DivineFire: Eye of the Storm

Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Rivel Records
Year: 2011

When I first heard that DivineFire was returning, needless to say, I was very happy. When I heard that you could pay 15$ for a signed copy, I jumped on it. Now after taking the time to listen to the album all the way through, I feel I should review it.

At first, I wasn't expecting what I was hearing. I did know that a new singer was coming on board but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it until I got to listen to it. From what I can gather, the first half of the album, tracks 1-7 are new songs, sung by the new singer Germán Pascual, and the last half of the album, tracks 8-10, with 11 being an instrumental piece, are sung by Christian Liljegren, the original singer.

Returning to handle the instruments is one of my personal favorite people in the Metal genre today, Jani Stefanovic, who also plays for Death Metal band Miseration, as well as a former member of the Metal Super-group Solution .45.

I'm not going to bash Germán for the sole reason is that I like his style. It brings a new vibe to DivineFire that I personally think they never had. Bear in mind that I first heard these guys when their Into a New Dimension was released, but I have also listen to their older stuff as well.

Now lets talk about the songs for a little bit. As I stated before, the first half of the songs are all new, completely original pieces. The last half, however, from my version of the album, is consisted entirely, save for the last song which is an instrumental piece, is all remakes of older songs. My personal favorite of these remakes would have to the the song Never Surrender, original off their debut release record Glory Thy Name, back in 2004. 

The reason I like the remake is because of the original. It's one of my favorite songs by DivineFire, with Eric Clayton of Savior Machine, which is a progressive neoclassical Christian gothic symphonic metal band from LA, California, as a guest/backing vocalist on the track.

From what I can gather by listening to the records, the remakes are all "remasters" instead of "remakes". The reason I say that is they have more "ompf" to them, a little more of a kick if you will.

As far as ratings go, I'm sorry to say that I feel this album deserves only a 7. The reason I say that is because, in my honest opinion, this album didn't have the drive I was expecting it to have. I know it's only a return album and whatnot, but I still think they could have given a lot more drive to it.

You know what they say, beggars can't be choosers.

As always, I'm your host, Wattako.

Amon Amarth: Surtur Rising

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Label: Metal Blade

Year: 2011

"The Vanir felt deceived
Höne was a fool
without Mímir at his side
Höne could not rule
In a fit of violent rage
Mímir's blood was shed
and to Odin's court they sent Mímir's severed head"

Here it is, folks, Amon Amarth's newest record, Surtur Rising. Needless to say I was VERY impressed with this album. I was hoping it wasn't going to be like Twilight of the Thunder God and I was happily surprised. What do I mean by "Like Twilight"? What I mean is, while it's still one of my favorite albums in my collection, I didn't care much for the two songs Guardians of Asgaard and Varyages Of Miklagaard. Not sure why, just didn't like them.

But this CD, from start to finish, is good. The song I have a problem with is the second track on the record: Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II for the slowness of it. That, and I just didn't like the the construction of the song. My four favorite songs off the record are: War of the Gods, Destroyer of the Universe, Slaves of Fear and A Beast Am I. These four songs are great, but NOTHING has as much drive to it as Twilight of the Thunder God. That one song has more drive to it then an entire album in my opinion. If you ask me, they should an album with as much drive in every song as Twilight of the Thunder God. 

Now before I go any further, I do need to say that the only reason I listen to Amon Amarth is because I feel that they are telling stories with their music. I've always found Norse Mythology to be a fascinating and interesting subject, and I have done A LOT of personal research of it. I don't take ANY OF IT SERIOUSLY.

Now that the religious stuff is out of the way, let's get back to the music.

This is one album I could listen to several times over and still get a different feel every time. Depending on my mood, I may not listen to Amon Amarth at all for up to a week, maybe longer. But when I think Death Metal, I think Amon Amarth. I like my music to have some melody to it, which is why I will always prefer Melodic Death Metal to generic Death Metal.

I WON'T however listen to anything past With Odin On Our Side because I don't like the content of the albums. W.O.O.O.S. is almost too much for me as it stands. I haven't even listen to W.O.O.O.S. all the way through yet, and most likely never will. I found the songs I like, and I stick to them.

I'm keeping this one short because I'm vacation and don't want to spend most of my day in front of a computer screen. So I'll skip right to the rating.

9/10. I give it that because of the song I mentioned above that I don't like. If it weren't for that one song, this would more than likely have a perfect score. The music is awesome in my opinion. There isn't anything I don't like, save for the second track. But other then that, I give Amon Amarth Surtur Rising a 9/10. Good jobs, guys. Keep up the good work.

As always, I'm your host, Wattako.

Stay Shockey.

"If your a Christian, why do you listen to Secular music?"

I can't tell you how many times I've had this question asked to me...And honestly, it's getting tiring answering it all the time. In case you haven't noticed (and I don't mean to cow across as rude or brash here), I don't JUST listen to/review Christian music. Most people, as I have come to realize, when they think Christian music, they think of the contemporary. But oh my friend, I am NOT a contemporary limited listener.

Just in case you haven't noticed, I do listen to Secular music. But I know when enough is enough and when to change gears. I'm not going to get all preachy on your guys, saying that "rock 'n roll is the devil!", because that would make me a huge friggin' hypocrite. To answer the question, I listen to it because I like it. Most of the Secular music I listen to isn't "over-the-top, extreme" Secular. If it bashes my faith, I don't listen to it. I won't lie, I do listen to Five Finger Death Punch on occasion. I'm not going to say "but only the stuff that doesn't have cussing in it", because that would deprive the point of the music. What I like about 5FDP is that most of there music, if you REALLY listen to it and break it down, is themed around the Military. If you would like, I can do a quick review of War Is The Answer and better explain what I mean.

But I will tell you this; I really have to micromanage myself when it comes to music, because I am an easily influenced person. If I listen to too much of 5FDP, I become angry and bitter at the world and everyone around me. If I listen to too much slow stuff, I become depressed and emotional. If I listen to too much high octane, fast action stuff, I become so pumped up that I have to burn off my energy by any means whatsoever.

Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I listen to both Christian and Secular music, a majority of it being Metal. And no I don't have a problem with it, and neither does anyone else I know, because I know when the right time is metal and what is the right time for contemporary. And most of the time I ask people before I just put on a random song, because I know a few people that don't like metal.

I'm not one of those people that are like "it's metal or nothing!" because I was raised with a diversity of music. When my dad drove the car, it was classic country. When my mom drove the car, it was classic rock and 80's pop. And as time went one, I found other styles of music that I liked. I'm a well rounded person, and will listen to just about anything, from A Capella to Country, From Metal to Classical, from Big Band/Swing to Jazz. I don't care, I love music. I listen to whatever I'm in the mood for.

If your still lost about this whole thing, don't worry, so am I.

Accept: Blood of the Nations

Genre: Speed/Heavy Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 2010

No picture this time, as I am no longer at home, but I am on vacation and using my friends Mac instead of my PC. I did buy a new laptop from Best Buy yesterday, but I have to wait for the store to open again today so I can go get it, once they've finished installing the new software I bought with it.

But if we want to talk tech, I'll make a new blog for that...Right now, we're here to talk music. And not just any music, mind you. We're here to talk about a band that's been growing on me as of late, Accept, who come to us from good 'ol Germany (if that somehow came across as sarcastic, it wasn't).  More importantly,  their newest album Blood of the Nations.

I have to start off with this: Beat the Bastards ALWAYS gets stuck in my head. I have to say its my favorite track on the record, followed by the second track, Teutonic Terror. I can't remember what spot on my Top 30 list I posted awhile back that I put Blood of the Nations, but if I remember right it was in my top 10...I won't go back to check, because I like the fact that I don't remember everything.

Blood of the Nations is right up my ally for "speed metal". It's not overly fast, but it's also not a slower metal that makes me want to fall asleep after fifteen minutes or so. One my friends, who will remain unnamed, is a diehard DragonForce fan, and more power to him. I will admit, some, SOME, of their studio stuff is....well its okay. I wouldn't, and don't, listen to them on a regular basis because it's WAY to samey and dull for me. I like a little verity in my music. Don't get me wrong, speed for speed sake is all fine and dandy, but only at certain points. And I saw them live at Mayhem Fest '08, along with Disturbed, Suicide Silence, Five Finger Death Punch and Mastodon, as well as several other bands that I can't remember the names of.

But Accept is a band that I look forward to. What I mean by that is I own Blood of the Nations, and I will most likely be going in the way-back machine to check out some of the earlier stuff. But for now, I give Accept: Blood of the Nations an 8/10. "An 8/10? What a minute...You gave a band, that's main genre is a genre you don't listen to hardly at all, an 8.5/10, but you give a speed metal band from Germany, that's been around WAY longer an 8/10?" And I'm sure some of you are feeling just like The Nostalgia Critic when he reviewed "Quest for Camelot" on his website, thatguywiththeglasses.com, which almost every five minutes he shouted "EXPLAIN!!!!". I could be wrong on the movie, but again, I'm not going to find out just for my own gain. If you want to correct me, by all means, go ahead.

But the reason I gave these guys a lower score then Silent Lapse is more or less the same reason I gave Silent Lapse the score I gave them. Some of the overall structure of some of the songs was boring, the vocals are really, REALLY gravelly and kind of a little bit TOO rough, which makes me want to call them a Heavy/Speed/Trash metal band, even though some people would be inclined to disagree, and I won't argue with you about it.

Also, some of the songs are just flat boring. I give you an example with Kill The Pain.....

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a good ballad, and Mark Tornillo CAN sing, which threw me off a bit, but there's just something about this song that is boring to me. And I can honestly sit here and say I don't know why I don't like it. It's a good song, the music is good and the lyrics actually make some sense, but I just don't like it all that much.

But as I said before, I give Accept: Blood of the Nations an 8/10. It's a good album, it flows pretty well, and most of the songs hooks get stuck in my head a lot of the time.

But hey....perfection is a terrible thing to try to attain every time you make an album, so you'll just have to settle for second best.

As always, I am your host, Wattako. Stay Shockey.

What to expect...

Hey guys, I've been really busy lately and haven't had much time to do a review. But I promise you I will get going on that again soon. But in the mean time, here's what you can expect to see(in no particular order):

Coriolis: The Endless Funeral

Stryper: The Covering

Megadeth: Endgame/United Abominations (whichever I get first)

Witchburn: This Is How We Slay Our Demons

DivineFire: Eye Of The Storm

Impellitteri: Wicked Maiden

Rise Against: Appeal to Reason
Godsmack: The Oracle
Firewind: Days of Defiance
Accept: Blood of Nations
Red: Until We Have Faces

If you guys got something you would like for me to review, let me know in the comments

BELOW

Thanks for putting up with me, and sorry for keeping you waiting! More stuff to follow soon!

Silent Lapse: Birthright

Genre: Progressive Metal/Rock
Label: Unsigned
Year: 2009


I heard about these guys in '09 after their album Birthright was released through Divine Metal Distributions if I remember correctly. I don't normally listen to progressive. It tends to bore me A LOT, which is the main reason why I don't listen to Dream Theater. But these guys are....well they're alright...but I wouldn't listen to them on a daily basis in my opinion. But what I do like about these guys is that they know what works for them and they stick to it, which a lot of new bands, as I'm finding out, either haven't found what works for them or they don't give a rip.

I will say however, that with Silent Lapse, it's got me interested as to what they will make in the future, with Birthright being their debut LP. Looking at their website, these guys are still young, with the oldest of the members being guitarist Wyatt Aldrich of 27 years old. I haven't been able to find anything out yet about them working on an album or not, seeing as how on their Myspace page it still says they're unsigned.

I've heard a few good hooks from these guys, and overall the construction of the music is good. I'm having a hard time getting past the vocals, but in time, I'll get used to it. For the genre their in, I like Silent Lapse. As I stated before, I don't normally listen to progressive, but their is something about these guys that just kind of catches my attention.

Overall I would give this group a 8.5/10. It's good stuff and I like it, but their are somethings that I don't like. The vocals are a bit hard for me to get past, and some of the slowness gets repetitive and dull, as well as some of the overall construction of some songs. I would recommend this group to someone who's looking for some verity in their selection, or if you just want something a little different, give Silent Lapse's LP Birthright a shot.

Skillet: Awake

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

John Cooper, the lead singer of the band Skillet, along side him, his wife and guitar/keyboards for the band, Korey, guitarist/male backing vocals Ben Kasica and drummer/female backing vocals Jen Ledger form Skillet, the American Christian Rock group with songs such as Monster, Comatose, Hero, Rebirthing  and so on.

When I first heard these guys it was from the album Comatose, with the title track that got me into these guys. I was still in high school when I heard these guys, thanks to my good friend and sudo little brother David, while I was still being a arrogant prick with pants hanging down past my butt. Come to think of it, my high school years, while they sucked, also kind of rocked because I found metal \m/. Lately, Skillet has been breaking into the mainstream rock with songs like Hero and Monster, with both songs being featured on video game WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 soundtrack

Skillet has also had there songs used for the WWE's live broadcast, for events such of The Royal Rumble 2010 and Hell In A Cell 2010. John, being a big WWE fan, was excited to have those two songs used as the themes for the live broadcast and have them put in the video games.

As far as the album goes, I'll give it 8/10 Volts. Reason be is because, while they have awesome songs such as the ones I've mention above, they also have some slower songs that, while the message is amazing, the structure for whatever reason bothers me. Or maybe its the fact that John, which his gruff voice, his trying to sing a Ballard....Whatever the cause may be, Skillet's Awake gets 8/10 Volts.

I'm your host, Miha.