This is how bored I was today, heh
After Forever - Invisible Circles ( Transmission Records )
Reviewer: Brent Lockman
Rating: 9/10
Over the years a lot of words have been used in reference to ____’s After Forever. Arguably the source of most of those words is front woman Floor Jansen, who has a voice I could personally listen to for hours. She possesses a combination of power, beauty, and grace that most vocalists simply do not have.
For this the __th studio record, they have really stepped it up in terms of the epic nature of the songs. Everything is more grandiose, more powerful, and it’s probably the most balls to the wall album they’ve done to date. One of the many features that attributes to this is the increased use of (guitarist’s) death growls, these works well alongside Jansen’s voice, and work to create some interesting vocal tradeoffs.
Invisible circles is such a true to form concept album that it actually plays out more like a musical. Each passing song tells us more of the story, creating rich imagery as the record moves along. The music is able to paint such a vivid picture that you can picture each event in the tale. You can see in your mind the child sitting in the corner crying cause of being picked on, you can visualize the argument between the parents, as if you were the one upstairs listening to it. The album and the tale that lies within is truly captivating it reached the point where I couldn’t wait for the next song.
The crowning achievement of this album and what makes it so great is the attention to detail. The band is out to tell a story, and they have done so magnificently. Small things like overlaying the sound of the girl’s breathing over the argument between the parents just reinforce this fact.
There are a lot of bands who have tried this kind of a concept album, It’s a huge gamble, and more often than not it falls flat on it’s face. But when a band puts this much passion and energy into their work, well as you can see the results are nothing short of a masterpiece, which is long story short what this album is.
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Stormlord - The Gorgon Cult (Scarlet Records)
Reviewer: Brent Lockman
Rating: 9/10
It’s hard to believe after listening to this and Stormlord’s previous albums that they began their career as your basic run of the mill death metal band. With those days well behind them (thank gord) they press on continuing to evolve their own brand of just really epic symphonic black metal.
“The Gorgon Cult” the latest release from Italy’s Stormlord picks up from where their 2001 masterpiece “At The Gates Of Utopia” left off, although Utopia was perfect in almost every way imaginable with this record I am getting the sense that it is exactly where Stormlord with to be in terms of their sound.
Gorgon is by no means as heavy as Utopia but the band has stepped it up in terms of the symphonic and melodic parts of each song, as well as an increase in the level of musicianship. You can also tell in listening to the album that Stormlord are still feeling out this sound, and are still very much experimenting with this style of music. This is not a bad thing in anyway I can see, as it helps to create the idea of each song being it’s own entity. It’s this that makes the album a VERY solid music experience.
There are at least 4 different types of vocals used in this album (singing, growling, screaming, opera singing a la Utopia), again adding to the experimentation feel to it, the tradeoffs work so incredibly well though. Really the only disappointment I had in the album was the cutting back of the opera style vocals that were so well used with their previous album, other than that though this album is pretty much flawless.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to more Utopia style material from Stormlord, but let’s face it that album is simply invincible, it’s perfect like I mentioned above, so I’m glad they moved on and given us the next step in their evolution, I can’t wait to see where the band decides to take us to next.
This is already one of the best albums of 2004, and this year has just begun.
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Will Of The Ancients - Cold Grim Times (Self Released)
Reviewer: Brent Lockman
Rating: 8/10
You know an album is good when by the end of the FIRST song you’re kind of giggling to yourself, yeah you heard me I said giggle in a metal review.
The next time someone complains about the quality of metal bands in Toronto, please do me a favor and kick them in the head. I guess it’s where you look really, but I think at this time I will defer from a rant about that and instead introduce you to Will Of The Ancients, and their debut album “Cold Grim Times”.
The Album features an impressive level of musicianship which, while at the core is black metal incorporates a variety of styles, and actually changes forms of metal from song to song. It’s this hybrid form of black metal that creates a very solid and interesting listening experience.
Essentially what we have here is one of those records that grabs your attention from the get go, which I have always found is the mark of a great record. I expect big things from this band and the future they have created for themselves is definitely not a grim one.
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Cadaver - Necrosis (Candlelight Records)
Reviewer: Brent Lockman
Rating: 8/10
Claiming your next album is going to distance yourself from your current scene is certainly a ballsy statement. But that is exactly what Cadaver(please note no longer Cadaver Inc) have said prior to the release of their newest work of evil.
In 2001 Cadaver created an almost cult like following amongst the metal folk of the world with their website, which for those of you who don’t remember what a hilarious mock body disposal service, with a working phone number and the whole nine yards. Thankfully though the album they released at the time “Discipline” was stellar, and in fact was one of my personal favorites from that year.
Now 3 years later Cadaver have dropped the Inc. and gone into the wayback machine, reviving their former style, while at the same time retaining a few of the elements that made “Discipline” great. When it all comes down to it “Necrosis” is a raw, aggressive, and very angry black metal record, which is heavily rooted in the old school, as a matter of fact ____’s vocals is one of the most pissed death screams I have heard on a record in quite some time.
I’ll admit at first listen I didn’t think much of this album, I just like “Discipline” so much that I was disappointed, but after a few listens I got to appreciate how good this record is, it’s old school black metal without the production value of those kind of records. It just might be the most refreshing black metal album I have heard in years. So if you are a fan of this genre, quite simply you must give this a listen.
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Tankard - Beast of Bourbon
Cadaver - Necrosis
Fleshcrawl - Made Of Flesh
Frozen Shadows - Hantises
Dark Funeral - De Profundis Clamavi Ad Te Dom
Textures - Colors
Ceremonial Castings - Into The Black Forest Of Witchery
After Forever - Invisible Circles
Unholy Ghost - Torrential Reign
Will Of The Ancients - Cold Grim Times
Stormlord - The Gorgon Cult
Death Angel - Art of Dying
Evergrey - Inner Circle
And now I slumber.