This is the fourth album by British Epic Metallers Bal-Sagoth and much like their previous release, Battle Magic, this is heavy on the synth though the guitars and such are still very prominent. As a matter of fact, I can seriously see this band getting to the point where they would need a second synth player just to deal with how complex the keyboard parts are getting. The production on this is very clean with all of the instruments getting their own space. Bal-Sagoth also remembered that the drums should be in the background, which is really cool. I believe that the songs are all part of a concept piece set in the future, which would explain why Byron, the lead singer, is pictured holding that double-bladed Darth Maul lightsaber. I know a lot of people firmly believe that the Lords of the Sith are really Black Fucking Metal (particularly Darth Vader), but please! The picture just makes me laugh! Another thing, if you’re going to do a concept piece, include the fucking lyrics!!! I don’t care how stupid they are, just clue me in on what the story is about. The introductory paragraph or two is nice but it’s like releasing a really cool movie clip but then shelving the movie so that the only bits we see are off of a thirteenth generation bootleg. Other than those two minor gripes, this really is a great album. The music itself is some of the best I’ve heard in a while. The arrangements sound like they were well thought out and in the Classical vein, resulting in songs that flow very well. If you liked the last album, this one will be well worth tracking down.

This Glam / Sleaze Rock (from Sweden, of all places) is really not anywhere close to being as terrible as I’d expected. One of these songs was even recorded at fucking Sunlight (in case you’ve been in a coma the last decade or so, that’s the same studio where Dismember records)! And the rest of the songs have a similar, heavy guitar tone, which is a nice surprise. As is the actual ability of the musicians, and the memorable songwriting. Quite often the vocals are too whiny for their own good, but the mere fact that they are not always so is almost unbelievable. For what it is, this is enjoyable, and very well done.

Here’s a perfect example of how the media can blow an album way out of proportion. Despite what you may have read in some trendy mag, this is not the end-all be-all of Rock n’ Roll music since the dawn of time. It is simply a catchy album with lots of hooks, melodies, and Cathedralesque groove. Not flawless by a longshot. There are at least 3 or 4 tracks you’ve got to skip over to get to the goods. Most notably the goofiness-plagued “Radio Werewolf.” This does have its moments of Rockin’ glory. Try getting “Erratta Stigmata,” “Hand of Glory,” or “Exit Eden” out of your head after an attentive listen. Then there are the more passionate, morose tunes like “Fey,” which I have been known to listen to on repeat for hours at a time. “Sol Niger” is also a reflective gem. What really determines how much you dig this is how much you like Vil’s crooning Goth-meets-Rockabilly singing. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Danzig, but I disagree to a certain extent. If I had to make a comparison, I’d say Peter Murphy meets Elvis. I like his voice. It’s deep, sincere, and he can actually sing. As I said, it doesn’t always work, but for the most part this is a great selection to have around when you’re in the mood for something distinct and classy. So unless you’re a stupid bitch and you think this sounds like Alice in Chains (an actual remark), let loose, comb your hair into a devilock, and feeeeel the groooove!

Here we have three LPs worth of stuff, plus a couple compilation tracks, the most recent of which is from 1986. It’s raw and unpolished, but full of energy, and a real slap in the face to what is passed off as Punk these days. Not exactly awesome, but interesting nonetheless.

I’ve heard a lot of people singing the praises of this Finnish Black Metal trio and honestly, I can’t really see why. Yes, they’re pretty good but not as good as the stuff I’ve heard about them. I think the thing that really gets me down about this album is the one-dimensionality of the drumming and the thin-as-only-Black-Metal-can-get guitar sound. And that drum tone… I think I’ve heard trashcans that sound better than their snare drum. The good news is that though there are problems in the sound production department, the music is a bit more adventurous than your average clone-‘throne band. There are acoustic guitars on occasion and the inclusion of different vocal styles (Black Metal shrieks mixed with Death growls and variations on the standard Black Metal screaming) on a couple songs and they really help push this up a bit. Unfortunately, they still can’t save this album from the rampant one-dimensionality on display in the drumming and in the songs themselves. On the first listen, I couldn’t tell one song from the next. On the second listen, I still had trouble. The Nine Circles of Hell doesn’t totally suck major donkey dicks but it doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the thousands and thousands of other releases that are competing for the same dollar.

Listening to The Ballads II, I keep thinking about that Hefty trash-bag commercial “…whimpy, whimpy, whimpy” or the Kraft dinner commercial “…it’s the cheesiest!” This is slow, melodic Glam Metal aimed at swelling the hearts of teenage girls world-wide. This will fit quite nicely into your CD collection if it includes bands like Poison and Europe. Laughable!

Here we have some tracks from the band’s Blind CD. They’re “New Thrash,” something like Grip, Inc, but more groove influenced, and the vocals are kinda of more in the Hardcore realm. It’s not bad, and certainly has some good parts, so I’ll have to wait and hear what they do next, what stuff they think needs “refining” or “fixing,” to really know where their hearts are.

This is Averse Sefira’s debut album and judging by the fact that their label and band contact addresses are the same, I’d say that this was a self-financed, self-released album. For a self-financed release, the packaging is pretty slick with a multi-page inlay and cool cover art (though if you don’t know what the band’s logo looks like, you’d think it was part of the picture). I bet you can smell the “unfortunately” thing coming on by now. I sure can. Here it is. The music is complete and total Darkthrone worship. This is what Transylvanian Hunger would sound like if it was recorded in an actual studio instead of in Fenriz’s basement. This is a prime example of a band not properly evolving before releasing their first album. Almost all of the songs sound the same and all of them are probably overly long on top of that. I don’t mind epic length songs but when you consistently do 7 minute songs that should have only been 4 to 5 minutes long at most, I’m going to have to shaft you for it. The best parts of this album are in the interludes, which are dark, obscure ambient passages. These are the most original parts of this whole album but the moods they evoke are destroyed as soon as the Darkthrone stuff starts. My advice to this band? Diversify things a little bit. Throw in a little atmosphere here and there - like what you did on “Above the Firmaments of Wrath” with the clean vocals. That was a cool idea and this is the reason that song, in my opinion, stands out from all the others. Change up the song structures so that they don’t all follow the same pattern. In short, find something that distinguishes you guys from other in this genre and distinguishes one song from the other. I can’t recommend this album, but I’ll say that these guys have potential and their next release might be something to look out for.

This is the third release by Autumn Tears and the first to not be part of the Love Poems for Dying Children saga. The liner notes that accompany this say that this is a prologue to their next album (which, incidentally, is part of the Love Poems… saga) which should be out sometime in the near future. For those who have never heard Autumn Tears, imagine a band much in the vein of Dead Can Dance or Cold Meat’s Arcana. The music itself is on the Darkwave side with gothic keyboards and operatic female vocals with occasional male accompaniment. There are only three songs on this, which was kind of a disappointment as I paid $12 for this EP, but the good news is that all three of them are great. They all capture a mournful atmosphere and somber feelings, the way good dark music should. For fans of dark atmospheric music and Gothic, this is well worth the money. The only thing that I could find wrong with it was the fact that it was so short. Just when I was getting into it, it was over!