This album got quite a load of negative reviews. I can understand some of the reasons. First of all, the artificial drum sound always quite sounds the same and is a quite negative factor for the dynamics of the songs. The vocals sound as if the band recruited a guy from a more or less convincing Blaze Bayley cover band. Overall, the production lacks power and a better job could have made the final result a lot more energizing. These things are all right.

But at the end of the day, I think that this album is a hell load of fun. Most of the songs are quite catchy and immediately invite to sing and bang along. Nevertheless, there are different atmospheres, styles and topics on the record from mid-tempo rockers like "Into The Black" over simple but efficient feel good party rock songs like "Me & The Boys" to rather epic and dark vibes as on the closing "Dracula". The changes are often small but no idea is too clearly copied from the past or even used twice as on the critically acclaimed and quite overrated "Stalingrad" from Accept that came out around the same time and where the same riffs are used over and over again on the same album.

Each time a song starts I already have a little smile on my face and find the track quite addictive, memorable and old school. The tracks are predictable, lack of deepness and are not innovating. But the band simply gets back to the basics and does what it knows best. It simply works for me. It's definitely better than many other bands of the same age that desperately try out the two extremes by changing nothing at all and releasing the same kind of music over and over again as Saxon do or by desperately trying to sound progressive by adding endless pointless introductions and solo passages to their songs as Iron Maiden do. The record we have here sounds cool and relaxed as if the band would play without any pressure and would give a damn about critics and expectations. This light feeling makes this album quite enjoyable despite its big production flaws. This kind of sound has become a rarity nowadays and it’s enjoyable to still stumble over this kind of music from time to time.

The guitar solos are short but very well done. The vocals sound down to earth, grounded and natural and simply fit to the somewhat simplistic music. The record has no true highlight but no true stinker as well and ultimately sounds very coherent and enjoyable to me from the beginning to the end without being repetitive. This record surely is no highlight in any metal collection and doesn't come close to the band's classics but it's definitely not the downfall many people claim it to be and better than what might have been expected after so many years of confusion within Running Wild. Just don’t compare this to the band’s earliest outputs and take it as an unexpected new start for a band that still enjoys what it plays – a solid dose of catchy hard rock and heavy metal that I really like to enjoy from time to time.

After so many positive comments and favorable reviews about the last two Accept records in the entire metal scene I decided to try out the two new albums starting with their newest one which is Stalingrad. After several tries, I realize that the metal scene worships the save value of nostalgia instead of fresh innovation. Accept try to sound the way they have always sounded. Even though the record is very strong from a purely technical point of view, is very well produced as well and offers anything an Accept fan should expect, I can't feel anything more profound. The vocals are strong but are nothing more than a quite solid copy of the original vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and lack of an own identity. The guitar solos are great but sound predictable while the riffs sound quite old school and used. The song structures offer nothing new and even the lyrics are about topics that have already been touched by the metal scene far too often. This album has no metal heart and doesn't even come close to band classics such as "Balls To The Wall" or "Russian Roulette".

Only three tracks stand out of exchangeable riffs, one dimensional mid and up tempo hymns and the usual topics. The title track "Stalingrad" is a truly epic track with multiple changes that features a sequence of the Soviet's Union national anthem in the middle of the track. Even though this idea is nothing new as we all remember the portions of Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March" and Beethoven's "Für Elise" in a track like the legendary anthem "Metal Heart", the title track works very well and puts you into a majestic atmosphere that fits the lyrical topic. The track offers nothing new but is done with a lot of emotion. The half ballad "Twist Of Fade" proves that this band has much more to offer than closed minded traditional heavy metal and that they can write truly touching songs with profound emotions and some technical surprises. The closing epic "The Galley" is another classic metal track but contains a couple of surprises and is a perfect way to finish the record.

But the rest of the songs are quite all the same. Accept fans will surely buy and like this. Many of the tracks will probably work better on stage than in the studio. But in the end, let's be honest and realize that none of the eleven songs has the quality of the band's classics. This release is in fact neither a step back to the glorious past nor a step forward to new shores of the heavy metal sound universe. Accept are stuck in their past reputation and desperately try to deliver what everyone expects them to do. This would have been a tolerable step for the comeback record “Blood Of The Nations” but I really expected something more from “Stalingrad”. On the other side, the well received critics show that a very big part of the metal scene accepts this worship of the past and doesn't want to enjoy anything that might still be memorable in a couple of years. Don't get me wrong, you can listen to this record and have a lot of fun with it. You surely don't always need innovation in the metal genre. But Accept have clearly done better in the past. The three outstanding songs show me that they are still able to get further than the save lane they're driving here. They should get the foot off the brake and accelerate to new shores on the next record and gather all their resources to step forward and create something truly impressive.

Clair De Lune is a very promising and highly diversified symphonic metal band from El Salvador that reminds me a little bit of Le Grand Guignol from Luxembourg. Fans of gothic metal with classical female and harsh male vocals will adore this output as well as fans of rather avant-garde orientated stuff like UneXpect even though this band is much easier to follow and appreciate. After several band name changes and demo productions, this first single of the band called "Soul Mirror" is indeed an excellent choice to get some promotion and airplay as this song resumes everything this band is able to play.

The title track kicks off with some catchy classical melodies that harmonize well with some simple guitar riffs. In comparison to many other bands of the same genre, the guitars don't bury the sound of the orchestral elements. This majestic introduction leads into a fast paced rhythm with energizing blackened male vocals and operatic but not too high pitched and actually enjoyable female vocals. The music has many changes in rhythm and style and many interesting details such as some beautiful flute harmonies in the background and soft piano sounds. Apart of a short bass solo, there are not many surprises but the entertainment factor is overall well elevated. The band truly puts more ideas in a single track than other bands in their entire records. That's why I hope that a full length record is going to follow this release very soon.

Nevertheless, the track is not confusing but actually well structured and coherent despite its epic touch and a couple of typical elements for the genre. The band doesn't innovate much but they seem to know what they can do best and execute their slightly progressive symphonic gothic metal in an excellent manner. I will surely listen to this over and over again in the next days as there are many details to get discovered in this solid release.

Ningen-Isu is one of the most diversified bands I have ever listened to in my life. This great compilation presents twenty-eight tracks from the last two decades and around two hours and a half of music. That's why this record is an essential way to get in touch with the band and discover what they have created over all these years.

The band has many faces. The straighter and shorter tracks have many sudden changes in style that could remind of a band like System Of A Down or also The Offspring in the dirtier parts while some tracks also have an unpredictable crossover with a dominating slap bass, weird guitar chords and speed passages that make me think of the early years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

On the other side, the record also has its calmer and rather progressive moments that honour the music of the seventies around bands such as Led Zeppelin and Golden Earring in particular but also Black Sabbath in some more doom orientated passages. Some slight folk influences and the vocals remind you that you are actually listening to a Japanese band. Ningen-Isu seems just to find the right mixture between exotic sounds and more Western influenced music.

The band has also a harsher side that is influenced by experimental thrash metal with spacey flows reminding me of Voivod that are combined with tight riffs, dominating bass guitar lines and many subtle changes that request a lot of time and multiple tries with this band.

The most amazing thing about the band is that everything sounds truly coherent even though there is such a high degree of diversity in the music. Ningen-Isu make me think about loads of different bands but in the end these are only comparisons and they always sound like themselves with heavy doom guitar riffs that regularly evolve towards faster passages, a dominating and deeply tuned bass play, soft but haunting vocals and many progressive changes of style.

Another strong point of this Japanese phenomenon is the fact that almost all tracks have a strong hit potential and are actually quite catchy even though the songs change a lot, are sung in Japanese and can sometimes crack epic lengths.

It's really hard to name some highlights among all these songs but I will try to. On the first disc, "羅生門" stands out for its mixture of old school doom with folk influences and unique guttural vocals that create a lot of inspiring images on my mind. "地獄" is a shorter track but contains as many different genre elements. The basis of this song is a straight traditional heavy metal track that is interrupted by a weird and disturbing middle part with discordant guitar sounds and wild laughter.

The second disc even pleases a little bit more to me than the first one. "幽霊列車" might please to any hard rock fan and is a huge tribute to the seventies with its dark progressive soul on one side and the highly addicting chorus on the other side. "相剋の家" has a completely different but as fascinating soul and is a very relaxed and spiritual track with a strong transcending flow in the charming chorus. I happen to ask myself if these Japanese are really heavily creative or if they were on drugs when they wrote this kind of song. "品川心中" is also a calmer song and has a doom vibe mixed with a catchy and almost commercial chorus that works surprisingly well and resumes what this band stands for. The music is complex and surprising but always catchy and easy to digest. The weird and straight forward attitude rather comes out in the closing highlight "狂ひ咲き" that sounds like a mixture of thrash metal and krautrock.

In the end, this compilation definitely offers something for anybody that likes rock and metal music. This band is very open-minded without losing its face. This release is a good way to get in touch with them and shows how many things Ningen-Isu experienced in their musical career that started more than twenty-five years ago in Aomori and they still stand tall after all these years. I even think that a regular studio record might sound more coherent but this compilation is still close to musical perfection which underlines my generous final rating. I will certainly try out to hear more from them and hope for an international release or even some concerts in the future as more and more Japanese bands such as Electric Eel Shock, Dir En Grey or X Japan got huge international airplay in the last years. Long live the diversified Japanese culture and long live Ningen-Isu.

I have always defended the style of DragonForce towards the incredible high amount of haters of this band. Many metal fans claim that DragonForce are too commercial and only gained success thanks to the youth that bought the Guitar Hero series. Others say that they are a terrible live band and use a lot of techniques in the studio to sound the way they are as they are not truly gifted musicians. Some even say that the band is only a faster version of traditional European power metal acts such as Helloween. Personally, I think none of this is actually true. The band has a quite unique sound, they perform better live than their reputation says and I don't care about how they gained success as long as they make good music. I even know some people that got into the metal universe thanks to bands like DragonForce and I think that's a positive promotion for an entire music style and lifestyle ideology.

The problem with this album is that the band has maybe been sensitive to the harsh critics as they pretty much have thrown everything overboard they once stood for. The songs are getting shorter and have a bigger focus on the solid but in the end exchangeable vocals than before. I miss the high degree of details and changes of style beneath the wall of sound that made the first records so interesting to discover. I miss the unchained emotional guitar solos that have become a trademark of this brand. This new album offers nothing of all of this and underlines the bad impressions I had after I first heard the redundant single output "Cry Thunder" which even turns out to be among the better tracks on this mediocre record.

The true highlights can be found in the middle of this album. "Give Me The Night" has a fresh audible bass guitar line, doesn't employ the use of atmospheric keyboards too much and has even a great melodic metal guitar solo. Some experiments as the mid-paced "Seasons" are interesting and work well, not because of the strong vocals or the hilarious guitar solos but because of a great bass guitar work once again and a relaxed atmosphere. The bass guitar really stands out at some points of the record. I don't think that the bass guitar play has much improved in comparison to the previous records but the quality of the guitar solos, the energizing vocals and the technical drumming have all decreased while only the keyboards are used less but in a more efficient way. I think that the keyboard atmosphere and bass guitar dominated passages really save this record.

Sometimes, the band shows that they have not forgotten where they come from and still have a lot of talent. "Wings Of Liberty" is an epic track that starts a little bit too cheesy in my opinion but after a few minutes, the band delivers what it truly stands for: a short but addicting bass guitar solo, diversified and unchained vocals, energizing guitar riffs and finally also some great solo parts. This track is by far the longest one on this release and it has its good reasons to be that long as it has a lot to say. Many people identify this track as one of the weakest songs on this new release and praise the shorter and more consistent songs on this record but I have to disagree and prefer by far the old style to the new one. Normally, I prefer short tracks that get to the point but in the case of DragonForce I like their extensive solos when they get loose, have some fun and prove their musical talent. On this record, they simply have their feet too much on the brake than on the gas pedal. There is not much power within these nine or ten tracks in the end.

DragonForce fans should listen to the band's new approaches before purchasing this new record. Haters and sceptics might be surprised by the band's slight change of style or continue bashing them without any true reasons. I think this is the band's weakest output to date and they assimilated too much to the critical voices and got away from their typical and unique sound they were best known for. I don't mind about experiments but this bloodless, failed commercial and too compact approach doesn't fit at all and slows down the talent of these exceptional musicians. Not everything is bad on this output but blind criticism as well as the recent line-up change or a despaired new approach may sadly slow down this band instead of helping them to improve, take a true risk and don't care about the bad blood. Personally, I won't listen to the band's weakest record to date and prefer to enjoy the other solid albums from time to time.