Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Vastum – Carnal Law

It’s been a while since I’ve last reviewed an album so it’s time to listen to some new music and let you all know what to buy and what, well, not.

Today I’m reviewing Vastum’s debut album Carnal Law. Vastum are a band from San Francisco, California, consinsting of members of Acephalix and Saros.

Vastum play an interesting blend of oldschool Death Metal and Doom Metal but why don’t we just get right into the review? Make the jump to read on.

Blast from the Past: Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Seven deadly sins, seven ways to win, seven holy paths to hell, and your trip begins. Seven downward slopes, seven bloodied hopes, seven are your burning fires, seven your desires… These are the words that open Iron Maiden‘s seventh album, the aptly titled Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. And what a way to open it is.

Released in 1988, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the second Iron Maiden album to feature keyboards, it is the last to include guitarist Adrian Smith until Brave New World in 2000, and it is the band’s attempt at somewhat of a concept, almost Prog like, album.

We’ve been running this site for nearly a year now and we have yet to review a single Iron Maiden album, we just had a brilliant Friday Top 10 on the Maiden, so it’s about time we reviewed an album right? Make the jump to see what I make of the 1988 classic (bollocks I just gave away my verdict).

Blast from the Past: The Haunted – The Dead Eye

The Haunted were once a well respected Metal act, but that all began to change with the return of original vocalist, Peter Dolving, in 2004. That isn’t to say Dolving is a worse, or even bad vocalist, because he isn’t. The fact is though, some of his online rantings have proven to rub some Metal fans (particularly Blabbermouth users) the wrong way. In addition to this, his return to the band also came at the same time when the band decided to explore other territories, that haven’t gone down well with everyone. Whilst 2004’s rEVOLOVEr was met with almost universal critical acclaim, not everyone was a fan, and when The Dead Eye was released in 2006, there was even less fans, including the critics.

Fast forward 5 years, and The Haunted have just released, arguably, their worst album yet (if you choose to believe the internet). 2008’s Versus didn’t have many fans either, and most people point to The Dead Eye as the point in which everything started to go wrong. So with that in mind, it’s about time I had a hard look at this album myself and offered my own opinion on this controversial album. Make the jump for the review.

Blast from the Past: Strapping Young Lad – Alien

Strapping Young Lad, masters of chaos Metal (yes, I just made that term up – making up sub genres FTW!), and the brain child of manic, musical genius, Devin Townsend. The band formed in 1994, and created some of the most aggressive, schizophrenic and manic music until the band came to a natural end in 2007.

This week I’ve decided to review the band’s fourth studio album, Alien, so go ahead and make the jump for my verdict.

Review: Rolo Tomassi – Eternal Youth

This month, in celebration of the start of their own record label, insane noisecore crew Rolo Tomassi have released a special two-disc anthology of rare and unreleased material spanning their six year career, Eternal Youth. In case you didn’t know, the band released their second studio album last year, and I rather liked it.

B-side and remix albums are always a tricky one, because often they’re full of filler material that was left of studio albums for a reason, whilst other times the material at hand is too different from what fans come to expect from the band, that the fans take a dislike to it. But more often than not, they only appeal to the most hardcore of hardcore fans and no one else.

So what do I make of Eternal Youth? Make the jump to find out.