Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Shining lingerie

Shining, Shining, Shining is there anything the black metal masterminds don’t do? When I saw the band had released their own brand of lingerie a few weeks back I just had to get a pair for my girlfriend. After all, there’s nothing hotter than seeing a moist vagina clad in the undergarments branded by a band as sexy as Shining. Metal and sex go hand in hand after all, quite literally (err….).

You can catch my quite brilliant review of the pink g-string (also available in black, purple and red) after the jump.

Review: DEF-CON-ONE – Warface

As un-metal as it sounds, DEF-CON-ONE are a band that I hold dear to my heart. Not only were they the very first band I interviewed for this site, they were also a band that represented exactly what Dose of Metal is about. We at DoM always said that we wanted to support up and coming metal acts and promote new talented bands, and it’s great to see that one of the first bands we interviewed have been progressing immensely. In the one and a half years since we interviewed DEF-CON-ONE, the band have gone on to play the UK’s metal festival, Bloodstock, have toured extensively, have released a video and finally earlier this year, they released their debut album, Warface.

Once described by myself as sounding like old-school Burn My Eyes era Machine Head, but with a heavy Pantera influence, it’s time to see if DEF-CON-ONE‘s debut lives up to this hype. Make the jump.

Review: Bleeding Through – The Great Fire

To many metalheads, they may just be ‘yet another metalcore band’, but let’s give credit where credit is due. Bleeding Through have always stood out for me, personally, because they’re not ‘just another metalcore band’. Yes, they play hardcore, yes they play metal, but Bleeding Through also incorporate sounds often heard more in other sub-genres to help create a more unique vision in the sea of metalcore. Beyond the two previous genres, Bleeding Through also make use of elements found more commonly in Swedish melodic death metal, symphonic black metal, industrial and thrash metal, to name a few.

So if Bleeding Through are that good and that unique, why aren’t they more widely acclaimed? And why do most metalheads still disregard them as another bland metalcore act? Well it probably comes down to how hit and miss Bleeding Through‘s catalog is. The Devin Townsend produced 2008 album Declaration may have been sublime, but other albums have been more lackluster when digested as a whole.

With that said, Bleeding Through released their new album The Great Fire a couple of months back, so make the jump to find out how the band’s latest effort stacks up.

Review: Echoes – With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea

Those feeling depressed from the two long years it has been since Envy‘s brilliant last album, wash those tears away, because there’s a new hardcore band on the block, and one well worth checking out.

Formed in 2010, Echoes are a post-metal band from Winchester, UK, playing a diverse blend of ambient hardcore and metal and drawing influences from artists such as This Will Destroy You, Rinoa, Devil Sold His Soul and Hans Zimmer (you can check out the band’s awesome cover of ‘Time’ here by the way).

A couple of weeks ago Echoes released their debut EP With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea (thanks for making me spend 3 weeks typing your EP title guys!) and I can’t resist giving it a Dose of Metal review.

Echoes – With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea

1. ‘Leaving None Behind’ – 5:25
2. ‘Rivers’ – 5:10
3. ‘Safe it Seems’ – 5:06

With an Eye…  opens with the epic and ambitious ‘Leaving None Behind’. Desperate screams from vocalist Joshua resonate over ambient melodies and explosive harmonies, succeeding in coercing emotion to the listener without reducing the music to generic Clichés and cheesy lyrics. The murky bass moves the verses forward and helps the melody flow whilst atmospheric clean guitar lines glisten upon the surface.

Next track ‘Rivers’ demonstrates Echoes’ desire to not repeat themselves. The song is a lot gloomier in its approach, with an initial grunge sound in the verses. The bridge and chorus are more upbeat however, once again being driven by the powerful, emotional vocals and instrumentation.

The EP’s closing track ‘Safe it Seems’ is a climatic and fitting conclusion to the demo. Providing a mix of high uplifting shrieks of  guitars with pummeling drums. When the track break downs into a beautiful interlude, the final crescendo is used to create maximum impact, providing a haunting finale to what has been a fantastic start from this young band.

Overall, Echoes have made a impressive start to their career with this EP/sampler, and with it being offered as a free download via their website, there really isn’t any excuse to pass up on this excellent release. Now all I can say is, bring on the full album!

Links:
Facebook
Official website
Merchandise

Review: Archetype EP (2011)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted at Dose of Metal. It had to happen. At some point, I had to wake up, snap out of it and realize that I’m not a rock star (or should that be metal star?), earning millions and married to my ten wives (all of which are Playboy bunnies, of course). Enter real life: A world where I have commitments, have to earn money and pay rent. We all do it, but hey, I’m still going to bitch about it – because I can.

But sooner or later, I would need to post back on DoM, for at least my sanity’s sake. So here I am, and I figured the best way to get back into it, would be to post some reviews of the music I’ve listened to, good and bad, over the last month or so. So here we go…

Archetype self-titled EP (2011)

1. ‘Decease to Exist’ – 4:39
2. ‘The Fault of My Design’ – 3:50
3. ‘The Silence’ – 3:04
4. ‘Into Infamy’ – 4:02
5. ‘Ruination’ – 4:03

An EP logged in my recent purchases on Amazon comes from relatively unknown unsigned UK act, Archetype. The two-member melodic death metal band, hailing from my hometown, combine a fury of ferocious screams, death metal blastbeats and thrashy riffs, making them one of the more interesting melodic death bands in recent years.

Being an unsigned, young, two-member band, you could be forgiven for thinking that Archetype will be another generic At The Gates ripoff act with little talent. However, this is far from being the case. The amount of talent on display from the two members is incredible. Combining the groove of At The Gates, the triumphant melodies of Arch Enemy and the thrash style of early era The Haunted (before they went a bit shit), Archetype merge various styles, as well as their own unique progressive vision to craft what is a creative take on the melodic death metal genre, avoiding many of the pitfalls and clichés that a lot of their contemporaries fall into .

Musically, the band are on fire for the entire EP, with vocalist Danny McAuley screaming with conviction often unseen with modern metal acts. Musically, Matthew Phillips’ guitar harmonies interweave with violent chords and  pummeling drums. Additionally, the demo is full of some powerful hooks, melodies, and brilliant solos that make this a must have for fans of melodic death metal. The most interesting aspect of the songwriting, however, is the use of motifs throughout the EP, creating continuity between tracks.

Melodic death metal fans looking for something new and fresh, look no further. It’s short and sweet, but for just 3.45 Great British Pounds, you can’t go wrong with this entry EP from newcomers Archetype.