Swap-A-Comp - The Reviews!

Add your reviews here once you have had a chance to give a fair listen to the CDs you have received. Doesn't have to be the next great novel, just your thoughts and opinions. I would ask, though, that it be more than "I like it! ".....

Looks like I got the first review!!!!! I got JState's discs yesterday - posting the review of the first one!!!! Today's choices where 1) Listen to and post the review of Hear In The Now Frontier or 2) JState's comp!!!!! I choose the better option! On to review of disc 1 (disc 2 to follow next week!)


Disc One:

1) At War – Vengeful Eyes
Never really listened to At War, but a pretty good old school trash tune!!!! I probably need to check out these guys some more – voice will take a bit getting used to!

2) Holocaust – Death or Glory
Forgot about these guys!!!! Good old school NWOBHM!!!!! I remember listening to some of there stuff on mix tapes that went around in high school of underground metal bands.

3) Lonewolf – The Heart Of Bell
I have heard of Lonewolf, but never listen to them before. Music is good – sounds like classic Metal to me! The vocals take some getting used to. I will have to check out some more of the band – they will be lower on the want list, but worth a listen.

4) Mentzer – Russian Roulette
Never heard of this band before – sounds very 80’s, borderline pop metal. Ok song

5) Rogue Male – Low rider
Hey man is that a low rider? No, it’s an 80’s metal band! Song sounds good – another one to add to the want list. Very NWOBHM sounding

6) Sword – Stuck In Rock
Not The Sword from Detuned’s home town, but another band called Sword. Good song – will have to check out this band! Sounds like 80’s metal to me!!! Being a teenager in the 80’s, that style of metal is good for me!!!!

7) Sacred Oath – Battle Cry
Wow – great song!!!!! Mixing classic metal with speed metal and decent vocals, Sacred Oath recorded one great song!!!! They will be on my want list!!!

Vendetta – Fade To Insanity
This song starts off with a little Beethoven on acoustic guitar before moving into the speed/thrash area. Good instrumental!!!

9) Risk – Turn Back To Ectasy
Never heard this band either! Cool song – totally metal – a bit of thrash/speed in the song, vocals not bad. Another band I need to check out!

10) Shok Paris – Exhibit A
Another 80’s Metal band!!! I am liking this comp!!! Very 80’s power metal sounding (even though we didn’t use the term power metal back then). I had forgotten about these guys until now!


11) Cage – Stranger In Black
I have heard of cage, but never listened to them before. Sounds like American power metal – no keys in this one! Adding to my want list.

12) Kreyson – Warrior Angel
Another band I have never heard of – decent song, influences of euro-power metal and pop metal. Would need to hear more before I add to the want list.

13) Last Crack – Shelter
Never heard of this band either – very 80’s pop metalish. Not a bad song, but would need to hear more before I make a purchase of this band.

14) Black Sabbath – Children Of The Grave (live with Tony Martin)
I had never listen to the Tony Martin era of Sabbath before. He does a great job on this classic. I should check out more of the Tony Martin era Sabbath.

15) Lemmy – The Tropper
Who is this Lemmy guy? Just kidding – never thought I would hear Lemmy covering Maiden. This just sounds like a comedy recording – it’s pretty funny to hear Lemmy singing “The Trooper”. I can just picture Lemmy’s head cocked back snarling into the microphone. I am wondering who is the backing band? It doesn’t sound like Lemmy’s bass. Good listen – not something I would play all the time, but a good listen.

EXACT CD'S RECEIVED. hopefully he gets mine soon. I wonder if I could shoot him an mp3 of one I couldn't decide to put on there or not but ended up leaving off because the choice was too tough.

I got yours today OCI. Will start listening!!

Troublemagnet, I finished your comp today. It'll go out early this upcoming week.

thejokeriv's Disc One


1) Acrassicauda - Message From Baghdad
Hard to not to root for these guys given their story. I hope they can make it. There is certainly something there, so I hope they keep with it. My favorite part of this song is the vocals. I like the various nuances he throws in at certain points - a higher part or growl in the right place goes along way.

2)Astral Doors - Testament Of Rock
"If it's too loud/you're too old" Love me some good old metal flag-waving along with an "ohh, ohhh, oohhhh, oooohhh" chorus. Keeping it true.

3)Hibria - Defying The Rules
Nice speedy galloping pace to this. I tend to think I'm over my interest in power metal.... until I hear some then I wonder why I feel that way. I'd be interested in hearing more of these guys.

4)Icarus Witch - Black Candles
Someone sold my local Hastings a couple of Icarus Witch cds. I had every intention of buying them. And like a fool didn't carry them with me (I have a thing about using a shopping basket) figuring I'll grab them once I'm finished looking. I also was sure to survey the one other dude there, who clearly had an emo look to him. An emo with a love of Icarus Witch apparently. This song taunts my stupidity that day.

5)Pagan's Mind - Conception/Exploring Life (Back To The Magic Of Childhood pt.1 &2)
Conception is a brief acoustic based intro/interlude. Exploring Life is a nice winding progressive number. I'll admit on first listen I wanted vocals. This happens a lot when I listen to proggier stuff. But by the second listen I'm okay. Wasn't as sold on the middle solo but everything ended up fine.

6)Raven - Necessary Evil
I regretted not getting the import with this bonus track. Thanks to Leo I can feel better about it now. Put this right on the ipod's Walk Through Fire. No reason this shouldn't have been on the album. In fact this song alone would cause it to jump in the album of the year stakes.

Recon - Alive!
I have a ebay losing streak on Behind Enemy Lines that has reached epic levels. Sure it can be had for a decent price elsewhere, but I'm committed to win the thing. Okay I lied. Just checking amazon now I can't resist. Strike that, it's a well know bootlegger selling. The streak continues.....

9) Saint - Through The Sky
Only Saint I own is Crime Scene Earth 2.0. It didn't really do much for me. But this older Saint is something I should look into. Has a nice blazing classic sound to it.

10)Steel Panther - Death To All But Metal
Impossible not to laugh. I saw these guys back when they were Metal Skool. I thought it was too much parody and not enough metal love. People I went with weren't metal fans and they thought it was the greatest thing ever. But I'll admit this song was fun.

11)Into Enternity - Absolution
Okay so I still have Steel Panther rolling in my head. So this song doesn't stand a chance. Can't get the profane Death To All But Metal outta my head. Sorry Into Enternity . You have nice soloing though.

12)King's X - Jr's Gone Wild
A song from one of my favorite guilty pleasures Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Love the song and soundtrack. Big nostalgia with it. Did this song ever make it on a proper album?

13) Slayer - In-A-Gadda-Di- Vida
Another cool soundtrack in Less Than Zero. I'd heard of Slayer but this was my first listening exposure back when. It literally caused me to go out and buy everything I could. I also became a Iron Butterfly fan through this too. Although that took a few years to catch. Thank you Rick Rubin for making them do this song.

14) Mercyful Fate - Egypt
Been on a MF kick lately so this fits right in with that. In The Shadows is a terribly underrated album.

15)Galatic Cowboys - Sea Of Tranquility
So much to be said about the greatness of this song (and Galatic Cowboys as well). I own a whole bunch of their albums and never truly play them enough. When I do listen to them I always think "why don't I get more into these guys".

16)Bride - Heroes
Am a fan of spoken word intros. Not a fan of the outro. Everything in between is perfectly acceptable metal. I also have quite the losing streak on getting Silence Is Madness.


A real good and fun listen. Some things to check out and others good to remember to find. Onward to Disc Two

'metal' CD of exact's stuff is completed, will post review probably Wednesday (only time I will have timeee).. playing others in the meantime

The best thing about these comp-swaps is seeing everyone's true personalities.

Oh yeah - ROGUE MALE RULES!

UNCLE SAXON wrote:

The best thing about these comp-swaps is seeing everyone's true personalities.

You could say the same thing after reading some postings in the Prop 8 Marriage thread. Yeesh.

Got my comp from troublemagnet today complete with a custom made Mothra cover.

I've heard of about half the bands on this thing which ranges from Carole King to Into Eternity to The Commodores to Hawkwind.

Too bad I already burned his because I'd throw on some weirder crap like A3.

I'll start listening tomorrow.

BTW, the CD back cover also features this weird picture that mixes George Bush's hair and eyes with the rest of Barack Obama's face. The perfect politician.

OCI Comp 1: Metal Clean vox

1. Rage - Time waits for no one
2. Rage - Innocent

all I had really heard from Rage was 'Ghosts' and was not terribly impressed. I didnt really follow anything else. I have to say I might have to correct that. I liked these two songs. Good traditional power metal. I will investigate more.

3. Labyrinth - In The Shade
4. Labyrinth - Lady Lost in Time

I have really tried to like this band but to no avail. The songs are decent but they are a third tier power metal band at best. I just dont find them memorable or all that interesting.

5. Darkseed - Ultimate Darkness
6. Darkseed - Cosmic Shining

I had never really heard this band before and I like both these songs. On the list they go!!

7. Stormwitch - Stronger than Heaven
8. Stormwitch - Cheyenne

Same as Darkseed. Never really gave them much of a listen but now I will. Good traditional metal.

9. Vanishing Point - Surrender
10. Vanishing Point - Once a Believer

Helloween power metal. I had their first cd (I think) a long time ago and didnt really care for it. They must have gotten a lot better as both of these songs are fun and bombastic.

11. DArk at Dawn - The Alliance
12. Dark at Dawn - Banfeul Skies

Never listened to these guys and the vocals are right up my alley a la Grave Digger. I am going to check out some more stuff from them.

13. Royal Hunt - The First Rock

This is a band i have a love/hate relationship with. I love DC Cooper's vocals but the keys take away from the music. This is Mark Boals on vocals and the same is true for the music. Dump the keys and I might like them.

14. Cydonia - Beyond Time

I had the first Cydonia cd and didnt like the vocals. They havent gotten any better on this one. I like gruff vocals but they dont mix with the keys well. This song is an improvement over the first cd though.

15. Zero Hour - The Subterranean

a lot of people complain about prog wankery and these guys are guilty of power metal wankery. This song illustrates that it just playing - no melody, just heaviness.

16. Power of Omens - Alone I Stand

This song is meh. I dont care for the vocals much and there is little sense of melody. I do like the middle eastern influence though.

17. Watchtower - The Eldritch

I liked this song. I will be checking out some more stuff from this band.

Final thoughts: I liked this comp overall. There are 6 bands I am going to be checking out. I liked particularly how the songs flowed throughout most of the comp.

OCI Comp 2: the cookie monster mix

To start off with, I used to listen to nothing but DM and BM way back in the day. I got burned out beyond belief.

1. The Chasm - Entering a Superior Dimension
2. The Chasm - The Gravefields

I have to say that I like these two songs. There are some good melodies here and the vocals are closer to euro-thrash. The first song is fantasic. The second song took awhile to develop. I might look into the first cd.

3. Augury - Skyless
4. Augury - Cosmic Migration

Love the first song, the second song was really boring. The first was melodic, dynamic and the vocals were decent. The second was the opposite. I will look into the album from the first material.

5. Dark - Gaia's Masterpiece
6. Dark - My desire

An interesting mix of growl and clean. I liked the music. It was up-tempo with melody.

7. Lantlos - Pulse/Surreal

My daughter came in and asked if the speakers were working right. This is just one big growl fest. Next!

8. Maudlin of the Well - Bizarre flowers/A violent mist

I have heard of this band before but never really payed much attention. This song has its moments, especially towards the end but it dawdles too much for me.

9. Lykathea Aflame - Land Where Sympathy is Air

The vocals are too shrill for me. The middle eastern tone is killer though.

10. Cult of Luna - Back to Chapel Town

Very atmospheric song. Reminds me a lot of some space prog. I dig it.

11. Ephel Duath - The Passage

There is a lot of variety in this song - growl/clean vocals, jazz, odd time changes. It does keep your attention, waiting to see what is coming next. I like it enough to check out some more from them.

12. Zao - The Ghost Pslam

I have had some Zao in the past and this is ok. to me they always sounded a more toned down Circle of Dust. I just find this song to be generic growling. not bad but nothing more than background noise.

Overall: I liked more of the music than I thought I would. Augury and The Chasm are some stuff I am definetly going to check out.

I can second the Darkseed and Dark At Dawn selections, especially the last two Dark At Dawn albums "Of Decay And Desire" and "S/T".

BTW, I discovered Darkseed via OCI too.

OCI Comp 3: no metal at all

1. The Mars Volta - Tourniquet Man
2. The Mars Volta - Inertiatic ESP

I have tried and tried to get into this band. For some reason parts of their music click but on the whole they dont do much for me.

3. Camel - Air born
4. Camel - A nod and a wink

Loved loved loved this. Must have more Camel!! this is great stuff!

5. Antimatter - Over Your Shoulder
6. Antimatter - The Weight of the world

Not my style. Almost sounds adult contemporary. The second songs is an acoustic song that is better than the first.

7. Enigma - Seven Lives
8. Enigma - Following the sun

the first song was ok but the dance nature of the second didnt do much for me. The second song is much better. I like some Enya and this is similar at least to me. It is very light and makes you feel good.

9. Boris with Michio Kurihura - Sweet No 1
One of the highlights of this comp. Love it!! This is fiery psychedelic music.

10. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Meeting of the Spirits

Rock/jass fusion. I like it. I have always told myself I should listen to more fusion but other stuff got in the way. Ill have to explore this one more.

11. Gordian Knot - Code/Anticode

Liked this one as well. Good instrumental prog. I have heard this band at different times and now is as good as any time to check them out more.

12. King Crimson - Cirkus including Entry of the Chameleons

I have been meaning to get some King Crimson ever since getting into Anekdoten. Good song!

13. Herbie Hancock - Rain Dance

this is perhaps a bit too jazzy for me. Its a fun listen but i am not sure i could make it through an entire cd.

Overall: I really like this comp. It is perhaps the best of the three. I got a new shopping list after listening to this cd.

I love me some Enigma.

tohostudios wrote:

I love me some Enigma.

i liked the second song. The first sounded like it was a different band.

I saw The Chasm a few years ago. Not generally my cup of tea. But they absolutely blew me away and I ran out that week and tried to hunt down everything, which was not easy.

Camel is a great band, and that is very cool OCI slapped their music on your comp

exact33 wrote:

OCI Comp 3: no metal at all

12. King Crimson - Cirkus including Entry of the Chameleons

I have been meaning to get some King Crimson ever since getting into Anekdoten. Good song!

I thought the same thing but after I had about 4 or 5 of their albums and realized I only liked 1 song (Court Of The Crimson King) out of all those albums they immediatly went away. I don't know why they get so much praise but they just don't do it for me and I tried.

manny wrote:

Camel is a great band, and that is very cool OCI slapped their music on your comp

LUV me some Camel....


PRD. I was lazy, but I went to the Rush concert at the Shoreline last nite....... discs go out today!

On to Disc two from JState!!!!!


Disc Two

1. Asphalt Ballet – Soul Survive
Totally 80’s pop metal. Never heard this band before – not a bad song. I would need to hear more before I buy it. I can just see the band in spandex bopping back and forth with big smiles and big hair in a video.

2. Axxis – Kings Made Of Steel
Euro-power metal. Decent song, not sure it’s a band I would add to the want list yet….

3. Electric Angels – Rattlesnake Kisses
Ahhh – feel like I have tuned into Headbanger’s Ball in 1989!!!! Another 80’s pop metal tune!!! Good song – catchy!!!

4. Girlschool – Deadline
Ahhh – good ol’ Girls School!!!! Great song from Lemmy’s favorite bed friends.

5. Johnny Crash – Axe To The Wax
Cool AC/DC style song. Not familiar with Johnny Crash, but another 80’s song.

6. Icon - Running Under Fire
The 80’s metal band that should have been bigger than they are. Good track from Icon.

7. Lost Boys – Right On
More 80’s metal/sleeze metal. Not bad, but not a must buy.

8. 45 Grave – Party Time (zombie version)
Um…… this one doesn’t grab me as much as the other 80’s songs on this disc. Too much “Party” – like 100 times the word is said.

9. Sado – Love Lies
Sounds a bit like Accept (Balls to the wall era) with an Udo clone singing. Decent song. Would need to hear more before I add to the want list.

10. The Scream – Outlaw
Catchy late 80’s pop metal – decent song, I like the solo in this one.

11. D’Molls – 777
This song is just plain awful – sounds like a drum machine with lots of “Oh oh oh oh” and tries to be an 80’s hair metal/dance tune cross over. Next!

12. White Wizzard – High Speed GTO
This is a band I have been wanting to hear, but never picked up. A lot of people seem to like them. After hearing this song, this band is on my want list near the top. Totally old school metal!!!!!!

13. Skull – I Like My Music Loud
Another band I have heard of, but had not listen to yet. This song doesn’t do anything for me. I don’t what it is, but it isn’t clicking with me. I like my music loud too, but not this song! Next!!!

14. Rose Tattoo – Rock N Roll Is King
One more band I had heard of but not listen to. Good blues based 70’s hard rock!

15. April Wine – I’m Alive
Good tune from late 70’s/early 80’s band April Wine.

16. Quireboys – Pretty Girls
Hey, it’s Joe Elliot’s backing band!!!! LOL – just kidding! Decent blues based hard rock song.

17. Diving For Pearls – She Sells Sanctuary (live Cult cover)
80’s hard rock band covers The Cult. The band didn’t make this song “their own” but is almost a note for note copy, with a singer with a high range. Decent cover tune.

18. UFO – Natural Thing
Nice with to end disc two with some UFO!!!!! Great tune!


Another great comp from JState that is heavy on the 80's metal!!!!!!

Asphalt Ballet, Electric Angels, Johnny Crash, Quireboys???

JState's been raiding the Toho Vault!

tohostudios wrote:

Asphalt Ballet, Electric Angels, Johnny Crash, Quireboys???

JState's been raiding the Toho Vault!

No joke!!!! I need a course of antibiotics after that comp!!!!!

nice comp from Jstate!

well well mein mann! It is good you enjoyed teh comps. I've been doing nothing but work and band stuff for like 3 days but I've gotten through 2 out of 3 of yours at least. I must say there are a few oddities in your synopsis though. First, don't deceive people into getting Vanishing Point stuff by saying they're Helloweenish... Many shall be angry. However, if they are looking for great melodic rock infused, sort of down to earth power metal, such as maybe a faster Magnitude 9 or the like, they will be pleased. Second, you really had it coming with the Lantlos since I saw that you own the first Lengsel album. But you can still listen to the first half of the song since it's all clean vocals. Finally, I must say that I don't know why you wouldn't want to own 'Return to Heaven Denied' like NOW after hearing 'Lady Lost in Time'......especially since you own Stratovarius and Labyrinth is similar but with x3 guitar, x3 progression, x523678484753 vocal skill, etc...but oh well. I wonder if I should have put 'The Shooting Star' from the new one on there instead, go check that out on YouTube. The other song has Fabio Lion on vocals so I thought you'd find that interesting to hear.

The Gordian Knot album is quite varied and I think would definitely be a good purchase..