First Spin Impressions

[Blue Charvel]

Eden's Curse - s/t

 

Nice, real nice. Great sounding release that's for sure. I tend to like Dennis Ward productions for their cohesiveness and tightness, this is no exception upon the first listen. Big solid choruses, heavy guitar with lots of solos... what's not to like?

 

On a side note and completely unimportant to the sound of the band, these guys look like a bunch of bruisers, wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley...

This is unfortunately one of those CD's where I love it the first couple times I listen to it due to a good production and some cool riffs. After repeated listens I realise I don't find the songs to be all that strong and the hooks/melody lines/lyrics a bit awkward. Still not bad at all, a nice slab of good hard rock, but not living up to the expectations set for myself during the first listen. Oh well...

[Jez]

Eden's Curse - s/t

 

Nice, real nice. Great sounding release that's for sure. I tend to like Dennis Ward productions for their cohesiveness and tightness, this is no exception upon the first listen. Big solid choruses, heavy guitar with lots of solos... what's not to like?

 

On a side note and completely unimportant to the sound of the band, these guys look like a bunch of bruisers, wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley...

This is unfortunately one of those CD's where I love it the first couple times I listen to it due to a good production and some cool riffs. After repeated listens I realise I don't find the songs to be all that strong and the hooks/melody lines/lyrics a bit awkward. Still not bad at all, a nice slab of good hard rock, but not living up to the expectations set for myself during the first listen. Oh well...

 

 

Have to agree with ya there Pete. It is waring off on me quite quickly - still 3 or 4 really good tunes, but the rest is becoming a little forgetable. I think the same goes for TIM 2 as well.

[metalmaniac777]

THROWDOWN: "Venom & Tears"

 

Modern heavy/thrash metal that ranks right up there with the best of the year, completely catching me off-guard with just how good it is. While it doesn't quite put the beatdown on the likes of Shadows Fall or Five Finger Death Punch, it's easily as good (maybe even better than) Sanctity or Soilwork. The production is simply stellar and the songs just flat-out slam. And hey, they use some gang vocals! I love gang vocals!!

[metalmaniac777]

Eden's Curse - s/t

 

Great sounding release that's for sure. I tend to like Dennis Ward productions for their cohesiveness and tightness, this is no exception upon the first listen. Big solid choruses, heavy guitar with lots of solos...what's not to like?

 

On a side note and completely unimportant to the sound of the band, these guys look like a bunch of bruisers, wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley...

This is unfortunately one of those CDs where I love it the first couple times I listen to it due to a good production and some cool riffs. After repeated listens I realise I don't find the songs to be all that strong and the hooks/melody lines/lyrics a bit awkward. Still not bad at all, a nice slab of good hard rock, but not living up to the expectations set for myself during the first listen.

Have to agree with ya there, Pete. It is wearing off on me quite quickly - still 3 or 4 really good tunes, but the rest is becoming a little forgetable. I think the same goes for TIM 2 as well.

You can add my name to that list. This wore out its welcome faster than a pushy vacuum cleaner salesman. Reminds me of a quarter horse...comes out of the gate strong & fast, but falters in the long run. Just something about it that prevents it from really sticking with you.

[TIM (2)]

HIMSA - Summon In Thunder

 

Have been listening to soundbytes of this one for a while but is great to finally have a full copy. This is a ferocious beast of a Metal album, seriously heavy Metal/Thrash with a shattering production. Soundwise they're somewhere between the likes of Shadows Fall & As I Lay Dying, very heavy but they sure as hell know how to write a killer hook. This is going to be high in my year end list. Killer tracks are: Hooks As Hands, Haunter, Ruin Them. Utterly brilliant.

[Geoff]

Eden's Curse - s/t

 

Great sounding release that's for sure. I tend to like Dennis Ward productions for their cohesiveness and tightness, this is no exception upon the first listen. Big solid choruses, heavy guitar with lots of solos...what's not to like?

 

On a side note and completely unimportant to the sound of the band, these guys look like a bunch of bruisers, wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley...

This is unfortunately one of those CDs where I love it the first couple times I listen to it due to a good production and some cool riffs. After repeated listens I realise I don't find the songs to be all that strong and the hooks/melody lines/lyrics a bit awkward. Still not bad at all, a nice slab of good hard rock, but not living up to the expectations set for myself during the first listen.

Have to agree with ya there, Pete. It is wearing off on me quite quickly - still 3 or 4 really good tunes, but the rest is becoming a little forgetable. I think the same goes for TIM 2 as well.

You can add my name to that list. This wore out its welcome faster than a pushy vacuum cleaner salesman. Reminds me of a quarter horse...comes out of the gate strong & fast, but falters in the long run. Just something about it that prevents it from really sticking with you.

Wow, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for these guys. Only a few days ago I think Mark, Tim and I had the same discussion and I agree 100%. I still think it's a cool CD, but my first spin impression was grand too... I'm not even close to that now. I didn't like it first time round, but now 'Stronger Than the Flame' is pretty much the worst song I've heard this year... I truly hate this song. Worst, most annoying hook ever, IMO.

 

Anyway, on subject:

 

Dirty Looks - 'Gasoline' ; This is 100% Dirty Looks. Not as good as their first albums and to be honest, quite unspectacular, but if you like Dirty Looks you will like this. Very "traditional".

[Geoff]

Dogpound - 'III' ; very cool new album. Sort of a combined mixture of the heaviness of the debut and the great melodic songs of 'Night in the gutter'. There are some songs here which will feature in the best songs of 2007 (like I think it was the 2nd track, about a glass jar - sensational) and overall this is a very solid disc. Nice work, again from these guys.

 

Heavy Pettin' - 'Prodigal Sons' ; Great stuff... I'd even go as far as to say this is essential for fans of the band. I believe it's a bunch of tracks recorded between 1982-1987. A couple of misses, but to be honest, most of them are on target if you liked the band's previous releases. Some really cool songs on here.

[aMetalhead1966]

Sixx A.M.- The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack

 

First off let me say that I'm not a huge Modern Rock fan. With that being said that's exactly what this cd is. If you're looking for Motley Crue then look somewhere else. This cd is a Modern Rock with a capital M and it's pretty damn good too. If you dig stuff like Saliva then you'd most likely enjoy this. Songs like "Van Nuys", "Life is Beautiful", "Pray for Me", Tomorrow", and "Accidents Can Happen" should all be huge on Rock radio IMO. While I probably won't listen to this cd near as often as I listen to Motley Crue I am suprised at how good most of the songs are. I give a 8 out of 10.

Backed....You hit it on the head!!!! I was surprised at how much I liked it...

Very Solid with tons of great hooks...but it's one I need to be in the mood to hear..

Overall a great Release...

 

THE DONNAS-"Bitchin'- Very good solid release form these Foxy 70's lovin Chicks...

It takes a few spins to get into but the music is great and the vibe is fun...If they could

get with a Producer who could take some of the "cutesy pie lyrics" away and inject

some nitro in them...watch out..cause they have what it takes..this is a fun record though!!

[Glen]

Dogpound - 'III' ; very cool new album. Sort of a combined mixture of the heaviness of the debut and the great melodic songs of 'Night in the gutter'. There are some songs here which will feature in the best songs of 2007 (like I think it was the 2nd track, about a glass jar - sensational) and overall this is a very solid disc. Nice work, again from these guys.

 

 

 

Yep, looking forward forward to this one....it's on order.

 

From what Ive heard, 'Blind' sounded pretty awesome too, with a great solo!

 

Cheers

[Geoff]

Ted Poley - 'Smile' ; Sensational. As I just said elsewhere this is the best HH-related CD of 2007 and IMO his best work since Danger Danger.

 

William Tell - 'You can't hold me down' ; Someone told me this was better than Yellowcard's 'Paper walls'. I'm currently arranging a drug search on his house. This is not even in the same ballpark. It's nice, safe pop-rock and the 2nd song is worth admission alone... but 'Paper walls' has 13 songs like the 2nd song on this. This only has the one. Cool album, but nowhere near as good as Yellowcard, or even Something Corporate.

[heaven&hell]

Ted Poley - 'Smile' ; Sensational. As I just said elsewhere this is the best HH-related CD of 2007 and IMO his best work since Danger Danger.

 

 

So is it better then Pacific Avenue and Thirsty Merc?

[Geoff]

Ted Poley - 'Smile' ; Sensational. As I just said elsewhere this is the best HH-related CD of 2007 and IMO his best work since Danger Danger.

 

 

So is it better then Pacific Avenue and Thirsty Merc?

My suicide would be better than Thirsty Merc and I'm not even sure if Pacific Avenue have a CD out... if they do it'd be untouchable.

 

Jokes aside, this kicks ass. It's almost even close to being close to Cauterize and Yellowcard for overall album of the year. Almost.

[heaven&hell]

Ted Poley - 'Smile' ; Sensational. As I just said elsewhere this is the best HH-related CD of 2007 and IMO his best work since Danger Danger.

 

 

So is it better then Pacific Avenue and Thirsty Merc?

My suicide would be better than Thirsty Merc and I'm not even sure if Pacific Avenue have a CD out... if they do it'd be untouchable.

 

Jokes aside, this kicks ass. It's almost even close to being close to Cauterize and Yellowcard for overall album of the year. Almost.

 

My cd of the year is a close race between Great White, Scorpions, and Masterplan.

[Geoff]

Ted Poley - 'Smile' ; Sensational. As I just said elsewhere this is the best HH-related CD of 2007 and IMO his best work since Danger Danger.

 

 

So is it better then Pacific Avenue and Thirsty Merc?

My suicide would be better than Thirsty Merc and I'm not even sure if Pacific Avenue have a CD out... if they do it'd be untouchable.

 

Jokes aside, this kicks ass. It's almost even close to being close to Cauterize and Yellowcard for overall album of the year. Almost.

 

My cd of the year is a close race between Great White, Scorpions, and Masterplan.

All cool albums, but Ted Poley's 'Smile' is much better than all of them. Be prepared to enjoy.

[Fat Freddy]

Bride - SCARECROW MESSIAH (1994)

Bride's follow up to 1992's massive SNAKES IN THE PLAYGROUND treads more or less the same ground as its predecessor (i.e. GNR-style hard rock), though it's not quite as intense or in your face as SNAKES. If memory serves, Bride released two CDs in 1994, this one and the God-awful (pun intended) alternative-rock album DROP, and if that's the case then maybe they were just rushing through SCARECROW so they could fulfill their record contract with Star Song (and jump on the next musical band wagon!). Either way, SCARECROW is still a decent listen and it's infinitely preferable to "DROP" and most of what's come from the Bride camp ever since.

[aMetalhead1966]

http://www.myspace.com/atreyurock

 

ATREYU - Lead Sails Paper Anchor

 

First couple of listens & this is f***ing immense. Not sure how on earth you categorise what this band have become - Modern Melodic Rock/Metal? If you love powerful guitars, great harmonies, & catchy-as-hell choruses. Just listen to "Doomsday" & "Becoming The Bull" on Myspace... Fans of 18 Visions & Avenged Sevenfold will love this stuff. This stuff is just so hooky, & every tune without fail delivers a monster chorus. Awesome CD.

Backed...I was really surprised when I gotta hold of this one... Very

Well Played and Intense..This band is one of the better Modern Bands out there. The

Avenged Sevenfold comparison is spot on. Awesome CD!!

[Fat Freddy]

Iced Earth - FRAMING ARMAGEDDON: SOMETHING WICKED PART ONE

This CD is like one of those huge overstuffed hero sandwiches from Quizno's... it's a LOT to digest. The long overdue, 19 track follow up to 1998's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES concept is a monster piece of work! It's impossible to wrap my head around this after only one spin. I will say that Tim "Ripper" Owens has DEFINITELY delivered the vocal performance of his life here... I swear I hear some King Diamond style highs sprinkled throughout this disc here and there, in addition to his usual Halford-isms. I'm also beginning to think that Jon Schaffer's friendship with Hansi Kurch of Blind Guardian is beginning to rub off on his songwriting, as many of the choruses here sound like they could be on a B.G. album. The only song that immediately jumped out at me on the first pass was "The Clouding" but overall it sounds like I'm gonna enjoy this one quite a bit once it has a chance to gel. I think my next listen should be with headphones on so I can really soak it all up!

[Fat Freddy]

Metalium - MILLENNIUM METAL CHAPTER ONE (1999)

 

I'm not exactly sure how I missed out on this disc when it was first released during the Great Euro-Power Metal Resurgence of the late 90s but I got it now. Metalium is a decent, although totally unoriginal, power metal band that has a great lead vocalist (Henning Basse) backed by such all stars as Chris Caffery (guitars) and Mike Terrana (drummer for Rage) and sounds like a mish mosh of the best stuff from Gamma Ray, Helloween, Primal Fear, Iron Savior, and virtually every other metal band that's come from Germany in the past 20 years. Not an essential purchase by any means but definitely a fun listen. I could do without the ridiculous sci-fi concept (some nonsense about "true metallians" saving the earth, or whatever) but the performances are fine and that Basse guy can definitely wail his ass off. The cover version of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" that closes the disc seems a little out of place compared with the other tracks, though.

Anyway, I traded away a real P.O.S. disc to get this one (Temple Of Brutality's LETHAL AGENDA) so I definitely got the better end of the deal.

[aMetalhead1966]

FUEL: "Angels & Devils"

 

New CD with a new singer pretty much sounds like a new band. This is light-years ahead of the group's previous output, none of which ever made it into my collection. But this...this is great modern hard rock, loaded with hooks, memorable choruses, layered vocals, and that love-it-or-hate-it bass-dominated modern production sound that it so popular these days. It probably won't be for everyone, but those who dabble in the modern hard rock pool, those who enjoyed recent Saliva, Papa Roach, Nickelback, Daughtry, etc., will find this right up their alley.

I got this for the Wife as she is a big fan..Me nahh,but it isn't all that bad...It's

a Hell of a lot better than the other releases they have... But you review is spot on..

[metalmaniac777]

Metalium - MILLENNIUM METAL CHAPTER ONE (1999)

 

Metalium is a decent, although totally unoriginal, power metal band that has a great lead vocalist (Henning Basse) backed by such all stars as Chris Caffery (guitars) and Mike Terrana (drummer for Rage) and sounds like a mish mosh of the best stuff from Gamma Ray, Helloween, Primal Fear, Iron Savior, and virtually every other metal band that's come from Germany in the past 20 years. Not an essential purchase by any means...

I had this a few years back. Not bad, and I kept it around for a few months, but it got boring fairly quickly and I eventually dumped it. Honestly, can't say I've missed it one iota.

[Fat Freddy]

Metalium - MILLENNIUM METAL CHAPTER ONE (1999)

 

Metalium is a decent, although totally unoriginal, power metal band that has a great lead vocalist (Henning Basse) backed by such all stars as Chris Caffery (guitars) and Mike Terrana (drummer for Rage) and sounds like a mish mosh of the best stuff from Gamma Ray, Helloween, Primal Fear, Iron Savior, and virtually every other metal band that's come from Germany in the past 20 years. Not an essential purchase by any means...

I had this a few years back. Not bad, and I kept it around for a few months, but it got boring fairly quickly and I eventually dumped it. Honestly, can't say I've missed it one iota.

 

Time will tell if I do the same. At least it's better than the Temple of Brutality disc I traded for it.

[Fat Freddy]

Lethal Aggression - LIFE IS HARD...

 

This is a reissue of a 1989 album from the New Jersey hardcore/thrash (some would say "thrashcore" or "speedcore") band. Kinda sounds like a mish-mosh of the first Suicidal Tendencies album with some early C.O.C., D.R.I., Cryptic Slaughter, etc. mixed in. This is stuff from when hardcore was actually FUN, as opposed to nowadays, when hardcore is full of whiny, pretentious, vegetarian straight-edge motherf**kers tryin' to tell you how you should live your life. The Lethal Aggression guys like their beer, love their dope, and they'll kick your ass if you don't like'em for it. With 44 tracks (!) on the CD this is a lot to get thru in one sitting, but you gotta love a band with song titles like "Tipper Gore Smokes Dope," "Stuck F**k," and "Dicked Again."

[aMetalhead1966]

Lethal Aggression - LIFE IS HARD...

 

This is a reissue of a 1989 album from the New Jersey hardcore/thrash (some would say "thrashcore" or "speedcore") band. Kinda sounds like a mish-mosh of the first Suicidal Tendencies album with some early C.O.C., D.R.I., Cryptic Slaughter, etc. mixed in. This is stuff from when hardcore was actually FUN, as opposed to nowadays, when hardcore is full of whiny, pretentious, vegetarian straight-edge motherf**kers tryin' to tell you how you should live your life. The Lethal Aggression guys like their beer, love their dope, and they'll kick your ass if you don't like'em for it. With 44 tracks (!) on the CD this is a lot to get thru in one sitting, but you gotta love a band with song titles like "Tipper Gore Smokes Dope," "Stuck F**k," and "Dicked Again."

I remember those guys...I thought it was a really good/fun release..

didn't know it was reissued...your spot on about the "New Hardcore"...Your Killin'

me so true!!!

[Fat Freddy]

I remember those guys...I thought it was a really good/fun release..

didn't know it was reissued...your spot on about the "New Hardcore"...Your Killin'

me so true!!!

 

Funny stuff! I love the song "Spooge" (whatever the hell that means)... "You're a spooge, you're a spooge, you're a f**kin' spooge... you're a f**kin' a**hole and I HATE YOU!"

[Dark Star]

Metalium - MILLENNIUM METAL CHAPTER ONE (1999)

 

I'm not exactly sure how I missed out on this disc when it was first released during the Great Euro-Power Metal Resurgence of the late 90s but I got it now. Metalium is a decent, although totally unoriginal, power metal band that has a great lead vocalist (Henning Basse) backed by such all stars as Chris Caffery (guitars) and Mike Terrana (drummer for Rage) and sounds like a mish mosh of the best stuff from Gamma Ray, Helloween, Primal Fear, Iron Savior, and virtually every other metal band that's come from Germany in the past 20 years. Not an essential purchase by any means but definitely a fun listen. I could do without the ridiculous sci-fi concept (some nonsense about "true metallians" saving the earth, or whatever) but the performances are fine and that Basse guy can definitely wail his ass off. The cover version of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" that closes the disc seems a little out of place compared with the other tracks, though.

Anyway, I traded away a real P.O.S. disc to get this one (Temple Of Brutality's LETHAL AGENDA) so I definitely got the better end of the deal.

 

 

Dude I got this when it came out back in the late 90s?? It's pretty good.. But, look for their other stuff.. It gets better with each album they put out.. I think they matured a bit on their second album, Definitely worth a listen.....