A brief note about the reviews: Each selection is reviewed on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, and I've picked two favorite songs for each disc. This is how the ratings are classified:
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0 stars - worthless even as a Frisbee |
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* - good only for a coaster |
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** - slightly redeeming...don't go out of your way to find it |
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*** - worth having, with just a few low points |
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**** - definitely recommended, even if you have to pay full price for it |
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***** - recorded perfection, from actual musical content down to production values (a virtually unattainable rating) |
Various Artists...”identity 6 (Behold Another World)”
my rating: **
favorite songs: Samael – “Supra Karma”, Merauder – “Find
My Way”
I picked up this
compilation on Century Media records some time ago (it’s from 2000), but
should have gotten it used. It has a few
gems, and more than a few bombs.
The rock kicks off with “Hatebreed”
by Stuck Mojo. Yes, there’s also a
band called Hatebreed, I have no idea if they are the same, nor do I care. This song sucks ass...typical
rap-metal-whatever it’s called now.
Skinlab clocks in with “Second Skin”, a not-too-bad track showcasing
their unique brand of metal. Moonspell
brings forth “Lustmord”, death-grind-metal lads from Portugal. “No More Beating As One” by
Sentenced will stick in your head, some very catchy things going on here. That one has grown on me the more I hear
it. More melodic than their earlier work
from the 90’s, but still chunky.
Shadows Fall turns in a forgettable performance with “The First
Noble Truth”, not nearly as good as their newer work. Krisiun shows how to do it right with “Soul
Devourer”. Proving that there must
be something in the water in Brazil, these lads crank out some awesome death
metal, old-school-style.
Dark Tranquillity saunters
past with “Doberman”. This
one was too melodic for my tastes.
Not quite annoying, but not great.
The annoying is reserved for Jag Panzer, singing about a “King At
A Price”. This band takes all that
sucks with metal, and wraps it up in a nice package, guitars practically
dripping with chorus effect. They should
have stayed in Colorado. The fact that
the song comes from a “concept album” doesn’t help much
either, as we all know how good those are.
Samael gets us back on
track with “Supra Karma”, a wonderfully different tune. Opening like some hopped-up new age song,
suddenly guitars burst in, then the darkly menacing vocals seep into your
brain. If you like your metal varied and
changed-up once in a while, check out Samael.
Tiamat also attempts to continue their trend of not following any metal
trends with “For Her Pleasure,” though it’s not as good as
the work from their early days. They’re
sounding a little too much like Type O Negative on this track.
Just as you’re
starting to drift off into a catnap, Soilwork slams into your chest with “The
Chainheart Machine”. Cool
fast-tempo death metal, brutal vocals, with enough time changes to keep you
from getting bored. This doesn’t
follow into the next song, however, as Winters Bane (the typo is THEIRS, not
MINE) brings us the worst song of the whole album, “Heart of a Killer”. You thought Jag Panzer sucked? Those guys rock like a hurricane compared to
Winters (buy a goddamn apostrophe) Bane.
The first time I heard this song, I laughed so hard I almost peed my
pants. Now it’s just
annoying. It was quite a struggle to
force myself to listen to it again for this review. The vocalist is trying to be Mr. Powerful
Metal Singer, but at times he just sounds bored. The music follows all the clichés of late-80’s
metal. The fact that this song is
actually from the 90’s is no excuse. Just forget about these posers.
Mental Home brings us back
a little with “Eternal Moan”.
These Russians at times remind me of Voivod, especially in the
vocals. Not bad, but too forgettable for
their own, which is a shame; this song shows promise. Merauder shows you how to “Find My Way”,
kicking ass old-school New York hardcore style.
This song just plain rocks, harking back to old Crowbar and the real
early Sick Of It All. Tasty. Arch Enemy is next with “Pilgrim”,
unfortunately showing very little of their prowess they’ve developed over
the past few years (“We Will Rise” is a much better example of Arch
Enemy at their best). Old Man’s
Child continues the mediocre death metal streak with “Obscure Divine
Manifestation”. Nothing catchy
there. Angel Dust rips off lots of other
bands with “Black Rain”, that song just bothers me. Crappy.
And finally, Eyehategod takes us out with more crap, as they plod
through “Story of the Eye”.
Stoner doom noise with terrible vocals.
Various Artists...”Concrete Corner; September Sampler 2003”
my rating: *
favorite songs: Arch Enemy – “Leader of the Rats”, Shadows
Fall – “Destroyer of Senses”
This CD punches the clock
with 15 tracks, only two of which I can stand to listen to. The song by Shadows Fall is better here than
their offering on the Century Media disc above, but then we have to listen to
Metallica. Does it even matter which
song it is? It’s something off the
St. Anger disc, and all you can hear is the PANG PANG PANG of the
drums. The worst fucking production work
ever put on a CD, and James Hetfield’s vocals are just as bad. Their goddamn guitars aren’t even in
tune with each other, for Christ’s sake.
Ya know, I’m not even
gonna bother with the rest of the stuff on this disc. The Arch Enemy song is awesome, a must-have,
and if every song on this disc was that good, I would have given it 5 stars. But they’re not. Adema sucks, The Damning Well gets off to a
good start but then sucks, Hotwire probably jump around on stage like Korn, Skrape
thinks they are King’s X, Fingertight wants to be the next Linkin Park, Sevendust
is, well, lame-ass Sevendust (any metal band that says “step up” in
a song should just give up), sounding way too much like Disturbed, which isn’t
great either. Watch Them Die is trying
to be hard-ass and brutal, but they’re just annoying amateurs. I can’t figure out why Fuel is on this
disc with wannabe metal and rapcore bands.
Lo Pro sounds more like Linkin Park than Linkin Park does. And I know a few of you like Rob Zombie, but
his music is neither original nor good, but that’s a rant for another day.
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