What the.... The HM Review of Ultimatum Lex Metalis 1-5

That's a really disappointing 'review', which tells you nothing about the choice of songs, the musicianship, the arrangements and Ulitmatum-ized solos (discounting the word 'desecrated') or the detailed liner notes explaining their choices.

This reviewer has little clue about this style of music -I would wonder if he would even recognise the originals he lambasts you for 'desecrating' (I thought Creeping Death was close to the original, and certainly had no trouble picking each song. the production is crisp and well-defined, and certainly not sludgy. He doesn't even reference your past albums to give some context to people unfamiliar with the band.

And the insults to Albuquerque are just plain arrogant. This is not a review, just a few lines (and random thoughts)... and not well-written ones at that. And this is 'professional' behaviour??

Fat Freddy wrote:

exact33 wrote:

the life of an unpaid cd reviewer is not to be taken on lightly. All the good Christian metal reviewers went away when that scene did too...

I'm an "unpaid CD reviewer" (unless you consider the free CDs "payment") so I know all 'bout it. You ever read through my review thread here? I wade thru a LOT of crap before I finally find a good one. Haha.

But even as an "unpaid" reviewer, I would never be as lazy as this guy was with the Ultimatum review.

Hey Ult - tell Retroactive to send a LEX to me and I'll be fair and balanced!!!

Actually I havent. I kinda gave up reading reviews awhile back. The couple of Christian places I wrote for ended and left a sour taste. Ill go check them out though. I have been kinda feeling the desire to get back into reviewing again but havent found the right outlet yet..

Temple of Blood wrote:

I knew it wasn't about them truly wanting to support the scene.

I have a hard time believing this. DVP seems to me to be the kind of guy that is straight-up & honest, not dancing around issues. He made that article Scott linked to, didn't he? Obviously he's got some integrity. The format of Heaven's Metal changed to HM because the scene was changing, and Doug's tastes were expanding (along w/ the rest of his staff, I'd warrant), so he had to diversify in order to keep the mag going.

I do agree that what was written about "Lex Metalis" is actually a review. I'd agree w/ everyone that it's just a major dig against Ultimatum, which is crap. Doug should probably have taken that reviewer aside & asked him to at least rewrite it so he explained (aside from one sentence) what he didn't like about the album, rather than just slagging the band the whole time.

When it comes to metal and HM, I think the only reason that Retroactive releases get reviewed is because they advertise in the magazine. I think Doug would much rather see metal releases like Lex Metalis be reviewed in the Heaven's Metal fanzine.

I received a call last night from Dale from Metal Pulse Radio who was a bit upset by this review. His opinion was that it wasn't are review at all but just a personal attack.

I guess I can take pride in the fact that I've received emails from guys in Metal Church and Mortification saying they like the Ultimatum version of the songs we recorded better than their own. Matter of fact, Steve Rowe emailed me last night:
Hi Scott. We just put Gut Wrench back in our set. Mick Jelinic & I were laughing the other day about how your version is better than our original. Don't let stupid people get you down. Sometimes crap journalism is about picking on a band like Ultimatum...

You think your version of "Ton of Bricks" is better than the original? Which band member said they thought it was?

How did the reviewer get a job? A paragraph??

Temple of Blood wrote:

You think your version of "Ton of Bricks" is better than the original? Which band member said they thought it was?

It was an email from Kurdt Vanderhoof. I also received an email from Steve Rowe.

I happen to like our CD a lot. I think we did a great job of covering those songs and making them sound like they could have been Ultimatum originals. I know you aren't a fan of our music ToB, but I am. I'm very proud of this album.

scott and others,
weighing in on the debate here. i have kept quiet because i just didnt make any difference.i have known doug van pelt thru the puter for awhile and his one intern Levi and i kept in constant touch. infact, not to long ago;doug sent me postcards to give out. in regards to magazine subsrcriptions which i gladly dumped at my friends recording studio.but,something worth noting.i had taken a very special job recently and it was under the direction of accepting my position as promotional manager that i deleted my old myspace and made it with a new professional look.i am very proud and blessed and humbled and very honored to do as promotional manager anything and everything to get the word out about Ultimatum.ask ult and robert,i take this job very seriously.that said, i have contacted doug and asked for a band interview especially since i saw the magazine spread in Decible. I figured he would be eager to contact us concerning a press kit and interview.i have noticed that messages arent returned and also any comment i add to his myspace w/ picture and my postion mentioned are not posted.i can see an old one from my old site.but,nothing since taking the postion of promotional manager! i think that he and his magazine is doing a tremedous injustice to Ultimatum and their cd! i think it was a brave thing for the band do to at this juncture of their careers.branchin out out to a different audience and staying true to their metal roots and history.in doing so,scott and the guys branded these songs we all loved and made them unique and different for a new generation and makin us older folks enjoy them again.i will stand behind this decision and defend them no matter what.sure,we can all expect a bad review for time to time however, when even the most influencial christian markets have gave "Lex Metalis" a great review, and a very prominate christian magazine doesnt.that should tell you something.that doug and his team failed big time on this one! ok...i am done and off my soapbox once more.
great job Ultimatum,your very proud,blessed and humbled promotional manager.

This review pisses me off on many levels. I could punch Doug in the face right now.

1) Nobody takes a dig at my friends. I am friends with the guys in Ultimatum in real life and I'm the kind of guy to stick up for my friends. You can push me around if you want to, but if you start pushing my friends around - I get pissed and will fight!!

2) Albuquerque is my home city. That was a personal attack (from a Christian hard music magazine mind you) about my home. That really ticks me off. Albuquerque is a good place to live. The slam on my home city was completely unnecessary.

The fact that Doug endorsed this review is enough for me to never support HM again - in any capacity. I will also do what I can to make others aware of the crap that HM is.

Nuff said. I'm pissed.

Just and FYI, Doug told me personally that the reviewer was not trying to take a dig at Albuquerque, though he could understand how people might take it that way.

Doug Van Pelt wrote:

I think his use of "mediocre-sized city" was his creative way of saying, "take any city in America..." or "...any decent-sized city..."

but yeah, it came off as what could be an offense to Albuquerque, which I would consider a major city or a large city...haha

You know DVP is a little big headed...That is my review. I'm going to remove him from my Face Book and Myspace. I dont believe in promoting something I don't believe in... UP YOURS hm!!!

I say a call to arms! Anyone who is supporting this mag should stop doing so in protest! Ladies, get them bras off so's we can burn 'em....oh wait, that's not right....

SpectreFate wrote:

I say a call to arms! Anyone who is supporting this mag should stop doing so in protest! Ladies, get them bras off so's we can burn 'em....oh wait, that's not right....

Heck yeah!!!!! Time to burn the jock straps boys!!!!

Glenn Rogers wrote:

You know DVP is a little big headed...That is my review. I'm going to remove him from my Face Book and Myspace. I dont believe in promoting something I don't believe in... UP YOURS hm!!!

SpectreFate wrote:

I say a call to arms! Anyone who is supporting this mag should stop doing so in protest! Ladies, get them bras off so's we can burn 'em....oh wait, that's not right....

excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me???? when i said i would do anything for this band...i just plain wont do that!! lol!

Anybody know how to contact Doug and HM? I'd like to email them.

Who cares what HM says.

ultmetal wrote:

Just and FYI, Doug told me personally that the reviewer was not trying to take a dig at Albuquerque, though he could understand how people might take it that way.

Doug Van Pelt wrote:

I think his use of "mediocre-sized city" was his creative way of saying, "take any city in America..." or "...any decent-sized city..."

but yeah, it came off as what could be an offense to Albuquerque, which I would consider a major city or a large city...haha

Nice, I take it you have talked to Doug about Mr. Dan Frasier and his review. LMK if you need anything else from me.

P.S. Still trying to help Sherri find a place for you guys to play on your way to the East Coast in Spring 2010. Rock On!

325ad wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Just and FYI, Doug told me personally that the reviewer was not trying to take a dig at Albuquerque, though he could understand how people might take it that way.

Doug Van Pelt wrote:

I think his use of "mediocre-sized city" was his creative way of saying, "take any city in America..." or "...any decent-sized city..."

but yeah, it came off as what could be an offense to Albuquerque, which I would consider a major city or a large city...haha

Nice, I take it you have talked to Doug about Mr. Dan Frasier and his review. LMK if you need anything else from me.

P.S. Still trying to help Sherri find a place for you guys to play on your way to the East Coast in Spring 2010. Rock On!

Jaxx in Springfield, VA!!!!!

appears like that,james! but to me,it seems as though doug is still defending mr.frasier and backpedaling now! thats IMHO! as far as the gigs go,james,anything you do will be greatly greatly apprectiated! thanks again,for all your loyal support and friendships to me and Ultimatum!

Glenn Rogers wrote:

You know DVP is a little big headed...That is my review. I'm going to remove him from my Face Book and Myspace. I dont believe in promoting something I don't believe in... UP YOURS hm!!!

I did this quite a while ago or I'd do it now, I dropped them off of the Feast Eternal street team site that I run too, HM never gave a hill of beans for Feast and gave Prisons of Flesh a ho-hum review back when it was first released, kind of the same situation great reviews from secular magazines,but the HM review seemed as if someone reviewed it that did not know the first thing about heavy metal, not that we needed to/ or deserved to get a stellar review just becuase it is a Christian magazine..a poor review from some one that liked heavy metal/ death metal would have been better excepted, at least you could learn from that kind of a review.

Stender wrote:

Anybody know how to contact Doug and HM? I'd like to email them.

www.hmmagazine.com Then look for the column "An open letter from an angry album review reader".

Ben Grimm wrote:

Glenn Rogers wrote:

You know DVP is a little big headed...That is my review. I'm going to remove him from my Face Book and Myspace. I dont believe in promoting something I don't believe in... UP YOURS hm!!!

I did this quite a while ago or I'd do it now, I dropped them off of the Feast Eternal street team site that I run too, HM never gave a hill of beans for Feast and gave Prisons of Flesh a ho-hum review back when it was first released, kind of the same situation great reviews from secular magazines,but the HM review seemed as if someone reviewed it that did not know the first thing about heavy metal, not that we needed to/ or deserved to get a stellar review just becuase it is a Christian magazine..a poor review from some one that liked heavy metal/ death metal would have been better excepted, at least you could learn from that kind of a review.

funny,ben, that you and i are to find ourselves on this forum!lol! anyway,i had that exact talk with Robert last night.we both agreed had the reviewer given Ultimatum a bad review and stated why.we could improve as a band and learn from our"mistakes".even,if the reviewer had stated that "after listening to our past cds;the cover one failed" in his opinion.still could have something we could have lived with.we totally agreed that this person obviously doesnt know or apprecitate metal.the unfortunate thing is that they have a large following and this review looks so negetively on the band.i havent read it.but,i also dont like the referrence to Albuquerque.robert having living there all is life was quite upset about it and i cant blame him.i stand by this band and will defend them,their music,their faith and their postion on this.a still very upset promotional manager,sherri

I am sure all 28 people who buy HM will not even read the review cause it isn't from a screamcore band with guys who wear chick pants.