Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes (2012)

Ensiferum is one of the most famous finnish folk metal bands. It's formed in 1995 and it has now released its 5th studio album Unsung Heroes.

Ensiferum has always had its own style of making music. Album by album they have always managed to make a better album than before. First two albums Ensiferum and Iron were pretty good but only after Jari mäenpää left the band the music has taken a huge step forward. Unsung Heroes is definitely their best album. There can be noticed a huge progress compared to their earlier albums. Unsung Heroes sounds more fresh and there has been used much more orchestrations and choirs.

The album starts with an intro Symbols. Its very nice peace of calming music. it prepares listener for  the adventures into battlefields and ancient forests with its cinematic orchestrations. Second song In my sword I trust which was a single song for the album and there's also a music video made by it, is an energetic song that fits perfectly to the opening. Next one is a tittle track Unsung Heroes. It's a bit different song than their earlier stuff. Tempo is much slower than Ensiferum usually has and the orchestrations sounds very cool in the end. Burning Leaves is an ordinary Ensiferum song. Theres a cool folk melody that leads through the song. There's also used finnish in the latter part of the song and it makes a nice variety to the vocals. Celestial Bond is a nice calm before the storm. Next song is Retribution shall be mine. It shows up the faster side of Unsung Heroes. I quess the fans who likes more Ensiferum's older stuff like iron would like this song. Star Queen (Celestial bond part ll) starts with an acoustic guitars playing the Celestial Bond's main theme and continues with bassist Sami Hinkkas vocals(which I think sounds very good in this album) Star Queen is a good song with very nice chorus. Pohjola is the best song in this album in my opinion. There's very much variety in this song. Big choirs, finnish language, growls, clean vocals, blast beats and a famous finnis actor/musician Vesa-Matti Loiri! The song ends with an epic Finntroll like melody that stucks into your head for a long time. Last Breath is a second calming song. It's an acoustic song with bassist Sami Hinkkas vocals. It's very good song and shows this new side of ensiferum. There's also a catching flute melody and choirs in this song. The last song is seventeen-minutes-long massive peace of art Passion Proof Power. It starts with a long a bit boring intro but when the guitars and drums start playing you know that something epic is coming out soon. The melody in verse is very good. I think the clean vocals has never sound this perfect in any of ensiferums earlier songs. Passion Proof Power is full of cool melodys and riffs. There's also some time signature changes, which are very welcome in Ensiferums music. I could praise this song for hours and hours, but I quess it's better for everyone to just go and listen to this song and enjoy the epicness it provides.

I must say that Ensiferum has reached completely new levels with Unsung Heroes. Vocals are better than I could ever expect. Even the clean vocals are now hundred times better than before. I still would have hoped there to be a bit more growls. Orchestrations sound a bit like in Turisas' newest album Stand up and fight and that's a very good thing. They are going to the right direction. I also noticed that some of the melodies sounded very much like Finntroll. For Exampel in the latter part of In my sword I trust and Pohjola. But that's a good thing too.

Unsung Heroes is much different compared to From Afar and it might take a few times of listening before it shows all the good features it has. I recommend this album to all fans of good folk metal. Go to buy it and enjoy!

Rating: 5/5 stars


Tracklist:

01. Symbols
02. In My Sword I Trust
03. Unsung Heroes
04. Burning Leaves
05. Celestial Bond
06. Retribution Shall Be Mine
07. Star Queen (Celestial Bond Part II)
08. Pohjola
09. Last Breath
10. Passion Proof Power

          

The Order of Elijah - Accession (2012)

Style: Progressive deathcore

The Order of Elijah plays progressive deathcore with some beautiful melodic deathmetal melodies with electronic vibes and combines them with brutal deathcore style riffs, which are breakdown based of course...

  Accession is their newest and only album full of breakdowns, blast beats, super fast double pedal kicks and somewhat electronic sounds/melodies. Album starts with an intro Conquer which is nothing special, and doesnt give really anything about the album, basicly the style is noticable, and its pretty basic deathcore. The basics turn to something much better when the next song comes up with guitar melodies and riffs, that are pretty fresh style in the modern deathcore scene thats has been in the same style for atleast two years, and if you dont name few specialcases the outcome from the most modern deathcore bands sound exaclty the same. I`m not saying that this album really is the "one" that changes everything, but i thinks its going to the right direction with the melodic death metal styled riffs combined with deathcore, this has been done before but its done right in this album time to time.I might have wanted some more of this style, but it gets lost in the midst of the album. Shame.

  Theres something else that this album lacks, you can hear it from the second song to go trough the whole album, diversity. Especially listening to the drums the beats are sounding amazingly same in lots of the songs. Ye i know the breakdown is really limited when it comes to drum playing, but still some fresh way of hitting the drums there would have sounded cool. It starts to get bit boring in the middle section of the songs, the same old blast beat, with nothing new is kinda heard. Sorry. I like blast beats but you really need to use it exclusively, to make it sound perfect. It get`s kinda dull, if you hear the pattern blast beat->breakdown->blast beat->breakdown going true the song everytime. The growling and screaming isnt anything special either, usually when i listen to this kinda music i really care about how does the vocals come out, but with this one i really didnt notice anything special, not good, but not bad either.

  From the fifht song called Sticthes the album gets more and more brutal with slow breakdowns and slow riffs, i like the "slow brutal killer breakdown riffs" if it is done with good taste and with really thinking the breakdowns and not just putting hits hear and there. Well i cant say wheter have they being thinking, but its nothing special and not even close to excelence. In song Nails Over the Duct tape is a part where they really is trying to sound like emmure or not, but still the out of tune singing is one of Emmure`s signatures...

  The album has it`s moments and it really promises a lot with the intros, but the rest really lacks the "exceptional deathcore" You can hear many deathcore bands if you listen closely, mostly probably "As Blood Runs Black". That kinda synopsis the album It`s nothing special, but does the basic of the deathcore atleast decent. The best songs are the second and the third listen to them, and you have pretty much heard the whole album. If you like them you may like the rest, but i cant promise that, so find out yourself!

Rating 2.5/5 Stars

All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence (2006)

All shall perish is an American deathcore band from California. It is formed in 2002. All shall perish has released three albums through Nuclear Blast. They are also going to release their fourth album this year. While waiting that, let's concentrate on their second album The Price of Existence.

All shall perish plays a quite brutal deathcore. There're fast death metal riffs and slow breikdowns, superfast blast beats and beautiful syntesizers mixed with cruel and brutal vocals.

First track is ''Eradication'', which is a quite natural ASP song. Full of pig squeals, blast beats and death metal riffs, being nothing exceptional. Next comes ''Wage slaves''. It's just something you must hear if you're into deathcore. The intro riff is just so brutal and the cowbell fits there perfectly. This is one of the best songs in this album. ''A day of justice'' is a good song too but after a pure start it goes quite boring. "There Is No Business to Be Done On A Dead Planet" comes next being a pure perfection. In this song everything is like I want it to be. Vocals are very diverse and the musicians handles their jobs perfectly. "Better Living Through Catastrophe" is a quite good song but nothing special. "Prisoner of War" is the best song in this album, in my opinion. After a beautiful synthesizer intro, comes a nice breikdown with a good guitar melody. I really like all the guitar riffs in this song. Especially those scruffy ones. There's also a nice guitar solo in the latter part of the song. ''Greyson'' is an acoustic song. In my opinion, this is the worst song in this album. But it calms the atmosphere nicely before the last four songs. "We Hold These Truths...." is a very good song. Nice melodies, riffs and vocals. ''The True Beast'' is not so good as the first scream makes you think. After a good intro it goes a bit boring, despite of the diverse vocals. ''Promises'' is not so good either. There're nothing to make you wanna' listen it again. ''The last relapse'' is the last song and in my opinion, this is not a good ending for this album, which is mostly sterling. The last relapse is a boring song and those clean vocals just doesn't fit in this song and the album.

The Price of Existence is mostly a very good deathcore album. It has everything that needed to be a good album, but still there're a few weaker songs ruining the atmospere. Hopefully the newest album will be even better.


Rating: 3,5/5


Tracklist:

1. "Eradication"
   
2. "Wage Slaves"
   
3. "The Day of Justice"
   
4. "There Is No Business to Be Done On A Dead Planet"
   
5. "Better Living Through Catastrophe"
   
6. "Prisoner of War"
   
7. "Greyson"
   
8. "We Hold These Truths...."
   
9. "The True Beast"
   
10. "Promises"
    
11. "The Last Relapse"
    

We Butter the Bread with Butter - Der Tag an Dem Die Welt Unterging (2010)

WBTBWB is a German deathcore/metalcore/fun metal band. It's music consists of catchy Synthesizer melodias, brutal metal breakdowns, and of course screamo vocals and pig squels. WBTBWB is a very unique styled band and i cant even call one band that sound anything like WBTBWB.

Der Tag an Dem Die Welt Unterging consists of  15 epic and innovative tracks that really gets you after few listens. This songs are so catchy, that you must listen them over and over again.
WBTBWB's second album is much better than the debut onem with more intelligent riffs and better mixing this album is the best WBTBWB can offer. There's really something unexplainable in the album. It's like a mix of the best pop melodies and brutal breakdowns with really unique screamo. Album kicks off with intro, and the song that carries the album's name comes second. "Der Tag an Dem Die Welt Unterging" starts pretty simple melodies, but when the song goes on it builds up with massive epic melodies and breakdowns and comes down as a really great song. Third song  "Oh mama mach Kartoffelsala" is a bluesy style song and its really great going at some party or something. Fourth isnt, that ood song but it goes well with between two great songs. "Superföhn Bananendate" is closest to a a pop song or some techno song, and with its catchy tunes and epic guitar riffs, its really a great song.  "Sixth song isn't nothing special. A going song, and little brutal than others. Seventh song "Glühwürmchen" got some nice guitar riffs and great guitar playing with epic techno pop melodies. "Der Kleine vampir" Is really a pop song that is about Little Dancing Vampire, isnt that cute.. Epic song still. Few songs passed comes, "Wir gehen an land" which got some nice piq squels and really circus type melodies, you should check this. Then "Mein Baumhaus" Best song in this album, in my opinion, its got everything, breakdowns, catchy melodies, guitar riffs and everything. Last song is called "Das Ende" you can hear the end part in the breakdown, it's really sloooooow.


Rating: 5/5 stars

1. Der Anfang Vom Ende
2. Der Tag An Dem Die Welt Unterging
3. Oh Mama Mach Kartoffelsalat
4. Alptraumsong
5. Superfhn Bananendate
6. 3008
7. Glhwrmchen
8. Sabine Die Zeitmaschine
9. Der Kleine Vampir
10. 13 Wnsche
11. Schiff Ahoi
12. Wir Gehen An Land
13. Mein Baumhaus
14. Feueralarm
15. Das Ende

Veil of maya - [id] (2010)

Veil of maya is an American progressive deathcore band, which has released three full-leght albums. Two of those were released through Sumerian Records. (Which has also released albums of bands like Born of osiris, After the burial and Faceless.) But let's focus on this album now.

At first, this album was some kind of shock to me. The previous album ''The common man's collapse'' was just a pure perfection and expectations for ''[id]'' were very high. When i finally got this album and listened to it, i felt disappointed. The previous album just sounded better and I found nothing new on this album. So, I decided not to listen to it. I was wrong, because it just needed a few more listens to sound good.

First there's an intro, which is not even good. But then comes the first song ''Unbreakable'', which is a quite good song, I think. There are some good guitar riffs and energetic breakdowns. Then comes ''Dark passenger'', which is not so good song, in my opinion. it's a bit boring, but I really like that peaceful bridge in the middle of this song. Next song is ''The highler''. It's very energetic song and shows Veil of Maya's faster side. ''Martyrs'' and ''Circle'' are just lame. Both of them are only a breakdowns without vocals and that just doesnt work. ''Resistance'' is a quite normal Veil of maya song. ''Mowgli'' consists of one good and a few worse guitar riffs being a bit boring song, likewise ''Namaste''. ''Conquer'' is one of the best songs on ''[id]''. I just can't say anything bad about it. The last song is ''Codex'' and I really can say, this is the best song Veil of maya have ever made. Lenght is perfect (three and half minute), The main riff kicks ass and you can listen to it over and over again without getting enough of it.

This was one of the best albums last year and I really recommend every deathcore fans to listen to this. Listening to ''[id]'' is such an experience, you can't find anywhere else. So I wish you nice listening moments!

Rating: 4/5

Tracklist:

1. [id]

2. Unbreakable

3. Dark passenger

4. The highler

5. Martyrs

6. Resistance

7. Circle

8. Mowgli

9. Namaste

10. Conquer

11. Codex

Circle Of Contempt - Artifacts in Motion (2009)

Circle of Contempt's debut album "Artifacts in Motion" is extremely good debut. It has some songs remastered from CoC's previous Demo's and Ep's, and of course new songs. CoC plays progressive deathcore, and mostly riffs are atleast breakdown styled. Coc's music is also very technical and really random, with many tempo changes/time signature changes. CoC's lyrics are bit strange and very deep, you might say. Now to the album.

Artifacts in Motion starts with the song "Color lines", which was their debut EP's title. And "Color lines is remastered from the EP. "Color lines sounded better in their EP, in my opinion, but the bass kicks are much stronger and better in the album so i suggest you check both versions and decide afterwards which one do you like the best. It's a great song and so progressive and technical that you must listen it many times, before you fully get it and the idea. Second song "Nothing imminent" is also remastered from the EP. Nothing imminent is solid CoC song, with epic solo at the end. very brutal and technical playing with epic guitar riffs and especially breakdowns.
  Third song carries the name of the album. "Artifacts in motion". It's a little less brutal and technical than the 2 first ones. But it gives the album some new listeners. Nice riffs and catchy breakdowns. 4th song is "Concealed" which is the only song that has gotten a music video. It's also one of the best songs in this album. And one of my personal favourites. "Concealed"'s breakdowns and the chorus with awesomely done clean vocals, is just something insanely epic. It's just so great song.

  5th song is "Remnants left". its much slower than the other songs and bit boring, in my opinion. Never gotten really into this song but, it has its moments.6th song "C.o.C" is also a remaster, and the remastering is done way better on this one, that was it in "Color lines". "C.o.C" is also one of my favourite songs. Its very technical and the changing between slow and fast parts are just dynamite.  "Prelude for the implication" is instrumental, and i've got really nothing to say about this one, you may like it, or not. "Pendulum swing" is 8th song. its like brutal awesomeness, with extremely epic breakdowns and the chorus' riff  is very catchy and mellow. Check this song out. 9th song "A day for a night" Is also an epic song, with tempo changes, and with its extreme technicality. And of course its epic bass solos. "Zerohour" is a bit boring song with nothing special.
Last song "Scour the sharp side" is an amazing ending for this album, its very brutal but the ending is pure gold. 

Rating: 4,5/5 stars

Track list:

1. Color Lines
2. Nothing Imminent
3. Artifacts in Motion
4. Concealed
5. Remnants Left
6. C.O.C
7. Prelude for the Implication
8. The Pendulum Swing
9. A Day For Night
10. Zerohour
11. Scour The Sharpside

Suidakra - Book of dowth (2011)

Suidakra is a german melodic death/folk metal band. Suidakra was formed in 1994 and it has released 10 studio album over years. I have never really liked suidakra's music but maybe this album might change my view.

The first song is ''Over nine waves''. It starts with a some kind of bagpipe melody which lasts the whole song. This song is very annoying, in my opinion. The next song ''Dowth 2059'' is a better one. There's a few good guitar riffs and melody parts but nothing special. ''Battle- Cairns'' is the best song on this album. It starts with a majestic melody, which is still the only thing that makes me want to listen to this song to the end. Then comes the worst song ''Birog's Oath''. First there's only a female vocals sounding very irritating and then the other band comes up, but still keeping the quality low. Next song is ''Mag mell''. It's an acoustic song and gives a bit variation. ''The dark mound'' is just a song. I have nothing to mention about it. ''Balor'' is second really good song on this album. The acoutic intro is cool and the whole song is full of good ideas. ''Stone of the seven suns'' is a song that offers nothing special. ''Fury fomoraigh'' is just a fill up song. Just to make the album longer. ''Otherworlds collide'' is very nice acoustic song. It's very melancholic and sad ending.

This album was just like I expected. Nothing special. Only few good songs and lots of fill ups. I don't recommend this for anybody. I know this album will find it's audience but i'm not part of it.

Rating: 1,5/5

Tracklist:

1. Over nine waves

2. Dowth 2059

3. Battle Cairns

4. Birog's oath

5. Mag mell

6. The dark mound

7. Balor

8. Stone of the seven suns

9. Fury fomoraigh

10. Otherworlds collide