Justin’s metal reviews w/c
5/5/08
PANZERCHRIST / HIMMELFARTSKOMMANDO
There is a saying, “what’s in a name”, well in this case
quite a lot, with a band name like Panzerchrist you
know exactly what you’re going to hear, hard edged Death Metal that will lay the
opposition to waste.
Panzerchrist are a Danish
band that came into being purely because they were impressed by the Darkthorne album Panxerfaust and
using this as a basis they have created 6 superb Death Metal albums tinged with
a bit of Grindcore and Black Metal for good
measure. All the songs are hard,
fast and full of class and the good thing is even though they have stung
influences they don’t dominate and they have their own distinctive, brutal
sound, take the tracks, “Uranium Angel”, “Skin” or “Killing Of The Weak” they
are as subtle as a Blitzkrieg and just as devastating.
If you like Darktone, Six Feet
Under or Cannibal Corpse you will love this album and even though it’s nearly 80
minutes long the songs just flyby as they know the meaning of dynamics and use
them well. If yor’re wondering what the title of the album means, it’s a
military term
eaning, , someone who rises to command
by doing stinking jobs.
WEBSITE http://www.myspace.com./panzerchrist666
TOTAL PLAYING TIME = 80 mins + 21
STORMING TRACKS
IHSAHN / ANGL
This is the 2nd solo album from former Emperor
vocalist and he seems to have regained his form, I have to say that I wasn’t
enamoured with his first, for me it seemed to try too hard and did nothing for
me, this one is much more like it.
There are lots of different styles of songs on offer here
but they seem to have continuity and a better focus, there is plenty of dynamics
on offer here and this is where Ihsahn shine best,
take the lead track “Misanthrope” for instance, it has all the trademarks that
we came to love with Emperor but still manages to have its own identity and
doesn’t come across sounding like a cloned Emperor song. One of my favourites is “Unhealer” that features a guest appearance from Mikal of Opeth and the pair work
really well together with both their vocal styles compliment each other really
well.
This is in no way an Emperor album but I did find myself
enjoying listening to it and found that the 47 minutes passed by very quickly,
which is usually a very good sign, also listen out for; “Scarab”, “Malediction”
and “Threnody”.
WEBSITE
TOTAL PLYAING TIME = 47 mins + 9
TRACKS