Search - Various Artists :: Death Is Just Beginning 5

Something For Everybody

Twitch | Atlanta, GA | 08/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nuclear Blast is one of the current leaders in the not-so-underground metal scene and the have been for some time. Their fifth compilation, which boasts a very, very impressive roster of bands, is probably the best that they have released. Since the album is so vastly diverse, it seems appropriate to do a track break down...Disc 1
5 / 51. The Covenant "Chariots of Thunder" 4 / 5I for one have always liked The Covenant's mix of electronica and pseudo black metal. A cool track with some great music.2. Dismember "Beyond the Unholy Grave" 5 / 5A godlike track, I actually does Death justice! Why was this cover unreleased before?3. Sinister "Aggressive Measures '99" 4.5 / 5Another great track aby Sinister. Too bad after they left Nuclear Blast they have yet to release an above average album. But I personally like the original version better.4. Benediction "Deadfall" 4 / 5A solid metal track, goes off in a strange direction mid song, very original.5. Raise Hell "Raise the Devil" 3 / 5Average black / death metal. Nothing realyl spellbinding, but a solid listen none-the-less.6. Dimmu Borgir "Masses for a New Messiah" 5 / 5Wow! The one of the only good songs they have released since 'Stormblast'! Too bad they normally don't sound like this.7. Hypocracy "Time Warp" 2.5 / 5Melodic heavy metal. Hypocracy has done a lot better, definitely one of their weaker tracks.8. Agathodaimon "Ribbons / Requiem" 4 / 5Basically it sounds like Cradle of Filth if they were not such a boring band. Very interesting keyboard driven black metal.9. Children of Bodom "Children of Bodom" 5 / 5Children of Bodom do a good job once again. They are one of the few bands that has never let me down.10. Gorgoroth "Destroyer" 5 / 5Norwegian black metal at its best, thank God that Gorgoroth has always been pure!11. Reaper "Ungodly" 4 / 5Now known as Soul Reaper these metalheads know exactly what they are doing in the field of technical metal.12. Death "Spirit Crusher" 5 / 5One of the best Death songs. Enough said.13. Godgory "Death in Black" 4.5 / 5A great song by this eclectic blacken gothic symphonic metal type band (sorry, it's just kind of hard to describe).14. Satyricon "Nemesis Divina (Clean Vision Mix)" 5 / 5Prime black metal. Too bad it was Satyricon's last great album.15. In Flames "Embody the Invisible" 4.5 / 5One of my personal favorite In Flames tracks. A great melodic death metal song.16. Gardenian "Deserted" 5 / 5Probably the best Gothenberg band since At the Gates. An astounding track, probably the best on the album.17. S.O.D. "Evil is In" 3 / 5Never have been a huge fan of S.O.D., but what can I say, they right a helluva heavy tune.Disc 2
3 / 51. Primal Fear "Save a Prayer" 1.5 / 5Barely listenable. Still sounds like a terrible cover band of modern day Judas Priests (and that's a real bad thing).2. Hollow "Rebellion" 2.5 / 5A so-so sounding sound. Nothing really worth listening to.3. Hammerfall "Legacy of Kings" 3.5 / 5I have always liked this cheesey power metal outfit. Just a solid track.4. Narnia "Can't Get Enough of You" 2.5 / 5See track 2.5. Pyogenesis "It's O.K." 3 / 5See song title.6. Sinner "Calm Before the Storm" 2 / 5Yawn, we are still getting nowhere with this second disc.7. Steel Prophet "Montag" 2 / 5See above.8. New Eden "Demons of Earth" 4 / 5Finally, so really good music. An out and out great goth metal track.9. Therion "Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah" 5 / 5Yes! Though not as good as they were when they were a death metal band, Therion's neo-classical music is brilliant.10. Stahlhammer "Feind Hoert Mit" 5 / 5One of the best tracks on the compilation. Excellent German industrial. Think Rammstein and Eisheilg.11. Dismal Euphony "All Little Devils" 4.5 / 5A great mix of goth and doom metal. Fantastic job!12. Am I Blood "Gift" 4 / 5A solid Finnish metal track.14. Crematory "I Never Die" 4 / 5A very strange track that goes from a death metal type sound to a more or less Type O Negative approach to the chorus. Very interesting!15. Meshuggah "Mouth Licking What You've Bled" 5 / 5One of the best Meshuggah has ever done! Though I would have liked to see an unreleased track of theirs on this compilation, this works just fine!16. Pegazus "Apache Warrior" 2.5 / 580's influenced melodic metal. Not bad...but not that good either.17. Sinergy "Beware the Heavens" 1 / 5This is the worst track on the album. This sounds like 80s cheese bands like Heart! Even with Mika, they still are a terrible band.18. Dreksau "Schaender" 4 / 5A good song to end on. Very nice German vocals.Well their you have it, a break down of this great compilation. If you are new to the metal genre I think that you should definitely pick this up, and if not it has enough unreleased material to keep you happy*.*Most of the "unreleased" material was demos for an upcoming album i.e. In Flames and Soul Reaper."

Another world..

la_naranja_bella@yahoo.com | Kuwait City, Kuwait | 03/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"34 songs.. 34 different bands distributed equally in 2 CD's.. they're not 34 bands.. they're 34 miracles.. all Europeans.. German.. Sweedish.. Norwegian.. Finnish.. Holland.. & many moore.. If you want a real heavy/death metal, then this is the right CD.. u'll discover many great destructive bands that are crushing the American metal throne into pieces."

A mixed bag, but a lot metal for the money.

Twitch | 02/18/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Death is Just the Beginning V" is a 2 CD sampler set from Nuclear Blast. Thirty-four songs (and therefore 34 artists) are featured, and both discs are cram-packed with over 70 minutes of music. Since it's priced like a single CD release, there is little question that this title offers a whole lot of metal for the money.As for quality, it will depend on your tastes. The first CD is comprised primarily of black and death metal. When it comes to the latter, it's mostly of the moody and melodic kind, as opposed to the intense, technical kind. That's not bad or good. It just depends on your tastes.The second disc features primarily power metallers, like Hammerfall, Sinergy, and Primal Fear. For power metal, the music is quite good. But not being a fan of that genre, I wasn't particulary intrigued by it. Though the package is primarily aimed at giving new listeners a dose of Nuclear Blast's lineup, it also features some previously released tracks as well as a few tracks that are no longer available. Therefore, those who are already fans of some of the bands might want to give this collection a look.Overall, I was a little disappointed in DIJTB V. I'm not really a black metal fan, nor a power metal fan, nor a melodic death metal fan. And therefore, the collection rarely intrigued me, and it certainly hasn't spurred me to buy a CD from any of the bands. Of course, I already owned the latest releases from Death, Meshuggah, Hyprocrisy, and SOD before buying DIJTB V, so that last statement could be viewed as somewhat misleading. All in all I'm still glad I bought this collection because it gave me a taste of several bands and styles that I was previously unfamiliar with. If you're looking for other samplers, check out Identify Five from Century Media. Though only a 1-CD set, ID5 is also a good bargain for around $5, and overall I enjoyed the bands and songs on that collection more than those on DIJTB V. But both are definitely worth checking out."