Sunday 12 April 2015

Album Reviews: March


March was a freaking good month regarding new releases. Most notably, the new Nightwish album... which I promise I'm going to write about next week! I just need to listen to the album a few more times, you know. Meanwhile, have a quick recap of other noteworthy releases (well, worthy of my noting, nothing else).
One noteworthy not-even-remotely-metal release: the new Hollywood Undead record. Too damn danceable, yet I still can't shake that dudebro feeling.

Enslaved: In Times
Good trustworthy... progressive black metal? I usually only like black metal if it's mixed with something else, but as it is, it's a very pleasant album - not anything special, but good quality in its genre. Also, stay away if not into heavier metal or 10-minute long progressive songs.

Moonspell: Extinct
A little sappy gothic metal with some gorgeous male vocals. That halfway makes up for the fact that the lyrics dance on the verge of being painfully generic. Yet the music itself is the gratifying, easy-to-listen to kind of poppy metal. All in all: a fairly enjoyable album.

Alkaloid: The Malkuth Grimoire
An extraordinary progressive death metal album. It's a little long, but incredibly engaging - it's never constant, there are always surprises, and strictly of the good kind. There's everything from good riffs to amazing strong structures, and the lyrics keep my little nerdy heart warm. This is where my unprofessionalness is rather inconvenient, because it's hard to convey just how beautiful this is.

Serenity in Murder: The Highest of Dystopia
(it's so messy, I love it. I also love their logo)
They're self-professedly symphonic death metal, but the genre is pretty unplaceable. There is an intense atmospheric quality created by the incredibly clean symphonic elements, and you have a pretty distinct sound. The one big drawback is definitely that the record itself is fucking loud (the DR is around 4, which is pretty crap). Why, of why didn't they have better production? I love this album so much, and it could have been truly amazing.
Also, this is the only band I'll promote without understanding an ounce of their lyrics. I have no idea what they're about. But the music is breathtakingly good.

While She Sleeps: Brainwashed
Yeah, metalcore isn't for real metalheads. Who cares. While She Sleeps are masters of metalcore anthems; veering closer to the side of melodic than hardcore. All for the best, since there are far too many bands in the genre who sound like they just churn the same two riffs for an entirety of an album without any sense of melody. Also, their lyrics are definitely some of the best in metalcore, the growling isn't particularly heavy, but it's rather emotive and the only cleans are real choruses.
And they're crazy live. (Especially the singer.)

Barren Earth: On Lonely Towers
Another progressive death metal record. Well, the reason is obvious, there are so many because I'm rather into all these more melodic/generally slower subgenres of death metal - nevertheless, this is an outstanding record. It's of the more melodic death kind, with awfully long progressive compositions - honestly, if I had time, I'd spend it listening to music like this. Because they are incredibly interesting, with real some real depths. The vocals are also drool-worthy.

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