FIRST THIRD ROUND UP: SOME METAL
Caliban – Gravity
Butt-rock metal. Most of the album sounds like a post-industrial attempt at that stuff the metal hipsters listen to nowadays where everything sounds as “epic” as possible and there are parts where the instruments just repeat random atonal garbage and there does not appear to be a standard time signature, meaning things just happen whenever. “Left for Dead” is good until the breakdown. “The Ocean’s Heart” appears to be the only fully listenable track. The rest of the album is just typical butt-metal garbage. The album cover is boring, too.
1/5
Endless – The Truth, The Chaos, The Insanity
Progressive metal. Most of the tracks are high energy, fast tempo, and extremely busy. Not quite “speedy.” The title track sounds like the most well put together one. Maybe the name should have been “The Truth, Designed, Well Organized.” It features a lot of styles and the sections are very identifiable. “Under the Sun” is some sort of electro-pop rock, which makes it the most interesting track. Tracks 6,7,8,11, and 12 all are toned down ballads, with track 13 as just a straight emotional piano image. The non ballad tracks are okay and feature some good technical shredding. The album cover looks like a mess.
2/5
Wisdom – Rise of the Wise
Power folk metal. The melodies and singalong qualities are what push every song. “My Heart is Alive” sounds dumb but is actually quite inspiring. Many of the songs become straight arena rock, like “Through the Fire.” The second half is much better than the first. “Secret life” is so catchy one might sing along. The next track continues to build but is snuffed out by the last track, which happens to be the title track and the most boring as well. The album cover looks cool at first, but upon a second glance…
3/5
Lamashtu – Fallna Själar
Castlevania rip offs with odd up front female vocals. All of the songs are very complex and a treat for the music analyst. Lots of sound effects and a huge variety of orchestral sounds. The guitars also employ many 90’s pedal effects like the plagal effect. Each song has a completely different feel to it. The only complaint is I swear I heard a cowbell on more than one track. There is some sort of ragtime on track 6. The album cover is very scary.
4/5
Final Chapters – Legions of the Sunday
Crazy speed power metal. It all sounds like video game music. There are a lot of melodies, but many of them are overused and boring. Some of the tracks are just rock songs with shredding and synth hits. Probably something a lot of high-schoolers are into. Track 7 actually has some emotion in the male vocals and is the only one I could recommend. I like the album cover because it has many colors.
2/5