My last and only post on this blog was probably around a year ago, and it was something about how I would start writing album reviews for the blog from then on. As you can probably tell, that didn't happen. Until now (dundun dun duuuun). Here's the first of a few more to come.

To-Mera - "Delusions"

I first heard of this prog band some time ago, back when Emperor was doing their reunion tour and they were the opening act. I checked them out since people kept praising them for their great live performance and musical creativity. I got their debut album, "Transcendental" and gave it a good listen. While it did not immediately grabbed me by the balls, I did hear some truly good stuff going on in this band. Further listening allowed me to truly appreciate the music, as "Transcendental" is not really the kind of album you can readily enjoy the first time through. Very heavy and indeed very creative, To-Mera's sound was truly fresh and distinctive enough to separate them from the rest of the prog pack. The only thing that kept it from reaching greatness was the lack of truly memorable themes. The entire album was entirely riff-driven and while there are some great moments there's nothing there that could drive the music that extra mile. I was pretty impressed nonetheless.

So when their second album was announced to be in the works, I was genuinely intrigued. Would they be able to maintain their sound but kick it up that extra notch or would they just fail miserably like many other of those one-album wonder bands? The result is neither: "Delusions" is more of the same ol' To-Mera and while it's not horrible is not really great either. Their sound, comprised mainly of heavy, chugging guitars accompanied by light/jazzy piano and synth elements all going crazy with some airy female vocals on top of it all is still here. They do kick it up a notch in terms of technicality and diversity; they certainly have expanded on their standard sound palette beyond distorted/clean/acoustic guitars and piano interludes. I do miss the old simple acoustic passages though, and while they are still here (in a more elaborate way), they don't have the same warmth or poignancy as before. But although the sheer display of musical pyrotechnics certainly makes for a pretty cool show, it fails to deliver some actual solid music. It seems To-Mera approaches their songwriting with a "let's prog the shit out of this bitch" mentality and in the process they forget the value of quality over quantity.

I loved the production on "Transcendental", it was very thick and blunt yet still precise; "Delusions" on the other hand sounds thin and plastic, like that "I Can't believe it's not butter" thing spread over too much bread. The rhythm guitars used to have this awesome chunky tone and now they sound fizzy and digital up the ass. The drums also seem to have taken a punch to the balls, since they lost that sledgehammer quality to them they had before. Synths and piano are less prominent in the mix and vocals sound thinner than before.

Overall "Delusions" is not a bad album, and while "Transcendental" was definitely better, you can still get some entertainment out of its technicality and ever changing songs, but it's certainly not something you'd want to listen to more than maybe once or twice.

7.8/10

I know that a lot of you Dino fans are have been looking forward to this album for a long time, unfortunately I have to tell you to not get your expectations up too high.

At first glance, this band may appear to be awesome and ass kicking in every way Fear Factory was in their prime. The nonstop drum assault, the somewhat simplistic yet ultimately headbangalicious riffing, and the constant quick pace which keeps the album moving along quite nicely.

All of these fantasies will end, however, as soon as the vocalist (new comer Tommy Cummings) chimes in, his overly -core inspired vocals bring a tough guy/invisible ninja pit vibe into the album that this band really doesn't need.

In the song “Impossible is Nothing” the music is great and has some moments where you can't help but get into and give a couple head bangs to. Almost like old groove metal, only not shitty. However this really gets ruined when our boy Tommy tries his hand at a harmonic interlude.

You would think that, after all those years with Fear Factory, Dino would have the sense to realize when a harmonious part just doesn't sound right. But alas, these parts of the album come off sounding more like Fall Out Boy's lost death metal demo.

If you can set aside the hideous harmonizations, and stop visualizing the vocalist punching the ground and swinging his elbows like an epileptic getting raped, you are left with some good music that probably needs another album or two (and another singer) to fully evolve. This album gets a slightly above average, 70%

The Uncreation is the debut release from solo black metal project Written in Torment. The sole musician, who calls himself the Leviathan, does a great job with his first EP and manages to do some style crossover successfully.

The Leviathan did a good job with the numerous changes within the songs, none of them feel awkward or out of place and do a good job of moving the album forward. The standout song on this release is “Remember with Fear” it starts out with some great thrashy riffing and keeps you interested throughout the song.

There is little soloing on the album and what is there is somewhat simplistic, consisting mainly of scale runs up and down the neck. But I can't dock them to much because they fit the music nicely.

John Maulding did a good job with the production of the eighteen minute EP, providing nice balance and clarity without sounding over processed.

You can listen to the review on Episode 43 of the Metalscape Podcast 

The first full length release from these pirate thrashers from New Jersey is fun to listen to and lighthearted at times, but not at the expense of the music.

Upon first listening they may seem like a standard, maybe slightly above average modern thrash band, but once you know what they’re about and you allow yourself to have a little fun, you can’t help but enjoy the band.  When you first hear the enthusiastic shouts of “yo ho” during the track “Drink Up” you realize that this band is about having fun and doing whatever the hell they want, just like like their fabled lyrical muses.

The song writing is solid and manages to stay fresh throughout the album, although there is only one song that stands out as a truly great track, “’X’ Marks the Spot”, the album doesn’t have any tracks that are particularly bad either.  The soloing, while not the most complicated or technically amazing, is solid and shows that they know what their limits in playing currently are. They don’t feel the need to try to force anything out, subsequently making the album sound sloppy.

The album is scattered with shorter, folk-like songs, which provide a break between the heavier songs, almost like, the band has come into a port and your hanging out with them at the tavern or something.

If you aren’t the type of person who makes an opinion on a band based on whether or not their style or lyrical content is tr00 enough for you. You’ll be wanting to set sail and, put hands on the starboard bow or some shit, before long.

8/10

This new Martyr release has practically every technical aspect down to a science, but unfortunately that’s also what kills it.

 
From the very first track, you can tell that these guys are a bunch of talented individuals, but, they are not immune to the problem that so many other bands also cope with.  The balance of technical prowess and songwriting.

Most of the songs consist of fairly complicated riffs with a very staccato feel to them, this get’s real annoying real fast, after the initial “wow factor.”

While a band like Necrophagist may suffer from the same problem, it happens much later in the album, with Feeding the Abscess, I was tired of it by about the third song.

The album is alright to listen to in moderation,  but I would advise you to listen to sample tracks on the bands website/myspace etc. before deciding to purchase it.

6.5/10 

Listen for the review on Episode 36 of Metalscape 

Jens Ryden (ex-Naglfar) hits one out of the park with his first solo release under the name Profundi.

Unlike his other solo project "Dead Silent Slumber," Jens played all of the instruments on this record himself, with no guest or studio musicians, and he pulls it off well. The Omega Rising sounds every bit as polished as any work he did with Naglfar, and can easily stand on it's own against any other black metal band you throw at it.

While many solo releases can come off sounding a bit simplified, Profundi's sound is fully realized and rarely leaves you feeling like anything is missing.

The first track "…Of Flesh and Blood" does a good job of setting the pace for the whole album, which is fast paced and precise. The soloing is excellently done and adds nice dynamics to the album. Throughout the whole album there are hooks coming at you left and right, but not in a bad way. There hasn't been a black metal album that has made so many parts stick in my had in a long time. I hope that we can look forward to many more releases of this caliber from Profundi.

9/10

 Listen for the review on Episode 35 of Metalscape

also submitted to Metal Archives via Picknslap