Brief Noise: Brief metal album reviews.
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Angra – Cycles of Pain Review
Angra will just never cease to be a special band While Falaschi opts for what made him known and took his former band to new levels, Angra takes a more proggy approach, with slower songs and more lullaby oriented direction fitting better Fabio Lione‘s vocals. In fact when they go power metal, Lione doesn’t quite…
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Soen – Memorial Review
The new Soen is way less progressive and more commercially oriented, focusing on sentimental songs written well enough but which don’t go any further. Both singer Joel Ekelöf and the band distances themselves from Keenan/Åkerfeldt and Tool/Opeth, with a more screamed and touching vocal technique, and just hints of the mentioned bands rather than a…
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Edu Falaschi – Eldorado Review
Power metal doesn’t get much better than this. Eldorado (2023) is the central chapter in the Vera Cruz (2021) trilogy, being the previous record one of the most surprising power metal records in the latest years together with Dimhav‘s The Boreal Flame (2019) and Helloween‘s comeback (2021). Musically this still continues Angra‘s arguably best era…
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Warmen – Here for None Review
No Salieri but a nice throwback to both Children of Bodom and Norther. Expect group choruses, power metal drumming, and a lot of shredding leading to solos from both keys and guitar. Result is a record that borrows a lot from Bodom‘s I Worship Chaos (2015) or Norther records with Lindroos, specially Death Unlimited (2004).…
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Orbit Culture – Descent Review
Highly doubt this is the future of MDM. Orbit Culture‘s new album still includes interesting ideas, synths, a modern atmosphere that falls under an industrial-groove blended umbrella. Unfortunately not all the grooves are interesting making Descent just too generic. The main problem is however the production, or more concretely the mastering. Everything sounds completely bloated…
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation Review
Were did those 49 minutes of thrash shenanigans go? Sonically the follow up to 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest, but less psychedelic, and now without a doubt a thrash and speed metal record, and yet totally fresh. Drummer Michael “Cavs” Cavanagh has mastered Motörhead‘s Philthy Animal trademarked double kick grooves and completely steals the show.…
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Metal Church – Congregation of Annihilation Review
Is this brick-walled, overdone record really Metal Church? With songs that go from thrash to rock n roll, the Americans new work sounds almost like a different band. There’s a hint of the band’s 80s albums here but that’s it. Comparing to their later work, this is different but bland, and its no improvement from…
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Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite Review
Whether you love or hate them, Cattle Decapitation are the present and future of death extreme metal. While still melodic as the much discussed Death Atlas (2019), the new LP from the Californians sounds groovier and is more riff oriented. There’s brutal death, melodeath and also melodic black, always technical and with traces of core…
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Angus McSix – Angus McSix and the Sword of Power Review
Undeniably entertaining tracks in Gloryhammer‘s low budget spin-off. Cheesy lyrics and melodies on a record mostly composed by Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann (Orden Ogan), who contacted Thomas Winkler as soon as the news about his exit from Gloryhammer went public. The sound doesn’t change too much comparing to his former band, with most of the songs…
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