The tenth studio album by the Swedish progressive metal (or rock?) band Pain of Salvation was one of the first releases of 2017. Their last studio album with original songs dates back 7 years ago. But quite honestly I haven't followed PoS in years. To my surprise, I was quite happy to hear the very first notes, "On a Tuesday" sounds heavy! A great way to start, the 10-min opener is full of tempo changes and deeply emotional. The next two songs are shorter but follow the same principle. PoS sounds like they used to in the early 2000's. Then "Silent Gold" slows things down, and a lot! But the song has a nice melody. Other highlights are the also the long "Full Throttle Tribe", "Angels of Broken Things" with a great and long guitar solo, and "The Taming of a Beast". Now, special highlight to the title track that closes the album. It is a 15:30 min beautiful and emotional masterpiece of modern prog rock. The album has some focus problems and some misplaced tracks like "Reasons". However, those are small missteps that do not compromise this outstanding comeback album. Already a strong contender to be topping my year-end list.
Kreator - Gods of Violence
2017 had a very strong start. No beating around the bush, Gods of Violence is a fantastic album and will be topping many year-end lists. To some it may not be as good as the amazing predecessor but at the very least is at par. This album cements Kreator as the current masters of Thrash Metal. The fact that they are not from California is the only reason that explains to me why Kreator is not even bigger than they currently are. The album is a lesson of modern thrash metal with no frills, no bullshit. Kreator can combine one of the best thrash vocals and very aggressive thrash riffs with melody therefore creating instant heavy metal anthems. Not to mention the drumming and guitar solos that complete this receipt for success. With that said, Kreator took baby steps to incorporate traditional heavy metal (e.g. Priest and Maiden) into the mix . Therefore avoiding repeating themselves while delivering another modern masterpiece, but a different one than Phantom Antichrist. Gods of Violence is one of their best albums. Hail to the hordes!
Soen - Lykaia
Soen - Lykaia
Soen's 2014 Tellurian was #11 on my year-end list. The expectations were high for the successor Lykaia. "Sectarian" does a fantastic job opening the album. From the get go we get the trademarks of this album, an original take on a Tool + Opeth sound. One of my favorite things here is the album mix, it's impressive how unique and clear the bass and drums sound. And while Lykaia fell slightly short to my expectations, it's still a very good album from a band that will certainly grow further.
Sepultura - Machine Messiah
Although "Beneath The Remains" was one of the first LPs I've ever bought, I haven't been following the band closely. I definitely do not know the Derrick Green era very well. All of that to say that I'm positively surprised with Machine Messiah. Sepultura's 14th studio album is the band's first in over three years and it's a very good one. Without loosing their thrash roots, the band led by Andreas Kisser takes risks and incorporate a modern metal sound. More importantly they went further and added a touch of progressiveness. The new drummer, Eloy Casagrande delivered some strong drumming in this record. The other highlight is Andreas Kisser superb guitar work. Actually my favorite track is the instrumental "Iceberg Dances" in which both musicians give a music lesson. Other tracks that I dig a lot are "Phantom Self" and "Sworn Oath".
Immolation - Atonement
Atonement is the 10th stdio album from the New York death metallers. Despite being long time legends in the underground scene, this is my first time listening to Immolation. And I dig it. Atonement is a very dark and haunting album. While I'm typically not a huge fan of deep low vocals, it works well for them. Besides, Ross Dolan (bass/vocals) is intelligible which is rare in extreme music. But what really impressed me in this album is the combination of fantastic riffs and dueling guitars over complex drum patterns. The album is very consistent and there are no bad songs. It's definitely my favorite extreme metal album of the yea so far.
BloodBound - War Of Dragons
Excessive and bombastic, War Of Dragons is an example of "more is more" and it would make Malmsteen proud! So yes, I love it! There's nothing new here, boundaries are not pushed and it's by far not a perfect record, but... it's lots of fun. Highly recommended to fans of Rhapsody, Hammerfall and Stratovarius. I caught those guys in a recent festival and bought the two albums with singer Urban Breed. Both very good. After he left, Patrik "Pata" Johansson took over the mike and this is is his 5th LP with BloodBound. A very short obligatory intro with a quick narrative opens to the first single "Battle in the Sky. Right of the gate the song starts with a big chorus. From there the album flows on the same style. All except one song are between 3:30 and 4:30 minutes. All with tons of melody, hooks, dragons and kings, huge choruses and speed. But it does get repetitive, many songs start on the same way (big chorus), lacks originality and the production is a bit too loud. But that's my guilty pleasure of the month, very catchy and fun to listen, songs are well written and nicely combine the styles of several 90's power metal bands with its own flavor. If you miss GoT dragons, this will keep you busy!
Crystal Viper - Queen of the Witches
Crystal Viper is certainly a unique band, a Polish traditional heavy metal band fronted by Marta Gabriel who also plays guitars. The sound however it's not original, heavily influenced by the NWOBHM sound: Dueling guitars, very melodic and sing-along choruses. The big problem of Queen of the Witches is having two ballads that are not so good. The other 8 songs are really fun and straightforward proper metal songs, all around the 4:30 m mark. All in all, Crystal Viper delivers a solid, easy to listen and direct heavy metal with no frills but also nothing new. Queen of the Witches does the job right.
