Go to content | Go to navigation | Go to search

# Global Domination

### Recent updates

- S(crap)s: I Miss My Death / Kaoskult / Raus & Perunwit (split) / Spatial / Thy Flesh (13/06/14)
- Hatebreed: The rise of brutality (12/06/14)
- Vomiting Corpses: Coma - The spheres of innocence (11/06/14)
- Mayhem: Esoteric warfare (10/06/14)
- S(crap)s: Akrotheism / Black Altar / Druknroll / Enthroned / Funeral Sutra (09/06/14)
- Agalloch: The serpent & the sphere (08/06/14)
- Dark Tranquillity: Construct (07/06/14)
- In Flames: The jester race (06/06/14)
- S(crap)s: Souldrainer / Tonic Breed / Rude / Defying / Electric Hellride / Scorned Disciple (05/06/14)
- Culted: Oblique to all paths (04/06/14)
- read

### Recent discussions

It ain't dead yet
Update June 13th - S...
Update June 12th - H...
Update June 11th - V...
Update June 10th - M...
Update June 9th - S(...
Update June 6th - Cl...
Update June 8th - Ag...
Update June 7th - Da...
Update May 29th - An...

## Audio autopsy

### Audio Autopsy - July 2011

#### 01/07/11 || Global Domination

#### Xerath: II

##### 6.6/10

Lord K: The debut kicked all kinds of asses so “II” is an album I have been looking forward to big time. Unfortunately this one isn’t as easy to digest as the first one, but that might mean it’s a grower given some time. Incredible, incredible musicianship and some fantastically beautifully created orchestrations combined with Meshuggah-ish riffaging and a fantastic production makes this the winner of this Audio Autopsy for me – without competition. 8

InquisitorGeneralis: This is for fans of Devildriver, Soilwork, and sucking balls. 3

Habakuk: So mixing Hollywood soundtacks with Meshuggah is a good idea? Uh, no sir, I don’t think so. Highly skilled arrangements, but ultimately this is not for me. 5

CadenZ: Epic progressive extreme metal. Imaginative arrangements and immaculate execution. How can I have missed this band? 9

Altmer: I did not see this one coming. Prog influences, black metal, groove, death metal, melody, all in one delicious package. This all done without sounding contrived or like a copycat. A pleasant surprise and a great album to boot. Guess there’s always gotta be one of those albums that surprises you in the positive sense of the word. This would be that record. 8

#### Novembers Doom: Aphotic

##### 6.6/10

Lord K: Yeah, these guys heard a song or 2 by Opeth. They might also have heard The Vision Bleak when it comes to some of the clean vocals. 2 bands that Novembers Doom aren’t even close to competing with. Still, a decent effort. 5

InquisitorGeneralis: This is heavy and surprisingly good. Usually things with “doom” make me run for the hills, but this I like. 6

Habakuk: Sounds like a darker, less predictable Amorphis. 7

CadenZ: Paradise Lost + Opeth + malignant death/doom = Pfizer’s blue pills. 8

Altmer: This slightly sped up combo between doooooom (which equates to stealing a few Candlemass riffs), and what isn’t really death metal of any sort nor prog of any sort (but still sounds like Opeth) is what we get served by November’s Doom. It has its moments, and the vocals are real quality. A solid piece of work that won’t be my fave cup of tea in the genre, but does its job well. 7

#### Hate Eternal: Phoenix amongst the ashes

##### 5.8/10

Lord K: Technically superior, insanely competent and ultimately very tiresome. The problem is that Hate Eternal is just too much skill and too little groove. Eric’s got a good grunt though. 5

InquisitorGeneralis: While some songs on here are completely unlistenable due to overblasting, there are some slower, completely awesome songs in the mix that make this the best HE record I’ve ever heard. 6

Habakuk: Speaking of quantity, this album is definitely the one with the most going on in this edition. Impressively enough, it still manages to be completely uninteresting to me for 40 minutes straight. Hate Eternal is only good when they don’t sound like Hate Eternal. 5

CadenZ: Relentless is my middle name. Epic moments are few and far between, but when they finally kick in, the majestic breath of Satan engulfs the mortal world through the interstellar gateway of dimensional concavity. In English: kick ass. 8

Altmer: Death metal with a lot of tech and dweedly parts. Not particularly interesting, but all in all, listenable enough. I recommend it to fans of tech death and sleeping pills. 5

#### Arch Enemy: Khaos legions

##### 5.8/10

Lord K: You expect nothing but high-quality metal when it comes to Arch Enemy, like it or not as a whole. Is it just me or does Angela sound a little weaker than usual? For the solo nerd, you’ll have your money’s/download time worth at least. There’s no denying the Amott’s are fantastic guitarists. 7

InquisitorGeneralis: Angela, Amott and Co. are running out of ideas… fast. There are some decent tracks on here but it is clear we are never going to get another “Wages of Sin”. 5

Habakuk: Let’s reduce them to their girl vocalist, shall we? Nope. She sounds like a dude anyway. The problem lies not in the vocals, which are good, but the generic post-Carcass inspired semi-thrash semi-heavy semi-death metal. Good leads don’t make this more than semi-interesting. 4

CadenZ: AE have been recycling the same riffs and melodies since 1999’s “Burning Bridges”, probably not wanting to change a winning formula. Sure, it’s good this time around as well but it gets kinda predictable and, inevitably, boring in the long run. Gossow’s vox are good, though her high-pitch snarls sound as stupid as Dani Filth’s. And what’s with the common misconception that Michael Amott is a guitar hero? It’s his brother Chris who’s got the skills, for fuck’s sake. 6

Altmer: Melodic death with a hint of thrash and a hint of some more brutality sits just right with me. Arch Enemy aren’t the most innovative band on the planet, they’re just a solid institution that do their thing really well and always produce a few hits per album that I can blast on repeat. They have their style down pat and don’t fuck about with it. Nothing wrong with that. “Anthems of rebellion” will always be their finest hour though. 7

#### Amorphis: The beginning of times

##### 5.6/10

Lord K: There’s no way you’ll ever mistake Amorphis for any other band. From being a pure death metal unit back in the early 90’s to this is a long way to go, but safe to say – “modern” Amorphis piss on its old version. I’ll never cope with those hideous keyboards though, and they have released better albums, without a doubt. 6

InquisitorGeneralis: Clean vocals, wimpy melodeath suck city. Bleh. 3

Habakuk: Sounds like Amorphis. 7

CadenZ: A better title for this album would be “Playing It Safe”. Finnish melodic metal with the occasional harsher track that pops out (“My Enemy”). Joutsen’s vocals are ace, but I was expecting catchier material. 6

Altmer: Damn, Amorphis talked about evolving, but I am not hearing the evolution. Stop saying that when you’re obviously doing the same thing over and over. That being said, they are master craftsmen at their style. This is not as good as “Silent Waters”, though. Pity they forgot some of the catchiness this time around. 6

#### Necrophagia: Deathtrip 69

##### 5.4/10

Lord K: The guitar sound wins the spot for “shittiest one in this AA”, but Necrophagia’s death’n‘roll package wins nothing at all. Whoever produced this should be fucken shot. 3

InquisitorGeneralis: Someone wants to be The Crown. And they suck at it. 3

Habakuk: Never heard these guys, but they sure rule this edition considerably with their heavily rock-tinged, filthy death metal. 8

CadenZ: Manic death metal with an extremely annoying trebly guitar sound. Energy level is OK, catchiness not so much. 6

Altmer: More death metal. The vocals are not particularly good but some of the riffing is really groovy. I don’t think I would spin this on a regular basis because, as we all know by now, this type of music isn’t exactly my thing, but I can certainly live with it. What I do like is that some of the riffs sounds very thrashy and Slayer-ish. That works just fine for me. The band name and cover are fucking stupid, though. On the whole: a death metal record I like. 7

#### Autopsy: Macabre eternal

##### 5.2/10

Lord K: Old school death metal with a suitable production (though I prefer stuff that sounds less old school in this area) accompanied by some quite cool/silly vocals and boring death metal. Never liked Autopsy much in the past, will never like them in the future. Not as shitty as expected though. 5

InquisitorGeneralis: Nothing more needs to be said around here about this record. It’s sloppy, boring death that many people consider “classic”. Not me. 4

Habakuk: I could never really get into Autopsy, but this sounds on par, if maybe a bit better than what I know of their stuff. Probably a feast for fans. 6

CadenZ: Groovy, meaty, chunky. Sick. Autopsy are back. 7

Altmer: This is the kind of stuff that makes me ashamed to say I like metal just because it’s played so extremely unintelligently. There’s no finesse to this music. Blast blast blast, semi groovy riff, shitty drawn out solo, rinse and repeat. If you are very much into death metal, it will probably make you cream over it, but I think this is stupid music for stupid people. I wasn’t around in 1991 to find this cool and the stuff I like from that era is a whole lot more well-composed than this. Also, the vocals suck some extreme, extreme ass. 4

#### Samael: Lux mundi

##### 5/10

Lord K: Anyone who thinks old Samael is excellent is a fucken retard. Anyone who can’t appreciate the new Samael is a fucken retard. I am not a retard. 7

InquisitorGeneralis: BBBBBOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG and unoriginal death metal. Next. 3

Habakuk: Slow, chugging, melodic (no, not THAT kind of melodic) death metal. Samael have found their style ages ago (at least they sounded the same last time I heard them), and it’s actually still sort of cool. If it stands the test of time, this is a possible purchase. 7

CadenZ: She-mael bores me to tears. Tears of joy, as I realize I don’t have to listen to this anymore. 3

Altmer: I should really like this album, but this industri-metal doesn’t do anything for me. It’s a shame, because I think Samael, in principle, are a unique band and they don’t sound like many other bands – it’s just that these melodies and choruses aren’t working. It could grow on me, but this is the third time I tried sitting through it and after three songs I just keep giving up. It doesn’t want to click. 5

#### Morbid Angel: Illud divinum insanus

##### 4.4/10

Lord K: What can be said that everyone didn’t already say? There’s like 50% MA-sounding death metal tunes on here and then we have… the remaining ones that come across as a fucken joke. Say what you want but “I am morbid” is unfortunately impossible not to like a hella lot. It’s just a shame MA created it (and the rest of the tunes that have no place in this album), killing all of their past credibility in the process. The death metal tunes would get a 6 and the “too extreme” (seriously…) ones would get a 2. As a whole, “Illud’s divine anus” is a major disappointment and gets a: 4

InquisitorGeneralis: Morbid Angelopeth is not good. More death metal, less Chemical Brothers. Yuck. 3

Habakuk: Undoubtedly one of the most interesting releases this month. The band actually still know how to write good tunes and the “experimentation” is tolerable, but the album is permeated by a feeling that someone in the band has his head up his own ass way too much. 5

CadenZ: The industrial/techno stuff doesn’t put me off as much as it apparently does everyone else. They’re not spectacular, but I don’t hate them either. I think it’s fun that MA decided to do something different; that they don’t get the formula exactly right on the first try is hugely unsurprising. And the pure death metal tracks are gold. 7

Altmer: Just how much drugs did Trey and co take? I’m all for experimenting, but this is like being sandwiched between second grade death metal and Combichrist. It’s not impressive. Also, the drummer is good, but they could have got him a drum sound that doesn’t sound like tin cans. 3

#### U.D.O.: Rev-raptor

##### 4.2/10

Lord K: Accept with Udo is kinda ace. Accept without Udo kinda works. Udo without Accept kinda doesn’t make me give a shit. Decent hard rock, but I’ll wait for the Accept reunion. 5

InquisitorGeneralis: Someone put this troll out of his misery. Udo needs to realize no one really cares about his hackneyed version of heavy/power metal. And his voice sounds like shit too. 2

Habakuk: Fuck me sideways with a balding midget, this is good shit! I had no idea the little croaker still had something going for him and his band, but he does: Dumb, fun, catchy, German heavy metal in all its shapes, executed skillfully. 7

CadenZ: If you thought the new Morbid Angel sounds silly, with silly vocals, you should listen to this atrocity. Udo should have called it quits a century ago. 2

Altmer: Judas Priest ripoff with worse vocals. Sigh. Let sleeping dogs lie, will you? The music isn’t awful but it’s tired. Give me “Painkiller” over this. 5

#### Otep: Atavist

##### 4.2/10

Lord K: I understand that poetry is a huge thing for Otep. It’s just a shame that the inclusion of these pretentious little bits (as on all their fucken albums) are more annoying than anything else. At times Otep really makes things swing and that chick’s voice I take a liking in. 6

InquisitorGeneralis: I liked “Blood pig”. Sadly, that was like ten years ago. Otep’s vag-core is not doing it for me know. 3

Habakuk: Weird. It’s kind of listenable mostly, interesting almost, but I just feel the urge to turn it off. – Annoying! That’s the word! 4

CadenZ: Aggro metal, about as refined as the music of Rockbitch. Not the stage show, that’s as refined as it gets. I don’t like the riffs, I don’t like the production and I sure as hell don’t like the PMS bitch behind the mic. Fuck you. 3

Altmer: Nu-metal and some Pantera riffing with a butch chick who can actually sing/scream on vocals and some boring poetry. Nothing to go crazy over, but I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. 5

#### Poisonblack: Drive

##### 4.2/10

Lord K: Finnish girl metal. It might sound terrible on paper but works a little better than anyone would ever think. Different from girl metal bands such as HIM and Children Of Bodom, but still… it’s fucken Finnish girl metal.*4*

InquisitorGeneralis: Death’n‘roll done well is what you get here. Still, Entombed and The Crown do it better. 5

Habakuk: Nothing I’d rush out and buy, but if you’re doing something nice while listening to this, it doesn’t hurt. Just imagine Volbeat without the Elvis. 6

CadenZ: Lars Ulrich called, he wants “Load” back. 3

Altmer: The Sentenced parts are cool. The glam metal parts are not so cool. I’m lacking the suicide squad lyrics, groove, and good melodies. Damn, they’ve done so much better. 3

#### Chrome Division: 3rd round knockout

##### 4/10

Lord K: The Motörhead references are spot on, and I never liked Motörhead. This party rock is just too fucken juvenile for me. 4

InquisitorGeneralis: Even though this band are total Motörhead wannabes, they don’t suck. This is decent, headbanging background metal but nothing spectacular. 5

Habakuk: The cliché play is getting a bit worn-out, but still this is well-written, catchy rock material. 6

CadenZ: Sounds like Motörhead with the Volbeat singer on vox, Eric Peterson of Testament on song-writing and a Frank Zappa without wit on lyrics. No, you don’t need to hear this. 3

Altmer: “I love to eat pussy”. Sure you do. But only ugly fat chick pussy. Man, this is almost as subtle as Autopsy, and twice as shitty. Even Motörhead would be embarrassed to hear this shit. 2

#### Anvil: Juggernaut of justice

##### 4/10

Lord K: The movie was excellent but the band still fucken suck. 3

InquisitorGeneralis: Even with a successful documentary about how sad their lives are, Anvil are and will always be a second rate heavy metal band. There is some enjoyable cheesy shit on here, but Anvil will always be in the farm leagues. 5

Habakuk: Jugger not. 5

CadenZ: Proto-heavy metal with IQ on par with a gorilla. Yes, it’s fist-pounding-air-compatible, but does it have any lasting value? No. Fuck no. 3

Altmer: First song opens like we’re back in the 80s, leather and all, maybe some studded spikes courtesy of Judas Priest (which that song gratuitously rips off too). Even the singer sounds like Halford. Also, nice Megadeth theft for “New Orleans Voodoo”. The end result: one very derivative album. 4

Audio Autopsies

Google Analytics
ShareThis
Statcounter