Dimmel's Albums

  Black Earth was released in 1996 Track Listing: 01. Bury Me an Angel 02. Dark Insanity 03. Eureka 04. Idolatress 05. Cosmic Retribution 06. Demonality 07. Transmigration Macabre 08. Time Capsule 09.  Fields of Desolation 10. Losing Faith 11. The Ides of March 12. Aces High Genre: Melodic Death Metal Arch Enemy's debut is a great album.  I started listening to Arch Enemy in the Gossow era, but checked out the earlier work and was impressed.  I bought the CD used from The Exclusive Company and the more recently got the vinyl re-release (both because I love and because I was worried about Blood Dynasty being at then end of my shelf since I got the "blood filled" version. Bury me an Angel - Great song, great start to the album.  The Amott bothers guitar work his is the best part.  Liiva's vocals in the chorus are strong but the verses are a little weak.  Dark Insanity - Another great riff-fest.  I love the post verse riff.  So good.  Liiv...

  Arch Enemy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden (where all the best melo death comes from).  I first heard Dead Eyes See No Future off of Anthems of Rebellion and was blown away by Angela Gossow's vocals.  This was one of my earliest obsession bands.  I saw them twice in concert and even met them back stage once. An important detail is their lead singers.  They started our with Johan Liiva who appeared on their first 3 albums.  Angela Gossow joined for the next 5 (IMO their best lineup) after Gossow moved into band management, they hired Alissa White-Gluz with whom they put out another 4 albums.  They're currently working on a new album with another new singer. Here's the definite ranking.  I will be taking no questions  Gossow>Liiva>White-Gluz They even managed to have Jeff Loomis in the band for a bit, but completely squandered his talents Albums I Own Black Earth - Vinyl, CD Stigmata - Vinyl Wages of Sin - CD Anthems of Re...

  Trespass was released in 1970 Track Listing: 1. Looking For Someone 2. White Mountain 3. Visions of Angels 4. Stagnation   5. Dusk 6. The Knife Genre: Progressive Rock Genesis's second album is fortunately a massive detour from whatever that debut was.  My favorite story about this album is the artwork.  Apparently they hired a guy to design it so he sat in a few sessions and came up with the cover.  Then the band added The Knife to the album and thought the artwork no longer suited it.  So, instead of doing anything about it they just cut it slightly with a knife. Bam, brand new artwork that now somehow fully represents the album. On to the actual music Looking for Someone - Its immediately apparent they put actual work into the production here compared to the last one.  The song has energy and depth.  The actual work itself is pretty good.  Very meander-y song (it's prog after all), doesnt stay on any one part too long.  The quiet b...

  From Genesis to Revelation was released in 1969.   Track Listing 1. Where the Sour Turns to Sweet 2. In the Beginning 3. Fireside Song 4. The Serpent 5. Am I Very Wrong? 6. In the Wilderness 7. The Conqueror 8. In Hiding 9. One Day 10. Window 11. In Limbo 12. Silent Sun 13. A Place to Call My Own Genre: Pop (psychedelic/baroque/other various flavors) I've listened to this album a few times and nothing ever sticks.  It was recorded by a bunch of 20 somethings living with their parents.  The album sold like 600 copies initially, because the made the stupid decision to make the album title sound religious, which made record companies put it in the religious section.  Couple that with the blandest possible artwork, I'm amazed it sold that many.  But at least the artwork matches the music.  Whats crazy is their producer took it upon themselves to add orchestration to the music without consulting the band. When The Sour...

  Genesis is a pop/prog rock/Pop again band from England.  They started off writing bland as hell pop music before becoming one of thr most famous prog rock bands of their time.  After Peter Gabriel called it quits they worked their way back into playing pop music before ending their career with an album worse that their first. I grew up hearing their pop phase on the radio.  Invisible Touch, Land of Confusion and Jesus He Knows Me are obvious staples.  In college I went though a prog rock phase but could never really get into Genesis.  Well, nows the time to give it another shot. Albums I Own : The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Vinyl Wind and Wuthering - Vinyl  Abacaba - Vinyl Albums I want : Foxtrot Selling England by the Pound Bonus Reviews : From Genesis to Revelation Trespass Nursery Cryme A Trick of the Trail ...And Then There Were Three... Duke Genesis Invisible Touch We Can't Dance Calling All Stations

  Anberlin is an alternative rock band out of Flordia.  That's all I got.  I dont know where I heard them and I have no idea where I picked up their album.  That's how memorable they are Albums I Own: Never Take Friendship Personal - CD Albums I Want:  None

  Never Take Friendship Personal came out in 2005. Track List: 1. Never Take Friendship Personal 2. Paperthin Hymn 3. Stationary Stationery 4. (The Symphony of) Blasé 5. A Day Late 6. The Runaways 7. Time & Confusion 8. The Feel Good Drag 9. Audrey, Start the Revolution! 10. A Heavy Hearted Work of Staggering Genius 11. Dance, Dance Christa Päffgen Genre: Alternative Rock / Emo? I honestly have no idea where this came from.  Maybe it's Heather's or maybe I bought it used.  I have no memory.  Which is fitting for this bland ass album and bland ass bad.  I'm tempted to call them a one hit wonder since Feel Good Drag is the only song anyone has heard from them. Never Take Friendship Personal - This feels like discount The Used.  The vocalist is decent but the guitarist doesn't do much Paperthin Hymn - That intro riff is cool, but the slowdown sucks.  Finally showing some teeth at the back half here but still forgettable Stationary Stationery - Man I...

  With Oden on Our Side  came out in 2006 Track Listing: 1. Valhall Awaits Me 2. Runes to My Memory 3. Asator 4. Hermod's Ride to Hel - Lokes Treachery Part 1 5. Gods of War Arise 6. With Oden on Our Side 7. Cry of the Black Birds 8. Under the Northern Star 9. Prediction of Warfare Genre: Melodic Death Metal / Viking Metal (a term the band despises, but, don't play Viking Metal if you don't want to be called Viking Metal) I bought this album at a concert and have regretted it ever since.  Amon Amarth aren't BAD, they're just meh.  I love Melo Death but it has a tendency to get over produced and lose any bite it has.  Enter Amon Amarth.  This album (and every other one I've heard) is polished as hell.  It destroys the character of the songs and the band.  I've spent 20 years trying to figure out why people love Amon Amarth, so let's listen here and see why Im still baffled  Valhalla Awaits Me - Solid melo death riff, polished to perfection dru...

  Amon Amarth is a Viking Metal band from Sweden.  They sing exclusively about vikings and honestly after 12 albums I don't know how they're still going. I saw them in concert (Mayhem Festival I believe) and was impressed enough to buy an album.  Unfortunately the CD isn't as good as the live show. Albums I Own: With Oden on Our Side - CD Albums I Want: None

  Greatest Hits came out in 2001 Track Listing: 1. Man in the Box (from Facelift) 2. Them Bones (from Dirt) 3. Rooster (from Dirt) 4. Angry Chair (from Dirt) 5. Would? (from Dirt) 6. No Excuses (from Jar of Flies) 7. I Stay Away (from Jar of Flies) 8. Grind (from Alice in Chains) 9. Heaven Beside You (from Alice in Chains) 10. Again (from Alice in Chains) Genre: Grunge Its weird I have a 2nd compilation album already to review.  I generally don't buy these since they're always going to be missing at least 1 song that I love from the band which is definitely the case here.  We Die Young, Down in a Hole, Rain When I Die, Nutshell.  All absent unfortunately. I bought this album on a whim from Walmart.  It was a great choice since I only knew a couple of Alice in Chains songs before this but it turned me into a full fledged fan.  This came out about a year before Layne Staley died and is packed with the best songs of his tenure.  Obviously as a g...

  Alice in Chains is a grunge band from Seattle (I mean, where else?).  They were huge in the 90s until drugs derailed the band.  Layne Staley couldn't keep it together and eventually died from an overdose in 2002.  They reformed later with the new lead singer and have since continued to write new music (for better or for worse) Alice in Chains was constantly on the radio when I was growing up and I became a fan during their hiatus. Albums I Own: Greatest Hits - CD Albums I Want to Get: Face Lift Dirt Jar of Flies Alice In Chains Unplugged Maybe Black Gives Way to Blue, but its mostly just meh

  Unstable  came out in 2003 Track Listing : 1. Co-Dependent 2. Rip the Heart Out of Me 3. Stand Up 4. Unstable 5. Promises 6. Blame Me 7. So Fortunate 8. Stressin' Out 9. Do You Hear Me 10. Let Go 11. Betrayed Me 12. Needles Genre : Nu-Metal When Unstable came out in 2003 I was a broke middle schooler.  So I did the sensible thing, downloaded the album online and played the shit out of it.  I think I eventually bought a 2nd hand copy of it. Co-Dependent - Right where we left off with on Adema.  Nu-Metal riffs and a rappy style of vocals.  Definitely a great leadoff track Rip the Heart Out of Me - Ahh there's the shit lyrics I missed from Co-Dependent.  Pretty mediocre song here.  Not much really happens. Stand Up - Have you heard Never Again from Nickleback? This is pretty much a more mediocre version of that.  Similar vein to Rip, another just mid song Unstable - Cool guitar riff.  Definitely feels like more of a focus on the instrume...

Adema was released in 2001 Track Listing: 1. Everyone 2. Blow It Away 3. Giving In 4. Freaking Out 5. The Way You Like It 6. Close Friends 7. Do What You Want to Do 8. Skin 9. Pain Inside 10. Speculum 11. Drowning 12. Trust Genre:  Nu-Metal I bought this CD solely based on Everyone being on the Resident Evil soundtrack.  I loved the sound and was deep into Nu-Metal at the time.   Everyone - A good intro to the album, some electronic elements, repetitive guitar riffs and vocals on display here.  A bit simple, but Adema were never a band to go crazy in their songs Blow It Away - Similar to the previous track, a bit rappy-ier, bass definitely on display here (and you can feel the Korn influence with how percussive the bass feels). Giving In - A nice slow down here, we needed a bit of a change of pace.  Definitely going for a more emotional feel and I think they nail it.  Also, solid guitar solo.  Nothing too technical, but just fun Freaking Out - Sp...

Adema  is a Nu-Metal band out of California that formed in the year 2000.  Their debut album put them on the path to stardom, followed up by a solid second album.  Unfortunately they couldn't keep their shit together and became a revolving door for the next 2 decades. I first heard Adema in the Resident Evil movie (FYI, incredible soundtrack) and loved their first two albums.  After the singer left they lost their most stand out feature and just kind of fizzled out of existence.  They're supposed to be putting out an album this year, 2026 which will be fun. Albums I Own: Adema  - CD Unstable  - CD Albums I want to Get:  Planets Topple the Giants - Note, this album is pretty bad but man the artwork is hilarious.  Check this out:

DECEMBERUNDERGROUND was released in 2006 Track Listing: 1. Prelude 12/21 2. Kill Caustic 3. Miss Murder 4. Summer Shudder 5. The Interview 6. Love Like Winter 7. Affliction 8. The Missing Frame 9. Kiss and Control 10. The Killing Lights 11. 37mm 12. Endlessly, She Said Genre: Alternative Rock AFI sets out here to capitalize on Sing the Sorrow's success and make an even more radio friendly album.  Unfortunately, I think they leaned all the wrong lessons from Sing the Sorrow.  I bought this album in high-school because of how much I liked Sing the Sorrow, but that was a mistake.  This album swaps between filler songs and bad choices.  They try to get more commercial, which kinda works in some places but I think the got rid of what made them unique. Prelude 12/21 - Definitely telling everyone right off the bat this isn't Sing The Sorrow.  Effective intro song, but not my favorite style.  Feels a little too Fall Out Boy-esque  Kill Caustic - Oh this start...

  Sing the Sorrow was released in 2003 Track Listing: 1. Miseria Cantare – The Beginning 2. The Leaving Song Pt. II 3. Bleed Black 4. Silver and Cold 5. Dancing Through Sunday 6. Girl's Not Grey 7. Death of Seasons 8. The Great Disappointment 9. Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings) 10. This Celluloid Dream 11. The Leaving Song 12. ...But Home Is Nowhere Genre: Post-Hardcore I'm actually a little sad this is my first AFI album.  The previous two are vastly superior (Black Sails and Art of Drowning).  They had more aggression and a harsher vocal style that I felt like fit well with what AFI was doing.  But, I first heard AFI with Sing the Sorrow so that's where I started. I can't remember where I bought this CD but I listens to it a lot early in high-school.  It didnt hold up great but it still has some quality songs on it.  Unfortunately, this is also the start of AFIs decline.  DECEMBERUNDERGROUND is okay (full review tomorrow) but they lost something be...

  AFI (an abbreviation for A Fire Inside) formed in 1991 in California.  They spent like 8 years playing shitty punk music before finally moving into a more melodic territory and releasing some good music.   (And I do mean SHITTY. If you don't believe me listen to some of their early songs like I Wanna Get a Mowhawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One) or He Who Laughs Last... There are some decent songs on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, but honestly its impressive the label let them keep putting out shit until the figured if out). I first heard AFI in middle school when Sing the Sorrow came out.  Im pretty sure everyone owned a copy, Girl's not Grey was literally everywhere for a few years. They pivoted from their punk roots into a more alternative rock path with Crash Love and its all been downhill since then.  But, from Black Sails to DECEMBERUNDERGROUND they had the formula right. Update : DECEMBERUNDERGROUND sucks, they should have stopped at Sing the...

  ABBA Gold was released in 1992 Track Listing: 1. Dancing Queen 2. Knowing Me, Knowing You 3. Take a Chance on Me 4. Mamma Mia 5. Lay All Your Love on Me 6. Super Trouper 7. I Have a Dream 8. The Winner Takes It All 9. Money, Money, Money 10. SOS 11. Chiquitita 12. Fernando 13. Voulez-Vous 14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) 15. Does Your Mother Know 16. One of Us 17. The Name of the Game 18. Thank You for the Music 19. Waterloo Genre: Disco / Pop ABBA is one of the best selling bands of all time, ABBA Gold is their best selling album.  I cant say the first time I had the misfortune of hearing ABBA but I'm sure it was very young.  This album made it into my collection through marriage.  My wife owned this before we started dating (this may have been a deal breaker if I knew she liked ABBA, but I digress). Now, I'm not just an ABBA hater who hasn't actually heard their music.  I know most of these songs, and I just dont care for the repetitive songs...

ABBA, the pop / disco band from Sweeden.  Everyone's heard ABBA, I dont need to explain them. What I do need to explain what's going on here.  I abhor ABBA.  I think it's shit music, commercial garbage.  But, somehow one of their "greatest hits" albums ended up in my collection so, by my own rules, I have to review this shit.  Im going to try and be impartial but don't get your hopes up. Albums I own : ABBA Gold - CD Albums I want to get : None.  I would throw away ABBA Gold if it didn't belong to my wife

  The Better Life was released in 2000 Track Listing: 1. Kryptonite 2. Loser 3. Duck and Run 4. Not Enough 5. Be Like That 6. Life of My Own 7. Better Life 8. Down Poison 9. By My Side 10. Smack 11. So I Need You Genre: Post Grunge / Hard Rock I'm pretty sure everyone had a copy of this album, Kryptonite was a massive hit and played constantly.   I bought this album from one of those "buy 5 get 10" album deals where they sell you 5 CDs for like 30$ each and then "give" you 10 more.  Either way it's a decent album, if a little simplistic.  The guitars are nothing special, although they honestly nailed the tone for post grunge.   One of the standout elements here are they lyrics.  They're more of the storytelling approach more common to country and I think it makes it a stronger album because of it.  But, Kryptonite is lyrically terrible.  Honestly, who signed off on that? Also, Smack is just not good.  The riff just doesn't hit well...

3 Doors Down was huge in the early 2000s.  You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Kryptonite constantly.  I don't remember when I first heard them, but I'm going to guess it was on the radio. A decent post-grunge / hard rock band from Mississippi (believe it or not).  They released a couple of good albums early in their career and then fell off hard and just became a legacy act.  Sadly their lead singer, Brad Arnold, passed away earlier this year from cancer. Albums I own : The Better Life - CD Albums I want to get : Away From the Sun

  The Autumn Effect was released in 2005.   Track List: 1. Waking Up 2. Fault Line 3. The Recipe 4. Cast It Out 5. Wasteland 6. Seasons to Cycles 7. Half Life 8. Through the Iris 9. Empires 10. Prey 11. Insects 12. Paralyzing Kings 13. The Autumn Effect Genre: Alternative Rock This one is a bit of a strange album.  The band self released their first 2 albums and then once signing a major record deal they decided to re-record a couple of songs off of Killing All That Holds You (their 2nd album) and write a bunch of new songs.  Not surprisingly the two songs off of Killing are Wasteland and Through the Iris, probably the best songs on the album. I bought this CD from Best Buy in like 2005 after hearing Wasteland on the radio.  It can get a little formulaic after a while but is still a great album.  4 green songs, no red songs.  I still listen to this one like once a year. Rating: 4/5

  First up is 10 Years.  A Nashville Tennessee band that broke out big in 2005 with The Autumn Effect.  I'm pretty sure Wasteland was everyone's entry into this band, it certainly was for me. Albums I own : The Autumn Effect - CD Albums I want to get : Division Feeding the Wolves Minus the Machine From Birth to Burial (how to live) AS GHOSTS Violent Allies

Hello! Welcome to my music review blog. I'm mostly using this a way to track albums that I've bought over the years, how I got them and how I feel about the music. If you've stumbled upon this, I'm surprised, I expect 0 views. Here is my discogs link where I track my collection:  https://www.discogs.com/user/antiemo My plan is to go alphabetically buy artist but we'll see what happens. - Eric