Metal

My Dying Bride - For Lies i Sire

2009-04-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

My Dying Bride

For Lies I Sire

Peaceville
2009

My Dying Bride return with the full force of doom on this epic record. I had not heard much other than their "A Line of Deathless Kings" album, which in it's own was great. For Lies I Sire was practically and impulse buy, and now it has definitely peaked my interest in this band. The special UK guitar edition pack even came with an extended booklet, a custom pick with the My Dying Bride logo on it and a 12 page guitar tab book! Never before have I heard of a band releasing their music with tab (or sheet music) to accompany it.

The album kicks off with the first epic, My Body, A Funeral, which sets the mood perfectly for the album to come. There's a mixture of instruments that make appearances throughout, including a piano interlude in Echoes From A Hollow Soul and cello in My Body, A Funeral. The album is full of memorable moments with riffs that play over and over in my head even long after hearing them. Santuario Di Sanguine is one of my most memorable songs, and rightfully so. It contains an interesting interlude with violin and sounds of horses and people, before going back into the most epic riff/vocal line I can recall.

The second last song in the album, A Chapter In Loathing, is completely different to everything else on the CD. It's fast, aggressive, and completely scream vocals. It reminds me a of of Diabolical Masquerade for some reason I cannot put my finger on, only that that must be a good thing. The production is flawless, and sounds great! Everything on this record is awesome, the artwork looks amazing in the extended booklet. I can't think of anything they could have done better, which is a rare occasion. I only wish they'd tour to Australia, but that's a topic for another day.

My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire is out now through Peaceville Records, I recommend it for any fans of decent metal.

Track List:
My Body, a Funeral
Fall With Me
The Lies I Sire
Bring Me Victory
Echoes From a Hollow Soul
ShadowHaunt
Santuario di Sangue
A Chapter in Loathing
Death Triumphant

Total running time: 59:51

CD Review: Mournful Congregation - The June frost

2009-02-22T17:11:00.000-08:00

Mournful Congregation

The June Frost
Weird Truth Productions
2009

Mournful Congregation are certainly one of, if not Australia's best doom/death metal band. Their music is slow, yet aggressive and emotional. I recently got into these guy thanks to a friend of mine, and just this year, they've released their third full length album titled The June Frost.

The June Frost is considered to be their best work sofar, from what I've heard from other fans of this band, and after hearing some of their earlier stuff, including the double album "The Dawning Of Mournful Hymns" (which is also excellent), I'd be incline to agree. This band has grown heaps, and they certainly do keep getting better, with this album, it's 8 songs of pure metal doom.

"White Cold Wrath Burnt Frozen Blood" is one of my favourite tracks from the album, and the longest at 17 mins. Part of it includes an awesome harmonized melody with acoustic guitar and the usual deep vocals that are featured on this album. This is the doom I'd been waiting for, but hadn't realised yet. It doesn't get much better than this song. Some side guitar that reminds me a little of Opeth pops up here aswell, which sees this song off to an end. Very thought inducing and emotional playing here, as it is with the rest of this album.

The album is very diverse in it's style of doom, with a few instrumental pieces. The title song of the album, "The June Frost" is one of those instrumentals which features solos playing over an acoustic guitar, which pretty much proves that this band can do more than one thing for an entire album, which is rarely seen in some bands these days. It's a curious song that seems to use mainly major sounding scales and chords, yet it invokes the same feeling on despair as the other songs on this record. The contrast between this type of playing and the slow doom of the other songs is quite interesting in itself.

This is a very impressive album, with many interesting and well written musical ideas. The mixture of heavy and soft is pulled of with amazing precision. The production of the album is also spotless. It sounds absolutely awesome! What I find to be the most interesting thing about this band, is after some 15 years of being around, they only just did their debut live performance this year. It's definitely a great time to get into this band, with an European tour supporting Mourning Beloveth coming up this April to follow-up this album's release.

The June Frost will mark a very important spot for Australian metal, with much recognition following in it's wake. Definitely an album worth buying, and Mournful Congregation are definitely a band worth seeing live (keep an eye out for a live review coming soon).

Mournful Congregation - The June Frost
Solemn Strikes The Funeral Chime
Descent Of The Flames
White Cold Wrath Burnt Frozen Blood
The June Frost
A Slow March To The Burial
The Februar Winds
Suicide Chior
The Wreath

Playing Time: 60 mins

www.myspace.com/mournfulcongregation

CD Review: Futility

2009-02-20T02:43:00.000-08:00

Futility

Futility
Unsigned
2009

Futility are one of Australia's premier Doom metal bands, and this year they released their debut self titled album, which includes a full listing of 6 reasonablylengthed songs. Futility hail from Canberra and are doing their best to mark their own section in the Australian metal community. In my opinion Futility are yet to meet their peak, but that doesn't mean that this album isn't good, infact it's quite the opposite. This album will likely be one of my most played Australian albums throughout 2009, and I can see this band being one of few I follow that keep getting better.

Futility released their album alongside Ironwood at the show in Canberra, which was a blast. Their live performance is pretty spot on, and the new album reflects that perfectly. What you hear on record is what you get live, which can be the aim of many bands, but also the downfall of many more. One of the most difficult objectives for a band.

Futility is full of solid riffing, flawless drumming and brutal vocals. The power behind some of these songs is just awesome, the intro to "My Sickness" makes me want to headbang like crazy, which, might I add, can be quite rare for me. They've got an original twist to their music which I can't put my finger on, butsome of their songs remind me of a few European bands, like Katatonia meets October Tide with a slice of In Mourning on the side. But since I hate comparing bands to others, I'll just say that as far as I can tell, Futility's sound is their own.

The production on this album is great. For another 2009 independent release from Australia's (often unappreciated) metal scene, these guys have done a great job on bringing the quality back to our metal! The performance on this album is absolutely flawless, it's not overdone with production, and as a result you get a nice raw sound. This really is how the band sounds live, which is a great accomplishment.

As many are probably aware, Katatonia's Brave Murder Day album has added a pretty decent influence to the community of decent doom metal bands we have around today, and Futility are no exception to that. Infact, this album even includes a cover of "Murder", from that very album of Katatonia's. Some may say this is a fatal mistake, to include another bands song on their own album, but I think it's awesome! It's always interesting to hear other bands interpretations of some of my favourite songs ever (which Murder fits into), and Futility have done a great job of recording this song.

Those who have no hope in the Australian metal scene, give this band a listen and see if you still feel the same after hearing it. And anyone else who is into decent metal, give Futility a go. This album has not disappointed me at all!

Futility - Futility
Track Listing
...Failed
Saline Oasis
My Sickness
Fallen
Nothing
Murder (Katatonia Cover)

Playing Time: 43:35

Check them out here:
www.myspace.com/futilitycanberra

Review of the Futility launch show:
Click Here

Cd Review: Ironwood :Fire:Water:Ash:

2009-02-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

Ironwood

:Fire:Water:Ash:
Unsigned
2009

Ironwood's debut album, :Fire:Water:Ash:, is most likely one of 2009s best unsigned releases by far. These four awesome musicians from Sydney have yet again outdone themselves with this release. Since hearing their debut EP I have been waiting anxiously for this album to come into the light, and I must say, it's certainly refreshing to hear something so different to everything else that I hear these days.

:Fire:Water:Ash: is THE album to get if you're into metal with a twist like this. The music drifts through heavy and softer sections flawlessly, often flicking between both in one song. It caters to just about every musical need you may have. Some of the vocals on this album are very different from what I'm used to hearing from other bands, particularly the low sung ones. The Raven Song, and Tide Of Memory both contain beautifully sung harmonies, another of the many vocal techniques you'll hear throughout this album.

The bass is still as impressive as it was on the EP. Henry plays it much like a 'real' guitar (for the elitists), often with complicated bass lines. A few bass solos pop up here and there also (Like a bass should be played), which are quite impressive, particularly when the bass is usually forgotten by the listeners, and poorly played by the musician. Ironwood proudly bring the bass back towards the listeners attention with this. The guitars are also very well played, with many switches between electric and acoustic, and rightfully so. The musicianship on this record stands out really well, and you can really tell that these guys enjoy what they do, and have done for a long time.

Jarnvidr Gallows, a 12 minute epic, holds one of my favourite Ironwood moments towards the end of the song, with a half sung, whispered vocal line along a guitar part that'll send shivers down your spine. Audio clips are used cleverly all through this album also, with sounds of rain, birds, and other ambient noises popping up all over the place. River of Fire was known as "Yggr" on the EP, and it has returned with great triumph. This was my favourite song off that recording, and sounds heaps better with the new production. The second longest song on this epic album, and possibly the most epic.

The production as a whole is great, everything is flawless and sounds awesome, and the artwork is definitely something else to behold. For an independent release, it can't get much better than this, particularly with an Australian band. Ironwood is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already. :Fire:Water:Ash: is out now and worth every penny!!!

Track Listing:
Önd Ascending
The Oncoming Storm
The Raven Song
Jarvindr Gallows
The Serpent Seeks It's Tail
Tide Of Memory
Love In Death
River Of Fire
Eihwaz Descending

Playing time: 70:35

Available from:
http://www.ironwoodsound.com.au/

www.myspace.com/ironwoodband

Metaholic review of the :Fire:Water:Ash: launch show.

'An Evening Of Sonic Misery'

2009-02-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

I made the two something hour trip from my home town to Canberra specifically for this event, and left very satisfied. The show was entitled 'An Evening Of Sonic Misery', but to me it was an evening of total awesome! It was also the debut album launch for bands Futility and Ironwood, and they certainly delivered.

The turnout could have been a lot better, for a Saturday evening it was rather shameful actually. I had higher hopes for Canberra metal fans. But despite that all the bands played very well. First band up was Tranquil Deception for their very first live gig. For a trio, two guitarists and a drummer, they had a great sound. Using controlled feedback quite a lot alongside some pretty awesome riffs, they were a great warmer for the evening. I was quite impressed when one of the guitarists used the feedback and a flange, or phase pedals to change it's pitch to what the other guitarist was playing. Looking forward to hearing what these these guys pull off.

Futility were awesome tonight. Their set was a decent length and included songs from the new album, which also includes a Katatonia cover of the song Murder from the Brave Murder Day album. From up the front the sound was awesome, and I caught a decent view of the energy these guys put into their show. Even though I had seen them live before, I still wasn't prepared for the great-ness of this show. Each song was played spot on, and the band wasn't uptight in the sense that whenever they made a mistake they cringed, infact thay laughed about it. That was quite refreshin to see. It was worth the trip just for these guys!

The Veil put on an okay set aswell, although there were some aspects of their music that I couldn't handle. Just picky stuff like how some of the vocals weren't to my liking, but other than that they were great. I couldn't really hear the keyboards during the heavier sections which was a shame, but other than that the sound was awesome. They all played well, or so I could tell from where I was getting some much needed rest on the couch.

Ironwood were definitely a highlight of the evening. For an album launch show, this was amazing. They played awesomely all through their set, and what a talented lot they are! The mixture of heavy and clean works so well, even live. They played a few songs I recognised from the self titled EP, some of which feature on the new album titled :Fire:Water:Ash:. Ironwood are certainly by no means, one of those bands that needs to be constantly heavy, fast and agressive to be good. They do have those moments of agression, and even whan played on stage you can see the emotion in their playing. It's refreshing to see, rather than another band of statues.
Some sections of their music uses external sounds, like rain, birds etc, and this was used live with great precision. I'd notice their rhythm guitarist, Matthew, cuing the sounds with what looked to be a portable audio device. This worked well, since the band had full control over this part of their music. In a live setting the dynamics of the bands sound really stand out, particularly with their song "The Oncoming Storm", where it goes from a soft section straight into fast riffs and solos. This was pulled off flawlessly, like the rest of their set. One of the highlights for this set for me was 'The Raven Song", which is one if their ballads, but a very powerful one at that. And again, like last time I saw them, during one song Dan (drums) got out of his chair, picked up Matt's guitar and played a bit while Matt sang, and played a quick crescendo on a cymbal. Definitely impressive to see, since most drummer hide behind their kit almost all the time during a set.
I'll definitely make a trip like this again for a gig like this one, although I don't recommend driving home after the show ends aswell. Perhaps a hotel would be a good idea for next time.

Be sure to check out all of the bands mentioned, and give Futility and Ironwood's debut albums a listen.

Tranquil Deception: www.myspace.com/tranquildeceptiondrone
The Veil: www.myspace.com/theveilau
Futility: www.myspace.com/futilitycanberra
Ironwood: www.myspace.com/ironwoodband

Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God CD Review

2008-10-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Amon Amarth are back with a powerful new album, Twilight Of The Thunder God. The bands 7th studio album was recorded at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden, and was produced by Jen Borgen. The album features Johan Hegg on vocals, Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg on guitars, Ted Lundström on bass and Fredrik Andersson on drums. the album also features a few high profile guests including Lars Göran Petrov of Entombed doing some vocals on the track "Guardians of Asgaard", Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom adding some guitars on the title track and Apocalyptica adding some cellos on "Live for the Kill".

This yet another solid release for Amon Amarth, with 10 tracks of pure metal glory. Twilight Of The Thunder God, the title track, and the first song on the CD, is a great start for this record, with all the classic Amon Amarth style we've come to know and love. If you couldn't guess, they're still pushing the viking themes, which is great. They day they stop doing that is the day we'll mourn the loss of Amon Amarth, but if this album is any indication of the bands end, it's not for a very long time.

Highlights for me include Guardians of Asgard, Varyags of Miklagaard, The Hero, Live for the Kill and Embrace The Endless Ocean. The album also came with a live DVD that contains footage of the bands entire Summer Breeze 2007 show, which included a set of 13 songs, including Valhall Awaits Me, Asator, The Pursuit of Vikings, Fate Of Norns, and so forth. A great addition to an already awesome package.

The production on this album is really good, an improvement even on With Oden On our Side. The guitars are nice and heavy, and everything is in good balance with each other and sounds great. Jens has really outdone himself this time around. If you're a fan, or haven't heard this band before, get this album and give it a good listen, because it's bloody great! Worth it even just for the live DVD.

Twilight Of The Thunder God is now out through Metal Blade.

CD Review: Sword Toward Self - Dissolution Mantras

2008-09-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Sword Toward Self hail from the innards of one of Australia's best cities, Sydney. The band features Dan Nahum (Ironwood, Bleakwood) on drums, Phil Brown (Ironwood) on guitars & vocal duties and Henry Lauer (Ironwood, Intorment Black) on bass. The band takes influences from such artists as Meshuggah, Emperor, Pestilence, Axis of Advance and Suffocation to produce an epic EP titled Dissolution Mantras.

The EP comes in at just under 17 minutes, and is pure metal glory! Full of solid riffs, epic solos and precise drumming, this is a great start for Sword Toward Self. The first track, which is named Sword Toward Self, is a great example of the awesomeness this band is capable of. The first half is a covenant of awesome riffs and melodies, and it then take an unexpected, although not necessarily bad, turn and continues into a nice acoustic section with clean singing vocals and a bass solo, which all fit together quite nicely.
The bass is great to hear, since it's doing more than just play root notes. The inclusions of the mini solo in the self titles track was a great showcase of the talent that Henry posesses. Even on the faster, tromo picked parts you can hear the bass play every note along with the guitar.

The other two songs, Regress/Regret and Iridescent Wings of the Ungods, continue with the heaviness at more epic levels with more kickarse riffs and awe inspiring fills. This is definitely an great CD to headbang to, and an excellent start for Sword Toward Self. the musicianship on this EP really grabs you to the point where you can tell that these guys have been playing for a long time, and take their music seriously.

Do yourself a favour and give these guys a listen, buy the CD from them, it's definitely worth it. Check them out at these following sites:
http://www.myspace.com/swordtowardself
http://www.swordtowardself.com.au

Review: Opeth Live In Sydney 6-9-08

2008-09-07T04:45:00.000-07:00

Well, they did it again. Opeth sold out an entire tour across Australia, and, yet again, held their largest headlining show in Sydney, again, with a rumored number of around 3400 tickets sold for this event. A pretty awesome feat for a metal band in a country rarely recognized for it's huge dedication to music.
The day was cold and wet, but that didn't stop people from lining up outside the venue starting at around midday (with doors to open at 7pm). I arrived with my party at around 2:30 and met a few people and had a good ol' chat while waiting for the doors to open at 7pm.

The support act was self acclaimed goth/metal act Virgin Black from Adelaide, who didn't really seem to go down too well with most of the crowd. Like Opeth, they were diverse in style with a heavy/not-so-heavy moments, but they lacked something in between. Their intro needs a bit of working on. The crowd pretty much laughed at the track they had playing as the band entered the stage. They were interesting but couldn't keep my interest for long. Perhaps if I knew their stuff better. For Opeth's one and only support, I think they could have found a better local band.

Opeth were next, of coarse, and it couldn't have come (and gone) any quicker. They were tight as ever, I didn't even notice the lack of Peter! Fredrik did a great job, as did Axe. The whole evening was just an abundance of awesome. They opened with a Watershed track, Heir Apparent, and later they played The Lotus Eater which was flawless, as expected, and it sounded great live.
I'm still unsure if this year's set list was better than the one played in 2006. Both have their strong points. Combined, they'd make the best Opeth show ever, almost. This night's set also included Serenity Painted Death, The Night And The Silent Water, Master's Apprentices, Deliverance, and the one song that got me into Opeth in the first place, The Drapery Falls, amongst many other of coarse. The addition of Demon of The Fall was a highlight for me since we missed out on that song last tour.
During Bleak Mikael's amp decided it had enough, so while the tech crew were sorting that out, the audience got treated to a drum solo (which Axe decided to do to cover Mike's ass), a bass solo, guitar solo and keyboard solo! A nice little treat despite the abrupt end to the song, which was continued anyway. See below for a video!

The venue, Big Top in Luna Park, was okay, same one as their sold out '06 tour. The sound from where I was (front row to the left of stage) wasnt so good, but I expected that since there was no balance and I was right in front of the bass speakers, but everything was still understandable and it came with a great view all through the show. It's an interesting setting for a metal gig though, right in the heart of an amusement park, but it is a popular choice for a lot of bands that come out these days.

All in all, it was a great night, Opeth were every bit as amazing as I would have expected, and I'm sure most of the crowd would agree with me there.

Here is the set list from my memory. Possibly not entirely correct in order, but close.

Heir Apparent
Master's Apprentices
The Baying Of The Hounds
Serenity Painted Death
To Rid The Disease
The Lotus Eater
Bleak (5 min intermission with solos all around)
The Night And The Silent Water
Deliverance
Demon Of The Fall
-----------------
The Drapery Falls

Ironwood - Debut EP Review

2008-08-06T21:54:00.001-07:00

Ironwood are a self acclaimed progressive folk metal band from Sydney, Australia. I picked up a copy of their debut self-titled EP featuring the three songs Yggr, The Tree and Song Of The Danes. This 24 minute EP is a great starting point for Ironwood, with Yggr starting out on a softer note, with rain and thunder sounds under some clean guitar (is it more metal of me to actually have listened to this during a real storm here too? I sh!t you not) and progressing into some nice aggressive metal. It's sometimes a hard thing to go from soft to heavy so smoothly, but these guys have the transition working perfectly, and with the sound they have it makes it a very enjoyable listen.
Track two, The Tree is a wonderful 'ballad' so to speak, since it is all clean instruments. Although the next song, Song Of The Danes, returns to the aggressive heavy sound of the previous song in full force. But this song is not without it's softer moments aswell, with a nice break about 2 mins in. This song includes the most awesome solo you'll hear on this cd, although I can't help but think it was too short.

The vocals themselves are something I haven't heard much before, and in relation to the music, it's f!cking awesome. The bass guitar does more than play root notes here aswell, I can actually hear some technicality within the rhythm section. Something that more bassists should do way more often. It has a sort-of Steve Harris galloping sound to it, and although this band doesn't sound much like Iron Maiden, it does kind of remind me of them (which is a good thing). But, if you're after full-on comparisons here, you're not going to get any. I honestly can't think of any other band I've heard that sounds like them. A feat very little accomplished in the metal scene these days.

Basically, this EP works as an introduction to the band, a great intorduction that is. after listening to it all through, I can't wait for more. The production isn't that of 'professional' quality, and by that I mean it's not over-produced, which is no bother for me. Everything was still understandable and sounded great to my ears. The nordic themes give it some extra credit points for me aswell, as it's a subject I enjoy thoroughly (enter epic lightning bolt here). Basically, this is a band that everyone should give a listen at some point, I hear very good things about their live show aswell. Other reviews that I have read only act as support to my statements that this band is destined for something good in the near future.

Check them out now! And keep an eye out for an album sometime soon.
http://www.myspace.com/ironwoodband

http://www.ironwoodsound.com.au

Collections

2008-08-01T18:43:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of both my Opeth and Katatonia collections. I'll be updating periodically with pictures of the collections in their entirety and close-ups of anything requested. Enjoy!
Added to the end is a list of some other rarities I may have scored, aswell as what I am after.

Opeth
Orchid UK Original
Orchid re-release black DLP
Orchid DLP Pic Disc
Orchid Purple DLP
Orchid Cassette
Orchid Candlelight Tin
Morningrise UK Original
Morningrise Re-release
Morningrise 2006 Japan
Morningrise Cassette
Morningrise DLP Pic Disc
Morningrise DLP Pic Disc TEST PRESS
Morningrise 2008 Grey Vinyl
My Arms Your Hearse UK Original
My Arms Your Hearse USA Original
My Arms Your Hearse Candlelight Tin
My Arms Your Hearse Cassette
My Arms Your Hearse DLP Pic Disc
My Arms Your Hearse 2008 Blue vinyl
Still Life Original Peaceville
Still Life Slipcase CD
Still Life Promo CD
Still Life re-release digi
Still Life 2008 2cd edition
Still Life Cassette
Still Life DLP
Blackwater Park Promo
Blackwater Park CD
Blackwater Park LTD 2cd
Blackwater Park digi
Blackwater Park cassette
Blackwater Park 2008 180grm Vinyl
Still Day Beneath The Sun 7" Vinyl
Deliverance Cd
Deliverance Cd signed
Deliverance Metal Mind digi
Deliverance Music For Nations digi
Damnation CD
Damnation Metal Mind digi
Damnation Promo CD
Damnation 2008 180grm Vinyl
Lamentations
Ghost Reveries 1st release CD
Ghost Reveries 2cd digi (AUS release)
Ghost Reveries 2cd digi (US release)
Ghost Reveries 2LP
Ghost Reveries MC
Selections from Ghost Reveries Promo (signed by Mike and Peter)
Selections from Ghost Reveries Promo (signed by 4 band members)
The Roundhouse Tapes Cd
The Roundhouse Tapes DVD PAL
The Roundhouse Tapes DVD Jewel case NTSC
The Roundhouse Tapes 2cd promo with case
The Roundhouse Tapes 2cd promo in plastic sleeves
The Candlelight Years
Collectors Edition slipcase 5CD box
Watershed CD
Watershed LTD 2cd
Watershed DLP w/cd
Porcelain Heart promo
Mellotron Heart promo

Other Opeth bits:
Watershed booklet SIGNED (framed with poster)
Ghost Reveries Booklet SIGNED
Still Life shirt
Old logo shirt
'06 tour shirt
band pic shirt
'08 watershed shirt (Stockholm stamp on back)
Opeth logo zip hoodie
MAYH zip Hoodie
4 assorted badges
metal pin
metal pendant
Deliverance poster
Large Orange text Watershed Tour poster for Sydney show
Die cut Watershed Australian Tour poster
Ghost Reveries UK poster

Katatonia
Jhva Elohim Meth MCD
Jhva Elohim Meth Blue Vinyl
Jhva Elohim Meth split cassette with Hades
Dance Of December Souls Peaceville Re-Issue digi
Dance Of December Souls Black Lodge re-issue digi
Dance Of December Souls Black Lodge Jewel
Dance Of December Souls Mystic Empire Digi
Dance Of December Souls Cassette
For Funerals to Come purple logo cd
For Funerals to Come cassette
Brave Murder Day Avantgarde original
Brave Murder Day / For Funerals to Come CM
Brave Murder Day digi
Brave Murder Day cassette
Brave Murder Day LTD pic disc
Saw You Drown LTD Blue Vinyl
Discouraged Ones / Brave Murder Day 2cd
Discouraged Ones Avantgarde
Discouraged Ones 2006( ?) Peaceville Digipack
Tonight's Decision slipcase CD
Tonight's Decision Digi re-release
Tonight's Decision 2008 vinyl
Tonight's Decision 2008 vinyl
Tonight's Decision cassette
Tonight's Music single
Teargas EP
Last Fair Deal Gone Down 2001 Digi (folds out to form a +)
Last Fair Deal Gone Down 2004 Digi re-release
Last Fair Deal Gone Down 2008 vinyl
Viva Emptiness original CD
Viva Emptiness re-release digi
Brave Yester Days 2cd digi
Brave Yester Days 2cd jewel
Black Sessions box
December Songs 2LP
December Songs LTD Tin
The Great Gold Distance slipcase
The Great Gold Distance slipcase
The Great Gold Distance 2cd edition
The Great Gold Distance box set
The Great Gold Distance promo
The Great Gold Distance 2LP Red Vinyl
The Great Gold Distance 2LP Red Vinyl
My Twin Single
My Twin Single
My Twin Promo DVD
Deliberation Single
July Single
Live Consternation

Katatonia bits:
Gold sticker
Brave Murder Day shirt
My Twin shirt

Related:
Bloodbath:
Breeding Death promo
Breeding Death 12" Pic Disc
Resurrection Through Carnage promo
Resurrection Through Carnage LTD pic disc
Resurrection Through Carnage / Breeding Death CD
Nightmares Made Flesh 2008 Century Media
Nightmares Made Flesh promo
Unblessing the Purity CD
Wacken Carnage Digi CD/DVD
The Fathomless Mastery
Mock The Cross T-Shirt

Diabolical Masquerade - Ravendusk In My Heart
Diabolical Masquerade - Ravendusk In My Heart Blue LP Signed with signed postcard
Diabolical Masquerade - The Phantom Lodge
October Tide - The Grey Dawn digi

Ayreon - The Human Equation Box
Ayreon - 01011001 2CD promo
Ayreon - 01011001 2CD + DVD ltd
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
Edge of Sanity - Crimson cassette
Candlemass 20th Anniversary Live DVD
Roadrunner United

Hard drive
Sörskogen - Mopordett i Grottan
Steel - Heavy Metal Machine (3 songs)
5gb of Opeth bootlegs

Opeth related musical gear (why not):
Laney GH100L :D

Other goodies:
Unleashed Shadows In The Deep cassette Signed
Unleashed Where No Life Dwells cassette (sealed)
Drumstick signed by Tomas Haake (Meshuggah)

Wish List:
Opeth:
Morningrise OOP Vinyl
My Arms Your Hearse Promo
Blackwater Park OOP Vinyl
Still Day beneath The Sun 7" GREY
Damnation OOP Vinyl
Deliverance pic disc Vinyl
Deliverance Promo
Deliverance Single
Ghost Reveries promo
And whatever else is missing.

Katatonia:
Dance Of December Souls OOP CD
Dance Of December Souls Vinyl
For Funerals To Come Vinyl
Brave Murder Day Purple Vinyl
Discouraged Ones Vinyl
Any other OOP CD and Vinyl that I don't have.

Bloodbath:
Breeding Death OOP CD
Nightmares Made Flesh CD and Vinyl
Resurrection Through Carnage colour vinyl

October Tide - Rain Without End
Steel Heavy Metal Machine 7"

Unleashed - Hammer Batallion

2008-06-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

Since their formation in 1989 by front-man, vocalist and bassist Johnny Hedlund, Swedish death metal band Unleashed have released 9 albums and one EP in total, ranging in different styles of death metal.
Since then they've come a long way in their 19 year history, after a hiatus in 1997, lasting until 2001, when they announced their return returned with the epic album Hells Unleashed (released in 1992), and then since, some of their best material was recorded and released in form of another 3 albums, the latest of which being Hammer Battalion, released in June of this year (2008, for those who have forgotten).

This album marks a high point in the career of Unleashed within the metal ranks, continuing their themes of pre-christian worlds and viking mythology, amongst others. This band is not afraid to 'talk' about some of the most controversial topics in the world today, most notably their extreme anti-christian themes, present throughout pretty much all albums, with songs from the early days such as "I Am God" from their 1993 album Across The Open Sea which boasts the lyrics "I am God, I kill people just for pleasure", amongst other, possibly more graphic subjects included in the package. Basically, they say what they want to say, and aren't afraid of saying it.
Hammer Battalion opens with such theme, in the song "The Greatest of All Lies", which speaks of 'the passion of the christ', with the themes continuing into the next song "Long Before Winters Call". " Your Children Will Burn" being the title of the third track, in which serves as a warning of the consequences of blind faith. It's obvious now that Unleashed don't care for what they'd call organized religion, blind faith and so forth, which is, on some sence what the band is all about - voicing against what they believe to be false.

Unleashed certainly are influenced by Nordic and viking culture, aswell as battle themes present in songs such as "This Day Belongs To Me", which represents a soldier in battle calling to Odin to set him free and "Warriors of Midgard". This war theme is also a constantly used topic throughout Unleashed's history as a band. Their albums also feature songs about political matters, mass genocide (see "Triumph of Genocide" on the Midvinterblot album), partying hard and... The lord of The Rings.

Hammer Battalion is a solid addition to the Unleashed discography, with all their trademarks, and more! The album promises pure death metal, no compromise, and delivers! As Johnny says in an interview regarding new material, "We feel very strongly that Hammer Battalion is likely our best album so far, so we don't see new material opting towards a major change. We don't want to walk away from Hammer Battalion's concept, at least not a lot."

Hammer Battalion is now available through SPV records. I recommend you getting yourself a copy.

http://www.myspace.com/666unleashed

unleashed.se

The One Insane:

Midvinterblot live:

Watershed, A Second View

2008-06-03T03:49:00.001-07:00

Ahh, so, We all saw it coming, a new album from Opeth, and it's what all Opeth fans have been waiting for since Ghost Revries was played out (but not worn out). As most people probably already know, Watershed is the title of the new album, and is the first one to feature the drumming of Martin "Axe" Axenrot (Bloodbath, Satanic Slaughter, Witchery), and the epic guitaring of Fredrik Åkesson (Krux, Talisman), and of course features noise from Per Wiberg, Martin Mendez and the one and only Mikael Åkerfeldt.
As to be expected the album was leaked to all a few weeks before the release date, which is always a shame. I find it ruin the experience of cracking open a newly bought album, an flicking through the booklet as I hear the album for the first time. Almost feels like christmas, especially when it's a band as awesome as Opeth, and an album as good as this one!

At first fans didn't seem all too happy about the different sound, those that 'acquired' it started talking about things that were wrong with it. The criticism started with the live recording of Heir Apparent, which I saw the day it was out, and as expected, it boosted my excitement for the album more than you could imagine. Of course it was the bands first live show since Peter's departure, so you can't really blame the band if they weren't playing 100% on a brand new song, while on a boat out at sea with a lead singer who apparently suffers from a bit of sea sickness.
The sound on the video wasn't the best, but what I heard within that recording was just amazing. and now that I finally have the CD, I must say the album is precisely what I was looking for.

The opener, Coil, is a short, clean/acoustic number featuring the vocals of Nathalie Lorichs alongside Mikael. This also marks the first time for a guest vocalist to be featured on an Opeth record, and yes, I do know that Steven Wilson has done vocals on previous albums, but nothing as 'solo' as this. Already we can tell this is going to be a completely different Opeth album, but in a very good way, to be sure. As coil Coil bids farewell, an epic introduction to Heir Apparent sounds.
This song sounds so different on the record if you compare it to the live recording that surfaced in April. Those who decided to judge the album from that alone are truly fools. Again this album follows the same old Opeth rule, with the mixture of clean and heavy sections, but, as I'm sure many people will argue, it's not the same as the other records! Sure, they follow the same methods in pretty much all of their albums, but there's always a new twist added to make it somewhat different to the previous albums. I could go into a futile attempt to explain all the differences between albums, but this isn't a review of all their albums, just this one.
This alum certainly features a lot of different, experimental endings. Heir Apparent finished with an interesting medium to high pitch feedback sound, while irritating to some, it does add to 'dramatic effect'.

The Lotus Eater, has itself a rather interesting beginning. Basically Mike singing along with some of pers playing, before going straight into heavy guitars and blast beats. Now that's what I'm talking about! Continuing the traditional Opeth-ness with a mixture of growls and clean singing, brutal heavy metal and a very mellow middle section. What I thought was a nice touch was something I never really thought I'd hear in a Opeth record, but it reminded me a LOT of camel, so I suppose it's feasible. Towards the 6 minute mark there's a rather proggy keyboard interlude which sounds remarkable like something you'd expect to hear on a 70s prog record. Certainly a different twist for a record such as this. The ending again being different, loads of speaking with keyboards and screeching violins. Interesting.

Burden begins with a piano playing, before continuing into pure Opeth ballad. A very nice touch indeed, with a pretty long solo section and an ending that you will either love, laugh at or just absolutely hate. It ends with a nice acoustic Melody and solo over the top, then it decays in a way I would never have thought of. As the Melody is played, the guitar is tuned down constantly, occasionally sounding way off, but damn if it isn't interesting.

Porcelain Heart, released officially before the album as a digital single, which I personally would have preferred as a physical release, but you can't always win. This was their second song to be featured in a dodgy Roadrunner film clip. It was quite hilarious in parts, with a few moments of 'what the hell is that all about?', despite all that, it's a very decent song in the end. It features what could have been an updated or re-vamped version of The Grand Conjuration form Ghost Reveries, using the same sort of chord structure, but in a slightly more creative manner and with a nice melody over the top.

Hussain Peel is the only song to extend more than 10 minutes on this record, and it begins with a very jazzy acoustic bit which goes down nicely. They added a bunch of 'hidden' messages, within some reversed vocals. There's probably a bunch of videos on Youtube regarding the matter, and a few extensive topics on the official forum about it all. Some speculate the section around the 2 mins mark, to be a take on Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven since it mentions "My Sweet Satan", which was part of some freakish words present when one part of the song was played in reverse. But, of coarse Opeth's version differed and was intentionally done.
After some soft moment it goes into some awesomely heavy guitars, perfect for insane headbanging.

Hex Omega, begins heavy and awesome and progresses into another softer ballad, which I quite liked. There's some really creative ideas amongst this 7 minute epic masterpiece, kinda hard to explain really, but it makes a wonderful ending to this already amazing album.

Watershed is a whole new step in possibly the right direction for the band as far as popularity goes. Watershed debuted in the top 25 of the U.S. charts, number 7 in Australia and number 1 in Finland. Pretty good for a band that hardly anyone had heard about 2 years ago. They've been experiencing sold out shoes, and people going crazy just to get a taste of Opeth. About damn time too.
All up, this is an album you'll either love, or absolutely hate and wonder where they went wrong. For me, its an album that I absolutely love. It's different to the older Opeth, so it's not another remake of Blackwater Park or Still Life, which I believe their intention is with each new record. If you haven't heard this album yet, buy it as soon as possible. The bonus content in the Special Edition DVD was a Nice addition too, with a 5.1 mix of the whole album, interviews with the band, bonus songs and some jam room sessions.

And as most people probably already know Martin Mendez became a father not too long ago. Noak Mendez Artigas came into this world on the morning of June 14. Many congratulations to Martin and Sandra!

2008-04-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

Bloodbath have released news of a new full length album to be released very soon! I took the info from their website, bloodbath.biz, and have pasted it below (with a few spaces to make it easier to read).

Here it is in full:
"Bloodbath just spent the last week at Park Studio in Stockholm where Axe (Drums) put down an (un)healthy doze of all the basic ingredients and more to get this death metal monster meal cooking in hell’s oven. We’re talking classic oldschool skinpounding, furious blastbeats, double bassdrums, all kinds of tempos and a heavy load of killer fills, yeah you name it… This time it turned out to be 11 brand new songs on the menu for the band’s still untitled third album.

So what direction does the material take this time? Well It’s definately taking off where we left with Unblessing the Purity. The material represents nothing but hateful brutality, so there’s surely a lot of speed countered with heavy groove. Riff wise, we’re playing a lot with dissonant harmonies for that feverish possessed feeling, but we also brought back the whole melodic yet haunting “bee-swarming” theme concept from the past albums to represent the classic sound, so there’s definately gonna be a good deal of variety on here which we hope to pack together in the most crushing production yet.

The recording will now be moved to engineer David Castillo’s newbuilt studio where we’ll put down the guitars and bass over the next month while waiting for Mike (Åkerfeldt-vocals) to return from his touring in June to cut the vocals before we enter mix mode. The cover artwork will once again be handled by Dusty Peterson. The album has been set for an October 6th release, but the album title, song titles, audio teasers and the coverartwork will show up during the summer. Stay tuned. Bloodbath is here to slay, Bloodbath is here to stay!" - posted on www.Bloodbath.biz, April 16th, 2008 by Blakkheim

There you have it, new, currently un-named Bloodbath album to be released in October. What more can you want? Well, more is what the fans will be getting, finally!
The new Bloodbath - Wacken Carnage Cd/DVD is still set for release on the 19th of May, and can be pre-ordered on the Peaceville website. Bloodbath have also been confirmed to co-headline this years Party.San Metal Open Air Festival in Germany on Friday the 8th of August alongside Bolt Thrower and Obituary plus many others. This is the only Bloodbath show booked so far. Fingers crossed for more!

Links/Sources:
www.bloodbath.biz
http://www.party-san.net/openair

Immortal Blashyrkh tour, Australia 2008 - March 15th, The Metro, Sydney

2008-03-21T23:03:00.001-07:00

What can be said about this band that hasn't been said before? They've been around for some 18 years and only just now decided to grace Australian fans with their presence, which seems to be the going trend for bands to finally realise that we're here and waiting (Iron Maiden finally realised this too). But, alas they came, we saw, then they left, but not before getting pestered by a crowd of fans at their instore signing at Utopia Records in Sydney, which was quite the experience in itself. But, to the gig.

Upon arriving there was already a sizable crowd waiting outside, and once everyone was let it they all went either to the bar, to the front of the stage or to the merch stand, which seems to be the three most interesting spots one can be before the show even starts. Local metallers Ruins were the support for the evening, and despite their lack of stage presence, they kicked arse musically. I had heard some good things about this band, and it was delivered, which is always a bonus. The band boasts members of Psycroptic and The Amenta, which are both becoming local heroes in the metal scene down under. Ruins are yet another tight act in the Australian metal scene, and I'd recommend you check them out if ever given a chance.

Of course, Immortal were up next, and the crowd was giddy with anticipation as their backdrop was revealed, out came the camera phones to get a pic, and as the crew was preparing the stage for their inevitable arrival people were either sucking up to them, or yelling for them to "hurry f**k up" (jokes, of coarse). After a good half hour or so wait, Immortal finally came out, Horgh arising triumphantly behind the kit, followed by Abbath and Apollyon running out on stage.

They played songs from all over their discography, including Solarfall, At The Heart of Winter, Damned in Black, Sons of Northern Darkness and so on, and played them all perfectly. I didn't think the night could get any better until Abbath came out mid song with a flaming torch and did a bit of fire breathing for all the Sydney fans! From second row I could feel the heat from these massive fireballs licking the ceiling. Abbath was in a comical mood this evening, having fun with the crowd in between songs, when we got too quiet he'd yell at us to make some noise, and at some point did a scat version of a Didgeridoo, which was a pretty good attempt.
After a few more songs the show was over and people spilled out onto the streets of Sydney very satisfied and jumping around with glee over the fact that they had just seen Immortal, and after an 18 year wait, you'd bloody well hope so.

The Monday after the show was time for the Immortal signing, so I made my way back into the city just for this, and I can say that it was an experience, as I already mentioned. The lineup of people didn't really start to grow until around 5 mins before the band was due to begin, but as expected it was pushed back half an hour, which wasn't too much of a big deal.

Eventually everyone was lead inside the store to line up and out came the band, Abbath, Horgh, Apollyon and Demonaz were all accompanied by cheers from the crowd. They all seemed quite happy to sit there and sign a few things for everyone, I started to think of things I should have taken with me to get signed, but alas I scored a tour poster from the shop owner and got the band to scribble on that, which was awesome. When I asked Apollyon how their stay in Sydney was, he said "It was great, today we went to the zoo". Sounds like fun!
A great way to end an even better weekend. If you ever get a chance to see Immortal, don't pass it up, they certainly give you your moneys worth. I'll definately be there when they return. I just wish I had a camera with mne on the night. Always next time though!

Mat