A few short reviews of things

So I've been a bit lazy with keeping my blog updated. No surprise really, I've been a bit lazy in general lately. But to get back in the swing of things, I am now going to do some short reviews of things musical that have occurred in my life recently...

New Dream Theater album

A review on the BBC website claims that DT went bombast heavy from track 1 to track 4. I predict this person didn't listen to it. Yes, it is a heavy album. The first track, "A Nightmare To Remember" features a powerful opening riff, and we even hear Mike Portnoy giving blast beats a go (as much as I love him, he isn't amazing at it). But there are some fairly nice tracks here, "Wither" is beautiful and in no way "Bombast heavy", while "The Shattered Fortress" gives a thorough conclusion to Mike Portnoy's AA saga by reviewing its highlights, meaning if this is very heavy, their other stuff must be too. All in all, it's a brilliant Prog Metal album, and here's to me seeing them with OPETH in October. WOO! 9/10


New Alexisonfire Album

Another very good album. It's slightly less "metal" than previous offerings, while still keeping much of the style of the last album "Crisis". Plenty of variety too, "Old Crows" is a steady opener, before "Young Cardinals" increases the pace of the album to a level that keeps the album flowing until it is broken up by the inspiring "The Northern", part gospel, part 70s rock (prominent synths) and part metal. While the screaming is a little bit worse than before, Dallas' singing is still spot on, shown especially on the aforementioned track. The rest of the album provides more good tracks, the pick being "Heading For The Sun", which is the song most reminiscent of "Crisis". 8/10


New Darkest Hour Album

Just to break it up a bit, a not so good album. There are some decent thrashy songs on this album, notably "Devolution Of Flesh" and "No God", but it seems like the band are trying to counter the slightly more mainstream sound of the last album with extra heavy, and it doesn't quite work. There are still some melodic highlights, "The Tides" featuring most of the best ones, but it doesn't compare to the mix of crunching riffs and sweet melodies that they nailed on "Undoing Ruin". Unfortunately, they missed the mark on this album. 6/10


New Killswitch Engage Album

Brilliant really. Killswitch hit the mark again. Howard Jones is one of the best singers in metal, his vocals so varied in singing and screaming. As usual KSE mix the worlds of melody and heavy riffage perfectly, and the drumming, though relatively simple, incredibly effective. "A Light In The Darkened World" and "The Reckoning" are my favourites on this album. 9/10

The Mars Volta at Somerset House

All you need to know is that all who went are now pregnant. especially the men. It was THAT awesome. Opening with "Goliath" and finishing with "Wax Simulcra", two of my favourite Volta songs, and filling in between with awesome musicianship and an awe-inspiring stage presence, they managed to wow just about everyone. The setting was perfect, watching the sun go down over the courtyard of Somerset House as an amazing band were, basically, amazing. Could have done without some of the Coke advertising, and a bottle of beer at £4 is ridiculous, but that wasn't important. 10/10

Lacuna Coil at Kentish Town Forum

This may seem like an anti-climax after the previous review, but this was another excellent gig. Could have done without the support bands, The Default were quite boring, Dead by April had a good singer but preferred to use the screamer, who was rubbish at it. Cancer Bats were fairly decent, their vocalist clearly following in the footsteps of Phil Anselmo in terms of his on stage persona. Lacuna Coil put on a very good show, opening with "Survive" off new album "Shallow Life", one of their heaviest songs as well as one of their best. You have to feel sorry for male singer Andreas. He isn't much to look at, not a great singer, and even though he has fairly equal vocal opportunities to Cristina, everyone is looking at her. Can't imagine why... But getting back to music, they are on form, playing classics such as "Closer", "Swamped", "Heavens a Lie", and of course their much celebrated cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence". In other words, they were very good. 8/10