Chronos Zero - A Prelude To Emptiness

I feel sorry for the guy who has to tyoe up the name of this album title in their review...DOH!Should you doubt the seriousness of progmetal band Chronos Zero's debut album, know that the full title for it is A Prelude to Emptiness - The Tears Path: Chapter Alpha. Not so smug now are you? 

Well, Italy's clearly latched on to the whole progressive metal genre with gusto as it seems everywhere you turn around these days you run into a new band full of the requisite virtuosos in pirate shirts. And the members of Chronos Zero wear their influences on their billowy sleeves on tracks like Lost Hope, New Hope Pt. II and The Creation, which are nearly dead ringers for classic Symphony X tunes. Not that I'm complaining about that. Some influences are so strong they can't help but rise to the surface in everything you do.

Luckily, the boys of Chronos Zero are quite talented or such an attempt would fall flat on its face. So, yes, this is a concept album, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you I could figure out what was going on or whether the story was even well told. But what I can tell you is that Chronos Zero is a band that has the talent to make original progmetal music that sounds like authentic 90s era stuff of the genre. And, I can also tell you that these people are clearly talented. Fair enough?

The Bottom Line: If you're a fan of the genre, particularly of a certain era, you're likely to go cuckoo for these Italian Cocoa Puffs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're bad. They're just not breaking any new ground, something that sets the cream of the crop apart in this crowded genre.

- Genghis knows he could never have pulled off that pirate look...

81db - A Blind Man's Dream

Ouzo, baklava, gyros, and now metal? Man, those Greeks never quit innovating stuff.One of the coolest things about modern metal is the sheer amount of diversity in its influences and musical permutations. Such is certainly the case with Italy's 81db and their latest effort, A Blind Man's Dream. Founded by guitarist Kostas Ladopoulos, the band interfuses modern alternative metal with the folk music of Ladopoulos' native Greece in a very natural way. The result is a unique and fascinating sound that works well in a heavy context.

Since their forming in 2006, the band has released two previous albums and gained a good following in Europe and it's easy to see why. It took me a while to realize that acoustic parts were almost exclusively played on a bouzouki, having no problem being juxtaposed with the more energetic heavy rhythyms. In fact I honestly didn't even realize what was going on musically until read the bio on the band. Going back to those parts of the songs and listening again I could hear the very traditional Greek melodies and marvelled at how well they blended into this modern metal music. It's really rather amazing. Dig the intro of Sirens and how the balls and chunk™ kicks in at 0:14 for good example of how this all works.

Thematically, the album's narrative is based on One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, though I've never seen the movie and know nothing about the story. But the music is what stands out, at times even sounding progressive, almost like a European version of Tool. It's fresh, heavy and invigorating - everything I enjoy about good metal music.

The Bottom Line: Opa! 81db is another great example of how metal transcends geopolitical boundaries (which makes it such a fascinating musical genre), and their blending of traditional Greek folk music with modern alternative metal is nothing short of genius. Looking for something different? Check this out.

Songs To Drink Ouzo To In Your Leather Foustanella: Manicomium, Sirens, When The Cat's Away

- Genghis would love to own an authentic bouzouki...

Almah - Unfold

Damn, if those Brazilians don't know how to rock some world class prog/power metal. And how have I never heard of Almah before?Listen, it's no secret in the metal world that South America has had some serious players in the game for decades now. And one of those players are the Brazliian progmetal masters of Angra. Over the course of the last 20 years they've made some really great metal, spawning some pretty great bands in the process, the latest being Almah.

Edu Falaschi, having handled lead vocal duties in Angra since 2001's Rebirth, has since left to focus on Almah, which began as a solo project. Interestingly, Almah has put out as many records since their self-titled debut in 2006 as Angra put out Edu when sang for them. Whether that has anything to do with his decision I have no way of knowing, but I couldn't be happier with Almah's latest album, Unfold, which is quite simply: fucking phenomenal.

Seriously, this album sounds amazing from start to finish. From the thundering drum intro of the proggy opener In My Sleep you get an immediate sense of the power stirring within this album. And the rest of the album rarely lets up on the throttle after that, save for a couple of introspective moments like Warm Wind, the opening of Treasure of Gods, and the closer Farewell. In particular, some inspired moments of out and out metal glory can found in tracks like the anthemic You Gotta Stand, with its Alice In Chainsey harmonized vocals and a larger than life guitar tone that's so ballsy you just know it's gonna rock the fuck out of any live show they unleash it on. What an album.

The Bottom Line: This is state of the art Brazilian power/prog metal, so if you are looking for a fix waiting for the next Angra - and for some reason haven't already heard of Almah, get. on. this. shit. right. now.

Tracks To Make You Spontaneously Yell "É nóis na fita, mano!": The whole damned album

- Genghis now assumes they just hand Brazilian babies a guitar when they're born (Crimeny!)...

Unsolved

Unsolved is a murder mystery in which college students are given the task of solving previously unsolved cases. The story centers around the Dean's daughter and her boyfriend. The two have chosen to try to solve a case, of a girl that was murdered at the University, but the closer they get to solving the case, they run into several obstacles.

The story line and acting are actually good, but the film comes off as more of a Lifetime movie than a legitimate horror flick.  I was initially sucked in by the cover art, thinking it was going to be a horror flick, but instead all I got was a made for TV drama.  Don't get me wrong there is some blood spattering, but for the most part, it was PG.  All in all not a bad flick, just not what I was expecting.

Bottom Line: Not a horror flick by any sense of the word.  A well done action/thriller, that seems to be made for Tv.  It appears to be a college student film, which was done well, but a little too tame for me.

- Ragman is wondering if this one has made it through to Lifetime yet...

Metal Church - Generation Nothing

Metal Church kind of fell off my radar, several years ago.  For the most part, I lost interest, in the band, after the departure of David Wayne (R.I.P.) in the late 80's.  I still followed them, but was never blown away by them again, as I had been with their first two releases.  It wasn't just the departure of Wayne, because it seemed like the songwriting fell off, right around that same time.

The Metal Church line ups, as well as their releases have been fairly hit or miss, over the last several years, but they have shown some stability as of late.  Ever since the band re-united back in 2004, the line up has been fairly stable.  To be honest, the band did shut it down in 2009 for approx. 3 years, before resurrecting once again.  In 2012 the band fired up again, and their first release since re-uniting is Generation Nothing.

Generation Nothing is the first thing I've heard the band do, since their somewhat disappointing 2004 release, A Light in the Dark.  I have to say, I was pretty excited to hear the band had new material coming out, so I jumped at the chance to review this one.  It is like that old friend you hadn't seen in about 10 years, your curious to see what they've been up to.  Know what I mean?

Generation Nothing starts off a little stale with the somewhat generic track Bulletproof.  It is your run of the mill, up-tempo rocker that just sounds like, been there done that.  Truthfully, it sounded like a poor man's Overkill tune.  I think I'm thinking Overkill because vocalist Ronny Munroe has a similar singing style to Mr. Blitz.  The CD didn't come alive for me, until the track Noises in the Wall, which starts off a little eerie, which brings back memories of classic Metal Church.  It is a well constructed tune that is melodic an heavy at the same time.  Killer tune.  From this point on, the CD gets pretty strong.  Though some of the tracks come off as a bit generic, there is still enough good material on this one to make it a keeper.

Standout Tracks: Noises In the Wall, Suiciety, Scream and Hits Keep Comin'.

Bottom Line:  Metal Church dusting off the cobwebs to give it another go.  This is probably the strongest thing that band has done in years, and is worth checking out.

-Ragman is thinking he may be digging into some classic MC for the weekend.