| NOVEMBERS DOOM - THE PALE HAUNT DEPARTURE (The End) |
| Novembers Doom who are known in some parts of the world as the masters of Doom Metal return with their fifth CD (plus one EP) to continue where they left off, and if anyone needed any proof of that then this release known as "The Pale Haunt Departure" will prove without a shadow of a doubt that Novembers Doom prevail as the leaders of Doom metal. To go along with some of the most haunting lyrics, doom riffs and artwork, Novembers Doom has invented one of the best albums of 2005 so far and we're not even half way through the year yet. Take notice first of all to the goth like lyrics and dark riffage combined with the amazing bone chilling vocals of Paul Kuhr the only original member left in the band since forming in 1989 under the name "Laceration". Novembers Doom attack the listener with such song and emotion, gloom and dark despair within their music yet they have blended it all together so extremely well that you notice just how exceptionally complete this album is put together even beyond it's concept. The acoustic intro on "Dark World Burden" opens one of the most amazing tracks I've heard in quite some time and is placed perfectly in the middle of this CD. Maybe eight tracks forty seven seconds over fifty one minutes may seem like not enough but it's plenty as it goes along. Over the years Novembers Doom searched not only for it's own identity musically but for the right band members in order to come up with what we have today known as the world leader in Death/Doom Metal where tradition lives on as hopefully forever they will alone roam the earth knowing that they have accomplished their goal. The Pale Haunt Departure is a masterpiece among the best heavy metal album's ever invented. Metal Mike....................................................9.5/10 |
| THINE EYES BLEED - IN THE WAKE OF SEPARATION (The End) |
| From out of nowhere Canada's Thine Eyes Bleed (who only recently signed with The End Records) explodes on the heavy metal scene to release this killer hardcore/death metal debut CD "In The Wake Of Separation". With a fully loaded arsenal and a little creativity to boot, Thine Eyes Bleed tear apart your cold heart with some furious aggressive riffs and vocals reminding you of Slayer, Death, Lamb Of God and fellow canadian death metalers Bloodshoteye. Brutal riffs are all over this CD which leaves it one of the only true ways to describe this album up front. But technically speaking Thine Eyes Bleed combines some extreme killer riffs and rhythm by it's supporting cast along with vocalist Justin Wolfe's agony driven screams. It's no wonder they got signed as from first listen you can tell that this creation took more than just a little thought and planning. Melodic sounding , Guitar solo's, brutal death vocals, thrash/hardcore like riffing and some intense drums all together makes this album very much worth listening to over and over again. You wont find anything boring about this band at all since if you put all those elements together it is very entertaining to anyone with an ear for heavy metal. Sometimes the best bands are the ones you have trouble trying to describe. The best part of all is just like myself, Thine Eyes Bleed is Canadian and they are going in the right direction with this. Let's hope they continue along the path to great things in the future. Metal Mike.......................................................8.5/10 |
| NANGARRI - THE ENDLESS PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH (Indie) |
| Niagara Falls, Ontario is more than just a hot bed for honeymooners, it's also the breeding ground for heavy metal bands such as Nangarri. Even though many of us don't know that they actually have a scene happening over there, Nangarri can be the main attraction for quite some time in the near future. The endless pursuit of the truth is a pretty straight forward heavy metal album which works on punishing riffs in Pantera like fashion yet it has it's moments of a not too appealing sound here and there, still Nangarri wrecks your neck with a pure thrash attitude. Eleven tracks under forty two minutes may not seem like much, but there's tons of mosh left on this bands plate. The album also shows flashes of hardcore riffs but not enough to really fit in that catagory. It's nice to know that southern ontario has bands like Nangarri who help make the heavy metal scene quite complete and hopefully for years to come. This album would be a nice addition to any CD collection so make sure to get your copy soon and support Nangarri all while doing your part for the heavy metal scene overall. Metal Mike...........................................................7/10 |
| OVERLORDE - RETURN OF THE SNOW GIANT (Sonic Age Records) |
| While some may think that U.S. Power Metal is non existent others know the whole truth thanks to bands like this one. After playing it's first show way back in 1985, Overlorde disbanded around late 1988/ early 1989 and would be on hiatus for the next 12 years. But what the original three members didn't expect was the huge continued fan interest coming from all over Europe. While a lot of it had to do with the Internet and the demand for Overlorde's 5 song vinyl EP released in 1987 (Do you see a 1980's Metallica word of mouth thing happening here?) the original three members decided to reunite in 2000 and hired Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas (ex-Seven Witches) as the bands new lead vocalist. And what we got was this album, one of the most amazing Power Metal experiences ever produced on a single CD! This album breathes metallic power with the rhythm of classic 80's heavy metal. Such an amazing journey Overlorde takes you on as Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas should be voted as best vocalist of 2004/05. Tracks which you will no doubt enjoy include "Snow Giant", "Star Castle" (for it's killer guitar groove as well as Bobby's pipes), "Metallic Madness" and "Mark of the Wolf" which has so much feeling sung by Bobby and what an awesome power/classic metal riff to this monster. Iron Maiden and Queensryche are a serious influence on Overlorde and it truly shows. What an album, it's so hard to put it into words but there's one thing I know for sure that Overlorde is the future of this business and to begin the same way Metallica did (Word of mouth with little to no airplay) over 20 years ago must prove that something special is on the way here. This could be what Heavy Metal has needed all this time in order to elevate things to the next level. Overlorde is ready to dominate the music industry. Metal Mike.........................................................9.5/10 |
| OVERLORD'S PERPETUAL - PERPETUAL (Sonic Age Records) |
| Greece has been known to have some of the most talented and underrated artists worldwide, but it seems that all the well known forms of Greek heavy metal comes from styles such as black, death and power metal. Overlord's Perpetual stands out on his own as a fret burning neo classical guitar player who's style and sound brings you back to when a young Yngwie Malmsteen took the 80's guitar world by storm. Overlord and his rhythm section of keyboard player Bob Katsionis and vocalist Vasilis Axiotis who are quite well known over in greece do some great things together on this CD. Though some of the spotlight tends to point towards Overlord's incredible solo's and hard rockin' groove filled riffs, the band display's a unique feel on this self titled CD as if they were meant to be together forever, and why not? This CD smokes just about any of the latest releases by either Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen or the past few Van Halen records. Overlord's Perpetual has moments of Bon Jovi like twist with the somewhat overdone keyboards as heard on "I can't wait". But this track also lurks into Deep Purple territory and cleans itself up very well. The one very positive thing I noticed about this album is how Overlord does not stand alone on the CD. Maybe in the early stages he shows what he can do like on the track "Majesty", but the rest of the cast is given many chances to shine because they do work well as a unit which is rare on most solo CD's. One of many promising yet diverse acts already on Sonic Age Records. An all star act indeed. Metal Mike.............................................................8/10 |
| STRIKELIGHT - STRIKELIGHT (Eat Metal Records) |
| Formed around 1999/2000 Greek rockers known as Strikelight decided to show us how greeks can also play the classic heavy metal from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal years. You gotta hand it to them as they do have the passion here as you'd never guess they weren't british with the very interesting Iron Maiden style of play. If bands like Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Angel Witch and the rest of those early 80's metal hall of fame rockers never existed, then maybe this would be something to really remember. But as this self titled CD moves along it gets to be a little too much to handle with the weaker sound quality as my interest wanders from it too easily. I guess it's the lack of production on this that really irks me as well as some of the vocal spots. But like I mentioned early on, they do have the passion and some structures for this kind of genre. Some interesting guitar work and solo's at times but I just didn't see anything beyond that. Metal Mike..............................................................4/10 |
| GOD.FEAR.NONE - ENVY (Sonic Age Records) |
| Sonic Age Records is really going to make a serious name for themselves. They know how to pick the best young talent in heavy metal for their roster. This is yet another one of those bands who have an amazing future ahead of them. God.Fear.None consists of five Greek members who play a style reminiscent of Nevermore crossed with Soilwork and Fear Factory. As Envy is the bands debut release, they explode with some intense yet diverse heavy metal riffs that breed a sound only they can explain. Your ears will love it as it's clean powerful production will impress any fan of heavy metal. It's nice to hear guitar solo's with feeling, energy and style on top of the aggressive riffs by Chris Mike and Jim Voutsas. With influences such as Pantera, Metallica, Nevermore, Dream Theater, In Flames and many more, God.Fear.None may not know it, but they might have just released a historic debut CD in the prime of their careers, just like the latest releases by Novembers Doom and Dark Tranquility, God.Fear.None has it's place set along side those bands. The tracks "Idle Self" and "24 Hours" are examples of just how unique and diverse this band is. Let's hope they continue the same type of intense fresh metal sound in order to keep God.Fear.None a separate identity from the rest of the heavy metal world and be known for not only their creative and diverse heavy metal genre but most of all for waking up the rest of the world to something really worthy of your attention. Heavy Metal's future is now secure with God.Fear.None. Metal Mike............................................................9.5/10 |