Thursday 10 March 2011

Album: Elysium by Stratovarius

Setting the scene
Stratovarius were one of the pioneering bands in power mental yet they were also a band of incredible bad luck. Considering that Stratovarius have faced internal disputes, were plagued with record label catastrophes, legal battles and emotional traumas its a miracle the band still stands.
There is no hiding that the current line up is completely different to that of the first two albums, but some how despite seemingly endless changes to their line up Stratovarius have created consistently quality albums that are all recognizable. Their previous album Polaris was still very much a Stratovarius album but also heralded a change in the wind.
According to Timo Kolipelte; 'Polaris was the album that saved the band. Without it there would not be any Stratovarius. With "Elysium" we are showing the people that Stratovarius are back at the top of power metal!' Even with a new diplomatic system of organisation and a 'burst of creative energy' can Elysium really live up to the hype and re-crown Stratovarius?

The Box
I found when my Pre-ordered copy of the album arrived it was the special edition, which will certainly stand out in a CD collection as the box made from hollific shimmering metallic card. Also included are small post cars from each band member with their thoughts on the album that are great for any fan and a quality booklet. All the imagray is of the style seen in the album cover. 

The Album
My first thoughts were of heart break, it was not at all what I was expecting and in fact I was very disapointed. Dispite this I placed it in my car CD player and after listening to it serveral times I began to understand that Eylsim is a great album.  Eylsim offers variety of tracks with some ballad like tracks such as 'Fairness Justified' but also high pasted power metal tracks like 'The Game Never Ends'.

Notable Tracks
I think everyone will pick their own favourate track from this album, personally I love the first track Darkest Hours, its an uplifting power metal athem with classic Stratovarius stamped all over it. ;Move the Mountain' is notably moving.

Summary
Does the album live up to all the hype, is it one of the great metal albums of all time, no. Although Elysium is a good album and I would not discourage anyone from purchasing it, its not amazing. You get the feeling Stratovarius could do better with this album, although it has more depth than Polaris its not much of a stride forward. 

4.0/5 - Elysium is a display of potensional opposed to a master piece, deffinatly take a listen but don't expect to have your mind blown. 

Buy it herenyone cares to disagree, please comment away :-)

Thursday 3 March 2011

Important News: DragonForce finally reveal new singer

The UKs favourite guitar hero metal band are back in business. Perhaps one of the most widely known British (despite most members having foreign ties) metal band has revealed Marc Hudson as their new singer as seen bellow:
Not all looking out of place amoung his new band mates Marc Hudson was selected through a fan video submitting scheme. 
Upon listening to the first samples realised by DF, I like Marc. I think it was a wise move to go with a different sound to ZP. it eases the pressure off Marc and allows ZP's albums to stand out as they rightly should. Considering DF broke up with ZP over the direction of the band I'm exited about what to come and I hope with a new singer they can produce an album that lives up to the hype of the previous albums. Personally I'd like to see an album closer to Vally of the Damned rather than the insane direction they were heading.. although I 
we will wait for their next album out in September 2011 to find out. 

Friday 25 February 2011

Album: Death & Legacy by Serenity

Today, it seems like there are many bands out there looking to the past to weave a conceptual album that is rich in a specific history, whether bashing or glorifying something specific about it. Of course, war seems to be the big topic button in Metal, primarily about specific events that were important to that band's region, or the most influential to that member that typically affected that country. For the band's third full-length effort, Legacy & Death, Serenity follow the same educational but would never be used in a classroom premise by delving back into history to tell more then one specific tale. This conceptual piece happens to take a look at many pivotal and influential people throughout time, such as Christopher Columbus, Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Drake, and more, in a beautiful, powerful, symphonic Power/progressive Metal one hour plus album. Honestly, had any of my History classes been this kick ass, I probably would have paid more attention in school.

Serenity compose an album that is both moving and powerful through a stylish Symphonic Power Metal sound that is complimented with a suiting clean vocal style. Many of the song
s go by at a somewhat faster pace, but utilize the Symphonic aspects for a more epic sound, though some tracks have a much faster and more technical approach that contradicts the vocals that clash against the music in a manner that causes the two to end up complimenting each other perfectly. "Far From Home" is the perfect mixture of this faster and techie sound, though retaining that epic approach, retaining a more deeper, richer, even forceful Power Metal style.

The album is set up nicely as well from the conceptual aspect. It seems that each interlude or introduction acts as the start of another historical figure that the band intends to follow, and the music they perform often reflects that individual, and the setting these introductory tracks create. "Set Sail To..." manages to create an epic atmosphere that feels curious and majestic, matching the exploratory nature the lyrics portray. "Prayer" is more a spoken word segment that builds up the pieces to follow, which smoothly transitions into the war-based drumming and keyboards of the start to "State of Siege", which sets up the much harder and despairing Power Metal atmosphere for this chunk of material. These tracks do seem to focus a little more on the keyboards and other Symphonic elements at times, such as the violins really aiding the emotion of "Changing Fate", but the guitars do still steal the show, especially the opening solo on "State of Siege". Next you're transported to another native country through a tribal interlude track "Below Eastern Skies", clearly setting a Middle Eastern regional atmosphere for the song, though not carried into the actual songs after it, and "Lament" is a spoken word track that doesn't do anything and just feels tacked on with "My Legacy" coming off as another track the band had recorded but had no place for on the album in a conceptual way.

The album also features a number of female guest appearances of vocalists from various bands. this impressive list features Charlotte Wessels of Delain on "Serenade of Flames"
, Ailyn of Sirenia on both "The Chevalier" & "Prayer", and Amanda Sommerville, a female singer and songwriter who recorded with a number of bands including Kamelot and After Forever on "Changing Fate". All three of these vocalists do a superb job and really add a lot of emotion through the duets they take part in, and it really just makes these tracks stand out the most. The songs come off just as breathtaking as the others, if not more so, and they wind up being a very welcome addition to the recording.

Overall: 4.8/5 - A brilliant take on many historical figures that leaves you begging for more. This album certainly deserves a place among the greats of Metal. It's easy to fall in love with, give it a go!

buy it here

Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Album: The Wicked Symphony by Avantasia

Tobias Sammet seems just as dedicated to his amazing project, Avantasia, as he is to his "day" job, fronting Edguy. With their new album, The Wicked Symphony, we should really stop thinking of Avantasia as a "project" and consider them to be a fully formed band. The Wicked Symphony is a sheer joy to anyone who appreciates melodic metal. The Metal Opera carries on.

This time around Tobias has decided to throw us a full album of multi-vocali
st majesty. Returning from The Scarecrow we have Jorn Lande, Bob Catley, and of course Michael Kiske, rounding off the guests we have Russell Allen, Andre Matos, Klaus Meine, Tim "Ripper" Owens, and Ralf Zdiarstek. Tobias' band this time consists of legends Sascha Paeth and Michael "Miro" Rodenberg handling guitars and keyboards respectively as well as drummer Eric Singer who should really need no introduction. Not to mention a host of guest musicians usual of Tobias' projects. An impressive line-up by any standards, perhaps even comparable to the sort of line-up we see with Ayreon and Star one.


Opening up with the massive title track, straight off the bat we're treated to 9 minutes of superb melodic metal, three-way vocal performances from Jorn, Russell and of course Tobias, already the smile is from ear to ear – massive chorus that's insanely melodic. "Wastelands" is a track usual of Avantasia and of course featuring Michael Kiske it's not hard to guess that it's a kick ass Power Metal number, again superb and another choice chorus. Which is where The Wicked Symphony really comes into its own – I would certainly go as far to say this is the catchiest I've heard Avantasia at. Every song is an utter pleasure to listen to, look no further than "Dying for an Angel" again usual of Tobias drawing similarities to tracks such as "Lost in Space" or "Superheroes" although entirely more enjoyable.

Fortunately The Wicked Symphony remains truly enjoyable throughout, and it's certainly hard to pick favorites among the listing. "Runaway Train" boasts a theatrical theme that is very well utilized and doesn't fall into the gay territory a couple of bands have stumbled into in the past trying this sort of thing. "Blizzard on a Broken Mirror" certainly speaks to me as becoming a favorite with Andre Matos really shining in his vocal parts, the song very suiting to his vocals.


Overall: 4/5 - A great installment in 'The Wicked trilogy' metal opera keeping up the tempo, pace and quality. Definitely worth a listen even for people who aren't fans of Edguy.

buy it here

Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Album: Rocket Ride by Edguy

When it comes to modern Euro Power Metal, Edguy is one of my choice favorite bands; just a nostalgia thing I suppose, but nonetheless I enjoy them quite a bit. Almost completely abandoning his majestic fantasy Power Metal roots here, Tobias spins the wheel of his mariner and heads for new horizons, this time going for a very hard rock oriented sound without any real bells or whistles at all, and only a few nuances of the old style left behind; whispers of a nearly forgotten past.


On this album, Edguy goes back from their power metal hymns and almost does a completely hard rock album. Annoying kitsch glam rock like “Rocket ride”, Bon Jovi ballads like “Save me” or disco rock with keyboard experiments like “Matrix” or “wimps and poser” hard rock stuff like “Fucking with fire” dominate this album. This last song is a very cool party rocker and quite catchy while the keyboard dominated “Out of vogue” has a very addicting chorus and “Wasted time” very emotional lyrics and chorals as well as a catchy chorus.

The band shows us though that they can still write excellent metal hymns like the amazing opener “Sacrifice”. This song is modern rock opera shortened to eight minutes and is very emotional. Tobias Sammet does an extraordinary job on the vocals, the dominating piano fits perfectly to the song, and the solos are filled with passion and energy. Of course, you have another funny song on this album. “Trinidad” is a mixture of an exotically seventy’s pop song, Caribbean folk music and eighty’s glam rock. Brain off, party on could be the slogan of this hilarious song and while serious and closed minded metal heads will criticize this song, Edguy fans will probably enjoy this experiment and album closer that is followed by the bonus track and poser rock hymn “Fucking with fire” that goes into the same direction.

Although Sammet himself stresses the lack of overall story with the album – the track order was changed many, many times – I can’t help but imagine my own journey with the music; perhaps a fortunate side-effect of Sammet’s evocative writing. Yet, as insisted, the tracks are stand-alone entities that simply gel well in this arrangement. As we enter the age of mp3s and less call for strict CD-order playing, you have to admire the fact that, played in any order – be it on your desktop or mp3 player – each and every song stands up for itself.

The vocals on this album are also outstanding. Tobias Sammet has a great power metal voice with a lot of range and more importantly he knows how to use it. He knows when to be subtle and when to wail. Edguy is also a band that has a sense of humor and aren't afraid to inject it into their music. It's refreshing in a genre where a lot of people take themselves way too seriously.

Overall: 4.2/5 - Edguy are a band you can always journey with. Stick the CD on as you set off on a long coach or train journey, and you will ride with Edguy all the way. You don’t need to focus hard or listen intently – you can relax in the knowledge that whatever you are feeling as you travel on the Rocket Ride, Edguy are there to entertain you along the way.

buy it here

Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Album: After Forever by After Forever

After Forever called this album their "past, present, and future" and they weren't kidding. You'll find classical symphonic elements like on their debut, bombastic Decipher-era rhythms, straight up metal Invisible Circles-style, and most importantly a continuation of the dominating progressive step forward they took with Remagine. As was evident on Remagine, the addition of Joost van den Broek on keyboards has been invaluable to this band. His compositions seem to take them to the breaking point of their talent and what an incredible ride it is!

This is a very cohesive collection of songs; a true album with focus and direction, yet, each song is individual and memorable. Immediately catchy hooks like in "Evoke" and "Equally Destructive" will draw you further into this very visual experience while the guitars in "De-Energized" will simply whip through your body. Their chosen single, "Energize Me," is a stunning song with a catchy and instrumentally impressive intro followed by a powerful song with strong evidence of keyboards throughout and a great solo, both of which couple to make this a phenomenal song.

Vocalist Floor Jansen's immense talent and versatility has been obvious since the beginning yet she continues to surpass herself with each release; this album is no exception. If you don't already consider her one of the best voices in heavy metal then maybe this album will convince you.

Sadly, however, this was to be After Forever's last album as they disbanded in 2009. But this was their best album so... what a way to go out, on the back of an amazing album. Having helped define The Gothic Metal genre After Forever's legacy remains still and can be seen in bands such as Sirenia, Delain and Epica.

Overall: 4.9/5 - I just can't capture with words the sheer energy and joy that this band bottled up and recorded for us. They clearly love making music and their passion made this incredible album that much more memorable and exhilarating than others of the genre. this has to be After Forever's finest release ever!

buy it here


Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Sunday 30 January 2011

Album: The 13th Floor by Sirena

Shuffle on MP3 never seems to do its job but tonight its actually throwing out string of amazing song and it must know its Sirena week! So with it being Sirena week I've shuffled into my old Sirena collection. Anthony has already completed a review of Sirena's Enigma of Life of readable here, but here is my thoughts on their previous album: The 13th Floor.


The Album
Stepping away from Sirena's early work to more 'main stream' 13th floor still maintains its Gothic genera but accessible to many. The album merges the divine vocals of Ailyn (formally on Spanish X-factor, glad to see she was saved!) with a powerful and eerie latin choir and death vocals. Personally I love to see different vocal types merged to create an effect, the 13th floor does this, the death vocals are well placed with Ailyn alluring vocals taking stage backed up by the choir for effect.
Instrumentally its nothing special but neither is there much room to fault it. A multitude of instruments complement the vocals, violin and piano give the symphonic which along with the choir give the album its feel. Generally drumming is nice and heavy complemented with effective rifts,

Notable Tracks
The Path to Decay - The first song and the single taken from this album, the path to decay is a great song, although heavy its very symphonic and accessible.
Sirens of the Seven Seas - One of my all time favourite songs! While this album will never be my favourite this song is on of my all time favourites. It is the only track to be lead by male vocals and they are clear male vocals that eventually blend into grunts as the character of the song succumbs to Sirens. A great song that shows off Sirens full retinue, an amazing end to the album.


Summary
The 13th Floor is kind of album that each song you listen too you think is amazing but they don't stand out in your mind. While this is a good album and has loads of great songs, it just lacks something to make it amazing and I'm struggling to find what that is.

3.8/5 - Not a special album but by no means bad, full of great songs and you wouldn't regret owning it.

Buy it here

Too harsh? Too generous? Please comment bellow :-)






Album: The Enigma Of Life by Sirenia

For his fifth Sirenia project, The Enigma of Life, founder and guitarist Morten Veland seems to have settled on a female vocalist as Spain's Ailyn returns to the mic. once more. The Enigma of Life has all the elements that define Sirenia: symphonic, melodic, and sometimes bombastic metal with signature soaring female vocals and guitar solos. The songs 'This Darkness' and 'A Seaside Serenade' are typical of this formula. Yet, over the course of listening, The Enigma of Life seems to have a more accessible nature, a lively almost melodic rock feel. 'Fallen Angel', 'Darkened Days to Come', and extremely catchy 'Winter Land' swell with foot tapping rock appeal. 'Winter Land' certainly has commercial, radio-friendly, viability.

Having made this assessment The Enigma of Life closes with four songs that could pitch either way. 'Coming Down' and 'This Lonely Lake' couple that rock sensibility with the drama of symphonic metal. 'Fading Star' moves closer to bombastic and melodic black metal with addition of death growls. The closing piece, the title cut, is pure epic symphonic melodic metal. While typical of the genre, the songs on The Enigma of Life are varied and entertaining, having an alluring and unexpected attractiveness. Quite possibly this could be Sirenia's best work.

Having said all this, however, many fans feel that the album is a large departure from Sirenia's previous albums. But my advice to those naysayers is stick with it and you'll see that while still a variation from other albums it follows the progression Sirenia have shown through their albums. It is a classic album following in the sound of After Forever and Nightwish.

Overall
: 4.1/5 - A stunning and evocative album showing that there is still hope for the Female-fronted metal genre. Stick with it and you'll see what I mean!

Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Saturday 15 January 2011

Album: The Art Of War by Sabaton

Based on Sun Tzu's Art of War this same titled album in corporates extracts into its songs to emphasize their by now well know style of singing about historical battles from the twentieth century. Sun Tzu says "The Art of War is of vital importance to Sabaton. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin" and in this case it is most certainly a road to safety.

So, what is good about this installment in Sabaton's story? All of the songs are polished and done in the typical 'epic' power metal way - they're either fast rockers with lots of double bass drumming and constant barrages of riffs, such as the opening Ghost Division and 40:1 or they're slower, grim 'power ballads', such as Cliffs of Gallipoli or The Price of a Mile. Relying heavily on Joakim's expressive yet powerful voice to evoke emotion in the listener we can tend to ignore the instrumentals and the music itself but this is rarely the case in this instance as we are swept along to battles past.

The 'glorious' feel most of the songs have is seen by many as a standard of Sabaton songs but here it is taken to a whole new level. Union, Cliffs of Gallipoli and Price of a Mile come to mind immediately. It's mostly achieved through clever use of keyboards giving the songs an operatic atmosphere and quality, Broden's layered vocals give the feel of a wide range of vocalists contributing to the album furthering this feel. In Panzerkampf this 'choir' like style is used to great effect giving the song the feel of a Soviet Military choir.

However, it is notable that the only thing making it stick out from other Sabaton albums is the woman reading exerts from Sun Tzu at the start of each song which gives the premise of each song. There is little or no experimentation or development in the songs but Sabaton do have the obvious luck of having achieved a winning formula early on in their career. The final song on the album 'A Secret' only lasts 37 seconds and seems to be there predominantly for the last 10 seconds where a robot says 'Illegal download detected executing spyware droid...' perhaps a nod towards the current trend of downloading albums off 'questionable' sites?

Overall
: 4.15/5 - An classic installment in Sabaton's history, not for everyone and the lack of originality may annoy you at first but given time it will grow on you and before you know it it'll be on your playlist and you'll randomly start singing the lyrics (hopefully not at awkward moments).

Buy it here

Disagree or just want to say what you think? Feel free to comment down below ;-)

Friday 14 January 2011

Album: Twilight Time by Stratovarius

It seems strange that the first review on this blog is of an album made before I was born! Yet I said I would review the next album I received in the post and this was it! Thats right I did say, in the post.. not downloaded! After all who could resist a proper album when they are for sale for under £4. Given its a in a box lets quickly skim over that.


The Box
The cover for this album is actually quite nice, one of Stratovarius' less garish albums covers! The text is very retro though but it all adds to the feel. It has a very cheep feel though once you take a look around the box, the lyrics are printed in Times New Roman on a white back ground.. and the only band picture is a postage stamp size and very pixilated. Although the plastic thing that the CD clips into was reenforced on my copy which is very good, I've had band experiences with other albums breaking there. For their second album on not much money, I should cut them some slack!

The Album
Now this is very important, as with any early Stratovarius: Listen to the album, Listen to it again.. go to bed wake up listen to it... let the songs sink into your head then play it very loud that evening! It sounds a bit odd but on the first listening of this album I hated it! Same with Dream Space, Fourth Dimension and Episode! Its mostly likely the nature of the genera that does this to you.
'Breaking the Ice' opens the albums with nice heavy punch, which is not Timo's strong point but it works.. just. The rifts as you would expect from stratovarius, very good, and the solos are too.
Besides 'Breaking the Ice', 'Metal Frenzy' is pretty heavy (by my standards!)
Anyone who has listened to Stratovarius will know they tend to include a 7minute + song, this is the song that keeps you coming back and I think for this album I would be 'Madness Strikes at Midnight'  when combined with 'Twilight Time' these tracks have a catchy enough chorus to bring you back in to enjoy this album that you would otherwise probably forget!
Theres no overal feel to the album but the tracks are slotted well together, it is an album not a collection of songs.

Notable tracks
Besides what I've mentioned earlier 'The Hills have Eyes' is an eerie feel, its a fantastic song. Its nice to hear some unusual sounds and despite the crititism that Timo Tolkki gets his voice does range and certainly does not spoil the album, the song has a great beat too it as well.
'Lead us into the light' does not do it for me though, its the classic Stratovarious finisher that could be compared to 'Wings of Tomorrow' or 'We hold the Key' but it just lacks the quality that could have really helped this album.

Summary
If you stick it out this album does reward you, it begin in my iTunes liberary with one star.. then the next day two and now I've raised it to four stars! Thats around what I'm giving this album, 3.75 stars. It lacks the real quality tracks or theme and has some weak links calling a five out of question but it really grew on me. Its a bit forgettable but when you do come back to it, it will be a pleasure. I'd give it four but its bettered by later stratovarius albums.

3.75/5 - Don't judge it too soon, its a must have for Stratovarius fans, but not amazing.

Buy it Here

I'm a big Stratovarius fan so if anyone cares to disagree, please comment away :-)