After nine studio albums German power metallers Blind Guardian have decided to release a best of album. As you would expect from any decent power metal band the music is fast and technical and the songs are about fantasy and adventure. The songs progress like stories with many parts and evolving themes. “And Then There Was Silence” is a prime example of all these traits; this song also sounds like an epic opus. Unfortunately I thought this grande feeling was missing from most of the tracks and I didn’t find the vocals had the range and power that the singers from many power metal bands possess. If you like the genre though this is a good listen.

Reborn In Defiance is Biohazard’s first album since 2005. On the large-scale this album’s destination is hardcore but the route is not always the same. Countdown Doom takes us through some great drum beats. Killing Me is a little slower than most but features a great bass line. Waste Away has a cool descending riff and decent guitar solo. Decay has a sludge riff with a mean undertone and some good vocals. Vows Of Redemption has some more strong vocals and creates a southern riff with the use of slide guitars. There is quite a bit of material here to enjoy and the whole band shows some real talent.

At first I had decided that this was a good album for a lazy Sunday afternoon but there were many sides to the album. Baby contains music that has the same feeling as the slower tracks from bands like Razorlight, The Kooks and the emotional rawness of bands like Cursive or Wolf Parade. The tracks are guitar driven but they never take on any raw power. This is contrasted by some vocals that take a little getting used to. The vocals sound like someone who is always just on the edge of screaming and create an emotionally charged melody. All this creates some tracks with strong feelings such as the warm feeling from Corner Of An English Field or the wanting from Sappho. Baby was a strong debut LP from the Camden-four piece.

Glam metal may not be a thing of the past while bands like Widow continue to bring back the screeching guitars and vocals. Although the music might not be quite as solid as Steel Panther, the band do a better job with the subject matter. The guitars throughout the album are great but they are particularly good in tracks like Live Beyond and Take Hold Of The Night. They also manage to pull off some have decent melodies with I Scream for Ice Queen leading this category. Life’s Blood is definitely a great blast from the past.

This is the third release from the Finnish metal band, Soulfallen. The Promise Of Hell had a somewhat unique style that the band calls melodic dark metal. They do a great job of playing the fast, low-end guitar with a deep growl as is typical from dark metal. The good news is that they also play some almost progressive parts in many tracks and also display a knack for some great riffs and fills. The more epic tracks were The Birth Of Newfound Death and At The Heart Of Dying. While Silence Of The Storm has an almost symphonic feeling as does Scars Aligned. At times the band sounded a little like Black Dahlia Murder (Questions and Answers comes to mind) but for the most part this was a great fusion between melodic death metal and dark metal.

You can download the album here.

• Abigail Williams – Becoming
• Actual Water – The Paisley Orchard
• Anchored – Listen To This
• Behold! The Monolith – Defender, Redeemist
• Blind Guardian – Memories Of A Time To Come
• Chairlift – Something
• Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
• Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes
• First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
• Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuaskadrops
• Gonjasufi – MU.ZZ.LE
• Imbogodom – And They Turned Not When They Went
• Islet – Illuminated People
• John K Samson – Provincial
• Lacuna Coil – Dark Adrenaline
• Lamb Of God – Resolution
• Leila – U&I
• Matt Pryor – May Day
• Nada Surf – The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
• Opera IX – Strix Maledictae In Aeternum
• Pandaemonium – The Last Prayer
• Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend
• Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Area 52
• Teenager – Frights
• Wolfen – Chapter IV
• Woodpigeon – For Paolo

You can see more recent and upcoming releases here.

I’ve been a fan of Enter Shikari for a few years now. They have a tremendous energy and have found a beautiful balance between electronic and metal that they continue to explore. They’ve started to see a lot of success with the release of their latest album, A Flash Of Colour. One of the more pleasant surprises for me was the wide range of songs. I found on previous albums that many of the songs seemed to blend together too seamlessly and many of the riffs were overused. The band seemed to turn a new leaf as these new tracks were much more distinct. Arguing With Thermometers had a great heavy guitar riff one moment, a light, catchy riff the next and a great electronic beat the next. Sssnakepit had a sludge metal riff for a few moments, Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here had a cute R&B rhythm guitar and System almost felt like a rap track. There was still lots of good synth riffs, screaming and metal guitar.

In the last couple of months I’ve listened to goth rock albums from all over the world. Dark Adrenaline comes from an Italian goth rock troupe by the name of Lacuna Coil. I haven’t really been able to glean any major differences between the bands; in particular a lot of the bands seem to feature female vocalists. There were a few things in particular that I liked on this album. Upside Down had some male vocals similar to Disturbed. I Don’t Believe in Tomorrow had one of the better guitar riffs that sounded like Rage Against the Machine. The band also recorded a cover of REM’s Losing My Religion that was alright. In the end, I find a lot of these bands sound alike.

It might be unfair to compare First Aid Kit to Fleet Foxes but there are so many similarities that it’s hard not too. There were a few differences though. I found that their music wasn’t as intricate as the Fleet Foxes; there didn’t seem to be as much going on musically. There were a few tracks at the beginning that had a bit of a country flare. The Swedish group is also a female group in lieu of an all male group. The Lion’s Roar opens things up with a dark acoustic riff in a Johnny Cash style. I think that To A Poet shows off the vocals better than any of the other tracks. King of the World had the most active music including more instruments and a more lively flow. And I think This Old Routine and Dance To Another Tune sound the most like Fleet Foxes.

• Ani DiFranco – What Side Are You On?
• Anneke Van Giersbergen – Everything Is Changing
• The Big Pink – Future This
• Biohazard – Reborn In Defiance
• Casiokids – Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen
• Disguise – Second Coming
• Drakkar – When Lightning Strikes
• Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood Of Colour
• Everything Went Black – Cycles Of Light
• FOE – Bad Dream Hotline
• Gil Scott-Heron – The Last Holiday
• Hands & Teeth – Hunting Season
• Herman Dune – The Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
• Howler – America Give Up
• Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
• Kells – Anachromie
• Matthew Dear – Headcage
• Neverever – Shake-a-Baby
• Primal Fear – Unbreakable
• Soulfallen – The Promise Of Hell
• Todd Terpe – It’s the Arps
• Tribes – Baby