Shadows
User

Reviews 89
Approval 89%

Soundoffs 28
News Articles 27
Band Edits + Tags 138
Album Edits 32

Album Ratings 474
Objectivity 95%

Last Active 10-12-09 9:43 pm
Joined 06-27-04

Review Comments 2,530

Average Rating: 3.12
Rating Variance: 1.04
Objectivity Score: 95%
(Very Balanced)

Chart.

Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name


2007
The Absence Riders of the Plague4.5
Behemoth The Apostasy4.0
Dimmu Borgir In Sorte Diaboli4.0
Shadows Fall Threads of Life4.5
Psyopus Our Puzzling Encounters Considered1.0
Aborted Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture3.5
This Ending Inside the Machine3.0

2006
Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies1.5
Arsis United in Regret3.0
Converge No Heroes2.0
Cradle of Filth Thornography4.0
Children of Bodom Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout4.0
Trivium The Crusade1.0
The Crusade runs invariably dry on memorable content just as quickly as the album starts. The only songs that actually stick out for positive reasons are To the Rats and Tread the Floods, both of which feature sufficiently interesting riffs. That is, until once again, the music is flooded with derivative Metallca riffs and melodies, so much so that the listener is virtually beaten aurally until the decent riffs are completely forgotten. It almost sounds as if Trivium was desperate to write a long instrumental song, as The Crusade features dozens of completely unrelated riffs thrown together in a rather haphazard manner. While perhaps good in very small doses, The Crusade is not at all the technical thrash metal masterpiece that media sources hailed it.
Amon Amarth With Oden on Our Side3.5
Into Eternity The Scattering of Ashes4.0
Light This City Facing The Thousand3.0
Falconer Northwind2.5
Mastodon Blood Mountain2.5
Blind Guardian A Twist in the Myth4.5
If any metal band can be called the single most reliable, consistent, creative, and all-around best band ever, Blind Guardian is it. Their progressive experimentation on each album is what keeps their 22 year reign exciting through every move they make. After doing the speed metal, power metal, symphonic metal, and throwing in progressive elements here and there, A Twist in the Myth comes along as a sort of musical blend of everything, including Blind Guardian's mastery of symphonic and epic arrangements. A Twist in the Myth is also arguably the most hard-edged Blind Guardian album yet, featuring powerfully heavy songs such as Another Stranger Me and The Edge, both boasting sing-along metal choruses and epic climaxes topped with the much-needed Andre Olbrich guitar solos.
Lamb of God Sacrament3.5
Insomnium Above the Weeping World4.0
Slayer Christ Illusion3.5
Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire3.5
Agalloch Ashes Against the Grain3.5
Stone Sour Come What(ever) May1.5
Gorgoroth Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam3.5
All That Remains The Fall of Ideals2.5
Disarmonia Mundi Mind Tricks2.5
Cellador Enter Deception3.0
Shadows Fall Fallout From The War4.0
AFI Decemberunderground3.5
Deicide The Stench of Redemption4.0
Celtic Frost Monotheist3.0
Dissection Reinkaos3.0
Vader Impressions In Blood4.0
Enslaved Ruun3.5
Lacuna Coil Karmacode4.0
Epheles Souviens-Toi4.0
Fragments of Unbecoming Sterling Black Icon: Black But Shining4.0
Cannibal Corpse Kill4.0
Katatonia The Great Cold Distance3.0
Daylight Dies Dismantling Devotion3.5
Dismember The God That Never Was4.0
Dismember's first album, Like an Ever Flowing Stream, will forever be remembered as a Swedish death metal classic. Since then, the band has continued to produce their own brand of raw, violent death metal, but nothing stood out like the aforementioned record. Well over a decade later, they're back with another astonishing album. The God That Never Was combines the familiar Dismember death metal sound, raw and aggressive, while adding the timely harmonized guitar solos and melodic riffs. Creating a perfect balance of melody and brutality, Dismember has convinced many that Like an Ever Flowing Stream may not be their crowning achievement anymore. The God That Never Was is an excellent staple in the accomplishments of old-school death metal bands in the modern times.
Darkthrone The Cult Is Alive3.0
Kalmah The Black Waltz3.5
Psycroptic Symbols of Failure4.0
Himsa Hail Horror3.0
Decapitated Organic Hallucinosis3.5
Dimmu Borgir StormblÄst MMV3.5
In Flames Come Clarity3.5
Kataklysm In the Arms of Devastation3.0
The Devin Townsend Band Synchestra2.5
Elvenking The Winter Wake3.0
Norther Till Death Unites Us3.5
Green Carnation The Acoustic Verses3.0
Mirrorthrone Carriers of Dust5.0
With godlike writing skills and instrumental talent beyond measure, it would be fair to say that if Mozart had been alive today, he’d have made something like Carriers of Dust. It is exceedingly difficult to single out specific instances of exceptional writing on an album such as Carriers of Dust. At its core is indeed brutal black death metal, as the album plainly displays with the opener A Scream to Express the Hate of a Race. Vladimir immediately displays his affinity for extreme metal vocal ability, putting forth black metal shrieks and beastly growls that could force Mikael Akerfeldt into submission. While the drums rage on and the guitars are layered with monstrous riffs, definite melody shows through at all times. Mirrorthrone may very well be the very first to seamlessly blend epic, melodic, technical, brutal, atmospheric, and experimental features with classical-influenced black/death metal.
DragonForce Inhuman Rampage2.5
Demiricous One (Hellbound)3.0

2005
Vader The Art Of War4.0
Job for a Cowboy Doom1.5
Devourment Butcher The Weak1.5
Deathchain Deathrash Assault4.0
Through the Eyes of the Dead Bloodlust4.0
Darkestrah Embrace of Memory4.0
Arsis A Diamond for Disease4.5
There's almost no journalist in the world who could efficiently describe Arsis's first EP and first release after their debut, A Diamond for Disease. The release is centered entirely around the title track, a 13 minute technical melodic death epic track with more guitar layers than any shredder could comprehend. Every second is packed full of brutal riffs with melodic harmonies raging over the top with James Malone's combined high shriek and death growl vocal styles. Together, Malone and Mike Van Dyne are truly musical prodigies of the modern metal age. to boost the length up to 20 minutes we also have an extreme Alice Cooper cover with a re-recorded demo track, The Promise of Never, a blazing riff-fest that pummels listeners at 400 bpm. Overall, A Diamond for Disease is an incredible showing of technical proficiency and perfectly honed songwriting.
Sunn O))) Black One1.0
Cryptopsy Once Was Not3.0
Roadrunner United The All-Star Sessions2.5
Akercocke Words That Go Unspoken...4.0
Exodus Shovel Headed Kill Machine2.5
1349 Hellfire4.0
HIM Dark Light3.0
Arcturus Sideshow Symphonies2.5
Hypocrisy Virus3.0
Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet?4.5
There's no doubt that Children of Bodom has changed over the years. Are You Dead Yet? isn't the dark neoclassical voyage that their first albums were. Instead, the Finnish kings of power metal have served up a buffet of well-rounded metal ass kickings, complete with the brutal riffs and screaming solos. The keyboards provide a very unusual atmosphere for some very thrashy riffs, which almost makes it sound like extreme metal with a vague industrial overtone. The one thing that hasn't changed is the intensity of the band; there's no doubt that this album is fucking metal, and Alexi Laiho isn't backing down. As usual, every song features a trademark Laiho shredgasm. Don't let the sudden change in style and brutal riffs fool you - Children of Bodom is as good as ever.
Cannae Gold Becomes Sacrifice1.5
The Absence From Your Grave3.0
Between the Buried and Me Alaska3.5
Opeth Ghost Reveries4.5
Never straying from their self-beaten path of one-of-a-kind extreme progressive metal, Opeth took their latest album, Ghost Reveries, in somewhat of a "road less travelled". The introduction of keyboardist Per Wiberg opened up a whole new realm of ambient electronic effects and melancholic atmospheres to compliment the usual array of brutal metal sections and soft, clean passages. Featuring some of the band's most rhythmic metal moments (The Baying of the Hounds), shred-tacular guitar playing (Beneath the Mire), and somber ballads (Atonement), Ghost Reveries enabled a revolutionary musical act to shatter the boundaries that they themselves had previously pushed.
Destruction Inventor of Evil4.0
Warmen Accept The Fact4.0
Chimaira Chimaira1.5
Nevermore This Godless Endeavor3.0
Arch Enemy Doomsday Machine3.5
Fear My Thoughts Hell Sweet Hell3.5
The Black Dahlia Murder Miasma2.5
Gorod Neurotripsicks4.0
Technical death metal has been an underrated genre. There are bands that are capable of taking its unending chaos to new levels while still creating intricate, listenable music. Gorod breaths new life into a world where many were getting bored waiting around for the new Necrophagist album. With sickening vocals, chugging riffs, and mind-blowing lead guitar, Gorod is a fucking intensely brutal band. They also throw in elements of melody that compliment the brutality in such a way as to create images of prison rapes and bar brawls. You'd never guess such an extreme band would have a female drummer, but it just goes to show that women are always welcome in extreme metal.
Satanic Warmaster Carelian Satanist Madness3.5
DevilDriver The Fury of Our Maker's Hand1.5
Hate Eternal I, Monarch3.5
As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security1.5
Dream Theater Octavarium2.0
Thine Eyes Bleed In the Wake of Separation2.5
Pelican The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon...3.0
Kataxu Hunger of Elements4.0
Slipknot Vol.3: The Subliminal Verses [Reissue]3.5
The Agony Scene The Darkest Red2.0
Seether Karma And Effect3.0
The Red Chord Clients1.5
Nine Inch Nails With Teeth3.5
Porcupine Tree Deadwing3.0
Vesania God the Lux3.5
Mors Principium Est The Unborn2.0
Aborted The Archaic Abattoir3.5
Nile Annihilation of the Wicked4.0
Six Feet Under 131.0
Trivium Ascendancy1.5
Full of catchy riffs and flashy playing, Trivium's outer appearence is one of the most attractive in the modern metal scene. Unfortunately for the band, taking a closer look reveals generic, recycled riffs and arguably the worst vocals to ever receive praise. With 12 songs featuring only miniscule differences, the only valuable aspect is the soloing throughout the album, despite the fact that the shredding shows nothing above the hundreds of other metal guitarists around today. Trivium may have the physical ability, but their songwriting is the epitome of underdeveloped.
Origin Echoes of Decimation3.0
Kamelot The Black Halo3.5
Summon Fallen3.5
Children of Bodom Trashed, Lost & Strungout4.0
Dissection Maha Kali2.0
Falkenbach Heralding - The Fireblade4.0
Dark Tranquillity Character4.5
Apocalyptica Apocalyptica4.0
Kreator Enemy of God2.0
Into Eternity Buried in Oblivion3.5
Aeon Bleeding the False3.5

2004
Behemoth Demigod4.5
There really is no death metal quite like new Behemoth. After traveling to many exotic places around the world and putting part of themselves into each piece of music they wrote, the band managed to produce powerful yet meaningful extreme metal with Demigod. Inferno's drums and Nergel's voice come together to hit listeners like a Polish death metal sledgehammer. The riffs and solos, while not overly technical, show a strong proficiency towards piecing together thousands of riffs with unusual techniques to achieve an overall sound. The eastern influence in the music only helps Behemoth differentiate themselves even more from other death metal. Songs like Sculpting the Throne ov Seth are loaded with vengeful vocals and technical, mind-boggling riffs while Slaves Shall Serve and Demigod are full-blown crushing metal tracks scientifically designed to allow Behemoth to display their awesome synchronized hair whipping skills.
Wintersun Wintersun4.5
While a little-known two-man act may been seen as monopolized by garage rock bands and kvlt black metal bands, the essence of extreme metal seems to be captured intelligently by any number of people anymore. Finland's Wintersun has succeeded in creating their own unique style while retaining influences from past projects and experiments. After departing from folk metal band Ensiferum, Jari Maenpaa combined folk/viking themes with an affinity for guitar-driven power melodic death metal. The Scandinavian feel combined with the heavy use of synth atmosphere creates an incredibly epic production while Jari's instrumental virtuosity is bound to inspire legions of aspiring metal shredders. Wintersun's debut is an incredibly impressive display of musical and songwriting talent, full of catchy melodies, multiple vocal performances, fast, riveting metal passages, and an overall powerful arrangement of unique extreme metal that no metal fan should pass up.
Bloodbath Nightmares Made Flesh2.5
Cradle of Filth Nymphetamine4.0
Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake4.0
It's pretty much unanimous that Lamb of God's second album, As the Palaces Burn, is their best. However, it wasn't until their third album, Ashes of the Wake, that they really broke through and garnished the recognition they have to day. Taking a close examination it's no surprise why. Ashes of the Wake featured the cleanest, most refined sound Lamb of God had at the time. The band had always prospered in Morton and Adler's affinity for brutal groove riffs, and this is where they shine the brightest. Every song is packed full of hair-whipping thrashy groove metal riffs with gut-wrenchingly powerful drum patterns. The technicality of the music increased dramatically since As the Palaces Burn. Though Ashes of the Wake may not be the common pinnacle, it's more than deserving of a close second. Just listen to those fucking riffs.
Shadows Fall The War Within4.5
Bullet for My Valentine Bullet For My Valentine EP3.0
Papa Roach Getting Away With Murder1.5
John 5 Vertigo3.5
Tim McGraw Live Like You Were Dying1.5
Terror One With The Underdogs1.5
Metallica Some Kind of Monster1.0
Meshuggah I2.0
Demonoid Riders of the Apocalypse3.0
The Amenta Occasus3.0
Atreyu The Curse1.0
Unearth The Oncoming Storm2.5
Sunn O))) White21.0
Seether Disclaimer II2.0
Imperanon Stained2.0
My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge1.5
Slipknot Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses3.0
1349 Beyond the Apocalypse3.5
Insomnium Since the Day It All Came Down4.5
Winds The Imaginary Direction of Time3.5
Ensiferum Iron3.5
Satyricon Volcano1.0
Quo Vadis Defiant Imagination2.5
Sauron (USA-MI) Thrash Assault3.5
In Flames Soundtrack to Your Escape1.5
Exodus Tempo of the Damned3.0
All That Remains This Darkened Heart2.0
Psyopus Ideas of Reference1.0
Although music has obviously become more and more extreme over the years, a line has to be drawn somewhere. Not ever band sounds like Iron Maiden anymore - extreme music has gotten faster, heavier, louder, and it's no surprise that most of it comes off as noise to our older generations. However, I've still become an avid extreme music listener. Fortunately, I haven't lost all sense. Music is music; Psyopus is not. At the risk of sounding closed-minded or whatever else people may think, Psyopus is undoubtedly the most garbled, incoherent piece of crap ever to be distributed in worldwide music stores. The musicianship may be mind-blowing, but the writing is nothing more than worthless noise.
Godsmack The Other Side1.0
Norther Death Unlimited3.5
Cannibal Corpse The Wretched Spawn4.0
Orphaned Land Mabool (The Story of the Three Sons...)4.5
Fragments of Unbecoming Skywards: A Sylphe's Ascension3.5
Metallica The Unnamed Feeling1.0
Darkestrah Sary Oy3.5
DragonForce Sonic Firestorm3.5
Arsis A Celebration of Guilt4.5
Arsis may only have one album so far, but they are already well on their way to becoming the best modern extreme metal band in existence. It's almost disgusting how well these guys can write and perform, especially considering there's only two of them. James Malone, a total fucking musical virtuoso, handles all of the punishing riffs and multiple harmonized solos as well as the basslines and the best melodic death vocals ever. Mike Van Dyne relentlessly pounds away with his lightning speed double ba Full of ss and blast beats with a dark-sounding low end drum tone that creates a menacing feel. Full of catchy and unique riffs and bursts of insane shredfests, Arsis sounds like no other band in the world and have already redeemed America's otherwise dying heavy metal scene.

2003
Korn Take a Look in the Mirror1.0
Puddle of Mudd Life On Display1.0
blink-182 Blink-1821.0
Dream Theater Train of Thought2.5
Pelican Australasia2.5
Falkenbach Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty4.0
Khanate Things Viral1.0
Between the Buried and Me The Silent Circus3.0
Leviathan The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide3.5
Opeth Lamentations4.0
Children of Bodom Hate Crew Deathroll5.0
After three albums of pure power metal virtuosity, the Finnish pentet decided to take thier sound in a different route. This time, Laiho decided it was time to get back to heavy metal's roots: riffs. And riffs he delivered. The entire album is nearly an hour full of fast, brutal, hammering riffs backed by their traditional keyboard atmospheres and Alexi's intense vocals. The album is essentially a cross between power metal and extreme death/thrash. Keyboard and guitar shredding have not been spared at all. In fact, this may be Alexi and Janne's finest soloing album to date. With some old style influences and a brand new sound, Hate Crew Deathroll is undoubtedly a chaotic metal experience.
Bleeding Through This Is Love, This Is Murderous2.0
Mnemic Mechanical Spin Phenomena2.0
Morbid Angel Heretic2.0
Destruction Metal Discharge3.5
Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul1.0
Dimmu Borgir Death Cult Armageddon3.5
Zyklon Aeon2.5
Psycroptic The Scepter of the Ancients3.5
Norther Mirror of Madness4.0
Trivium Ember to Inferno1.5
Nevermore Enemies Of Reality3.0
Superjoint A Lethal Dose of American Hatred3.0
Gorgoroth Twilight of the Idols3.5
As I Lay Dying Frail Words Collapse1.0
Nightrage Sweet Vengeance3.0
Himsa Courting Tragedy & Disaster3.0
The Agony Scene The Agony Scene2.0
Metallica St. Anger1.0
Words cannot describe how insanely bad this album is, so I won't waste anyone's time making them up. Metallica, 20 years after solidifying themselves as one the most essential metal bands ever, has been reduced to redundant, obnoxious garbage. Yes, hope is lost completely for a once respected metal band. No unique riffs, no solos at all, and vocals dripping with nu metal angst. Music stores worldwide must've found themselves overstocked with frisbees after this abomination was released.
Battlelore Sword's Song2.0
Mirrorthrone Of Wind and Weeping4.0
Weird Al Yankovic Poodle Hat2.5
Sunn O))) White11.0
1349 Liberation3.0
Aborted Goremageddon: The Saw and the Carnage...4.0
Opeth Damnation4.5
Damnation is the perfect title for Opeth’s seventh album, an experimental record delving into the band’s interest in 70’s progressive rock. Damnation is the musical embodiment of the feelings one experiences while shunned in such a way. Throughout the gloomy clean guitar riffs and melotronic effects, lyrics dealing with seclusion, rejection, and depression echo eloquently amidst the music. No artist has ever created such a beautiful yet hauntingly perfect incarnation of a terrible emotion.
Vital Remains Dechristianize4.5
Katatonia Viva Emptiness3.5
Godsmack Faceless1.0
Linkin Park Meteora1.0
Emperor Scattered Ashes: Decade of Emperial Wrath3.0
Cradle of Filth Damnation and a Day4.5
Naglfar Sheol3.0
AFI Sing the Sorrow3.5
Stratovarius Elements, Pt. 13.0
DragonForce Valley of the Damned3.0
Spawn of Possession Cabinet3.5
Hailing from Sweden, Spawn of Possession can be seen as a brutal Necrophagist on steroids. Instead of high, spastic lead guitar riffs, we have a flurry of brutal, pummeling, 7-string wankfests played at absolutely blinding speeds. The vocals are roared so fast and so deeply that they sound more inhuman and indecipherable than ever, while the drums are everything one could come to expect from a technical death metal outfit. Swarm of the Formless features a rolling tremolo attack backed by savage onslaught of double bass, and is merely one of many extreme mind-grinding experiences contained within the album. Featuring plentiful shredding and ear-raping vocals, Spawn of Possession has shown a promising future with this debut.
The Black Dahlia Murder Unhallowed2.5
The Axis of Perdition The Ichneumon Method2.5
Anaal Nathrakh When Fire Rains Down From the Sky...3.0
Torture Squad Pandemonium3.5
Wormed Planisphaerium3.5
Akercocke Choronzon3.5
Lamb of God As the Palaces Burn4.0
HIM Love Metal2.5

2002
Yyrkoon Dying Sun4.0
Audioslave Audioslave2.0
Amon Amarth Versus the World4.0
Bloodbath Resurrection Through Carnage3.5
Opeth Deliverance4.0
Lacuna Coil Comalies3.5
Chevelle Wonder What's Next1.0
Kataklysm Shadows and Dust2.5
Shadows Fall The Art of Balance5.0
Beware the new fucking age of thrash metal. Shadows Fall has written some of the fastest, most technical riffs and the most melodic, shredgasmic solos in existence. 80% of them are right here on their third album. It's no surprise that this became the first Century Media album to ever break the 100,000 sales mark. The Art of Balance was a wakeup call for the world to get the hell off their asses and realize that heavy metal isn't dead and never will be. Guitar harmonies are fast, brutal, technical, yet melodic - a metal axemurderer's dream come true. Jon Donais easily tops today's supposed "guitar gods" with his style alternating between shred madness and steady, melodic ballads. Make no mistake - Shadows Fall's third album is a ride that will show you the depths of hell and gates of heaven.
Stone Sour Stone Sour3.0
Seether Disclaimer3.0
Dark Tranquillity Damage Done3.5
In Flames Reroute to Remain1.5
Linkin Park Reanimation1.0
Norther Dreams of Endless War3.5
Atreyu Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses1.0
Fragments of Unbecoming Bloodred Tales3.0
Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me3.0
The Red Chord Fused Together in Revolving Doors4.0
Blind Guardian A Night at the Opera4.5
Behemoth Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond)4.0
Dream Theater Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence2.0
Green Carnation Light of Day, Day of Darkness2.0
Arcturus The Sham Mirrors3.0
Arghoslent Incorrigible Bigotry3.5
Nile In Their Darkened Shrines3.5
Cannibal Corpse Gore Obsessed3.5
Immortal Sons of Northern Darkness3.5
Insomnium In the Halls of Awaiting3.5
Demigod Shadow Mechanics3.5
Nightwish Century Child4.0
Agalloch The Mantle4.0
Korn Untouchables1.0

2001
Windir 11844.5
Windir rapidly became more and more intricate as time went on. Prior to Valfar's death, their once raw style of black metal became a rather enchanting display of cultural black metal. With vocals performed in the band's native north Norwegian dialect, heavy synth work, and folk-themed guitar riffs, 1184 can easily be considered Windir's crowning achievement. The flowing sweep guitar melody of Todeswalzer precedes the heavy nordic-sounding Dance of Mortal Lust. Songs such as the crushing Spiritlord and tribal-esque Destroy offset the mix, adding a viking feel to the already unique brand of Norse black metal. Though Windir's second album, Arntor, can be argued as their finest, 1184 features the finest blend of extreme metal, fancy musicianship, folk themes, and clean production that the band would achieve in their four-album career.
Anaal Nathrakh The Codex Necro3.5
Emperor Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire...4.0
Tenacious D Tenacious D3.5
Destruction The Antichrist4.0
P.O.D. Satellite1.0
Slayer God Hates Us All1.5
Slipknot Iowa2.0
maudlin of the Well Bath2.5
Aborted Engineering the Dead3.5
Cradle of Filth Bitter Suites to Succubi3.5
blink-182 Take Off Your Pants And Jacket1.5
Aeon Dark Order3.5
Epheles L'ombre de la Croix4.0
God Forbid Determination2.5
Arch Enemy Wages of Sin3.5
Akercocke The Goat of Mendes3.5
Staind Break The Cycle1.0
Dimmu Borgir Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia4.0
Sodom M-163.5
Opeth Blackwater Park5.0
Opeth’s music can most accurately be compared to snowflakes. Every snowflake is unique; diverse; one of a kind. Each one has something special about it. On its own it symbolizes the advent of something beautiful and captivating, while as one of a flurry it falls serenely, forming a picturesque scene so stunning it defies words. Just like snowflakes, every Opeth song is special in its own right. Within an album, the music is like a flurry ensnaring the senses with emotionally charged progressive. Given the excellent structures and production values of Blackwater Park, the tidal waves of emotionally epic metal crash down harder than ever. Words cannot describe the beautiful pain inflicted by such progressive metal.
Zyklon World ov Worms2.5
Lacuna Coil Unleashed Memories4.0
Ensiferum Ensiferum3.0
Puddle of Mudd Come Clean1.0
Borknagar Empiricism3.0
The Sawtooth Grin Cuddlemonster2.0

2000
Vintersorg Cosmic Genesis3.5
Cradle of Filth Midian4.5
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory1.0
Morbid Angel Gateways to Annihilation2.5
In Flames Clayman2.5
Dark Tranquillity Haven3.0
Deicide Insineratehymn2.0
Combatwoundedveteran I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos1.5
Iron Maiden Brave New World4.0
Decapitated Winds of Creation4.0
Shadows Fall Of One Blood5.0
The Art of Balance may have grabbed listeners' attention mercilessly, their second album Of One Blood remains the unsung hero of Shadows Fall's collection. Ranging from thrash to death metal and Gothenburg, no band has released an album quite like this. Riffs are again unique, technical, and harmonized to percfection. Jon Donais shreds his best solos ever in songs such as Of One Blood and The First Nobel Truth. Other tracks list Pure and Revel in My Loss are savagely brutal with a raw atmosphere. Only two albums into their careerm Shadows Fall had already mastered the art of covering both the insanely heavy and technical and the beautifully melodic ends of the spectrum.
Emperor Emperial Live Ceremony3.5
Children of Bodom Follow the Reaper5.0
If anyone ever wants to define the extreme Finnish power metal sound, Follow the Reaper is it. Full of cold, atmospheric keyboards, musical virtuosity from all angles, and guitar/keyboard shredding that could turn Jesus into a pagan, Children of Bodom took their third album as the time to really refine their signature style. Musicianship and production are cleaner than ever with the melodies are as unique and memorable as ever. Alexi's voice sounds savage without crossing the line to completely indecipherable. From start to Finnish (yes, pun) the album makes you bang your head while inspiring legions of guitarists to grab their axes and shred until winter and heavy metal reign supreme.
Godsmack Awake1.5
Limp Bizkit Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water1.0
Lamb of God New American Gospel1.5
Spiral Architect A Sceptic's Universe2.0
Soilwork The Chainheart Machine2.0
Cryptopsy And Then You'll Beg2.5
Lykathea Aflame Elvenefris3.0
Nightwish Wishmaster3.5
Hypnosia Extreme Hatred4.0

1999
HIM Razorblade Romance3.5
Cradle of Filth From the Cradle to Enslave2.5
Burzum Hlidskjalf3.5
Necrophagist Onset of Putrefaction3.5
Metallica S&M3.5
Korn Issues1.0
Dream Theater Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory2.0
Witchery Dead, Hot and Ready3.5
Opeth Still Life4.0
Windir Arntor4.5
The Dillinger Escape Plan Calculating Infinity2.0
Nine Inch Nails The Fragile4.5
Behemoth Satanica3.5
Slipknot Slipknot1.0
In Flames Colony2.5
Children of Bodom Tokyo Warhearts4.5
Arch Enemy Burning Bridges3.5
Children of Bodom Hatebreeder5.0
Alexi Laiho may have tried to kill himself right around the time this album was released, but the quality didn't suffer at all. Brutality and keyboard soloing take a backseat to guitar shredding and Mozart in this neoclassical extreme metal classic. Alexi's vocals veer into the black metal realm as his piercing shrieks are backed by gut-wrenching drums and bass complete with gothic keyboard atmospheres. The licks and solos here must've made Malmsteem cry into his Fender as Laiho's searing tones leave no survivors from this dark, classical-influenced extreme power metal record. Absolutely essential for those interested in extreme Finnish power metal.
Emperor IX Equilibrium2.5
Staind Dysfunction2.0
Autumn Leaves As Night Conquers Day4.5
Nevermore Dreaming Neon Black3.0
Chevelle Point #12.0
Dimmu Borgir Spiritual Black Dimensions2.0
Gory Blister Art Bleeds3.0
Dark Tranquillity Projector3.0
Control Denied The Fragile Art of Existence3.0
Sonata Arctica Ecliptica3.5
Cannibal Corpse Bloodthirst3.5
Immortal At the Heart of Winter3.5
Dekapitator We Will Destroy...You Will Obey!3.5
Agalloch Pale Folklore4.0

1998
Cryptopsy Whisper Supremacy4.0
Death The Sound of Perseverance3.5
Godsmack Godsmack2.5
Korn Follow the Leader1.0
Opeth My Arms, Your Hearse4.5
Slayer Diabolus in Musica2.0
Zao Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest2.0
Shadows Fall Somber Eyes to the Sky4.5
Cradle of Filth Cruelty and the Beast4.0
Nile Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka3.0
Blind Guardian Nightfall in Middle-Earth4.0
Arch Enemy Stigmata4.0
Behemoth Pandemonic Incantations3.0
Morbid Angel Formulas Fatal to the Flesh2.5
Nightwish Oceanborn4.0

1997
Metallica Reload2.0
In Flames Whoracle3.0
Dimmu Borgir Enthrone Darkness Triumphant4.0
Children of Bodom Something Wild4.5
It's tough to summarize an album like Something Wild. Children of Bodom has gone on to achiev metal success, but it would be a crime to forget where they started. Their first album, while a mere 7 songs and 32 minutes, was a very interesting combination of neoclassical power metal and atmospheric melodic black metal. Laiho's voice at the time is topped in quality only by his skill on a guitar, despite his apparent sloppiness at the time. Still, songs such as Deadnight Warrior and Lake Bodom have become Children of Bodom classics, and the range of elements present on the album makes for a very interesting, exciting listen.
Ulver Nattens Madrigal1.5
Burzum Daudi Baldrs2.0
Arcturus La Masquerade Infernale2.5
Emperor Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk4.5
Autumn Leaves Embraced by the Absolute4.5

1996
Arch Enemy Black Earth4.0
Slipknot Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.2.5
Darkthrone Goatlord3.0
Korn Life Is Peachy1.0
Cradle of Filth Dusk... and Her Embrace4.5
Opeth Morningrise4.0
Metallica Load1.5
Cradle of Filth Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phalluste 4.0
Local H As Good as Dead3.0
In Flames The Jester Race4.0
Cryptopsy None So Vile3.5
Dimmu Borgir StormblÄst3.5
Ulver Kveldssanger4.0
Satyricon Nemesis Divina4.0
Sacramentum Far Away from the Sun4.0
Behemoth Grom2.5

1995
Iron Maiden The X Factor2.0
Carcass Swansong3.0
Opeth Orchid4.5
There's something about Opeth's first two albums that hits me unlike any other music I've ever heard. It's difficult to put into words how and why. Each song encompasses a whole spectrum of emotions into an intense constellation of progressive riffs. If extreme metal could ever be "spiritual" in a positive, non-religious way, Orchid will be the album that those bands model themselves after. The production was rough back then - the guitars were overly crunchy, the bass was a bit prominent, the drums were poorly mixed, and Mikael's voice was not yet at its peak. But listening to the sheer genius of the songwriting that went into the making of Orchid, those things quickly become mear minor technical difficulties. For well over an hour it's almost impossible not to enjoy the Swedish melodic metal harmonies, incredible folk acoustic guitars, and versatile vocal performances on the debut of a band that would later change the face of extreme metal.
Blind Guardian Imaginations from the Other Side4.0
Death Symbolic4.0
Burzum Burzum/Aske4.0
Deicide Once Upon the Cross3.5
At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul4.0
Dissection Storm of the Light's Bane4.5
Behemoth Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic)3.5

1994
Korn Korn1.0
Testament Low2.5
Slayer Divine Intervention2.0
At the Gates Terminal Spirit Disease4.0
Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger4.0
Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse4.0
Cannibal Corpse The Bleeding3.5
Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral4.5
Cradle of Filth The Principle of Evil Made Flesh3.5
Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas3.0
Dimmu Borgir For All Tid3.5
Cryptopsy Blasphemy Made Flesh4.0
Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss4.5

1993
Pearl Jam Vs.3.0
Mayhem Live in Leipzig3.5
Burzum Det Som Engang Var4.0
The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream3.0
Weird Al Yankovic The Food Album4.0
At the Gates With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness3.5
Pestilence Spheres3.0
Atheist Elements3.5
Cynic Focus3.5
Carcass Heartwork4.0
Dissection The Somberlain4.0

1992
Cannibal Corpse Tomb of the Mutilated3.5
Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky4.5
At the Gates The Red in the Sky Is Ours3.0
Dream Theater Images and Words2.0
Blind Guardian Somewhere Far Beyond4.5
Blind Guardian's fourth album is one their many releases considered their best to date. Embodying the band's transition from speed metal to a more epic power metal, Somewhere Far Beyond features chaotic chorus chants with memorable guitar melodies and vocal harmonies. Speed and melody are blended beautifully to metal perfection. It would be tough to find a better power metal band than Blind Guardian, and this album is a perfect testament as to why. Tracks such as Time What Is Time and Journey through the Dark encompass thashing speed metal rhythms while songs like Ashes to Ashes and Somewhere Far beyond deliver epic, melodic masterpieces. Truly the pinnacle of this metal genre.
Demolition Hammer Epidemic of Violence3.5
Demigod Slumber of Sullen Eyes4.5

1991
Death Human3.5
Meshuggah Contradictions Collapse2.5
Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion II3.0
Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion I3.5
Pestilence Testimony of the Ancients4.5
Atheist Unquestionable Presence3.0
Metallica Metallica2.0
Dismember Like an Ever Flowing Stream4.0
Dark Angel Time Does Not Heal3.0
Darkthrone Soulside Journey3.0
Carcass Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious4.0

1990
Kreator Coma of Souls4.5
Slayer Seasons in the Abyss3.0
Blind Guardian Tales from the Twilight World4.0
Megadeth Rust in Peace3.0
Deicide Deicide3.5
Entombed Left Hand Path4.0

1989
Pestilence Consuming Impulse4.0
Blind Guardian Follow the Blind3.5
Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine3.0
Kreator Extreme Aggression4.0
Coroner No More Color3.5
Morbid Angel Altars of Madness4.0
Autopsy Severed Survival4.0
Dark Angel Leave Scars3.5

1988
Metallica ...And Justice for All1.5
Carcass Reek of Putrefaction3.5
Danzig Danzig2.0
Slayer South of Heaven2.5
Blind Guardian Battalions of Fear3.5
Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son4.0
Vio-Lence Eternal Nightmare3.0
Bathory Blood Fire Death4.0
Pestilence Malleus Maleficarum4.0

1987
Napalm Death Scum2.5

1986
Slayer Reign in Blood4.0
I don't profess to be a thrash afficianado, let alone one of metal's many Slayer fanatics. Their third album, Reign in Blood, is considered the most essential thrash album written. While it is obviously a staple in extreme music, it is no without flaws. At roughly 28 minutes, it is not for casual listening. The songs are played at such high speeds that Slayer is able to cram a full 4-5 minute song into the span of 3 minutes or less. Structures and predictable patterns are out the window here - Slayer brings balls-to-the-wall brutality and unrelenting thrash metal. Every riff demands attention, every blast beat causes an infant to explode. While the mid-section of the album consists entirely of 2 minute songs, it will be the most neck-breaking session of headbanging a metalhead can endure. Be sure to check out Angel of Death and Raining Blood, some of thrash metal's best songs.
Dark Angel Darkness Descends4.5
Metallica Master of Puppets2.5
Kreator Pleasure to Kill4.0

1985
Slayer Hell Awaits3.5
Dark Angel We Have Arrived3.0

1984
Yngwie Malmsteen Rising Force2.5
Iron Maiden Powerslave4.5
Slayer Haunting the Chapel3.0
Metallica Ride the Lightning3.5

1983
Slayer Show No Mercy3.5

1970
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath4.0
STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy