Reviews by Simon Milburn

Dark Tranquillity - Character

Dark Tranquillity

Character

By Simon Milburn | 28 January, 2005

Genre leading Swede's show their character and class

It's been said that Dark Tranquillity are the founders and leaders of melodic death metal, also known as the Gothenburg Sound. 2002's Damage Done release was nothing short of brill...

3 Inches of Blood - Advance and Vanquish

3 Inches of Blood

Advance and Vanquish

By Simon Milburn | 10 January, 2005

Old school and proud

There seems to be an abundance of acts lately that are highlighting the influence of the early metal acts of the 80s. As far as I’m concerned, that isn’t a bad thing either. Somewhere, somehow, metal ...

Pain Confessor - Turmoil

Pain Confessor

Turmoil

By Simon Milburn | 10 January, 2005

Brutal surprise package of Swedish metal from Finland

Upon reading their bio, it would be easy to pass off Finland's Pain Confessor as another wanna be Gothenburg sound type band. Yes, I realize that Gothenburg is in Sweden and that ...

Usurper - Cryptobeast

Usurper

Cryptobeast

By Simon Milburn | 10 January, 2005

Bust out the spiked leather arm bands

Chicago's Usurper aren't the most original band around, although having said that, I think it's becoming increasingly more difficult to be original in the metal world nowadays. But I digress. Cry...

Strapping Young Lad - For Those Aboot to Rock (DVD)

Strapping Young Lad

For Those Aboot to Rock (DVD)

By Simon Milburn | 10 January, 2005

It's only rock 'n' roll but I like it

Of the many metal bands that are out there doing their thing, by comparison only a few will really make their mark. Of those who do, only a small subset will do so more than Canada's Strapping ...

Napalm Death - Noise For Music's Sake

Napalm Death

Noise For Music's Sake

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

110% chuffed!

Who'd have thought that a band as extreme as England's Napalm Death would be only a year or so short of making the 20 year mark? It's fitting that their fostering label Earache release a two CD set that serves as a best ...

Exodus - Tempo of the Damned

Exodus

Tempo of the Damned

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Legendary thrashers return to form

Bay Area thrash legends Exodus released their last studio album Force Of Habit in 1992 and called it a day not long afterwards. But it took the death of original vocalist Paul Ballof in 2002 to real...

Sepultura - Arise

Sepultura

Arise

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

From a pale grey sky...we shall ARISE!

The year is 1991. Metallica released their insanely successfully and pivotal self titled album and Nirvana turned grunge into the latest trend with the release of Nevermind. Sepultura - the bo...

Mudvayne - All Access to All Things (DVD)

Mudvayne

All Access to All Things (DVD)

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Slipknot made waves a few years back as 9 masked guys with numbers for names. Not long after bursting onto the seen, Mudvayne did the same with masks replaced by ever changing and evolving painted face designs and foreign sounding names. The comparis...

Caliban - The Opposite From Within

Caliban

The Opposite From Within

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

German metal core evolution

A shift in style is never an easy thing for fans to accept. From the outside looking in, it can be viewed as selling out, or going with the latest trend if the parallels exist. But giving bands the benefit...

Nightwish - Once

Nightwish

Once

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Return Of The Finns

Whilst it's probably more common nowadays than 10 years ago for metal bands to incorporate orchestral pieces as a part of their music, very few can say they've recorded with the session orchestra that performed Ho...

Haunted, The - rEVOLVEr

Haunted, The

rEVOLVEr

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

The title says it all

The departure of a vocalist is always both a talking point and a turning point for any band that may undergo such a transformation. The announcement of the return of The Haunted's original vocalist, Peter Dolving...

Chasm, The - The Spell of Retribution

Chasm, The

The Spell of Retribution

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Back to the future

Many would say that whilst there are some shining lights in the sky of metal acts around today, that the market is overall saturated by many bands most of which lack the originality of the leaders of the subgenres ...

Converge - You Fail Me

Converge

You Fail Me

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Unlucky for some, but definitely lucky for these guys

Longevity is not something that is a prevailing trait amongst much of todays music industry as a whole however there are quite a few metal bands who manage to keep their head abov...

Devolved - Calculated

Devolved

Calculated

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Local extreme metal let down by production

Devolved have quite the following both on our local scene and also around the rest of the nation. For some metal heads however, it's a case of you either like them or not. Since their incept...

Shadows Fall - The War Within

Shadows Fall

The War Within

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Winning the battle and the war

I think it's almost safe to say that the latest Shadows Fall album was one of the most anticipated releases of 2004. The presales figures alone tell the story of the rise of this Massachusetts based qui...

Papa Roach - Getting Away With Murder

Papa Roach

Getting Away With Murder

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Roaches that just won't go away

Papa Roach are one of those bands that were hot one day and almost forgotten the next. It seems only the diehard fans kept the support going for this quartet. 2000's Infest was a great album full of ca...

Cradle of Filth - Nymphetamine

Cradle of Filth

Nymphetamine

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Horror movie metal soundtrack

Moving on from Damnation And A Day, England's Cradle Of Filth have released it's follow up Nymphetamine this time avoiding the labour of a concept album. Moving from major label Sony to Roadrunner, the c...

Mortiis - The Grudge

Mortiis

The Grudge

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Norwegian metal from the man with the pointy ears

What does a one man band do when said band gets a degree of success and has to start touring? The one man band evolves into a full scale lineup and that's just what Mortiis has had to...

Candiria - What Doesn't Kill You

Candiria

What Doesn't Kill You

By Simon Milburn | 08 January, 2005

Only the strong survive

At one time or another, we've either told someone or been told by someone that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. For some it's just a saying, whilst others may take it as gospel. There are some who o...