Archives for June 2008

Get Amped – Postcards From Hell

June 28, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Postcards From Hell’ is the exciting 2006 album release from the great UK based band that is Get Amped. The album was released through StrongLikeBull Records, seventeen super melodic punk tracks are featured here and never does the music created by the band here fail to impress. Think of bands such as The Offspring, and then imagine a hard rock influence also and you’ll come some way close to understanding the sound of Get Amped. The guitar riffs are heavy, the music is greatly melodious however, and vocally the sound is always incredibly well put across by the band here.

The album begins with one of the instrumentally heaviest tracks on this album; title track ‘Postcards from Hell’ possesses a super guitar riff and an absolutely infectious chorus also. It’s an incredibly well put across piece of punk music, the instrumental element is incredibly hard hitting, the vocals however are sweetly spoken and always supremely soft and gentle. The band actually cites two of its earliest influences as Iron Maiden and Queen, this certainly comes across in the instrumental ethic of the band; the music is however rooted very much in the genre of melodic pop punk.

The lyrics always put across powerful messages here, it’s easy to overlook this however as the music is just so incredibly catchy that you often find yourself distracted by this quality of the music rather than paying too much attention to the lyrical content of the album. The lyrics are incredibly intelligently constructed by the band here, this adds further depth and excellence to the album and always here the music of Get Amped is not only lyrically brilliant but instrumentally and vocally sublime also.

Another of the bands earliest influences is actually The Police, an acknowledgement to this influence is shown here through a cover of The Police track ‘Walking On The Moon’. You can tell that it’s a cover track, the tone taken by the band is very different but the music is just as powerfully put across here as with the rest of the album. The band does incredibly well here of covering the track; it’s a fine cover from the band and works well at the very centre of this album.

If you’re quite a fan of the poppier end of the punk spectrum then this album from Get Amped should most definitely be of great appeal. Tracks such as ‘Postcards From Hell’, ‘Reject & Sterilise’, and powerful closing track ‘Black Clouds’ also are some of the bands finest moments from this album; all of these tracks are absolutely excellent and I’d highly recommend all to listen to them. From start to finish here this album from Get Amped is absolutely magnificent, the music has so much to offer and in all areas the bands music impresses greatly. Every track on this album is incredibly well created and crafted, never does the music cease to amaze and always the band shows itself to be exceptional as it blasts through these fine seventeen tracks of music.

Label: Strong Like Bull
Release Date: April 17th 2006

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Engel – Absolute Design

June 27, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Gothenburg in Sweden is a city very well known for its melodic death metal music, it’s an absolute breeding ground for bands of this sort and it should therefore come as no surprise that this is exactly where the band Engel hails from. The band blends brilliantly the genres of melodic death metal and industrial metal also with this, the debut album from Engel that is ‘Absolute Design’. The album consists of twelve tracks and was produced by Anders Fridén (singer of the band In Flames).

Engel is a band which consists of two incredibly talented guitarists; Marcus Sunesson is an ex-member of the band The Crown whilst Niclas Engelin has been in such bands as Gardenian, In Flames, and Passenger also. Their experience shines through throughout this album, always the guitar work is excellent here and this I feel is a defining element and feature of the bands sound. The guitar riffs are incredibly powerful, the band is hugely energetic in its approach, and vocally also the music always has much to offer here. An industrial edge can certainly be felt at all times, particularly in the dirty guitar work that the tracks so often possess; it’s a fine sound and one that is very well put across by the band here.

Engel could be seen as a metal supergroup of sorts, all of the bands members have been involved in various other musical projects over the years and now they are bringing their joint excellence together in this fine five-piece band that is Engel. The drum work is powerful, the bass lines work well in the bands sound, and vocally the Engel sound always is exceptional. Mangan Klavborn is the bands vocalist, a former member of the band Headplate and never here does his vocal style cease to impress. This isn’t the best melodic death metal album ever, it’s pretty good though and the industrial element certainly adds edge and depth to the music.

If you’re after an authentic Gothenburg melodic death metal album then Engel’s ‘Absolute Design’ isn’t a bad album to listen to. This debut release from the band always is excellent; the thirteen tracks present on this album are all brutally heavy and both instrumentally and vocally impressive also. I’d certainly recommend listening to tracks such as ‘Scyth’ and ‘Next Closed Door’ from this album, with these tracks the music of Engel always offers plenty and the sound created by the band is pretty much faultless. There are better metal albums out there than this, ‘Absolute Design’ is however one of the best metal albums to have emerged in 2007 and given that this was only the first album from the band I think it’s safe to say that we can expect a lot more from Engel in the not too distant future.

Label: SPV Records
Release Date: November 5th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Tarja – My Winter Storm

June 27, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘My Winter Storm’ is the second studio album from Tarja Turunen, a supreme singing sensation who fronted the symphonic power metal band Nightwish between the years of 1996 and 2005. It’s a stunning eighteen track piece of art; an incredibly well structured album and one that I’d highly recommend to all. If you like the music of Nightwish then chances are that you’ll absolutely love what you find here, it’s more of the same really (only this album from Tarja is far better than anything Nightwish has recorded and released for a long while).

The album storms into action with ‘I Walk Alone’, a four minute power piece with an exquisitely fine chorus to boot. The operatic singing voice of Tarja comes shining through here, this is the most prominent sound that can here be heard and the atmospheric instrumental backing provided here is absolutely stunning. With every passing track the sound created here just seems to get more and here the eighteen tracks of this album are highly impressive pieces of music.

‘My Winter Storm’ is a symphonic metal album of the highest order, the classical vocal sound of Tarja is stunning throughout the entirety of this release and every track here comes complete with a phenomenal instrumental opener. The music builds for roughly one minute with each and every track before the vocals of Tarja Turunen are thrown into the mix also, the album works incredibly well and every track present here stands out strongly as you listen to this fine solo release from Tarja.

Tarja even manages to fit an Alice Cooper cover in here in the form of ‘Poison’. I’ve always been a huge fan of ‘Poison’, Tarja certainly does the track proud here and puts a wonderful new spin on the classic Alice Cooper track. It’s not exactly as powerful as the original, it’s still quite interesting to hear Tarja Turunen’s take on the track however and her beautiful voice compliments the instrumental backing fantastically well here.

If you liked Nightwish when Tarja Turunen was the lead vocalist of the band then chances are that you will love what you find here with this ‘My Winter Storm’ release. Featured here are eighteen incredible tracks from the fine Finnish singer, the fact that this album achieved gold status in Finland on the very day of its release speaks for itself I feel; it’s such an exceptional album from the hugely talented Tarja Turunen. The album has now achieved platinum status in Finland and gold status in Russia also, it’s a fine second album from Tarja Turunen as a solo artist and one that I personally would highly recommend investing in.

Label: Universal Music
Release Date: November 19th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Throwdown – Venom and Tears

June 27, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Venom and Tears’ is the 2007 album release from the straight-edge metalcore band that is Throwdown. The album consists of 13 tracks and this provides for 49 minutes of music. This is the fifth studio album from the California based band and does I feel provide for quite an interesting overall listening experience. The tracks all sound fairly similar, it’s quite a well put together album of music however and those that like a good bit of thrash metal should definitely appreciate this album from the band.

The guitar work is excellent here, the vocals also are very well put across in the bands sound and the combination play of vocals and instrumental element works incredibly well. There are some powerful guitar riffs put across in the bands sound, the drum work also is frantically paced and this therefore provides for a hugely entertaining listening experience. The music is always heavy, and with every passing track the band shows itself to be incredibly instrumentally proficient.

The fact that all the tracks sound incredibly similar here does I feel detract away from the overall quality of the album, ‘Venom and Tears’ is by no means a bad album but a little bit of variation would certainly not go amiss. From first track ‘Holy Roller’ right through to penultimate anthem ‘Godspeed’ there is really no telling the tracks apart, all the tracks seem to blend together as one as you listen to this album and this is a definite area of improvement for the band to focus on.

The final track on this album is actually a cover of the Sepultura track ‘Propaganda’, this therefore provides for a little bit of variation on the album; not much however. Throwdown very much make this track their own, you can tell it’s a cover in that it sounds a little different from the rest of the album; Throwdown have certainly put their own individual spin on this track though and it therefore comes across extremely well as the closing track of this ‘Venom and Tears’ album. The powerful guitars are present as ever and the vocals also are incredibly well shouted out by the band here, there are some super drum fills and this ‘Propaganda’ closing track certainly provides this album with a fine finale.

‘Venom and Tears’ is certainly not the best album to have been released in the genre of thrash metal, it’s not even the best album that Throwdown has ever released actually; it’s worth a listen though, particularly if thrash metal is your favourite style of sound. The bands roots are very much in the hardcore scene, over the years a more metal direction has been taken by the band however and here the music of Throwdown is even more metal than ever. The album possesses elements of metalcore, for the most part however its a pure blend of thrash and groove metal which is well done by the band albeit fairly unspectacularly. The tracks all sound incredibly similar here, this therefore holds back the overall quality of the album; if you can get over the fact that all the tracks sound pretty much the same though then plenty of enjoyment can be gained from listening to this ‘Venom and Tears’ album from Throwdown.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: September 10th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Sevendust – Alpha

June 23, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Alpha’ is the sixth studio album from Sevendust, it was recorded in late 2006 and finally saw its official UK release in December 2007 complete with two previously unavailable bonus tracks. The album features a total of 14 tracks, it clocks in at just over 51 minutes in length and as hard as the band tries here the music just always sounds exactly the same. The bands music takes influence from the genre of hip-hop and this whole album sounds to be stuck in some sort of time warp; ‘Alpha’ could easily have been released at the height of nu-metal popularity in the mid-90s, it wasn’t though and as an album of 2007 it all just sounds incredibly dated.

This ‘Alpha’ album easily could have been released by Slipknot, the vocal performance here bears more than just a slight resemblance to that of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor; any Slipknot fan will however inform you that this is an incredibly poor imitation album from Sevendust. The band has been around now since 1992, spent a year on the Roadrunner Records label between the years of 2005 and 2006 and does absolutely nothing here to distinguish itself from any of the other rubbish that riddles the Roadrunner record label. This is an incredibly generic nu-metal album from Sevendust, the band does nothing here to separate itself from the crowd and instead the music created here is incredibly unoriginal and never does the sound surprise.

From first track ‘Deathstar’ through to closer ‘Abuse Me’ the bands music fails to make any sort of impression here, the album drones on and always the album lacks spark. I was once a huge fan of the whole nu-metal movement, that was many years ago now however and even back then I’m sure I’d have turned my nose up at this one. Even by nu-metal standards this album is not very good; the guitar riffs are incredibly formulaic, it’s as if the band read some sort of nu-metal manual here and set out to include every cliché possible on this album. As I’ve said before; the vocals copy Slipknot, and the instrumental performance also offers nothing that has not been done to death before. The band progresses its way through many a power riff here, the music attempts to offer alternative but all it ever provides is musical monotony.

If the band had released this album in the mid-90s then I’m sure that it would have wrongly shifted many a copy; it’s not very good at all though and is in fact a completely unoriginal album of nu-metal nonsense. From a band that has now released seven studio albums I was really expecting a lot more, the lack of imagination shown here really is incredibly disappointing and I’m sure that this band could have come up with a lot more had they just tried a little bit harder. Nu-metal is no longer cool, this sort of sound has for a long while now not been popular, and even if it was then a lot more would be expected of an album than this. ‘Alpha’ is a definite album to avoid, as much as this band wants to be Slipknot it’s not and this truly is a droning bore of an album from Sevendust.

Label: Asylum Records
Release Date: December 17th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Moonspell – Under Satanae

June 23, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Under Satanae’ is the eighth studio album from Moonspell, a dark metal band from Portugal. The band started out life under the name of Morbid God in 1989; in 1992 the name was changed to Moonspell however and in 1995 the band released its first album under the title of ‘Wolfheart’. ‘Under Satanae’ sees the band revisit early material, rerecord old tracks from the 1993 Demo ‘Anno Satanae’, tracks from first EP ‘Under the Moonspell’ which was released in 1994, and the final track on this album is actually a rerecording of ‘Serpent Angel’ which takes the band back to its days under the Morbid God moniker; it was the first track that the band ever recorded and is now over 15 years old.

For die-hard Moonspell fans this is an absolutely vital album to add to the collection, the band here records rarities from releases of old and although its not the best album in the world it still provides for an entertaining 50 minutes of music. There are ten tracks here, with every one of these the band shows off its fine talent for recording fine dark metal and although the final track on the release is now over 15 years old it certainly doesn’t sound it. ‘Serpent Angel’ still sounds as fresh as ever, the track is well constructed and comes complete with some frantic guitar work, furious drumbeats, and super vocal tone also. The vocals are dark and mysterious, powerfully put across and always there is a great deal of emotion in the vocal performance. The band means business here, the music is dark and the energy here runs incredibly deep.

The first six tracks of this album explore the dark metal finesse of the bands ‘Under the Moonspell’ EP, an absolute classic of a dark metal release and one that is held in incredibly high regard by many. Quite why the band saw it fit to rerecord the tracks I’m not too sure, the music is certainly interesting however and although rather unnecessary its quite nice to hear the bands take on the music 13 years after the EPs original release.

As the tracks here are taken from three different releases of the band the album therefore doesn’t run entirely smoothly, it works quite well though and although the music doesn’t really bring anything new to the genre of dark metal; the fact of the matter is that all of these tracks are over a decade old and since then there have obviously been a vast array of imitators and a great deal of progression also within the genre. Moonspell is an excellent band at what it does, the genre has very much moved on but the band is here proud to revisit its roots and inject new life into former classics and previous successes.

‘Under Satanae’ is an interesting album, if you’re not already a fan of dark metal then this will not be the one to change your mind about the genre but for fans of the sound it’s still an album that is really quite worthwhile adding to your collection. For all fans of Moonspell this album is most definitely worth investing in, the band revisits old material and here attempts to better what it already recorded and released over a decade ago. Are the rerecordings better than the originals? Probably not, it’s still interesting to hear them however and this album is therefore one that I would highly recommend to all fans of the genre of dark metal.

Label: SPV/Steamhammer
Release Date: October 15th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Monster Magnet – 4-Way Diablo

June 22, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Monster Magnet is an American stoner rock band that has been around now since 1989. ‘4-Way Diablo’ is the bands seventh studio album and was released through SPV Records on November 5th 2007. The album features twelve original tracks as well as a cover of the Rolling Stones ‘2000 Light Years From Home’ also; it’s an incredibly trippy, psychedelic album and often the music is greatly powerful here. Not all the tracks on this ‘4-Way Diablo’ album are strong, there are a number that are more than a little disappointing here but on the whole this is a fairly decent album from the band.

Tracks such as ‘Slap in the Face’ and ‘Wall of Fire’ are particularly excellent from this album, both of these come complete with some truly hard hitting guitar work and the drumbeats also are supremely powerful here. The vocals are sung out in a lazy drawled fashion, this is something that suits the bands sound well however and the vocals do I feel compliment the instrumental sound nicely throughout this album. It’s a pretty competent offering of stoner rock, not the most original album you’ll ever hear but definitely there are a number of tracks present here that are really rather impressive.

Some of the tracks on this album definitely fail to ignite, opening track ‘4-Way Diablo’ for instance begins this release a little disappointingly and closing track ‘Little Bag of Gloom’ is also fairly unimpressive. Both tracks bore me a little truth be told, there’s not much going on within the sound and the music quickly becomes tiresome. These are not the only two tracks that disappoint; there are a couple more present on this album that progress in a similar sort of way and I’d say that roughly one third of this album fails to impress. When the music is good the sound really works well for Monster Magnet, it’s never exactly groundbreaking stuff but there are definite moments of brilliance riddled throughout this ‘4-Way Diablo’ album.

If you’re a fan of stoner rock then you may well like what you find here with Monster Magnet’s seventh studio album; don’t expect to hear anything you’ve not heard done before but still prepare to be impressed at times. ‘Slap in the Face’ and ‘Wall of Fire’ are definitely the two strongest tracks from this album, there are a few more that are pretty good too but these are the ones that appealed to me the most from this release. The music is raw and possesses quite a live atmosphere and energy about it; this is by no means a polished offering of music but then again that’s not really what stoner rock is all about. Definitely give this album a listen if you’re a fan of the genre, don’t expect the music to be particularly exceptional however and be prepared that a few of the tracks present here are more than a little disappointingly executed.

Label: SPV Records
Release Date: November 5th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Sick City – Nightlife

June 21, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Sick City is a Canadian five-piece band making music in the genre of melodic hardcore. The bands drummer is the brother of Comeback Kid front man Andrew Neufeld; clearly the Neufeld family is incredibly musical as both Sick City and Comeback Kid also are absolutely excellent bands. The music created with this ‘Nightlife’ album always is fresh and uplifting; the vocals are simply magnificent and the instrumental side of things also is supremely strong here. The tracks are well constructed, the music is mightily melodious and never does the sound created here by Sick City fail to make me smile.

This is a band with a keen ear for a good melody, right from the offset with opening track ‘Antoinette’ the melodic nature of music hits you and never do the tracks fail to come complete with an absolutely exceptional chorus. Contained within this album is a grand total of thirteen tracks, all of them are fantastic to sing along to and as you listen to ‘Nightlife’ you can’t help but do so. The music possesses a greatly beauteous quality; the guitars and vocals are most impressively constructed in the sound and the drumbeats also are incredibly well worked and powerfully put across.

As the band progresses its way through this album the music never fails to impress, every track here is incredibly well written and the lyrical content of the tracks always is strong. Tracks such as ‘Killing Ourselves to Feel’ and ‘Moving, Not Moving Forward’ do I feel show the bands music at its very best; the music reminds me a little of Armor For Sleep, the music of Sick City packs more of a punch than that of Armor For Sleep but certainly there are some similarities. It’s melodic hardcore and the vocals are extremely softly spoken, the guitar work is greatly powerful however and the cracking guitar riffs do I feel add energy and excitement to the album. Some melodic hardcore bands can be a little too gentle in instrumental approach, this is certainly not the case with Sick City however and always with this album the band is forthcoming in putting forward its hard hitting instrumental sound.

Fans of Paramore will appreciate ‘City Lights’ from this album I feel, throughout the track a second vocal tone can be heard on numerous occasions provided by Karly Simon and the secondary vocals here sound incredibly similar to those of Paramore’s Hayley Williams. ‘City Lights’ is another of the finest tracks from this album, the melodious nature of the music is here highly impressive and the chorus to this one is I feel the best that this ‘Nightlife’ album has to offer. Every track on this album has a brilliant chorus, somehow here the band manages to provide one that is better than ever however and this track therefore stands out strongly on this album.

If you like a good bit of melodic hardcore then you’ll love this ‘Nightlife’ album from Sick City; it’s one of the best albums of its genre I’ve heard in a long while and the album is I feel absolutely flawless. I fail to see how the band could possibly improve upon this release; it will certainly be a test of character in attempting to do so. I’d definitely recommend this album to all, the music is truly beautiful and regardless of your personal musical preference you’ll surely find plenty of enjoyment and delight in this ‘Nightlife’ album. The guitar work is powerful, the vocals are beautiful, and the drumbeats also are hugely hard hitting; in every area this album is excellent and never does the music disappoint here in the slightest. Sick City is most definitely a band to watch out for in the future, the bands music truly is incredible and in the next few years I can see Sick City becoming the new favourite band of many.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: November 19th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Les Savy Fav – Inches

June 21, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Les Savy Fav is a five-piece indie rock band from New York City; a band which takes a heavy influence from the genres of art rock and post-hardcore also. ‘Inches’ is an eighteen track compilation album of singles from the band; it comprises of the bands material between the years of 1995 and 2004 and originally was released through French Kiss Records in April 2004. It’s an interesting album from the band and one that showcases a number of excellent tracks; it’s not all good but certainly there are some great moments of promise contained within the hour and ten minutes of music that is ‘Inches’.

Before this album was released these tracks were available on vinyl only, for all fans of Les Savy Fav ‘Inches’ is truly essential listening and definitely the music contained within this collection does not disappoint. ‘Meet Me in the Dollar Bin’ begins this release, an amusing little track which looks into the subject of one hit wonders; it’s a great way to start the collection and certainly begins this ‘Inches’ compilation on a high. The music of Les Savy Fav is intelligent and well worked, the sound created here is always strong and although the music will not appeal to all; those that do appreciate it should absolutely love it.

The music of Les Savy Fav is quite out there, it’s hard to pin them down into any one particular genre and instead the band bounces between several. The band wears its art rock influence on its sleeve, it’s indie rock but not in any kind of real conventional sense. It’s hard to describe the music of Les Savy Fav; it’s quite a cacophony of sound, a musical mash-up of a variety of different genres and one that is not always successful. The vocals are often shouted, the drumbeats are simple but effective, and the guitar riffs go all over the place. The bands sound changes from one track to the next, never are you sure in which direction the music will head next and as this is a compilation collection which spans a full decade of music a bit of variation should always be expected. A bands sound does not generally remain static over the course of a decade; it changes and evolves, for that reason this album does not run particularly smoothly but still it is an interesting one to listen to.

There are definite moments of absolute hardcore present here, ‘Blackouts on Thursday’ for instance reminds me of Refused and this is certainly no bad thing. I love Refused, Refused was a great Swedish hardcore band and with this track Les Savy Fav has really captured the energy, enthusiasm, and riotous nature of the bands music. ‘Blackouts on Thursday’ could almost be a Refused cover track; it’s not, but it’s certainly extremely similar in sound.

If you’re looking for something a little different then you should certainly consider investing in this ‘Inches’ album from Les Savy Fav; give the bands music a listen before you buy as it may not be of appeal, it certainly offers something a little different to the norm however and Les Savy Fav is a band making music like no other. To listen to this album it’s incredibly obvious that the band has a vast array of different influences, the album heads in many different musical directions and never do you know quite what this ‘Inches’ compilation collection will offer next. The album is unpredictable and it is this that I love so much about it, this band does not play by the rules and never does it restrict itself to the confines of any one genre of music. Les Savy Fav here flits between the genres of indie rock, hardcore, and in fact all things in between. So many different genres are covered here that I’d probably have great trouble in trying to list them all; in naming them all even. Certainly consider giving this album a listen, you may well greatly enjoy what you hear.

Label: French Kiss Records
Release Date: April 20th 2004

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

High On Fire – Death Is This Communion

June 21, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

High On Fire is a three-piece metal band from California. The band formed back in 1999 and to date has released a total of four studio albums. ‘Death Is This Communion’ is the fourth studio album from the band, an eleven track release which showcases High On Fire’s special brand of Viking inspired heavy metal. The bands vocalist Matt Pike has an incredibly distinctive voice, a hearty war cry that can be heard present in every track here and never does the vocal tone of the man disappoint. Instrumentally also the music has much to offer and right from the offset with the track ‘Fury Whip’ the music is greatly impressive here.

A quick look down the tracklist of this release and the influence of war upon the bands music soon becomes apparent. Viking imagery is often used in the bands lyrics, this is something that works well and always the music of High On Fire has plenty to offer. Instrumentally the music is incredibly hard hitting and vocally also the bands sound is supremely strong. Music website Drowned In Sound state that ‘This is what heavy music was made for’, newspaper The Independent on the other hand declares that ‘Death Is This Communion’ is ‘One of the year’s most important metal releases’; I have reason to agree with both of these sources and having heard many a metal album in the year 2007 this was definitely one of the better efforts if not the very best. Whereas some bands can get a little too hung up on gimmicks with their music, High On Fire is not a band that relies purely on this factor. The music of High On Fire could well be described as ‘Viking Metal’ if you will in that the lyrics often deal with the subject of the medieval; it’s not just all gimmick and no quality however and High On Fire is in fact an incredibly talented band.

Clocking in at just under the hour mark; ‘Death Is This Communion’ is an absolutely exceptional album and always High On Fire offers up an excellent quality of sound here. The music progresses well and never does the sound created disappoint here. It could be said that the tracks are all fairly similar on this album, I guess this could be seen as a downside of the release in that there’s a lack of variety offered; the plus side of this is however that if you like one track from this album then you can rest assured that you’re going to like them all. It’s easy to draw comparisons to the music of Motorhead here, an incredibly similar sound has been created by High On Fire with this album and particularly in the vocal department these similarities quickly become apparent. High On Fire’s vocalist Matt Pike very much has his own distinctive tone of voice, it’s similarly husky to that of Motorhead’s Lemmy however and in my opinion this is no bad thing at all.

Two purely instrumental tracks can be found on this album; ‘Khanrad’s Wall’ and ‘Headhunter’ also. Both of these tracks work well, the latter being my particular favourite of the pair. ‘Headhunter’ is a drum solo from the bands Des Kensel – a powerful piece of music and one that is put across incredibly well by the man here. I love drum solos and this is certainly a strong one; the other instrumental track ‘Khanrad’s Wall’ features the whole band however and also is greatly impressive. It’s the vocals of High On Fire that makes the music stand out so strongly throughout much of this album, even here however when vocals are not present the music is absolutely excellent. The bands members here show themselves to be incredibly competent musicians, this is a highly talented band and with every track on this album a great talent and supreme level of ability is shown.

Closing track ‘Return to NOD’ provides a fantastic finale for the album, one final moment of glory; a six minute display of fine instrumental and vocal sound. It’s by no means the best track on the album, it works well though and once more the supreme ability of High On Fire as a band shines through strongly. This band is an incredibly tight unit, all three members of High On Fire combine together extremely well and the music of this album therefore always sounds excellent. Never does this ‘Death Is This Communion’ album fail to impress, the tracks may all be very similar but the band does enough here to maintain your full interest throughout and hold you under its spell right to the very end of the album. I’m not generally one for the longer track, the band has mostly here concentrated on longer offerings however and I personally absolutely love what the band has done and achieved here.

If you like heavy music then High On Fire’s ‘Death Is This Communion’ is definitely an album to check out. Always the music is excellent here and although variety is not a strong point of High On Fire’s music the band is definitely very good at what it does. The band took three years between the release of third album ‘Blessed Black Wings’ and this, their fourth; it was definitely worth the wait though and certainly the music here does not disappoint. Released through Relapse Records, this is an album that I just cannot recommend highly enough; for fans of heavy metal purchasing this album is a definite must and if you do so I’m sure that you shall surely not be disappointed with what you hear. If you’re not a fan of Motorhead this probably won’t be of appeal; it’s the strongest comparison I can make in terms of sound and if you are a fan of the aforementioned artist then you’ll definitely appreciate ‘Death Is This Communion’.

Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: September 10th 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.