Hardcore, Punk & Heavy Metal > Century Media/EMI Hardcore, Punk & Heavy Metal

To Holmgard And Beyond - The Epic Journey

Advantages: Great lyrics, fantastic story, good music.
Disadvantages: None

...latest album from Turisas, The Varangian Way, I was blown away. Initial Thoughts I had read the review in Metal Hammer, and thought it sounded good - I'd already had experience of their previous work and thought this would be for me. I went out and bought it, and slipped the disc into my player. The opening bars of 'To Holmgard And Beyond' crashed out through the speakers, instantly stimulating. First listen through I thought of it as a ...
...continued listening to it with regularity. A Breakthrough However, the real joy for me came when I listened hard to the lyrics, and imagined I was in the middle of the story, rowing along with 'Hakon' and dancing 'In The Court Of Jarisleif'. Another excellent point of this album is the amount of detail the lyrics delve into, regarding the story of the historical pilgrimage told here. This, for me is what a concept album should be like. ...

Xabi17 24.02.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Varangian Way (Director's Cut) - Turisas

Remember this is a concept album

Advantages: Some good lyrics and riffs, interesting theme
Disadvantages: Very 'samey-samey' and forgettable.

...this a concept album about... shallow life unsuprisingly. I, personally, think the tunes and lyrics are deliberatly simple to highlight this concept. It actually adds depth in an odd way. There are some joys to be had here, if we forget this is LC and focus on the album itself. 1. Survive. A fantastic opening and a riff that will instantly implant in your head. As I mentioned, Ferro seems to be here a lot, and I'll admit it, it does dampen the song ...
...previous track. 5/10 12. Shallow Life. I still can't like this one, no matter how much I want to. Perhaps it'll grow but it reminded me too much of 'The Pain'. I hope they avoid these types of song in the future. 5/10 Overall, there are some cracking tracks worth the price. LC have made an interesting concept here and there is nothing wrong with experimenting at all. However, I have hopes for the future, and after this foray in to new ideas, I think ...

Jemmargh 28.07.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Shallow Life - Lacuna Coil

Cryptopsy -the unspoken KIng -''perished into nothingness''

Advantages: the price
Disadvantages: everything you can think of as being poor and lacking originality

...to him. This album The Unspoken KIng has gone beoynd all frames what it used to be earlier. Pure metalcore defaming Cryptopsy's core concept. There are only 2 remaining band members. I had an opportunity to talk to the remaining band members after one gig and they said it wasn't what they wanted in terms of musical production and composition. They were pursuing better label offers and more gigs. I cant even compare and draw any parallels between ...
...''The PLague'' from their last album is sheer blasphemy of Cryptopsy. ''None so vile'' is Cyptopsy's first and last achievement the band can be proud of and will be remembered for. If you liked the band previous wrorks, then You will definitely be questioning this album's originality and usefulness. To cut the story short -the band has perished into nothingness... ...

dyinginsin 29.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Unspoken King, The - Cryptopsy

A brilliant album

Advantages: Tremendous, consistent songs
Disadvantages: It can all get a bit cheesy at times

...are highly commended by me. Battle Metal took seven years in the making, which is possible a bit excessive for any band, although some have certainly taken longer. But the result is simply amazing. The album is essentially a battle cry, fuelled by guitars, strong vocals, an accordian, a beating drum and so on. Their image gives a good idea of what to expect - they pose in fur, with swords etc. It must all be taken in good fun, with a touch of irony. ...
...than at first it may seem - that they are about daily life, not just war. Regardless of what you may think of the lyrics, the songs themselves never disappoint, with the title track being particularly grand. Its not necessarily the kind of album you would want to play to someone who is not into viking metal, because it can all get pretty cheesy at times, and is likely to make them cringe. But if you are a metal fan, I strongly recommend this album. ...

aurora-borealis 28.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Battle Metal - Turisas

Definately a must listen.

Advantages: lots of distortion, fast paced, and incorperates different subgenres of metal
Disadvantages: long, could give you a headache if you listen to it for too long

...album, and it's definately different. Monotheist has a a much darker and more sinister sound, whitch is a bit more common with doom metal, or gothic metal. The main thing I like about this album is the last three songs, all starting with the word "Triptych", but they're all totally different. The first one, entitled "Totengott", is definately the creepiest out of these three songs, but not the creepiest out of the album. I think that song would ...
...is definately the longest song in the album, at over 14 minutes long. I think that 14 minutes is a little long, but it's worth the listening. Satyr from Satyricon takes lead vocals for a little bit in the song. You get a more Celtic Frost feel in this song. The last one, called Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale), is the prettiest and the only instrumental song on this CD, and it's beautiful. There's no other words to describe it. So, all in ...

DarkFortresses 05.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Monotheist - Celtic Frost