Throne of Chaos' new album Loss Angeles favourably impressed me. Although it was already released in 2003 by Spinefarm, it wasn't released in the US until 2004 by InsideOut. Especially the diversity of this album impressed me... I thought they were just an ordinary black metal band, but fortunately I was proven wrong. Loss Angeles contains different metal styles mixed together with some progressive and psychedelic edge.

Songs are quite diverse ranging from psychedelic and progressive rock to different kinds of metal... Most of the songs have clean vocals, but there are also some growls. Tuomas Nieminen, the singer, is the weakest member in TOC... With a better singer this band could be even better, although Nieminen succeeds moderately at singing. The last song is a Deep Purple cover, which is quite different from the original. TOC has flavoured it with their own sound... "Fire in the sky" growls are something Deep Purple's classic never contained.

Production on this album is quite good... There was occasional distortion in some of the guitar parts, but nothing too grave. Especially the mixing has been done well, sounds are quite apposite. I believe this record can be considered as a milestone in TOC's career... At least I'm interested in their forthcoming releases. If they keep up their progress, they should soon get the attention they deserve. I never would have thought I could hear traces of Dream Theater, Devin Townsend and Pain of Salvation in TOC's music.

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- MAGE (21.08.2004)

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LINE-UP:
Nieminen, Tuomas: Vocals Kiljunen, Taneli: Guitar Harmaja, Joiku: Guitar Sjöblom, Carl: Keyboard Nora, Rasmus: Bass Laitinen, Snake: Drums
Producer:	Unavailable
Mixing by:	Unavailable
Mastering by:	Unavailable

	TRACKLIST:
	01. The Window 02. Mary Lou is Dead 03. Acid Highway 04. Gothamburg 05. Blue Lady 06. Wait 07. The Blue Lady Suite 08. Break-a-Neck 09. Bite the Bullet 10. Smoke on the Water