Back in the day, when Satyr was just a lad, he just wanted to make black metal. And I mean GOOD black metal. When he was just sixteen, this album was released. Like many albums of that time, bands were developing a more sophisticated style of production, while keeping the real BM feel. Dark Medieval Times is an excellent first release from a young Satyr. Apparently his ideals weren't tainted enough to rid himself of all dignity, such as he is now. Dark Medieval Times has an almost early Burzum/Emperor sound with more of a folkish vibe. At first, having heard negative things about the modern Satyricon, I was a bit skeptical about listening. I couldn't have been more wrong. The guitar riffs are at times unbelieveable, expecially coming from one as young as sixteen. The drums, well, they are near perfect. No horribly overused blastbeast, even. At times, a flute is used as well, giving the Isengard-folk type vibe. They suddenly start, but still provide a solid asset to the music. The vocals range from a soft whisper to an infamous throaty growl. So, if you want some good black metal, leave that "black 'n' roll" album Volcano on the shelf. Give this a try.

I think that can one can stay. Borderline, but it can stay.

FYI, to find an exact URL in Firefox, just find the link and "open in new tab." Or "in new window", if you prefer. Then you can just copy/paste it from the address bar.

EDIT: I did, however, destroy the review by HawkMoon on the same page.

Ride The Lightning - 97%
Written by Lord_Elden on November 4th, 2004


Ride The Lightning is Metallica's second album. It's their second best album as well with no fillers. Hetfields' vocal skills have improved a lot, but let's face it, he's quite mediocre overall as an vocalist. The voice fits in with Metallica's music perfectly though.

The album starts with the acoustic intro of Fight Fire With Fire, it shows already with the first song that this album is very heavy and filled with great riffs. Cliff Burton plays bass perfectly, he was one of the best bassists ever.
Second song, the title track, has a great drum and bass intro. It is at this point clear that they have found their music, comparing to their first album, which was at times experimental and where they tried several different approaches. In this this album they know exactly what kind of music they wish to play. The title track is one of their best ever.
It follows with For Whom The Bell Tolls, again with a great long intro, a masterpiece, with a superb riff.
Follows one of Metallica's best ballads, in fact one of the best ballads ever made by any band: Fade To Black. Begins peacefully as a dark embrace filled with suicidal lust, continues with heavy riffs at certain stages, reaching the heavy melancholy climax with every second, at last fading to silence.
Continues with Trapped Under Ice, short intro, following with heavier riffs. The first song in the album that is not that memorable. But still a very good song overall.
Next is Escape which is also, compared to the first four songs and the last, one of the less memorable.
Then it's time for the biblical Creeping Death which has a great drum intro. Great riff. The memorable guitar play melts in perfectly with the drums and bass.
The almost nine minutes long instrumental masterpiece Call Of Ktulu is somewhat creepy but at the same time extremely beautiful. Great ending for one of the greatest thrash albums ever made. Listening to this is like riding the lightning, it's shockingly excellent.

Highlights: Ride The Lightning, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Fade To Black, Creeping Death and Call Of Ktulu.

This one is rather horrible, and even if it just about meets the guidelines on musical description, it is something like the 20th review for the album so I'm not sure if it's particularly useful. Add the punctuation, annoying (this is objective, I dare you to disagree with me) attitude, etc....blargh.

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=166#21183

Not only is this Iced Earth's best album

if you're one of those kids who have wet dreams with Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Burger King and you ignore Celtic Frost, think about it boy...you have no idea about what Extreme Metal is...

Raw Black Metal - 95%
Written by master_of_hell on November 11th, 2004

I have heard this album vary times and in my opinion it is one of the revelations of the Black Metal. The distortion is excellent and it makes to remember me, great bands as Burzum and or Darkthrone.

I disagree on criticizes of the ShadowOfDeath, a boy of only 14 years if it finds that it can make better that shows then.

He don't hear the guitars? clean your ears!

It must like Black Metal as Cradle Of Filth (Cradle Of Shit) with its clean guitars.

He will be that it already heard the demons of the Burzum, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Nargaroth or the Darkthrone? Black metal has that to be dirty and raw;
I encourage all to hear with calm this excellent production. In my opinion, it is an excellent work!

Every last one of that trembling whelp's reviews has been incinerated.

Also deleted that SoD Therion review.

Mods don't get punished enough That review had no way of getting in...

The ultimate Blind Guardian Live album - 99%
Written by simonitro on August 30th, 2004


Oh my God! This is probably one of the greatest live albums ever made by the GREATEST BAND EVER BLIND FUCKIN' GUARDIAN. Tokyo Tales was fuckin' amazing as well. So, let's get into the point.

When you kick in the first CD, it starts with a chilly start from the crowd and "War of Wrath" comes in as an introduction and some fans start to saying the narrated words then "she, the mistress of her own lust" then BOOM "Into The Storm" kicks in as hard as fuck, man. Feel the intensity. All the songs on this double disc live collection are amazing, and not one song sounds weak. Man, the "A Night At The Opera" material sounds great as live and it was good choice to place "The Soulforge", "Punishment Divine" and etc... If you listen to "The Bard's Song - In The Forest", the crowd are joining Hansi in singing religiously and when it is done you'll be astonished by the never ending applause for how this song and the band rules. It's magic. man.
To me, it is like my favorite live album by far.

If you really love live albums, this one will blow you to Jupitar by its excellence. Blind Guardian never disappointed their fans from beginning until now. Buy this live collection because it's fucking amazing.

favourite cd so far - 99%
Written by Waylander007 on November 12th, 2004


I gave Blackwater Park a rating of 99 because i have listened to it more than any other cd. ever. I honestly believe that it is a 99 effort.

Some cds can have a couple of good songs and they are still worth the money, some even have only a couple bad songs or even one bad song and are still worth the money. In my opinion blackwater park doesnt even have a single second of bad music or even slightly bad, and it is literally a complete cd no room left at all a full 60 minuites of music!!

Constant use of multiple layered melodic guitar tracks spliced with haunting breaks over unique and stylish drumming definately makes The Drapery Falls the standout song on the album for me. Add to this the 2 amazing fade ins at the start and at 8:41 that produce goosebumps and the amazing guitar work like the ecentric riff at 5:40 and the acoustic/electric switching at 7:41.

Followed closely by the furious assault of The Leper Affinity witch has some awesome drumming in it.. but i wont go on you get the picture.

Constant use of multiple layered melodic guitar tracks spliced with haunting breaks over unique and stylish drumming definately makes The Drapery Falls the standout song on the album for me. Add to this the 2 amazing fade ins at the start and at 8:41 that produce goosebumps and the amazing guitar work like the ecentric riff at 5:40 and the acoustic/electric switching at 7:41.

Followed closely by the furious assault of The Leper Affinity witch has some awesome drumming in it..

Mercyful Fate's debut Melissa is undoubtably one of the best Black Metal albums of all time. Epic and melodic with great guitar solos and of course King Diamond's masterful vocals. KD is definatly my favorite singer (maybe Warrel Dane but probably King). The worst thing about this album is the fact that production is kind of thin and doesn't have quite the bite the 90's Fate stuff does. Melissa is absolutely filled with classics, the opener Evil, is one of the most instantly recognisable metal songs ever. Curse of the Pharaohs has that great Egyptian vibe to it. Then the third track, Into the Coven, is my all time favorite MF song. Everything about it just rules, the intro, the vocals, the lyrics, the solos, metal perfection. At the Sound of the Demon Bell is probably the weakest track here, lacking the catchiness and godliness of the rest of the tracks. Black Funeral is another classic and my second favorite track here. Then the disc's longest track, Satan's Fall, clocking at 13 minutes is somewhat of a paradox. Some of it absolutely fucking rules and some of it just seems like it was filler, either way the song rules. The ending song on Melissa is also the title track. A ballad no less, beautiful and haunting, I really love this song. Buy or die!

These really did sell their souls to Satan! - 100%
Written by Saad on July 22nd, 2003

I've heard many bands being called 'evil'. However I've only come across a few bands that truly know how to play real evil music. Belketre happens to be one those rare bands that can truly create that sound. I first heard them on that split with Vlad Tepes... March To The Black Holocaust, and needed more!

This rehearsal album simply slays! Fuzzy guitars, amazing vocals and a drummer who's knows how to hold a good beat. The riffs are what really create the evil feel to Belktre, as well as the vocals. They work really well together. Even those this just consists of 3 tracks, it's well worth listening to and tracking down this rehearsal.

I never get sick of listening to this brilliant piece of metal over...and over...

HAIL BELKETRE ,, /

Pure EVIL has returned! - 100%
Written by Saad on July 22nd, 2003

Yes. Belketre unleash yet another set of killer studio tracks.

Two of the songs 'The Dark Promise' and 'Despair' are here, as were they on the studio tracks from 1993. This is as good as the previous release, but guess what? It has one more song! BRAVO! Whilst the 1993 one featured two versions of 'The Dark Promise' and 'Despair', which totals to 3 tracks, this one has 4 different songs. That means more insanity from these Frenchies. What I just noticed about them is that the guitar, although quite loud and listenable, is like blended in with the surroundings. Ai yai yai! I'm not making sense. Let's just say Belketre's rawness is quite different from the typical band that plays raw metal. You just have to hear it to believe.

I'm guessing this EP is kinda rare or something. - 91%
Written by The_Ghost_of_Room237 on May 3rd, 2003

Hail Satanas We Are Black Legions! That title kind of says it all. This short EP has quite an accessable production and nice musianship for a band with the reputation of Mutiilation. Never the less, these are great songs, especially "Desecrate Jesus Name", which has nice mid-paced riffing, with some "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" influenced melodies (I can only assume). Vocals are basic, not excessively offensive, Black Metal shrieks. Song structures are nice and complex. Just get this if you can find it. You won't regret it.

Mütiilation's best work - 95%
Written by DuskLord on May 27th, 2004

This demo is what got my attention towards Mütiilation. 42 minutes of total depression and hatred with raw haunting vocals creating a hateful and depressing atmosphere... Just listen to the song Black Imperial Blood's should-I-say "humming" vocals in the beginning. Haunting and sick! Excellent and overly distorted guitar sound with lots of unique-sounding melodies... The drumming is like on other kult-Black Legions-releases, it's a bit amateurish but it fits in the mood. Lots of tempo variations, this time I mean it in a good way. I really can't praise this demo in the way it deserves to be praised.

Overall a very unprofessional, dirty-sounding, depressive, raw and grim black metal kult-masterpiece.

+ Ultra-painful vocals...
- ...which sometimes blocks out the other instruments nearly 100%
+ Has that "Black Legions"-feeling all over.
+ Excellent demonstration that melodic bm can still be raw and grim as hell.
- Guitar solo on "Under Ardailles Night". Solos just don't fit in with raw and grim bm.

Standout tracks : Magical Shadows Of A Tragic Past, Black Imperial Blood, My Travels To Sadness, Hate & Depression.

I can't recommend this title enough for anyone who doesn't mind very lofi-sound in BM. Hail Mütiilation!

One of the best LLN works! - 100%
Written by Celt on September 6th, 2004

Feasts II - demo of the Belketre and Vlad Tepes members side-project called Black Murder. Black Murder's music is a mixture of Vlad Tepes's way of playing, Belketre's speed, hysterical screaming vocals; simple, but atmospheric and great, typically Black Metal, riffs and raw evil sound. Slow parts changing with fast (no tracks with the same speed all the time), drums and guitars like in Vlad Tepes' best records, atmosphere, grimness and darkness like in the best Belketre releases. Total hatred, misanthropy, evil and cruelty. This demo - one of the best examples of the True and Evil Black Metal and one of the best LLN works I've ever heard.

Totally unnecessary - 0%
Written by onionpants on November 14th, 2004

The 1984 release "Stay Hungry" was a great record and would get a 90% from me. Too bad they followed it up with a stinking pile of commercialized "we wanna be mainstream superstars" crap entitled "Come Out And Play".

So it's 20 years later and Dee Snider reforms the band, but not for a new record; but to "re-record" something that was fine just the way it was. A tribute to a Twisted Sister record done by Twisted Sister. I think Dee Snider is a cool guy, but have his brain cells degraded to the point where he is no longer capable of writing new material? And I don't think he even drinks or does drugs. Imagine the orignal Sabbath lineup finally putting out a new record, and it's a re-recording of "Paranoid".

Quite a few metal bands from the 80's (Exodus, Nasty Savage, Agent Steel.....) have reformed recently and put out quality NEW material. Yes, they've actually put forth the effort of creating something new rather than simply following a blueprint that was written 20 years ago. Avoid "Still Hungry" like the plauge. It's a cheap ploy to get your money, just like "Come Out And Play" was.

Dee, stop living off your past. Write some NEW songs!!!!!

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=14775

This review is one paragraph long + tracklist (we really need a tracklist in a review?)

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=14775

This review is one paragraph long + tracklist (we really need a tracklist in a review?)

A very good album!
I had never really heard of the band untill this album. It's a real must if you're into Black/Viking Metal, it has Fast, Brutal, Aggresive parts mixed with a lot of Melody and Riffs which will take you to another dimension. There is one song which really shines out, Fallen Heroes. It has this intro, you can really here the Viking Pride in here. The Bathory cover is really well done to, it has these low, clean vocals and this long and slow guitar solo which is really great. A good CD just like the first Nachtfalke CD, Hail Victory Teutonia.


Hail Occulta Mors.

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=13281#21298

No musical description.

Shredding Talent Display - 89%
Written by Demon_of_the_Fall on August 7th, 2003

I can't believe I found this cd used. Who the fuck would sell an amazing cd like this? This is classic metal here boys and girls, no frills heavy goddamn metal with plenty of the most amazing solos i've ever heard. Paul Gilbert is by far my pick for the best guitarist ever, he can do everything and anything. We have an amazing line-up for this band as well, ofcourse as just mentioned Paul Gilbert: All Guitars, Scott Travis (Drum God) from Priest beating the skins, Jeff Martin on Vocals who at times sounds like Halford (or attempts to) and last but not least John Alderete slamming his fingers on his bass. The songs are all highly memorable and rocking. You feel like banging your damn head every single song. Snowball of Doom is on the Shrapnel label (shreddies) which is most known for the label with some of the most talented solo guitarists i.e Marty Friedman, Jason Becker etc. Snowball has some pretty good production for a live cd, i'm quite impressed indeed. These songs sound sometimes almost better than the studio versions, because some have that added live energy. This is really a flawless live album in all regards from some of the most talented musicians on the planet. Songs like 17th moon, Let the Spirit Fly (sounds like Van Halen) haha, and the Classic Street Leathal are bound to leave you begging for more Racer X cds. I know I need more right fucking now. Racer X covers Godzilla on the last track of Snowball and what a job they did, this is a very good version of the BOC song. Evil Joe is a fucking great song as well, but then again just about every song on here is worth a mention of two, because this album is jammed packed with everything a metal fan could want. Amazing Solos, Outstand drumming, tight as hell string slapping, and some very cool singing. I highly recommened Snowball of Doom for any metalheads or Firsttimers to Racer X.
Rockin Fuckin Roll

That's what i've noticed with LLN reviews. The reviewers are spending more time sucking cocks rather than give any good description of the music.