Comp Swap X The Reviews!

DallasBlack wrote:

Yeah, the best comp swap for me so far. I think some of the music didn't get to you as some of the bands that I sent two songs from only had one song in the reviews. One band, Sure Conviction didn't have anything there. Check and see if that band is somewhere and you just missed it. If not, I'd like to send their songs at least as I'd like to see what you think as they are pretty darn good and one of the very few MHR bands with a Christian message (probably would have been a hit in the Christian rock market had they released their album in the late 80s instead of 1994).

I know I saw the Sure Conviction folder, so I am not sure why I didn't write about it. Must have been an oversight. I'll make sure to look for it asap. What other songs did I miss?

Ive been listening to my 2 comps quite a bit that I got from BearonaUnicycle . Of course its when im on the road so alot of times I dont know who it is im listening to but the only band before listening to them that I was familiar with was Haven. In fact I might even have a CD of their but I am unsure as most of my music till recently was in storage (now its in my new apt)

Some of the real standouts to me were

Mindfeed- I Bleed
Tony MacAlphine- Key to the City
Cornerstone - Jungle
James Labrie- Euphoric
Axel Rudi Pell- Tear Down the Walls
Wicked Maraya - The Legacy

of course as i continue to listen to them I will probably pick out a few more i like. I didnt mention Haven because I liked them prior to these comps. These I listed are ones id explore further, all in all I did not really dislike any songs from the comps but there were some I did find boring but I was pleasently surprised with my experience here... I hope Bear enjoyed mine as much as I did his

Addy wrote:

Ive been listening to my 2 comps quite a bit that I got from BearonaUnicycle . Of course its when im on the road so alot of times I dont know who it is im listening to but the only band before listening to them that I was familiar with was Haven. In fact I might even have a CD of their but I am unsure as most of my music till recently was in storage (now its in my new apt)

Some of the real standouts to me were

Mindfeed- I Bleed
Tony MacAlphine- Key to the City
Cornerstone - Jungle
James Labrie- Euphoric
Axel Rudi Pell- Tear Down the Walls
Wicked Maraya - The Legacy

of course as i continue to listen to them I will probably pick out a few more i like. I didnt mention Haven because I liked them prior to these comps. These I listed are ones id explore further, all in all I did not really dislike any songs from the comps but there were some I did find boring but I was pleasently surprised with my experience here... I hope Bear enjoyed mine as much as I did his

Glad you liked. Knowing your wide spectrum of tastes it was kind of difficult for me to choose the tracks without falling into some generic stuff I happen to like

kmorg wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Yeah, the best comp swap for me so far. I think some of the music didn't get to you as some of the bands that I sent two songs from only had one song in the reviews. One band, Sure Conviction didn't have anything there. Check and see if that band is somewhere and you just missed it. If not, I'd like to send their songs at least as I'd like to see what you think as they are pretty darn good and one of the very few MHR bands with a Christian message (probably would have been a hit in the Christian rock market had they released their album in the late 80s instead of 1994).

I know I saw the Sure Conviction folder, so I am not sure why I didn't write about it. Must have been an oversight. I'll make sure to look for it asap. What other songs did I miss?

These were the other songs I didn't see:

Flame-Wonderland
Aska-Invasion
Flotsam & Jetsam-Black Cloud
Lance King-Dance Of Power
Vanishing Point-One Foot In Both Worlds

allthingsmetal wrote:

Review for Required Fields CD #2 (sorry for the delay).

Another great compilation within the whole spectrum of ‘metal’!!

1. Havok—Identity Theft:------Great modern retro-thrash. One of the best new thrash bands.

2. Helstar—Burning Star--------80’s metal/NWOBHM feel to it. Again,as with the other disc this totally reminds me of my youth with this style of metal. Good stuff.

3. Tokyo Blade—Warrior of the Rising Sun-----80’s metal. Reminds me of a blend of early Queensryche/Metal Church/Fate’s Warning. More good stuff.

4. Heretic—Enemy Within--------- Mike Howe singing. Great singer. Great song. I wish he would join back up with Metal Church.

5. Assorted Heap—Mindwaves-----Interesting vocals. These vocals kind of reminds me of Pitiful Reign or Disaffection. They sound like they are trying to ‘sound metal’. Did not really click with me as their other song did.

6. Rigor Mortis—Six Feet Under/Worms of the Earth----Love this band. One of few bands that (imo) cleanly fits into the speed metal category. When the discussion of “what is speed metal and what is thrash?” comes up, this is a good band to reference. Nice, long 4 minute aggressive-y Iron Maiden-esque intro then into the ripping speed metal. Great song.

7. Torture Squad—Horror and Torture----The vocals remind me a lot of King’s-Evil or Grief of War (I did not do any research yet. My guess is this band is from Japan as it reminds me of a blend of German and Bay Area thrash—which a lot of Japanese bands seem to). But I could be way off. What do I know?

8. Disciples of Power—Eternal Purgatoy---This has that early 90’s murky death metal production. Vocals remind me of Catastrophic (and other early DM bands like Morbid Angel/ Monstrosity).

9. Solstice—Netherworld---Love this cd!! I wish Rob Barrrett would have stayed in the band and on the vocal duties. I like his delivery. Great band.

10. Burial—Frigid Cold—Old school death metal sounding.

11. CJSS—Purgatroy/Living in Exile----Traditional 80’s metal. I will have to check out more from these guys. I do not like anything that I have heard from David Chastain prior to these comps but I really like the two songs on these comps.

12. Sortilege—(in French)----Traditional 80’s sounding metal. Very good stuff.

13. Accusser—Called to the Bench------Thrash. With Hatchet sounding riffs, then it goes into something that reminds me of Pitbulls in the Nursery and then back to thrash. I have other Accusser cds. I could not place them as I was listening to this. Not sure if the vocalist changed but here it sounds like he is trying to sound ‘gruff’.

14. Exhorder—Slaughter in the Vatican----Awesome 1990 metal!! It has that ‘typical’ Scott Burns/Florida Metal sound!! The same year had him producing Demolition Hammer and Napalm Death (among others). I love all the cds that came out of Morrisound Studios. You knew you were getting great metal.

Torture Squad are from Brazil, actually.

Glad you enjoyed the album!

Finally done with sideshows comp!!! will mail out on tuesday!

Ok, here we go.

Avenger of Blood -- When Will You Die?

Great song, but the drum sound gets on my nerves a bit. (That'll be a recurring factor in the rest of these reviews, the production on a lot of these tracks was sub-par at best).

Cardiac Arrest -- Insanity's Grip

Now, don't get me wrong, I like me some good death metal... but this isn't it. I like some parts of this song, but it's not anything I would listen to on a regular basis.

Consfearacy -- Fall From Grace

Now THIS band I like. This song is an awesome thrash tinged power metal song. The vocals kind of remind me of Warrel Dane and Harry Conklin at times... I've got this album saved for later on Spotify.

Hypnosia -- Act of Lunacy

This song has some monster riffs in it, I can dig it. The vocals are pretty cool as well.

Hammers of Misfortune -- The Day the City Died

The instrumentals on this song are pretty good, but the vocals are a turnoff for me. A bit too odd for me, I guess.

Grim Reaper -- You'll Wish You Were Never Born

I love Grim Reaper, but they tend to be a bit cheesy. This song is no exception, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

Gahenna - Beat That Poser Down

Pretty good thrash song, but once again the production is lacking. Production value is one of the reasons I can't get into a lot of extreme music.

Godless Rising -- Beyond the Graves We Desecrate

This is a great death metal song... It's heavy as a ton of bricks, and the vocals are f***ing awesome.

Gravehill -- Unholy Executioner

I don't know what it is about this song, but it's not not very memorable. It was just "meh" to me.

Exhumed -- Exhume to Consume

The slower bridge before the solo is wicked, but the vocals are a bit too monotonous for me. Not a bad song overall, though.

Elm Street -- Heavy Metal Power

This is more like it! I really like the power-thrash style stuff you sent me.

Crimson Relic -- Velvet of the Goddess

Simply put, I didn't really enjoy this song too much.

Bloodwritten -- Bullet Overdose

Pretty good song, though still nothing that I would listen to on a regular basis.

Legions of War -- Master of the War

Great riffage going on in this song.

Morgion -- Invalid Prodigy

I really like the speed level of this track, very doom/sludge-y. I prefer this to straight up blast beats 24-7 type death metal.

Metsatöll -- Kahjakaldad

Apparently, this is an Estonian folk metal band. All I know is that I dig this song; the language sounds very cool from a musical standpoint. Great song!

I'll get to the other half of the reviews ASAP.

Wurthless wrote:

Ok, here we go.

Avenger of Blood -- When Will You Die?

Great song, but the drum sound gets on my nerves a bit. (That'll be a recurring factor in the rest of these reviews, the production on a lot of these tracks was sub-par at best).

Lurideath will eat you up for breakfast!

DallasBlack wrote:

Carnivora-The Masters And Their Slaves
Got this album on a blind buy and was very surprised on the pure heavy metal it presented. Unfortunately, during a bad time of unemployment with no money I sold a bunch of CDs but was comforted by the fact I had them all backed up on a hard drive. However, the hard drive crashed so this album as well as several others are gone from my possession and will have to be re-captured at a later date. If I remember it correctly, this was the standout track on that album. 4.5/5

Circus Maximus-Alive
More great prog metal but one I already have in my possession, which furthers my statement of Kmorg and I’s familiar tastes in this genre. These guys and Threshold seem to have a great more deal of melody than a lot of other prog metal bands. 5/5

These 2 have the same vocalist

DallasBlack wrote:

Highland Glory-Mindgame Masquerade
Wow! What we have here is some awesome Euro-power metal with great vocals, melody, awesome guitar solos, and an infectious chorus. I must get something from this band for sure! 5/5

Highland Glory used to have the same vocalist as another band I think you like, namely Saint Daemon! He sings here. Nowadays they have a female singer.

kmorg wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Ok, here we go.

Avenger of Blood -- When Will You Die?

Great song, but the drum sound gets on my nerves a bit. (That'll be a recurring factor in the rest of these reviews, the production on a lot of these tracks was sub-par at best).

Lurideath will eat you up for breakfast!

I figured.

kmorg wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Ok, here we go.

Avenger of Blood -- When Will You Die?

Great song, but the drum sound gets on my nerves a bit. (That'll be a recurring factor in the rest of these reviews, the production on a lot of these tracks was sub-par at best).

Lurideath will eat you up for breakfast!

yep. you are toast man!!!

tohostudios wrote:

This is the most CDs I've bought based on a comp swap (3 so far) and I haven't even listened to jstate's second disc yet (I will though!).

I too am getting 3 cds from the stuff Witchfinder sent me.

chewie wrote:

Finally done with sideshows comp!!! will mail out on tuesday!

Yours should show up in the next few days. I'll be checking my P.O. Box tomorrow for the ones from you (and for another disc I got comin').

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

chewie wrote:

Finally done with sideshows comp!!! will mail out on tuesday!

Yours should show up in the next few days. I'll be checking my P.O. Box tomorrow for the ones from you (and for another disc I got comin').

Should be there soon!

MG71 comps arrived today. Mine to him will hopefully be in the mail on Monday.

metalken wrote:

MG71 comps arrived today. Mine to him will hopefully be in the mail on Monday.

You just got them today? They must've sat in customs for awhile. Could've been the bong water spilled all over the envelope.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

metalken wrote:

MG71 comps arrived today. Mine to him will hopefully be in the mail on Monday.

You just got them today? They must've sat in customs for awhile. Could've been the bong water spilled all over the envelope.

The customs guys up here are crazy. I have seen a package arrive in under a week and as long as SIX WEEKS!!!

I`m expecting criss30 to arrive any minute now, it`s a long walk from Buffalo US to Mandal Norway

Comp Swap X disc #5!

* Songs/bands I'm unfamiliar with...

* Tenet-Hail! OMG! This band makes my pants really happy! Excellent sleezy thrash in an Overkill kind of vein. The vocals are killer, I like this a lot!

*Zimmers Hole-While You Were Shouting At The Devil This one too is just amazingly awesomely awesome! A heavy metal Steel Panther. The singer is just awesome! Of course the tune is pure metal brilliance as are the lyrics. "Exodus was right, kill all the flippin' poseurs!"

*Destruction-Sign Of Fear Flamenco infused metal. Ya! Great song, huge guitars, with plenty of off tempo changes and such and just a good sleazy metal tune. Plenty of double kick drum work. Another really great song.

Sodom-Baptism Of Fire I've enjoyed many of the Sodom peicees and this is no exception. Classic thrash metal! Great band with some killer drumming on this tune.

*Not Fragile-Monster Machine Another nice little hard rock/metal tune/band.Really have always loved tunes where you can hear the guitarists sliding up and down the neck really playing the shinola out of the thing. Hear a little Blackie Lawless in the vox at times and the guitars again are just sick.

*Scanner-Across The Universe Cool vintage sounding hard rock. I dig it. Sounds similar to MANY bands of the 80's, nothing atom splitting, but solid hard rock...

*Power Quest-Galaxies Unknown Up tempo, proggy, feel good hard rocker with tons of keys.The galloping drumwork is impressive and the tune had me toes a tapping and a big ole' chesire cat grin on my mug!

Ten-Kingdom Come Weird to me why Ten isn't a Ten on the popularity scales?!? Monster production accompanied by monster players, playing a monster melodic hard AOR song. Everything sright here for super stardom, a really unerrated band imho.

Heavens Gate-Menergy Kooky lil' uptempo prog-hard rocker with a big ole' bag of keys and some impressive guitar work. This song could be a b-side from Deep Purples Perfect Strangers album...

EdGuy-Nobody's Hero Superb band! Everyone should love EdGuy, especially this tune! The rhythm in this is a real monster and the vocals are perfect. Perfect tune and a quinessential band.

Magnum-On The Edge Of The World If you love your 70's prog rock ala Kansas, nazereth, Head East, Et Al you should woship Magnum. Talented musicians and a quality song. Should have een a staple in the genre.

Saigon Kick-feilds Of Rape Always have liked SK. Huge harmonies, tight band and of coure Jason is a guitar wizard. I like how with this tune they took a depressing topic and spun it into a sing along cigarette ligher ballad. Kooky. I prefer the harder stuff they do, but they do this balladry well as well.

The Church-Almost With You WOW, after the last 10 songs this one takes the air out of the ole room doesn't it. Obviously the band is good and quite popular, but just to alterna-REM/college radio rock for me.

*Steel Train-Bullet This tune sounds as if it was written for a John Hughes film. Which is fine by me. Good song, and again very 80's pop rock-ish...

HIM-Dying Song HIM is a quality band and there is a reason why they are selling a ton of records, they are good. super sing songy song with a ton of hooks.

*Entwine-The Strife This sounds very current radio friendly to me. A fine example of modern rock with big harmonies/chorus', should appeal to the kiddies and hipsters today.

Lullacry-King Of Pain LOVE the axework from this group. The vocals are REALLY babydoll like and just toolil' kiddish for me (lead vocals). I'm sure many dig the vox and do, but to me the vocals need to be as agressive as the music then it would RULE!

Hirax-Broken Neck Short but sweet neck breakin' trash diddy here with all the genre appropriate trimmings.


More to come soon!

Speaking of Ten, I just finished Babylon. Forgot how great an MHR album that one is. One of the downsides of listening to an album while changing oil (I was a quick lube tech) or any type of work that requires attention is that the music can sometimes blend into the background. I was working as a lube tech when I listened to this album the first 2-3 times then forgot about it until recently.

Got chewie's discs today. Will start giving them a listen and have a review up this weekend!

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

Got chewie's discs today. Will start giving them a listen and have a review up this weekend!

Wow!!!! It did get to you. I thought it got eaten by a dingo!!!!!

chewie wrote:

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

Got chewie's discs today. Will start giving them a listen and have a review up this weekend!

Wow!!!! It did get to you. I thought it got eaten by a dingo!!!!!

Nah, we keep those as pets here. Excellent herding animals.

If the ones I sent to you don't show up soon, I'll do another set up. May have to shake down a kangaroo or two to see if one pilfered it...

Alrighty, time for the first review of the discs chewie sent to me. Without further ado, here is Disc 1:

The Sword - Night City
Opening Disc 1 from chewie is a band I’ve heard mentioned several times, but haven’t personally checked out yet. It reminds me of 80’s metal, with a big hard rock influence. Tempo is upbeat, some nice riffing, and a fitting solo (nothing flash, but suits the song). The singer is a bit generic, IMO. Not a bad song overall, though it doesn’t make me want to rush out and buy anything. Wouldn’t mind hearing more, though…

Harem Scarem - The Paint Thins
Much like song one, this one has a hard rock vibe going. Yet another band I’ve seen bandied about, but haven’t look into for myself. Again, a fairly upbeat tempo. I like the gruff sound of the singer. I really like the solo in this one; he goes off pretty good! My final thoughts from the 1st track pretty much apply here as well.

Ark - Heal The Waters
I like the opening riffage to this one. The singer reminds me a bit of Geoff Tate in the more mellow moments… I like the mix up of mellow passages to ones with a bit more “grunt” as it were. I detect a slight technical edge in many places. Gonna goes into a bit of a speed metal mode near the middle of the song. I must say, I’m fairly intrigued by this one. Is this tune indicative of their overall sound?

Comma - Testimony Within
In the early parts of the song I was HEAVILY reminded of one of the tracks from King Diamond’s The Eye album (can’t put my finger on which tune off the top of my head…). The keys thrown in during the verse grated on me, I have to say. The singer wasn’t bad, but a bit limited, IMO. This one failed to gain any traction with me… WAY too much keyboard.

Dali’s Delimma - This Time Around
This tune kinda falls into the same camp as the last one. It’s got a bit too much going on. Also too much keyboard for my taste. Some of the riffs between chorus and verse just didn’t mesh with what went on during said passages, IMO. The guitarist(s) are talented, no doubt, but the overall the track wasn’t cohesive enough for me.

Damn The Machine - Russians
The band of former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. This is a far cry from what he did on Peace Sells, that’s for sure. Progressive metal is what’s presented here. Maybe I’m a knuckle-dragging neanderthal, as I often find myself just not “getting” most progressive bands. The were a couple passages I liked here, but every time they went away from that, I kept thinking “No, no go back to what you were just doing!”

Under The Sun - Perfect World
The ones goes all kind of directions start! Haha It’s a mix and match between mellow, technical, mid-paced, etc. The closest thing I could compare this to would be maybe a less aggressive early Voivod, kinda? Just WAY too much going on here for me to get my head around it… I like the singer, though.

Danger Danger - Still Kickin’
Good ol’ 80’s rock / metal sound! Reminds me of all the cheesy videos I used to watch as a kid on MTV. Every cliché you can think of in regards to the style apply here. However, it was an enjoyable little romp, I have to admit! I won’t be running out to buy this, but for an one-off it does the trick!

Dawnbringer - So Much For Sleep
This one starts off reminding of Maiden a bit… Has that upbeat, “bouncy” quality to the riffs. I kept expecting to hear that iconic wail come along as it progressed! Haha The singer eventually comes along with a low-register, gruff voice. I like the mid-paced crunch through the verses and chorus! HIGHLY enjoyable tune! Will be ripping this for the ol’ iPhone.

Dream Theater - To Live Forever
I have given this band SOOOO many opportunities to wow me, it’s almost ridiculous. I heard Pull Me Under like 20 years ago and enjoyed it. I started checking them out from that point, and NOTHING stuck. I have tried SO hard to like this band… Again, maybe I’m just a knuckle-dragger. This one felt like I was listening to a U2 song…

The Explorers Club - Impact 3 - No Returning (Radio Hack Mix)
Have you ever heard a song, listened to it a few times subsequently, and just can’t make up your damn mind whether you like it or think it’s complete garbage? Well, this one was one of the songs for me. I’ve listened to it 4 or 5 times and just can’t say which it is… The only thing I KNOW I like was the solo. He cuts loose! I could do without the synth…

Altura - Mercy
This one was a non-starter for me. The guitarists are STUPIDLY talented, but the song as a whole just didn’t catch fire. I kept wanting the entire band to get REALLY angry all of a sudden, and follow up some of those few, fleeting heavy riffs with some aggression. However, it would turn really mellow at that point. I got frustrated with it, honestly.

Ice Age - Miles To Go
This one was rollicking again VERY nicely, and then they had to throw in the synth. Why did they do that?! I was working my way around that and then at about the minute mark….WTF?! It went in a direction I wasn’t expecting at all. It went all keyboard, space-agey… I was reminded of Rush A LOT once I turned my brain off and quit thinking about whether I liked it or not. I can’t imagine a fan of Rush not digging this (unfortunately, I am not one of said bands fans).

In The Name - Endless Night
This one was a lot like the Altura song. I kept wanting it to get aggressive, but it refused to. Hell, maybe I’ve got anger issues. The mellow passages just don’t stick to anything for me. When the riffs got gritty, something inside goes “hell yah, keep doing THAT”.

Mullmuzzler - His Voice
Uh-oh. We’re starting off with synth again… At least a big, chunky riff comes in over it! I am SO liking that big, chunky riff! And then….it all goes mellow again! Why did you do away with my big, chunky riff?! You know, over the years I thought my tastes have broadened. I am VERY swiftly learning just how narrow said broadening has been… Gotta give props to the singer, though. Nice smooth voice!

Starbreaker - Days Of Confusion
Again, another song that mixes nice powerful passages with ultra-laid back mellow ones. I think it’s official; I am SO a low-brow. The powerful moments really did it for me, but the mellow piano laced moments just don’t hit anything…



I have got to hand it to chewie. With Disc 1, he took me WAY out of my comfort zone! So far, I have learned that my tastes have not broadened NEARLY as much as I thought they had over the years.