Album Rating: 3.0

I quite like this.

Album Rating: 4.0

Good review dude, gonna jam cause you mentioned the King.



Album cover reminds of an old Graveworm cover.



http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/33908/Graveworm-Engraved-in-Black/

Album Rating: 4.0

Just listened to Portrait. This band is no joke. Very cool sound.



Edit: Okay just listened to this thing twice through. Easy 4.5 for me. The technical ability of everyone in this band is insane, and the tasteful playing is just as impressive. It has the perfect amount of restraint and the focus on song writing over noodling is obvious here. Thanks so much for reviewing this and bringing it to my attention.

first staff review ?

καλη αρχη μανο !!

The solos and guitar work is fucking stunning. The vocals are relatively good but sometimes they start to sound like Mike Portnoy ( I really don't dig his vocals usually)

Album Rating: 3.0

Portrait is easily my fav here. The rest kinda falls flat though. :[

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

@DungeonBoy

Very glad you enjoyed the album dude. Nice catch about Graveworm. The album cover was created by the same guy who did King Diamond's Voodoo album iirc. They are also a bit similar.



@rockandmetaljunkie

Thank you John! Much appreciated.



@kingdedethefifth

Yup, didn't love the vocals initially either. Kinda enjoyed them now.



@Hawks

Maybe you enjoyed Portrait the most because of the increased King Diamond influences on that song. Give the album time dude, you never know.

Album Rating: 3.5

There's an almost Dark Tranquillity influence in places, like the beginning of What Are We Dying For.



I'd say the thing I like less are the vocals

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

As a less experienced DT listener, I didn't catch that but now that you mention it, nice catch Sab.

King Diamond, haunting atmosphere, progressive metal?

Need to check this out.



Good review Manos and once again, welcome to the fold.


The album cover was created by the same guy who did King Diamond's Voodoo album

Yeah, the album art felt overly familiar and now I know why, I love Voodoo, it's a hugely underrated KD album.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Thank you Voi!



Need to check Voodoo a few more times. Regarding underrated KD albums, The Graveyard has to be on top of my list. Slightly different than most of King's stuff but still great.

Album Rating: 4.0

Man, End of Time. What a song. That opening solo stripped the paint off my walls and that soaring chorus gives me chills... THEY POISONED THE WELL, THE PROMISE OF PARADISE A LIE.



Just picked up the clear vinyl

Nice first staff review, Manos, it was about time you got promoted.

Sounds good so far, but I'd prefer an instrumental version, however I see you weren't fond of the vocals either at first, so I'll wait.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Thank you Mytho!



For me, once I really got into this album, the vocals stopped being the weak link to the point where I actually enjoy them. I hope it works the same way for you.

Album Rating: 4.0

I love the vocals on this. They are very solid for heavy/power metal and the fallsetos are used sparingly. Joseph Michael has a great range, and really knows how to use it effectively. I was reading that the drummer who recorded on this died sometime during the mixing stage. RIP, dude had some skill.

Album Rating: 3.5

Great review, can always count on you for the juicy prog metal recs. Jamming this now and really digging it.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

This is some high praise dude. Thank you.

Album Rating: 3.5

This has some outstanding moments, but I feel like the band repeatedly kills their momentum by continuously falling back on long, drawn-out ambient sections. Breaks in the action have the capacity to be effective and beautiful, but they went way overboard with that stuff on this record. Still, it's a good listen; I love the vocals.

Album Rating: 4.0

kills their momentum by continuously falling back on long, drawn-out ambient sections. [2]



It is the weakest part of the album. The good news is two of the ambient tracks (Act II and Finale) are skippable. It doesn't ruin the album for me, and I've grown to appreciate them more, but they do come across a little bit as unnecessary filler due to their ineffectiveness.

Album Rating: 3.5

The individual tracks themselves have some head-scratching breaks in the action, too. Rarely does the band go for more than 3 minutes without taking things down a notch.