Bloggerwave - The wave has come closer

Alright, let's talk about
Bloggerwave!

To begin with, I was quite skeptical about these AdBlogging franchises, but you can't say you don't like it before having tried it right? Anyways, I've decided to try a more local AdBlogging service located in Hellerup, Denmark. And yes, this is obviously Bloggerwave of course. In all its essence, Bloggerwave let's you take on different writing opportunities requested by companies that have some product, which they'd like bloggers like you and me to talk about. It's kind of an indirect advertising, but nevertheless, it actually seems like fun and let's me hone my communication skills further.

On the contrary though, I am still a reviewer who'd like to expand my criticism to more than rock releases. Like everything else, Bloggerwave.com has up and downsides, which would be optimal to draw into the light in order to clarify the site's content better.

! Upsides:

- The functionality of the site is easy to follow and straight forward. If you click "Get Started" you will be moved to a user registration form immediately. That's the spirit.

- Even though Bloggerwave's CEO has been talking about re-making the design to further increase the site's functionality, the current design is sleek and pleasing to the eye. I see through my fingers with the "Post opportunity" section of the site, it looks like every other AdBlogging service's "Post opportunity" section, but heck, it's alright.

! Downsides:

- The "Post opportunity" section is quite peculiar, given that the only opportunity that exists is writing about Bloggerwave.com. There aren't any "Latest opportunities" at all, only a non clickable image about "School Theory", which could guide bloggers into doubting the amount of requests the site has to offer.

- Even though Bloggerwave.com is founded in Denmark, it seems that it's only bloggers of other countries that are listed on their "Top Five Earners", and this seems quite interesting when they're advertising with Danish AdSense commercials through Google.

Currently, there's more to stumble upon, but my first impression of Bloggerwave is a mixed feeling. I hope that they'll evolve and add a lot more opportunities to their bloggers, so we will get an active, Danish adblogging site. Good luck! 3/5

A Swarm of the Sun - The King of Everything

As a reviewer, you'll once in a while stumble upon some seemingly unknown débutante group and end up being completely surprised that you haven't heard of them before. If you can recall this type of experience then I'd like to present you the very first release from the Swedish two-piece "A Swarm of the Sun", consisting of Jakob Berglund and Erik Nilsson, two souls who have ventured deeply into the dark woods of genres and came out with something unknown, something that can only be described as a fusion between emotional apocalyptic chaos and an almost meditative art of sound fill-ins. It's like Deftones vocals combined with some of the more "all is soon coming to an end" sound of a slowed down, grotesque version of Snow Patrol. Everything assembled and fitted into a single, six track-length EP.

Most noticeable is obviously the first track "Refuge", beginning with a very slow rise from the bottom of the pitch scale, gradually moving up until breaking into a heavily distorted two to three chord riff all ending in second break to a tranquil ambience with Jakob Berglund melodically chanting: "Think you see through my wall...you don't see me at all...". The shifting between chaos and tranquility is like visualizing yourself sitting on a nosediving plane, 20 seconds before the crash. Chaos, fire and fear and then finally an almost meta-physical state of peace. Simply a great track, with a suiting ending of repeating the chaos / order cycle. The following track "King of Everything" also pursues the same cycle, though in a reverse order, which still ends up creating the same catching atmosphere. The third track though, "A Mind But Not A Mouth", is solely focused on dedicating a track completely to tranquility. It's silent, but dark and eerie and the feeling of something bad coming up next is inevitable, making it fit perfectly into the whole composition of the EP. Normally, deeply silent fill-ins don't tend to work out well, since they easily feel like something just thrown along with the 'artistic touch' excuse for not knowing what to do next, but this time it's luckily different. The same thing goes with the fifth track "An Animal in the Shape of God", which is another, almost identical sound structure. If I should say anything about this, then the fifth track could have been replaced by another, less silent track, considering the sixth track "I Fear The End" kicks in with some slow Snow Patrol-ish guitar and vocals to accompany it. It's all right, but the ending track could have been more active, so listeners don't end up falling asleep after going through the other great tracks on the release.

In conclusion, "The King Of Everything" is a very good and interesting debut album. It has its flaws in the form of repetition and a little uninspiration, but most of it evens out because of the impressive display of sound on the first and second track, not to forget mentioning the fourth track "The Grip" and its catchy riff and the blazing strumming done near the end of the song. These guys are definitely someone to keep an eye out for. I just hope that they'll develop their style even more and won't be afraid to create a full length album of both chaos / order cycles, but also completely new and refreshing sounds. My guess would be adding some string quartets, I think Apocalyptica could lend you a hand. Anyways, good luck. [8]
Download: Refuge, King of Everything, The Grip
For the fans of: Hard to say, but Deftones and a darker, undiscovered side of Snow Patrol, A Perfect Circle
Listen: Official MySpace

30.04.2007
Version Studio
Provided by Target ApS

Mortiis - Some Kind Of Heroin

“So you’re the only one who knows the secret, huh, underdog?” Sorry for the confusion, it’s the musical heroin messing around with my head. It’ll pass sooner or later, depends on when I switch to a track by another artist than this Norwegian four-piece. Or wait a minute; this is not really a Mortiis album, but a remix compilation of Mortiis’ past 2004 release “The Grudge”. And this little discovery kicked me off the chair instantly. I have to admit that I did expect an electronic-rock album spiced with dark and murky special effects, but after getting my room transformed into a German Goth-rave party cave by the help of the welcoming track “Underdog (Zombie Girl Remix)”, I couldn’t help becoming a little farfetched. But to be honest, the first track did fascinate me a little. It draws you in, makes you feel a part of the rave-scene in a comfortable way, like imagining a pureblood rock-enthusiast honestly saying that this actually sounds alright. Pretty much a good first impression, but let’s keep the trophies on the shelves a little longer. Who knows what we might get after a few more tracks of hardcore DJ blend versions of Havard Ellefsen (and co.’s) compositions.

Waiting with defining the whole sound and hype of the album, I’d like to point a worthwhile detail, namely the curious repetition of track titles in the track listing. First of all, “Some Kind of Heroin” includes a whooping four remixes of the song “The Grudge”, three remixes of the song “Gibber” and lastly two of each of the songs “Broken Skin”, “Way Too Wicked” and “The Worst in Me”. In between, there’s luckily some unique tracks like the introduction track, a heavily technofied, Nine Inch Nails inspired third track (“Twist the Knife (Gibbering Mix)” and finally the eight track “Decadent and Desperate (Thera**** Mix)”, a pretty catching, up-beat electronic rock song resembling something similar to a little dried out Marilyn Manson song. And these “outsiders” are actually the only tracks really worth mentioning. It’s harsh, but all the repeated tracks on the album are simply way too electronic to draw out any interest. In a way, it’s like falling asleep during Moulin Rouge; you wake up because you thought you heard something funny, only to discover that they’re still singing the same, fucking never-ending medley, just this time it’s without the funny, bearded dwarf musician.

All in all, I won’t directly call “Some Kind of Heroin” uninteresting and uninspired, since it is in fact just a bunch of remixes by different European / American discus throwers, so Mortiis himself can’t really take any of the blame for the less impressing tracks on the album, even though he is proud of everyone of them. I just wish he’d let the Zombie Girl DJ remix all of the tracks and cut out the loops, since “Underdog” just defines what the album could have become. In the end, this release does not really cut deeply enough to reach anything. An album with sixteen different tracks simply has to offer more than merely one to two ear catchers. The sound just seems to die out from track two, then hype a little and then admit its defeat, crawling back into its lair to do some more soul-searching. “Some Kind of Heroin” could have been a lot better, especially with the line-up of DJs, who are seemingly quite acknowledged throughout the industrial scenes, like Raymond Watts aka “PIG”, who has toured with Nine Inch Nails, one of Mortiis’ inspirations. Sadly, the album simply just doesn’t break through the ice even though it had a few updrafts. [4]

Download:Underdog (Zombie Girl), Twist the Knife (Gibbering Mix), Decadent and Desperate (Thera**** Mix)

For the fans of:Nine Inch Nails, German gothic rave parties.

Listen:http://myspace.com/somekindofheroin”>MySpace>

Release Date 04.16.2007

Earache Records

Provided by Target ApS

Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me

Not that I'm doing any band promotion, since this slot's reserved for Mr. Manson himself, but Scottish The Fratellis just said it all..."creepin' up the backstairs, mother's nightmare." Brrrr, I feel the exciting, yet thrilling sensation crawling down my spine as I push play and venture into the dark and eerie world of one of industrial horror rock's most noticeable names. Being both feared and cherished, Brian Hugh Warner has poked to vast majorities of teenage rebels worldwide, with his frightening appearance and the rumors that has been following him ever since his shock-rocking debut back in 1989 with his “Spooky Kids”. Which brings me to some other partially relevant fact before the review is kicked off, no; Marilyn Manson did not receive a rib-bone removing operation so he could take a closer look at his genitals. He considered it though, that’s a fact. I’m sad to puncture another fanatic’s wet dream, but that’s just one of the fine tricks of the rock reviewing industry. Anyways, let’s see what the cat dragged in this time.

After my virgin tour through Manson’s home recorded collaboration “Eat Me, Drink Me”, an album created between himself and his co-producer Tim Sköld, I sat back with numerous impressions, some confusion but at the same time also amazement. It’s almost completely peculiar to me that a well-known Danish music magazine could send this grotesque artist off with the tagline: “…the weakest album from the notorious Manson’s hand.” I’m not throwing my gauntlet at a fellow Danish reviewer, but even though a great part of the album may seem weak music-wise, the way Marilyn Manson proclaims his emotional self-projection through his lyrics, is more than powerful enough for me to add some medals to Manson’s dark uniform for tracks like “Putting Holes into Happiness”, “Are You The Rabbit?” and “Evidence”. Of course, there’s a fine line between a reviewer’s subjective and objective thoughts and even a larger gap between what should be valued more than the other, but I simply sense more hidden power in Manson’s sixth studio album. On the contrary though, the album in general needs more than “Heart-Shaped Glasses” to glorify the “Eat Me, Drink Me’s” instrumental energy. Even though we’re finely introduced to the album by the welcoming track “If I Was Your Vampire”, the track builds up and at the same time breaks down the craving for a new “The Fight Song” or “The Beautiful People”. Sadly, we have to bitterly accept that Manson’s newest release has not focused on adding some really catching sounds to the album, but when taking his focus on his inner self in perspective it mostly evens up. Nevertheless, Sköld delivers his part of interesting riffs and electronically produced drum beats on the album’s eleven tracks, so everything is not lost.

Even though “Eat Me, Drink Me” is not something that you’ll associate with Manson’s past shock-rocks, he has finally decided to devote an album to pulling out a Freudian nightmare of subconscious feelings and life experiences into the light, exposing them almost directly to the public in the process. All in all, “Eat Me, Drink Me” is a mixed experience with some musical downs, but with solid emotional ups in form of the lyrical professionalism he manages to handle once again. And this almost evens out the lack of pure ear hangers. But be aware when recommending this to new listeners, since this release could be a more interesting experience if they have got to know a little thing or two about Marilyn Manson’s past musical style before venturing directly into the soul of obscurity’s manifestation. [7]
Download: Evidence, Are You the Rabbit?, Putting Holes Into Happiness
For the fans of: Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Rammstein
Listen: Creep around his MySpace

Release Date 06.01.2007
Interscope Records

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

In a world torn apart by ecological and economical disasters, how will the human race survive their own wrongdoings? Work with or against each other, fight alongside or be the last man standing? With "NIN's' " much anticipated release "Year Zero", front man Trent Reznor realizes his thoughts on a future post-apocalyptic society and the emotional demons Man has to deal with, be it through our born survivalism or through giving into chaos. Everything's in place, and the masterpiece unfolds only to be weighed and valued by both new listeners and senior fans. Undoubtedly, "Year Zero" is a massive leap from "NIN's" past releases before "With Teeth", both in style and sound, but it is nonetheless a more than worthy album that will please a large majority of the Reznor's fanbase.

First of all, a big pad on the back to those who found one (or more) of those small USB pendrives hidden in restrooms at various "NIN" shows. Without you, their awesome marketing campaign would possibly have been more a draft than this cryptic and mysterious "quest" that they luckily succeeded in completing. To those of you who don't know jack about what I'm rambling about, try and search around for "Nine Inch Nails" on sites like Wikipedia and discover how they pulled it all off. Some would say a stupid underground stunt, but to quote Reznor himself:

"The USB drive was simply a mechanism of leaking the music and data we wanted out there. The medium of the CD is outdated and irrelevant. It's really painfully obvious what people want — DRM-free music they can do what they want with. If the greedy record industry would embrace that concept I truly think people would pay for music and consume more of it."

Technically, "Year Zero" itself is a journey through this post-apocalyptic era, described through a whooping sum of sixteen tracks [!], whereof each of the tracks have their own story to tell. While "Hyperpower" opens the album instrumentally with something sounding like a riot forming, shouting a battle cry of some sort, it makes you feel the uproar of the opressed, other tracks like the well-known "Survivalism" portray the mass media's brainwashing of society and the political lies told to the masses in order to herd them towards some corrupted orientation. And so on and so on until the ending track "Zero-Sum", more or less. The special thing about this release is undoubtedly the masterful display of intense and powerful choruses in the more energetic tracks e.g. "Survivalism", "The Great Destroyer" and "My Violent Heart" to catchy, down-tempo'ed tracks like "Me, I'm Not", "Capital G" and "The Beginning of the End", which focus more on bringing the lyrics into the light. It's something that you just got to experience yourself. It's a "NIN" thing.

In all its aspects, "Year Zero" is another great example of mixing both "up in your face" energy with just the right display of emotions that anyone can relate to. And at the same time, there's also room for quiet and moving tracks that appeals to deep inward thinking and self-realization. The only tiny drawback to me is simply the idea of stuffing in sixteen tracks, which seems like overkilling the listeners' interest in listening to the more unknown tracks instead of prefering the hits. Nevertheless, a jewel in a fan's collection.[9]
Download: Survivalism, Capital G, Me, I'm Not
For the fans of: Nine Inch Nails,
Listen: Official MySpace

Release Date 17.04.2007
Roadrunner Records

[FI] Mortiis - Some Kind of Heroin (The Grudge remixes)

Alright, someone could have told me that I would receive an electronically infused goth-rock album, wohoo, hardcore German discos meet a more Gothic Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails red.). This is shocking! Well, at least in a positive way. There's way too many repeated remixes, like four "The Grudge (insert remixer's name here)" but heck, it's actually pretty catchy considering me being one of NINs greatest unknown fanboys. Mortiis will be a challenge to get through, since so many tracks are the same, but I think it's going to be a positive experience. Most of it sounds great, and if the local discos would play this music instead then I'd be going out a lot more I think. Meh, maybe not. It's still not Nine Inch Nails.

[FI] Harvey Milk - My Love... & The Pleaser

Just received two releases from these heavy rock'n'roll guys. They're seemingly a legendary 90'ies band, but their first release "My Love..." just seems so uninteresting. Kind of some avantgarde-ish experimentalism that smells like a failed attempt of achieving a cult-status of some sort. Regardless, it sounds like three kids playing around with instruments, making random rattle and out of context percussion beatings. In total, it's something far, far away in my horizon.

Now their other release, which also would be their newest, is their
"The Pleaser". It actually sounds alright, reminds me a little of John Squier and Mando Diao with some darker screaming. It's quite garage-ish and mashed, but heck, when has this been a problem?
The album's welcoming track "Down" is great, but after I finished the whole album it seems like the only track pulling on the album into a positive direction. Sadly, there's not enough to keep it away from the negative I think. Well, it just sounds kind of unstructured and too chaotic to be good.

Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me

Not that I'm doing any band promotion, since this slot's reserved for Mr. Manson himself, but Scottish The Fratellis just said it all..."creepin' up the backstairs, mother's nightmare." Brrrr, I feel the exciting and thrilling sensation crawling down my spine as I push play and venture into the dark and eerie world of one of industrial shock-rock's most noticeable names. Being both feared and cherished, Brian Hugh Warner has poked to vast majorities of teenage rebels worldwide, with his frightening appearance and the rumors that has been following him ever since his shock-rocking debut back in 1989 with his “Spooky Kids”. Which brings me to some other partially relevant fact before the review is kicked off, no; Marilyn Manson did not receive a rib-bone removing operation so he could take a closer look at his genitals. I’m sad to puncture another fanatic’s wet dream, but that’s just one of the fine tricks of the rock reviewing industry. Nevertheless, let’s see what the cat dragged in this time.

After my virgin tour through Manson’s newest release “Eat Me, Drink Me”, I sat back with numerous impressions, some confusion but at the same time also amazement. It’s almost completely peculiar to me that a Danish music magazine like Gaffa could send this grotesque artist off with the tagline: “…the weakest album from the notorious Manson’s hand.” I’m not throwing my gauntlet at a fellow Danish reviewer, but even though a great part of the album may seem weak music-wise, the way Marilyn Manson proclaims his emotional self-projection through his lyrics, is more than powerful enough for me to add some medals to Manson’s dark uniform for tracks like “Putting Holes into Happiness”, “Are You The Rabbit?” and “Evidence”. Of course, there’s a fine line between a reviewer’s subjective and objective thoughts and even a larger gap between what should be valued more than the other, but I simply sense more hidden power in Manson’s sixth studio album. On the contrary though, the album in general severely needs more than “Heart-Shaped Glasses” to glorify the “Eat Me, Drink Me’s” instrumental energy. Even though we’re finely introduced to the album by the welcoming track “If I Was Your Vampire”, the track builds up and at the same time breaks down the craving for a new “The Fight Song” or “The Beautiful People”. Sadly, we have to bitterly accept that Manson’s newest release has not focused on adding some really catching sounds to the album, but when taking his focus on his inner self in perspective it mostly evens up.

Even though “Eat Me, Drink Me” is not something that you’ll associate with his past shock-rocks, Marilyn Manson has properly devoted an album to pulling out a Freudian nightmare of subconscious feelings and life experiences into the light, exposing them thoroughly to the public in the process. All in all, “Eat Me, Drink Me” is a mixed experience with some musical downs, but with solid emotional ups in form of the lyrical professionalism he manages to handle once again. And this almost evens out the lack of pure ear hangers. But be aware when recommending this to new listeners, since this release could be a more interesting experience if they have got to know a little thing or two about Marilyn Manson’s past musical style before venturing directly into the soul of obscurity’s manifestation. [7]

Obscenity - Where Sinners Bleed

Okay, overcoming the mountain of new promos that we recently got delivered I came out with four just for you all out there. Today's patient will be the German death metal "Obscenity" with their newest release: "Where Sinners Bleed" and this is some hard shi* to be honest. Having been a part of the more brutal death-metal scene since 1989, "Obscenity" can brag about their musical experience without questioning them with this album they hope to draw even more fans to their fan base which is already growing.

Right now they're preparing for the "Wacken: Open Air 2006" metal festival and I'm sure of that they can please the craving masses of metal-fans out there. "Where Sinners Bleed" will deliver you a solid sound of heart-rhythm disturbing drums, killer riffs (and yes, they are killer riffs don't mind the cliché), a pulsating bass line and vocals that takes good death-metal and then twists it one more time in the right direction. Even though, "Where Sinners Bleed" can tend to be a bit exhausting if you just smack it on the player and wants to hear it through in one go. Don't, just take a few tracks at a time, get your mind and ears off it for some time and then play some more tracks later. I think that it'll be better for your over-all health.

Nevertheless, with tracks like: "Mutate to Scourge - Infecdead" and "Out of the Tombs" "Obscenity" gives their brand on how quality death-metal should be delivered to the masses. Especially "Mutate to Scourge - Infecdead" because how the hell can their drum keep that beat? He's like triple drumming constantly on the big drum while killing every other drum by hand power. I say amazing, but more veteran death-metal fans would probably find something even more extreme even though "Obscenity", in my opinion, has quite what it takes to tear down a building by using just some single riffs, a drum smash-fest and a flaming demon vocal. So, hear them out (but no extensive listening at first though) and feel the power. They're good and has only a few problems that they should consider to work with while making their next album. So keep it up. [8]

Motorjesus - Deathrider

Sorry for the long wait, but I just had to wait for warmer times here in Denmark before I could hear this album at its best. But now we're here, so let's dig into it shall we?

Before we begin the review I first need to say two things to Motorjesus. One: "How the hell did you get James Hetfield to do vocals on "Legion On Rock", your vocalist just has the sound!" and two: "You're the most surprising band ever, goddamn don't scare me with that name and those track titles. Your quality is way out of league for a name that just says "Plays best on a steaming Harley Davidson with a Hell's Angels rocker on top of it". Seriously, you gave me a shock"

Okay, now that we have this covered why not undust some of the history of Motorjesus. They have been around for fourteen years by now, if you count in their past music experience under the name of "The Shitheadz" as a part of their musical history. Throughout the years, they have released three demos, one video, and two full length albums, here also included their newest debut with their new name the album: "Deathrider", which in my opinion is a great album to add to your rock collection. The symmetry of the music within the band matches the hot summer perfectly. The pulsating bass and drum lines accompanied with the extremely catchy guitar-riffs gives Christopher Birx (front vocalist) a perfect environment to pump out some hard power lyrics. Yes, they can sound a bit power-metallish but whatever, their energy rocks. The five members of the band has really impressed me with this fairly new album, because I learned a valueable lesson from this particular album. And that's not to judge the book by it's cover. I thought of reviewing them last because they sounded like something that has crawled out from the sweaty armpits of a veteran Bandidos member, so I sadly decided to take the other albums first.

But I should've heard these guys first, well no sweat I'm listening to them now and I've concluded that if these guys decides to play on Roskilde next year then you can count me in for sure. They're worth it, even though their name is quite misleading along with the confusing lyrics and song titles who doesn't seems to fit the sound of the band that well. Nevertheless, if you take your time to listen through "Legion Of Rock", "The Howling", "Death Hammer Overload" and "Hellmachine" then you're on your way to obtaining a serious experience from these guys. Smack it in your car stereo on when the red line reaches summer-time, take some friends with you along with something cold to flush down the drain then you will find yourself enjoying the summer in no time. [8]

Mothernight - Mothernight

Straight out of the Warsawan studios in Poland, the quartet "Mothernight" aka "she who hears the weeping world" has just recently released their self-titled debut album associated with the well-known Locomotive Records. Being a mixture of industrial heavy rock with gothic metal tendencies, the band seems as a prominent addition to an already rapidly growing metal scene with so many stylistic diversities. However, let's dig six feet under this ensemble and see if they really are as unique as they say.

"Mothernight" starts out with the welcoming track "My Pain", whereof the title already sets of my cliché alarm, but I gave it a chance to prove it's worth...well, I'll cut to the slack already and give you the results. It's more or less a so-so track that lacks originality and an overall catchiness, especially because of the dry, almost slacky performance by their guitarist Deimos. You don't really experience any innovation or attempt at creating something entirely special in order to define the style of the band, but that's a general obstacle for many debute bands out there, so it's fully understandable. On the other hand, the track clearly marks out the voice of Freya, which positively matches the whole gothic heavy rock style in a pleasing way. Great choice, even though her style of singing isn't anything almighty different than the voice of Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil.

The whole musical progress of the album seems to become a little monotonic and predictable from the beginning to the end, but there are still some interesting riffs and rhythms that catches the ear for a moment now and then. Take tracks like "Another Chance" with it's promising acoustic riff and great industrial ending, or "Illumination" with it's characteristic guitar screachings throughout the whole track. But when you, as a listener, get this feeling of boredom and rather wanting to smack on something mindblowing instead then it's a bit disappointing to conclude, that "Mothernight" lacks an intense amount of energy. Well, Freya's got it, but the rest of the band seems to slumber in practically all of the tracks. And don't you hide and tell me that heavy industrial just sounds like that, machines can work at speeds way faster than 60 bpm! When tiring up all the ends together, "Mothernight" still has a long journey of serious musical soul-searching infront of them, but I see some interesting potential in Freya's voice. Put some energy into it and don't be afraid to live up a little! And try to work a little more on the titles. I know I'm being a feinschmecker, but with titles like "Someone To Feed On", "Waiting To Die" and "Resurrect Me", you just don't hype the expectations. I'll be seeing you again when you release a sequel. [6]
Download: Another Chance, Illumination, My Pain
For the fans of: Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation and similar bloodsuckers.
Listen: MySpace

Release Date 08.05.2007
Locomotive Records

Provided by Target ApS

Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain

Stand in awe humans! The prince of darkness has returned once again with a new demonic release straight out from the depths of those more fiery parts of Epic Records. Now is the time for John Michael Osbourne aka Lord Ozzy Osbourne's historical voice, accompanied by mind blazing riffs from legendary Zakk Wylde of well-known "Black Label Society" and a hellfire of heavy metal bombshells. Released seven days ago, it has already received some pretty shining grades in loads of musical magazines worldwide, along with the almost cliché-ish rant from various Christian teen watchdog groups. Guess the old, dark geezer will never find rest. Then again, Ozzy has already proclaimed through his album that he "Doesn't Wanna Stop" anyways, so to the heck with the rosy world, bring forth the darkness!

Yeah, yeah, I'm no heavy metal guru nor am I a real brainer on "Black Sabbath" or Ozzy Osbourne in general, I know. But nevertheless, Ozzy's newest release "Black Rain" is just the heavy metal injection I've needed for a long time, and I'm not even done listening to the first track "Not Going Away"! If someone can make a perfectly suiting introductionary track to an album, this track would be one of my definite winners. Starting out with Zakk Wylde hammering a march-like riff through what sounds like a transistor radio effect, "Not Going Away" suddenly explodes into the good ol' heavy metal sound, like setting fire to a whole Saudi-Arabian oil rig and feeling the heat of gallons of ignited fuel burning your skin. I strongly advise listeners to turn your volume to the far, far east before pressing play, and even further east as your player reaches the 2:23 minutes mark, which indicates that now is the time for a seriously devious solo played perfectly by Zakk Wylde. Not to mention Ozzy's characteristic vocals overlapping Wylde as his solo comes to an end. His voice alone is almost more than half of the over-all greatness of this intriguing intro track.

From here on, it's all a pleasure ride through catchy riffs, intense vocals and numerous stories being told about our world today, geniously wrapped into a fine combination of Iraq war criticism in the third track "Black Rain" to Ozzy's past addiction to the drug crystal meth in the sixth track "11 Silver". The display of energy he and his companions Mike Bordin and Kevin Churko show throughout the entire album is amazing, especially when you take his age and personal health into consideration. Maybe that's why the recordings took almost a year, the man recorded half a minute and then found some sleeping pills in his candy drawer in order to get enough energy to complete another half the following day. But hey, maybe that's also why the album radiates with a feeling of "completion"? I can't deny that even the ending track "Trap Door" simply closes the entire heavy metal parade so impressive, that I would almost look through my fingers with the album's tendency to almost sound a little too weak in some tracks. All in all, some say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but this dog has certainly managed and mastered something here even though he's a little limpy here and there. [9]
Download: Not Going Away, Trap Door, Black Rain
For the fans of: Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest
Listen: His dark lair @ MySpace

Release Date 22.05.2007
Epic Records