Another Metal Blog

Riot – Immortal Soul

Matt Pietrzak — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 02:41:29 +0000

Immortal Soul is simply classic 80s metal. Brilliant fretwork and vocals combined with the flawless drumming give the album the feeling of being alive. For a band that’s been around in one form or another since 1975 the guys have as much if not more energy than any other band we have today. Johnny’s back!

Read the full review here.

Nightwish – Imaginaerum

Matt Pietrzak — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:35:56 +0000

The confusingly named Imaginaerum is a great addition to the Nightwish discography but because the film and the album were not released at the same time the band lost a lot of the wow-factor. Now this might not have been the bands choice but the labels instead. Regardless, when the movie finally does drop I will be warming up my CD player to get the full experience. Sadly, the album isn’t without its faults. The album has the atmosphere of a great movie, but it lacks the story.

Read the full review here.

Trillium – Alloy

Matt Pietrzak — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:28:02 +0000

Last year one of my favourite albums of the year was the duet album with Michael Kiske and Amanda Somerville. Shortly after the release of the album news about a new project named Trillium arose. It turned out to be a project with herself on vocals accompanied by the musicianship of Sascha Paeth, Michael Rodenberg, and Robert Hunecke-Rizzo. The line-up is very similar to the 2003 metal opera Aina, also written by Amanda.

Read the full review here.

Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

Matt Pietrzak — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:39:21 +0000

Lou Reed & Metallica’s Lulu is being called by many as the worst album of 2011. Naturally this got me curious on why people hate it so much. I’ll start off by saying that I had no idea who Lou Reed was, but after some research I found out that he was the guy that did the "Walk on the Wild Side" song. Eventually I went off and bought the album, and it sat on my shelf for a while…

And now it will never go back to my shelf again. Quite simply, I have fallen in love with this album. My first listen wasn’t an amazing experience by any means but the album grew on me really quickly Read the full review here.

Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events

Matt Pietrzak — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:24:29 +0000

A Dramatic Turn Of Events is a great way to describe the events that happened over at Dream Theater. Founding drummer Mike Portnoy shocked everyone after leaving the band citing being overwhelmed with all the recording and touring. A whole public media circus happened with Mike acting like a little girl and blaming everyone but himself. Everyone in Dream Theater went do doing their thing, James Labrie did another solo album, and the band went on searching for their new drummer, Mike Mangini.

Read the full review here.

About Us

Matt Pietrzak — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:48:06 +0000

I have finally updated the about us page to at least contain some information about me as well as some contact info.

Also, because of the increased amount of content, I decided to add a search field on the bottom of every page. I'm not sure if it's really useful, but it's there now.

I am also catching up on some reviews, expect a review of Dream Theater's Dramatic Turn of Events and Metallica's Lulu sometime soon.

Edguy – Age Of The Joker

Matt Pietrzak — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:11:13 +0000

Age of the Joker is a follow up to 2008’s Tinnitus Sanctus which got pretty mediocre reviews from fans and press. Not one to get bummed out with public opinion, Tobias set out to work on the 2^nd and 3^rd chapters to “The Wicked Trilogy.” Having outdone himself with his work on Avantasia, Tobias set out to record another Edguy album, will he have another hit on his hands?

It is a large improvement over Tinnitus Sanctus and is a competitor to my favourite Edguy album of all time. Read the full review here.

Symphony X – Iconoclast

Matt Pietrzak — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:39:19 +0000

Back in 2007, Symphony X released Paradise Lost which was my favourite album of that year, and also my favourite Symphony X album ever. Now, they are back with a new album after a 4 year break. I was looking forward to this album for a long time, so will it live up to the hype?

The album has a very promising start with the epic beginning that we’ve come to expect from Symphony X. But as soon as the song starts it because apparent that this is not simply Paradise Lost 2... Read the full review here.

Devin Townsend – Deconstruction

Matt Pietrzak — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:35:59 +0000

I originally stated that Deconstruction was a generic metal album, but that was before I had a chance to really listen to it, and I’ve come to realize how wrong I really was. Deconstruction in a lot of ways is Ki mixed with Ziltoid The Omniscient, meaning that it’s calm, heavy, comical, and just outright strange. The album is sprinkled with many operatic elements and progressive metal riffs that it might sound like you’re listening to a Symphony X album.

Even though the album is really good at points, it feels really inconsistent and random. Read the full review here.

Devin Townsend – Ghost

Matt Pietrzak — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:28:45 +0000

Now if you’re looking for a metal experience, look far away. This is probably the least metal album that Devin Townsend ever made. Unlike Ki which was ambient rock with some metal sprinkles, Ghost is free from anything heavy. And dare I say, the end result is beautiful. This is definitely not something you would play at a party, but rather something you would play after a long day at work when you come home and just want to relax.

It’s not an album for everyone, but if anyone likes post-rock or ambient rock this is a great album for you. Read the full review here.