Average Rating: 3.60 Rating Variance: 1.70 Objectivity Score: 69% (Fairly Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicAmon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder GodExcellent songwriting, with each song having a more unique identity than on previous albums and with riffs that stay firmly lodged in your head. Are they viking metal or not? I say yes, but who the hell cares! This thing is going to own my ipod for a long time, and will be a contender for album of the year. Most memorable: Tattered Banners and the title trackDissection ReinkaosLike many of you, I initially struggled with this album, since it isn't anything like Dissection's previous albums. But in the years since it was first released it has grown on me like few other albums ever have. My ipod's play count doesn't lie -- I've played this album far more than the other Dissection albums, and this set of songs sticks in the mind for days after a listen. My only complaint is the relative lack of blastbeats, but that's just a minor issue. So what if this is different from the past. This is good stuff!Ensiferum Victory SongsFor me this was the 2007 album of the year. Brilliantly inspired with no weaknesses.Ensiferum From AfarThese guys keep getting better with each album. I had considered Victory Songs to be their best (and best album of 2007), and this reaches that high mark with equal energy and more songwriting diversity. This is virtually a lock for best viking/folk album of 2009.Moonsorrow Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassaThis is heavier than V: Havitetty and every bit as epic. It's going to take many more listens to fully sink in, right from the first it is obviously another crushingly powerful masterpiece and the year's first candidate for 2011 album of the year.Nokturnal Mortum The Voice of SteelBrilliant. I keep coming back to this over and over.4.5 superbEquilibrium SagasA step up from their previous album, this one is awesome almost all the way through. My only complaint is that unlike apparently every other person in the world, I find that Mana becomes a bit tedious after the first 5 minutes especially when the flute kicks into high gear. But thankfully the rest of the album is pure gold, and a strong candidate for album of the year.Finsterforst Zum Tode HinFinsterforst RastlosThis carries on where their last one left off, huge and epic. It's awesome when a highly anticipated album exceeds expectations! Moonsorrow now have some company on the epic pinnacle.Hecate Enthroned Dark Requiems and the Unsilent MassacreThese guys never got the recognition they deserved for their earlier albums because their singer sounded vaguely like Dani Filth. The songwriting here is excellent, and in my opinion this still kicks the crap out of most of the hordes of symphonic black metal clones out there today. Note that this Hecate Enthroned's last symphonic black metal album -- after this they completely changed their sound and genre, and basically imploded into a black hole of suckage.Immortal All Shall FallImmortal is back! This pretty much picks up where Sons Of Northern Darkness left off. Crushingly heavy riffs, melodic leads, and Immortal's epic cold atmosphere are all exactly where you want them. One word -- awesome!4.0 excellentDark Forest Land of the Evening StarIn the same vein as Moonsorrow and early Emperor. Excellent.Forefather SteadfastThis is a suprisingly strong album compared to previous releases. Both production and songwriting have improved dramatically, making this one of the better albums of 2008. If you've tried Forefather's earlier albums and weren't too impressed, you should give this a listen.Frosttide AwakeningThis has the same vibe as Wintersun's Time, nice first effort!Insomnium One for SorrowI do not like the clean vocals. Don't get me wrong, they are well-done -- I just don't want them. The whole clean-chorus fad just needs to die, but apart from that, this album kicks. Another inspired Insomnium album, destined for my yearly list.Megadeth EndgameThis is definitely the best and most interesting album that Megadeth has done in years. Taken on its own merits, it is great. Sadly I'm still struggling to enjoy Megadeth after how they got Dissection cancelled a few years back because Mustaine couldn't be on the same stage as a satanist band. Maybe Dave being an asshole shouldn't affect how the music sounds, but somehow it does.Sabaton Carolus RexSuidAkrA Book of Dowth3.5 greatInsomnium Across the DarkEnjoyable album except for the clean vocals. It really makes me sad that so many otherwise awesome bands are jumping on that lame bandwagon. Lets hope Insomnium isn't starting down the same path already tread by Norther, In Flames, Soilwork, and so many others. 3.0 goodFalchion Legacy of HeathensLegacy of Heathens is power/melodic death metal that reminds somewhat of Ensiferum's earlier material but with a bit more of a neoclassical element. The vocals are the standard scream/growl, which is a good thing (don't you just hate it when an otherwise kickass album is ruined by clean vocals?). Falchion seems to take criticism for not being unique enough, probably by exactly the same people who are currently orgasmic about Metallica's new coma-inducing snoozefest. If this reminds you of other ass-kicking bands, that ought to be a good thing in my opinion. Fans of aggressive energetic melodic death metal should check this out. It's not bad for a first album. I'll be expecting even bigger and better things for the upcoming album.2.5 averageSkyfire EsotericThis album is way more progressive than past Skyfire albums, with the associated unnecessary complexity and instrumental wankery. There are a few nice guitar solos, but a handful of songs (see Darkness Descending) sound alarmingly similar to something you might find on Dimmu Borgir's Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. Disappointing.Wintersun Time IBlind Guardian did pretty much the same thing ten years ago.2.0 poor3 Inches of Blood Here Waits Thy DoomThis is a huge letdown from past albums! Gone are the screams and growls. Mostly gone are the blastbeats. This is nothing more than warmed-over 80's NWOBHM, with absolutely nothing to recommend it. The skill is still there, but the songwriting has completely disappeared. One word --- tragic.Ensiferum Unsung HeroesExcept for a couple of tracks, most of their trademark energy is gone. Keyboards and clean vocals are way over-emphasized. This is not Petri's fault -- this is a songwriting fail at every level, and only Marcus has the power to make this kind of sweeping change of direction. I was going to say that this sounds like Ensiferum immitating Ensiferum, but it doesn't. It sounds more like Ensiferum doing a bad immitation of some other crappy immitation band. It's tragic, given that this was my most anticipated album of the year. Boring, bland, and uninspired sums it up. Metallica Death MagneticWhy does everyone love this so much? It's just not very good nor interesting. Seems to me that people are rating it higher just because it is Metallica. 1.0 awfulDeicide Till Death Do Us PartAfter two great albums (Scars of the Crucifix and The Stench of Redemption), Deicide assault us with this steaming pile of poo. It's impossible to conceive of anything more generic or coma-inducing. Benton literally sounds like he's singing exactly the same thing in every song over top of whatever the rest of the band is playing. What a letdown. Hecate Enthroned RedimusWow, Hecate Enthroned laid an egg with this one! Their early stuff was high quality and very enjoyable symphonic black metal, but what is this crap? It sounds like an extremely feeble attempt at blackened death metal mixed with various other unidentifiable garbage. The songwriting is terrible, the keyboards are annoying, the vocals are inept, and I can't think of any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Give this one as a gift to someone you don't like.Lou Reed and Metallica LuluPossibly the worst thing ever recorded. By anyone.
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