Transformation and reinvention of Chthonic's hits - A review of 閃靈 / Chthonic's ''失竊千年 / Timeless Sentence''

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''失竊千年 / Timeless Sentence'' is a very unusual release for Taiwanese melodic black metal band Chthonic. The band re-recorded its greatest hits from the past two decades as acoustic versions that are quite different from the original tunes. Harmonious...

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''Risky reorientation'' - A review of 海市蜃楼 / Mirage's ''湖光山色 / Lake''

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Now that was unexpected! Chinese progressive metal band Mirage pulls off quite a stunt six years after its extraordinary debut release that recalled Dream Theater's early years. The opening track ''山 Mask'' focuses on electronic samples including an overlong...

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''Entertaining parody of French-Canadian rural life'' - A review of Abitabyss' ''Rural Métal''

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Abitabyss is a death metal trio from a village in North Western Quebec that mocks the stereotypes of their rural surroundings on the entertaining ''Rural Métal''. Topics such as hunting trips, mining work and farm life are portrayed in an amusing and...

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''Not the best idea to honor a legend'' - A review of Motörhead's ''Clean Your Clock''

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''Clean Your Clock'' was probably released to honor late rock ' roll legend and Motörhead bassist and singer Lemmy. This last live album covers one of the band's last concerts recorded in Munich a little bit more than a month before Lemmy's death. It's...

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''Nearly falling into the Fountain of Youth'' - A review of Anthem's ''Absolute World''

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Anthem is one of Japan's pioneering heavy metal bands but if compared to Loudness and the likes, the band never had any significant international success despite its longevity apart of a longer break in the nineties when this type of music was declining...

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''You always sing the same'' - A review of Jorn's ''Heavy Rock Radio''

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No, this album doesn't include a cover version of Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''You Always Sing the Same''. That would be too experimental for the Norwegian heavy rock veteran with the unique voice. Jorn's ''Heavy Rock Radio'' is actually quite a mixed bag....

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''Frustrating'' - A review of Gojira's ''Magma''

Par kluseba

''Magma'' is a dull and plodding post-metal output with a constantly depressive atmosphere. Chugging groove metal riffs in the key of Pantera meet tiring riffs with a melancholic undertone in the style of Sólstafir and a few discordant guitar sounds that...

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''Join the revolution!'' - A review of Unbeing's ''Ceres''

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They have done it again! I didn't expect the band to be able to beat their amazing previous outputs but here it is and it wasn't even a close call. Unbeing delivers a progressive metal record that should revolutionize the entire genre. This is more than...

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''Juvenile thrash metal spirit at its best'' - A review of Death Angel's ''The Evil Divide''

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Death Angel's eighth studio release and fifth output since its reformation fifteen years ago proves that American thrash metal is currently experiencing a high-quality revival. ''The Evil Divide'' isn't a far call from the quality of the last outputs...

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''Intellectually challenging food for thought'' - A review of Heaven's Cry's ''Outcast''

Par kluseba

Since Heaven's Cry's comeback five years ago, the band sound has progressively become more complex, heavy and intellectual. While the first two records included ten or eleven quite catchy, compact and melodic tracks with a total running time around fifty...

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