| 3.5 great |
| Aghora Formless |
| Arch Enemy Rise of the Tyrant |
| Atheist Elements |
| Behemoth Evangelion |
| Belphegor Pestapokalypse VI |
| Cannibal Corpse The Wretched Spawn |
| Cannibal Corpse Evisceration Plague |
| Cephalic Carnage Anomalies |
| Cephalic Carnage Xenosapien |
| Cradle of Filth Nymphetamine |
| A fairly strong album that sees Cradle Of Filth take on a more melodic and streamlined approach. The piano and orchestration work is immense, and does a great deal to enhance the feel and atmosphere of the music. Sweet guitar melodies and harmonies, often played in elaborate counterpoint litter the album, especially on tracks like Nymphetamine (Overdose and Fix versions), Absinthe With Faust and Coffin Fodder. Dani's voice is a love/hate issue for me, I like most of his raspier, throatier vocal lines and some of his spoken voice sections. But he frequently resorts to an annoying high screech and most of the vocal effects are just cheesy. The basslines are fairly standard for metal, with occassional forays out of the guitar lines, as in the song Gabrielle. A solid and impressive drum performance too, with Adrian Erlandsson favouring a more reserved, song-oriented approach rather than blasting everything in his path (which he is more than capable of, as displayed amply in Coffin Fodder). |
| Cradle of Filth Damnation and a Day |
| Cradle of Filth The Principle of Evil Made Flesh |
| Cryptopsy And Then You'll Beg |
| Cryptopsy Whisper Supremacy |
| Cryptopsy Once Was Not |
| Death The Sound of Perseverance |
| Dream Theater Train of Thought |
| Exhumation (IN) Among The Dead |
| Giant Squid Metridium Fields |
| Illogicist The Insight Eye |
| Immolation Shadows in the Light |
| Iron Maiden Dance of Death |
| Iron Maiden Killers |
| Iron Maiden The X Factor |
| Mastodon Remission |
| Necrophagist Epitaph |
| Nevermore Enemies Of Reality |
| Nevermore Dreaming Neon Black |
| Nevermore Dead Heart In A Dead World |
| Nile Black Seeds of Vengeance |
| With Black Seeds Of Vengeance, Nile continue what their debut album started, adding more atmosphere and improved chops to the mix. The addition of Dallas Toler-Wade as guitarist/vocalist makes a noticeable difference to the overall sound, and his razor-sharp riff writing can be heard on Multitude Of Foes. Derek Roddy does an absolutely splendid job on drums, especially considering that he reportedly had a very short period to learn and perfect the songs. The vocal performances are top-notch, and make for a very varied and diverse delivery. The main problem with the album, though, is a very muddy and uinclear production that leaves most of the more technical riffs nigh undecipherable. A great release overall, offering a glimpse of what Nile would accomplish with the successor to this album, the classic In Their Darkened Shrines. |
| Old Man's Child Vermin |
| Opeth Ghost Reveries |
| Porcupine Tree The Incident |
| Psycroptic The Scepter of the Ancients |
| Quo Vadis Defiant Imagination |
| The Faceless Akeldama |
| Vital Remains Dechristianize |
