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Music, Reviews

Revisiting “Metal Edge” Magazine: The CD Reviews – Part 4

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These album overviews were originally written for Metal Edge Magazine when I was a contributor to their “Hear Us Out” CD reviews section back in 2006-2007. With the magazine wrapping up publication a few months ago, I decided to add them to the context of our PiercingMetal presentation. I felt that by doing this I would not only be raising the horns in remembrance of the magazine but would also be able to showcase just how different writing for a major publication was when it all came down to it. Since “Hear Us Out” notations were usually “100” words in length, these posts will feature several reviews each until we run out of them. The freelance writing tenure at Metal Edge Magazine was discussed on THIS LINK so please check that out when done. Here are the reviews, so “Hear Us Out”.

Die Verbannetn Kinder Evas: “Dusk And Void Became Alive” (Napalm Records)

Translated to “The Banished Children Of Eve”, the side project of Summoning’s Richard Lederer brings you into a world of sullen melancholy and heartfelt despair. It’s a deeply rooted in classical epic and showcases the beautiful voice of Christina Kroustali across the release. It’s not upbeat or fast in any sense but instead almost hauntingly romantic at time while leaving the listening with a slight sense of sadness. The Gothic scene would take well to this unique Darkwave group and fans of operatic voices will love this overall intelligent and passionate release. Approach this with an open mind.

Edenbridge: “The Grand Design” (Napalm Records)

Angelic Bombastic Rock was how I first heard Edenbridge described and it’s pretty close to the mark with the lovely Sabine Edelsbacher who’s melodic and soaring vocals quickly bring you into the bands world. Musically masterminded by Lanvall (guitar/keys) they are adept at quality sounding Hard Rock that is rich in sound but not over the top enough to lose you with super technical displays. It’s all about big vocals harmony and rich melodies that you find as soon as it begins. A surprise addition was the Sheena Easton track “For Your Eyes Only”, from the popular James Bond movie of the same name.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of 2006”: The Music

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Another exciting year in Metal music has gone by and as a member of the music press, I’m tasked with not only doing reviews here on the website but also in lining out what releases that I felt were the years very best. Initially, this post was going to feature the whole gamut of the years in terms of the music, the videos and the concerts but when my album list went on and on and on I decided to give it a post of its own to go easier on you. Let’s go.

The Best Albums Of 2006

Mercenary “The Hours That Remain” (Century Media Records): A great follow up to “11 Dreams”, this band shows that they are taking chances in Metal.

Mastodon “Blood Mountain” (Warner Brothers): Jazz Fusion Metal? I dunno, but the new Mastodon sure kicks your ass around the block.

Amorphis “Eclipse” (Nuclear Blast Records): Finnish boys return and do more good. Lots of feels on this one.

Scar Symmetry “Pitch Black Effects” (Nuclear Blast Records): Raging guitar solos, soaring clean vocals, brutal death metal growls-brilliant!

Lamb of God “Sacrament” (Epic Records): Their best yet. Future legends. The first four songs are instant classics and if you don’t find your fist in the air for this release you don’t have one. Go watch American Idol

Iron Maiden “A Matter of Life and Death” (EMI Music): Up the Irons, pure and simple. Some bad press from some people who don’t see the return to form. They are idiots.

I “Between Two Worlds” (Nuclear Blast Records): Great project from members of Immortal, Enslaved, and Gorgoroth.

Enslaved “RUUN” (Candlelight Records): The Black Metal titans get even more progressive and this is an incredible listen from start to finish

Satyricon “Now, Diabolical” (Century Media Records): More Metal needs to be like this. A resounding effort that lays waste to that which tries to come close.

Vanden Plas “Christ O” (InsideOut Music): Stunning operatic progressive metal. Their best yet! Especially the bonus track
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Music, Reviews

“The Fall Of An Empire”by Fairyland

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Artist: Fairyland
Title: “The Fall Of An Empire
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 1/16/2007
Genre: Melodic Symphonic Metal
Rating: 4/5

If you enjoy the power and the majesty of The Mighty Rhapsody as they continue to take you to far away places with their brand of “Film Score Metal” and wonder if you can get by the time between releases from the band then have we got news for you. If your hunger for this brand of Metal grows and grows we proudly direct you to the powers of Fairyland who on their Napalm Records release “The Fall Of An Empire” clearly offer fans something just as wondrous. Hailing from France this is a new contender to that specialized genre which was a pleasant surprise as these days no one band should be able to secure a title all to their own when there is so much talent out there. Their whole CD sweeps with epic sounds and colors that enable the overall majesty on its grooves to take you to other worlds of adventure. Similar to what Rhapsody is prone to do there are a lot of peaks and valleys musically across the album as it will slow down to make a point and then return to some blistering display or mammoth chorus to drive the listener to their feet with fist raised high (“The Walls Of Laemnil” is particularly good for doing this to you). As you listen you will also notice that singer Max Leclercq bears an uncanny vocal resemblance to the late, great Freddie Mercury and I felt this brought a sense of familiarity to the album. During the song “The Awakening” he even had some of Freddie’s breathing styles that you would hear on some classic Queen music. I enjoyed being reminded of the singer and whether intentional or not, it is nice to find Metal players showing his influence. If you ever wanted to hear how Freddie might have sounded fronting a Metal band then look for that track to give yourself an idea. The band is comprised of Leclerqc (vocals), Anthony Parker (guitar), Piwee (drums), Philippe Giordana (keyboards) and Thomas Cesario (bass).
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