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Conversation Piece

Posted in CDs, Uncategorized on December 29, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Christmas just keep on happening for me! Today, an additional pair of albums arrived in the mail, this time actually FROM my brother.

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First off: Nightwish’s album “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”. Having fallen in love with songs as “Elán” and “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” I sort of had to get my hands on this album eventually. I guess the only shame is that it took me this long! I can’t wait to dig into it deeper.

adele

The second one, perhaps a bit unexpected to you guys, is Adele’s “25”. At first, as with most things, I was a little annoyed at “Hello”, but the more I heard it (thanks to work) the more I fell for it, as well as “When we were Young”, so I figured it was about time that this one found it’s way into my record collection. Adele is completely new ground for me, having only heard “Rolling in the Deep” and the two aforementioned, which will make it really, really interesting to get into! I love to start with new artists, and even more so when it’s a little “outside” the comfort zone, so to put it, you know?

It’s really exciting to get so much new music these days. I have a large pile of unopened albums, that just keep growing bigger, but it’s only because I really wanna take my time with every album. Listen it through properly, to the point where I can actually pinpoint songs I like, and perhaps even don’t like, to allow songs to grow on me, to allow me to get tired of some songs. I don’t want to end up with a lot of albums that I barely know the content on just because I rush through it.

With that said, I’m now going to bed and preparing for tomorrows workday. It’s a bit hard at times to get back to work after being sick for so long, but I’m hanging in there! It’s going to be a rough couple of days, but I’m sure I’ll get through it. And after all; Money.

// Sara

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Start a Fire

Posted in CDs, Uncategorized with tags , , on December 5, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Finally! After many ifs and buts, when I finally came home from my last couple of tours, my dear little tank had arrived. I hadn’t had the time to get around to open it until very very recently though, but all I can say is FINALLY. Like, FINALLY. Oh how I’ve waited for this little precious!

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So, the box it came in was equally as pretty though! But let’s take a closer look of it, shall we? To be honest, I’m not much for “preserving” the mint condition, as I have no plans on selling it – and if I ever reach that point of desperation, I don’t think it would’ve mattered.

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Here it is in all it’s glory. It’s a replica of their own stage tank Audie, and I love the details.

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All I need now is a Hannes actionfigure with a drumkit to put on top of it and it’s ready to go!

Along with it came some additional treats: The dogtag with the number, some additional picks and yet another CD. So this marks my THIRD CD of “The Last Stand”. And as you guys know, I hate having duplicates, so getting YET ANOTHER of the same album… Well, I should be thankful I guess.

It also came with an autographed card. How sweet.

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For it being late, we were also sent a bottleopener made out of a drumstick for consolation. It’s… funny, but I must admit I don’t know if I’d ever use it. It seems a bit fragile… But who knows?

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Well. That is pretty much it for this blog. I’m really excited to have my little tank at home finally, and it’s joined the shelf with Epica’s earbook of “The Holographic Principle” and the House of Gold and Bones from Stone Sour. It does inspire me to start re-do things in my room… We’ll see what happens, shall we?

// Sara

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Olly Murs – 24HRS

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , on December 3, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, as most of you probably know, or perhaps you don’t, depending on how new you are: I’m a sucker for Olly Murs. Ever since I discovered him about four years back with “Dance with me Tonight” and his “In Case You Didn’t Know” album. I really loved “Right Place, Right Time” and was.. somewhat fond of “Never Been Better”, so I was really excited when I noticed he was releasing new materials.

Sadly, the album didn’t exactly live up to the expectations. This will sound harsh, but I can’t really remember a time I was this disappointed. Good first half of the album, or more, was basically unrecognizable – to the point I didn’t even recognize his voice at certain points. His style has changed from the low beat pop music into over produced – ready-for-the-club kind of music, to the point where I could barely enjoy it. It felt a bit fake, if you know what I mean? I guess this is the transition older Taylor Swift fans has sit through with her most recent albums as compared to old, even though there were some nods to older material – “Years and Years” reminding me a lot of “Dear Darlin'” as well as “Grow Up” giving nods to “This Song Is About You”.

Then we have the thing with the voice. At first listen, I didn’t even recognize his voice. His accent came through every now and then, but damn he’s changed. I had to remind myself several times that this is the guy. It is the same guy. Even though it was hard to believe.

But fear not. Toward the end, toward the last couple of songs – the Olly Murs I have known these years shone through. Finally he started coming back with songs as “Flaws”, “That Girl” and my personal favorite of the album – “Better Without You”. I really fell in love with that song, so I guess it’s something good out of it!

But yes. This… this album hit pretty hard. Maybe I’ve grown out of Olly – or maybe this was really just that different, but I can honestly say this didn’t really rock my boat. But well done on completing the album, for sure.

24hrsdeluxe

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// Sara

 

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REVIEW: Burning Point – The Blaze

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on December 1, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Finnish power metal band Burning Point is finally back with what I guess could be referred to as their debutalbum with their new singer Nitte Valo (ex-Battle Beast), seeing their previous album was a re-recording mixed with some new songs.  The band however, has been around since the late 90’s, this being their sixth album in the counting.

The album starts off big and epic – as you would expect a classic power metal album to open, and it gives you hope for the following album; and the album continues on in the same spirit. It’s heavy, it’s fast and it got the perfect amount of accessories and a keyboard from heaven. I love keyboards, ok?

However, the album is a bit too bland for me. There is not really any song on the album that really sticks out – there are parts of songs, such as the intro for “Time has Come” and also the added aggressiveness in “The King is Dead, Long Live the King”, but despite that, the songs all melt together, which makes it a bit long to listen to at times. I wish they would have had a song or two which stood out more from the crowd, so to speak.

There are however some good tunes in there –  “Dark Winged Angel” with it’s harmonic chorus, “Things That Drag Me Down” with it’s epicness, as well as the aforementioned two songs. The song I enjoy the most of the album though is actually the bonus track, and also cover – “Metal Queen”. It feels like the anthem for every single female metal person out there – and it really cheered me up at the end. I love Nitte’s vocal work on this album – I love it when I hear such talented women work their voices on metal like this, claiming their place in the metal world.

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(Label: AFM Records)

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// Sara

 

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Civil War – The Last Full Measure

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on November 29, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Swedish metalband Civil War is FINALLY back with their third album – “The Last Full Measure” following up the success of “Gods and Generals”. I have personally waited for this day to come, as I couldn’t exactly get enough of “Gods and Generals”, so this album could not have come sooner. And with the teaser in “Road to Victory”, the anticipation grew even bigger.

And I was not disappointed, or at least not exactly. While there were maybe one or two tracks, three if you include the bonus track, that felt a bit like transport, the rest of the album was well pleasing! The album has an epic opening with keyboards before launching into heaviness – bringing your thoughts back a bit to “USS Monitor”, at least to begin with. But seriously, I can’t get over the pre-chorus – I have a tendency to get stuck on small things that I like in songs, and for “Road of Victory” it’s the pre-chorus. Cannot love it enough.

Most of the songs are in the same vein as in “Gods and Generals”, and also “The Killer Angels” – it’s the big, epic songs with amazing vocals that we are used to. Some are heavier – some are a bit calmer, and the whole album is very enjoyable and most importantly – most of the songs are very headbang friendly, which is something that has become more and more important for me over the years as someone who loves going to live shows.

Then we have the two couple of songs that had me startled a bit – starting with “Savannah”. It’s a very good song – trust me, I enjoyed it a lot, but that vocal work Nils Patrik has going on in the beginning had me startled. I can’t exactly fingerpoint what it is – but it brings me back to those cocky 90’s kind of teenage singers when I hear, and I absolutely love it.

The second one is, as most of you might be able to guess – “Tombstone”. I literally sat wide-eyed when this song began. Sure it’s not superoriginal-never-ever-been-done-before, but seriously hearing Civil War go that distance, put a BIG smile on my face. I found myself bouncing around with a wide, very wide smile on my face and if that isn’t an accomplishment, then I don’t know what is. I love it.

thelastfullmeasure

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// Sara

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REVIEW: Nightmare – Dead Sun

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on November 27, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Nightmare – France’s metalpioneers goes way back in time – all the way back to 1979, when it was originally founded. Debutalbum was released in 1984, and after their second album release in 1985 the band went on a large hiatus and returned to the scene in 1999. From here, you could say the road has been filled with obstacles – difficult endings with members and change of recordlabels didn’t make it easy for them, but they decided to come back stronger than ever. Now the band consists of Maggy Luyten on vocals as well as Olivier Casula on drums.

The album starts off with an epic opening which emerges into a heavy and fairly aggressive, yet melodic tune that I fell in love with already at first listen, “Infected”. This is the kind of song I’d easily put in a festivalplaylist, or more as, already have. It’s easy at times to look too much into musicianship – is this new enough, is this advanced enough, when sometimes, all you need is a good mood in the song.

The album continues on in the same vein – it’s heavy, it’s aggressive but with the small tint of melody that makes classic heavy metal exactly that. It’s a consistent album that doesn’t really have any low points at all – but instead a few peaks, one being “Seeds of Agony” that simply got me.

When listening to the album, I can’t help but notice it’s a bit heavier than the more previously released albums, which in this case is actually a good thing. I can admit right away, I wasn’t having too high expectations on this album, but it was very, very good and very enjoyable. It’s a very headbang friendly album, while still showing up some supreme talent and skills within the band.

However, what I really fell in love with is Maggy’s voice. She has one of those powerful voices that just knocks you over and yet give you chills all over, her vocal work in “Tangled in the Roots” is simply phenomenal. When listening through this album, I found myself being enchanted by her voice, just taking it in. They made a really good choice in replacement singer, that is for sure.

This album was a lot better than I actually expected it to be, and I’m very glad that I got the chance to review it – it’s just that good. I can warmly recommend this to everyone, you’ll love it.

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(Label: AFM Records)

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// Sara

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REVIEW: Words of Farewell – A Quiet World

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on November 25, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Words of Farewell is a melodic death metal band with its roots in Germany. While the band was formed already in 2007, it took up to 2011 before the signed with AFM Records and released their highly acclaimed debut album “Immersion”. 2013 they followed it up with yet another successfull album named “The Black Wild Yonder” and now, three years later they are finally back again with their third album, “A Quiet World”.

The album opens up with a strong track in the shape of “My Share of Loneliness” which gives you a promising outlook of the album with it’s interesting rhythm patterns and great melody sections. It does continue on throughout the album – the songs are well produced with a lot of earcandy going on in several songs, the one catching my attention the most “Gaia Demise”, and not to speak the variety of intro’s used – none of the songs were the same. You’d find oriental elements in “Gallows Frame”, only to get a more futuristic sound in “Limit Cycle” to a very interesting intro to “Oversoul”.

While the album does have it’s moments of heaviness in songs as “Zero Temperance”, I do feel that this album is a bit lighter than the previous albums – taking a softer approach to it all, without losing the headbangfriendliness that comes with heavier music.

The album is wrapped up in the melancholic – why do all the bands write melancholic dystopic songs nowadays? Is it some sort of trend? – dreamy, almost cinematic kind of song in the nine minutes long finale of the album. “This Shadow My Likeness” is an experimental kind of song, and it just became the perfect ending for this album.

Overall, I think this is a step up for the band. The music might have gone a bit softer than you might be used to, but the material is a lot better, if you ask me. I’d warmly recommend this album to you guys, if you are into heavier melodic metal, and into screaming vocals. I really enjoyed this one.

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(Label: AFM Records)

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// Sara

 

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HammerFall – Built To Last

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on November 23, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

After all these years, HammerFall’s still going strong. “Built To Last” marks no less than the tenth studioalbum from the Swedish Heavy Metal crusaders from Gothenburg. As the, now, longtime HammerFall fan that I am, I was as usual looking forward to see what they could come up with this time. Ever since “No Sacrifice, No Victory” I have somewhat felt it going a bit downwards – “Infected” being a basic disaster, and “(r)Evolution” starting to pick up the pieces of a shattered era. So, will “Built To Last”, well, last?

To be honest… The album is a bit so-so. It’s still not really reaching the heights that I would want it to do. It starts off with a pretty bland song, for being HammerFall. After having albums open with songs as “Any Means Necessary” and even the more recent “Hector’s Hymn”, “Bring It!” feels very bland. It’s not exactly the punch in the face, or even the premonitions about an epic adventure that you’ve gotten used to over the years.

Right after the bland opener, it picks up the pace – and it’s essentially like all the interesting and good songs managed to find themselves chunked together in the beginning here – powerful anthem “Hammer High”, the “here I am, here I stand” in “The Sacred Wov”, the heavy, fast and anthem like “Dehtrone and Defy” as well as the beautiful, interesting and fairytale like “Twilight Princess”.

After this chunk though, the album loses its magic again and goes back to being a bit of a transport, and a bit bland. The songs melt together, no one really stands out and I find myself sitting there like “Ok.”, probably because I know they can do, and have done, better than this. But I guess it’s a good thing, on the one side, as it leads up to a very mysterious and interesting last song – that opens up with a keyboard solo, and evolves into a melancholic, yet at times aggressive dystopia kind of song. Very interesting and good end to an album that was otherwise a bit bland.

So, how do I conclude all of these shattered thoughts – while there’s a block of good songs in the beginning stretching to the middle, it’s still overall a bit bland, BUT, IT IS a step forward from “(r)Evolution”, so at least it’s going in the right direction after the painful “Infected”. So, well done in that perspective, and, still a little bit to go to get back to the REALLY good days.

hammerfall-built-to-last

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// Sara

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SWEET CREATURE – The Devil Knows My Name

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized on November 15, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Sweet Creature is the new project of previous Crashdiet guitarist and current Sister bassplayer Martin Sweet. As someone who considers Crashdiet one of the bands closest to my heart,and being an avid Sister fan, I got pretty excited when the project was announced and pledged it right away. The singles didn’t disappoint either, so, when I finally got the album, I was thrilled!

Hearing Martin Sweet on the vocals is nothing but mixed feelings. I’ve heard him sing before, but on the same time it’s a bit odd – it’s almost like hearing Crashdïet, although a bit toned down, just with yet again a new singer. I really have to remind myself it’s not them. He has a pretty good voice though – I’ll give him that!

The album opens with “Not Like Others” which are filled with the typical sleaze-attitude you’ll find on pretty much any album in this genre, and the album continues in the same venue. I’d dare to say it’s a bit toned down as compared to previous works by Crashdïet, almost giving you a demo and retro feeling to it. The material on the album is pretty good – it’s got a bit of everything – big anthems and powerballads (I really, really like “Purpose In Life”, it’s beautiful). It’s decent materials – but nothing that really stands out for me right now, despite listening to the album several times. There are some moments on it – like “Purpose in Life” which I mentioned, single “Not like Others”, “Perfect Day”, “Burning Midnight Oil” and the titletrack. So, there’s a lot of potential.

I think this is a pretty good start – I think it’s noteworthy to keep in mind that all of the production that goes into this album is done by the band themselves, which adds to the whole feeling of it, if it makes any sense.

I think this album is very good as a start, but I do feel there’s a lot more to give. If you have the chance to check it out, please do! I think you’ll enjoy this little gem.

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// Sara

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REVIEW: Herman Frank – The Devil Rides Out

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on November 13, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Herman Frank, mostly known as ex-guitarist in Accept is back with his third soloalbum, following the successes on “Loyal To None” and “Right in the Guts”. What makes this album remarkable different from the others, is that the band for the first time has a permanent line up, with Rick Altzi still doing the vocals.

“The Devil Rides Out” is a fun kind of party album as far as the music goes for the tunes. It’s cheerful tunes with a high class attitude riding through the sound of Herman’s strings. Certain tracks are heavier than others – while some being all about the melody, however, what really takes place and stands out are the guitarsolos, the album is basically about the guitar solos, except that one bass-based song “I Want It All”.

Lyrically it feels pretty typical in a way – I’m not sure how to properly describe it, but it has it all – the outcast songs, the “not-being-able-to-take-it-more” songs and heartache songs. My personal favorite on the album though, is “Ballhog Zone” which quite fittingly is the single, but what really gets me with that song are the lyrics.  About these people who act like they are on top of the world, and treats you thereafter, but in reality, at the end of the day, they are really the biggest losers, because what will they do when they stand there all alone?

It’s a pretty decent album. It has got some good potential, although it hasn’t exactly stuck on me just yet. If you’re into sweet riffs and heavy tunes though, this might be an album for you!

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(Label: AFM Records)

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// Sara

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