Music Non Stop: Arcania - Sweet Angel Dust

2010 is quickly coming to a close and I thought that my Top 10 was pretty much set, then Arcania had to come in a through the proverbial wrench into it.

First off I gotta say one of my new favorite sites for metal reviews is The NewReview. Without this site I wouldn't have found Arcania and Eye of the Enemy. Great site and is probably my first go to site now for metal reviews.

So onto Arcania. What is their style? I would say modern thrash with a touch of progressive metal thrown in for good measure. The album starts off with the title track and you are treated to a classic Metallica intro ala Fight Fire with Fire before the magic starts. The music is completely break neck speed, but it has that perfect groove.



I won't go song by song because I might do that for the Top 10...just kidding. For a debut they did a nice job of making the music and songs so memorable. The title track, No End, Against My Fear are all great examples of the music being instantaneously being remembered. Something that is hard to say about a lot of other albums these days. There are plenty of thrash out aggressive moments through out the album and tons of progressive elements added to enhance the material. I really liked how they didn't just try to copy the thrash style of the 80's, but rather took a lot of that influence and added their own style to it. Top it off with a 10+ minute song to finish the album and you have yourself one heck of debut album.

Vocally the guy is good. A lot of people compare him to James Hetfield and I can hear the similarities, but he does his own distinguished style. Obviously, if there are similarities to Hetfield, I'm not going to complain. If anything I hear a little more Sully from Godsmack, which is fine too because I actually like Sully's style.

This is a great debut and I hope to hear more from them. I hope to see Arcania be more a DevilDriver, Trivium, or All That Remains instead of a Beyond the Embrace and Blistered Earth. If you don't know the last two bands, check them out they were awesome!>

I expect to see Arcania grace the Top 10 list this year and hopefully years to come. By the way, go to iTunes to buy the album, it's only $4. If you can't spend $4 to support a new band, then there is something wrong.

Futureal: 2010 albums

New year...new tag. Futureal tags will be for predicting things, like upcoming albums, shows, or whatever hasn't happened yet.

So with 2009 closing and 2010 just starting, what am I looking forward to? Well here is a quick "wish list" if you will.

Anthrax: they were supposed to release Worship Music in October, but dumped there lead singer, Dan Nelson. From the videos I saw, the new album was a lot heavier than anything they had done before... think Testament's Low through The Gathering (yes include Demonic). Supposedly they are back with John Bush, which is great, but I hope they don't sacrifice the music.

As I Lay Dying: their albums have gotten better with each release. An Ocean Between Us was great. No filler at all. I don't want to have too high of hopes, but I already do. I really want this one to be great. It is one of those things you try to avoid, but like I said this one is way up there for me.

Fear Factory: Dino is back and from what I have heard it is classic FF. I thought the last album was too much of a metal rocker type album instead of industrial metal.

Beyond the Embrace: maybe? Their first two albums are great, but then nothing. On their Myspace page, there was a hint of a new album this year. Crossing my fingers here.

Trivium: no brainer here. Shogun was great and I hope the follow up is a lot better than The Crusade was to Ascendancy.

Into Eternity: haven't heard anything, but I am hoping for a new one from these guys.

All That Remains: see above.

In Flames: A Sense of Purpose was ok. That's it. Come Clarity was great. Maybe they rushed with A Sense of Purpose who knows. I am hoping for something like CC or even Reroute to Remain.

That's about it. I think this should be a good year. Last year was so slow until June or July then it got crazy. Hopefully, I won't have to wait until June to hear something great.

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Now playing: Brides of Destruction - Life
via FoxyTunes

Insignificant: Beyond the Embrace - The Riddle of Steel

Ok new tag, Insignificant. These posts will talk about those songs/albums/shows that really don't get a lot of respect, but seriously deserve it.

The first post has to go to Beyond the Embrace's instrumental song The Riddle of Steel from their album Against the Elements. This song has all the making of a classic instrumental. A nice slow intro then bursting into some killer soloing. This song has some strong Iron Maiden type guitar harmonies going on. My favorite part of the song is the build up about half way through. It starts off with an acoustic guitar, then some well placed drumming, and then more of the Iron Maiden type harmonies with some more perfect drumming that just builds and builds until...perfection! Like every great instrumental, you come full circle and play the intro again, but after that just when you think the song is all over all of sudden there is a piano that starts to play and it fades out with a pure piano song with some strings & acoustic guitar to accompany it.

Metallica probably have the most famous instrumentals with Orion and Call of Ktulu, but this one for me ranks up there...probably better than Call of Ktulu.