This year of great music just continues to get better. Nightrage plays that classic melodic death metal that was made famous by At the Gates. When I did my The Clone on At the Gates, they ended up being the first choice...it didn't hurt that At the Gates' singer was on the first two Nightrage albums.
Anyway, they have changed vocalists a couple of times since then, but for the most part the music has stayed the same. If you like that classic sound, they play it. So here is the first song, Insidious, from the new album. I should note that the original singer, Tomas Lindberg, sings on this track as well.
My first reaction is that this sounds similar to The Tremor from their debut album. Doesn't bother me...just noticing. There are also a ton of guest musicians on this album, including 4 who were apart of the first two albums. It seems like they are really trying to recapture the past. I'm not sure it's necessary, but I'm not going to complain because their 1st two albums are classics in the genre.
Showing posts with label Nightrage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nightrage. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Music Non Stop: New Dead by April
This has been a fun year for music. It started off pretty strong and slowed down a bit the last month or so, but it looks like it will pick up the next few months again. Anthrax, Trivium, In Flames, Nightrage, and more are set to release albums still. And speaking of Nightrage, their former lead vocalist's band Dead by April will be releasing their album this summer too. I have heard some demos of the new album and another song, Within My Heart, was just released and it seems a little heavier than More Than Yesterday.
These guys are pretty good at making metal that has a super catchy chorus. I would have liked to seen the keys moved to the back a bit more and the guitars up more, but I guess that didn't happen. Another album to look forward to.
It's going to be tough to do a Top 10 mid albums of the year this year...easily the toughest list so far.
These guys are pretty good at making metal that has a super catchy chorus. I would have liked to seen the keys moved to the back a bit more and the guitars up more, but I guess that didn't happen. Another album to look forward to.
It's going to be tough to do a Top 10 mid albums of the year this year...easily the toughest list so far.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Music Non Stop: Dead by April new song
This year is quickly becoming one of the best years for music in quite some time. I have about 4 - 5 really good albums already and still more to come including Dead by April's new one.
They released a demo of a new song that should be on their new album later this year, More Than Yesterday.
Sounds pretty solid. A little more screaming than some of their songs off their debut which is a plus for me. I thought their debut had some potential, but they went a little softer than they should have with the keyboards moving to the front of the mixes.
The vocalist, Jimmie Strimmel, is amazing. He only did one album with Nightrage, but that album is fantastic. I wish they would move a bit more towards that style with some of the techno/trance elements, like the intro here. This intro is pretty damn impressive. I hope that this isn't the only "heavy" song on the album and is more of the norm, rather than the exception.
Almost forgot, they released a minute sample before Christmas, which sounds pretty good as well. The two songs I have heard seem to feature more screams. This should be a great album...fingers crossed.
They released a demo of a new song that should be on their new album later this year, More Than Yesterday.
Sounds pretty solid. A little more screaming than some of their songs off their debut which is a plus for me. I thought their debut had some potential, but they went a little softer than they should have with the keyboards moving to the front of the mixes.
The vocalist, Jimmie Strimmel, is amazing. He only did one album with Nightrage, but that album is fantastic. I wish they would move a bit more towards that style with some of the techno/trance elements, like the intro here. This intro is pretty damn impressive. I hope that this isn't the only "heavy" song on the album and is more of the norm, rather than the exception.
Almost forgot, they released a minute sample before Christmas, which sounds pretty good as well. The two songs I have heard seem to feature more screams. This should be a great album...fingers crossed.
Monday, July 05, 2010
The Clone: At the Gates
So a new tag that should be kind of fun for everyone, The Clone. Basically, I will be finding shows, bands, or whatever that remind me of some other band, show, or whatever. So today we will look at some other bands that remind me of the classic melodic death metal band At the Gates.
When I started getting into some harder music I kept hearing about this band, At the Gates and their album Slaughter of the Soul. I finally picked it up and was blown away. It was thrash metal with some great vocals by Tomas Lindberg, who made my top 10 metal vocalists. It was great. Listening to this thing from start to finish was amazing. No filler on it at all...just great. It's no shock that it made my top 5 Must Own metal albums. So if you picked it up, then you were probably disappointed, like me, to learn they broke up after this album.
So I searched high and low to find bands that sounded similar and really brought back that same style. I have a ton of melodic death metal albums and here are the ones that really remind me of At the Gates;
1. Nightrage - Descent into Chaos: this is a no brainer. I mean, their first two albums had Tomas on vocals. Descent into Chaos is my favorite from these guys and it really has that At the Gates feel to it. It is probably a bit more thrash than At the Gates had, but it works. The guitar harmonies are there and of course with Tomas on vocals you are getting the same style from At the Gates. All of Nightrage's albums are great, even A New Disease is Born (my second favorite), but if you loved Slaughter of the Soul start with this one.
2. Within Y - Extended Mental Dimensions: If Nightrage has the vocals, then this album by Within Y has the music down. Heck, even the vocals are similar. When I heard Lost in Solitude the first time, I thought it was At the Gates. The same screaming opening...classic. If you Google a review of this album, you will find almost everyone comparing it to At the Gates. The guitar tone, drumming, and vocals make this a clone of At the Gates. Some might knock it for not being original, but when you have songs that are this memorable, who cares? It's interesting to see how their sound has evolved as well. They sound more like The Haunted now than At the Gates and that's ok too.
3. Arsis - A Celebration of Guilt: before I heard Within Y, this was my fix for At the Gates. Think of this album as a more technical version of At the Gates. Vocals are dead on to Tomas. But musically, like I said, it is more technical. The tone is the same, but the guitarists go to town on showing off what they know. Oh did I say guitarists? I meant guitarist as in one. What really blew me away is when I found out that this entire album was recorded by two people! The writing on this album is actually better than Within Y's too.
4. The Absence - Riders of the Plague: This was their second album and they really stepped it up a notch. Riders of the Plague has that same death/thrash blend that At the Gates helped create. The album starts off with a scream into that Tomas perfected in At the Gates as well. The vocalist is a little deeper than Tomas, but still works. Musically is where this album really shines. The solos are great. Each one is not rushed and written hastily.
So there are 4 bands that you can go check out if you were/are a fan of At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul.
When I started getting into some harder music I kept hearing about this band, At the Gates and their album Slaughter of the Soul. I finally picked it up and was blown away. It was thrash metal with some great vocals by Tomas Lindberg, who made my top 10 metal vocalists. It was great. Listening to this thing from start to finish was amazing. No filler on it at all...just great. It's no shock that it made my top 5 Must Own metal albums. So if you picked it up, then you were probably disappointed, like me, to learn they broke up after this album.
So I searched high and low to find bands that sounded similar and really brought back that same style. I have a ton of melodic death metal albums and here are the ones that really remind me of At the Gates;
1. Nightrage - Descent into Chaos: this is a no brainer. I mean, their first two albums had Tomas on vocals. Descent into Chaos is my favorite from these guys and it really has that At the Gates feel to it. It is probably a bit more thrash than At the Gates had, but it works. The guitar harmonies are there and of course with Tomas on vocals you are getting the same style from At the Gates. All of Nightrage's albums are great, even A New Disease is Born (my second favorite), but if you loved Slaughter of the Soul start with this one.
2. Within Y - Extended Mental Dimensions: If Nightrage has the vocals, then this album by Within Y has the music down. Heck, even the vocals are similar. When I heard Lost in Solitude the first time, I thought it was At the Gates. The same screaming opening...classic. If you Google a review of this album, you will find almost everyone comparing it to At the Gates. The guitar tone, drumming, and vocals make this a clone of At the Gates. Some might knock it for not being original, but when you have songs that are this memorable, who cares? It's interesting to see how their sound has evolved as well. They sound more like The Haunted now than At the Gates and that's ok too.
3. Arsis - A Celebration of Guilt: before I heard Within Y, this was my fix for At the Gates. Think of this album as a more technical version of At the Gates. Vocals are dead on to Tomas. But musically, like I said, it is more technical. The tone is the same, but the guitarists go to town on showing off what they know. Oh did I say guitarists? I meant guitarist as in one. What really blew me away is when I found out that this entire album was recorded by two people! The writing on this album is actually better than Within Y's too.
4. The Absence - Riders of the Plague: This was their second album and they really stepped it up a notch. Riders of the Plague has that same death/thrash blend that At the Gates helped create. The album starts off with a scream into that Tomas perfected in At the Gates as well. The vocalist is a little deeper than Tomas, but still works. Musically is where this album really shines. The solos are great. Each one is not rushed and written hastily.
So there are 4 bands that you can go check out if you were/are a fan of At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Who Decides: Top 10 Albums of the Year
Ok, so another year is coming to an end, so here is my top 10 metal albums of the year. I will try to keep it to ten, unlike last year. This year started off very slow for me. Nothing really caught my eye, until around June or so. I talked about it back then, and I said I doubt if any of those albums would make my final top 10...and well let's see.
Before we get to the list, I took out Arch Enemy's Root of All Evil (even though it is a great album) because it was just re-recording old songs with a new singer. If I could have 11 albums, I would have probably thrown in The Sorrow's Origin of the Storm. That was a classic metalcore album in the same vein as Killswitch Engage. Onto the list;
#10 - Threat Signal: Vigilance; much better than the Arkaea project which was Fear Factory light. This album has lost a lot of the FF influence and has gone for more of a straight thrash approach. The solos on this album as killer, check out The Beginning of the End for a sample.
# 9 - DevilDriver: Pray for Villains; a big let down overall from The Last Kind Words. I talke about this earlier in the year as well. A lot of solid songs, but overall just doesn't pack that punch that The Last Kind Words had. Check out Waiting for November, Bitter Pill, Teach Me to Whisper, and the title track.
# 8 - Evita: Minutes & Miles; the surprise of the year for me. Evita plays some crazy progressive metalcore music not unlike Protest the Hero. It's very good and deserved to be on this list. All of their songs are good, but if you check out one listen to Willing to Wake it's a good sample of the album.
# 7 - Dirge Within: Force Fed Lies; when I first hear this album I thought it was DevilDriver. Seriously, at times the lead singer sounds so similar it's eerie. Anyway, if DD would have put out this album DD would be higher up on the list. Musically, you know what you are getting. They pull out some nice solos especially on Complacency (2+ minutes of trading off solos).
# 6 - Nightrage: Wearing a Martyr's Crown; I listened to this album I didn't think it would make my top 10. It was lacking something for me, but over the last few months it has caught on big time. Descent into Chaos was a classic for me and evern though this doesn't beat that album it is solid. The guitar work is unmistakably Nightrage and the new singer does a fine job. He doesn't stand out like Tompa or Jimmie, but he works. Check out A Grim Struggle or the title track for a good feel of the album.
# 5 - Animals As Leaders: Animals As Leaders; did I say Evita was my surprise of the year? This is. First off, it's instrumental (something I really don't like). The guitarist, Tosin Abasi, is great. The music goes from thrash to metalcore to eletronic to acoustic. It is a wild ride to be sure. Check out CAFO.
# 4 - Megadeth: Endgame; it's Megadeth, it's better than their last album, and dare I say better than Death Magnetic? Mustaine brought his A game this time and wrote some killer riffs for this album. So why isn't it higher? Probably because his vocals are wearing on me. I can't explain it, but Dave's singing has gone downhill a bit. This Day We Fight and Headcrusher could have easily been on R.I.P. check them out.
# 3 - Susperia - Attitude; once again Susperia releases an album that is heavy, catchy, and has great musicianship. I can't add anything else, if you liked Carved in Stone or Unlimited you will like this one. All the songs are great. Check out The Urge, Sick Bastard (with Dimmu Borgir vocalist Shagrath), or Live My Dreams (with Testament vocalist Chuck Billy).
# 2 - Killswitch Engage: Killswitch Engage; I have already talked about this one and Shadows Fall's latest albums awhile ago. So I won't add anything else to this. Check out the entire album, definitely worth it.
# 1 - Shadows Fall: Retribution; like KsE I already talked about it, so I won't repeat anything. This album renewed my faith in SF. The guitar work is top notch and memorable. I can't find anything to complain about on this album.
So why is SF #1 and KsE #2? The difference is minimal. I would probably say the solos put Shadows Fall #1, even though KsE has better choruses. I was very happy to see two of my favorite bands rebound from sub-par albums and step up.
That's it. I want to try and do weekly postings next year. So let's see how that goes. I want to talk about the new Scrubs, The Middle, and some movie talk. Cross your fingers for a fun 2010.
Before we get to the list, I took out Arch Enemy's Root of All Evil (even though it is a great album) because it was just re-recording old songs with a new singer. If I could have 11 albums, I would have probably thrown in The Sorrow's Origin of the Storm. That was a classic metalcore album in the same vein as Killswitch Engage. Onto the list;
#10 - Threat Signal: Vigilance; much better than the Arkaea project which was Fear Factory light. This album has lost a lot of the FF influence and has gone for more of a straight thrash approach. The solos on this album as killer, check out The Beginning of the End for a sample.
# 9 - DevilDriver: Pray for Villains; a big let down overall from The Last Kind Words. I talke about this earlier in the year as well. A lot of solid songs, but overall just doesn't pack that punch that The Last Kind Words had. Check out Waiting for November, Bitter Pill, Teach Me to Whisper, and the title track.
# 8 - Evita: Minutes & Miles; the surprise of the year for me. Evita plays some crazy progressive metalcore music not unlike Protest the Hero. It's very good and deserved to be on this list. All of their songs are good, but if you check out one listen to Willing to Wake it's a good sample of the album.
# 7 - Dirge Within: Force Fed Lies; when I first hear this album I thought it was DevilDriver. Seriously, at times the lead singer sounds so similar it's eerie. Anyway, if DD would have put out this album DD would be higher up on the list. Musically, you know what you are getting. They pull out some nice solos especially on Complacency (2+ minutes of trading off solos).
# 6 - Nightrage: Wearing a Martyr's Crown; I listened to this album I didn't think it would make my top 10. It was lacking something for me, but over the last few months it has caught on big time. Descent into Chaos was a classic for me and evern though this doesn't beat that album it is solid. The guitar work is unmistakably Nightrage and the new singer does a fine job. He doesn't stand out like Tompa or Jimmie, but he works. Check out A Grim Struggle or the title track for a good feel of the album.
# 5 - Animals As Leaders: Animals As Leaders; did I say Evita was my surprise of the year? This is. First off, it's instrumental (something I really don't like). The guitarist, Tosin Abasi, is great. The music goes from thrash to metalcore to eletronic to acoustic. It is a wild ride to be sure. Check out CAFO.
# 4 - Megadeth: Endgame; it's Megadeth, it's better than their last album, and dare I say better than Death Magnetic? Mustaine brought his A game this time and wrote some killer riffs for this album. So why isn't it higher? Probably because his vocals are wearing on me. I can't explain it, but Dave's singing has gone downhill a bit. This Day We Fight and Headcrusher could have easily been on R.I.P. check them out.
# 3 - Susperia - Attitude; once again Susperia releases an album that is heavy, catchy, and has great musicianship. I can't add anything else, if you liked Carved in Stone or Unlimited you will like this one. All the songs are great. Check out The Urge, Sick Bastard (with Dimmu Borgir vocalist Shagrath), or Live My Dreams (with Testament vocalist Chuck Billy).
# 2 - Killswitch Engage: Killswitch Engage; I have already talked about this one and Shadows Fall's latest albums awhile ago. So I won't add anything else to this. Check out the entire album, definitely worth it.
# 1 - Shadows Fall: Retribution; like KsE I already talked about it, so I won't repeat anything. This album renewed my faith in SF. The guitar work is top notch and memorable. I can't find anything to complain about on this album.
So why is SF #1 and KsE #2? The difference is minimal. I would probably say the solos put Shadows Fall #1, even though KsE has better choruses. I was very happy to see two of my favorite bands rebound from sub-par albums and step up.
That's it. I want to try and do weekly postings next year. So let's see how that goes. I want to talk about the new Scrubs, The Middle, and some movie talk. Cross your fingers for a fun 2010.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Who Decides: albums of the year
So with 2009 quickly approaching its final quarter the question of album of the year starts to loom even more. I have made it quiet clear that this year has been a little disappointing for me. Maybe it's a natural let down from the awesome year that was 2008...who knows.
Here's what I do know. September will give us new Shadows Fall and Megadeth records. October was supposed to give us the new Anthrax, but they fired their new singer so that album is up in the air. And I really don't know of any other albums that are supposed to be released this year.
So what does that mean for my top 10? Well as of right now, I would probably give the album of the year to either Susperia, DevilDriver, or Nightrage. Now, some might be thinking ... ok those are good albums so what's the problem? Well the problem isn't in the albums, they are solid, but they aren't as good as their last albums. Attitude is a catchy and heavy affair from Susperia ... but is it better than Cut From Stone? No. Same goes for Devildriver, Pray For Villains is good, but it's not better than The Last Kind Words. The Last Kind Words built upon The Fury of Our Maker's Hand. It took was a nice step from really good to great. But Nightrage is probably the biggest offender. I love every Nightrage album. Tompa's vocals on the first two albums plus the guitar work of Gus G. & Marios made those At The Gates-like. With A New Disease is Born, everything was raised to a new level. Tompa was gone, but Jimmie Strimell did an excellent job of singing (not just screaming) on the album. I was totally ready for another Nightrage release. But something happened on the way to their latest, Wearing a Martyr's Crown, they got a new vocalist. I don't think he is bad, just not as dynamic as Jimmie or original as Tompa. The guitar work is still memorable and top notch, but the vocals are....eh. Now I know that those were released in 2007 and it shouldn't affect 2009, but it does. After a great album, I guess I just expect more from a band.
So there are a bunch of new artists that have released really solid debut or second albums. Bands like Dirge Within (defintely for fans of Sanctity), Animals as Leaders (instrumental), The Sorrow, Arkaea (Fear Factory meets Threat Signal), and Evita (great metalcore) could make a run for that top stop.
Then there are some bands that have totally bounced back from disappointing albums. It Dies Today ditched the whole emo sound and went back to more of an original sound with Lividity. The new stuff they have released so far sound really promising. The other is The Autumn Offering. Fear Will Cast No Shadow was boring and unoriginal...and that's being nice. Throw in a new vocalist and you quickly forgot that The Autumn Offering was once a great band mixing modern thrash with some metalcore breakdowns in for good measure. Well, Requiem took me by surprise. It's a ton better than FWCNS, but it's not Embrace the Gutter. It still has it's emo moments, but they are defintely back on track.
The top spot is really wide open. There are a bunch of good to really good albums out there this year, but nothing great. Hopefully, Shadows Fall and Megadeth can change that.
Here's what I do know. September will give us new Shadows Fall and Megadeth records. October was supposed to give us the new Anthrax, but they fired their new singer so that album is up in the air. And I really don't know of any other albums that are supposed to be released this year.
So what does that mean for my top 10? Well as of right now, I would probably give the album of the year to either Susperia, DevilDriver, or Nightrage. Now, some might be thinking ... ok those are good albums so what's the problem? Well the problem isn't in the albums, they are solid, but they aren't as good as their last albums. Attitude is a catchy and heavy affair from Susperia ... but is it better than Cut From Stone? No. Same goes for Devildriver, Pray For Villains is good, but it's not better than The Last Kind Words. The Last Kind Words built upon The Fury of Our Maker's Hand. It took was a nice step from really good to great. But Nightrage is probably the biggest offender. I love every Nightrage album. Tompa's vocals on the first two albums plus the guitar work of Gus G. & Marios made those At The Gates-like. With A New Disease is Born, everything was raised to a new level. Tompa was gone, but Jimmie Strimell did an excellent job of singing (not just screaming) on the album. I was totally ready for another Nightrage release. But something happened on the way to their latest, Wearing a Martyr's Crown, they got a new vocalist. I don't think he is bad, just not as dynamic as Jimmie or original as Tompa. The guitar work is still memorable and top notch, but the vocals are....eh. Now I know that those were released in 2007 and it shouldn't affect 2009, but it does. After a great album, I guess I just expect more from a band.
So there are a bunch of new artists that have released really solid debut or second albums. Bands like Dirge Within (defintely for fans of Sanctity), Animals as Leaders (instrumental), The Sorrow, Arkaea (Fear Factory meets Threat Signal), and Evita (great metalcore) could make a run for that top stop.
Then there are some bands that have totally bounced back from disappointing albums. It Dies Today ditched the whole emo sound and went back to more of an original sound with Lividity. The new stuff they have released so far sound really promising. The other is The Autumn Offering. Fear Will Cast No Shadow was boring and unoriginal...and that's being nice. Throw in a new vocalist and you quickly forgot that The Autumn Offering was once a great band mixing modern thrash with some metalcore breakdowns in for good measure. Well, Requiem took me by surprise. It's a ton better than FWCNS, but it's not Embrace the Gutter. It still has it's emo moments, but they are defintely back on track.
The top spot is really wide open. There are a bunch of good to really good albums out there this year, but nothing great. Hopefully, Shadows Fall and Megadeth can change that.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Spotlight: At the Gates
So here we go with another spotlight, this week it is At the Gates. ATG was the first real death metal band I really enjoyed. To be honest, I'm not sure how I got into this band. If I was to guess I would say it was because of The Haunted. You see The Haunted was founded by 3 members of ATG. I will have more on The Haunted later on in the year, so let's stay focused on ATG.
ATG play a genre of death metal called melodic death metal. I'm not to sure what makes it melodic, I would probably say it is the guitar work...very NWOBHM twin guitar sound going on. Musically, ATG is for ANY classic thrash metal fan...Metallica to Megadeth to Slayer, you would love this music. I would say the hard part for most would be swallowing the vocals. Tomas Lindberg has a unique sound to his screams. They aren't deep death growls, but rather a sort of drowning screams...definitely unique.
Unfortunately, this band disbanded after their classic album Slaughter of the Soul. When I talk about classic albums, this one is on there. I would say it belongs in the same category of a Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Reign in Blood...a definte classic. As I said musically, it is class bay area thrash with tight guitar solos and solid drumming. That would be the one positive of this band is that the drumming isn't the insane blast beats that never slow down, it is actual drumming going on back there.
As I said earlier after ATG broke up the guitarists and drummer went onto form The Haunted. The lead singer went onto a bunch of other projects, nothing coming close to ATG until he joined Nightrage. Their first 2 albums sound like a continuation of ATG, more on Nightrage later.
Playlist for the week:
Monday: The Swarm, Terminal Spirit Disease, Forever Blind from Terminal Spirit Disease
Tues/Wed: Blinded by Fear, Slaughter of the Soul, Cold from Slaughter of the Soul
Thursday: Legion, World of Lies, The Dying from Slaughter of the Soul
Friday: Drug, Descent onto Chaos, Being Nothing, from Nightrage's Descent onto Chaos
ATG play a genre of death metal called melodic death metal. I'm not to sure what makes it melodic, I would probably say it is the guitar work...very NWOBHM twin guitar sound going on. Musically, ATG is for ANY classic thrash metal fan...Metallica to Megadeth to Slayer, you would love this music. I would say the hard part for most would be swallowing the vocals. Tomas Lindberg has a unique sound to his screams. They aren't deep death growls, but rather a sort of drowning screams...definitely unique.
Unfortunately, this band disbanded after their classic album Slaughter of the Soul. When I talk about classic albums, this one is on there. I would say it belongs in the same category of a Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Reign in Blood...a definte classic. As I said musically, it is class bay area thrash with tight guitar solos and solid drumming. That would be the one positive of this band is that the drumming isn't the insane blast beats that never slow down, it is actual drumming going on back there.
As I said earlier after ATG broke up the guitarists and drummer went onto form The Haunted. The lead singer went onto a bunch of other projects, nothing coming close to ATG until he joined Nightrage. Their first 2 albums sound like a continuation of ATG, more on Nightrage later.
Playlist for the week:
Monday: The Swarm, Terminal Spirit Disease, Forever Blind from Terminal Spirit Disease
Tues/Wed: Blinded by Fear, Slaughter of the Soul, Cold from Slaughter of the Soul
Thursday: Legion, World of Lies, The Dying from Slaughter of the Soul
Friday: Drug, Descent onto Chaos, Being Nothing, from Nightrage's Descent onto Chaos
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