LEX METALIS!!!WHAT DO YOU THINK?

DallasBlack wrote:

biddle wrote:

I also really like Metal Health! The first 30 seconds of that song is about the heaviest thing ever esp when those cannon drums and the growl come in!

That one really stood out for me. Scott's voice on the slow verses works incredibly well and the song is covered nicely and I might even like it more than the origional (something I always look for in a cover album). The whole thing is awesome and as someone who likes covers I really enjoyed it. Unfortunatly, I usually don't include greatest hits, compilations, or cover albums in my end of the year top list except as honorable mentions but if I did it would be on there. Once again I'm floored by the amazing guitar work of Robert Gutierrez. With this and Into The Pit, Ultimatum certainly deserves more recognition in the metal world.

Thanks much appreciated I had a blast learning these songs and it was a challenge as well. So glad you like the Album too we all worked hard Scott Rob and Alan did superb. Sid did a fantastic job producing without him I think it wouldnt have turned out so great. He had a lot of great ideas and his ear is awesome .

I can't wait for put my hand on this stuff....

Locked In Chains is one of the most devastating thrash songs I've heard in years. Intense as hell!

Dave the Boss wrote:

Locked In Chains is one of the most devastating thrash songs I've heard in years. Intense as hell!

Thanks. It's one of my favorites on the album as well. We definitely pushed the intensity on that one from the original.

I`m very impressed with this album..
As said by many here, it is a good collection of songs and you make them your own and still pay tribute to the originals.
Some of the songs are new to me (Moshketeers, Mortification and Vengeance rising)
Favorites so far are Ton of Bricks, Metal Health and Iron Fist.
Production is top class, that reviewer must have listened to another album..
My only complaint is that if you had 50 songs to choose from, I can`t see why you chose to use Wrathchild again?
But over all an album you shold be proud of, a keeper!!

Olafsto wrote:

I`m very impressed with this album..
As said by many here, it is a good collection of songs and you make them your own and still pay tribute to the originals.
Some of the songs are new to me (Moshketeers, Mortification and Vengeance rising)
Favorites so far are Ton of Bricks, Metal Health and Iron Fist.
Production is top class, that reviewer must have listened to another album..
My only complaint is that if you had 50 songs to choose from, I can`t see why you chose to use Wrathchild again?
But over all an album you shold be proud of, a keeper!!

We only included Wrathchild because it was already recorded and fit well on the album. It's completely remixed from the Pit version, but otherwise identical. We didn't have the budget to record any more songs and actually squeezed in one more than we should have (The Quiet Riot was a last minute addition). So basically, it just fit, so we included it.

ultmetal wrote:

Olafsto wrote:

I`m very impressed with this album..
As said by many here, it is a good collection of songs and you make them your own and still pay tribute to the originals.
Some of the songs are new to me (Moshketeers, Mortification and Vengeance rising)
Favorites so far are Ton of Bricks, Metal Health and Iron Fist.
Production is top class, that reviewer must have listened to another album..
My only complaint is that if you had 50 songs to choose from, I can`t see why you chose to use Wrathchild again?
But over all an album you shold be proud of, a keeper!!

We only included Wrathchild because it was already recorded and fit well on the album. It's completely remixed from the Pit version, but otherwise identical. We didn't have the budget to record any more songs and actually squeezed in one more than we should have (The Quiet Riot was a last minute addition). So basically, it just fit, so we included it.

Yeah, that makes sense.
If the alternative was one song less on the album, I agree including it was a good idea. It sure fits

I was playing this the other day while doing my workout and my wife who knows all of the original recordings asked me who I was listening to and her reply was that she like the versions on Lex Metalis better than the originals.

akeldama wrote:

I was playing this the other day while doing my workout and my wife who knows all of the original recordings asked me who I was listening to and her reply was that she like the versions on Lex Metalis better than the originals.

That's good to hear.

ult tells me that the cd is getting terrible reviews and very low scores in Europe. What's the deal? I did a quick google search for some. I can't read German but I ran a few of them thru google and some of the comments made are insane. I don't get it?!?!? What's not to like? They say 'poor production'. Are they insane? The production is great! whats the deal with these reviewers? are they paid to talk smack about bands becaues lex is far from a poor release. I think it's better than tribute releases from bands like overkill and queensryche!!!

I'm not sweating it. Let them say what they will.

On past albums I could agree with some of the negative criticism. We had very low (or no) budgets and the recording quality reflected it. We knew that Symphonic didn't have high quality production. It was a string of demos laced together. It's what we could afford at the time. We did the best with what we had, and some reviewers called us on it.

However, on this CD they are just wrong. The production is great! The playing is great! We made those songs sound like we wrote them ourselves. I'm very proud of Lex Metalis. I still enjoy listening to it and do so without constantly second guessing myself or critisizing myself. That to me, along with the friends and fans who buy the CDs, are far more important than what some clueless reviewers say.

Has anyone else said anything about production? I just find it very odd that on such a well produced disc, that there are multiple comments on the production. I was wondering if maybe a bad batch of discs went out? Specifically, review copies.

kethdredd wrote:

Has anyone else said anything about production? I just find it very odd that on such a well produced disc, that there are multiple comments on the production. I was wondering if maybe a bad batch of discs went out? Specifically, review copies.

Nope. All the discs came from the same batch.

The negative comments aren't just about the production, though there have been a few of those. It seems many people think we performed the songs poorly or should have picked different songs, or bands, etc. etc. etc. Some people don't like that we thrashed up classic metal songs. One complained about the mix of thrash songs and "glam metal" like Twisted Sister. Many complained about the vocals. One I read said the guitar playing wasn't well done. Frankly, I think all of the criticism so far is bunk. I can't really explain the flux of negative reviews coming out. The initial reviews were all very positive. I'm still waiting on reviews from HM, Heaven's Metal and the like.

this band has nothing to prove to me! "Lex Metalis" is a great cd!! read my review of the bands material in the firestream music vault.IMHO is simple once the guys head out on the road and fans get to check all this stuff out live;public opinion is going to change quick!! a very proud and blessed promotional manager

Don't the Germans prefer clean and technically insane type metal/Thrash?

Anyhow, I'm greatly anticipating this one.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Don't the Germans prefer clean and technically insane type metal/Thrash?

Anyhow, I'm greatly anticipating this one.

Did you buy the CD?

Not yet. I'm waiting for a special day. Only 6 weeks to go!

Quote :

It seems many people think we performed the songs poorly or should have picked different songs, or bands, etc. etc. etc. Some people don't like that we thrashed up classic metal songs. One complained about the mix of thrash songs and "glam metal" like Twisted Sister.

Well, some people just don't get it, and never will, probably. Maybe in Europe they complain because Ultimatum doesn't sound just like Kreator, Sodom, Pagan's Mind, or any other given European band. What do the Europeans think of bands like Metal Church, Exodus, etc, or the Bay Area style in general? After all, that kind of style is where Ultimatum would fall into, categorically. Power thrash.

metalheaded wrote:

Quote :

It seems many people think we performed the songs poorly or should have picked different songs, or bands, etc. etc. etc. Some people don't like that we thrashed up classic metal songs. One complained about the mix of thrash songs and "glam metal" like Twisted Sister.

Well, some people just don't get it, and never will, probably. Maybe in Europe they complain because Ultimatum doesn't sound just like Kreator, Sodom, Pagan's Mind, or any other given European band. What do the Europeans think of bands like Metal Church, Exodus, etc, or the Bay Area style in general? After all, that kind of style is where Ultimatum would fall into, categorically. Power thrash.

The Bay Area style is huge here in Europe, so I don`t think it has anything to do with that.
A lot of American bands tour Europe, and my impression is that they draw bigger crowds in Europe. No idea why the album gets bad reviews here. Has it been reviewed by some of the bigger, known sites, or just more unknown White Metal Fanzines?

Olafsto wrote:

metalheaded wrote:

Quote :

It seems many people think we performed the songs poorly or should have picked different songs, or bands, etc. etc. etc. Some people don't like that we thrashed up classic metal songs. One complained about the mix of thrash songs and "glam metal" like Twisted Sister.

Well, some people just don't get it, and never will, probably. Maybe in Europe they complain because Ultimatum doesn't sound just like Kreator, Sodom, Pagan's Mind, or any other given European band. What do the Europeans think of bands like Metal Church, Exodus, etc, or the Bay Area style in general? After all, that kind of style is where Ultimatum would fall into, categorically. Power thrash.

The Bay Area style is huge here in Europe, so I don`t think it has anything to do with that.
A lot of American bands tour Europe, and my impression is that they draw bigger crowds in Europe. No idea why the album gets bad reviews here. Has it been reviewed by some of the bigger, known sites, or just more unknown White Metal Fanzines?

No, the "white metal" sites have been fairly postive. I guess one white metal site gave it a 0/5 points because the reviewer is a big Christian metal fan and was not happy we covered "secular" bands. Sounds like his problem, not ours. The rest have been fairly postive to glowingly postive. It's sites like metal.de, powermetal.de, metal-inside.de, sleaze-metal.com, etc. that are trashing the CD. Our European promotion company does not bill us as a Christian band whatsoever.

I can't read this one to tell what they are saying. Am curious if anyone can read it: http://www.the-pit.de/reviews/cds/details/article/ultimatum-lex-metalis/

You can read a good smattering of different reviews posted here:
http://infinite-metal.de/bands/ultimatum.html
They, of course, list the positive ones first.

[quote="ultmetal]I can't read this one to tell what they are saying. Am curious if anyone can read it: http://www.the-pit.de/reviews/cds/details/article/ultimatum-lex-metalis/[/quote]

I don't really read German very well but using Google Translator seems to indicate that the reviewer thinks that the album is decent overall. I think he possibly might have given an even better review, but I sorta get that he's just not big on cover albums to begin with.

Actually, after plugging a few of these German reviews into a translator, it seems most of them just flat out have a problem with cover albums at all, feeling they are unnecessary. Many of them seem to think my vocals are "limitied" and "one dimensional", though I don't know how they can say this considering the range of vocal styles used on Lex Metalis.

This is a really rough translation of one of them, but it gives you all the idea:
M...one ask himself naturally the question, what one should need with a cover album, if the originals can never be exceeded? Nevertheless "Lex Metalis" with Liner notes in the Booklet to the single songs grants an excellent insight into the influences ULTIMATUM. Whether alone that justifies the purchase of this disk, must decide every to be sure for.
This seems to be the basis of many of the negative reviews.

Once again, my reply is simply:
I'm not sweating it. Let them say what they will. I know it's a good album...The production is great! The playing is great! We made those songs sound like we wrote them ourselves. I'm very proud of Lex Metalis. I still enjoy listening to it and do so without constantly second guessing myself or critisizing myself. That to me, along with the friends and fans who buy the CDs, are far more important than what some clueless reviewers say.

with you,scott, the cd rocks! clearly,the best cover cd i ever heard and the best versions to these songs i have ever heard too!!! i agree. your true friends and fans are way more important then the clueless reviews!!! i am more than proud to support it,review it,plug it,endorse and of course,promote the heck outta of it! cd will always be one of my favorites! believed in it then and more so now! great job,Ultimatum!!!

Gonna go out on a limb here and probably get slaughtered, but it's good as they say but not that great....... now before I get murdered for such take it in the context of, I personally am not a fan of bands doing entire cover albums no matter how diverse the tracks are, it's just not for me.

I like my cover versions on albums or Eps, the new WASP is an exammple, I like the two trracks on it and I also like their versions of "Paint it Black" and "The Real Me" but I don't want to hear them all on the same album, Powergod and Axel Rudi Pell have done this along with Overkill and I just personally don't like it,

But that is not meant to take from the songs that that Ultimatum have covered, all are exceptional and a damn good listen but I didn't need to hear another version of "Wrathchild" I don't care that it was redone, I have it once and that was enough for me, and with 13 tracks on the CD it could have been omitted and left with 12 tracks.

Just my thoughs.

Thanks for offering your opinion Locky. Actually the original idea was to do an 5-6 song EP on our own, but in order for Retroactive to release it and get distribution in Europe, it had to have at least 10 songs, so we just went for the full length tribute.

As for Wrathchild, well, we just thought it fit on the album so we included it. It's nearly identical to the version on Into the Pit, though it was remixed so that it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb on the album. It was actually suppose to be the "bonus track", but I didn't want the album to end with "Wrathchild", but rather one of the faster, heavier songs, so it ended up at #11 instead of #12.

I listened to the entire album again this weekend on my iPod and I still love it.