Recordshoppers Anonymous #6

Well, I keep reeating myself that the days at work are crazy and I didn't think it could be more to do than it was last week but I was wrong. I keep on running on meetings all day and then I'm supposed do some real work as well. I doesn't work that well! But ok... I'm scheduling two quite interesting workshops at least so there are a lot of interesting things going on as well. But it shure would be nice to be able to finish something sometimes too.

So to keep my mood up I've been shopping some records again!!! Coludn't resist when Nevermore  "Dreaming Neon Black" was listed! Then of course it gets too expensive to just order one LP when it comes to shipping. So I took the opportunity to get Striker, another Merciless Death, Dio and Quicksand Dream. And then Saxon "Live to Rock" 7", Convixion. The special edition for Iced Earth "Dystopia" also was a must. It sounds really good but I need to listen more before I judge for real.

And it's not only work that has been busy. We've been rehearsing a lot lately, first and foremost to get ready for Malta Doom Metal Festival but of course to keep things up with Cult Of The Fox too! Unfortunately the gig planned for Tilburg won't happen since Grand Magus and that really cool tourpackage should play there at the same day. But it all turned out nice and we confirmed a date in Eindhoven instead. So now we have Eindhoven Jan 13 and Lille Jan 14, still looking for more gigs though.

But it will be awesome to go back to Malta again. I heave the weather gadget on my computer and looking out to a mixture of +2 hailstones and heavy rain that gadet that says sun and +24 feels like a joke. Can't even imagine someone still has summer. I'm really looking forward to explore more of the island(s) too. Now we have time for the harbor cruise, we are going to go to the old temples, Medina, Rabat and more... Eat swordfish, feed the cats (even if they're strange and don't like ham), sit on the rocks with my feet in the ocean, drink colourful drinks and just ejoy! I need that now. 

And then of course the Festival. I especially look forward to see Victims Of Creation again. They kicked ass last year. But the line up is really strong! Pagan Altar, Mirror Of Deception, Nomad Son, Forsaken and of course Void Moon and a few more. So it will be another great weekend in the Woods for Malta Doom Metal Festival.

NP: Michael Schenker - Temple Of Rock

Better late than never, right?

Yep, sometimes it takes a while for the coins to fall down as we say here in Sweden... I admit I was really disappointed with Nevermore's "Obsidian Conspiracy" when it was released. The production wasn't as smashing compared to what's normal for them. Also, it felt like they've reused some of their old stuff.

All of that might be true though. But today when I picked up the record, for the fourth or fifth time (I gave it a lot of spins for each session of course) it all fell into place. It sounds exactly like Nevermore shall sound. Controlled, technical, melodic, melancholic...
Warrel sounds a little strained on a few occasions and there's not as much of the high pitch vocals anymore. Still this sounds amazing. The six first songs is really perfect, and the suite with "Your Poison Throne", "Moonrise" and "And The Maiden Spoke" is just as good as any other Nevermore album. My favorites though are "Emptiness Unobstructed" and "The Blue Marble And The New Soul".
Still the title track can't measure up to "This Godless Endeavour" though...

So, this really shows that brand new reviews that are pushed out a few weeks prior to the release isn't the real ones... Would be quite cool to add another point of view after a year or two to some reviews...

Cheers
E

NP: Symphony X - Paradise Lost