I’m an old fart, so when I was in junior high and high school, it was prime time for bands like Judas Priest, and I was barely out of high school when the classic Dio albums came out. Back then, those bands were considered heavy metal, and when you think about what they were up against, they made some pretty heavy music at the time.
The current label for this type of music is traditional metal, and the new album from Primal Fear is a great example of the genre. I put this thing on and it took me back in time, and that is a very good thing. There are a lot of bands that try their hand at the traditional stuff but they don’t always nail it. “Unbreakable” by Primal Fear knocks it out of the park.
First off, as a drummer myself, I’ve gotta give mad props to the drums on this album. Dude is all over it with some very tasty playing, never going over the top, but always playing exactly what the song calls for. I really dig the drums on this. The other thing I really appreciate about these “traditional” releases is that the production values are high and you can hear each instrument. It’s a nice touch that makes the album better to listen to.
There are some very good tracks on this release. Do you like the high energy, high powered stuff? No worries, you can check out “Strike”, “Give ‘Em Hell”, or “And Then There Was Silence”. I personally guarantee that any of those 3 numbers will get your blood pumping. Or perhaps you’re in the mood for something a little more on the prog rock side of things. Then take a listen to “Where Angels Die”. It’s a great example of some solid rock with some prog leanings. It won’t make you a Yes or King Crimson fan, but it provides some really good balance and variety to the album.
Maybe you don’t want to admit it, but you’re just a fool for the power ballad. Well there’s one of those, too, and it’s actually quite good. “Born Again” is the track you’ll want to listen to. Honestly, though, there’s not a band song on the album and this is one I’ll be listening to many times over. I have to share chuckle I had. There is a song called “Blaze Of Glory”, which made me cringe momentarily in fear that it might be a cover of the Bon Jovi song of the same name, but fear not, it is an original and only shares the name.
For those of you really into your metal, you may remember a band called Sinner, with Mat Sinner as the main man. He is the bass player and seems to be the primary song writer in Primal Fear, so if you enjoyed his previous output you’re gonna love this.
This is a release well worth checking out, especially if you’ve ever been a fan of 70’s and 80’s metal. Not the hair metal stuff, just the traditional metal, formerly known as heavy metal.
OK, a show of hands please! How many remember these lyrics - “Get cha motor runnin’. Head out on the highway! Lookin’ for adventure. And whatever comes our way…” If you guessed Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons you’re wrong, as bad ass as they were. But if that image of a custom chopper roaring down a backroad is stuck in your cranium then you’re in the right place. First there was Riot. Then along came Quiet Riot. And RiotGod! Now there’s Hard Riot. None of them have much to do with each other but it sounds pretty fuckin’ cool for an intro anyway… eh? Like I’ve done my homework.
Here’s the straight goods with German rock’n’roll outfit Hard Riot on the Pitch Black label. They’re not going to find a cure for cancer or solve world hunger anytime soon, but like many hard rockin’, straight shootin’ rock’n’roll bands before them they are making an impact. People eat this fundamental shit up! You heard it here first. To start with, they’re redefining life on the road with their debut album by “Living On A Fast Lane”. I’ve heard of living IN the fast lane, but never ON. I commend them for their machismo and bravery but you have to admit, it must be difficult dodging traffic. Especially with a full compliment of furniture and dishware. And I’m guessing they actually came up with a way cool German name for the band, but Hard Riot was the genius that Google translator spat out.
Nevertheless, this fearless Teutonic four piece kicks it into gear, pulls the throttle back and thrusts the rock’n’roll carburetors wide open on this release. It’s essentially a collection of infectious, high octane rockers and “hoist your lighters (and/or mobile devices) in the air” anthems. If you like the big crunchy riffs and searing vox all underscored by a thundering rhythm section, you’ve come to the right place. Buckle up! The lads kick off the top of the disc with a straight up, no bullshit, balls out rocker called GET READY. Like I said, they’re not reinventing the wheel here but the song still boasts gritty, in your face vocals, a solid bridge and chorus. Get ready? Get ready for what? HELLFIRE ROCK, that’s what! This smokin’ little ditty has a “call to arms” style verse along the same lines as what you often hear from Ireland’s The Answer. The 60 watt incandescent over your melon will flicker on when the AC/DC “Whole Lotta Rosie” scent wafts in on the stop riff during the reprieve. The ghost of “Riff Raff” also haunts some of the chord choices. They offer up a solid, but not surprising chorus, and studied guitarist Andreas Rockrohr (Rock Roar?!... cool name) peels off the first of many tight, tidy solos on the album! Good, hard edged guitar tones abound on this number.
Just when you thought you were in like flint staring down a backstage laminate, the boys come roaring (Rockrohr-ing?) back with the lumbering, gutsy rock anthem DON’T NEED YOU! Is that so? Well, guess what guys? I don’t need you… oh, wait – the boys seem to attract an uber abundance of Claudia Schiffer/Heidi Klum-like supermodels to their electric live shows (could it be the Hai Karate aftershave?!...). I take it back! I DO need you guys. And all your contagious, up front, fist pumping vocals backed by heart wrenching harmonies that genetically perfect women quiver over.
The ol’ stylus then hops over to the powerful NO SURRENDER complete with duel leads at the beginning distantly reminiscent of the infamous Iron Maiden sonic attack. It houses another “call to action” chorus soaked in a beer blasted, blue collar sensibility and garnished with yet another tasteful solo that fits nicely within the framework of the song.
TEARS IN THE RAIN is one of my favourite tunes on the entire album. It’s houses a simple but great, plodding, memorable riff. The song is ripe with smokin’, pulverant guitar tones, up front primal vocals and fist pumping crowd participation. When I initially saw the song title my first thought was it was going to be a sappy ballad, but it was anything but! The Scorpions influence is abundant here, but the Hard Riot boys draw it out, open it up and make it their own. They do what many bands are afraid to do nowadays. They give the almighty riff some breathing room and allow it to resonate. There’s a reflective reprieve in the middle instrumentally, but the guttural vocals don’t quit. Vocalist Michael Gildner simply refuses to back down. And like true blue, bonafide rockers, they liberate the rock’n’roll carburetors once again near the end, drop it down a gear and throw the throttle wide open!
TURN ON THE LIGHTS (I dropped the KY) is a solid, chugging rocker with lots of meat on the bone. More kick ass solos abound, pooled with a nice reflective reprieve in the middle.
NOTHING BUT YOU is a well constructed acoustic ballad. Definitely one for the mass of Bic lighters at a live show. The Germanic linguistic influence leaks through here and there in the vocals but not to the point where it’s distracting. There’s also some pleasant vocal harmonies in this number. Essentially, it’s a great song to seal that illusive first date with, if ya know what I mean (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
TAKE ME DOWN boasts a great dirty riff! And yet another SA-WEET solo! Tasty chord transition too. HARD WAY DOWN is a no bullshit, straight shootin’ rocker. BLACK WIDOW offers up a delectable drawn out, crunching riff tied to a great bridge. What’s this? ANOTHER crisp solo in a long line of them from Mr. Rockrohr! This beast is a total live, in unison fist pumper. The finisher ROCK’N’ROLL OUTLAW is a peppy little rocker that captures a Four Horsemen/Ramones-esque (odd combo, I know) flavour along the lines of my favourite band’s killer tune “Can’t Stop Rockin’”.
I have to tip my hat to Producer Vagelis Maranis at Maranis Studios in Backnang, Germany for doing a solid job on the recording, production and mix. The vocals and guitar sit way out front through most of the tracks, but there’s still some nice instrumental separation. It feels very clean despite all the brash guitar and vocal tones.
Hard Riot are the kind of band that would get everybody’s attention if they played the side stage at Wacken. Folks would haul ass to find out who’s tearing it up. As a good buddy of mine once said, “AC/DC is the small block Chevy of kick ass rock’n’roll”. If that’s true, then Hard Riot is the dual piston V-Twin of rock’n’roll! Hard Riot is Michael Gildner on vocals, Andreas Rockrohr on guitars, Mario Kleindienst on bass and Carmine Jaucci on drums.
Man, I love power metal. It’s a sub-genre that really doesn’t seem to go over too well here in America, and I don’t know why. I’ve heard people say its cheesy, but really, like we don’t have any other cheesy things here? Or sometimes I’ll hear that it’s too “over the top”, but have you ever watched WWE or any of that shit? Power metal seems like it would be made for Americans, but most American metal fans just don’t seem to get it. Europeans, though, absolutely lose their minds over this stuff.
Which brings us to the subject at hand, the latest release from a band called Stormzone. Zero To Rage is the album and it is very well done. All the necessary components are there. Big anthemic songs, check. Singer with a range that makes you say, “How does he do that?”, check. Songs about heroes, fighting, monsters, check, check and check. And songs about jesters. How come only European bands write songs about jesters?
Opening song “Where We Belong” sets the tone for the entire album, so if you hear that song and you can’t get into it you might as well just not put any more time in. But if you stick with it you will be rewarded with some very good stuff. One of the things I really dig about power metal is that there is always good, melodic music going on, and always good musicianship as well. It is probably the only form of metal that really focuses on melody and there is nothing wrong with that. There are technical forms of metal that have musicianship to spare, but often the music sounds soulless. Power metal will never be accused of that.
The standout tracks for me on this album are “Jester’s Laughter”, “Last Man Fighting”, “Voice Inside My Head”, and “Hail The Brave”. There are all fine examples of really good power metal, although the entire album is full of good tunes. The lyrics all tell a story, and because of the clean vocals you can actually hear the story and understand it. I like the production of the album as well, all of the various instruments are well placed in the mix and you can easily hear what each one is doing. Sometimes this kind of thing gets taken for granted, but with more and more music being shabbily recorded and dumped into the market place, the good stuff stands out more easily.
I really only have one quibble with this album. It has 12 tracks and clocks in over 72 minutes. That’s an average of 6 minutes a track and it does make for a very long listen. I once heard it said that just because you can fit 80 minutes onto a CD it doesn’t mean you should, and there can be too much sometimes. As much as I love this genre this album is almost at the point of being too much, but barely saves itself. So check it out if you like power metal, this release is worth spending some time with.
For some reason unknown to most of us, this is the kind of power/prog metal that causes European audiences to lose their minds, but most American metal fans kind of shrug and give a collective, “Meh”. I’ve read others’ opinions on this and the most prevalent is that power metal often has classical roots, which are embedded in the European conscience, whereas American listeners are used to more blues based music. Whatever the case, if you dismiss power metal, you are cheating yourself out of some good stuff.
For me, power metal is a more positive, uplifting form of metal. Usually the lyrics contain a positive message. Kind of like that happy feeling you get from 80’s hair metal without the cheese and spandex. We who love metal don’t always have to listen to stuff that sounds like it was ripped from the bowels of hell with Asmodeus on lead vocals.
If you’re not familiar with Lance King, he has been the vocalist for Pyramaze and Balance of Power, and has sung on 25+ releases in his 21 year career, so he’s not a newcomer. This is, however, his first step out as a solo artist. The story goes that Lance decided at the end of June 2011 to do a solo album, began recruiting other musicians to help him out, and they had the entire album written, recorded, mixed and mastered 90 days later. So dude obviously knows how to get things done.
What of the results? Well, I’ll be right up front here with the one negative I have with this album. It is meant to be a concept album, but in many places the lyrics seem very forced to fit this concept, as well as some spoken word parts inserted for, apparently, narrative flow. But other than this, it’s a very good album. If you’re into Dream Theater, Symphony X, or the seemingly 100’s of European bands that play power/proggy metal, you will be very happy with this album.
Lance King has assembled a very competent cast of musicians and this is a very solid album. Most of it sounds pretty much like you would expect from this sub-genre, but there is also some very interesting instrumentation on some of the tracks. “Awakening” and “Manifest Destiny” manage to use what sound like real woodwind and traditional instruments without veering over into folk metal. “A Moment in Chiros”, the title track, has a nice change of tempo and feels as though it goes through a couple of movements. And since I ripped on the lyrics a little, I have to say that “Dance of Power” has some well worded political commentary for those who listen closely. Track 9, “Joy Everlasting” has some true ripping and head banging moments, which is another nice change of pace. “Sacred Systems” is probably the proggiest track on the album, and actually manages to remind me of Queensryche at the same time.
“A Moment in Chiros” is a solid solo outing for Lance King. So come on, American metal fans, give power metal a chance. You gotta listen to something between now and the next full moon when you hold your Satanic rites.
And even though you were so bloated you couldn't breath, let alone sleep, it was the greatest pizza ever?
In Paradisum is that experience, in album form.
It's everything you might imagine: European metal (e.g., Helloween, Scorpions, Stratovarius, Rising Force, etc.), modeled distantly off European composers, playing heavily-distorted metallic symphonic music; so cheesy it's beyond semantics: tapped guitar solos and, ahem, symphonic chord progressions....
In the right mood, it is goddamn glorious.
Track one, "Fields of Avalon" intro's with fucking harpsichord...! Then operatic vocals, telling a tale of epic woe over a riff George Lynch is mad he didn't write! An updated version of Yngwie's "I'll see the light tonight"....
[You're either totally in by now, or not. You know. If not-- you disgust me. Don't even look at me, Jesus. I can't stand the sight of you.]
Next-- the fucking solo starts with harpsichord! Then...! a guitar solo that would make Herman Li ejaculate!
"Come By The Hills," track 2-- again with the harpsichord! Yes, they will abuse it, and you will love it, bitch! Then: a menacing guitar/bass backup! Holy Fucking Buddha, could this get more awesome?!
Yes.
Yes it can.
Track 3, "Santiago," is symphonic Motorhead, complete with D-beat... somehow managing to squeeze in a solo reminiscent of Warrant, of all bands....
Holy Shit-- I'm actually trying to listen to this in sections, a bit at a time, but I can't stop listening... In Paradisum draws me in....
"Alayna," the exemplary power metal ballad, won't let me stop listening... it's every relationship I had my Junior year in High School, down to its up-bent final note... It's actually freaking me out how it's completely transporting me back to 1987.... I feel so sad about this chick Alayna, and I have no idea who she is... whoever she is, she fucked up the singer... whore!!
[This is what I'm talking about! This fucking cheesy shit grabs you and makes you take a stand...! Regardless of how stupid you sound!]
"Forevermore," (who else would dare call a song that?) starts with manic riffs, both heavy and melodic....
"Pilgrim Road," melody in the thin-guitar-stringed riff with keyboards, Helloween in 2011, essentially... face-fucking solo at 2:15....
Possible album highlight "Rhapsody in Black" is Accept meets Queensrÿche with a dash of Journey and Kiss' "I Was Made for Loving You...." "I walk in neon" suggests Geoff Tate and Co. again with the title and the opening harpsichord....
Closer "Don't Let me Go," another ballad with what is probably a cello in the background... this should've been on MTV's top 10 in 1986... sad, cheestastic: my inner teenager could not be more involved now....
You will hum every Goddamn inch of this album. It's a earworm waiting to happen, again and again....
All irony aside: In Paradisum is cheesy as shit-- but it's completely unironic, optimistic, exalted Heavy Metal, in all senses of the term-- and it will rock your goddamn face off, like nothing else.
"Irony" has a half-life. "Irony" is for hipsters and people too cool (read: afraid) to believe in something.s
Symfonia believe.
Mock them all you want, but they love their music.
The term "Heavy Metal" either has a religious, holy, sacred connotation to you... or you smirk at the notion.
If you know, and I mean know, in your heart of hearts, know in your very studded soul, in your denim-jacketed world, what Heavy Metal means--
There was a time in the late 80’s that I thought that these guys would have been mentioned in the same breath as Metallica, but alas, Metallica have climbed to the top of the social conscious for better or for worse, and Rage . . . well, I’m willing to bet that the smallest percentage of our readers even know who these guys are. Since the 90’s, I couldn’t mention their name without people confusing them with Rage Against the Machine, even though the music isn’t even in the same realm of reality. So, what happened to Rage? Why didn’t they become the household name that they so seemingly deserved to be? Eh, I could climb on top of my soapbox and wax on and off about the injustices of the music industry and the fickleness of the music fans, but I’m just too tired to fight today. It is what it is, and Rage has spent the past two decades toiling in their unobtrusive fashion throughout the European metal scene. I tried to keep tabs on them through the 90’s, lost their scent and ultimately forgot about the band except for those random days when I went on my Rage benders, spinning Perfect Man and Secrets in a Weird World to the point that I was whipped into a heavy metal frenzy. Then I saw it. In 2002, I found a copy of Unity at the record store.
On one hand, I was excited that the band had dug itself back to the glaring light of the sun for one more metallic display of technical wizardry for my benefit only. On the other hand, I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be the same Rage that I had spent the previous ten years cheering in my own private arena. Spoiler alert: I’m writing about it, right? The album is pure, unadulterated German technical power metal without all of the dreamy imagery of storming castles or battling an evil warlord on blood soaked fields. Rage play their brand of metal unlike any band that I’ve heard, incorporating elements of thrash, composing great four and five minute ditties that are musically dynamic making them feel a lot longer than they actually are, and pumping the choruses with so much melody that the songs remain memorable. Imagine the musical proficiency of a band like Rush, mix that with the melodic songwriting abilities of a band like, say Journey, for instance; and then add the aggressive distorted bombast of a band like Metallica. Combine all of this with some sleek production and you have the progressive power metal leanings of Rage.
Rage is as complete a band as they come, particularly when hoisting them up against their metal peers. The rhythm section of Peavy on bass and vocals and Mike Terrana on drums is an unnatural force of thunder and groove, but Unity is made most dynamic by the guitar virtuosity of Victor Smolski. In fact, this entire album is a clinic on six string mastery, as this Russian string bender not only provides excellent moments of shred, but provides beautiful passages of melody, and then stomps effect pedals in a way that would make Tom Morello embarrassed. Case in point, fast forward the disc to the eighth track, “Living My Dream.” The tune kicks off with Smolski grinding a palm muted riff filled with squeals and nuance, throws in some alternate picking, letting his left hand flow across the neck of the guitar, and then showers us with sparks of dexterous brilliance at the solo. Though, the solo isn’t just a lesson in fret hand dexterity, it’s also a lesson in pedal board footwork. The effects that this guy whips out are mind blowing, but maybe even more amazing is how he melds one sound into the next without it sounding like overkill. “Living My Dream” also highlights the bands stylistic range by hitting the song hard and heavy, full of aggression and paranoid tension, then they open the song up to huge and sweeping melodies, almost to the point of operatic. In essence, you’ll be banging your head, waving the horns, and singing like a bird . . . all at the same time!
For more on the heavy side of the coin, “Down” is about as good as it gets. Grinding and up tempo, reminiscent of Painkiller-era Priest, the song opens with more palm muted guitar riffery and flurried of double bass drums pitter-pattering their way in the background. Peavy’s vocals, always a mixed bag, are uber-melodic through the verses before working hard to get guttural for the choruses. Smolski’s guitar work at the solo is another head spinner, mixing in great combinations of scales and bar chords, hitting the effects board just enough to shake things up, injecting serious flavor in the smorgasbord of sound. Much of the same can be said about songs like “Insanity” and album opener, “All I Want.” Infectious melodies make it hard to forget the songs and it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be humming these songs during all of the quiet moments in the day.
“Dies Irae” flirts with epicness, opening with a choir chanting away in Latin while the band is dropping huge bursts of distortion in the background. As the choir fades out, the music encompasses all that is power metal; heavy grooves, up tempo drum beats, melodic vocals, awesome guitar riffs, and sweeping solos that will have you involuntarily playing air guitar in your office cubicle. This one features another stunning solo from Smolski. I love how he makes it sound so effortless, so fluid, so stream of conscious as his fingers do their lightning dance across the fret board. And even though, at times during the solo, it sounds like mere mindless noodling, on greater inspection of the work, it becomes readily apparent that this guy has more chops than your local butcher. Fucking incendiary approach to his playing, and now that I’ve come back to re-listen to Unity, I’m inspired to track down more of Rage’s later works. And speaking of Unity, the title track is a compositional game of chess, Risk, and Stratego . . . all wrapped into a seven plus minute instrumental epic, incorporating elements of jazz-fusion and classical within the realms of all that is heavy. Truly masterful!
I will probably always be a Rage fan because, unlike a lot of metalheads out there, I get them. At least, I think I get them. Peavy and company haven’t really changed their formula all that much. The level of musicianship has definitely increased since those earlier albums that I mentioned, and to listen to Unity after listening to something like Perfect Man or Execution Guaranteed is the equivalent of using a telephone in 1980 to using a cell phone today. It’s technically advanced, but basically does the same thing. In the case of Rage, their sound has become more full, more focused, more defined, and in some ways, easy to use. Fans of guitar driven music, especially metal, will love this album. How Victor Smolski isn’t mentioned in the same breath as all of the great virtuoso’s of the instrument is beyond me. Admittedly, getting used to Peavy’s voice will take some getting used to, but if you’re a Rush fan and it took you some time to get past Geddy’s voice, then this should be a cake walk. Alrighty . . . I’m off to track down Rage’s post-Unity material . . . I’ll catch up with y’all later. - Pope JTE
