Metal Reviews

Heavy Duty / Defenders of the Faith. It's not just another good song that happens to come at the end, it actually sends you off with a little twist and a hypnotic chorus to ricocete through your skull after the music has faded.

As mentioned by others: Into The Infinity of Thoughts/Inno A Satana, Transilvanian Hunger/En As I Dype Skogen, Det som en gang var (I'd also add Tomhet as it does finish the album pretty well), and Kathaarian Life Code.

I'd also add Dunkelheit/Gebrechlichkeit II
Den Onde Kysten/Svarte Troner
Sno Og Granskog
Crossing the Triangle of Flames
The Wind Stands Silent/Portions of Eternity Too Great for the Eye of Man
Alsvartr (The Oath)
Intro/A Perfection Vision of the Rising Northland
Outro from Deathcrush
At the Fathomless Depths/No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep
Riding the Storm/March On
Wings (Vader)
Thrashers/I.P.F.S. (Death Angel)
Alarm/Milorg (Vreid)
Override of the Overture/In Death's Sleep
Dreaming In Red
L'enchantement des glaces/Night Throne (Sorcier des glaces)
Before the Storm (Barbarossa)/Berlin (Hail of Bullets)
Certain Death (Sadus)
Under the Blade of the Dead/Celtic Harp Solo (Aeternus)
The Exorcist/Death Metal
Darkness Descends/Perish in flames
The Rebirth...(Reclaim the Flame) (Tyrant)
Left Hand Path
A Dangerous Meeting/Come to the Sabbath
In the Still of A Northern Fullmoon (Setherial)
To the Thickets and Swamps (Hate Forest)
Tears of Paganism/Barbarian Dreams (Nokturnal Mortum)
Folkstorm of the Azure Nights (Temnozor)
Colour of My Blood (Hellveto)

Fuck yeah how could i forget that one.

I always thought Powerslave had an awesome opener and closer. The way it opens up with a bang in "Aces High" and ends with "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" is a stroke of genius. Ending an album on an epic and powerful note instead of fast always makes sense to me.

I also really appreciate how Jon Schaeffer (Iced Earth) put those awesome trilogies at the end. It makes for a very worthy and final closure of an album. Pure genius.

I've also heard many times how important it is to make the first couple of songs on an album killers to catch someones attention. But the ending is just as important. It's the last thing you hear before the CD ends and the impression it leaves will most likely stay with you because of that.

So IMHO, the opener of an album should be exciting and explosive enough to make you wanna hear the rest (not necessarily fast). The closing track should contain everything that appears elsewhere on the CD IMO. A bit more epic and powerful with perhaps some time changes or proggy overtones. It gives the impression that the album sort of matures at the end.

So I think Powerslave is a winner in that regard.