Reviews
Kekal
The Painful Experience
Clenchedfist Records
This album consists of black metal, industrial, and progressive metal elements. Jeff on guitars and vocals and Azhar on guitars. Jeff and Azhar played the dual guitars really well, and the piano mixed in, in some songs, made it sound in the vein of Cradle of Filth, and other times In Flames. I really liked the drum programming, they are one of the few bands that sound good with drum programming.
Upsides of this album: I really liked the screaming Jeff did very well and the clean vocals. Alot of Industrialistic elements which made it sound unique. A good exmaple is the entrance to "Mean Attraction," "Given Words," and "Militia Christi."
Downsides of this album: Most of the singing really made the music sounds crappy. Some times it sounds like an old grandmother nagging, perfect example of that is the song "Like There's No Other Way To Go." And other times sounds like a 7 year old girl crying, good exmaple is "Militia Christi." 77 tracks in which 66 are blank. You have to skip all the way to Number 77 to listen, but its worth the effort.
Overall this was an excellent album by these Indonesian Black-Metalers. I recommend this album to anyone thats into any extreme metal.
Album highlights: "The Monsters Within," "Crave For Solid Ground," "Mean Attraction," "The Painful Experience."
9 out of 10. - Metalhead9125 (metalhead9125@yahoo.com)
THY PAIN
More Than Suffering
Clenchedfist Records
THY PAIN is based in Arkansas with Damien McNeil on guitars and vocals, and David Sroczynski on drums. In the vein of In Flames (Lunar Strain era) and early Soul Embraced, these guys can play some wickid Melodic Death Metal.
Upsides of this album: Damiens vocals is growled with a hint of screaming. The guitar work is excellent, a solo in almost every song, which makes it even better. The clean vocals are excellent, which adds alot of depth to the music. The acoustic guitar part in "Far From Darkness" is amazing and made me love this band even more. My jaw droped many times on this album and it is still one of my favorite albums.
Downsides of this album: This album is way to short. We need more!! This is my only complaint and I have failed to find anyone that has anything else to say.
7 tracks and over 20 minutes of Metal. I recommend this to anyone who loves any kind of Death Metal.
Album Highlights: "Far From Darkness,", "Wounded Heart," "Decendants of Cruelty," "Becomming A Ghost."
10 out of 10. - Metalhead9125 (metalhead9125@yahoo.com)
Living Sacrifice
Conceived In Fire
Solid State Records
This is the newest album from Living Sacrifice. It is certainly a must for any all fans of metal. Espeicially for those enjoy genre-defying bands. This album cannot be described with one genre; it is a mix of Metalcore/Thrash Metal/Death Metal, in simplest terms, sounding like a greatest hits album only with new songs. Fans whose tastes range from Meshuggah to Slayer to Cannibal Corpse to old Sepultura will certainly enjoy this.
Upsides of this album: There are many great things about this album; at a time when everyone is listening to melodic music throughout the hardcore/extreme metal scene, they go and put out pure brutality and return to their death metal roots. With songs such as “Seperation” and “The Martyr” you will be reminded of the Dj-era-LS. Other songs will remind you of their Reborn and The Hammering Process albums, such as “Send Your Regrets” and “Black Seeds.” “Send Your Regrets” would probably best represent the album for its odd timings/metalcore style, and “Seperation” would best represent the album for its Death/Thrash metal side. No single track sounds like the other. A definite plus for those who say “I don’t like that band, because their songs all sound the same.”
Downsides of this album: While retaining the same sound in sense of sounding like all their other albums together, there are not as many leads as their earlier stuff. Most songs have leads, however not all of them do. They also could have used just a little more acoustic intro’s which they are famous for, because they were always great with their older albums. Perhaps they could have written a few more Thrash/Death songs as well to even it out; there are more metalcore songs than Death Metal ones. However; the upsides completely bury the downsides of this awesome album.
Album Highlights: The entire album is a highlight. But “Imminent War,” “Seperation,” and “Send Your Regrets” are probably the best tracks.
10 out of 10. - xAnthx (theblamed137@hotmail.com)
Norma Jean
Bless The Martyr And Kiss The Child
Solid State Records
This is Norma Jean's sophmore release, but the First release on Solid State. Norma Jean changed their name from Luti-Kriss, because of the confusion with the rapper "Ludacris". Norma Jean is definately "Chaotic" Metalcore. They get their nickname from acting crazy on stage. You could compare these guys to Atreyu, Throwdown, and basically any other Metalcore/Hardcore band.
Upsides of this album: Josh gets in bluntly awesome screams and two or three times in the album, a death metal growl. This is definately something you could mosh to. Check out "The Shotgun Message" and "Face:Face", and you'll know what I'm talking about. Once again the Norma Jean is not ashamed of their faith, and the lyrics are excellent and straight-forward, not many bands do that. The guitars are much more complex than their earlier release "Throwing Myself" and they add different elements and melodys. Many songs are more than 5:00 long, which is a big plus.
Downsides of this album: I can't think of anything wrong, except the rediculously long song titles, such as "The Entire World Is Counting On me, And They Don't Even Know It," "Creating Something Out of Nothing, Only To Destroy It," "Pretty Soon I Don't Know What, But Something Is Going To Happen," "Sometimes It's Our Mistakes That Make For The Greatest Ideas," "I Used To Hate Cell Phones, But Now I Hate Car Accidents," "It Was As If The Lead Man Stood Upon The Air". But I don't know any other band that does this.. kind of original...
Album Highlights: "Face:Face", "Pretty Soon I Dont Know What, But Something Is Going To Happen", "Organized Beyond Recognition", "The Shotgun Message".
10 out of 10. - Metalhead9125 (metalhead9125@yahoo.com)
More reviews comming soon.
Links
Kekal - Official Site
Living Sacrifice - Official Site
EMS Free Pop-Up Killer (HIGHLY Recommended)
Blastbeats - Online Metal Catalog
