Customer Reviews

Memorial Roots

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the metal cd of the year in my eyes.Great vocals,great guitars,great drums.What more can you ask for.I highly recommend this cd.Not one bad song on it.If you can still get hold of the limited with the two extra tracks,GO FOR IT.You can listen to the whole cd on YOU TUBE,so check it out first.You won't be disapointed...Cheers

While after reading all the reviews for this album, both here and at other places, I was skeptical that this album was like your typical Brainstorm album. Meaning straight forward power/thrash metal. No, actually, this album moves more towards being power/progressive metal. Which in this case, is a good thing. Yes, it's still a Brainstorm album, with Andy's vocals being as strong as ever, in fact, I'd say his vocals fit in with the music on this album much better than anything he's done before. There's so much more variety of songs on this album. Hence the Progressive feel I get from it.

But let me tell you this...from just listening to the samples here on Amazon, I wasn't too thrilled about getting this album, but I finally broke down and got it, and I'm glad I did. It really is, probably their best album yet.

I've listened to the new BS cd twice all the way through. it's more like Liquid Monster than Downburt. I know a lot of their fans thought Downburst was a step down from Liquid Monster, so maybe they actually listened to the feedback and went back more to their roots. Or, it's simply just what they happened to write and it sounds like it sounds. It's definitely BS through and through. I had to listen all the way to the second to the last song though before I found one worth repeating right away. The last song is also very cool and deserves to be played on repeat four or five times. Personally, I thought Downburst was their best work by far, but then after listening to Liquid Monster a bunch, I can see why it seems a lot of people think that's their best. I like them both, very much BS all the way, but each very distinct. All in all, memorial roots is very good and I think any Brainstorm fan will dig it. I didn't want to pay $30+ for the import, so I paid $9 for the download. However, when the CD is released in the US, I'll be certainly picking a copy of it up for my collection.

German melodic power metal masters Brainstorm came roaring back in 2009 with Memorial Roots, their eighth studio album. With their emphasis on sheer heaviness and avoidance of the genre's stereotypes, Brainstorm has become one of the top names in power metal, and Memorial Roots is the latest in a series of very strong releases.

My first thought on hearing this album is that it's more of the same. I know some fans disliked Downburst, but I thought it sounded pretty much like Liquid Monster, which sounded pretty much like Soul Temptation, and so on. Memorial Roots is pretty much what I've come to expect from Brainstorm. It's predictable to some extent, but the overall quality is so high I don't really mind the repetition. That said; there are some tracks that really stand out, like the anthemic "The Conjunction of Seven Planets," the epic "The Final Stage of Decay" and album closer "Would You."

Memorial Roots seems to have something of a progressive element, though it's not so prominent you're going to mistake it for a Pain of Salvation album or anything. Mostly it's all about the hard-charging guitars, Andy Franck's powerful vocals, and melodies crafted to make the songs stay with you long after the album is over. In short, it's a Brainstorm album.

They may not be breaking any new ground with this one, but Brainstorm is getting better and better at what they do. Memorial Roots should please just about any Brainstorm fan, as well as fans of Symphorce (obviously), Tad Morose, Bloodbound and melodic power metal in general.

Edition Notes: The Limited Edition version of Memorial Roots comes in a digipack and includes a pair of bonus tracks - new studio songs "Seems to Be Perfect" and "Too Late to Deny." I'm over the whole digipack phenomenon (unless they're sturdy like the Liquid Monster limited edition), but the bonus tracks are great, so if you're going to buy Memorial Roots I'd recommend getting this version.

I'm not a huge Brainstorm fan, in fact I'm a farewell fan of this band. I liked a couple of songs on Downburst so I thought hey check this out. For those who don't know this band, Downburst is sort of like an 80's/early 90's style of metal with some contemporary sprinkled in it along with double bass drums. Not a bad thing. If that's what you like then so be it. I, on the otherhand, am not a fan of that so much. I like fresh and new. Bands that keep me guessing. WOW me!!!! That aside, this album is good. I actually like every song. I like that the singer doesn't kill my ears with the high falsetto singing in every line. He sings low often. If you are a Brainstorm fan then I should hope you like this. It's not that far off from the other albums. But to the new listener. Give it a try. It's still 80's/early 90's style metal but the contemporary aspects are elevated in this album. The hooks might grab you. I will buy this as soon as it is released in January.

I think "Memorial Roots" is Brainstorm's finest hour. "Memorial Roots" has your typical, hard hitting Brainstorm sound, but what really stands out on "Memorial Roots" for me, is how incredibly well all of the songs blend together. I love all of Brainstorm's previous studio efforts, especially "Soul Temptation", but in my opinion, "Memorial Roots" is their strongest / most convincing release to date. FIVE STARS...

~MJ~

Great disc with Brainstorm at their best on this disc plus you get bonus songs. Great addition to their catalog and yours be sure to buy!

Well if you read the title of my review then you should get the picture. Brainstorm is one of those bands that I always talk about regarding consistency in everything they do & with their latest release 'Memorial Roots' that stays true. I've noticed that over the years it seems that Andy B. Franck's involvment w/ both Symphorce & Brainstorm are starting to show more & more in each band's albums..in other words I can hear elements of Brainstorm's music in Symphorce's music & vica versa. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise because they are both similar in a lot of ways except I always noticed Brainstorm was more on the melodic side while Symphorce was more on the aggressive side. With this release you can hear the melodic side of Brainstorm but it's probably the most aggressive release since 'Metus Mortis'..except this CD is better! I like everything this band has done to date but I would love it if they ever did a release similar to 'Ambiguity' again..I'll keep my fingers crossed! Anyway, bottom line is if you love anything Brainstorm has ever done then you will surely like this CD as well...the drum production is slightly not as good as the rest of the band's catalog but it's a small price to pay for a killer CD regardless! If anything it gives it a nice raw edge for this kind of aggressive music!

Good strong melotic power metal album will not dissapoint very similar to there last two albums , a must have for any Metal Fan ..........

This album starts off real slow with keyboards, but then picks up and doesnt stop the whole album.. All the songs on this album are very well done and Andy's voice just seems to be getting better and more mature as each album is released. Production is pretty good, not as good as the last effort called "Downburst"

Some of the standout tracks for me are:

The Conjuction of 7 Planets ( has a Iron Maiden feel to it )
Cross The line..(Nice thrasher feel to it)!
The Final Stages of Decay
Victim
When no One Cares
Another Great Melodic Metal album here from the boys in Germany!