Look, it’s power metal, and the title doesn’t leave me in any doubt that this is going to be one of those “epic sagas” that power metal bands so love to write. I mean, spelling fire with a “y” is just so cliched, you know? But while I’m not expecting these guys to reinvent the genre, I do expect to be entertained, if only by laughing at the ridiculous lyrics and the pretentious song titles. Okay then, suit up, jump on your horse and let’s be off!

Tracks

“Kraven the Hunter”
Okay, what are we expecting? Dark, intoned vocal? Overblown orchestral bombast? Soft acoustic guitar leading into ten-way-axe-attack? Let’s see. No, these guys are not ****ing around with intros and it’s get in there and bathe your feet as we’re off with a power rocker that hits right between the eyes, sort of early Virgin Steele style.
Rating: 8

“Righteous Fury”
Oh here we go. Medieval opening that then kicks into another guitar attack. Dear me. An instrumental start which takes up almost all the sample.
Rating: 7

“Evermore”
I would assume with such a title that this would be a ballad, and indeed it is. Soft rippling piano, cello perhaps and gentle guitar but again it’s mostly instrumental, so far as I get to hear anyway. What I hear is nice. Though then in the last few seconds it kicks up, so, you know, whatever.
Rating: 9

“Dark Crystal”
Another power metal cliche in dolorous, pealing bells before the guitar takes centre stage and again there’s a long instrumental passage before we get to any vocals. Pretty decent, if nothing special.
Rating: 7

“Way of Kings”
And yet another as we get a second medieval style introduction, then we’re off again and it’s really Power Metal 101 as you might expect, though there’s really nothing wrong with that.
Rating: 7

“Ride the Distant Storm”
Why not ride the nearer storm? Why ride out all that way to find a - never mind. Another hard rocker that tries to be every power metal band that ever existed and really fails to distinguish itself in any way from its many many brothers and sisters who have gone before. Meh.
Rating: 6

“Creatures of the Night”
Not the Kiss song of the same name, I hasten to add, but this gives us two cliches for the price of one, with the sound of rolling thunder and those dark voices intoning, well, you know. It ramps up into a decent rocker then, to be fair, but the introduction is beyond laughable.
Rating: 7

“Into the Forbidden Forest”
Kind of an orchestral, marching introduction, which I think just about covers all the power metal cliches now does it? Got to be honest, I’m getting a bit bored now. Nothing to see here.
Rating: 6

“There Can Be Only One”
And we end on a piano ballad. Which does sound nice, but again it’s something of a standard among power metal bands isn’t it? Just waiting for the harpsichord sound now to make it complete. Ah well it’s a nice way to close the album.
Rating: 9

Average Track Rating: 7.3

Comments: Even with the relatively low expectations I had of there being anything new here, there’s nothing new here. There is, in fact, an almost parody of a power metal band, who seem to think that copying all the tropes and cliches used by other, better bands in the genre and adding grand-sounding names is going to make them stand out. It doesn’t. That Forbidden Forest they sing about in the penultimate track? They’d be better hiding in there before real power metal bands come looking for them. Poor.

Album Rating: 4B


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBcI8wh3DV0

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Album title: Darker Still
Artist: Parkway Drive
Genre: Metalcore
Nationality: Australian
Familiarity (artist): Zero
Familiarity (genre): Very little; I’m not a fan of metalcore

A word before I jump in: Not a lot to say really. I kind of expect to hate this, as metalcore does not generally appeal to me. Is Australian metalcore any different to American? Guess we’ll have a go at finding out.

Tracks

“Ground Zero”
A surprisingly gentle opening, with a sort of musical box/xylophone intro and a vocal that doesn’t, for now, set my teeth on edge. Of course it doesn’t stay that way, but even when it kicks up it’s you know not too bad at all.
Rating: 8

“Like Napalm”
With a title like that, you’re not exactly expecting a soulful ballad, are you? And that’s not what you get. A soulful ballad, that is. Punchy, grinding guitars from the off and a scratchy vocal which is more the kind of metalcore I’ve heard, and dislike. But not terrible, to be fair.
Rating: 7

“Glitch”
Comes in a little slower, gives you time to catch your breath before they hit you over the head with something heavy. Sort of a semi-rap being used, and yeah again it’s not too terrible.
Rating: 7

“The Greatest Fear”
Church organ and choir? Seriously? Yeah, so it seems. The guitar punches in of course, but even so it’s kind of almost in keeping with the sound of the choir, and it’s all right.
Rating: 7

“Darker Still”
Whistling and an acoustic guitar? Even more unexpected. This is the title track of course, so are they breaking with their usual music to try something different? It hasn’t exploded yet, so you know, maybe. I expect I won’t have a chance to find out as it’s about to end. And now it has. Interesting.
Rating: 9

“Imperial Heretic”
A big booming chant against a sharp guitar riff sets this off and running nicely, and it sounds like it could be a good one.
Rating: 8

“If a God Can Bleed”
Opening very like something written, and sung, by Matt Johnson: dark, oppressive, menacing, slow and grinding. I like this. I like this a lot.
Rating: 9

“Soul Bleach”
This is just a go-for-the-throat screamer from the beginning. Very powerful, very angry, very something I don’t particularly care for.
Rating: 6

“Stranger”
A dark spoken opening with kind of ambient, atmospheric background music and if this reminds me of anyone it’s Waits. I’m pretty sure they’re either copying him or paying homage to him here.
Rating: 9

“Land of the Lost”
Weird kind of little morse code opening then it blasts out of the traps, but the tempo is more in the area of the cruncher than the shredder. It’s all right I suppose.
Rating: 7

“From the Heart of the Darkness”
Atmospheric opening which sounds like it has violin or cello in it, might not but it does sound like it. Sort of attacking vocal then as it kicks up and it loses, for me, the tone it was developing at the beginning. Oh well.
Rating: 6

Average Track Rating: 7.55

Comments: Not a whole lot to say afterwards either. Not quite as bad as I had originally envisaged, but the problem with metalcore is the problem with death metal for me: the vocals. They were discernible, but I’m not partial to someone shouting angrily at me when I want to hear a singer, and that’s just me of course. So no, this wouldn’t be for me. Some good ideas, some interesting pieces but generally just sort of steamrolled over in the end.

Album Rating: 5C


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHKVzUr-ivM

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018