Bullet Point Metal Reviews

Concise Summary: If there were one word to sum up this album, "Masterpiece" would come to mind. Dream theater is fairly well known for their complex and technical songwriting styles and this self-titled album is certainly no exception. Even though the songs on this album aren't necessarily something you'd listen to on the way to work, from an objective standpoint, the skill and effort that went into this album is close to being unparalleled.  Objective Rating: My Rating: 8.5 I really like this album, don't get me wrong, but it's not something I'd listen to over and over. I certainly appreciate the unbelievable amounts of skill that went into writing and recording this album, but listening to this for a long time can get a bit boring. Just looking at the music itself however, this album gives Hans Zimmer a run for his money.  Highlights: Technical songwriting Incredible instrumentals Unique song structures Extremely smooth prod...

Concise Summary: When I heard Signum Regis's Through the Storm EP back in 2015, I was really looking forward to their album that came soon afterward: Chapter IV: The Reckoning. However, I was sorely disappointed, as it was missing everything I liked about the EP. With their new album, however, the fire of Signum Regis has returned! Decennium Primum is a major step in the right direction. Although a bit slow in parts, this album shines far brighter than The Reckoning. Objective Rating: My Rating: 7 Decennium Primum is definitely a solid album, but I think that Signum Regis still has room to improve. The songwriting, while good, could be better, and the album could also use a bit more diversity (e.g. more clean guitars and/or complex rhythm patterns).  Highlights: Blistering solos Catchy and decently technical songwriting Great singing Clean lyrics Lowlights: Some parts of the album seems rather dull Rhythm guitar could be more technical Favori...

Concise Summary: This album has a lot of diversity and is overall really solid. One of the highlights of this album is lead singer Christer Gärds's powerful, gritty vocals. The use of piano, violin, and other instruments in the songs along with the customary instruments (guitar, bass, etc.) brings good depth to the album.  Objective Rating: My Rating: 8 This album is as good as it looks. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes melodic power metal. At first I didn't like this album so much but after listening a few times, the songs really grew on me. I really think that there is hardly a bad song on Heaven's Gate.  Highlights: Amazing singing; in my opinion some of the best in the power metal style Melodic songs; high quality song crafting A lot of diversity in instrumentation Soaring choruses Lowlights: A bit slow at times The songwriting, while good, is not extremely complex. Favorite Songs: Ruins  - Undoubtedly the most popul...

Concise Summary: Imagine going into a candy shop and trying to eat everything at once. That's a pretty good way to sum up this album. There is a ton of raw talent here; the songwriting is very complex in nature and each song has a wide array of instruments. The singing is also quite impressive and almost all of the choruses on the album sound like an actual chorus is singing. That being said, the production was done very poorly. There have to be a minimum of five tracks going at a given time on the album, and all are boosted to max levels. It's like shoving a delicate flower into a hydraulic press. The individual instruments get lost in noise (although it's very sweet sounding noise) and the sonic diversity of the album is lost. Because of the constant sensory bombardment of hyper-boosted instruments, this hour long album gets very exhausting to listen to close to halfway through.  Objective Rating: My Rating: 7 If I didn't listen to the album all the way...

Concise Summary: Till the End is one of my personal favorite metalcore albums. The songwriting is extremely good and for metalcore, highly diverse. There is a lot of variation with clean and distorted guitars along with other sound effects which makes each song interesting for listening. The production on this album is unbelievably smooth, almost too smoothed. Some might not like the extremely refined and tight sound of the guitars, but I personally really enjoyed it. Finally, the flow of this album is fairly good, but it might have been improved somewhat if the interlude songs (of which there are three) had been changed slightly or omitted. Otherwise, a great album! Objective Rating: My Rating: 9 This album is so unbelievably good. Everything just fits together perfectly to make an amazing album. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes metalcore.  Highlights: Insane shredding Very good diversity between songs (especially for metalcore) Great singin...