After several years of writing concert reports, recent purchase journals and random rants i won't write any more journals here.

Altough missing feedback plays a small role in this, the main reason is that i got the chance to write for a german metal webzine and this needs & absorbs all of my spare creative energy (^^).

I still may write general rants here, but not at regular intervals.

If you're interested in my cd reviews & concert reports (and able to understand german.), visit bloodchamber.de!

Without Comments this time:

Heaven Shall Burn - Iconoclast (lim. Ed. with DVD)

Misery Speaks - Catalogue of Carnage

and some good deals on Ebay again:
Morgoth - Odium

Hollenthon - With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell

Herod - For Whom The Gods Would Destroy

The Funeral Pyre - The Nature of Betrayal

Metallica - …And Justice for All

First the new stuff:
Legion of the Damned - Feel The Blade
the usual yearly dose of LotD though this times it's a re-release of the last Occult album with a changed tracklist.

Raintime - Flies & Lies
A few very good songs, a funny cover of Michael Jacksons "Beat It" and one song I can't stand anymore (Finally Me).

The Arcane Order - In The Wake of Collisions
A lot heavier than their first album and this will propably help them to establish a bit more from the faceless mass.

Paradox - Electrify
Finally the new Paradox (the german…

This is my personal opinion and the ranking doesn't rate technical ability of musicians, meaningful lyrics etc., it's just a list of my personal favourite albums with a release date in 2007!

First of all honorable Mentions to:
- Pro-Pain - Age of Tyranny - The Tenth Crusade
because it is their best album since many years.

- Sanctity - Road to Bloodshed
for abbreviating the time until the next Trivium release… ;)

Tied for 10th place (because i didn't want to leave one of these albums out of my top10):
Annihilator - Metal
Carnal Forge - Testify for my…

Kreator - Enemy of God Revisited (CD+DVD)
Great album, but not brand new. ;)

The Machete - Untrue
Modern Thrashing madness from Scandinavia.
Very good album though it needs a few rotations in the player.

Skeletonwitch - Beyond The Permafrost
like a thrashing Blood Tsunami with a little note of 3 Inches of Blood => fast, funny, crazy & good but it's lacking the hit factor. I don't see a real standout song.

Maroon - The Cold Heart of the Sun
Imho moving towards the sound of the last Heaven Shall Burn and away from the sheer brutality of When…

(without any links this time. I nearly finished writing the journal with links when i misclicked and everything was gone… :/ )

14. Two Dollar Haircut, (Kayser), Blinded Colony & Ektomorf in Cologne
Kayser didn't play because Spice was ill.
Blinded Colony only played new songs.
I've seen Ektomorf often enough in my life.

13. My Defense, Cobretti, Settle The Score & Terror in Cologne
too less variety…

12. Facing My Inner Fears, Griesgram & Callejon in Bonn

11. Norma Jean, He Is Legend, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster & The Showdown in Cologne

10. Dr. Rock & Beatallica…

Sat 1 Dec – The Black Crusade Tour

Nur Stichpunkte erstmal, vielleicht wird irgendwann noch ein flüssig geschriebener Text draus… :P

Anfahrt:
- merke: in der Adventszeit nicht via ÖPNV nach Köln fahren, wenn es nicht sein MUSS. Der Regionalexpress hat bei 25 Minuten Fahrtzeit weitere 5 Minuten Verspätung aufgesammelt, die U-Bahn war gar 25 Minuten zu spät in Köln und SUPRAvoll. Aber der schlaue Mann sieht die direkt hintendran im Tunnel stehende 2. Bahn der gleichen Linie und steigt entspannt in die halbleere Bahn (vom fast leeren Bahnsteig). :)
- Palladium ausverkauft bedeutet: ab der Bahnhaltestelle Keupstr. trifft man…

New albums:
The Black Dahlia Murder - Nocturnal
Not very easy to get into it, but it's the Black Dahlia Murder, so what did i expect?
The name fits the music. It's not as positively crushing as Miasma but it sounds really dark and nocturnal…
I haven't found any outstanding tracks yet and hence prefer to listen to the whole album in a row which is the next difference to Miasma where i can listen f.e. to Miscarriage or Miasma half a day…

The Duskfall - The Dying Wonders Of The World
Actually a quite typical sounding Swedish Melodic Death…

Mon 17 Sep – As I Lay Dying, Darkest Hour, Himsa, Maroon

Maroon
Really entertaining with a massive & blasting sound.
I'm getting used to see only good gigs by them.

After the singer got told that his pants were ripped (correct word?) between his legs he took them off and threw them into the crowd. His socks followed soon after…
FORTUNATELY for all of us he refrained from taking off his underpants also, showing his butt was unpleasant enough…

Himsa
It seems i'm one of the very few who liked their performance. Sure, it wasn't world-movingly great, but the…

(in alphabetical order)

As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Hmm, i like the album though it's not their best. But the downfall isn't as big as some reviews wanted to make me believe.

Ballistic - Ballistic
US Power/Speed Metal at its best. I'm normally not the biggest US Power Metal fan, but this album is a killer.
And it's another mystery of the music business that this was released 2003 and nearly nobody noticed it / remembers it. If you're into fast paced & not to harsh metal, give this album a try (you'll propably get it…