The Chainsaw Buffet

Lordi review went up today. Really fun stuff, 80s arena metal with a monster theme. Another highly recommended release. (click here for review)

I'm very confused. Several Echoes of Eternity reviews went up this week. No, I'm not confused that they went up. I'm confused at the fact that they were very positive! For those unfamiliar with the band, they sort of sound like what Lacuna Coil would sound like if Lacuna Coil were American, and really boring with no songwriting ability. I saw them live, and reviewed their debut album for the upcoming issue of Outburn, and both experiences were beyond underwhelming. Live, they had no real stage presence or interesting musical dynamics, and were buoyed only by the fact that their singer is quite attractive. On record, the lack of dynamics and riffs and anything really memorable at all presented an even bigger handicap. Maybe their sophomore effort will be better, but they aren't there yet. I know I'm not the only one -- consensus on a critic message board I post on seemed to range from indifference to outright hatred. However, a sampling of the first four online reviews I came across, as you can see above, seem to have been far more impressed by their listening experience. Am I just cynical from hearing tons of bands that sound like that? Is my quality radar that far off? Am I the only one that can see past the hilarious publicity photo of the singer baring her cleavage like it's under inspection or something? Or is this simply a matter of differing tastes? I would say it was the last one, but I generally like that sort of thing! As Dio once said, it's always a mystery. Being fairly confident in my own taste and opinion, I would be remiss if I didn't warn you: it is not a good record. Stay away.