Therion – Live Gothic [2CD/DVD]
Nuclear Blast Records
(4/5)
Swedish Symphonic metal band Therion has just gone live…again! This is actually the band’s second live album and is entitled Live Gothic. Although I have not been known in the past to have much Symphonic metal in my arsenal of music, this 2 CD/DVD release is definitely one I’ll be experiencing for quite some time! One great aspect of this release is the fact that a DVD was released along with the 2 live CDs to give you a better overall experience of the entire set. Overall, it’s definitely a great buy for previous Therion fans or for Symphonic metal fans period. Having a history of changing line-ups quite often, Therion is a hard band to name who is actually IN the band, but for this performance, the band consists of Christofer Johnsson (guitars, keyboards, and organs), Kristian Niemann (lead/rhythm guitars and keyboards), Johan Niemann (bass, guitar, and acoustic guitar), and Petter Karlsson (drums, guitar, keyboards, solo/choral vocals, and percussion) as well as the four solo/choral singers Lori Lewis, Katarina Lilja, Snowy Shaw, and Mats Levén. Out of the four singers, I have to say I prefer the guys voices. I had never heard Therion before, but I recognized Mats Levén’s voice from At Vance’s album Chained and Snowy Shaw’s lower singing really caught my attention as well as his physical appearance on the DVD. As far as the entire album goes, I have to say that no one song is more important to me than any of the others because of the fluidity of the performance, but I do really like the songs “Der Mitternachtslöwe” (Track 1) and “Schwarzalbenheim” (Track 2) as my top 2 favorites. All in all, this Live Gothic is a great buy and I recommend it to Symphonic metal fans everywhere!
All Shall Perish – Awaken the Dreamers
Nuclear Blast Records
(4/5)
Ok Metal fans; are you ready for the next great Grindcore album of 2008!? If so, look no further than All Shall Perish’s newest Nuclear Blast release Awaken the Dreamers! This being my first experience with All Shall Perish, I am actually really impressed with the great talent portrayed by this band. Musically, this album is extremely sound including great shredding guitar and bass lines by guitarists Chris Storey and Ben Orum and bassist Mike Tiner accented excellent double bass by and drum beats by drummer Matt Kuykendall. On top of the great music qualities, vocalist Hernan Hermida really rips it with some very unique vocals. One aspect of this album I find interesting is the slight decline in heaviness as the album goes on through its 12 tracks. I’m not saying that by the end of the album its pure acoustic work, but the amount of cleaner material is incorporated more closer to the end of the album than at the beginning. Again, this entire album has a lot of great qualities that really impressed me. Getting more into the individual tracks of Awaken the Dreamers, I have to say that “Black Gold Reign” (Track 2), “Never…Again” (Track 3), “Awaken the Dreamers” (Title track/Track 5), and “Gagged, Bound, Shelved and Forgotten” (Track 8 ) have to be my top 4. Although those four are my favorites, I have to say that the other eight tracks are absolutely crucial in making this album as great as it is. The overall product is incredible. So, for all the metal fans out there who like styles similar to Grindcore and love great shredding guitar parts, intense drums, and brutal vocals (with a bit of high-pitched ’80s singer flair in a few select spots)…Awaken the Dreamers is the album for YOU!
