Is this music?? - 65%
Written by Christianburner on September 23rd, 2004

Though i am a great fan of mortiis's works, i must say...
This reeks, smells, stinks ETC. This whole album are just some spoken words from a few movies put on a cd. And thats why this review is short.

My dying day: The first song is terrible! Bad sounds and you simpely can't here whats being spoken of!

Living Among the Remains of Dead People: finaly i can hear some people taling! some guy is talking about some kind of necro maniac and his dead mother...or something

Satan At My Back: A very strange song divulging in relegious madness, these people in this song really need some mental help! This is one of the most amusing "songs"

To the Dreamer Dead and the Dreamer Dying: and yes! finaly i can hear some music! There is music in the whole "song" though we also can hear people talking in a strange way. This is one of the better songs! but just because the music!

Beyond Hope: Hell Starts Here: This song samples the movie: Texas chainsaw massacre. This song has some really disturbing sounds, people screaming of pain and horror, and some weird guy repeating the line: you fucking cheap cunt..Pretty disturbing "song"

Can we call it: a new found artwork.. or just easy money making?
Its up to you to find out!

Regarding Watain, the review entitled "Luciferion!" was removed. The other was left alone.

You are clearly seeking vengeance. Don't.

Mastery = Morningrise - 100%
Written by Demon_of_the_Fall on February 15th, 2003

How can I really give this genuine masterpeice any less than one hundred percent? This has everything any music lover would want to hear. Remember I exclude all rap/pop/punk and hip-hop due to none of those listed qualify to be music. Alright now to the breaktaking morningrise, and i'll tell you truthfully that I wasn't totally into this cd when I first heard it. But with more and more listens I started to love this album. My first album by Opeth was Blackwater Park and then hearing Morningrise was like wow, what a huge change. Seeing as none of these songs come under the ten minuite mark (which is quite a feat), they all keep the listener very interested on what they will play next. There are alot of heavy cool riffs, plenty of acoustic passages that will make you feel you are walking through a forest, outstanding drum work, and genoius bass playing/slapping. I suggest listening to this album by yourself so you can fully appreciate it. Tune out everything you are doing at the moment and listen to Morningrise all the way through, and you will love it that much more. There are stellar tracks on here.

The first one is Advent which starts out with a cool little intro, then leads into some heavy riffery with some pounding double bass courtesy of Anders Nordin. This song ain't heavy all the way through as it gives us some nice acoustic guitars through some parts of the track (as well as most of the others). This is one of the bands personal favorite songs to play live. The vocals are very creppy and strong, and show no weak points. At 3:19 in Advent Opeth comes in with a master acoutic riff that I can never get out of my head. One of the greatest Opeth songs in my mind. Next is the track

The Night and The Silent Water that starts off midpaced, with a nice heavy riff, then rips in with some acoustic guitar for a few seconds then comes right back to fuck the shit out of any who dare to listen at the 00:56 mark. At 2:51 they come in with some great acoustic guitars and this goes on until 5:04 when they come in with a errie riff. At 7:35 in is where Opeths climax of Night and the Silent Water starts with acoustic guitars and drums pounding. The riff at 8:56 sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, and when Mikael whispers some words 9:30 mins in it just makes the song even morecreepy. I must point out how creative and original sounding this whole album is. I'm sure you will all realize with a first listen to Morningrise.

Nectar the is the next track that starts out with some drums, then breaks into a cool kinda groovy riff thats hella heavy and bound to catch your attention. A great track all the way through and starting at 8:50 is where the best moment of the track is. The bass is sooooooooo damned good it makes me want to buy a video on how to play bass.

Black Rose Immortal: Here is Opeths Magnum Opus right here ladies and gents. Possibly Opeths finest song, Black Rose Immortal spans an extreme 20:14 long!!! The riffs on this song cannot be compared to any other songs by any other group. This song means so much to me, I cannot explain it in mere words. I'm at a loss for words when it comes to this one. Morningrise owns!

The last one is To Bid You Farewell which is the light track on the cd that is a fan favorite by many. A very relaxing song and a great closing track indeed.

Morningrise can be enjoyed by anyone with an open mind, and those who take the time to listen. Cheers to Opeth for this Fine work of ART.

Best Tracks: All of Them

Chillingly beautiful. - 98%
Written by Beyond_Redemption on June 8th, 2003

This album is probably my favourite release from Opeth, perhaps the best band in the world (in my humble opinion). If you're not familiar with Opeth, they're a progressive extreme metal band who incorporate a lot of acoustic guitars and clean vocals into their epic music. The first thing you may notice is that this album only has 5 "songs" (the band prefers to call them arrangements, as "songs" implies some sort of verse/chorus affair). That's not to say the album isn't catchy or accessable - you just have to hear it for yourself. Its quite impossible for me to pick a favourite from this album, so I'll give a brief description of each track.

The first track, Advent starts out quckly with a fantastic riff before changing to acoustic and back again. Opeth do this a lot, its one of the main reasons they are praised so much, the fact that they can easily change from harsh and brutal to soft and tranquil. The music does have a light/dark feel to it, also evident with the growled and clean vocals.

The Night And The Silent Water is one of my favourite Opeth tracks. The riffing is amazing, as is the beautiful acousic/clean vocals passage. On the official website, Mikael actually names this as his least favourite Opeth track! I don't know what he's on about, the only bad thing I can say about it is the end is a bit of an anti climax.

Next is Nectar, which is the most complete track on the album. This was one of the first Opeth tracks I heard and I still love it! The riffs stay heavy until near the end when there's a short acousic passage followed by an outstanding finalé.

Black Rose Immortal is nothing short of epic. At over 20 minutes, its Opeth's longest arragement. There are so many diverse and brilliant riffs in this song it makes my head spin, although some parts are undoubtedly better than others.

The last track is To Bid You Farewell. Its the most mellow track by far, and the lyrics are fantastic (as with all Opeth songs). After several minutes of acoustics, a breathtaking riff kicks in. The acoustics return at the end, for a heartfelt ending to a beautiful album.

In conclusion, this album is nothing short of a true masterpiece. I'd recommend to anyone who knows this band, anyone who wants to know this band (although Still Life may be a better starting point) extreme metal fans and fans of beautiful, epic and mindblowing music.

Beautiful - 92%
Written by meedley_meedley on August 15th, 2004

This may be called Morningrise, but i find it more appealing to listen to very late at night. This is the first high point in the band's career (the second being Blackwater Park) This has some crushing riffs and melodic acoustics all over. What's interesting is that there's only 5 songs to be found, which may also ass interest. Clean vocals make a huge impact here, as opposed to Orchid, where clean vocals were tough to find (but theyre there.... somewhere) This is the bands 2nd best album in my opinion.

Advent builds up into some great riffs. A dark setting is put through. Some of that patented acoustic work in the middle of a song is found. A fretless bass is also used which helps to add to the atmosphere. One of the most melodic riffs I've ever heard comes in after a short palm muted, clean guitar riff. This carries the song for the next minute. The rest of the song is very dark and is just one of the best.

The Night and The Silent Water is heavy but later gives way to some sad sounding material. When the clean vocals come in, you can hear that singing need to be improved, which it eventually is.

Nectar is amazing. It starts off with a grooving beat and has an Advent sounding riff, with some nice bass work. This is probably the high point of the album. This is probably the most intense song on here, as most of the material on this album is a bit less intense as most of the bands catalogue. A very progressive feel, ala-Watchtower is felt in parts. The 8 minutes mark just made me jump in my seat. The surprising intensity that comes without warning just knocked me out. Nice riff at 8:50.

Black Rose Immortal may be a bit hard. Why? First off it's over 20 minutes long. To break this down piece by piece would take me all day, and there is just so much to cover, you may also lose interest. I will say this, it works as if it were a movie. Each piece moves like scenes in a movie, one after the other. I dont think theyve played this song in its entirety, ever. Still a great song.

To Bid You Farewell is the mellow song of the album. They would continue with this in the future. That fretless bass returns and leaves a great impact. That atmosphere mentioned before hits highest here. This is just one of those songs you can relax to if you've had a rough day. Great musicianship as always. This is also one of their best songs ever. And it does, bid you farewell.

This band is like the Pink Floyd of death metal. And much more intense. As a music lover and metalhead, this gets rotation every so often. I will admit this though. Opeth is not a band to listen to all the time. Much like Metallica's "Ride the Lightning". You dont listen to it more than twice a month, because it is so good, you dont want it to get old or overlisten to it.

And now i bid you farewell...

Swedish powerheads Entombed introduces us to there new addition to all metal-fans.

The album, Morning Star, opens up with a solid production called Chief Rebel Angel. What makes this song what it is, is surely the chorus. I can see the synchronized headbangs from afar. Other than that, the song is a straightthrough good. Not exeptional, but well worth it. Next up is I For An Eye. This I must say is the best song on the album. It has nice, heavy slayer-influenced riffs, and the solo is as tight as they have ever been. After this it backs up a few steps. The next songs tend to try to be something they're not. They are far from bad, but does not make any significant impression, with the exception from Year One Now and When It Hits Home. Does should make the cut on the average Entombed CD. The rest drown one inch from the surface. This album has one lack. That lack is that it comes up short on the "in-your-face" song that every metal fan must have. Entombed has been in the buisness for a long time and that has started to show. The creativeness has beginning to fall. To round it up, the album is just average, but not bad. The best song is I For An Eye. The next album holds the key to Entombed's future, succumb or prevail.

One of my all-time favourite power metal albums - 100%
Written by Spectrum on August 10th, 2003

People accuse this album of having nothing original on it. As a relative newcomer to metal, I am not bothered by this. The album is heavy and powerful and has great melodies. I love Piet Sielck's lead vocals (tho I'm not a fan of Kai Hansen), and especially the choirs are awesome. Almost all songs have great, sing-along choruses. The melodic guitaring is good, the riffing is solid, and the production is impeccable. Only the drums are a bit bad on some songs (especially the two first), but great on other songs (especially Eye of the World). The lyrics are slightly cheesy, but they do their job and fit in very well. Awesome songwriting. Highlights are Seek and destroy (dark and menacing), Eye of the World (epic) and Back into the light (also dark).

All in all and awesome album, and the best by Iron Savior (a great band)

Eternal Decision? - 99%
Written by PowerMetalGuardian on January 2nd, 2003

The first time I heard Eternal Decision, I didn't even know it was Eternal Decision!!!! I downloaded a song off Napster (yes back in the old Napster days) called Hunger, the eleventh song off this album! When downloading the song it was supposedly made by "Metallica"! The singer for Eternal Decision does sound a little like Hetfield, but it wasn't a Metallica song! When I learned this I was excited to get E.D. S/T, and thus I found this great band! Eternal Decision is one of the main reasons why christianity and metal can mix! All there songs deal with christianity, but with the thrashness, speed, and awsome solos you won't know the difference! Some great songs to check out: Risen, Overflow, Alive, Hunger, and the best song ever by these guys IMMINENT DESTRUCTION!!!! Don't be scared by there christian lyrics! These guys fucking rule!!!!

Not bad for the second... - 79%
Written by PowerMetalGuardian on January 2nd, 2003

Eternal Decision didn't really impress me on there second album! There are a lot of good songs on this one, just not enough! I read that they got a lot of heat for being a christian band and playing heavy music! So they slacked off a bit! You really wouldn't think they slacked off much when you here the opening title, but if you listen to the album a couple times you can tell the singing is slietly mellower! It's still an alright album, but not better than there S/T! If you liked there S/T then this one is for you to try out! If not, don't waste your money!

Both Eternal Decision reviews are gone.

Quite alright. - 76%
Written by William_Bacon on September 17th, 2006

I must say, all of this "Brutal Death Metal" these days is, well, silly. Almost worthy of a description as harsh as pathetic, or even as straight forward as crappy. More or less, it all sounds just too similar. This, on the other hand, is truely awesome. Of course, it is more devoted to the technical side than brutal, and that is really a wonderful thing.

Now, onto the album itself: It's currently one of my favorite Death Metal albums, and to tell the truth, in the last month I've been through about 20 new death metal albums, and this one is among the few I've accepted as "Adequate" by my seemingly too high of standards.

It's awesomely technical, which I see as a plus. There are plently of solos (also a plus), as well as tempo changes here and there.

There is one thing about this album that I don't much care for, though not necessarily a bad thing, and that would be that there aren't exactly any truely memorable tracks. They all seem to run together, into some sort of giant Technical Death song, one that is overall memorable.

The way I see it, if you want to piss away 12 bucks on a random album, go ahead and get this.

Noktorn's review of Decrepit Birth's ...And Time Begins is rather strange, since he seems to think that it's a Suffocation album. Link.

I think that's just a gimmick trying to express how unoriginal the Decrepit Birth album is.

For Absu's Tara

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=143


Excellent black/thrash - 95%
Written by khiijol on July 14th, 2004


Easily the Absu's best album to date, Tara takes the technicality of their music and put it in the forefront. Long gone are the simplistic structures of their earlier works, Tara takes the basic formula of the band's earlier works, which were pretty standard (though good) black/thrash, makes the riffs faster and more complex, and adds intricate drumming. And the drumming is absolutely godly on here. It sort of seems that the songs revolves around the drumming itself instead of the guitars, due to the production, somewhat of an interesting way to work things. Proscriptor is a master of creating intricate drum rhythms, listen to the breakdown in "She Cries The Quiet Lake" for a good example of his talents. Riff-wise, the guitars play riffs which if you slowed them down a bit and gave them a different sound would not be out of place on an early Slayer album, which is definitely a good thing. As with all Absu albums, there is a slight folk influence in both the lyrics and music. For fans of black/thrash, this one is absolutely mandatory.

this review is horridly short.

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=16888

Not to mention the poor English.

Seeing as how Children of Bodom's Are You Dead Yet? now has 26 reviews someone might want to thin out their numbers a little. Especially as most of them seem to be track-by-trackers. Being the slacker that I am I didn't actually bother going through them myself though. Just a thought, anyway.

I'm not an expert at discerning which reviews suck,

The one you posted obviously does. Not only fanboyish as you said, but lacking of any musical description and way too short by today's standards.

I'm just lost on how it escaped the moderators' gazes for 4 years.

Just noticed the one below (at 77%) was equally awful, but for different reasons. Never seen a review as plagued with typos as that one, without mentioning it's track-by-track. I rarely post in this thread... but this is just too much.

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=5351#337

This is a rare thing indeed. This album is, in many ways, a complete departure from previous Vintersorg works. The production is clean and the lyrics are all in English. The fact that no beauty or intensity is lost in the shift is simply amazing. This album showcases Vintersorg's amazing voice and even more amazing song writing skill.

I'll cut this review short.

Make this album a part of your collection, you'll find yourself listening to for ages.

DanScrewingLucas' review about A Blaze In The Northern Sky does not seem so relevant to me:
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=612

It's not a masterpiece for sure, however Darkthrone dramatically lacks of negative reviews... I'd say keep it until a better negative review is written.

On a sidenote, are our beloved mods too busy to deal with this thread nowadays? No answer about the last dozen of reviews posted...