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Happy (belated) 20th birthday Nuclear Blast Records. How to mark the occasion? How about releasing a song per year on a pair of compilation albums featuring one songwriter each on which they work with whatever singers they want to, all the bands of whom have been or are currently on the label's roster? Well, the so-called Nuclear Blast Allstars struck first with Victor Smolski's (Rage) Into the Light (~Power Metal vibe, if one had to choose) and after a few months came Peter Wichers' (ex-Soilwork) Out of the Dark (decidedly Melodic Death Metal, save John Bush's and Mark Osegueda's contributions). Not unlike Tony Iommi's Iommi album that featured different singers with each song tailored to that vocalist (i.e., "Time is Mine" featured Philip Anselmo and sounded rather Pantera-esque), so, too, is Out of the Dark.
Wichers composed a batch of essentially Soilwork sounding songs and played all the instruments, save percussion, which was relegated to--who else?--current and former Soilwork members Dirk Verbeuren, Henry Ranta, and Mattias Nilsson (respectively). If a fan of this general style of Gothenburg Metal, and certainly of Nuclear Blast Records, spend some time with the Allstars and enjoy some not mandatory but no less fun music. Highlights easily include the most brutal offering on the disc, Kataklysm's Maurizio Iacono on "Cold is My Vengeance," and the former-Anthrax/current (?) Armored Saint vocalist John Bush's "Paper Trail." Unfortunately Peter Tägtgren's contribution sounds more Pain-like than Hypocrisy. At least Anders Fridén's album opener is solid. Oh, and just skip "My Name is Fate."
| Tracklist |
| 1. Dysfunctional Hours (Anders Fridén, In Flames) |
| 2. Schizo (Peter Tägtgren, Hypocrisy) |
| 3. Devotion (Jari Mäenpää, Wintersun) |
| 4. The Overshadowing (Christian Älvestam, Scar Symmetry) |
| 5. Paper Trail (John Bush, ex-Anthrax) |
| 6. The Dawn Of All (Björn "Speed" Strid, Soilwork) |
| 7. Cold Is My Vengeance (Maurizio Iacono, Kataklysm) |
| 8. My Name Is Fate (Mark Osegueda, Death Angel) |
| 9. The Gilded Dagger (Richard Sjunnesson & Roland Johansson, Sonic Syndicate) |
| 10. Closer To The Edge (Guillaume Bideau, Mnemic) |
: 39:48
| Buy other Nuclear Blast Allstars albums |
