Eric3

And they write their own songs

This seems like something that would be massively exciting maybe five or six years ago but now, not so much. I'm just so bored with the Frontiers factory churning out studio project after studio project with the same songwriters, the same production, and random hodgepodges of vocalists...year after year after year. I'm just not interested in this stuff anymore, I'll listen but the odds that I'll come back to it (let alone buy the album) are low. Those songs are mediocre. They're not ADV's worst but they are not his best either. IMO Robbie steals the show in both of them. Why is ADV still doing backing vocals for a project created specifically for THREE vocalists? P.S. that band name SUCKS lol

ADV produced albums usually have weak choruses.

That's fucking class. Impeccable production from Ward as always.

That song is...actually really good, lol. The main riff sounds like it could have been on Kill 'Em All and Hetfield's voice is in surprisingly great shape. My only gripe is the drumming, which...well, yeah, there's nothing we can do about that

Well, at least they're being honest now.

As for the Threshold album. Wow. Defence Condition may be one of the best songs they've written and that's saying a LOT. This is peak Threshold, i.e. making a 10-minute song sound like a 4-minute song with huge vocal melodies and dramatic mood shifts. Still one of the best bands on the planet, for my money.

Somewhat related: Threshold keyboardist Richard West started a new band, and their debut will be like a follow-up to Legends Of The Shires. https://www.facebook.com/oblivionprotocol/posts/pfbid02bU2qiauLMx8E4BbW3yBKFjk1mibGkBCbtmHFrutUfkhqpzSeVVA8X6LLPiZdP3fjl

First album has no weak links. One of my favorite Frontiers projects and still hits all the right notes, has aged wonderfully. Brilliant playing, singing, and production. Second album has not aged as well. A few good songs but the production sounds like any other Flores production. I don't come back to it very often. Third album sounds basically the same as the second sonically but with even fewer good songs. Fourth album, fuck off ADV Fifth album...? Not a very encouraging trend here? The fact that it's being released so soon after the fourth is uh, not promising unless they got a new producer on the project. TL;DR Dennis Ward and the Martin brothers are better at what they do than most.

That's about as ADV as it gets. Not a very good song.

Arnel is still a terrific showman but man his voice is sounding rough. (and no, Perry would sound no better at this point in time)

Way better than the Issa cover but that's not saying much. I wish they'd cover some other songs from this album though.

Definitely Rush for me. Power Windows is my favorite album but it doesn't often get mentioned, at least outside of serious fans of the band or of the subgenre. Also, I don't think Ride the Lightning is the "wrong" Metallica album to love. It was hugely influential when it came out and IMO it's aged better than both Kill 'Em All and Master of Puppets. You could make the argument that it's their finest work.

Wha what WHAAAAAAAT? The Martin brothers are back on this project? But they've left Vega???

This says it all right here, tbh. It's basically another zombie studio project now.

It ended up not sticking out to me, but it's nice. I prefer it to the Indigo album that followed a little while later.

Instrumental version is out.

Still giving my 2022 list time to marinate (I'll report back at the end of the year) but there have not been many standouts in Eric3 land. This one, however... Lumenette - All Around My Head Is fucking awesome. Beautiful shoegaze.

I can't tell if this project is trying too hard or not trying hard enough.

Vocalist sounds a little like Marcie Free.

Than jeebus, new material from a band that actually knows how to write a song.

Rush Oceansize Anathema (VERY suspicious circumstances)

I'll give them this: Romero is an incredible singer. IMO this project was dead and buried even before Frontiers tried shoehorning him in, and I have no interest in listening to anything released under its name. I don't think his voice particularly fits the music, either. But that is a very impressive performance.

It was. But it had great songwriting and producing. Something we can't say of anything released under her name since then.

Quite the range, huh?