Imaginaerum by Nightwish

Nightwish is a heavy metal/symphonic metal band that started in Kitee, Finland. the band was formed by Tuomas Holopainen, the keyboardist, song writer and the very mind that makes Nightwish what they are.

Imaginaerum is the seventh studio from Nightwish and is based of there movie titled Imaginaerum. before this album it had been five long awaited years before there new album their previous being Dark,Passion Play. Imaginaerum is a fantastic album bring all the elements of the band to life once again. this features choirs, piano, orchestrated music, angelic operatic like singing from their female lead singer and of course their heavy metal style and dark vocals from the rest of the band.

The album opens up with a finish title called Taikatalvi, a very beautiful intro to the album before moving on to the hit song Storytime which demonstrates how heavy metal and orchestra music can both be incorporated into music. the song is done very well and lives up to its name with very catchy lyrics.  To get a full feel as to how dark the world of Nightwish can get the song Scaretale or Ghost River are great examples. Ghost River seems like a light song until vocals from Marco, the bass player, come into play bringing a twist into the song.

As for Scaretale, the once angelic voice of Anette Olzon turns dark and very creative. the song it self happens to be about a child’s nightmare which fits in perfectly with the plot of the movie. Although most of the songs on this album are great i felt some could of been done a little better, not to say they are necessarily bad but not as good as they could be. Song of Myself seems to drag on despite it being a 14 minute song divided into 4 parts. Slow, Love, Slow is also kind of a drag along song as well, but the song does sound very beautiful.

Overall: i would give this album probably a 8/10. there is some amazing material here songs likes Scaretale, Last Ride of The Day and The Crow, The Owl and The Dove are Great. My only dislike is some seem to drag on a bit.

The Poison By Bullet For My Valentine

The Poison is the debut album from the heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine. The album was release in 2005 in the US on February 14th.

Vocals & Lyrics: Bullet For My Valentine for the most part write on relationships and girls, songs like Tears Don’t Fall and Her Voice Resides, the second song on the album, relate to a girl in the lyrics. the vocal style of bullet has always been interesting, changing from screaming to clear and almost angelic like vocals. Matt Tuck, the front man of bullet and Padge  have particularly interesting vocal style and really manage to pull off their screaming quite well.

Sound & Songs to check out: This album has a nice thrash sound to it, fast guitar riffs and killer drums but they also manage to surprise on ballads as well. All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) is a great example of how Bullet can show their softer side with managing to keep their heavy like sound. Songs to check out on this album that really stand out overall are Tears Don’t Fall, Suffocating under words of sorrow, All these things i hate and 4 words to choke upon. for the most part the whole album is great.

Over all i would give this album a 10/10, for those who are into thrash and screaming this makes for an excellent album to add to your collection, great guitar solos, powerful vocals and are able to take it down for amazing ballads.