Musically, GALLERY OF MITES is an homage to the band members’ references, as Bugs on the Bluefish is a powertrip to 70’s hard rock and some of the 60’s (lack of) charisma. Bands that immediately come to mind: STOOGES, early ROLLING STONES and a truckload of other well-known acts the traditional stoner will undoubtedly recognise. Speaking of which, there is yet a track with MONSTER MAGNET members backing former KYUSS/ current HERMANO vocalist John Garcia, probably a cocktail-molotov of orgasmic nature for thousands of stoners around the world (100 Days).

Despite the good technicality and the obvious quality of the musicians, Bugs on the Bluefish did not really sound that magnificent, but it should please very man die-hard revivalists anyway. This is probably ideal as a soundtrack to a crazy Summer.

Obzen, is a shambled of an album … its not a “this doesn’t make sense” in a good way, its a “what the hell were they thinking”, i always expect new stuff or weird stuff from them, very little is ever normal and as such i find it very refreshing and enticing, but even in all the madness there was always something coherent, something that made sense, they were like Matryoshka Dolls, were each layer was different but it all fitted perfectly and therefore it made sense… now this “album” (if i should call it that) is like me getting tracks from their different albums and making a best of, sure there would be great tracks but it would all sound like shit together.

Well, I wont be talking a great deal about each track, no point really, the first 2 tracks, “Combustion” and “Electric Red” have nothing in common with the rest of the album, they sound like refreshed thrash metal, while “Bleed” (the single by the way… remember what i said about the 10000 Days single…) has nothing to with the rest of the album, its a mind blowing track with Tomas Haake doing a freakish double bass drum work that makes me lack the words to described it, it all sounds like white sound from a television… i would buy the album just for that track … but this inconsistencies go further, also the over abuse of “commercial” sounding ruses like slowing down or stopping a song to build it up again… cause i counted… they used it 7 times (that i noticed) almost in every single track, you know at some point that they will pause for some micro shitty interlude, I’ve got no problem with that, but it has to make sense… but overusing it is like Linkin Park making micro intros for every single shitty track they put out (sorry just went and saw one of their live shows and they sucked a bit).

“Lethargica” is next and the name fits the song, its kinda an OK track, with no big highlights it kinda drags on, now the title track “Obzen” is another beast, much more innovative and a bit of a headbanger with a more stop-goish groove going on with loads of highlights… “This Spiteful Snake” is an intricate groovy track, but still lacking, it doesn’t seem to go anywhere and ultimately it just feels self indulgent (trying to fit every single thing into it), “Pineal Gland Optics” we get a straight back to back speedier groove, again great quality and musicianship but with nothing else to add, “Pravus” is pushing again the silliness, its interesting, but not that audible, its a mishmash of musical techniques than music, we finish with “Dancers To A Discordant System”, that starts pretty mind blowing heavy and groovy (why didn’t they do this on some of the other tracks is beyond me), but then it gets into a certain pattern and although pretty good, it wasn’t nothing to call back home.

I know, maybe i expect too much, but like every Meshuggah album it takes a certain amount of time to really start understanding the music or a album, so i took that time, but after the 100th listen, these things still bug me like hell, i was expecting a lot of different things, i was expecting “Bleed”, but no, i get this best of (when their EP I, was the right way to do a Best Of) and then you join things like the freakishly moronic cover art that looks shitty and reminds me of the endogenous Marilyn Manson of Mechanical Animals, were at least he went over the top with it (in a good way), while with Meshuggah its just silly.

Ahh i wont drag this too long, they said in a interview that this was the first time they really had the time to make a album, and not be in a hurry, well then i hope for the next one, they’ll have to make it over a weekend, for sure we would get a masterpiece, this is above all a disappointment and will rarely fit my Meshuggah everyday playlist, don’t get me wrong, all this ranting should be taken with a touch of salt, the production is pretty much on the mark, and there are some really cool tracks (“Bleed” is Beyond Awesome), but i do expect a lot from this band, and I’m sorry to say but this time it feels, they over promised and under delivered, and that to me is a shame.

Official Site Meshuggah.net | Myspace Meshuggah | Vidcult Bleed Video

Meshuggah – Bleed

“Clenching The Fists Of Dissent” starts if off, and i’m impressed, solid thrash, it kind drags a bit on with 10min and it has a slowish middle… but i kinda get it, sort of “lets just make a freaking kick ass first track”… hell its long because it has a bit of everything, from slow burning trash, speed blasting, some Hatebreed public shouting, short burst guitar solos, hell even time to go for a clean vocal section nearing the end, breakdown head-banging end i mean… sweet ride, “Beautiful Mourning” starts pretty well, shouting and here we go, a bit of thrashing and then we get to some heavy rifting with slow singing, then we get a sweetish chorus with some blasting, ok… not so bad… sounds a bit swedish, but not in a “LETS STOP EVERYTHING AND SING LIKE A GIRL MOMENT”, plenty of hardcore breaks and again a smallish guitar solo, and thats pretty much it, again another pretty catchy track, moving on to “Aesthetics Of Hate” starts off pretty well with pure thrash, with a very big solo… all building up to a clean vocal and pretty old school breakdown… again great, now we get “Now I Lay Thee Down” humm a bit more metalcore i guess.. with clean vocal even trough the chorus, still pretty catchy and it kinda seems to be the softest until now, some guitar solos and it gets a bit heavier to the end… humm its ok.

“Slanderous” is a bit of the same with some groovy drum/guitar work to build up, but again more metalcore, some breakish moments, some guitar solos, ends with a clean vocal buildup to… a bit heavier chorus, ahhh its getting kinda formulaic, “Halo” gets us a groovy blast guitar squeal break moving trough the track, that drive us to (probably) the catchiest chorus yet, pretty sweet clean vocal/guitar work… driving again to the groovy riff, midway we get a sort of breakdown to the guitar solos and even these seem to fit well with the rest of the track and to finish it off … yeah you guessed it… again clean vocal to build up to the chorus, its great don’t get me wrong, pretty sweet, but still more than predictable… a hell yeah for this track, “Wolves” starts off like hardcore should, but then goes into metalcore mode again, and then back to more hardcorish riffs, humm it gets better as we move along, we get midway another characteristic break that then merges with the rest of the track, then we get back into thrash, guitar solo and then back to chorus for the end, and that bring us to the last track “A Farewell To Arms” were we get a slow burning guitar/vocal build to the hardcorish slow burn riffing, then again a clean vocal chorus… still catchy, after the second chorus you get the guitar solos, then we speed along to thrash and eventually it dies out… pretty solid end track.

So what did i think of “The Blackening”? well it seems the expression “time heals all”, does have a use heheheh, Machine Head did a fine album, its not groundbreaking, its a bit formulaic (kinda has always the same song structure and it kinda always revolves around thrash/hardcore/swedish melodic metal), it lacks consistency (starts heavy with loads of thrash and ends more near to metalcore), but in the end, its a pretty slick album, even the not so good tracks are solid and there are some very groovy and heavy tracks throughout, so… if you were a fan of Machine Head or you want to listen to some modern thrash, then give this one a go.

Official Site Machinehead1 | Vidcult Video Now I Lay Thee Down

Machine Head – Aesthetics Of Hate

Humm the album starts with a small intro “Exordium” nice and slow building up for “Vanish Away” one thing is for sure, blasting and growling is what you get, cant say that this isn’t pretty tight, there is enough variation and musicianship, but it all seems like a generic track for this kind of music, “Final Warning” is different, at least that… (I’m kinda afraid cause there is a tendency for repetition…), pretty headbanging music… very thrashy Slayer like feel to it… just the vocals … they seem to be the least engaging part of the track for me, “That’s Why I Despise You” is a little more of the same, what starts to be a trend is the overwhelming speed… all the tracks seem to be in a hurry.

“The Fraud” humm well i might say its a bit of the same, “Into The Arms Of Misery” is again more of the same, i guess ill skip to some highlights of the rest of the album, “Contraddictions” is a pretty tight tune… probably one of my favorites, really sweet guitar work also “Retain The Scars” is quite brutal… again great guitar/drum work, hell seems the best is really towards the end.

Humm thrash… well i can say that Dew-Scented don’t take anything out, they actually put a lot in, but in my opinion, not enough to escape the too generic clause, its like going to a drive in cinema… its good clean fun, but if you go to a fucking IMAX with digital picture, digital sound that will melt your brain… yeah thats way more bang for the buck, so i guess is you like it raw with all the gritty messy brutal thrash… then what are you waiting for?

Official Site Dew-Scented

Dew-Scented – That’s Why I Despise You

Pretty good, from the get go with “Showdown” you know were they stand, like i said above a technical trash/death combo, although in a very groovy blasting kind of way, quite the “we are in a hurry to finish this song” kind of thing, in a good way, this is a powerhouse of a track, heaviness and aggression is the name of the game, good for them, and better for me, “Lacrimal Gland” starts off again with another groovy death metalish riffage, this has some kicks ass guitar work, very good, title track “Decrowning” doesn’t fall to short of expectations, straightforward kick and easy, solid death track.

“Tiebreaker” stars off and goes almost all the way through with some incredible guitar work, very impressive with some Meshuggah like pre-D.E.I. thing, just simpler and with more pace (maybe my favorite track, i like them short and sweet), “Drug of Choice” is thrash, almost straight up, “Denial 101″ is again a strong track, plays like a hardcore track, with some crazy guitar solos, “Control Cancer” is some fucked up track, with some delayed riff, it’s good but it feels a bit cut and paste kind of thing, good track nevertheless, shows a lot of skill, hell if they can make even this not so good track sound this good, then they must be doing something right, “Raptus” is another short and sweet blasting all the way through into a another funky guitar solo, nice, “Warp” is a short instrumental, nothing much, maybe it’s suppose to be the intro the final track “Bleeder”, that brings more of that Meshuggah kind of pre-D.E.I. riffing, ugly and heavy, just the way i like it (wasn’t it short and sweet?).

Did i say melodic, i meant to say freakin awesome, yeah the sweetness of the guitars bring it into the melodic section, it’s not straight death, but this is no Killswitch Engage/In Flames kind of thing, this is straight death/trash, great guitar work, solid all round album, i enjoyed the hell out of this one, go check it out.

Official Site Amoralweb

Amoral – Showdown
Amoral – Decrowning

It all starts with “Too Strong For the Strongest Lord”, hummm, interesting, a bit industrial meets thrash meets death, it’s actually good, not brilliant, but solid, nice touches with the atmospheric stuff, “This Great Summer” is a bit deja vu? i can swear I’ve listen to the starting riff, somewhere, nevertheless another good track, very smooth and by the numbers, “The Only Gods” is very similar to the first track, great drive and great synth work, with a somewhat interesting solo, then comes the title track “The Inhuman Aberration”, much more thrashy, all the way through, again good, again not great, “Open Gate” is way more interesting, great pace and a bit more technical than the rest, combines almost perfectly their blend of death/thrash, “Come No Tomorrow” is also interesting with more synth work, “Watch your Own Eyes” is by the numbers again, “Liberation” is more thrashy again, i actually enjoy more when they go for their more thrash side, “Forsaken” is more of the same, good stuff, “The Pressure of Our Jaws” finishes it off nicely, thrash all the way through.

Two things come to mind, first they are a bit too straightforward and a bit too predictable, to the point of being eerie the way i can predict whats going to happen next, well it’s like milking cows, it’s all good, but it’s nothing new, always with the guitar solos at the predictable places, always the chorus in place, not that i don’t enjoy it, this is good stuff, but I’ll probably won’t keep it for that long in rotation, so if your into thrashier death metal, you might want to check it out, if your not, you might want to check Meshuggah’s latest heheheh.

Official Site Urkraft.dk

Urkraft – The Inhuman Aberration

After having a go at “III: In The Eyes of Fire” one thing is certain this is heavier, darker and much more violent, and i say that in a good way, with all of this also comes something not that common with metalcore, it’s a more difficult listening, it lacks that immediate appeal, but it seems just like crack after a couple of listening you won’t need anything else, the album starts with “This Glorious Nightmare” and slap me silly if it isn’t just plain old Unearth even with the “oh we need to stop for a minute to insert some slower groovy shit”, its good…it’s really good, then comes “Giles” and this one really shines, heavy, more uncompromising, the vocals are tight as hell, same goes for the guitars, “March of the Mutes” comes next … and it is some good shit, catchy as hell, then “Sanctity of Brothers” that is basically thrash … hey the boys play some cool thrash hehehe, sure it does eventually go to the more “core” of metalcore, but its a great tune nonetheless, full of original riffing, then “The Devil Has Risen”, this one is quick and dirty, again going for a more aggressive thrash, then metalcore, loads of breakdowns, cool, “This Time Was Mine” has a very impressive chorus guitar/voice combo, that goes into a stop go, damn that’s cool too, “Unstoppable” what can i say, impressive, this album just doesn’t cut corners, even though the sound seems to follow patterns, they just keep adding new stuff to the mix, keeping the pace quick and the sound fresh, great work.

Now comes “So it Goes” this one sounds like 100% Unearth, but that’s until the 0:30 mark were they just start ripping, as with most of their tracks the guitar just drives it home, and this time with an impressive solo, “Impostors Kingdom” again speeding it up, this one is just angry, “Bled Dry” again a good track, and again it seems to work on the same formula that has been used throughout the album, but still, it sounds completely original, it has everything, I’m in awesomeness state, oh no the album is almost over… “Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos” closes with a golden key, an instrumental track, just the way i like them, short and sweet.

What can i say, I’m impressed, in the land of the un-original there seems to be originality?, Well maybe there is future for us all, sure the bands that tend to do great things are the ones less constrained by the genres, that do music for musics sake, if it fits in gothic, metalcore or techno, then so be it, sure they do have a tendency to flourish or flourishments, what do i mean by that?, well they sometimes put stuff in just to say “look at me i can just rip this shit up when everyone is playing another thing”, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and certainly you don’t need to do it that often and milk the damn thing, but that’s just my personal taste, this is an excellent album, border lining metalcore perfection, I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and it will remain on my listening library for a long time, so go on and fucking buy it.

Unearth – This Glorious Nightmare
Unearth – Giles

With their first record they got my attention. I didn’t expect much from a possible second record. The truth is: they did a great record. In the beginning I didn’t dig it very much, but the first song was really cool and I gave this record a second chance. Hell I even gave a third and a fourth chance. Next thing I knew, I was addicted.

“A New Shape of Desperation” is a very melodic record [yeah they're Swedish! It seems melody is in their DNA] with great guitar work, a bit of calc / math metal [fuckin Meshuggah riffage] and a nice production ["Destroy Erase Improve" style but more up-to-date].

First track “It Starts Within” is a small intro that leads into the first song.

“The Truth Is Sold” has a great riff. When I first played this track it just blowed me away. My favorite track, no doubt. Headbanging all the way.

“People Like You” is next in line and is a blast. The pace is increased and my headbanging too. This one is a heavy motha’fucker. In the middle section we got a cool heavy groove, Meshuggah style ["Nothing" era] far from rip-off though [for those who like Meshuggah rip-off clones, I recommend Coprofago].

Next track is “Through Ashes We Crawl”. This track starts with a more melodic vibe but soon we fall into some heavy riffage. Meshuggah style once again.

“Same Old Story” follows and the heavy grooves are back. The chorus has a cool melodic riff. It reminds me “Descent” from Fear Factory‘s “Obsolete” album [check out Soundcult's review to Fear Factory latest work. Did I said "work"? I meant "crap"... latest crap... latest piece of crap... piece of latest... pile of... Ahhhhh crap. Metallica better release their new album really soon, I'm trying hard to forget Fear Factory's crappy album. You know what they say: Fight Fire With Fire ^^ ]. Anyway… Another nice track.

“Dead Eyes See No Future” is next and it’s kind of an instrumental track. Slow melodic riffs really well conceived. Really really nice track.

“Walls of Insecure” starts and is probably my second favorite track. The pace is back up-to-speed and we even got a little blast beat on the drums. Really cool section, mixing this kind of Hardcore playing with a bit of Death Metal. In the middle we have a melodic section with a guitar solo. It fits like a glove. Near the end we have another of those Meshuggah heavy grooves. Really powerfull stuff.

“Idiot” is a 50 second track and is like By Night went berserk. This track could almost be an Hate Eternal [check out Soundcult's review] track, but with a more hardcore feel to it, can you believe that? Sounds a bit out of place, but, I’m a Death Metal freak so…

“Forsaken Love” starts with a cheesy riff. Didn’t dig that at all. The next section is more interesting, Meshuggah strikes again! I’m re-considering the “take By Night of the Meshuggah wannabes pot” decision. Hmmm, but there it is. It’s influenced but has something different. Something that makes it a By Night riff.

OK, “Cursed by the Thought” is another of my favorite tracks. It starts with old Fear Factory riffing style but it’s just an intro. Then By Night’s melodic side steps in once again. Very nice. Heavy riffs but very melodic. I think this might be By Night’s strongest skill. The chorus has another heavy melodic riff. This track has a very nice epic ambiance. It’s this kind of tracks that make all the difference in a record.

The record finishes up with “Time Is Running Out”. Another instrumental. I do not think that this track fits very well with the record. Maybe it’s the piano parts, maybe is the sad feel to it.

OK, so, overall, this is a great record. By Night really surprised me with this second work. I think they now have all that it takes to be a great band. All the conditions to stick around for a long time are created.

Check out this epic song ^^

By Night – Cursed By The Thought

Fortunately “Sacrament” was a nice surprise. Not as nice as: “ohh my GOD there’s two oiled up naked blonds on my bed”, but, a nice surprise nevertheless.

First thing I noticed, when I played “Sacrament”, was that they are more melodic. The second thing was that Pantera incarnated in LoG. At least on track #3 “Redneck”, It’s Pantera all the way. Even the vocals reminds me Phil Anselmo on some parts.

So… LoG sharpened their melodic side, some tracks are more speed up than the ones on the other albums, I noticed the solos are better too, the songs seem more balanced and less boring, but still, I do not think LoG is here to stay. The melodic approach might be an attempt to capture more audience, and that’s going to happen for sure. Even with the other albums I had kids talking to me about how LoG was great and whatever, but I don’t think that’s enough. They are OK. But OK bands do not survive for years to come. And you know what? the kids will, eventually, grow up and, probably, will get into other type of bands. See what happened to Limp Bizkit. They and their infants ruled the world [yeah, right] and now it’s like: “Limp who?!”. It’s not the same type of audience but is just an example.

“Sacrament” is surely better then “Ashes of the Wake” but my favorite still is “As the Palaces Burn”. If you’re are a LoG fan buy “Sacrament”, you’ll like it. If you’re not, I don’t think you’ll be amazed by this record. Highlights for the tracks “Blacken The Cursed Sun” and “Requiem” though. Really nice tracks.
Personally I’ll stick with Pantera, Meshuggah and At The Gates [the GODS of Melodic Death Metal]. Better check those blondies now ^^

Lamb of God – Redneck

So here it is Dante XXI (because Dante 05 was way to late), it seems this one is a concept album based on the three sections of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory), and Paradiso (paradise),one thing i can say from the listening i had, Derrick Green is still there and his hardcore/punked lyrics/shouting/attitude is still there with all the good/bad thing that come with it, also that they went for a more thrash sound, well at least it’s more focused, and it’s a nice progression from the more thrash orientated Roorback, you can check this out from the “get go”, with tracks like “Burried Words” and “City of Dis” although Derricks … well i don’t know maybe it’s because of my knowledge of Max’s Sepultura, but or the music is downplayed or the voice/lyrics, one or another drops the ball every time, the first single “Convicted in Life”, actually sums up the album really well, it’s groovy, it’s straightforward, it’s good, but not great, the album goes between more hardcore forced tracks and more thrash oriented ones, i kinda liked “False” because it sounded original and old school with a nice and eery string section and probably “Ostia” because it’s catchy and has violins and i guess I’m a sucker for that kind of thing (mental note: gotta stop listening to black metal ehehehe).

Anyway new album, and it seems that the trip is not over, they surely don’t have their mojo working fulltime…well, Igor Cavalera drumming sounds like something coming from Metallica’s latest efforts, Derricks voice seems good for a metalcore/punk band and i don’t know it just doesn’t cut it, they should do better, like i said on the top, with the name comes great expectations, if they were nobodies i would say good try, being who they are, i can say I’m a bit disappointed, but hey, it’s not like i didn’t expect it from them… well at least they still rock on, there’s hope for the future heheheh.

Sepultura – Convicted in Life

So far so good… Let’s see, next one is “Antiproduct”. The pace is slower now. The first half of this song is kind of boring. The second half has some cool stuff in the vein of “Bad Devil“. Don’t know what this has to do with SYL but OK, at least the track is not so bad that way.
“Monument” follows and it’s the most similar track to Devin Townsend Band on the album. It’s a cool song but I expect more heavy / brutal stuff with SYL. That’s the all point of having the two projects, I think.
“Wrong Side”. Yep, you were on the wrong side for two tracks Mr. Hevy Devy. Back to SYL now. This song returns to the typical SYL brutality. Hell yeah, now that’s what I was talking about. The chorus has an amazing guitar lick in the background and the solo rocks hard also.
“Hope”. Ohh not again. Slow mellow stuff again. I don’t understand why Devin does this tracks. The SYL albums always have this kind of shitty tracks that I have to skip forward. It just breaks the flow of the record… Second half is kind of fast / brutal tough.
We have “Far Beyond Metal” next. It’s an OK track but nothing special…
Next is “Fucker”. This one has a more industrial / electronic feel to it. Hmm, silly chorus. Not my cup of tea either.
“Almost Again”. Another Devin Townsend Band tune. God damn…
“Plyophony” does the intro for “The New Black”, the final track and my last hope for a decent tune since “Wrong Side”. It’s not very fast but at least is heavy as shit. In the middle section brutality invades again. Nice song for closure.

What I have to say about “The New Black” isn’t very good. Overall I liked about three or four songs in total. This record has eleven tracks. That’s a very bad balance. If Devin Townsend had gathered those four tracks and released an EP, ditching the rest of the songs, this would be a great work!
I’ve read that Devin is taking some time-off now. I’m happy with that. This might prevent Devy’s stagnation. So, enjoy your time-off Mr. Devin Townsend and I hope you’ll do a great return. Cheers.

Strapping Young Lad – You Suck

Death Pop Romance follows almost every time a very straightforward formula, pummeling tech/death metal, building up to an almost certain melodic chorus (normally with the extra electronics showing up at about that time to give that extra softness) all of this evolving around a sort of pop sensitivity, so nothing new, but its quite entertaining, and much like Fear Factory don’t expect too much expertise or technical stuff, well in this kind of music that would be a understatement, this is fuel for all the nu-metal/melodic death metal fans, i can point out some of the tracks, but i won’t, because i want to be a bit of a bastard, hehehe, anyway all the tracks are pretty good and the chorus part tends to have a nice balance between the metal and the harmony and that’s always nice (don’t you just hate Mnemic).

Well hell, if your into “new” In Flames, Mnemic or most of this “new age” tech metal, Raunchy are for sure one of the best, sure it’s a bit plain and it feels a bit uncomfortable, since they might be talking about very sad or angry things but it doesn’t get that much sentiment from me, its a bit difficult to relate to it, well maybe i need to break a bit of all these sleepless night listening to Norwegian Black Metal, hehehe, well you can listen on the mp3, it’s all there, if you like it, buy the album.

Raunchy – Abandon Your Hope