Martyr "Murder X - The End Of The Game" CD (System Shock)
Martyr is a co-operation between Christopher and Skull (Krabathor) and Paul Speckmann (Master). Paul Speckmann has now joined Krabathor. Martyr is not many, if any, miles away from Krabathor and the value of putting this material under another name than Krabathor are dubious. Martyr is slightly more Thrash Metal than Krabathor (& Master and Vader). But do not let this put you off this good Death Metal album. "Murder X - The End Of The Game" is by no means the re-invention of the wheel. The music is very much safe and standard Death Metal. It is just a reminder how good Thrash/Death Metal can be, done by professional musicians. I have really enjoyed this album and I will continue to do so during the next years. But this album is not a masterpiece.
**** Lord Loch Lomond
Misericordia "Painful Dream" CD (Black Lotus Rec.)
This French band has been described by their record label as a marriage between Theatre Of Tragedy and My Dying Bride. For a change, a record label is spot on. This band must be one of the biggest French talent in today's metal scene. This album include a couple of awesome tracks and some very good tracks.
It is not a thorough brilliant album, but it is close enough. If the two above mentioned bands is among your favorite bands; this album is simply something you must have.
***** Lord Loch Lomond
Mystic Prophecy "Vengeance" CD (B.Mind Records)
Wow!.wow..and once more.. woooooow! It has been years since I've liked a Classic Metal Record that much. This album includes 10 monstrous songs that will grab you (guess where from.) for the whole duration of the album (51+ minutes) and will make you want to play this record again and again. This is the debut album -if only every band could deliver such a diamond of debut, the world of Metal would become a better place to be- of this multinational quartet. The band consists of two Greeks: singer Dimitris Liapakis who is a also a member of the Germans Valley's Eve and young guitar player Gus G. (Nightrage), German bass player M.Albrecht (Valley's Eve, ex-Stormwitch) and the young Swede drummer D.Ekdahl (Raise Hell). Liapakis knows how to handle his vocals perfectly and add power, melody and real emotion instead of trying to scream all the time or hit high notes just for the hell of it. The guy can sing everything really well and his vocals are the big plus in this record. I think that he really steals the show, but thankfully not in the same way that 99.99% of the Classic Metal / Power Metal singers are trying to achieve that. Instead, he achieves that by the sheer class that he possesses and his professional attitude and delivery. He is also responsible for producing the album and doing a really good job in delivering a warm, rough and powerful sound. Especially brilliant is the mix, since all instruments are in a perfect level and everything is coming out of the speakers loud and clear. Great deliveries can be expected from all the other 3 members and especially the guitar player, that while restrained when playing his powerful and solid as a rock riffs, when the song calls for a solo he really lets rip with his perfectly timed and never overlong melodic soloing. I find impressive the fact that not only there is not a weak song to be found here, but also the balance is absolutely perfect. You will find fast songs, mid tempo songs and even 2 power ballads (that really kick ass mind you), that give great variety to the album and are placed in such a way that keep the music flowing so that the listener won't get bored. Their music may be rooted in the glorious '80s, but the delivery is fresh, exciting and I will say it once more, very balanced. Why? Well, because you are not going to find a single moment where any of the 4 members of the band tries to impress the listener with something unnecessarily over the top. Everybody plays for the song in this album and this is why the end result is so perfect. Therefore I believe that this album can be considered as a goodlesson and a point of reference for all the Classic Metal / Power Metal
bands that are trying to impress the listener with over the top "musicianship" and end up sounding ridiculous. Band members and fans of this type of music should buy this album and realize how things should be done from now on. Don't settle for second and third rate bands when top bands like Mystic Prophecy release albums like this one.
****** Georgios Sidiropoulos
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