#169 Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God

Amon Amarth are another of those bands I should probably know a little bit more about, but doing this review of them will be the first time I expose myself to their sound for a prolongued time. Hailed tentatively by some as viking metal, my initial reaction years ago was to exclaim "where's the viking in that?" but I'm beginning to see what they meant, at least, somewhat.

At heart, the creature which is Amon Amarth is distinctly of the melodic death-metal variety, but upon listening to more than the first fifteen seconds of a track, I definitely noticed the viking feel which the music has. This Norse feel is generated by somewhat folky, medievel twists, which evoke an epic, often wide-open, wind-through-your-hair feel throughout the album, especially the tremolos and melodies, which, when and wherever they arose, made me feel the icy wind and look over the snowy lands. While the music may border quite frequently on being a little bit cheesy, it often manages to be sincerely enjoyable and beautiful, or at the very least, bursting with adrenaline and viking-mead, certainly music which caters towards major headbanging. Amon Amarth seem to be part of the select school of melodic death metal who encorporate many of the fundamentals of power metal, and definitely have the prominent lead guitar and tempo which, without taking account of the guttural vocals which dominate the songs and forge their identity,  could be just as easily power-metal as melodic death metal - as it is, however, the band sit somewhere in the middle, and on this album, pleasingly so - definitely the best of both worlds, as opposed to a clashing mixture.

On of the most major keywords to be applied to this work is, unsurprisingly, "catchy". Most probably with the prefix "very very". Most of the tracks are in at least some way engraved into my mind after one listen, and while it's in the nature of both melodic death metal and power-metal to be catchy, Amon Amarth really go above and beyond. Perhaps this is in no small part down to the Norse twist which definitely permeates every single song, but I also wouldn't hesitate to consider that the band have made a very catchy record without overly relying on a single theme, more accurately, they've simply made a record which is solid. Twilight of the Thunder God is a much more enjoyable album than I anticipated, and while I don't listen to much melodic-death metal, this is really what I look for when I do - catchy, memorable, energetic and a little bit over the top. It's safe to say that this album is all of these things and more.

It feels good to listen to something of this style - quite crisp, definitely well-produced, but also rough around the edges, harsh, and sitting comfortably on the line between cheesy and unapologetically epic. All in all, a very enjoyable concoction.

This is an 8/10.

Links:
Amon Amarth Official Site
Amon Amarth on Myspace
Amon Amarth on Facebook
Amon Amarth on Metal Archives

#168 Bretus - In Onirica

In Onirica is the promising debut full-length by Italian doom-metal outfit Bretus. I'd not heard of the band until they sent me a download of the album and asked me to review it, and, today, about a month later, I've gotten round to reviewing it. From the very onset of the music, it became apparent that the band are a force to be reckoned with.

Sound wise, Bretus seem to sit on the line between being bluesy, psychedelic and "stoner" doom and something more epic and traditional. Crushing and head-nodding, but also imbued with a thoroughly clean feeling, with tones which are murky, but also have a wide open and clear-headed. The kind of doom which you don't have to take any drugs to fully enjoy.  The production of the album, especially, is extremely agreeable, sounding very, very natural and really bringing everything together in the most wholesome way possible - to be vague, the production is simply nice, certainly ticking all of the boxes for what I look for in production - the guitars sound organic, clear, but also pleasingly enveloping, in that quintessentially doomy way, and the drums sound fresh and un-tampered with. The songs are solidly written, with massive riffs which are very much larger than life, memorable and often very well written. The whole album feels like that; solid, professional, and very much a cohesive, complete sounding work.

The album isn't entirely mono-stylistic however, and there's definitely enough diversity and experimentation to keep the album interesting and engaging. While consistent, the songs also journey through a fairly interesting range of experimentation, with twists of many styles here and there; acoustic sections, and darker, almost occult sounding parts which differ from the albums typically epic, somewhat light sound. The occasional more energetic, higher-tempo material also kept my attention, and certainly gave the album an injection of force and movement. The album also shows plenty of imagination, with songs like the closing instrumental "Black Sheep", aptly named for sticking out from the rest, bordering on the insane, with all manner of keyboard work, tempos and styles mashed into one splendidly mind-boggling track. The vocals, throughout the album, have an epic, melodic egde, but also possess a toughness which keeps the music a little rough around the edges, to good effect - Bretus may have made an epic doom album, but it's definitely not over-the-top, at least, not in a bad way.

I'm impressed by Bretus, and I can safely say I recommend their music to anyone who likes doom in all it's forms. In Onirica is a solid, very complete sounding album, and is fantastically well-rounded. If the band can keep up the quality of this release, they will achieve great things.

This is an 8/10.

Links:
Bretus on Myspace
Bretus on Facebook
Bretus on Metal Archives

#167 Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated

Cannibal Corpse are one of the biggest names in death metal, and arguably metal in general, and yet, my experience of them has, sadly, been very scarce. Until earlier today, I'd only heard the occasional song, and, consequently, I've decided that it would probably be very good for me to listen to a whole album or two. Where better to begin than with a classic? Tomb of the Mutilated seems to very nicely fit the bill.

It's easy, and quite common, for people to dismiss Cannibal Corpse as being very "vanilla-flavoured" and unexciting death metal, and I'd certainly heard such opinions from several people. I don't like to perceive bands on such a basis, however, and listening myself is generally the way I aim to form my opinions on music. The band are a great deal more enjoyable sounding than I'd come to expect. Perhaps I don't really know what "generic" sounds like when in a death-metal context, novice to the genre that I am, but I certainly saw nothing wrong with what Cannibal Corpse play - while perhaps quite typical in sound, the music is pleasingly varied, with a noteworthy mixture of fast and mid tempo material which makes up an album which, while in places equipped with neck-snapping speed, is also has it's share of stomping, brutal and often groove-laden sections which leave plenty of room to thrust your fist in the air without inevitably detaching it from the rest of your body. The balance between the tempos, I'll venture, really is just right, and the band certainly succeed in this respect, creating a death-metal album which is exceptionally catchy, as well as heavy.

The album is, perhaps, a bit predictable, but not in a bad way - I don't mind the fact that the songs don't hugely surprise me when they're nonetheless very solidly written and tight, in the same way that, despite being very, very consistent, AC/DC still carry a certain appeal, about which millions of people can't be wrong. I still found things to be surprised about upon listening to the album however, mostly based on the gulf between my expectations and how much I ended up enjoying it - It's technically adept, with  memorable, and most of all quite fun to listen to. The kind of album which, if I knew the words, I'd enjoy singing along to, which, I think, goes a long way to explaining the commercial success of Cannibal Corpse. Tomb of the Mutilated does a good job, in it's running length, of explaining precisely why it deserves it's classic status - perhaps the production is a little thin, and it is slightly derivative of albums like Death's Scream Bloody Gore, but it's still solid as a rock, and I have no real grievences with it.

From start to finish, I really enjoyed Tomb of the Mutilated, and I can safely say that it has really improved my perception of Cannibal Corpse, and I've definitely gone from vague indifference to interest - who knows, I might listen to a couple more albums at some point.

I'm going to give this an 8/10.

Links:
Cannibal Corpse Official Site
Cannibal Corpse on Myspace
Cannibal Corpse on Facebook
Cannibal Corpse on Metal Archives