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1.
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Lamb Of God - Resolution
A continuation of all things good on Wrath, plus some new wrinkles. I like. |
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2.
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Wilds Forlorn - We, The Damned
This is beautifully composed Atmospheric Black. Flirting with the top spot. |
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3.
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Dodecahedron - Dodecahedron
This is a debut? A little dissonance, a little ambience, a little straightforward blasting, a little total weirdness. Something for everyone! |
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4.
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Monolithe - Interlude Second
Crushing. That is all. |
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5.
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Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
Cheesegrind? It certainly doesn't grate... |
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6.
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Taranis - Kingdom
Boy can Attila Bakos sing! Following on strong from a stellar performance on Thy Catafalque's Rengeteg in 2011, the Hungarian puts out a cracker of his own. Genre-bending epic-ness abound! Though I couldn't help but think I was listening to a song from a Broadway or West End musical towards the end of "Storm". ;) |
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7.
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Orange Goblin - A Eulogy For The Damned
Solid, enjoyable stoner stuff from the UK veterans. Great fun to just rock out to. |
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8.
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Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid II
Quite liking this sophomore sludge effort. Surprisingly tuneful, with a touch of post-whatever flavouring. |
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9.
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Therapy? - A Brief Crack Of Light
Troublegum it ain't, but this record ranges from the sublime, to the bizarre, to the decidedly patchy. |
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10.
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Pharaoh - Bury The Light
I haven't listened to any new power metal for a looooong time, but seeing this get a lot of praise by other MSers, I gave it a listen. It's actually very, very entertaining. Epic and powerful without cranking the cheese factor to 11. The vocals sound a bit strained here and there, but otherwise a good performance. Enjoyed the Rush-isms on "The Year Of The Blizzard". |
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11.
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Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
First time I've ever bothered to check these Finns out. Seemed decent enough, if occasionally a bit saccharine in places. |
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12.
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Owlscry - Owlscry
Props to !J.O.O.E.! for this one. Wild, feral and lo-fi black with a distinctly doomy feel. Not an album you would choose to play at a wedding. Actually, some people on here might, now you come to mention it... |
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13.
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Detrimentum - Inhuman DisgRACE
Who says we don't have decent death metal in the UK? Seriously impressed by this effort; it's got quite a few melodic turns, but still manages to retain a respectable amount of brutality too. Engaging lead guitar and a pretty varied vocal approach make this a solid modern death metal album with plenty of nods to genre staples. Listen. |
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14.
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Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here
Cross Uneven Structure with Joe Satriani and this is what you get. Impressive. |
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15.
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Biohazard - Reborn In Defiance
This was surprisingly decent, and surprisingly energetic for what's basically a bunch of old men. A couple of dodgy vocal passages let the side down a bit, and the boring instrumental closer means the album fizzles out instead of punching you in the jaw and running away. |
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16.
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Primal Fear - Unbreakable
I used to love Primal Fear, but drifted away from power metal in general as it all started to sound the same. Primal Fear always used to write Priest-worship songs which were decent enough in their own right. No change here - a mixture of quality songs with some more forgettable ones - but certainly worth a listen if power metal's your thing. If not, then I wouldn't bother. |
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17.
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Kells - Anachromie
I don't go in for much female fronted stuff these days so I was expecting to dislike this big time. There is something about Anachromie - in addition to a healthy scattering of decent riffs - that I really liked. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes it one of the pleasant surprises of 2012 so far. Perhaps it's because I can't speak French well enough to understand the lyrics... |
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18.
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Hexis - XI
New EP by these Danish black/post/sludge guys. Discovered by trawling Bandcamp. A good find - the swirling nature of the blackish elements of XI recall Deathspell and Blut Aus Nord, which can be no bad thing, can it! |
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19.
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Alcest - Les Voyages De L'รขme
This is a beautiful sounding record, but it does tend to wash over you somewhat - though I guess that's pretty much the point of Alcest. Some moments are downright bland, mind you. |
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20.
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Blood Of The Spectre - Blood Of The Spectre
Saw the artwork on Bandcamp and thought "Ooh, this looks cool!" Then saw the metalcore tags and went into closed-minded mode and thought "Uh-oh, maybe not." Downloaded it anyway and actually, it's not half bad. Only the occasional chug-a-lug breakdown and some really nice bits and pieces. Still not a huge fan of this vocal style, but I will be keeping an eye on these guys. |
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21.
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Savage Messiah - Plague Of Conscience
A solid, if unspectacular Thrash/Power effort from the UK. Will probably listen again. |
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22.
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Unisonic - Ignition
Much more of a Pink Cream 69 flavour than Helloween, but nice to have Kiske & Hansen working together again. And Kiske sounds better than ever. |
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23.
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Hiemal - Demo IV
Imagine a desolate, frozen wasteland. Perhaps even a dark forest. The atmosphere envelops you and your mind drifts off into the ether. Then you are rudely awakened by a swarm of angry bees, buzzing around your head. Hiemal is like that too: beautiful, wide-open soundscapes -> irritatingly patchy guitar tone. A shame, because music like this should be enjoyed through a pair of headphones. |
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24.
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Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane Save The World
Was surprised to find these guys not featured on MS given the identity of their singer. Or maybe that's why they're not? ;). Anyway, this is a bog-standard, by the numbers hard rock album, nothing more, nothing less. Good to see Blaze keeping busy at least. |
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25.
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Nothnegal - Decadence
This is going on at the bottom because it rather passed me by on first listen. On paper it has a lot going for it - Marco Sneck; being from the Maldives - but I hear very little special at the moment. |
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26.
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Anathema - Weather Systems |
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27.
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Rush - Clockwork Angels |
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28.
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Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth |
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29.
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Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made |
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30.
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Meshuggah - Koloss |
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31.
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Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy |
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32.
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DragonForce - The Power Within |
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33.
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Lurk - Lurk |
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34.
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Tort - Tort |
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35.
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Chaos Dei - Arising From Chaos |
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36.
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Eluveitie - Helvetios |
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37.
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Enslaved - RIITIIR |
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38.
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Kreator - Phantom Antichrist |
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39.
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Murder Construct - Results |
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40.
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Destruction - Spiritual Genocide |
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41.
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Asphyx - Deathhammer |
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42.
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Accept - Stalingrad |
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43.
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High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis |
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44.
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Grave - Endless Procession Of Souls |
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45.
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Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay |
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46.
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Psilocybe Larvae - The Labyrinth Of Penumbra |
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47.
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Psycroptic - The Inherited Repression |
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48.
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Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone |
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49.
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รrkenkjรธtt - รnskediktet |
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50.
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Immolation - Providence |
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51.
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Revocation - Teratogenesis |
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52.
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Raw - Rodha |
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53.
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Australasia - Sin4tr4 |
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54.
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Brokel - Anthems Of Heresy |
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55.
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M-81 - Astral Pilgrimage |
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56.
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Napalm Death - Utilitarian |
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57.
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Overkill - The Electric Age |
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58.
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Neurotech - Decipher Vol. 1 |
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59.
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Wolves Carry My Name - Amongst Ruins And Ashes |
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60.
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Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I |
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61.
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Deftones - Koi No Yokan |
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62.
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Wintersun - Time I |
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63.
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Soulfly - Enslaved |
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64.
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To-Mera - Exile |
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65.
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In Mourning - The Weight Of Oceans |
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66.
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Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension |
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67.
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Oddland - The Treachery Of Senses |
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68.
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In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad |
