(Review originally published in 2007)

Ghost Machinery began its journey in 2002 when Pete Ahonen of Burning Point decided to form a new band since he had come up with a few songs that didn’t fit into the Burning Point vein which he didn’t feel like throwing away. He called two of his old friends (Jussi Ontero and Tapsa Pelkonen) and asked them if they were interested in joining, and apparently they were. After only one demo they secured a two-album deal with Sound Riot Records and this is the result of their first collaboration.

I believe the first time I heard Burning Point was in 2001 when the debut album “Salvation By Fire” had been released, and to put it short; it didn’t impress me. Even though it wasn’t exactly bad or amateurish there was only one song (“Fall Of Thy Kingdom”) that knocked me out – and one single cool track is not enough for me. This is why my expectations on this CD weren’t exactly sky-high to begin with. Anyhow, unlike Burning Point – which represents eighties-inspired heavy/power metal – Ghost Machinery is leaning more towards modern power metal complimented by atmospheric keyboards. The cover artwork looks – as you can see above – pretty good but that’s about all the positive things I can say about this album. Of course, I’m just kidding but to tell the truth; this isn’t the funniest album I’ve heard.

You see, “Haunting Remains” is the type of album that we’ve heard many times before – almost too many. Ghost Machinery’s first attempt is not bad at all when everything comes around, but it’s definitely not a great piece of music either. I have given this album many spins now, and it has given me very little in return. I don’t know, but I somehow feel (and hope!) that their second strike will be more deadlier, so to speak.

To include a whole of thirteen songs is a damn bold move – too bold for a band like Ghost Machinery, unfortunately. This makes the album collapse under its own weight – more or less. Now regarding the vocals, Pete is a pretty good singer even if he has a tendency of sounding a bit boring in the long run. But on the other hand, it’s very hard to make a lasting impression when you have more or less nothing to work with, if you get my point.

I also feel it’s my duty as a reviewer to mention that former Sentenced frontman Ville Laihiala (now in Poisonblack) and Mikko Myllylä (Wildcard) perform vocals respective all guitars on the Gary Moore cover “Out In The Fields”.

Although “Haunting Remain” is kind of simple it still leaves a very serious and proper impression, which (of course) is fun to see and hear. The album certainly has its moments but it still adds very little to an already crowded style – in terms of quality, that is.

Peter Eliasson

TRACKLIST
01. World Of Unbelievers
02. Blinded Eyes
03. Temples Of Gold
04. Evil Within Us
05. Down In Flames
06. Dreamworld
07. From The Edge Of The World
08. Darkest Hour
09. Fallen Angels
10. Heaven Or Hell
11. In Your (EVil) Dreams
12. Out In The Fields (Gary Moore cover)
13. Shadows

Talk about one mysterious band! Suicide and masked identities. One never ceases to be amazed, these days. But on the other hand we humans are in need of mysteries to enrich our lives. The question is whether or not The Way Of Purity and more specifically “Biteback” can be flagged as those more relevant mysteries? This is, to my knowledge, my first acquaintance with this group and likely also my last, cause this piece of music is not impressive. You’ll see what I mean.

The first tune “Keep Dreaming” opens up in an intense manner. The song itself almost feels like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between brutal and catchy parts. I really appreciate the dynamics that The Way Of Purity obviously can summon forth by utilizing female vocals and keyboards, but I would’ve prefered some memorable parts as well. Creativity and quality should go hand in hand. The music is somewhat of a mixture of furious death metal and a slice of melodeath, at times bringing about a feeling of metalcore. A mix that sounds decent to me – absolutely nothing more. The remaining tunes “Eternal Damnation To René Descartes” and “Reverse The Time” are basically more of the same; some catchiness there and some heavyness there. Decent music, all in all, but nothing that transcends time and space.

The cover artwork is very appropriate for this type of music but the core of the release left me with very limited impressions. However, just because it didn’t appeal to me doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be of interest to you. The choice is yours.

Peter Eliasson

TRACKLIST
01. Keep Dreaming
02. Eternal Damnation To René Descartes
03. Reverse The Time

Just by looking at the band name (and the cover artwork) one can easily get a somewhat clear picture of what to expect from this release. Yes, that’s right. Five tracks with strong ties to power metal and hard rock in general are being served to us by this Swedish band in the form of “Last Journey”.

After a somewhat stereotypical intro entitled “Prelude” (not much imagination there…) the first real track enters with some discreet keyboard playing and of course – heavy riffing. The production here is pretty solid but the most notable thing about “Sea Of Betrayal” is the strong vocal performance. It’s also evident right from the start that the chorus of the song is its strongest asset, although the lyrics at times feel less brilliant. I guess we’ll have to live with that.

“End Of Forever” is up next and it takes on a slightly different shape with its heavy feel. Once again the vocal expression succeeds in snatching my attention. The song itself is not bad at all, but probably not something that I will remember for years to come. Track four, “Alone”, has a dreamlike and colorful opening which sweeps across the room. The remainder of the song isn’t as great, resulting in a disappointment. Kind of expected something stronger, you know.

The final piece of music is called “Last Journey” and it feels like Majestic Dimension’s way of giving us everything it has to offer, mainly due to the lengthy playing time. I can definitely spot that these guys radiate some potential but they’re not reaching all the way through, yet. I should add that it takes quite a lot to impress me, these days.

“Last Journey” is musically good and equally powerful from time to time, but I can hardly see this making any greater impact on the scene. The guys in Majestic Dimension are looking at a long journey if they have the intention of conquering the throne.

Peter Eliasson

TRACKLIST
01. Prelude
02. Sea Of Betrayal
03. End Of Forever
04. Alone
05. Last Journey

Just read the band name and look at the cover artwork, people. This can hardly be mistaken for anything else than metal, right? The real question is rather if this is qualitive metal or lesser good metal? Let me get back to you on that.

The first track “Bound At Birth” is peculiar. It starts out in a heavy terrain and about two minutes into the song it changes character before ending abruptly. Unusual and not something that I appreciate very much – to put it mildly – but at the same time it showcases some good dynamics. “I Am Ghost” follows in pretty much the same fashion as the rest of the release. The music is a modern take on death metal with a bit of technicality thrown in for good measure, not completely unlike Soilwork to some extent. The song itself is nothing out of the ordinarily, however. Last track is called “Cracks In The Hourglass” and it makes me kind of bored. The clean vocals appearing are definitely of lesser value than they should have been, if done properly. That aside, some potential is still present beneath the averageness. Confusing.

To say that listening to Trigger Made Solution’s “Bound At Birth” is like experiencing a metal storm is stretching the truth pretty damn far. From what I’ve gather, this band has a few cool ideas here and there, but they need to get a serious grip on the essence of what they’re trying to create. Only then can I predict a bright future for these guys.

My conclusion after listening to this demo is that no ferocious beast resides here within.

Peter Eliasson

The opener “Skjend Hans Lik” is – as you probably already have guessed – taken from 2003′s multi-platinum selling (just kidding!) album “Defending The Throne Of Evil”. Here we get the chance to hear it in an alternative mix and I must say that I’m impressed. The vocals are extremely well-performed, the drumming is of interesting nature and thanks to the keyboard the song has gotten even more personality. Unfortunately I don’t think it will stay in my mind for such a long time due to absence of strong riffs. The second song is called “Humiliation Chant” and it’s the only one on this release that hasn’t seen the light of day (or maybe the dark of night?) before. The piano and the scary voices together with some effects creates a very creepy atmosphere. I can’t see why they didn’t use this one as an intro cause it really serves its purpose! Without wasting more time figuring out why let’s jump to the next track. “Spill The Blood Of The Lamb” is up next and this version is a pre-production from the song that originally appeared on the above mentioned album “Defending The Throne Of Evil”. This song also marks where my interest for this release drops. “Martyr / Sacrificulum” (originally appeared on 2000′s “Strange Old Brew”) is the fourth track played live and to tell the truth; it’s fairly uninteresting. Sure, great musicianship by frontman Nattefrost and his troopers, but the song is still quite boring – in my opinion. The last five songs here (“Through The Black Veil Of The Burgo Pass”, “Bloodlust And Perversion”, “Return Of The Freezing Winds”, “The Woods Of Wallachia” and “Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara”) are all taken from Carpathian Forest’s first demo – “Bloodlust And Perversion” that was released in 1992. The title of that demo is quite cool, but unfortunately I can’t say the same thing about the songs. Aside from the not-so-impressive vocals, the variation presented here is pretty much non-existing. Besides that – the music is slow and boring. Boring and slow. No, this demo just isn’t good but I have to admit that the last track “Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara” is a quite decent intrumental outro.

There isn’t enough interesting material on “Skjend Hans Lik” to justify a release of this kind – sad but true. However, I’m more than sure that real fans of Carpathian Forest is still going to invest in this release.

Peter Eliasson

Tracklist:
01. Skjend Hans Lik
02. Humiliation Chant
03. Spill The Blood Of The Lamb
04. Martyr / Sacrificulum
05. Through The Black Veil Of The Burgo Pass
06. Bloodlust And Perversion
07. Return Of The Freezing Winds
08. The Woods Of Wallachia
09. Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara

The press release is pretty sparse with information regarding the background of the individual band members, but on the other hand – just listen to the damn recording. It stands clear directly from start that we aren’t exactly dealing with amateur musicians here. The songs often prove to have a powerful drive and smooth vocal lines. The fact that vocalist Nicklas Sonne lacks some character is somewhat negative but this is compensated by strong guitar work.

The six songs on this EP are pretty varied but at the same time not that hard to get a solid grip on. The songs lose focus from time to time though, meaning that the songwriting isn’t top-notch. Yet. Improvements in aforementioned area will hopefully be noticeable already on their next offering. I mean, the style is good as it is. Retain the sound and just forge even stronger tunes, is my humble advice to this Danish band.

My favourite tracks? “Excluded”, “Desperate Addict” and “Out Of The Day”. The first one is heavy yet relaxed with a soft chorus. The second one is straight-forward and leaves little to be desired. The latter one induces a feeling of mainstream, sort of, but at the same time the progressiveness is clearly heard. They’re balancing on the line and they’re actually pulling it off. To repeat what I implied in the beginning of the review: things never get too complicated.

Not bad at all, is my final judgement. Refreshing with a (slight) personal touch. The production is very good as well. With a real hit song present on their forthcoming full-length album they might be able to make it into the charts.

Peter Eliasson

This band from Finland is – truth to be told – just another band that I stumbled upon when I was surfing the web. Giving them a chance felt like the right thing to do – I mean, what exactly did I have to lose? Human Sculpture is a quite newly-formed band with this being their first offering to the world.

We’re talking about three tracks, and those three songs have quite a lot in common with modern death metal. We all know what that means by now, heavy riffs, screamy vocals and steadfast drumming. From time to time they rely on some cool melodies to do the talking, but we’re mostly dealing with death metal of the modern kind. They’re aren’t exactly aiming for breaking any new boundaries. If that was the goal, they failed completely.

The songs are partly good and partly boring, with the first one called “Deconstruction” being my favourite. No matter how you view things, the production is definitely good, but on the other hand – getting a qualitative production these days isn’t exactly the hardest of tasks. These guys are young (judging from the promo photos) and the way I see it, they’re only in the beginning of their career. “Our World/Torn Down” is a decent first try from Human Sculpture. That I don’t deny.

Like I implied in the beginning, these guys deserve some credit for keeping things non-boring. Three songs with a total playing time of under 16 minutes isn’t exactly destined to bore the listener to death.

Peter Eliasson

I’ll start off with my own opinion on this. Personally, It think it does exactly what it was meant to do. Bring you into the evil sounding atmosphere, and not let you leave until the album is done, or you simply turn it off. I warn you now, don’t do the second option. I enjoyed this album more when I listened to the whole thing at once than when I listen to individual songs. An exception to that, however, would have to be the song “Revolution Begins”. Every time I listen to it, the extreme skill of it takes me over. The way it evokes feelings within you, the way it creates an atmosphere of music that envelops you with its grasp, all of that adds up and turns it into a song that simply leaves you wanting more.

However, no matter how well done certain songs are for quick listens, I still recommend that the whole album be heard at one time. Or at least in two halves if you do not have the time to sit down and listen to it the whole way through.

Of course, there are extremely few albums that are flawless, and this one is no exception. Although the heaviness was intended, it creates a feeling of repetition at a few points in the album. If you listen closely, you’ll realize that these aren’t exactly the same riffs, but quite similar, especially if you listen to this with the volume level high up. Unlike many fast and heavy albums, I did not have a problem with the drums, and that, is a good accomplishment I think, especially coming from me( There’s probably at least a 60% chance I’ll have some sort of problem with drums in extremely heavy and fast music).

Anyway, let’s look at the vocals and lyrics next. I really think the vocals fit the music well, as well as the theme of the album, I also think that adding in some areas of clean singing would help the overall effect. Mostly because after 30-40 minutes of this album, the harsh voice gets a little repetitive, and sounds ever unchanging. Not particularly bad, seeing as the theme for this album is certainly revolution against a tyrant, so harsh voices would be expected, but the songs themselves suffer from this.

Lyrically, this album was quite good. I can’t say I haven’t heard better lyrical work than this, but I also cannot claim that this is uninventive. Some songs take the approach of having a conversation before the actual song. An example would be “Rise of the Tyrant”, which in all reality, really fits the what the song soon becomes. Throughout the songs, choruses will be repeated, and usually have some kind of anger attached to them, they are almost something to project you from one part of a song to another, and they do it perfectly, carrying you through the many feelings and thoughts of this album.

However, I cannot say this is an album that is easy to listen to. If you dislike heavy albums with very harsh singing, this is not for you at all. Just about the entire album features grizzly, brutal, savage riffs, while harsh singing erupts from the vocalist. The whole album has a feeling of controlled chaos, but certainly chaos will be what you realize at first. If you prefer metal that is more on the softer side, stay away from this album.

In the end, I have to tell you all to go and get this album, whether you go and buy albums, or you download off the internet. It’ll be worth your money and your time. Unless you are a hater of very heavy music, and everything stated in the above paragraph, you’ll probably enjoy this album, who knows, maybe this album will even turn you haters around, and make you enjoy the savage beauty of this kind of music. A must listen to fans, and first-timers alike.

Patrick Burent

(Review originally published in 2007)

If you don’t know about this Fulda-based band then you’ve only got yourself to blame. Edguy is one of the most established artists in the whole power metal scene, and not surprisingly also one of my favourite bands in this part of the metal universe. This means that I’ve very high expectations on anything wearing the Edguy label, and for many years now I’ve only been disappointed once by Tobias Sammet and his gang. Curious about this 2006′s album “Rocket Ride”? Feel free to continue reading.

“Sacrifice” is the longest song on the album (not by far, though) at just over eight minutes and it turns out to be – not surprisingly – the most detailed track of them all with lots of interesting and imaginative parts. It begins very softly with piano playing setting the initial mood before it escalates into a rousing guitar driven tempest, almost in the blink of an eye. When the guitar action has settled down it’s time for Edguy mastermind Tobias Sammet to make his vocal entrance. He can, when the song quality decreases, give a bit of a bland impression, but for most of the time he sounds superb and I know that a lot of people agree with me on this, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. By the way, carrying out a song like this in a live setting wouldn’t be the easiest of tasks, but I’m sure that Edguy would do more than well.

Back to the tune in question. Parts of the song are definitely surrounded by a certain mysticism, but that’s not all “Sacrifice” has to offer. No, it alternates (in a masterful way) between being emotional, powerful and being compelling and almost epic sounding at times. My conclusion: one of the highlights of the release without being one of the finest tracks from the Edguy catalogue. Any questions?

“Rocket Ride” is on contrary to its predesessor not one of the album’s highlights. It’s a lot more basic and more to the point than “Sacrifice”, making it an easy target for the reptile part of our brain to like, so to speak. The main riff supplies the song with a certain amount of power, but what one must not forget about is that a song is build out of many parts, each part playing a significant role for the final result. Here comes metaphor of the week: you can see a song like an airplane, all the parts need to be working together in order for the plane to fly. In this case the plane doesn’t actually crash, but nor does it fly very high either – by Edguy standards. I guess one could say that it doesn’t come out as richly as I want it to, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. I think it’s a very good track, but it pales in comparison to the best “Rocket Ride” has to offer. Enough said.

“Wasted Time” is another highlight with an suggestive opening. Some acoustic guitar playing is brought in here to relieve the heaviness. The song itself is quite long, thirteen seconds from being six minutes but not a single second is wasted here as time (I know…) is taken care of. Take the chorus for example. How often do you hear such a powerful and cool chorus? Not very often I’d say. This is very steadfast stuff. The remaining song is excellent as well, but the chorus is the biggest attraction. I think I can say that without being arrested. Almost forgot, I really dig the echo effect on the vocals as well.

“Matrix” (of the best movies of the late 90′s) convinces with its superb rhythm section, interesting effects of the more futuristic kind and – once again – a very strong chorus. I haven’t bothered finding out exactly what the lyrics are meant to convey, but the song itself is what really matters and trust me when I say it keeps you constantly hooked. Solid stuff, in other words.

“Return Of The Tribe” is one of the more speedier numbers to be found, being quite reminiscent of 2001′s “Fallen Angels”, from Edguy’s finest hour to date – “Mandrake”, and that’s what bugs me. The song sounds surprisingly flat, for being an Edguy song of typical proportions. The chorus is a good listen, although it doesn’t stand out as much as that of “Fallen Angels”. The rest of the song constitutes no threat to anyone.

“The Asylum” is a pretty darn cool song title, I think. The newly adopted hard rock sound can be heard clearly here. The music alternates between being soft and fairly packed with power. My verdict? Good without being impressive. The arragements are pretty great, but there is something that prevents the song from reaching the desired destination, and I can’t seem to pin point the source of the problem. Damn.

“Save Me” has grown on me significantly since I heard it the first time. At first it seemed to be pretty poor and medicore, but as time passed by I came to realize that it actually is a great power ballad, with an awesome pulsating melody. It isn’t exactly a new “Scarlet Rose” (one of my favourite ballads of all time) so to speak, but there’s still something about it that makes me want to listen to it every now and then. In fact, it’s not completely unlike “Blessing In Disguise” (from the “Superheroes” EP, you know?) in terms of style, mood and quality despite the fact that the intro isn’t very Edguy-ish at all. Conclusion? Well, not particularly beautiful, I’d say, but still a solid and essential (the only ballad to be found on the CD) part of the album. But like I said: not the greatest ballad achievement of Edguy. Let’s move on.

“Catch Of The Century” is a funny song equipped with lyrics about Tobias himself being – yes, that’s right – the catch of the century. Only one of many humoristic elements available on this disc. The chorus is kind of pompous chorus but the song lacks some really memorable guitar work. Still four minutes and two seconds of catchy Edguy music though.

“Out Of Vogue” is more than decent, I guess, but nothing to write home about. This is where the band speeds things up a bit again, resulting in a pretty good (not great) power metal tune. There is overall much stronger riffs and melodies here than in “Return Of The Tribe”, the opening riff in particular is full of attitude. What else is there to say? Not very much. Yeah, the song structure is quite simple, but that’s not my main concern.

“Superheroes” is a song all Edguy fans should be already familiar with. Talk about a hooky opening! This is the shortest song of them all, and what an amazing piece of work it is. Granted, the title is silly but sometimes there is more than meets the eye, you know? This is a prime example of such thing. Beneath the title lurks a track with enough qualities to make it a future Edguy classic. Just listen to the way it builds up the tension before exploding into the delightful chorus, perfectly complemented by solid piano playing. Downright memorable! One of the better songs of 2006.

“Trinidad” leaves me puzzled. I have no idea what triggered these guys to write, record and release a song like this. Not bad – but kind of inappropriate. Next!

“Fucking With Fire (Hair Force One)” is yet another humoristic expression buried under an song title that doesn’t speak to me at all. The music here is sheer hard rock and we all know what that means by now. Nothing fancy and nothing special.

That’s it, dear readers. The end of the line of “Rocket Ride”. Time for a summary?

This album basically sees the band paying tribute to its own musical heroes, by adapting a reasonable hard rock attitude that can’t be mistaken. Although this very release pretty much came out of the blue, it is only natural for bands that have been doing their thing for many years to keep pushing the boundaries and expanding the horizons of their music, and finding new ways of expressing themselves.

Whereas the band has lived up to its reputation or not is up to each and everyone to decide. Personally, I really enjoy this disc yet I have a hard time seeing how “Rocket Ride” will be the album that people will remember Edguy for crafting. Still, an entertaining piece of music nonetheless.

Peter Eliasson

TRACKLIST
01. Sacrifice
02. Rocket Ride
03. Wasted Time
04. Matrix
05. Return To The Tribe
06. The Asylum
07. Save Me
08. Catch Of The Century
09. Out Of Vouge
10. Superheroes
11. Trinidad
 12. Fucking With Fire (Hair Force One) ]]> http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-edguy-rocket-ride/feed/ 0 http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-wintersun-wintersun/ http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-wintersun-wintersun/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:53:26 +0000 admin http://www.soundofmetal.se/?p=98   [ Read More ]]]> Ever had a nightmare? I’m sure we all have, some especially gut wrenching and terrible we wake in the night trembling with sweat. The next day, it still invades us. Well, that’s what Wintersun does as well. This may make them seem a Black Metal Band. In a way, they are, in a way no. The songs have so many differences, it may very well be impossible to place a tag on the band. This is their Debut album, a masterpiece, and so far, their only album.

“Beyond the Dark Sun”, the album’s first song, is 2:48 in length. Not that much, but does it matter? The guitars and drums remind me of the next song, some of the lyrics and especially the vocal sound remind me very much of the second song. It’s a nice little shot of heaviness. It’ll get you in the mood of the album.

The next song “Battle Against Time” might be considered a cross between symphonic black metal and death metal. You’ll see what I mean. There is plenty of vicious guitar riffs, with the most brutal of voices. But there are also parts with some chants, with symphonic and orchestral elements taking over. Basically, this song creates a very good feel of what the album has to offer.

Next I want to talk about “Death and the Healing”. This song is perhaps the most haunting I have ever listened to. Maybe because I have so many memories attacted to it, good and bad, or maybe it’s the way the song is created. Anyway, it starts off with some electronic effect, almost what you would expect in a trance song. It’s a very slow, doom-like song. Guitars come in, and a pained sounding voice starts slowly singing. The instrumentals continue for a short time more, before taking a very calm direction, then, they suddenly explode. It’s not that explosion you hear most of the time, it’s a subtle one. The chorus will have you swaying from side to side. The way it is sung, is simply beautiful. I cannot understand why this song is so gripping. Perhaps it is only me and my own personal tastes/etc, but in all honesty, you have to listen to this song at least once in your metalhead life.

Most songs are more akin to the first and second ones. Dark, quick, and with the brutal vocals. Not all, for example Sleeping Stars starts off very slowly, gradually builds, but never finds the peak raw power. Perhaps that’s a good thing. It is another very beautiful song from the band.

“Starchild” seems to be a favorite of fans (where I hangout anyway). It’s extremely speedy from the start. It features black sounding lyrics, extreme drumming, and fast tempo music. What more can you ask? Well, lot’s of stuff, but that doesn’t stop this one from being a good song. The chorus is very important sounding, and the whole thing, just has a special feel to it. A melodious yet raw song, there’s a lot going on here. It’s a complex song, but a good one at that. Not my favorite on the album, but since people seem to love this song, I thought I should at least include a paragraph or so about it.

So, what’s the final impression. It’s simply beautiful, from the deathly despair feel of some of the songs. To the energetic black sounding ones, this album will please many, especially people who are looking for constant variety in their music. The music is progressive, yet primitive, it combines feelings of sadness, anger, even hope all in one gigantic package, that somehow manages to stay in one piece. There isn’t very much more to say about this one, just perhaps that you should honestly listen to this one. It has something for you, I can just about guarantee it.

Patrick Burent

(This review was originally published in 2007.)

TRACKLIST
1. Beyond The Dark Sun
2. Winter Madness
3. Sleeping Stars
4. Battle Against Time
5. Death And The Healing
6. Starchild
7. Beautiful Death
8. Sadness And Hate

Released by Nuclear Blast Records in 2004.