The Very First Week (Sept 7, 2010)

Well, I've decided that I'll go ahead and post reviews of both metal and hard rock/metal bands, (because these days it's hard to fucking tell anymore) but I'll assure you that there will no more than a short paragraph on each.

Without further ado...

Apocalyptica - 7th Symphony (2010) - This wasn't what I'd expected. What I'd expected was a good album, but instead Is eem to be left with very few good instrumentals (which sound too basic) and the horrifying reality that this band has "sold out", even though Jesse Duplantier (Gojira) is featured on one track. He said that he never said "fuck" in a song, until this album. Well, a "fuck" isn't going to save this one.

Overall: Trash

Blood Revolt - Indoctrine (2010) - This is a black metal band featuring Nemtheanga (Primordial) on vocals. The interesting thing about this release is that Nemtheanga is wailing through the barrage of blast beats, and rarely goes into a shriek. This is rare by any standards. It does go to doom in parts, and being that Primordial is blackened doom, you know what to expect there, except that this isn't Primordial. Good album nonetheless.

Overall: Not For Everyone

Disturbed - Asylum (2010) - Yeah, I know. Not metal, right? Well, it's closer to power metal with more D Tune. The solos are more bombastic here, but there's not alot going on. Too many songs. The cover of U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is good vocally, but musically - what in the hell were they thinking? There's also a cover of "Living After Midnight". I didn't like it either.

Overall: Too Much of The Same Thing (and then some covers)

Drudkh - Handful of Stars (2010) - If you liked Drudkh's previous release, then there's no reason why you wouldn't like this one. production is noticeably better, and the whole thing sounds really kind of beautiful. The vocals aren't so great though, I'm not sure if they have a new vocalist or I just didn't catch it before, but I'm not really digging the vocals. If not for such great music, this one wouldn't get as high of a rating.

Overall: Good Prog. Black Metal

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier (2010) - Don't give me shit on this one. I liked the majority of the songs on it, but felt that tracks 2-5 were only decent. The album picks up around the 6th track and sails with a majesty up until the very end. This is what we'd expect from Maiden, and despite just a few mediocre tracks, it's a must for any Maiden fan.

Overall: Maiden Fans Can't Go Wrong With This One

Kataklysm - Heaven's Venom (2010) - You either love em, or hate em; but it's hard to hate something as true to form as this. Kataklysm hasn't sounded this good in years, despite a few of those hardcore hollers on one of the tracks. Nothing to write home about, but it's pretty solid.

Overall: Solid Death Metal

The Murderdolls - Women and Children First (2010) - Not too bad, if you don't mind a little punk in your metal. The single is awful, but the album is pretty good. I'd really have to call it more of a punk album than anything else. It's worth a spin, better than their last one.

Overall: Decent Punk/Metal (But there's probably better bands out there that do this.)

Sadist - Season In Silence (2010) - Don't let the snowman on the cover shy you away from buying this album. There's a lot of greatness on it. The keyboard work is good, and the guitar work is great in some parts, but overall delivery isn't really that amazing. Some people said that this album blew them away, but I don't really think it did that for me.

Overall: Definitely Worth A Listen

The Sword - Warp Riders (2010) - From the beginning, you'll notice that the production is much better than previous albums. There is actually one bad song here "Night City", but everything else is The Sword, just the way we want to hear them. This is good shit, another solid release from these guys.

Overall: Solid Doom/Stoner Metal

Orbs - Asleep Next to Science (2010) - I hate the vocals. I'll say it again...I hate the fucking emo vocals. So prepare for that. Musically though, I can't get over how good this sounds. It's really psychedelic, progressive, trippy, proggy, you name it - it's there. If you can just get over the emo vocals.

Overall: A Challenge, Which is Your Choice To Endure

Tristania - Rubicon (2010) Well...The good old doom/death days of Tristania are long gone, but I'll tell you this - they didn't completely fall under the "Napalm Records Drench Everything In Female Vocals" standards. Yes, there's still alot of female vocals here, but the music is heavier, and sometimes gets a little thrashy, and there's actually some harsher vocals in pieces. It's still a "Goth Metal" album, but it's better than that piece of shit they released in 2006.

Overall: Solid Goth Metal

Black Label Society - Order Of The Black (2010) - I'm going to say this now. I liked this better than "Stronger Than Death". I listened to them both side by side, and just found the vocals better, the playing better, and the whole thing a hell of a lot clearer. Zack's in poor health right now, so if this is his last, he went out with a bang. There's some heavy fucking tracks on here.The bonus tracks are only ballads, and they were too depressing for me - so that's a letdown; but all in all, this is probably my favorite album from BLS.

Overall: Damned Good BLS.

...And that's where I'll end the inaugural run of "The Grim Lord's Review-O-Rama". Thanks for checking it out, and...

LISTEN TO MORE FUCKING METAL!