Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Stratovarius, NoMara, Reverance, Strangelet, & Casablanca

Index

Another great effort in a line of good albums. Has all of the elements you would want as a metal fan. Good dynamics, very good melodies, frenzied tempo in places and a great amount of discipline. This album works because of the solidity of the songs. You can sense the confidence in the songwriting and this is something that is usually there with as tenured of a band as Stratovarius is at this point. I still like 'Nemesis' slightly better as I was a big fan of that album, but this isn't far off. Good quality songs from and excellent band that has been doing it for quite some time. Definitely recommended.

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Hadn't heard of this band but John LeCompt is obviously familiar due to his tenure with Evanescence. The music is modern edge sounding with good consistency. It is an ep that offers up 5 tracks and is a fan appreciation effort that is offered as a free download. I did like all of the 5 tracks and especially appreciated the homage to the 80's bands with the track 'Tesla' that also talks about other stuff from that era as well. Upon hearing these guys, they have definitely popped onto my radar and have a good solid thick sound about them. Definitely go grab this one!

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Judging by the members alone, you know this album has to be impressive. In particular since I was a huge Savatage fan, I was jacked up to see the name of Steve 'Doc Killdrums' Wacholz in this album. Also Tokyo Blade member Bryan Holland and Riot V member Todd Michael Hall. This is a solid power metal record and the band's second. There is no doubting with the veteran status of these members that good things should and will come. A strong old school sounding metal record with a more melodic song here and there make this a good balanced and consistent record. Do check this one out!

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Here is a band that I had never heard of before but quickly caught my attention. 'First Bite' is a collection of straight forward rockers done in a more old school fashion. Songwriting is done well and things overall are fairly catchy and memorable. Even though most of the album sounds old school, there were minor flashes of modern sounding stuff. This element is light, but I did pick up on this. Good rockers with some cool guitar effects being used. The album also has a pretty good duet in 'All That's Left' that's worth checking out. To summarize, this is a pretty damn good release and is worth your time!

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This album is crazy good for a variety of reasons. Number one, it's conceptual. The band have put a lot of work into this record and it shows. Number two, their sound. I love this bands sound. Very tight and have a cool retro sound in their approach. I was thinking classics that go back to Dee Purple and bands of the like. The songwriting on this album is superb. Epic sounding opening and closing songs but in a different way then people look at epic of today. Quite a few of these tracks are very infectious and memorable. I was humming these tracks after my initial listen . Highly Recommended!

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