Best Albums Of The Decade(2000-2009): #98-97

98.Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold(2008)

Atmosphere is one of the most gifted hip-hop acts around. His most recent effort in a string of masterpieces, When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold reenforces that point. Tracks like "Shoulda Known" and "Wild Wild Horses" are among the best hip hops songs ever recorded. This record is full of many diverse and intresting beats, brillant lyrics and great flow from lead rapper Slug. Atmosphere is one of the most consistent and brillant musical acts around right now and are one of the very few artists that are breathing life into the otherwise dead hip hop/rap genre, a bit of foreshadowing this won't the first apperance from Atmosphere on this list.

Standout Tracks 1.Wild Wild Horses 2.Shoulda Known 3.In Her Music Box

97.Chimaira-The Impossibilty Of Reason(2003)

The Impossibillty Of Reason is the piece of work Chimaira has ever done. Its groovy, heavy and all of the songs are memorable. Rob Arnold's guitar work is put on display throughout the album, his lightning-quick fretwork and knack for groovy riffs is just fantastic. This is the album that put Chimaira on the map and is essential part of their current postion in the metal scene.

Standout Tracks 1.Pictures In The Gold Room 2.The Dehumanizing Process 3.Power Trip

Album Review: The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza-Danza III: The Series Of Unfortunate Events

(Note: I am going to start centering my images it looks a lot better)

I listened to this record for 3 reasons 1: A few of my friends love this band and I haven't listened to that much of their stuff 2:It was raining extremely hard yesterday in Massachusetts and 3: Cephalic Carnage's MySpace player wouldn't load in my browser so I couldn't listen to their new record. Prior to this release I had seen The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza live this past April at the New England Metal and Hardcore festival and I was not particularly impressed by their performance. They were just an above average band with a hillarious name/song titles and not much else. After listening to this record I can say they are better than I thought where for sure.

Danza III:The Series of Unfortunate Events is an off the walls record. Not off the walls good but off the walls spastic. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza spasticness is not all bad. Their frantic brand of experimental metal lets their guitarist Josh Travis run wild. Travis is an exceptional guitar player who is easily the best thing about this band. Travis uses an 8-string guitar which adds more depth to his super-technical style of playing. This whole record showcases lightning-fast guitarwork but it works most effectively on tracks opener "Vicki Mayhem" and the album's fastest track "There's A Time and Place For Everything".

Danza III is not without its weaknesses though. The production is pretty sloppy. The drums get completely drowned out in the mix and the vocals are sometimes muddy. Another flaw is that they can be too insane for their own good at times and these tracks sound really sloppy and poorly written. Breakdowns are also used extremely poorly. Don't get me wrong I enjoy some breakdowns when they are used correctly and not forced in there but these breakdowns are annoying and not needed.

Overall Danza III is worth a listen. It's sure as hell not a great record and I am sure a lot of people will hate it and rightfully so The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza is not for everyone. I think if they had better production and stopped writing some sloppy songs they could be a very good band. There is a lot of percision and some excellent guitarwork to work with. The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravagnaza has potential lets see if they can use it.

3/5 Stars

Standout Tracks

1.There's A Time and A Place For Everything

2.Vicki Mayhem

3.A Trail Of Tears

Album Review: Finntroll-Nifelvind

I am finally starting to catch up on a few records that were released in the first half of the year. I still have some left to listen to but it seems like there were a few gems that I ignored untill now. Among those is the new record from Finnish folk metal act Finntroll.

Finntroll has always been a band that plays a unique style of folk metal. Of course they still have the folky crazy parts with folk instruments but out of all the folk metal acts that I listen to Finntroll is the heaviest. They effortless blend folk metal with old-school euro black/death metal. Througout its duration Nifelvind seems like one big party. From the intro track "Blodmarsch" to the preceding track "Solsagan" you can tell exactly how great and fun Nifelvind will be. Sure its still a heavy record for folk metal its actually very heavy but Fintroll knows how to blend the elements of folk and death metal extremely well. Plain and simple if your are listening to this record and are a fan of the genre you will have a fun time listening. That being said if you don't like folk metal this album most likely won't change your mind. It has all the core elements of a typical folk metal record and really doesn't try anything too out of the blue for folk metal.

Fintroll has done it again an stuck to their winning formula. They have made a folky and fun yet heavy record. I am sure these tracks sound even better live and hopefully they do another US tour soon so I get the chance to see them live. Nifelvind is going to make a run at my top 20 albums of the year for sure. 2010 needed another great folk metal record and Finntroll has delivered in that area. Bottom line when it comes to folk metal not many acts maintain the balance of heavy and folk as well as Fintroll and they are absoultey one of the leaders for the genre.

4/5 Stars

Standout Tracks

1.Solsagan

2.Ett Norkensdad

3.Forfamnad

Album Review: Avenged Sevenfold-Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold has really went through a rough time creating this record. In the early stages of the record their drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan died. After The Rev's shocking death Avenged Sevenfold regrouped and has called upon Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy to record the drums on Nightmare. Nightmare has been dedicated to the memory of The Rev and as a fan of the band it pains me to say that this record is really not too enjoyable.

Nightmare starts off with the title track. Its very much done in the typical Avenged Sevenfold style. Nice riff,dizzying guitar work and its a pretty good song. Sadly the record for the most part is a downward spiral after that. Their is way too many slow songs on this record. Slow is not Avenged Sevenfold's forte. Songs like "Victim" and "Fiction" are really tedious,boring tracks that are just straight up weak songs. I know Avenged Sevenfold is a mainstream band and they have always had ballads but they blew it out of porportion this go-round. What saves the record from being completely awful is the talent of Synster Gates and Mike Portnoy. The guitar solos are flawless and well executed as usual and Portnoy does an excellent job on the drums on this record. There is also a few songs here that rise way above the rest and are really good. If there more tracks like the fantastic,heavy "God Hates Us"(by far the best song on the album) or the mid paced,tempo changing "Buried Alive" then this record would most likely would have been very good.

I really did want to like this record and I have an enmorous amount of respect for Avenged Sevenfold coming out and making this album following the tragic death of The Rev. You can absoultely feel the emotion that was put into this record and I commend them on that. Sadly the songs for the most part just aren't good. A lot of weak songwriting and boring songs cancel out the few gems that are to be found on this record.This record is a big letdown and is by far the worst thing this band has ever done.

2.5/5 Stars

Standout Tracks

1.God Hates Us

2.Buried Alive

3.Natrual Born Killer

Album Review: The Acacia Strain-Wormwood

Massachusetts's own The Acacia Strain doesn't break promises. With their new record they said they would break away from the pack of bands they are clumped in with and would make their heaviest record to date. I couldn't possibly think of a better way to describe Wormwood myself.

The Acacia Strain has never been a jolly,happy band but Wormwood is by far the most pissed off Acacia Strain record to date. Vocalist Vincent Bennett made Wormwood his therapy session to express how displeased he is with various things in the world from religion to violence. The Acacia Strain has always had a niche for coming with very heavy songs that stick with you and with this record they expand that even further. Songs like "BTM FDR" and "Jonestown" are among the best material The Acacia Strain has ever recorded. These tracks are extremely memorable in their approach with crushing riffs/breakdowns and the diversity in the guitarwork. They take the sound so many bands in this genre attempt to do and just do it much better. Most of the record does come together rather nicely and the songs complient each other in a great fashion even though for the most part the tracks sound completely different from one another. The only tracks that don't work too well are the last two "Unabomber" and "Tactical Nuke. "Unabomber just kind of drags and does not really amount to anything and "Tactical Nuke" is just a very odd instrumental track that really shouldn't even be on the record.

Wormwood is a heavy and exciting release. The Acacia Strain has pretty much blown all of their peers in the deathcore(even though I really don't think The Acacia Strain is deathcore) genre out of the water. The songs are memorable and pretty much all the tracks pack a pretty serious punch. It will take a few more listens but Wormwood might be The Acacia Strain's best work to date

4/5 Stars

Standout Tracks

1.BTM FDR

2.Jonestown

3.Nightman

Album Review: Cancer Bats-Bears,Mayors,Scraps and Bones

Canada's Cancer Bats have always been a high-praised band that I have just kind of avoided. I have known about for a couple years and I kind of dug a few songs off their last relase Hail Destroyer. I finally decided I should check out an entire release by them. Bears,Mayors.Scarps and Bones makes me wonder why I didn't start listening to these guys sooner.

This record stars off with a bang with opener "Sleep This Away". It showcases why the Cancer Bats are something special. It has the frantic hardcore vocal stylings of Liam Cormier and the first of many kick-ass riffs from guitarist Scott Middleton. The whole record is packed with genre bending hardcore that is unlike any hardcore I have heard for a while. Songs like the sludgy masterpiece "Snake Mountain" or the heavy as a ton of bricks "Black Metal Bicycle" show off the many influences the Cancer Bats have. There is a lot to like on this record and I think the only complaint I would have is a few of the songs do sound a little bit similar.

Bears,Mayors,Scraps and Bones is absoultely worth checking out. The Cancer Bats have a wide appeal with their sound as they are not your typical hardcore band. They got traces of Southren Rock,Sludge Metal and of course old school hardcore punk. This record is full of excellent riffs,manic vocals and just great songwriting. It is a shame it took me so long to finally listen to this band but damn I am happy that I finally did.

4/5 Stars

Standout Tracks

1. Snake Mountain

2.Sleep This Away

3.Trust No One