T.O.C.

After their impressive album Loss Angeless, I decided to explore the rest of the T.O.C. discography!

And my surprise was big when I heard Menace and Prayer. This is not the refined and adventurous prog metal epic of their third (and last) album, but an specimen of melodic death metal much in the vein of Children of Bodom, Karma and similar acts.

The production is fine and the guitars sharp enough, with tons of keyboards layers and fine melodies. However, after a pair of songs, the album becomes a bit repetitive being hard to tell which track is playing, because every song included here is very similar in style, power and tonality.

Nevertheless, if you are into this kind of music you will surely enjoy the talent of this fine Finnish metal band.

Best tracks: From Clarity to Insanity (good opener), Synthetia (I especially like the guitar melodies in this one) and Divanity (maybe the best songwriting of the whole album)

Conclusion: Loss Angeless, the third album of this band is a hidden and unfairly forgotten prog-metal record. However, the origins of this band were very different with Menace and Prayer, which is a good symphonic death metal album with beautiful keyboards arrangements, sharp guitars, fierce vocals and powerful drumming.

Not for everyone, but if you miss the old Nordic melodic death metal of the 90's, you will have a blast with this album!

My rating: ***

"Loss Angeles" is the third full-length studio album by Finnish death/thrash/power metal act Throne of Chaos. On this release they have however shortened their name to TOC. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in October 2003 in Finland (and internationally through InsideOut Music in 2004). This would be their last album in their original run as they disbanded in 2005. It´s the successor to "Pervertigo" from 2002 and features one lineup change as TOC have opted to add clean vocalist Tuomas Nieminen to the ranks, making the band a sextet on "Loss Angeles".

TOC (under the Throne of Chaos monicker) started out as a melodeath band on their debut full-length studio album "Menace And Prayer" (2000), but already moved on to something different on "Pervertigo" (2002), which combined their core melodeath sound with melodic thrash metal and power metal, incorporating clean vocals. "Loss Angeles" sees TOC playing a melodic power metal style with progressive metal elements, and only very few nods toward melodeath and thrash metal. Nieminen is a great addition to the ranks. He has a strong voice and a powerful commanding delivery (giving off a strong Sonata Arctica vibe in the vocal department). The harsh vocals (performed by guitarist Taneli Kiljunen) are few and far between and predominantly appear on the song "Break-A-Neck".

"Loss Angeles" features 10 tracks and a total playing time of 44:27 minutes. 9 originals and a cover of "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple. The latter delivered in a fast speed/power metal version, which is actually pretty well done. The album is a pretty dynamic release, featuring both loud and epic moments and more subdued and mellow sections, as well as a couple of harder edged faster and more aggressive sections. The music is drenched in signature Finnish melancholy and sense for soaring epic melodies. It´s an album which requires a few spins to sink in, and it´s not necessarily an album which will please fans of the band´s early releases, as TOC have by now moved far away from the melodeath of the "Menace And Prayer" (2000). It´s quite interesting how different their three albums sound.

"Loss Angeles" features a powerful, clear sounding, and detailed production job, which suits the material perfectly. Upon conclusion "Loss Angeles" is a high quality release by Throne of Chaos, and although they aren´t the most original sounding act out there (listen to how they almost rip-off Devin Townsend on "Blue Lady"), they still show signs here of something a bit more unique. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

— First review of this album —

"Truth And Tragedy" is a single release by Finnish progressive power metal act Throne of Chaos. The single was released through Spikefarm Records in 2002. The title track is taken from the band´s second full-length studio album "Pervertigo (2002)" and appears here in a slightly altered single edit version. The main attraction on most singles where the A-side is culled from a studio album is of course the B-side. In this case it´s a cover of Judas Priest´s "Night Crawler". Delivered here in a decent interpretation where Throne of Chaos adds their melodic power metal sound to the track. Nothing special but it´s pretty good. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

"Pervertigo" is the second full-length studio album by Finnish death/thrash/power metal act Throne of Chaos. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in May 2002. It´s the successor to "Menace And Prayer" from 2000.

While "Menace And Prayer" certainly is a quality melodeath release in the vein of their fellow countrymen in Children of Bodom and Kalmah, it is not the most unique sounding release on the scene. "Pervertigo" shows Throne of Chaos moving away from the relatively generic (but still high quality) melodeath sound of the debut album and instead display a combination of melodeath, melodic thrash metal, and power metal. Especially the latter style has crept into the band´s music, and clean vocals have also been added and power metal sounding keyboards (the melodies sometimes remind me of a slightly less epic Sonata Arctica). The harsh vocals still appear, but aren´t as dominant as before.

"Pervertigo" is well produced, and the musicianship is on a high level too, but although Throne of Chaos obviously try to come up with something unique, they don´t quite succeed, and "Pervertigo" is therefore a decent quality release, but not an album reaching excellent territories in the songwriting department. On occassion maybe, but not when viewed as a full release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Menace And Prayer" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Throne of Chaos. The album was released through Spikeform Records in 2000.

The music on "Menace And Prayer" is very melodic heavy metal/death metal in the vein of Children of Bodom. I will actually go as far as to say that the music on "Menace And Prayer" is almost a complete clone of Children of Bodom´s music. The vocals are raw/raspy, the music is dominated by melodic guitars and keyboard leads and the rythm section is close to power metal style playing. Being a clone don´t always mean that the music is bad though and in the case of the music on "Menace And Prayer" we´re treated with some really well written compositions, great musicianship and a powerful sound production. A very enjoyable album if you like the style.

Despite the obvious Children of Bodom influences in the music I will rate "Menace And Prayer" with a 3 star (60%) rating. Simply because the quality level is as high as it is. But don´t expect much else than a good clone of Children of Bodom and you won´t be disappointed.

T.O.C. or Throne of Chaos is now a disbanded band since 2005, but their music is still present in prog metal zone. This is a finish band who release three full lenght albums, this one Loss angels is the third one from 2003. From the first time I heared this album I was very pleasent surprised, the mixt bag of intristing ideas. Loss angels is their final album and is a prog metal release with many influences from post metal to a more power metal elements and even some thrash elements here and there. I have this album sine he was release in 2003 by Inside Out, and since than I played constantly, realy impressed by the vocalist Tuomas Nieminen, great voice capable to turn a weak piece into a great one.He's voice is from slow to more hursh if the mood needs it. The rest of the musicians are skillfull and that's shown in every piece from here. From fast riffs a la power metal and double bass pedals, Snake Laitinen tries and succed to make some spectacular moves on drums. The twin guitar players are great, creating some intristing chops and very delightfull moments on solos. All in all TOC did it with this album. Realy intristing stuff,desearve a better recognition, even if they are disbanded for a 4 years. I can't think to a band with siliar sound, maybe early In Flames albums but without that rough and hursh attitude. A real solid album, totaly unknown by many listners and they desearve much more. The best pieces are all, not a weak moment, here are two cover versions, one from Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water , who is here in this context more rapid and more heavier than the original but nontheless a great interpretation and my CD has as bonus track the second cover version - Judas Priest - Painkiller, well, here we have all we need from TOC, this piece fits like a glove in their sound, brilliant played. Finaly I will give without hesitation 4 stars, quite unknow and underrated band, recommended, a pleasent surprise for me in the first place and still pleasent to listen today after 6 years from the first issue.