Metal Reviews

I posted this on another forum, so I figured I'd just copy and paste it here. Some of you may dig something.

I got a lot of new CDs I wanted to talk about, so I figured I'd try it all it one thread. So here's some quick, somewhat initial impressions I have on some newer purchases. I'll try and discuss bands I think most of you haven't heard before. And they may not all be strictly metal, so please don't point that out. I'm just going to keep it all in one thread.

BLACKSHINE - SOULLESS & PROUD


One thing I love to do when bored—usually at work—is do a little networking online. I'll fart around on MySpace or metal-archives and just jump from band to band, listening to samples and whatnot. This is how I discover a lot of really good bands. I discovered Blackshine this way.

Blackshine come off like one of those beer-soaked barroom rock bands, but with a little metal and punk influence, and with a much darker sound. Sort of like a Motorhead meets Corrosion of Conformity—both eras. Soulless & Proud is the only album I own, but it's really solid. Highly recommended!

Samples: Love Our Hell, Soulless And Proud

PROJECT CREATION - DAWN ON PYTHER


I bought this one the other day solely based on the cover art. It just caught my eye. Plus it's on ProgRock Records, so I figured that was a good indication of style, and I gave it a shot. I don't often just buy things like this these days, but occasionally I give it a shot. Sometimes I unwrap a turd, but luckily this time I picked up a pretty killer album. Dawn On Pyther is a nice mix of prog-metal and -rock, but it's also pretty eclectic in it's instrumentation and songwriting. To even attempt to give a short but accurate description of this album would be pointless, but eclectic is definitely the word. Epic, too.

There's a male and female vocalist, and they seem to be the main members of the band, with a cast of contributing musicians. There's a lot of really interesting things going on, with some really catchy songs. Had I bought this a few months back, it would have been a one of my top albums of 2007. My biggest and only gripe is the tone of the snare; it's got that piercing hollow sound, not quite like Metallica's St. Coffee Can, but it's enough to leave me wanting. Regardless, the album is strong enough to lift itself above that.

Dawn On Pyther is their second album. Recommended if you like bands like Wastefall and Fragile Vastness.

Samples: http://www.myspace.com/projectcreation

DEADL SIN - SUNBORN


I picked this disc up through CD Baby's $5 sale. Well worth it. I know very little about the band, and this is there only album outside a few demos. They play a somewhat aggressive style of power metal and it's nothing new, but it's really good. I wouldn't throw out a strong recommendation if the price weren't just $5. It this were a regularly priced album I'd suggest finding it used or whatever, but the price is right. This is a solid album from beginning to end.

Samples: The Awakening, Sunborn, Slave

* Those are low quality CD Baby clips, the album sounds much better.

COLPORTER - SOVEREIGN MIND and CHRONICLES (EP)


This might be pushing it. This is another $5 band from CD Baby. I grabbed two of their three albums. This is a female-fronted band. They play a modern metal style with a heavy industrial influence. Sort of like Static-X meets (gasp!) Korn meets Drain STH. Some would say they're a nu-metal band, and I wouldn't really disagree (there is some nu-metal), but I think the soundscape on these albums is a lot more broad than the term nu-metal implies.

Give them a shot. You may find something you like. I think they're really good.

Samples: Galaxy (from Sovereign Mind), Sticks & Stones (from Chronicles), Exodus In My Hand (from Chronicles)

* Those are low quality CD Baby clips, the album sounds much better.

ENDLESS TORTURE - AT WAR WITH WAR (EP) and KILLING CAROLS (EP)


Two more $5 CD Baby gems. This is some killer thrash from Sweden. A young band, but they're pretty damn good. At War With War is only two tracks deep and it's a fairly raw EP, especially in the vocals department. But it's still excellent. Killing Carols was released in 2007 and it's much improved.

Samples: Fugitives Lament (from At War With War), , Drawn To A Spotless Mind (from Killing Carols) *, Killing Carol (from Killing Carol)

* CD Baby sample. Also, these CDs both came printed on high quality CDRs (ink printer, not label) and glossy booklets, but it did not come with back art. That sort of sucks. I need a good printer so I can start making my own.

And that's it for now!

And this doesn't contravene the 'No reviews on the forum' rule because...?

Well, those aren't really reviews, he's just trying to start a discussion on some albums, if that's a violation of the rules, then I'm not sure what we're supposed to talk about.

They seem to be brief reviews to me, just like his older Mini-Reviews thing.

If you reviewers think these are reviews you all need to get your heads out of the collective Metal Reviews ass. I say that with the utmost respect, of course. But it's true. I find it despicable that a website that supposedly promotes music would ever even ban something like forum reviews. That's about as contradictory as you can get. To me it shows a serious lack of confidence and a huge ego problem.

What I posted above are no more than short opinions that people post all over this forum. If you guys fear forum reviews, or even simple opinions, then you all need to step up your game. Or at least stop pretending to be a real webzine.

There's no question of fear, Ken - notice how your reviews are still there? I'm just trying to stick to the accepted forum rules, which everyone knows about. These are more than brief opinions, they're laid out exactly like your Mini-Reviews posts of yore.

No they're not. Just because I included an image and links means nothing. The words are minimal. They basically say, "Check this out." Those are not mini-reviews. They may be a bit more thought out than the typical MR post (not hard to do), but that still doesn't make them reviews, mini- or not. My old mini-reviews were much more in-depth than these, even if they were shorter than the norm.

I'm not trying to sound like a dick here, but the whole No Forum Reviews thing is just ridiculous at best, and suggesting what I posted about was anything more than simple thoughts mirrors that. Again, not trying to come off like an asshole, but what's more important at this site? The music or reviewer ego?

You're both preaching to the choir, and sounding like a dick. I know you, you know I'm not the one responsible for the rule - introduced before I joined Da Team. There was a big thread about it, the time to make a stand is past. I'm not threatened by your reviews, heck, it's not exactly my type of material, and nor is it the sort of stuff others would review. No-one's threatened.

Speaking of length, that Project Creation blurb isn't far off a Mini-Review length by any means...

But the length of it doesn't make it a review.

Look, believe it or not, I'm not trying to be a dick. Lock this thread, delete it. I didn't write it for this forum; I simply thought some may appreciate it so I pasted it here, too.

And it's never too late to take a stand.

I wouldn't really count these as reviews. Ken is only commenting on the music in a few sentences; not really enough to count as a review.

Ah, ok then. A bit more clarity in the rule would be appreciated.

And look on the bright side Ken, this has gotten your thread more attention than it would have otherwise!

So a review is only a review when it consists of enough words? Phah.

It's a dumb fucking rule anyways.

These aren't reviews by my definition, just some basic presentations of some bands/albums. How else is he supposed to introduce them?

I actually never read any of Eyesore's forum reviews (too lazy to read an in-depth review of something I'm not sure I care for), but I always check out his (or anybody else's) recomandations like these, because I'm interested in new bands. So let the man do his thing, we all know he often uncovers really good stuff, like he did with Suspyre, Hibria, Concept Of God and so on.

Listening to Endless Torture right now, this is indeed excellent, I'm getting very enthusiastic about these guys.

My question is:

Couldn't this be covered in a "recent purchases" thread? I thought that was the main thrust behind creating those threads to begin with. Why does one particular person require special attention brought toward their purchasing habits or thoughts on their own purchases?

I thought he covered that ad nauseum by listing the "thousands" of CD's he purchases in any given week

I think everyone is getting a little too worked up over nothing.

Regardless of how some of you feel about the "no forum reviews" rule, it won't change. I personally don't give half a fuck if someone writes a mini-review on the forums, but I can understand why some people on the staff don't like it. That said, this thread doesn't break that rule, so debating it is like pissing up a rope. If you don't like it, the only advice I can offer is don't read the fucking thread! YEESH!!

I rather enjoy pissing up a rope. Just concern yourself with not getting wet!!

So, thank you very much!!

Well, if that's the case, may I suggest licking your elbow next.

Eat a dick, fatboy.

Your eloquence is only overcome by your immense ignorance and vanity.

That was a fantastic effort to stay on point and counter with a witty but yet well planned argument.

What a stooge.