Dark Tranquillity – We Are the Void
Century Media

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Written by Niek of Deathmetalbaboon.com

We Are the Void is already the ninth album of these fathers of Swedish melodeath, a.k.a. the Gothenburn style. Their previous one was Fiction and was released in 2007. We Are the Void has been baptized to be the second part of a duology in which Fiction was part 1. And what do you get with sequels?

Yep, more of the same, usually not as well performed either (Terminator 2 being the exception). Thus, if you liked Fiction, don’t buy this one and keep your memories pure. If you’re a diehard Dark Tranquillity fan, then you surely will buy this album. The key then is to employ it for the right moods. This is no stuff for when you’re in the good mood, because it’ll slow you down. Instead, play this when your cat just got mangled by an SUV or something.

The piano parts on this album don’t add much in terms of emotion. It’s all very flat and simplistic, as if it were a rhythm guitar. Waste of a good piano, because a whole lot could have been achieved with it on this album. The music lends itself well for that.

Still, there are a few enjoyable tracks on the record. Tune in to Dream Oblivion, Iridium and Star of Nothingness and you’ll have the best songs of the album in your ears. The rest is pretty much void.

My favorite tracks: Dream Oblivion and Iridium.

The Jasser Arafats – Condemnation
Violent Journey Records

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Written by Niek of Deathmetalbaboon.com

They’re Finnish, fast and furious. As original and unorthodox as their name is, as violent, raw and unpolished is their play. And that’s all in the good way. The Jasser Arafats have released their debut album on April 14th and it goes by the name of Condemnation. I was lucky enough to get it a few days earlier and have enjoyed it quite a few times since.

The album will cost you €9.90, or about $13.-, and for that money you will get nearly 35 minutes of uncompromised musical aggression. That’s precisely the main keyword when describing this album, ‘aggression’, as the intensity of the material is incredible. Condemnation is excellent material for when you need to let off steam or when you just want to headbang your brains out. It is not so good for when you’re behind the wheel, because speed tickets or lethal accidents will more than likely be your share.

The raw, heavy rhythm guitars and quick paced, sharp and nifty solos, the low-tuned bass work, the solid no-nonsense drumming that’s bass-drum-moderate for a change and the use of no other but loud, deep, grunting vocals make this an excellent Death-thrash release. Especially considering this is only their debut release.

My only critique is that the album could do with a bit more variation in song types. The few calm moments the listener is given make up only about a few seconds together, making the grand total quite a rush. Then again, 35 minutes isn’t all that long, so you won’t miss a relaxed moment unless you play the album three times in a row.

Give these guys some love, because they deserve it! And do play ‘em loud!

My favorite tracks: Stillborn and KAOS.

Solution .45 – For Aeons Past
AFM Records

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Written by Niek of Deathmetalbaboon.com

Solution .45 is the joining of forces of musical talents of several Swedish Death Metal bands, making this a genuine metal supergroup. The project was founded by masterminds Jani Stefanovic (Miseration, Essence of Sorrow, The Few Against Many, and many other bands) and Christian Älvestam, best know as the former Scar Symmetry multi-style vocalist half the metal world adores. With that in mind, it’s not a surprise that my (and anybody else’s) expectations for the group’s debut release were sky high.

Unfortunately, anticipation is a big spoiler, because expectations grow bigger and bigger in your head. Solution .45 knew this when they set out and so they must have had a pretty good amount of confidence in their own abilities that they would be able to pull this off. So, have they?

Well, not completely. True, the supply of musical talent within this group is indisputable, as are Älvestam vocal capabilities. The man can make any mainstream, popular or whatever other type musician feel like an utter zero and then seamlessly provide a bombardment of growling, grunting violence without blinking. And he knows it! That then is exactly the problem, as his clean vocals on For Aeons Past not infrequently tend towards sugar-pop, with too much scale singing and pitch changing. Beyoncé does it too and she annoys the hell out of me.

His growls and grunts on the other hand are superb as they’ve always been. And they come in countless subtle variations too, which is all the better. So, skip the ballad Lethean Tears and instead listen to the more violent tracks, such as Wirethrone. Much better!

Musically this album is very much virtuoso, yet well balanced, despite the fact that it often feels much too polished. There are more than a few cheesy, ‘kitchy’ melodies to be found, but the majority of tunes is quite appealing.

So, lose your expectations. Expect nothing and you’ll get a few not-so-good songs and a bunch of good ones. One of those is of course the more than sixteen-minute Clandestinity Now, which is an absolute masterpiece. That alone will justify your spendings on this release!

My favorite tracks: On Embered Fields Adust and Clandestinity Now.

Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays
Nuclear Blast Records

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In my opinion, Power metal is one of the best styles of Metal you can find and one of the bands that has been a round for a while to represent that style is Sonata Arctica. In their newest/sixth full length release entitled The Days of Grays, Sonata Arctica continues to represent the Power metal style as well as continuing to add some of the Progressive metal style just as they have in some of their other newer releases. One thing I really like about this album/band is the fact that the vocals of singer Tony Kakko really fit well with the music made by the rest of the band. Power metal bands are under a lot more critique by me since I love the style so much and since it’s hard to find really great vocalists to make the band whole. Sonata Arctica has no problem with the combination of music and vocals, and The Days of Grays is only one piece of proof. Getting more into the tracks, the one track that really jumped out at me as a favorite track is “Flag in the Ground” (Track 4), but that certainly doesn’t mean the rest of the album is bad. In fact, some of the other tracks I would recommend listening to for a great listening experience are: “Zeroes” (Track 6), “No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart” (Track 9), and “Everything Fades to Gray (Full Version)” (Track 12) (Everything Fades to Gray (Full Version) is the “full version” because Track 1 is an instrumental version). Each of these songs brings different elements of the bands talents to help create a great album. Overall, The Days of Grays is an album I would certainly recommend to any Progressive metal and Power metal fans as well as anyone looking to get into either of those two styles and expand their metal arsenal.

Epica – Design Your Universe
Nuclear Blast Records

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Symphonic metal band Epica is back with their fifth full length release, entitled Design Your Universe, and they still sound phenomenal! The mixture of the epic and heavy music, the beautiful singing of Simone Simons, and the screams/growls of guitarist/vocalist Mark Jansen is excellent! This band really lives out their name, putting the “epic” in Epica. Design Your Universe includes 13 tracks on the Standard Release version of the album and lasts approximately 1 hour and 14 minutes with two songs lasting over 9 minutes (“Kingdom of Heaven” is approx. 13:35 and “Design Your Universe” is approx. 9:29). Within the 13 tracks, it’s definitely hard to find any stand alone tracks since all of them flow well together and support each other while keeping their own identities and being great as individual tracks, but there are certainly some I would recommend for a great listening experience before hearing the whole album. Some of the tracks I recommend include the two aforementioned tracks “Kingdom of Heaven” (Track 6) and “Design Your Universe” (Track 13/Title track), “Unleashed” (Track 3), “Tides of Time” (Track 9), and “White Waters” (Track 12) which features Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica. Again, each of these tracks are excellent, but they all have their own identities and serve their own purpose in making Design Your Universe such a great album. Overall, I would suggest this album to any Symphonic metal fans, people looking to get into Symphonic metal, and previous Epica fans.

Pan.A.Ce.A – We the Broken
Susquehanna Entertainment

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Pan.A.Ce.A is back with their follow-up album to their February 2009 release All Or Nothing entitled We the Broken, and they are back with a vengeance! Weighing in with 13 brand new tracks, We the Broken picks right up where All Or Nothing left off and packs a good punch. The overall sound of this album is definitely melodic, but it’s also not shy on the “Hard” in Hard rock, and really, the balance between the melodic aspects and the heavier aspects couldn’t be better. One thing in this record that kind of popped out for me is the relationship between the bass parts by Matt Jaffin and drum parts by Kevin Harry. The overall musical and vocal qualities are excellent all around and they mix perfectly, but on this record, I got a lot more drums and bass (which I enjoy, being a bassist myself). The first taste of this relationship you get jumps right of the speakers in the first fifteen seconds of the first track “Too Little Too Late” with a great drum roll/fill at the start, then the bass becomes prominent as the verse begins with the vocals. From there, the musicianship stays at an excellent skill level and, again, Tim Farley’s vocals really mix well with the music (even coming in with a mid range scream near the end of “Too Little Too Late” and later in “No More Secrets”). As usual, there are some tracks on this album I would recommend for your listening pleasures. The recommended tracks from We the Broken include: “Too Little Too Late” (Track 1), “Stay” (Track 4), “No More Secrets” (Track 8), “The Fix” (Track 11), and “Everything Is Different (When I’m With Her)” (Track 12). Now, these are recommended tracks from the whole album, but really, all of the tracks on this album are solid and worth listening too. Overall, We the Broken is an excellent album I recommend to any previous Pan.A.Ce.A fans as well as any Hard rock fans out there.

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Echoes of Eternity – As Shadows Burn
Nuclear Blast Records

(4.5/5)

For years, Heavy metal has been a male dominated style of music, but Progressive metal band Echoes of Eternity is one of the many bands out today that are proving that there is certainly a place for women in Metal. Echoes of Eternity’s place amongst the ranks has been proved through the release of their newest full length album As Shadows Burn. Combining several different styles of Metal, As Shadows Burn‘s 9 tracks nearly jump through the speakers as you listen to them with a subtle “epic” feel behind the pounding combination of double bass drums, Death metal style blast beats (used occasionally), and the speed of the guitar riffs behind the beautiful voice of Francine Boucher. The outcome is nothing short of incredible. Now, as great as each track is on this album, there are a few I have to make mention of for a good example of the album’s overall power: “Ten of Swords” (Track 1), “Descent of a Blackened Soul” (Track 5), and “Funeral in the Sky” (Track 9). Each of these tracks portrays the diversity used by Echoes of Eternity to make their mark on the Metal world. Overall, These tracks combined with the other 6 tracks make As Shadows Burn a great record I would recommend to Progressive metal fans as well as Power metal fans and even some Symphonic metal fans. All in all, it’s a great album for your Metal arsenal!