Metal Reviews

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Definitly gonna check this one out.

totally agree with you mike, great heavy metal album i give it 87/100 but if the ballad wasnt there i would easily give it a 90s score, ah and you forget to mention rob's great colaboration in avantasia.

needs more ballads!
get off your wuss binge please (The Voice)

needs half ballads half heavy!
The more boadening of emotions the better and album is

I have no idea what you're trying to say here.



Totaly disagree. Not all albums want to, or try to encompass a wide range of emotions, nor should they.

Broadening of emotions is not the barometer of the quality of an album. The higher the quality of each of the songs, the better an album is. Some genres (such as this traditional metal release) aren't trying to encompas a wide range of emotions. A lot of prog albums, "introspective" solos albums, and AOR albums in general try to do this, but a not a release like this. One, maybe two ballads TOPS is enough for a release like this.

Furthermore, simply "broadening emotions" isn't good enough. The songs themselves have be be of high quality. In this case, Rob Rock gives us one really good ballad, and a dud. Emotional or not, I skip the dud ballad when listening to this album. Having said that, the quality of the remaining songs on this album is outstanding, and that's what really matters.

I was joking! Picking on many here who constantly talk bad a bout the slower or ballad types and wish they were not included.
There are just too many peeps that dont like them and I love them
They do need to be quality songs regardless; however having said that, i will not listen to a cd that does not have a slower/softer side on it at some point. Even if it is thrash or death I must have my pianos, or acoustics to set the moods an example would be Morbid Angel or early In flames. I will not listen to an album heavy or fast from front to back period regardless of abilities. It will simply become a dust collecter over time for me.
If i read in a review this is constant blast-beat, speed, neck-jerker ...etc.., slays from beg..to end I know that I must stay away from the album.; also... no filler ????(and what exactly does that mean??/ Is that intros,interludes, and outros or just bad songs to fill up time? if it is bad songs i am against it, but if it is interludes, instrumentals, intros, outros, or acoustics then They muct remain!!!
At least for me!


Would not like Dragonforce as much as i do if not for the few slow songs.

Joke? Ok i get it now...(i guess)

Virgin Steele - Child Of Desolation, Angra - Make Believe,Bruce Dickinson - Navigate the seas of the sun, Opeth - Harvest. Those are good ballads Rob Rock - I´ll be waiting for you, its a scratch in a brand new car.

Well, you pretty much described the new Kamelot album when you mentioned the style that you prefer. Have you listened to this album yet?

When I speak of filler, I mean boring songs. Something that doesn't piss you off with musical mistakes or terrible singing, but a song that lacks any interesting features.

Honestly, when I copy albums onto my MP3 player, I skip all the intros, interludes, and such. I just prefer the continuity of song after song. Personal preference, I guess. I wouldn't consider those types of tracks filler, unless they drag on forever, are boring, or if there are just way too many of them on an album. The reference to I'll Be Waiting For You being a scratch on a new car is spot on!

As far as slower songs go, the new Freedom Call is an example of slow done right. The guys vary the tempo, but the quality of the sogns never goes down. I was originally put off by the lack of energy, but I was sold after closely listening to the album and the ncie song structures. I listen to a lot of hard rock and AOR, bands that have a knack for writing great ballads. As far as my tates go, most metal bands pretty much suck at ballads, with a few exceptions. Actually, Dragonforce is pretty good at ballads as you mention.

On the other hand, I could never stand Helloween ballads, Hammerfall ballads, or (especially) Stratovarius ballads. Axel Rudi Pell ballads are basically lullabys in my opinion. As far as those bands go, I'd rather hear an album full of mid and fast tempo songs, skip the ballads altogether.

100% AGREEMENT with all of the above. yes I do like the new Kamelot as I enjoy the hard 80s style of Attack which appears to be your avatar. got it off ebay a while back but had to pay 25$ for it, got outbid on the other album :(

You recognized my "Destinies of War" avatar! They're a great old school metal band. I have all their albums, luckily. It took me about 8 years to track all of them down, but it was worth it.

just checked this one out.... with the exception of three songs (I'm A Warrior, I like Impellitteri's version better, I'll be Waiting for you & Move On) this is a good heavy metal album... there's even some thrashy elements in the riffs (which is always good) and Rob gives, indeed, a great performance... it'd be too hasty to quote it yet (only two listens) but so far should be around 70 (good to very good according to MR standards)... :roll:

Hey ! This is a nice album ! I agree with TIE except for I'm a Warrior which is 10 x better on this album... classy heavy metal I'll give it 85/100