Having finally starting to work a job that creates income, and moving out on my own, finding the time to write reviews for all the albums I want to is becoming a challenge. My solution? Review roundup. Shorter, bite sized reviews about albums I need to knock off my ever growing to-write list. Today, we have 3 very different albums all landing in the metal genre, a thrash metal band, a groove metal band, and a melodeath band. Something for just about any extreme metal fan really!
World in Decay – Fallen Angels
This album is easily the best thrash metal album to come out in 2015, and the fact that I am just now getting around to writing about it is insane. It’s just the complete package with thrash metal. Great guitar work with some outstanding solos, some pummeling drums, and vocals that are actually as good as the instrumentals? It sounds too good to be but it exists and it’s great. While it’s not filled with insanely memorable material, the talent alone will keep you coming back for more. Not much else to say, it’s just some damn good thrash metal.
Terraform – Odium
Odium is a band I wish I could be as enthusiastic about, because up until the vocals hit on their latest album I was insanely into it. It did such a good job building up some stellar atmosphere with it’s intro track “Odyssey”, but once t
he bands true colors show on the following track, “Feral Invasion”, it all started to go a bit downhill for me. While it was a very aggressive and heavy onslaught, the fairly forgettable vocals just didn’t do much for me. While they aren’t your generic screams, and they have some actual depth, they just don’t really keep up with everything else this record. I think I might have enjoyed it more as an instrumental release, as the instruments do a fine job building the album’s tone and atmosphere, to the point where the vocals feel like an afterthought. This style of metal just doesn’t do much for me, but I can respect Odium for what they attempted on this release, and despite my issues regarding the vocals, I did enjoy the album overall and if you enjoy bands like Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, this might be something you enjoy, and this album should impress you. Just give the below track a listen, and see if it is something you enjoy. It should be noted the below track is also a free download.
Silent Line – Shattered ShoresÂ
This is an album that really took me by surprise. A melodeath concept album with an folk and orchestral flair, absolutely throat shredding vocals, and incredible production. This is one that is hard to put into words, but had I dug into it last year; it likely would have landed on my AOTY list. I simply recommend it to any fans of melodic death metal music, as I haven’t heard it done this good in a while.
Audio Honesty 