The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal - Music Banter Music Banter

Go Back   Music Banter > The MB Reader > Members Journal
Register Blogging Today's Posts
Welcome to Music Banter Forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with over 70,000 other registered members. After you create your free account, you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 1,100,000 posts.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-25-2013, 10:14 AM   #1991 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default




OBITUARY: American Death Metal band. Obituary (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OPETH: Progressive Metal band from Sweden. They have also used Black and Death Metal in their music. Opeth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ORPHANED LAND: Progressive Metal band from Israel. Orphaned Land - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OSBOURNE, OZZY: Legendary frontman and singer for Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OVERKILL: US Thrash Metal band. Overkill (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



PANTERA: American Metal band active in the Groove Metal subgenre. Pantera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PENTAGRAM: Doom Metal band from the USA, seen as one of the progenitors of the subgenre. Pentagram (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PIG DESTROYER: Grindcore band from the US. Pig Destroyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

POWER METAL: Utilising elements both from Speed and Progressive Metal, Power Metal usually features some of the same lyrical themes as Prog Metal, with a louder, more frenetic approach than the former and a penchant for neoclassical forms, as well as often a symphonic twist. Power metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PRAYING MANTIS: NWOBHM band who succumbed to the lure of the US, failed mostly and never quite managed to recover after that. Praying Mantis (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PROGRESSIVE METAL: A genre of Metal closely associated with Progressive Rock, utilising more keyboards and longer songs, with themes more suited to Prog Rock bands, ie fantasy, dreams, literature and so on. Often includes elements from Gothic Metal. A harder form, really, of Prog Rock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_metal



QUEENSRYCHE: Progressive Metal band from the USA. Queensrÿche - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

QUORTHON: Frontman and composer --- and in the last years of his life, only member --- of Swedish Black Metal band Bathory. Quorthon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



RAINBOW: Set up by Ritchie Blackmore after his departure from Deep Purple, Rainbow went on to become one of the premier Metal bands of the seventies and eighties, and provided the springboard to fame and success for the late Ronnie James Dio. Rainbow (rock band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RAMMSTEIN: Metal band from Germany who usually only sing in their native tongue. Rammstein - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RAVEN: Rising stars of the NWOBHM, Raven were an early version of British Thrash Metal. Raven (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

READING FESTIVAL: Huge rock festival held every year in, well, Reading, in the UK. Reading and Leeds Festivals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

REIGN IN BLOOD: Seminal third album by Thrash Metal giants Slayer. Reign in Blood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RHAPSODY OF FIRE: Formerly known simply as Rhapsody, Power Metal band from Italy who have since split with the founder, Luca Turilli, forming his own band called .... Luca Turilli's Rhapsody! Rhapsody of Fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2013, 10:24 AM   #1992 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Korn III: Remember who you are --- Korn --- 2010 (Roadrunner)

Nu-metal eh? The very name conjures up images of derision and disappointment. Isn't this the sub genre that mixes rap in with metal? How can those two go together? Or am I getting it wrong? Korn seem to be somewhat revered or at least acknowledged by proper metal fans, but are they a metal band or just playing off the tag, trying to reel metal fans in? I've never heard a single Korn song before, never mind an album, so this will all be new to me.

There's a slow and gradual intro to "Uber time", with sound effects, spoken words and what sounds almost like a tuneup but I'm expecting it to explode any time soon. It's getting louder and more powerful and there it goes. Growling guitar and bouncy drumbeat but the vocal when it comes in is --- wow! Clean! --- somehow I expected a growler or a screamer. So who's their singer? Jonathan Davis. Okay, quick check: was he there all the time? Yep. Founder member. So it's fist-pumping, energetic but a little restrained and I don't hate it. Interesting. Oh wait, my mistake. I'm now listening to "Oildale (Leave me alone)", the other was just an instrumental introduction.

"Pop a pill" has an almost heavy Waits vibe to it, sort of reminiscent of some of the darker stuff off "Bone machine" or "Blood money", with a punchy rhythm and a vocal that drips with desperation. Davis channels Bowie then in the final minutes of the song before Jams "Munky" Shaffer lets loose on the guitar. There's more of a dancy beat to "Fear is a place to live", not too much heavy about this at all. Almost new-wave or maybe semi-industrial. Veering rather close to rap in the vocal. There is some growling in it, but it seems silly and out of place. "Move on" then returns to the heavy rhythms with thick guitar and solid drumming and quite a progressive feel to it, then "Lead the parade" is just a complete mess. Awful.

When I say "Let the guilt go" is better, well, anything would be better than the previous track, but it's all right, nothing to write home about really. "The past" is better, with some really hard grinding guitar alternating with some quiet, introspective fretwork, again quite progressive then that sort of style persists for "Never around", and "Are you ready to live" has a certain frenetic energy and enthusiasm about it with a decent hook in there too. The album then ends on "Holding all these lies", a big heavy guitar ender with Davis returning to the Bowiesque style of singing. A pretty cool guitar solo to take us out.

TRACKLISTING

1. Uber-time
2. Oildale (Leave me alone)
3. Pop a pill
4. Fear is a place to live
5. Move on
6. Lead the parade
7. Let the guilt go
8. The past
9. Never around
10. Are you ready to live?
11. Holding all these lies

Having listened to this album I'm not quite sure what to make of Korn. In places it's certainly metal, or close to it, in others it verges towards grunge and in others, gothic or even electronica. Very strange. I'd say there's probably more decent tracks here than terrible ones, but it's not an album that would make me an instant fan of Korn. Then again, it wouldn't turn me off them completely either. Sort of jury still out, to some degree I think.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Last edited by Trollheart; 10-25-2013 at 02:11 PM.
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2013, 10:33 AM   #1993 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Cowboys from Hell --- Pantera --- 1990 (Atco)

From original beginnings in the eighties as a glam metal band, Pantera reinvented themselves as the decade turned and became more a "groove metal" band, with this being considered their first proper release: most fans prefer to forget the glam metal days and concentrate on the heavier stuff. They had four albums prior to this, and four after, so it's right in the middle, and serves as the best example of their work.

Opening on the title track I can hear the idea of groove metal indeed, with a sort of almost funk tilt to the guitar, touches of Zep in there. Vocalist Phil Anselmo has that kind of raspy, ragged sound that just suits this music to a "T" and the late, lamented Diamond Darrell could make a guitar do just about anything he wanted it to. It's a good opener and sets the bar for the rest of the album, as "Primal concrete sledge" rattles along on powerful drumming and harder, darker guitar from Darrell, Anselmo's vocal also heavier and with a much faster delivery than on the title track. For some of the opening it seems Darrell just hits the same chord over and over, which gives a very claustrophobic feel to the guitar.

"Psycho holiday" get more back into the groove (sorry) with a hard-hitting but melodic burst of power, guitars firing off like machineguns then things slow right down for the longest track, the ballad "Cemetery gates", with nice acoustic guitar and a laidback vocal, then some sweet soaring electric ... well. it's not so much a true ballad as it does speed up and get harder as it goes along, but then it drops back to the softer guitar so it has elements of both. Maybe a little in the vein of southern rock standards like "Free bird" and "Boogie no more". Back rocking with rapid-fire guitar then for "Domination", a superb display of guitar virtuoso from Darrell.

The next few tracks keep the tempo and energy high, but they're nothing terribly special, then "Medicine man" has a very groove metal rhythm and a lower, more gravelly vocal from Anselmo with a nice little bassline, "Message of blood" has a nice sort of bluesy opening but then goes into a harder, heavier groove sort of evoking eighties Maiden and some really, er, different guitar work. "The sleep" has a nice laidback guitar intro then explodes into a roaring, snarling puncher and "The art of shredding" is another fast rocker with, well, a lot of shredding.

TRACKLISTING

1. Cowboys from Hell
2. Primal concrete sledge
3. Psycho holiday
4. Heresy
5. Cemetery gates
6. Domination
7. Shattered
8. Clash with reality
9. Medicine man
10. Message of blood
11. The sleep
12. The art of shredding

This is a decent album. I don't know that I'd see it as any sort of classic, but it's certainly competent. I just find it hard to get too excited about it. For me, it's like a hundred other decent metal albums, but nothing more. I wouldn't make a point of not listening to any more Pantera, but it wouldn't upset me too much if I didn't hear any more of their work. In the end, an album I'd listen to once, shrug and move on, not terribly impressed but not repelled either. Speaking of which...

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantera
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Last edited by Trollheart; 10-25-2013 at 02:11 PM.
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2013, 10:48 AM   #1994 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Iowa --- Slipknot --- 2001 (Roadrunner)

In the wake of the not-so-dearly departed and never missed PowerPunisher, I suppose it would be remiss of me to leave out his favourite band. This is something I'm looking forward to about as much as I relished the prospect of reviewing Slayer for my "Classic albums" journal. Sure, I have preconceived notions of what Slipknot will sound like, and I could be terribly wrong, but general opinion here seems to indicate I'm thinking in the right direction. This is supposed to be one of their most successful albums, the followup to their self-titled debut which apparently made their name.

Hold on: someone running a drill outside? JCB? Oh no wait: it's the opening track which sounds like, well, just noise. Someone's screaming and growling but I have no clue what they're saying, then it goes into the second track and it's more growling and impossibly fast guitar and thunderhammer drumming. Hmm. Apparently this is called "People=shit". Perhaps it should be renamed "Slipknot=shit." Or is that being unfair? To shit, that is. This is without doubt the worst music I've ever heard. It makes Slayer sound melodic and Morbid Angel relaxing. There's no tone, no melody, no structure, just, well, unfettered noise. This is certainly going to be fun.

You have to admire the beauty of the composition here though: "People equals shit, people equals shit, roarrrr, roarrr, growlllll, people equals shit!" Inspired. I bet Steve Harris and David De Feis are quaking. Okay, okay! Let's try to do this properly. Straight face. Serious face. Ah but come on! "Disasterpiece" sounds so much like the previous track that I didn't even realise we'd moved on to another, uh, song. Oh hold on: shock! I can make out some words here and the vocalist actually comes down from his black tower to sing in a normal fashion for about twenty seconds, then he's off ranting and spitting venom again.

Okay, on "My plague" he's doing some passably decent singing again, though still descending into the screams and growls he seems to be fondest of. WTF? Vocal harmonies? Did someone splice this album with ---? No, it seems to be there intentionally. Mucho weird. Okay, what's this guy's name? Corey Taylor. Right. But he and his buddies prefer to be referred to as numbers for some odd reason. He's #8. Well I can see why Slipknot are praised for power, energy, anger and visceral emotion, but among all of that there has to be some music too, and I find very little here. "Everything ends" has a quite decent vocal, again for a few seconds before Taylor explodes again. Wearing a bit thin now, and it wasn't that solid to begin with.

My biggest fear is listening to the closer, as I see it's -- gulp! --- fifteen minutes long! Not sure how that's going to play out, but I doubt it'll be pleasant. Strange that there's actually some melody in this current track, I suppose this is how it and "My plague" managed to garner nominations for Grammys. Maybe. From what I can see from the admittedly little I can pick up from the lyrics, I guess angry, angsty teenagers idenitfied with Slipknot so much because their music seems to contain elements of blaming everyone else for the shit that happens to them. Go, teenagers! It's never your fault, is it?

Sort of a supercharged rap vocal for "The heretic anthem", as Slipknot try to jump on the black metal bandwagon, rather unsuccessfully I think, though I guess they could share a stage with Venom and nobody would know the difference really. I'm tempted to step through the album but I've promised myself that no matter how bad I find the music to be I will listen to the whole thing. This is the first time that resolve has been sorely tested. I've listened to growlers, screamers, spitters and snarlers, but this is pushing me. So where are we now? "Gently". "Gently"? Did I read that right?

Well for once it's slower, with a doomy bass and drumbeat, whispered, sotto voce vocal but I can hear the guitar getting ready to slash into ... hey. This guy can play when he wants to. Name? Either Jim Root or Mick Thomson, numbers four and seven respectively. Taylor's still vomiting all over the microphone like a demented dying beast, but I'm beginning to wonder is this what passes for an instrumental for Slip --- ah. No. Here's a vocal. But again I'm surprised as it's a decent one, for a few seconds again before Taylor growls and screams his usual vitriol. Guess they stayed "gentle" for as long as they could stand it: the final minute or so is a punch-your-face-in-and-gouge-your-eyes-out guitar hammerblow and screamed vocal. Ah, so we're back on track then!

"Left behind" has a decent guitar opening, almost proper metal, and to be fair the vocal is clear and understandable for the most part. It even has some melody! Normal service is however resumed with "The shape", with the first words screamed being "Destroy!" Where do they get their lyrical ideas from? Pure genius! To be fair, there's a decent vocal here too at times, and the guitarists throw in some fine licks and Taylor does a passable rap in which you can actually understand him for the most part. The charming love song "I am hated" is next, with gentle piano and acoustic guitar, and a full orches --- nah, just kidding. It's a fast, frenetic, confused piece with one of the fastest vocal deliveries I've ever heard, also one of the least decipherable.

Almost an arabic style intro to "Skin ticket", then it slows down into a cruncher heavier than a piece of a neutron star. Backed by only percussion Taylor sings in an almost restrained way, then as bass and guitar cut in his voice gets rawer, rougher and, well, more insane. There are times --- few it's admitted, but they're there --- when his vocal performance reminds me of a slightly more unhinged and less talented Matt Johnson. The anger is certainly there, but whereas with The The Johnson is able to control and direct his anger, through sharp comments and stinging observations on the human condition, Taylor seems to just rage at everything around him, like a child lashing out at a world he doesn't understand. Of course, it's hard to be sure, as most of the time I can't make out what the hell he's singing, but that's the impression I get.

"New abortion" sounds like it should have been killed at birth, then "Metabolic" is pretty br00tal too. And now we're on to that final track, the fifteen-minute title closer. Well it opens with nice wind sounds and picked guitar, restrained percussion and sounds like laughter perhaps in the distance. Nice bassline running through it. Then we get that familiar growl and the guitars get a bit tougher, the percussion kicking in a little more but the vocal when it comes in is not too bad I have to say. So far. You know, for Slipknot this is pretty, well, ambient. I'm surprised. A little impressed if I'm honest. It is generally the same melody all the way through, but any melody at all in a Slipknot song is to be commended.

Okay, well I guess Taylor couldn't contain his anger for fifteen minutes and he has to let rip with a roar or a growl halfway through, but generally the vocals here seem to be sort of ad-libbed, like people just talking to each other and exchanging comments. The basic melody persists right through the song to the end, and well, you know, it's not terrible. Certainly an album that needed something decent to close it, and this is about as decent I think as you're likely to get.

TRACKLISTING


1. (515) (intro)
2. People=shit
3. Disasterpiece
4. My plague
5. Everything ends
6. The Heretic anthem
7. Gently
8. Left behind
9. The shape
10. I am hated
11. Skin ticket
12. New abortion
13. Metabolic
14. Iowa

Although this was not always as horrible as I had thought it would be it did not fall too short of that. I fail to understand how a band (and I use the term loosely) like this can attain worldwide fame and adulation? There are guys bashing out tunes in their parents' garages that are more talented than this. Then again, in fairness it seems that when they want to play properly Slipknot can, just most of the time they seem to be happy just to make noise. And apparently a lot of people like that. Nah, I'll never get it. If I want someone to roar abuse at me I'll go see a dominatrix. Not that I would do such a thing, of course...

Conclusion: Slipknot = too br00tal for me!

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipknot_%28band%29
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Last edited by Trollheart; 10-25-2013 at 02:12 PM.
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 01:50 AM   #1995 (permalink)
Key
.
 
Key's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 13,153
Default

I'm pretty stoked to see Super Collider making into this since I was as well pretty impressed with how it turned out. At first hearing when it was going to be released I was thinking "man, another album? Can Mustaine really do another one?" but then it turned out to be one of my favorites of theirs. It's definitely got that gritty heavy feel to it that I really love.
Key is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 06:37 AM   #1996 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Blackbird --- Alter Bridge --- 2007 (Universal Republic)

Formed out of the ashes of Creed, and then continued when Creed reformed in 2009, Alter Bridge are a band who have feet in many camps. In addition to working with Slash, other members of the band have solo or associated projects, so they're hardly ever inactive it would seem. This is their second album and was something of a commercial flop for them. It opens with "The ties that bind", nice throaty guitar sound joined by another guitar and then kicking up in an almost progressive metal style. Good vocal harmonies and singer Myles Kennedy has a good clear strong voice. Bouncing, rocky track to get us going, then "Comes to life" has an almost Evanscence feel to it, slower but no less heavy.

Nice laidback track then in "Brand new start", lot of heart and soul in it. It's not a ballad but it is quite relaxing in its way. Kicking the power back up then with "Buried alive" and a feeling of triumph in "Coming home", then you can see why "Before tomorrow comes" was released as a single. Very catchy, very commercial but surprisingly did quite badly of the singles taken from the album. Another such was "Rise today", but this did much better, being used in various TV shows and promos, and is in fact Alter Bridge's best known song. It has a nice laidback guitar line in the intro, and in fact it's the only track on which Myles Kennedy plays guitar. With a theme of doing something to change the way the world is, it's very upbeat in message if not in tempo.

The title track starts off yearning and almost acoustic, but something about it tells you that it's about to flare up into a hard grinding rocker, and indeed it does, though it returns to the somewhat contemplative style of the opener throughout its run. And it's some run: the song is two seconds short of eight minutes and becomes really epic later on, with a fine passionate vocal from Kennedy and a great outro solo from Mark Tremonti. Definitely highlight of the album so far, and I like pretty much everything I've heard up to now. Compared to "Blackbird" the next track is a little tame, but "One by one" has a great energy about it, and some interesting guitar moments.

Lovely acoustic ballad in "Watch over you", very evocative lyric and expressive guitar as the lead is plugged in and acoustic becomes electric, returning to acoustic for the ending. "Break me down" is a good punchy powerful rocker with great vocal harmonies, and "White knuckles" swaggers along nicely with what sounds like keyboards but I think is guitar fills. We end on what starts off slow so could be a ballad, with an echoey guitar and restrained vocal. "Wayward one" has a very dramatic and cinematic feel with a great vocal and some fine guitar work, and though it turns out not to be quite a ballad it's a great closer to a really great album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ties that bind
2. Come to life
3. Brand new start
4. Buried alive
5. Coming home
6. Before tomorrow comes
7. Rise today
8. Blackbird
9. One by one
10. Watch over you
11. Break me down
12. White knuckles
13. Wayward one

Having listened to "Blackbird" I couldn't say for certain whether Alter Bridge can be considered metal. They're certainly heavy but I don't know if they qualify as a heavy metal band or just a rock one. But they're certainly heavy enough for inclusion here, and whatever they are, I like them on the basis of this album. Feel I may be checking out some of their other material in the near future.



Read more here [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alter_Bridge]/url]
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:03 PM.
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 06:46 AM   #1997 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Surtur rising --- Amon Amarth --- 2011 (Metal Blade)

Woo-hoo! More Norse mythology! Yes, I know they're a death metal band and I'll most likely hate them but, you know, Norse mythology! Did I mention Norse mythology? This is really serendipitous, as I have just this morning (at the time of writing) received through the post a book I used to read as a child, that I loved so much I got it out of the library several times, called "The children of Odin", which I had thought I would never have any chance to track down over forty years later. Good on ya, Ebay!

But enough of my childhood memories. This is the eighth album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, and it focusses on, naturally enough, the myths of the Vikings, with the title figure being the giant who protected the fiery realm of Muspellheim, basically the devil in Norse mythos. He had a sword of fire, which is cool, but does this music have fire in its veins? The phrase "melodic death metal" has fooled me before, if you recall, so I'm not putting too much store in that this time around.

"War of the Gods" gets us underway with powerful guitar, trundling drums and a big growling roar from Johann Hegg, and though he growls and I don't like it I can at least make out the words; it's almost like he's just singing in a very deep voice, as opposed to other "death-growlers", who make the lyrics impossible to decipher. It's a good rocking start anyway, galloping along with energy and power, then "Tock's taunt: Loke's treachery part II" is a somewhat slower and heavier piece, with sort of semi-classical touches on the guitar, kind of like a marching song. Don't ask me what happened to part I; maybe it's on a previous album. Oh, all right! I'll look! Yes, it's on 2006's "With Oden on our side", where it's under the title "Hermod's ride to Hel: Loke's treachery part I".

Things get much faster and more frenetic with "Destroyer of the universe" then slow down in marching style again for "Slaves of fear". I can definitely see the melodic side of this particular death metal, and though my preference is still leaning towards a singer whose vocals I can clearly hear and understand, Hegg does a decent enough job here of keeping all the words clearly identifiable. I suppose in some ways his vocal style straddles what I would consider normal or clean vocals and death growls, falling on neither side specifically. Great guitar work from Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen, who certainly set up a decent wall of sound between them while still maintaing total control over what they play.

The songs on the album seem to alternate between fast headbangers and slower crunchers, which makes it a little sadly predictable, but no less enjoyable for all that. In that spirit then, "Live without regrets" has a lot of Iron Maiden in it, while "The last stand of Frej" is a slow, grinding, tragic dirge with heavy guitar and pounding drumbeat, and the battle continues in "For victory or death", as, as described in the notes to Bathory's "Twilight of the Gods", the immortals of Asgard ride forth to the final battle, which they know they are fated to fall in. A great uptempo track with a real sense of purpose and determination, like warhorses pounding across the battlefield, then "Wrath of the norsemen" trundles along more slowly and deliberately with some great solos from the guys and a grinding, pulsating beat.

Interestingly, penultimate track "A beast am I" mixes elements of both fast shredding and slower grinding, to perhaps construct the most complete song on the album, and it leads to the closer, "Doom over dead man", a slow, grinding finale to a pretty good album overall. Good instrumental intro then even when Johann Hegg comes in with the vocal it's not too distracting. Suspicions of some sort of orchestral or maybe synth work here I would think; can't believe those sounds are made on the fretboard? Well, nothing's mentioned about keys or strings, so you know, maybe, but if so then these guys are excellent guitarists. Song speeds up about the midsection as it takes on new intensity and then rather unexpectedly and oddly fades out. It's not the first song on this album to do that, but I had sort of thought there was going to be a big dramatic ending. Doesn't disappoint me, but it does surprise me a little.

TRACKLISTING

1. War of the Gods
2. Tock's taunt: Loke's treachery part II
3. Destroyer of the universe
4. Slaves of fear
5. Live without regrets
6. The last stand of Frej
7. For victory or death
8. Wrath of the norsemen
9. A beast am I
10. Doom over dead man

Although I can tolerate Hegg's vocals and they're the least annoying of the death growlers I've had to put up with over the last two months as I compiled this special, they still turn me off to the extent that, much as I like this music, I might find it hard to listen to another Amon Amarth album. It's a pity but I think I'm just hardwired to expect being able to understand what's being sung, and if I can't then it takes away from the value of the music and taints the experience for me. That said, this is a pretty fine album and of course the link with Asgard and the Norse gods certainly helped soften the blow. I suppose in light of the subject matter too, the dark, gravelly voice of Hegg was probably more in keeping with what you might expect to hear. I preferred Bathory's take on this though.



Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_Amarth
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:05 PM.
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 09:40 AM   #1998 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default



SAXON: One of the big Metal bands to rise out of the NWOBHM. Saxon (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SCORPIONS: Popular German Metal band. Scorpions (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SEPULTURA: Brazilian death metal band. Sepultura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SLAYER: One of the "Big Four" American Thrash Metal bands. Slayer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SHREDDING: THe practice of playing very fast, complicated and technical guitar solos.Shred guitar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SLIPKNOT: One of the more trendily popular nu-metal bands. Slipknot (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SLUDGE METAL: Heavier than Doom Metal and incorporating elements of punk and noise. Yeah. Sludge metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SPEED METAL: As its name suggests, fast, aggressive, almost punk in style. Very technical too. Speed metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

STONER METAL: A heavy style of Metal that adds blues, psychedelic and acid rock into the mix. Stoner rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

STRATOVARIUS: Power Metal band from Finland. Stratovarius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




TANK: British Metal band, popular during the NWOBHM. Tank (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

THIN LIZZY: Irish Metal band fronted by the late Phil Lynott. Thin Lizzy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

THRASH METAL: Fast, loud, aggressive but still melodic subgenre. Thrash metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TWISTED SISTER: Glam metal band active in the eighties. All right: Wiki says they weren't, but come on! READ the article... Twisted Sister - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TYGERS OF PAN TANG: British Metal band who ended up going down the AOR route. Tygers of Pan Tang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 11:18 AM   #1999 (permalink)
Zum Henker Defätist!!
 
The Batlord's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beating GNR at DDR and keying Axl's new car
Posts: 48,199
Default

I think Trollheart not liking something is like my mother not liking something. His review of Slipknot made me listen to them TBH.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien
There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.
The Batlord is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2013, 12:36 PM   #2000 (permalink)
Born to be mild
 
Trollheart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,994
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Batlord View Post
I think Trollheart not liking something is like my mother not liking something. His review of Slipknot made me listen to them TBH.
Yeah, we're like two completely dissimilar things in a pod.
Very occasionally, our tastes coincide but that's usually foretold by some cataclysmic natural event. Otherwise we just wave to each other (or give each other the finger) as we drift past on opposite sides of the street...
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
Trollheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Similar Threads



© 2003-2024 Advameg, Inc.