 |
| |
| Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews |
| Track by Track Review
|
|
Phoenix
The opening piece is just over a minute and a half long. It starts with some intricate acoustic guitar. Hints of metal pound in, threatening to take over at various points. There are definite comparisons to be made to Metallica on this. As it fires out into more hard rocking stuff it has a real epic progressive metal vibe to it. This instrumental is classy. |
|
First Blood Running
The title track screams into being. It’s furious and rather raw metal. The vocals are more melodic than that, though. This is classic real steel in so many ways. There are some interesting shifts and changes on this thing. It all rocks for sure. |
|
Two Bullets
Much more of a modern, angry metal, this rocks right from the start. This leans towards more extreme metal, or even hardcore, in some ways. It’s a killer tune, though. It also earns a definite parental advisory on the lyrics. |
|
Sweet Revenge
More of a modern metal stomper, this is anthemic. It’s also catchy. It’s one of my favorite songs here. I should say that this kind of nu-metal isn’t really my thing. The fact that this song works so well for me really says a lot about the quality of the tune. |
|
Hope and Misery
Fierce and furious, this is angry and yet quite technical in a lot of ways. It’s like thrash with hardcore and some old school metal in the mix. This is a strong cut. The only problem is that the whole intensity level hasn’t really changed much since the first song. It’s all starting to sound the same by now. There is a weird symphonic kind of thing at the end. |
|
Insidious
The technical metal pounds in to bring this to life. The cut combines that with a mean thrashy kind of sound. Add in some vocals that are closer to nu-metal and you’ll be in the vicinity of this. |
|
Not Myself
There isn’t a huge change here. This is a screamer. It has some moments that are particularly meaty. The formula is starting to wear a bit thin, though. |
|
Wasted
Nu-metal with old school crunch, this is another song that’s solid, but falls into the realm of “too much of the same” as it continues without enough variety. |
|
Long Forgotten
This screamer is thrashy with a lot of extreme metal and hardcore in the mix. The formula is just far too overused by this point, though. The acoustic section brings some needed variety, but it’s a bit too little too late. |
|
Uncredited Track
There is a long bit of silence at the end of the last song. Then an acoustic guitar based ballad emerges. It’s a strong cut and that well-needed variety. More stuff like this placed strategically throughout the disc would have made for a much stronger album. This earns a major parental advisory for the lyrics, though. |
|
Bonus Track
|
|
Born to be Wild
This is a thrashy, almost punk like, cover of the classic Steppenwolf song. I love the fact that they changed it a lot. I’m not overly crazy about the results, but you have to applaud the effort. The extreme metal ending section is pretty cool. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
|
|
© 2024 Music Street Journal
Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com |
