I'm not a fan of Seventh Dimension's fluffy progressive power metal debut Circle of Life but since a good friend of mine asked me to give the Swedish quintet a second chance, I decided to give the group's second release a spin. As it turns out, Recognition is completely different from Circle of Life and a massive step in the right direction for the band. My friend was right when he told me that this band deserved a second chance.

Gone are the airy vocals, floating keyboard passages and saccharine guitar melodies. The vocals sound much darker, lower and quite grounded overall but manage to remain melodic and hit some higher notes in a few select songs. The vocalist sounds much more skilled than before and has also found a more unique style. The keyboard passages have become sadder, more melancholic and slightly numbing which is a surprising change compared to the debut effort. While the keyboard is still a dominant instrument within the band sound, it's less dominant than two years earlier. The keyboard sounds aren't annoying and offensive this time around but add an epic, mysterious and progressive background atmosphere throughout the release. The guitar play has become much heavier and also more technical without sounding too straight and complicated. The guitar player offers everything from chugging riffs over technical passages to extended melodic guitar solos. The rhythm section has also improved. Especially the drum play is much more creative and diversified than before. Concerning the production, the drumming sounds a little bit too dry and tinny overall and doesn't do the improved efforts of the musician justice. The bass guitar play isn't audible enough in most songs. While the production is overall acceptable because the vocals, keyboards and guitars sound great and since it underlines the gloomy and dystopian mood of the album, it wastes some potential by burying the improved soundscapes of the surprising rhythm section.

Concerning the song material, the three least interesting tracks actually start the album which isn't a clever decision. The first three songs make me think of a light version of Dream Theater during the Black Clouds & Silver Linings era without coming close to the quality of said release. The opener for instance tries to be too diversified and ends up being all over the place and especially the different vocal techniques sound odd and incoherent to me. The album really starts to shine when ''The Raven'' appears. Seventh Dimension really takes its time to develop a gloomy, gothic and mysterious atmosphere with elegant vocal parts, haunting piano melodies, longing guitar sounds and occasional weather sound samples. This song changes the momentum of the record and is also its magnum opus. Another stand-out track is the melancholic and timeless ballad ''Paradolia'' that never sounds cheesy and convinces with genuine emotions carried by enchanting piano sounds and soulful vocals. This is the way a truly inspired progressive ballad must be done. A last highlight in my book is the surprisingly vivid instrumental track ''Metanoia'' that evokes mysterious futuristic soundscapes that should be used as soundtrack for science-fiction television series or video game. Usually, I'm not a fan of long instrumental songs but in this particular case, Seventh Dimension reaches the elevated standards of Ayreon, Dream Theater and Unbeing. The song might not sound completely unique but it blends in perfectly with the rest of the record.

In the end, Seventh Dimension's second release is a massive improvement over the average debut record. While the band's first release reminded me of Epiclore, its second output rather makes me think of Katatonia in terms of atmosphere. Fans of melancholic progressive metal can't get around this inspired release. Apart from the average opening trio, the album only includes creative, skilled and soulful pearls. Despite an extensive running time close to eighty minutes including three tracks cracking the ten-minute mark, the album has a natural flow and never decreases in intensity between the fourth and the final tune. Seventh Dimension is back on my radar and after two completely different releases in terms of quality and style, I'm curious to see what the future holds for the Swedish quintet.

Final rating: 85%

22 Years Among the Sheep can't be seen as a greatest hits release but rather as a representative collection of Nokturnal Mortum's development over the past twenty-two years. The first warning sign is the fact that this compilation actually opens with an overture and what we get are indeed fifty-three songs over a running time of far over six hours. You will be able to wash your dishes, do your tax declaration, clean your entire apartment and write a review for this record while listening to this extensive collection of music. As you might realize by now, this is a classic example of quantity over quality. This release includes original tracks taken from previous records, previously unreleased alternative versions, live cuts and rehearsal tracks as well as three discs filled with Nokturnal Mortum songs covered by mostly unknown underground extreme metal bands. This compilation is all over the place in terms of production and song writing quality and is therefore not recommendable for potential new fans but on the other side a quite interesting release for die-hard fans.

Nokturnal Mortum offers exactly two types of music. The first one is epic black metal with occasional symphonic elements. This style works very well in the short and concise tunes but drags on for far too long in many of the longer tunes. The second type is pagan metal with Eastern European folk influences. Sometimes, these folk sounds are played by authentic instruments and sound great and unique but at other moments they seem to come from the keyboard which makes them sound plain horrible.

This record really has its ups and downs concerning sound and production. While some tracks such as the atmospheric opener ''Black Moon Overture'' or the much improved ''The Voice of Steel'' have been remastered and sound really gripping and organic, other songs sound absolutely terrible. ''Goat Horns'' is a potent track but the vocals are almost inaudible and the production sounds muddy to a point where that can't be justified by trying to keep some occult underground credibility anymore. The reason why we get a live version of ''Kuyaviva'' when the audience can't even be heard and no live atmosphere is being developed is also completely beyond me. The rehearsal version of ''Free Hendrik'' sounds as if it had been recorded with a potato and ruins what could otherwise be one of the better tunes on this compilation.

The song writing is just as messy as the engineering. A perfect example is this compilation's longest track ''As the Steel Eagle into Golden Svarga''. The track opens with gloomy and almost droning guitar sounds that evoke an interesting atmosphere. All momentum gets lost when the band stretches an initially promising idea to three repetitively numbing minutes. Instead of a transition after this endless build-up, the band suddenly speeds up things and bleak vocals kick in almost instantly. The main part of the song is actually compelling. The vocals are diverse and emotional, the riffs develop a depressive atmosphere without sounding redundant and the occasional folk and symphonic influences aren't overused and blend in very well. After seven minutes, the main part ends and a folk section with joyous melodies kicks in. The same joyous melody is repeated more than half a dozen times until it lost all its charm and what we get then are boring variations of the same melody in different forms for five vapid minutes until the end of the song. This song with a running time close to fifteen minutes represents this compilation very well because it offers everything from concise tracks with solid song writing, songs with both outstanding and uninspired sections and other tunes that are sleep-inducing in their lack of creativity.

The cover songs blend in very well because some of them are inspired and offer interesting variations on the original songs, others have a few energizing moments but are otherwise too similar to the original tracks and some are completely forgettable. 

In the end, quality should have mattered over quantity. Nokturnal Mortum should have offered one disc with its greatest tracks in remastered form and one disc with the best cuts from the cover tunes. Since the band didn't do this, 22 Years Among the Sheep is extremely hit and miss and is overall far too long. This record is a missed opportunity to focus entirely on the band's strengths and present some promising local underground bands to the world.

Final rating: 50%

Listen to it right here: https://nokturnalmortum1.bandcamp.com/album/nokturnal-mortum-22-years-among-the-sheep-5xcd-digifile-a5-2

Dear readers,

Over the next weeks and months, I will once again put some concert reports online. The first concert I have been attending recently was a vivid crossover thrash metal show with Wild Side, Iron Reagan and Power Trip at The Brass Monkey in Ottawa. Even though the location is a nice bar with a great stage, pool tables and lots of space, it's also about two hours away from home if you have to use public transport. Thankfully, I'm living in Canada. Even though the show was scheduled to start around seven, the first band hadn't even started to play when I arrived around ninety minutes late because of traffic issues. In Germany, half of the concert would have already been over since groups start playing on time. For once, being late turns out being something positive. But it's an exceptional case, so don't do that at school or work! Anyway, I arrived and left at the perfect moment and had two hours of non-stop entertainment. Please take a look at the following pictures and descriptions for more information. 

Wild Side: This hardcore band from Niagara Falls, Ontario, put up a great show and the crowd participated enthusiastically in numerous circle pits and weird dances. It was one of the better opening acts in recent memory.

Iron Reagan: The quintet from Richmond, Virginia delivered the goods despite particularly difficult circumstances. Their drummer had been denied entry to Canada and the band would have almost canceled the show. Thankfully, three different drummers from local bands and tour mates Power Trip filled in and the band offered a half hour of power. Even though the singer seemed to be slightly wasted, his performance was to the point. I had come for this group in particular and really liked the show. I bought two of Iron Reagan's albums and a new shirt for surprisingly fair prices that night.

Power Trip: The thrash metal band from Dallas, Texas played a solid show even though I liked their music less than what Wild Side and Iron Reagan had delivered earlier that night. The group was clad in fog and it was actually quite hard to see them and take an acceptable picture. This was the best I could do.

Suicide Silence's self-titled fifth studio record is already the most controversial record of the year. The band shifted away from its famous deathcore roots and released an album somewhere between alternative metal inspired by KoRn, melodic death metal in the key of modern In Flames and experimental rock reminding of Deftones. The backlash against this release was abominable as the album sold two thirds less than the previous output, critics were almost unanimously negative and fans harshly criticized the record and the band on several social media platforms. The negative comments went so far that the band members felt the need to fight back and justify the experimental record by criticizing large parts of their own fan base. In a certain way, both sides are wrong to react in such a nasty way. Fans have to realize that they cannot decide or influence what a band should do or not since the artists have to do what feels right to them no matter what and disappointed fans should simply voice their disapproval by not buying said record or not attending the band's concerts instead of spreading hatred on the internet and mocking the band members and the few chosen ones that genuinely like the new album. On the other side, the band members' reactions were overtly sensitive and showed a worrying lack of self-confidence. If you have to defend your new album repeatedly with sarcastic comments, it doesn't really prove you right and shows that you can't deal with criticism efficiently. All those negative incidents show everything that is wrong with social media these days where anyone can voice anything behind the shadows of anonymity. There isn't anything positive about cowardly shitstorms provoking exaggerated reactions. On the other side, the whole discussion still made me curious and that's why I ultimately listened to an album I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise.

As always, the truth lies somewhere in between the extremes. Suicide Silence isn't the abomination haters are trying to make us believe and it isn't a brave new direction either as the band seems to promote. To be honest, this album is quite an oddball but somehow an authentic and entertaining one. 

From an objective point of view, there are many things that are wrong with this record. The production is muddy and sounds like a demo recorded in a garage. The distorted guitar sounds are sometimes nerve-firing. The bass guitar is often inaudible. The drum sound is quite tinny. The new clean vocals are often out of tone, the death growls remind me of a dying pig in the better moments and the higher screams are highly emotional but sound completely uncontrolled from a technical point of view. The whiny lyrics aren't my cup of tea either. The song structures are awkward. Whenever a solid riff kicks in, the band avorts any type of dynamism with unnecessary breakdowns or unrelated smooth interludes. Sometimes a song seems to be finished but the band suddenly adds thirty seconds of distorted riffs and whiny screams for no valid reason. That's why several songs feel like unfinished demos and still sound somewhat directionless. From time to time, discussions between the band members can be heard at the end of some songs to evoke a certain live in studio feeling but since this is only done with a few select songs, these passages feel oddly out of place.

Despite all these negative elements, I have always prefered emotional authenticity over technical ecstasy and that's why I ultimately like some parts of this unpredictable album. I also respect the band for having the guts for trying to explore new soundscapes even though other bands have already explored very similar styles. I must admit that I like the fragile clean vocals in the uncompromising ''Doris'' and the oppressive atmosphere of the surprisingly catchy ''Silence''. Other songs need a lot of time to open up like the incoherent ''Listen'' that sacrifices any hint at a coherent structure for intense emotionality or the unusual album closer ''Don't Be Careful, You Might Hurt Yourself'' that experiments with almost drone-like noise sounds before ending with an irritatingly joyful whistling. After a few spins, this uncompromising emotionality somehow grew on me. I wouldn't say that the record made me feel empathic but I ended up being strangely fascinated by this deranged offering. It certainly has a strong entertaining value and the emotionality is gripping throughout the nine songs and a running time of forty-four minutes. To keep it short, this album definitely has a soul and its guiding line is its nonconformity, as strange as it may sound.

Would I buy such an album? Yes, I would because it's entertaining and facsinating and because I feel the band needs some support after much unjustified hatred coming from mostly selfish keyboard warriors. Would I regularly listen to this release? No, I wouldn't because it's fascinating from time to time and has even grown on me but it's still too inaccessible after all to deserve regular spins. Would I recommend this release to those who are reading my review? No, I wouldn't but I would simply suggest to give this record a chance by listening to it in its entirety on separate occasions before making up your mind about a final judgement. In the end, this record is comparable to Metallica's St. Anger and Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus that were equally experimental and received similar negative reactions. I don't know what's wrong with me but I somehow like all three albums for what they are.

Final rating: 7/10