Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
RAM
Title
Death
Type
LP/EP
Company
Metal Blade
YOR
2012
Style
Traditional
1/1/2014 - Review by: Eric Compton

RAM
Death

Company: Metal Blade
Release: 2012
Genre: Traditional
Reviewer: EC

  • Vintage Swedish metal



  • The retro throwback bands just keep coming out of Sweden, more so with the hard rock and glam scene than anything else. Ever since the 90s with the thunderous rebound of pure Swedish heavy metal in Hammerfall, the country has never blinked on their constant barrage of all things denim and leather. Now four decades of sterile precision and I am scratching my head on this stuff. I've got hundreds of Swedish metal albums either on digital, tape, vinyl or CD and I really don't need any more. It's the age old question that I have asked repeatedly since 2001. Is something like Ram's "Death" necessary? It sounds great, is performed perfectly but at the end of the day is it really pushing the envelope or providing anything remotely new or interesting? No it isn't but for new fans of the genre this sort of thing is like DC Comics' introducing newbies to Batman and Superman by resetting the universe and calling it the "New 52".

    "Death" is Ram's third album to date and first for Metal Blade. The group started in 2003 and have maintained a fairly consistent stab at vintage Swedish metal, all loud and proud in its flaming torch glow of traditional 80s styled culture. The band brandish a fuzzy logic to their guitar tone, reminiscent of Grand Magus and Candlemass with it's down tuned doomy riffs. The band never stay at a slow death for long, speeding up tracks for a stab at retro thrash and speed. I would like to say the rhythm and battery charge of the whole thing is more like other vintage bashers like Early Man and 3 Inches Of Blood crossed with what Bible Of The Devil is currently delivering. It's worth a moment in the torchlight glow but don't expect anything new.


    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      3.5 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: RAM
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    Death
    2012
    Metal Blade
    Eric Compton1/1/2014
    3.5
    Lightbringer
    2010
    AFM
    Chris Kincaid8/28/2010
    3.5
    Rod
    2017
    Metal Blade
    Eric Compton12/22/2017
    3.5

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: RAM
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


    << back >>