“‘Ostia,’ ‘Crown And Miter,’ and (to some extents) ‘Nuclear Seven’ and ‘Convicted In Life’ are what make Dante XXI stand out. The fervor of thrash metal with the bitterness and crunch of metallic hardcore can be heard, and that’s the difference between intensity and the meandering shallowness of Sepultura’s angsty groove formula. These four songs show Sepultura in some kind of revival with a coarser guitar tone richly executing vicious riffs. Bass follows the guitars with fatness and desiccated heaviness under a polished production job. The groove aspect with slappy bass lines and that massive layering had started to become phased out.” [. . .] –OzzyApu, Metal Archives, August 20, 2012
Iced Earth, “Burnt Offerings” (1995)
“This is Iced Earth’s heaviest album, but it still retains powerful symphonic sounds and heart-twisting acoustic passages. It also has all sorts of song structures, time changes, and cool stuff packed everywhere. Iced Earth had some long songs on the previous albums, but on this one they show their ability to create a full-fledged epic. ‘Dante’s Inferno’ takes us through the Nine Planes of Hell for sixteen minutes, each plane something new and demonic. This album was written during angry times — and it shows.” —Iced Earth
GM Grimm aka Superstar Jet Jaguar, “Digital Tears: Email from Purgatory” (2004)
“A study in blatant subtlety? Maybe, just maybe? GM Grimm gives us “Digital Tears,” the first album since his release from prison last year. Featuring production from J-Zone, X-Ray, Zero Point and Mas this album will probably be one of the most diverse and heavy sets released this year. With Grimm’s ill rhyme flow and incisive lyrics you better buckle up and hold tight as Jet Jaguar the robot is gonna take you on a dark musical journey into the mind of Percy Carey.” –Eric Goldwyn
See Also:
–http://www.wallysemons.com/ProdDtl.cfm?lid=24&cid=32&id=1074
–http://www.daybydayent.com/releases/digital_tears.shtml
–Essay by Eric Goldwyn
Contributed by Eric Goldwyn (Bowdoin, ’04)
Eternal Cool Project, “Inferno: The Rap” (2005)
“This is a unique, never before done approach to Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. Lyrics written in the 14th Century, as translated in the mid 1800s by H Cary, are rapped by MicPwr, over a music track composed by Mr Moe. It is a powerful depiction of a medieval Hell, performed by uban artists.” —CD Baby
Robert W. Smith, “The Divine Comedy”
“From the pen of Robert W. Smith has come some of the most impressive writing for contemporary bands and wind ensembles. THE DIVINE COMEDY, a monumental four-movement work, is presented along with other memorable compositions on this compact disc, which features conductor Anthony Maiello and the George Mason University Wind Ensemble. Titles include The Divine Comedy (The Inferno/Purgatorio/Paradiso/The Ascension) * The Tempest * Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual * Twelve Seconds to the Moon and others.” —Alfred Music
