Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

Having already gained widespread acclaim with its European release on 11.11.11, “The Thousandfold Epicentre”, the second full-length album by Dutch occult rock band The Devil’s Blood, will hit US stores on January 17th 2012 under the Metal Blade label. Their debut full-length “The Time Of No Time Evermore” piqued my interest, and I was expecting great things from this new album. But after listening to “The Thousandfold Epicentre”, I was taken aback by how amazing it sounded even at first listen. Continue reading “Album Review: The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre [9 out of 10]”

By Andrew Bansal

Los Angeles-based extreme metal band Abigail Williams have always intrigued me  with their music. Their albums are ‘records’ in the truest sense of the word, because they represent where the band stood musically at that point in time, and have little to no relation with the other releases. Each of their previous three releases presents a completely different musical style. While the 2006 debut EP “Legend” showcases their metalcore influences, the first full-length album “In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns” came out in 2008 and can be described a symphonic black metal record. The next album “In The Absence Of Light” shed all of those symphonic elements and offers a pure black metal sound to its listeners. Now they are ready to release their third full-length, “Becoming”, which hits the US market on January 24th 2012, and presents yet another new facet of Abigail Williams’ musicianship. Continue reading “Album Review: Abigail Williams – Becoming [9.5 out of 10]”

By JC Green

Nightwish is a band that has kept their fans polarized since the departure of original singer Tarja Turunen. Just because Tarja is not longer in the band, there is the blind group of fans who pre-state that the band is not worthy anymore neglecting the irrefutable fact that a band is greater than the sum of its members. There is also another segment of fans that accepted the change and welcomed the input of Anette Olzon to the band, some even considering the band’s current lineup better than the previous one, a fact that I totally disagree with. That said, the Finnish band just delivered another element of discord, a new album entitled “Imaginaerum.” The album is already available in Europe and will be released on American soil on January 10, 2012. Continue reading “Album Review: Nightwish – Imaginaerum [8 out of 10]”

By Avinash Mittur

Twenty three years after the monumental musical statement that was “Thundersteel”, the same lineup returns bolstered with guitarist Mike Flyntz, who has tackled lead duties with Reale since 1989. “Immortal Soul,” the result of this reunion, is a raging beast of a comeback album, and ranks as one of the band’s greatest achievements. Continue reading “Album Review: Riot – Immortal Soul [9.5 out of 10]”

By Andrew Bansal

Out of all the articles I write, list-based articles are the most time consuming to write, and  are the least appreciated. But I simply love making these lists, and my favorite has always been the year-end list of best albums. Even though today is November 29th and the year hasn’t ended yet, I feel it’s appropriate for me to do this now, because firstly I’ve already heard all of the albums that are scheduled for release in the month of December, and secondly, December looks like a very busy month in my calendar, so I’d rather do this now while I have ample time to give it proper thought and do it complete justice. Continue reading “Top 20 Albums Of 2011”

By Avinash Mittur

The 1990’s were a dark time for many metal bands, and Kreator were no different. The band had lost two hotshot guitarists in one decade, Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik and Tommy Vetterli, founding bassist Rob Fioretti, and even Jurgen “Ventor”  Reil for a period. Not to mention, four of the band’s five albums released that decade were creative and commercial failures. Continue reading “Retrospective: 10 Years Of Kreator’s “Violent Revolution””