Only Human Review

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(More customer reviews)Sonic Syndicate has always marveled me with their unique take on the metal subgenre "Melodic Death Metal". Despite claims from fans and critics alike, Sonic Syndicate still maintains to create Melodic Death Metal, just a style unlike other bands commonly displayed today. Sonic Syndicate can be described basically as a blend between In Flames, System Divide, Sylosis and Soilwork.
Like fellow Melodic Death Metal bands Sylosis, System Divide, and Soilwork, Sonic Syndicate does a unique spin on the genre, mixing heavy growls/screams, with more traditional sounding clean vocals. Sonic Syndicate is capable of pulling this off beautifully thanks to the groups two singers: Richard and Roland. The two vocalists find harmony in their voices throughout the songs, despite the differences in their singing styles.
The album starts off with the melodic, and catchy track "Aftermath". The song finds a nice balance between the two styles, allowing Richard to growl the majority of the verses and leaving Roland to perform the majority of the chorus alone (with Richard occasionally providing accompaniment in the background). It's a formula that Sonic Syndicate usually follows: harsh verses with clean choruses. The formula works precisely, just like the Pythagorean theorem, consistent, and exact.
Several songs venture away from this formula, and allow Roland to take more charge. "Enclave" is a track that consists of solely clean vocals, and the result is amazing. Roland is a very talented and capable singer, and "Enclave" does a great job of showcasing this. Transitioning from quiet, calm singing during the verses to a much more powerful refrain, makes "Enclave" one of the best tracks on the album, due to its intensity despite its difference and variation from the remainder of the album.
Stand out tracks include: "Denied", "Unknown Entity", "Aftermath", and "Psychic Suicide". The pace of these tracks is high tempo, and the blend between vocal styles is at its best in these songs. Sonic Syndicate never struggles to find an equilibrium between singing and growling, and the entire album "Only Inhuman" provides some of the band's best work to date. If you're a fan of Scar Symmetry, In Flames, Sylosis, Mors Principium Est, Soilwork, or Deadlock, you're bound to enjoy listening to this album.

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Includes one bonus track, 'Freelancer'. Nuclear Blast. 2007.--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Aealo Review

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(More customer reviews)TOO SAFE,YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING!
THIS INCREDIBLE RECORD HAS EVEN MORE DEPTH THAN THEOGONIA AND I WOULD ALSO SAY IT IS HEAVIER AS WELL,OVERALL.
ALSO INCORPORATING MORE TRADITIONAL GREEK ELEMENTS.
MY ONLY SLIGHT COMPLAINT IS THAT I WISH SAKIS CONTRIBUTED SOME VOCALS TO THE DIAMANDA GALAS COVER ON THE LAST TRACK,BUT EVEN STILL,WHAT A MAGNIFICENT HAUNTING CONCLUSION TO THIS INCREDIBLE WORK.
AMAZING STUFF AND EQUALLY AMAZING ARTWORK AS WELL.

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Rotting Christ presents their eleventh offering, "AEALO", Recorded on Mt Olympus, the seat of Zeus and the Ancient Gods! The Greeks are Drawing Heavily from thier country's ancient heritage and then go on to translate this rich history into the universal Language of metal. Their distint sound and riffing becomes transformed by traditional female lamenting choirs and ancient reed pipes as well as folkloristic melodies and rythems into something fresh and fascinating.Primordial frontman Alan A. Nemtheanga delivers a stunning guest performance, while no less amazing contribution comes from Greek-American Diva extreme Diamanda Galas in a cover version of her "Orders From the dead" song. AEALO is certainly the most worthy of worship

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Tattoo The Earth: The First Crusade Review

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(More customer reviews)This disc brings you the worlds hottest rock/metal bands on tour, and there is no doubt about that. Bands like Slipknot and Sepultura begin the madness but after them comes a lineup like never before brilliant bands, brilliant tour, brilliant songs and a brilliant disc.
Hixxx BR

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Sounds of the Underground, Vol. 1: Live From the Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, July 2, 2005 (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD chronicles most of the sounds of the underground event at Starland ballroom from July 2, of 2005, and I was there. The day was hot as the sun rose high and the show opened with the Red Chord, who were noticeably absent from the disc as well as Opeth's Powerful 6 pm performance, which was very dissapointing. You get a song from each band except the fore mentioned and basically runs you through the day, All that Remains, A Life Once lost, Madball, High On Fire, Devil Driver, Strapping Young Lad, Norma Jean, Throwdown, Everytime I Die, Gwar, Poison the Well, Chimaira, Clutch, From Autumn To Ashes and Lamb Of god, not exactly in that order. What the DVD shows you that you didn't see at the show was some really great backstage antics, which definetly meets Pantera home video criteria with a big smile on my face, sure the show might have been on stage, but it looks like it was a ball backstage. The main feature shows a little piece with the band, then a 1 song performance from each, which is kind of a bummer, because I know High Roller video taped their whole sets. Most songs consisted of whatever the "single" was at that time, so don't expect some odd one off song to be represented here. Even with the 1 song a band, and not inlcuding Opeth or the Red Chord, this is still a GREAT DVD. Possibly one of the best High Roller has made? This was released on DRT.

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No Time To Bleed Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a fan of the more extreme side of metal, and after reading many great reviews of this album and seeing it on several "Best of" lists, I picked this up. Maybe it's the whole deathcore thing that I don't get, but I find this album almost unlistenable. It's loud and fast and aggressive, but there's not much as far as groove, and the songs are quite forgettable. I guess I'm more of a progressive metal fan (Mastodon, Gojira, Meshuggah) and this is just not for me.

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2009 sophomore album from the American Deathcore Metal band.Suicide Silence, an astonishingly well-developed five-piece from Riverside, CA, are a true product of the always thriving underground, a band single-mindedly focused on creating rabidly heavy and aggressive music. Unlike their previous album, The Cleansing, No Time To Bleed was tracked in the studio as opposed to being recorded live in the studio, straight to tape.

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Those Whom the Gods Detest Review

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(More customer reviews)Interestingly, Nile's new album came out the same day as Slayer's new World Painted Blood. I had pre-ordered both and was excited for the dual-release day! Having been a Slayer fan for more than two decades, I have to say I was most excited about their release. However, after the first listen, I am far more impressed with Nile's newest work!
Nile continues to broaden their scope and deepen their skill with each release. Those Whom the Gods Detest blazes as fast as any Nile album to date while somehow adding more. Vocal ranges have improved, the lyrics are fascinating, and I detect additional instruments beyond their norm. The notes even explain the history and meaning behind every song.
If you're a metal fan and you're only buying one new album this month, choose Nile over Slayer (Araya forgive me).

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With six critically acclaimed albums and several world tours under their belts, Nile have raised the bar for extreme metal bands musically, lyrically and conceptually. Their withering live performances are nothing short of legendary, gaining them the respect of fellow musicians, critics and fans worldwide. On Those Whom the Gods Detest, they have brought the Middle Eastern sound that sets them apart from their peers to the forefront of their assault. Their trademark swarming guitars, relentless drum blasts that push human limits of endurance, and vicious vocals are mastered in a way never before heard, giving them a more concise and balanced attack than ever before!--This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

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Cannibal Corpse - Monolith Of Death Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a huge cannibal corpse fan and have seen them many times. And in my opinion this dvd takes away the amazing experience that is a cannibal corpse show. The sound and picture on this dvd was so bad it gave me a headache,the only part i enjoyed was the three songs from poland. I was upset for spending the $25 dollars, im just not impressed with bootlegs i guess. If you like bootleg style videos then this is the one for you. But I highly recommend LIVE CANNALBALISM over this one, the sound and picture blows this dvd out of the water.

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MONOLITH OF DEATH - DVD Movie

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Twilight of the Thunder God (W/Dvd) (Dig) Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, I'm not a death metal aficionado. If you have read my review on "With Oden on Our Side" you'll know that Amon Amarth was my first real purchase in the Death Metal genre. I was attracted to them because the music in the snippets I'd heard was just the kind of thing I like. Aggressive, rough even, but beautifully melodic. It helped that Johan Hegg's vocals are incredibly easy to understand as he enunciates his growls and sings very rhythmically.
I'd read some of the early reviews on Metal sites about this CD, and snapped it up. While "With Oden on Our Side" had a few songs which really stuck out for me, and a couple which later elevated themselves on further listenings, "Twilight of the Thunder God" strikes me as an even more consistently melodic CD. The music is never pushed to the background by the vocals and usually takes the forefront. I'm listening to it yet again right now, and am reminded that there are even some guitar solos which wouldn't be out of place on traditional heavy metal or power metal CDs.
One other thing I really like about the music is that it's heavy and textured. Some other melodic death metal that I thought I might like left me a bit cold, and it was usually a combination of the singer being too dominant and the music sounding a bit thin. There's definitely a strong bass element here which works very nicely.
While the songs rarely tend to be extremely fast (most would fall squarely into 'mid tempo' with a couple of faster songs), different emphasis on drums or guitars make most of them feel unique. I really don't have any favorites yet, but overall I like it significantly more than their previous effort.
The special edition has a bonus DVD with some live performances that rounds out an already great package.

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CD/DVD. The title of the 2008 album by Amon Amarth is Twilight of the Thunder God.It will feature guest appearances by Lars G"ran Petrov of Entombed, Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom, and the cello metal band Apocalyptica. Along with the release of the album will be an eight-page comic strip based on Norse mythology which will be released by magazines from all over Europe. Amon Amarth will go on a North American headlining tour in October 2008, with support from Ensiferum, Belphegor, and a melodic death metal band from Tampa named The Absence. The bandtoured the earlier part of 2008 as support for the well known band Slayer throughout Europe in the Unholy alliance Chapter 3.

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Death: Live in L.A. (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Chuck Schuldiner, the founding member of Death and self-taught guitar hero, lost his life to a rare form of cancer in December 2001. However, his music lives on and avid listeners can experience the virtuoso one last time on this VHS/DVD performance. Chuck is in top form, releasing flurries of pyrotechnic runs, tapping phrases, and even some sweep picked arpeggios. This is Death in one of its most interesting stages of growth. Gone are many of the attributes that traditionally comprise death metal. The band's sound is re-invented, presenting a more melodic and progressive syle of metal. One of my favorite solos of this performance is the partially improvised lead to Zero Tolerance. While Chuck begins the solo with the same melodic phrases on the original recording, he surprises the listener by introducing an adventurous pedal tone lick. Wonderfully inventive and replete with stellar musicianship, this performance firmly establishes Schuldiner as a legend in the metal genre.

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Hypocrisy: Live & Clips (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you like their music you should have this dvd.It has 2 parts: first is the 1998 concert with 11 songs,and the second part have 6 videos.It last 90 min.the only problem is that it's in stereo.

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This 60 minute DVD by Sweden's Hypocrisy features 11 tracks from their performance at Germany's 1998 Wacken Open Air Festival, also 6 music videos, spanning their entire career up to "The Final Chapter."

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Death: Live in L.A. Review

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(More customer reviews)There originally weren't plans to release a Death live CD at all. But due to the deterioration of the condition of mainman Chuck Schuldiner (after a mild recovery), and the need for very expensive surgery, it was decided to release the recordings of the TSOP tour to collect some money.
Live in L.A. belongs in every metalhead's collection and will hopefully contribute to Chuck's healing process.
The vanguard in technical death metal, bar none, Death-- setting the original standard for those who can appreciate an odd time signature-- always had the keen insight and ability to make songs listenable as well as complex. And translated live and well, raw, Death sounds just fine, if not admirable in all its intense 'n complex glory. The fact that Live in L.A. comes off as a veritable Best Of package doesn't hurt either, as all of the signature staples ("Pull The Plug", "Empty Words") and fan favorites ("The Philosopher", "Scavenger Of Human Sorrow") are here.
The production is crisp and clear, and thankfully not the murky bass-heavy monitor sound we've been hearing on live records as of late. Word is that not a note was changed from the original L.A. performance, and that this is the last Death album.

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This program features 14 tracks such as "Spirit Crusher,""Crystal Mountain," "Flesh and the Power it Holds," "Empty Words" and more!

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Summer Slaughter Tour (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I agree that this dvd was a pretty big disappointment. I went to this tour twice, once in Atlanta and once in Denver. It was an amazing show and so I expected the DVD that I pre-ordered to be able to capture this. I too was appalled with most everything to do with this DVD. Particularly the song selection, and the lack of special features. I think for the price each band should have gotten more songs, especially Decapitated, whom is no longer together because of the tragedy. I would like to comment though on the fact of why Arsis is not on the DVD. For those of you who may know, Arsis had broken down while on this tour and missed quite a few shows (including the show that the dvd was filmed at). That is why they are not on the dvd, but they should have taken their name off of the cover. Altogether, I felt completely ripped off buying this dvd. It's a good thing the live shows were so unbelievable.

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This DVD captures the most extreme tour of 2007 which featured Necrophagist, As Blood Runs Black, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle ...bands on this compilation include: Beneath The Ma_s.cre, Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage, Ion Dissonance, The Faceless, see site for more info.

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Can't Be Tamed Review

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(More customer reviews)I think this CD is fantastic! Miley is growing up and these songs reflect the stage in life she is currently experiencing. And I love the mixing a lot of these songs have like "Liberty Walk" -- there's definitely a techno/electro/dance feel to a lot of the songs.
I LOVE "Can't Be Tamed." Even though everyone says she wants to be like Britney...I love Britney! Miley does a good job of making it her own song and expressing herself as a young woman.
I also like some more of the slow beat songs like "Stay," "Take Me Along," and "My Heart Beats For Love." If you listen to the lyrics closely, a majority being co-written by Miley, they simply express Miley as an 18-year-old woman dealing with relevant issues, like love.
I think it's a great CD!

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This DELUXE album includes the new CD + DVD of an hour and a half long Miley Cyrus concert at the O2 Arena in London with never before seen concert footage as well as interviews and back stage intimate moments. Miley has grown up in the public eye, and her new CD reveals her natural progression and sophistication. Miley teamed with Grammy-award winning producer John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson) and long time Miley collaborators Tim James & Antonina Armato (Seven Things and See You Again). Tim & Antonina produced and co-wrote Can't Be Tamed with Miley, a self-empowering song in which Miley asserts that she has to stay true to herself in relationships. It is sure to become an anthem among her legions of fans around the world. Enjoy sneak peeks and behind the scenes of Miley on tour on the bonus DVD on this deluxe edition of Can't Be Tamed!

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