Lollipop Magazine

Symphorce – Godspeed – Review

January 13, 2006

Along the lines of rock-sculptured records by Evergrey, Morgana Lefay, and Nevermore, Godspeed finds this band stonewalled with heaviness, but progressive in all the creases.

Subterranean Masquerade – Suspended Animation Dreams – Review

January 13, 2006

Smart metal. For fans of Opeth and Anathema, or Pink Floyd fans who like some doom growl with their heavy guitar and meandering guitarwork.

Mercury Switch – Time to Shine – Review

January 13, 2006

A perfect example of a hardcore band who almost instantly grew tired of ONLY howling and thundering and doing breakdowns so the kids could jump around.

Lamb of God – Killadelphia – Review

January 1, 2006

LoG live CD. Thick-vocals, tightly-compressed guitarwork – often doubled – crammed into every nook and cranny, and precise drumming holds the chaos together.

Herod – Rich Man’s War Poor Man’s Fight – Review

January 1, 2006

Buffalo’s Herod second full-length for Lifeforce. Tight musicianship, layering of guitar ass-shake, and a vocalist who’s not barking or Cookie Monstering.

Head Control System – Murder Nature – Review

January 1, 2006

Daniel Cardoso (ex-Sirus, Re:aktor) and Kristoffer Garm Rygg (Ulver/ex-Arcturus/Borknagar). Conceptual metal with space and electronic trinkets.

Enforsaken – Sinner’s Intuition – Review

January 1, 2006

Solid Swedish-style thrash, not death with cookie monster vocals, so while not exceptional, at least they don’t make you laugh all the way to the trash barrel.

Drawn and Quartered – Hail Infernal Darkness – Review

January 1, 2006

Seattle band’s fourth slab of frantic mayhem. Some creepy-crawling, plenty of blastbeat thunder, deep, swallowed-mic growl, and flutter-picked leads and fills.

Clawfinger – Hate Yourself With Style – Review

January 1, 2006

Sweden’s Clawfinger never got their due, and it’s doubtful they ever will. Probably the only metal band with rappy vocals that don’t make me wanna hurl.

By Blood Alone – Eternally – Review

January 1, 2006

Having slogged it out in different states, under different names, By Blood Alone came together in Maine, and the chemistry between members is apparent.