So this is a review of an album by a Swiss band being written by an Egyptian guy living in Egypt and published on a website run by a guy living in Sweden. Don’t you just love the Internet? Anyway, Eluveitie is indeed a very Swiss band that draws its influences from the roots of the land; medieval Helvetian and Celtic history. Since I did not study European history or Anthropology at any level, I can’t verify the accuracy, relevance or truthfulness of the stories being told on Helvetios. What I can verify, though, is that the music is quite interesting; especially if you haven’t heard Eluveitie before. They use the standard metal gear of distorted guitars, drums and bass and they’ve added a multitude of native folk instruments to complement and emphasize that snapshot of medieval Europe they’re creating with their music.

Helvetios is not the first Eluveitie album that presents this initially captivating amalgamation. This has been their standard operating procedure from the get go. The reason I said ‘initially’ there is quite personal. When I first listened to their 2010 effort Everything Remains (as it Never Was), I was indeed captivated by the mere sounds of the instruments that were alien to my rusty ears. After a few listens, I got used to the Eluveitie setup and started to see past that first impression. The result wasn’t as surprising but still not bad at all. Song structure wasn’t very adventurous and the album felt more like it was a collection of songs cast in the same die than a fully coherent piece of work.

But all that is in the past. We have Helvetios now; a seventeen-track effort that stays true to its roots. Some might accuse Eluveitie of copying Dark Tranquillity while adding some weird instruments to make themselves stand out, but guess what? That’s not too far off from the truth. [In fact, that was the thrust of my entire review of their previous album. - AMG] The music is indeed standard Gothenburg-style melodic death metal but I wouldn’t label this as plagiarism because they do have their own sound. “Meet the Enemy”, “Helvetios” and “Havoc” are some of the straightforward bludgeoning tracks that don the folk melodeath cloak while cuts like “Scorched Earth”, “Hope”, intro “Prologue” and outro “Epilogue” create an atmosphere that supports the story. Yup, there’s a story. The reason why Helvetios tops Everything Remains (as it Never Was) in my book is that Helvetios is actually a concept album. The story behind it, of course, comes from medieval Helvetian and Celtic history and some parts of the lyrics are sung in the extinct Gaulish tongue.

So there’s a lot to absorb from Eluveitie and labeling them as ‘just another folk metal band’ would be quite unfair. However, I do feel the obligation to point out that there’s a high possibility that they won’t really please the tech-geeks. Individual showmanship is not what this Swiss bunch is about and that can make them sound a little stale after a few listens. Their song structures are pretty much straightforward all the time and their time signatures can hardly fool anyone. Then again, Helvetios is a pretty cool record and if you’re too pretentious too enjoy it because it’s not technical enough or whatever, then that’s your problem.

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1. Eluveitie – Everything Remains (As It Never Was) Review
2. Skyforger – Kurbads Review
3. Orphaned Land – The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR Review

Psycroptic may be one of the best known technical death metal bands out there today. Their high profile is largely the result of the fact that they make a type of technical death metal that moves about a mile a second, but while managing to not be too abstract. The band has historically had catchy hooks and great melodic parts, while never backing down on the guitar gymnastics and with vocals that have been just as diverse and unique as the music behind it. Psycroptic is the real deal, so there was never any hesitation on my part when I got a hold of the Tazmanian band’s 5th full-length The Inherited Repression.

Oh, and I knew what I was going to get out the gate. Even with the logo gone, The Inherited Repression screams “something grim comes this way,” and when the characteristic Psycroptic legato technical riff burst out the gate at about 57 seconds into “Carriers of the Plague” I was pretty much in. The whole album is a tour de force of Psycroptic‘s unique sound. There’s the groove parts (like the opening riff of the album, the amazing stuff in the middle of “From Scribe to Ashes”), the slower “breakdowny” and acoustic parts (but, this isn’t core and they’re few and far between) and the hyper fast and techy style riffs that have been with us since the beginning (some of my favorite riffs show up in final track “The Sleeper Has Awoken” but the whole album is littered with amazing riff after amazing riff). This is the stuff that keeps me excited for every time these guys put out a record.

Another major thing about this record that blows the previous albums out of the water is the production. While 2008′s (Ob)Servant was released on Nuclear Blast, the production on it wasn’t the best. Specifically the drums were heinously replaced and the sound was immensely annoying. The Inherited Repression inherited none of these production problems and it is easily the band’s most balanced album to date. The vocals are pretty far back in the mix and it helps to focus on the whirling guitars, bass and drums which are properly mixed this time around.

But I have a big complaint and, frankly, I’m a little confused as to what’s up. Jason Peppiat replaced Chalky three records ago, and since then the vocals, while not having been as extreme, were actually a little reminiscent of Trevor Strnad’s tendency to switch it up and be really dynamic. One of the things that made Psycroptic interesting to me was the way that the vocals really matched each riff and just as dynamic as the music. Unfortunately on The Inherited Repression vocalist Peppiat has pretty much stopped doing anything that isn’t in the mid-ranged scream area. While he does have two or three different tones that he uses, the death metal growl is completely gone, as well as the more At The Gates scream that he used to do—and that I really, really liked. This shouldn’t be that big a deal, right? It’s just death metal vocals. But unless the music has also lost a step (which, given that the songs are on average about 1:30 shorter than on their last record, is possible), I think that the vocals being so monotonous really has a detrimental effect on the music. While the riffs are solid, I have found that this record sags a bit in the middle, which none of the band’s previous material ever has. The only thing I can come up with is that the vocals were a lot more important than we ever gave them credit for.

I don’t want that to take away from the fact that Psycroptic is a great band and that the music on this record is pretty fucking solid. But I do feel like The Inherited Repression is a bit of a step backwards for a band that is as talented and dynamic as they come. Fans of the band will obviously still enjoy this record, but I’m not sure that it’s going to be met with as unanimous cheers and glee that the band’s previous work has.

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Oh man. Biohazard were one of those bands that really broke me into heavy music when I was just a tyke. While the band’s debut—which oddly enough was largely edited verbally—never did much for me, Urban Discipline, State of the World Address (I still have the version with the orange gel case somewhere), and the much maligned Mata Leao were all albums that dug into my 10 to 14 year old soul and left permanent impressions. Those records were tough, heavy slabs of machismo that with Type O Negative, Life of Agony and Sepultura paved the way towards the heavier side of tracks. Unfortunately, I grew away from these guys and—I’m going to be frank—their records really started going downhill in quality (turns out I *wasn’t* down for life). So, when I saw that the original lineup had reunited for a new record (before Evan Seinfeld left the band), I gotta say: I was interested in spite of myself.

Reborn in Defiance is just as self-conscious as I was conscious of the history and what it means that the original line-up of Biohazard was reuniting. The opening track of the album is all of the intros from their albums being rewound back to point zero—and when “Vengence Is Mine” burst out the gate with Evan’s characteristic hardcore scream and some fucking gang chants (“You think you know me? FUCK YOU!”)… I got chills. And a Bobby Hambel guitar solo to follow that up? It’s like shit hadn’t really changed at all. Except, well, that’s not really true if you let the record keep playing. What you find is a Biohazard that is maybe a bit older, a bit more jaded, a bit less hungry and really not as heavy (this isn’t to say that it’s not heavy).

While the band does still have balls-to-the-walls heavy and fast tracks like “Come Alive,” the aforementioned opener “Vengeance Is Mine,” “Skullcrusher” and “Never Give In,” there’s a softer, gentler and more melodious side that comes through on this album that I certainly don’t remember from their older material. Like on the final track “Season the Sky” or “You Were Wrong,” there’s a melancholy that permeates this album. Minor keys, dirty, icky guitar tones that reflect the blackness that older dudes see that maybe younger dudes don’t get. While Evan’s semi-rappy part over the beginning of “Vows of Redemption” puts a bit of a damper on the slide guitar work at the beginning of the track, it really stands out as something cool that the band never really tried before. It should be noted that “Vows of Redemption” has a melodious chorus, but one of the fucking crushingest riffs on the whole damned record.

Reborn in Defiance is really a tour de force of what sounds to me like post-Biohazard. It’s heavy, groove-laden with all the things that made Urban Discipline and State of the World Address great records in their own rights, but with a bit of a melancholic edge to it. I certainly have grown up a bit, myself, since being a huge fan of Biohazard. Time has moved me from the world of machismo and ballsy simplicity to more progressive tendencies and technical tastes. But Reborn in Defiance is still a damned good album, with some damned good material on it. While it’s a little on the long side (55 minutes) with Biohazard‘s not-so-inventive lyrics and that does kind of bring it down, there’s definitely something here.

If you dig heavy, groove-laden tracks and hardcore or were ever a Biohazard fan, I think it’s worth checking this record out. With Evan Seinfeld gone, it seems like this is going to be a one time deal, but Reborn in Defiance definitely taps into what made this band really special when they started out. It’s weird seeing them older and thinking of them as being sort of more melancholic than in your face—but that Brooklyn cocksure “HEY! FUCK YOU BUDDY!” swagger definitely still counts for something.

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Fragments of Death

While doing some online research, I noticed that the ‘black metal’ tag is immensely popular around this band which baffled me a little. The riffing all over Fragments of Death has a very modern death metal vibe to it and the production job makes the guitar work in general sound quite beefy. The drums are entirely un-black metal in the sense that there’s no continuous blasting that fills up a whole track and nothing sounds more trebly than it needs to be and the cymbals are actually individually distinguishable. The bass, as one would generally expect, remains in the background for the most part while doing its regular job quite reliably.

Sorting through these Fragments of Death will gradually leave some impressions on one’s fingers like how the high-pitched vocals on “The World Will Die in Flames” are reminiscent of those of In Mourning’s Tobias Netzell. Catchy melodies will also leave some marks like those encountered on “Living Nightmare”, “See No Future” and “Where Angels Do Not Fly”. Keyboards make various inspired appearances through the album but again in un-black metal fashion, though this may make me sound like an obsessive fellow when it comes to tags. Labeling aside, Graveworm have added some variety to this album as exemplified on “Anxiety” which has a sense of urgency to its 6/4 chords and incorporation of female vocals.

Of course when a band is at its eighth album, expectations may have an intoxicating effect on the fans who have invested some emotions in the albums from the days of yore. You never expect a great band from the past to go all Heritage or Illud Divinum Insanus on your ass. However, being the new comer I am to this Italian conglomerate, I shall admit that I enjoyed Fragments of Death without having any prior expectations. But it doesn’t feel like it will stay with me for a long time as it doesn’t really crack the wall with its impact. The production job is quite what you’d expect from a band with this much experience under its belt and the composition is good but not groundbreaking. Fragments of Death will certainly stir a few mosh-pits and that’s good enough for many listeners for a while.

Related posts:

1. Allegaeon – Fragments of Form and Function Review
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3. Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Mythological Cold Towers – Immemorial

To be frank with you, I wasn’t sure whether to look forward to this one or not. On the one hand, Nightwish has a hype about them that I’ve never really quite understood. While they’re a good band that has produced some good albums (this Angry Metal Guy, for example, really enjoyed Once quite a bit), the rabidity of their fanbase and the standard to which they are held has always been very surprising to me. I have literally met people who don’t listen to anything else. Apparently their songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen (you know, the pirate from that horrible series of movies) has stalkers fans that are so hardcore about him, that they send letters to his mother to tell her that they disapprove of whom he’s dating. But honestly, I’ve never thought of the band as anything other than a pretty good, female fronted symphonic power metal band. And, well, after Dark Passion Play, I wasn’t very excited anyway. Because let’s face it. That was not a good record. So when I heard that they were releasing a movie (especially given that Tuomas is already in the movies) and a soundtrack to it, I was not excited. But Imaginaerum managed to win me over. 

Really, it starts out in a way that I don’t think I would have ever expected and started drawing me in slowly. “Taikatalvi” features Tarot vocalist Marco on a soft track that apparently translates into “Magical Winter” in English. This song—with no female vocals, some piano, a music box sound and an orchestra—sets the stage for the whole record perfectly by both building up the feeling and taking you by surprise. The surprise is important, because despite being a Nightwish record, it varies a lot more than you would expect. While it does launch into a standard record opener (in the first single from the record “Storytime”), it lets you know that this album will be a little on the unpredictable side. And surprisingly from this pop metal act—it is.

Though, don’t get me wrong. This is obviously a Nightwish record and if you’re not a fan of the style, you probably won’t like it. Though, what’s not to like? The songs are snappy, with sharpened hooks that have you singing them for days in spite of yourself. The arrangements are actually interesting and smart, the orchestrations are huuuuuge, bombastic and beautiful and the production is very good (but wow is this record LOUD—too loud, as it peaks in my speakers). And what’s good about it is that the band never settles into one thing really specifically. The songs don’t really fade into each other as can happen with certain types of records. Instead you’ve got title track pop rockers (like the aforementioned ”Storytime” and “I Want My Tears Back”), followed by mid-paced creepers like “Ghost River” and “Scaretale.” You’ve got a musical number called “Arabesque” and a kind of noir, smooth jazz(esque) track in “Slow, Love, Slow” which Anette acquits in a way that La Prima Donna never could have. Hell, you even have Celtic folk bits that sound like they should be on a Loreena McKennitt record (while breaking into a Morricone/The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly sounding whistling at the end), not a Nightwish one.

Honestly, I only have a few complaints about this record. I guess, firstly, I think Anette is kind of a weak vocalist. This is not to ignite any kind of “they should have kept Tarja” debate—because frankly, they shouldn’t have. It just seems like she only really hits her stride in the poppy choruses of these songs and sometimes she brings down songs on the softer side (Tarja was the same). Her accent gets a tad cartoonish at times (“At the end of the reeever!”), but mostly I just think she doesn’t have the same grace as someone like Helena Haaparanta, who is just such a much more dynamic and powerful performer. But this is offset by the fact that Marco and choirs are used very wisely, and Anette feels more like a part of an ensemble than La Diva. My second complaint is that the last 12 minutes are completely wasted on citing lines from the movie and then recapping the whole album as an overture (the title track “Imaginaerum”). So a record that could have ended with a bang, makes me just want to shut it off before it’s done. That’s a shame. Finally, sometimes I feel like Tuomas is quoting himself a bit much. I actually twice went back to check older records to see if “Storytime” and “Last Ride of the Day” were using similar riffs or melodies from previous records. They never did it, as far as I can tell, but they got really, really close a couple of times.

Still, Imaginaerum is a huge step above the previous record and makes it feel like Nightwish really is on top of the world again. Hell, they even have a song on here that impressed me poetically (“The Crow, the Owl, and the Dove”)—something I never thought possible. The lyrics on that track are actually bordering on really good and the performances are outstanding. On top of that, the record plays well like an original sound track and is everything you expect from Finland’s biggest pop sensation. It’s simultaneously beautiful, while introducing some heavier elements that work well and taking the orchestral presence to a new level. It’s good that these guys got the chance for a do over after the last one because it’s heads and shoulders above it.

Well played, pirate boy, well played.

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The guys in Textures are smart guys and they make smart metal. Their brand of metal has a lot of technicality and there’s no tediousness in their approach to song writing. So if you’re a two-digit IQ kind of listener, please don’t bother us with any dim-witted comments you may have concerning how pretentious you think these Dutch fellows sound. Textures started to blossom as a unique band with their second album Drawing Circles and they cemented their sound quite impressively with 2008’s Silhouettes. Some line-up changes brought in a new vocalist and a new keyboardist which consequently had them take three years to put out album number four but it’s one that is definitely worth the wait.

Dualism clocks in at fifty-six minutes, making it the longest record in the Textures discography. “Arms of the Sea” opens up with some staple Textures arrangements and finishes off with a brilliant riff at its end, setting a high bar for what’s to come after it. Now the guitars and the drums sound the same as they did on Silhouettes but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Dualism contains lots of high-IQ riffage and skin-pounding that will have you doing air guitar while trying to catch those intelligent ride bell accents. “Singularity” and the previously released single “Reaching Home” are a couple of examples of the astounding technicality on offer while “Stoic Resignation” and “Burning the Midnight Oil” burst with extra shots of awesomeness and stellar musicianship.

New vocalist Daniël de Jongh shows off his vocal command on the aforementioned album opener to put any doubts that may linger among old fans to rest. He also proves why he was the man chosen for the job more than once throughout Dualism as so starkly pointed out by that slightly hollowed-out scream on “Sketches from a Motionless Statue” which brings a strong sense of urgency to a great track. De Jongh’s vocal versatility makes the ferocity of the tracks ebb and flow on various occasions which would discourage any naysayer trying to accuse Textures of being ‘trendy’ or ‘Meshuggah wannabes’; even after listening to that confusing drum beat in the first couple of minutes of “Consonant Hemispheres”.

So if you’re a tech-geek like me or someone who enjoys some amazing drumming or even a metal fan who hasn’t even heard of Textures, do yourself a favor and listen to Dualism. It will need a few spins to start showing its true color but you’ll enjoy the ride. The line-up changes haven’t had a detrimental effect on the sound of Textures; quite the contrary. It’s one of those rare albums one stumbles upon each year that masterfully balance adroit instrumentation, flexible vocals and top-notch production while exceeding the fifty minute mark without a single dull moment.

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Just so you feel appropriately thankful, Steel Druhm survived storm, surf and medieval living conditions to bring you this damn review. With that out of the way, there’s a new Edguy album out, its called Age of the Joker. Now, I like old Edguy quite a lot. They had a really classic Euro-power metal sound and some serious songwriting chops. As they went along however, they went from their original power template into more of a hard rock/arena rock style and with an increasing sense of tongue-in-cheek silliness that I didn’t care for (Rocket Ride is a mighty lame album with a few good songs mixed in). Of course, main-man Tobias Sammet is also the mastermind behind the Avantasia albums and I’m a fanboy, especially of 2010′s The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon releases. The man can sing and the man can write, there’s no denying it. Therefore it’s quite a letdown to hear how mellow, safe and uneventful a lot of Age of the Joker is. Sure, there are the usual big Edguy anthems here and there, but by and large, this is a pretty tepid, pedestrian release by a band capable of much much more. Way closer to pompous cock rock than classy Euro-power, it goes down a road I’m not that into but it still has its moments of charm and fun.

Lengthy opener “Robin Hood” is a study in why the current Edguy is a mixed bag. At times classic mid-paced power metal, it features cringe-worthy lyrics and a glib sense of humor that doesn’t necessarily help the music. It also has its great moments like the memorable, anthemic chorus and the segment around the half way point that sounds like something off the almighty Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. With all that in one single-serving song, its tough to know what to make of it. After that its a pretty diverse selection of moods and styles, some work, some don’t. The tracks with a more classic Edguy sound like “Nobody’s Hero” and  ”Breathe” are good, entertaining songs with big, hooky choruses. Others that deviate in interesting ways like the album standout ”Rock of Cashel” (very cool Irish jig music interspersed) are a lot of fun. Semi-power ballad “Fire at the Downline” is also interesting and sounds like classic Krokus, yes, Krokus! However, the honky tonk/country western tinged “Pandora’s Box” takes awhile to get itself going and the cheeseball 80′s MTV rock of “Two Out of Seven” (think “99 Luft Ballons”) isn’t too good (and is marred by out of place profanity). On top of that, there are TOO many power ballads (“Behind The Gates to Midnight World”, “Every Night Without You” “Fire on the Downline”) which drags the energy quotient way down. For all its accessibility, its a much less interesting and far less rocking affair than 2008′s Tinnitus Sanctus.

Nothing is wrong with Sammet’s voice. He sounds solid as always and carries the songs and shines during his big theatrical choruses. He’s the lifeblood of Edguy and he performs well vocally. It’s his songwriting   muscle that seems partially deflated this time around. There are a few solid Edguy numbers for sure but more than half of the material here feels like stuff left over from the Avantasia project or previous Edguy albums. Songs like “Behind The Gates” and “Two Out of Seven” are good enough for B-side releases but not for a the big show. The musicianship is tight as always, the guitar riffs and solos have their moments but the guitar sound is too often muted, relegated to the background and dominated by the keyboards and vocals. Many of the songs lack any real heft or punch because of that.

While I don’t really like the silly, cock rocking direction Edguy continue to move in, Age of the Joker does grow on you if you give it time. It isn’t very heavy or aggressive and it doesn’t come anywhere near the level of classics like Hellfire Club (or even Tinnitus Sanctus for that matter) but you can do far worse in the power metal world. Tobias is a unique personality and does what he wants, I’m not going to fault him for that. However, I won’t be listening to this album much either. So, when does the next Avantasia album come out?

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In 2009 a record came sort of out of nowhere that really took me by surprise, and frankly, kicked my ass something fierce. It was from Italian technical death metallers Fleshgod Apocalypse and the record was called Oracles. What I loved about the album, and the thing that made it so addicting, was that it was beautifully melodic and unabashedly technical at the same time. It blended these two things into what was easily the most unique technical death metal or melodic death metal record that had been released in a very, very long time. I was blown away (and still am). I didn’t review it at the time, but it made the #3 spot on my Top 10(ish) of 2009 and I have been waiting for the follow up ever since. Agony, the band’s first record on Nuclear Blast records, is that follow up and it’s a great album that bugs me. 

Agony is functionally not the same band as the one that performed on Oracles. Well, the core is the same, but the band has added keyboards and orchestrations after the Mafia EP [Also, why change the logo? Christophe's logo was fantastic! - AMG]. Adding the pianos and orchestrations gives the band a feel much more similar to Dimmu Borgir, Septicflesh or Behemoth and adds them to the lump of the pile that is orchestrated death metal. The keys and orchestrations add a pompous, bombastic character to the music that works pretty well for what they’re doing—it certainly is fun to listen to at times and adds a dynamic to technical death metal that makes it easier to stomach and adds more ups and downs. It also creates a bed, of sorts, on which the music lays. There are 8 tracks on this album, plus an orchestral intro and an piano outro that are truly beautiful. It’s worth noting, as well, that the orchestrations aren’t cheesy or poorly done—they’re similar to Mustis’s work in Dimmu Borgir in sound quality and composition. They’re quite good.

But adding orchestrations to Fleshgod Apocalypse took away the thing that made them the most interesting, in my opinion. In my discussions with other metal heads I’ve noticed that I’m one of the few people who has noticed this, but Oracles is such a beautifully melodic record and all the neo-baroque and neoclassical goodness was being carried on the guitars. This created a face raping heaviness to the world’s most melodically pleasing music. Agony hits you in the face with it (as do the faux tuxedos that they’re wearing in the promo pictures now). It’s like the musical equivalent of the “rebirth” scene in V for Vendetta—you know, where Natalie Portman’s character comes out with her arms stretched into the rain. Her character remade, like V’s had been of fire. But the directors don’t trust you to be smart enough to figure that shit out on your own, so instead they splice the two together just in case you’re too fucking stupid to notice that it’s happening.

So while everyone is going on about how this record is “technical perfection,” I ask: where? Yeah, it’s heavy. But the technicality on the guitars has taken a step back because everything interesting that was happening on the guitars has been moved to the keyboards. Is there a melody? Well hell yes there is: you’re being smashed in the face with it over and over and over and over. “HEY LOOK! WE’RE ITALIANS REFERENCING OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE!!” And that’s fine, I guess. But it leaves something to be desired by lumping the band into a growing trend (orchestral death metal), while taking away what the band was initially so damned good at.

Of course, now that I’ve got that off my chest, it should be stated that this record is cool. This is better than the new Septicflesh and anything Behemoth has done since Demigod. The clean vocals that they’ve added worked well on ”Thru Our Scars” and they work well here on “The Hypocrisy” but it becomes quickly obvious that this guy is a one trick pony who is singing outside of his comfort zone. But the record flows fantastically, using the orchestral bed to segue between tracks in a way that holds the album together. This is probably Agony‘s strength compared with the previous material: it is a very cohesive and excellently written record that seems to be thematically linked. Every track is well-composed and the orchestrations and vocal variations work to separate the band from its Hour of Penance past.

I suggest that fans of the band check out this record. They’ll find some improvements (certainly the drums are less bad than they were previously) and some great song-writing that is similar to Oracles even if its substantively different. New fans interested in checking out an orchestral band in the vein of a tech death Dimmu or Septicflesh should not hesitate to check this record out. But given my expectations this album is still a bit disappointing for me. I think it’s going to take some time to get used to. And who knows, then maybe I’ll join in the ass kissing festivities. But until then: this is a great record, but it could’ve been better.

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When one thinks of Polish death metal, the names Vader and Behemoth immediately spring to mind as the standard bearers. Both gained enormous exposure and both have been pretty consistent in output over the years. While I admit that not every Vader release has blown me away, more often than not they delivered heavy, satisfying death to the unhinged masses. 2009′s Necropolis was a one of their better albums and found them sounding hungry and hostile. Now, along comes Welcome to the Morbid Reich to steamroll it in short order. Featuring an overhauled, revamped lineup including a new guitarist and bassist, Vader seems to have a large chip on their collective shoulder and aim to prove they’re the one true lord of Pol-death. This is a WAY faster, heavier album than Necropolis, with way more blasting and pummeling. Its almost uniformly played at blistering speeds and aggressive to the point of exhaustion. In fact, its pretty much a companion piece to the new Hate Eternal album with a lot of similarities in style. There’s also some stylistic nods to countrymen Behemoth and even some throwbacks to old Deicide and Malevolent Creation. Its real nasty business from start to finish and its gives out way more of a ferocious beating than I expected.

After a decently imposing intro they come after you with “Return to the Morbid Reich” and it’s classic Vader in all its raw glory, just sped up some. Peter’s raspy shout/roar is in good form and he sounds plenty pissed off. New guitarist Spider brings a strong technical style to the fold and along with Peter they light things up with a speed drenched assault. Spider’s solos are impressive and almost neo-classical in style. You can clearly hear Behemoth in the writing here, complete with the blackened edges. From there it’s song after song of high velocity death with the brakes removed. The highlights are “Come and See My Sacrifice” (very fluid, impressive solos), “Don’t Rip The Beast’s Heart Out” (cool groove riffing and inhuman drumming). The best cut is clearly “I Am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul” with its enormously catchy, chunky, grooved out rumble and subdued but effective symphonics. Runner up looks to be “Black Velvet and Skulls of Steel” with a satisfyingly slow, grinding slog and a surprisingly melodic solo that could have been on a While Heaven Wept album.

Although most of Welcome is played at insanely high speed, these guys are tight as hell and technical to boot. Spider has a number of really cool solos and the riffing is universally good, gritty and crunchy. The drumming by   Pawel Jaroszewicz is completely ridiculous and berserk. It’s a real shame he left the band following the recording of Welcome. Peter’s roars are effective and while he was never one of my favorite death vocalists, he brings his A game here.

Unlike the last album, the songs are longer this time, between three and five minutes. Between the longer durations and the wildly fast trashing, things can get overwhelming by the album’s back half. A little more variety in tempos might have been nice. Another slight issue is how high Peter is placed in the mix. His vocals are competing for space with the guitars and winning all too often. Other than these minor complaints, this is a big bad ass beating with a lot of wild music to absorb and little details to notice.

With this album, Vader may have reclaimed the top slot in the Polish pecking order. Welcome is a powerfully effective fusion of old school death and the technical speed of more modern bands. This is another great album that should embarass Morbid Angel as they sit in the time out corner, thinking about what they did. Finally, a reich I can support!

Related posts:

1. Vader – Necropolis Review
2. Entrails – The Tomb Awaits Review
3. Hate – Erebos Review

If you hadn’t figured this out yet, all of us over here at Angry Metal Guy, myself maybe most of all, are horrible Symphony X fanboys (and girls). It’s hard not to be fans of what are easily the best progressive power metal band of the modern era. So the coming of Iconoclast has been a so-called Big Fucking Deal™ since it was first announced all those months ago. The record, which is another stab at a concept album, basically sounds like it borrows heavily from The Matrix and any other “The robots are coming!” kind of stories, you know the type. So, it was with genuine curiosity and fanboy-tinged apprehension that I first put on Iconoclast when I got it all those weeks ago.

To my great surprise, Iconoclast opens with “the epic” track, which clocks in at 10:52 and is an appropriate start to this. While there are some technology sounds that come through early on, the music here is very much traditional Symphony X fare, with techy riffing, choral work in Latin, and even a harmonized guitar swell fadeout that instantaneously took me back to “Evolution (The Grand Design)” from V: The New Mythology Suite. This leads into “The End of Innocence,” which you’ve all probably heard by now as its the single, and the track is good. But again, pretty standard Symphony X fare—nothing surprising at all. The very beginning of “Dehumanized” also starts out with more “technology sounding” keyboard work and some very cool guitar work before jumping into the riffing stuff. Here, this kind of ballsy Paradise Lost sound really comes through as Russell Allen sings straight from his nutsack and the riff kind of punches you in a gut with a nice borderline tech-death sound—classic Symphony X.

OK, to cut myself short before I accidentally fall into the “track-by-track” kind of review that bores me to tears, you may have noticed a pattern. While the musicianship is top notch (holy goddamned these people make me feel sad for even ever dreaming that I could be in a band), Iconoclast isn’t really breaking new ground. Instead, it feels a bit like they went out jogging on a familiar trail, if you get my meaning. Now, this is a very pleasant trail full of riffs that you want to headbang to, solos that make you wet yourself with envy, orchestrations that make Rhapsody of Fire look like a bunch of amateurs and the best goddamned heavy metal vocalist in the entire world showing off why he’s the best; but it’s very comfortable material. And while I love it, and I listen to it willingly and really enjoy it, there is no way that it lives up to the glory of what I see as the band’s best records V: The New Mythology Suite—which awed and inspired with its seamless orchestral approach—and Paradise Lost—which broke out into the more aggressive path that the band is continuing on Iconoclast.

Of course, all of that said, there isn’t a bad song on this record. “Heretic” impressed with a great chorus and some classic Romeo riffing that is beyond enjoyable to groove along to. “Electric Messiah” opens up with an awesome progressive piece with some fancy fingerwork before leading into the opening verse and has a classy pre-chorus that really s hows off Allen’s versatility as a vocalist. And “When All is Lost” is the band’s 9 minute concluding power ballad sounding track and it works to close up the record with some swelling orchestras and piano—before segueing a bit like “Accolade II” into proggy material and finally into something that almost sounds like it could’ve come off a stadium rock record. In all honesty, this might be my favorite track on the record, though it’s definitely hard to say.

But I still have some complaints that I haven’t really had previously: first, while this record is well produced, it’s overmastered and peaking. Second, I really feel like this may be the band’s weakest lyrical outing. While the music is fantastic, there are some choices on here that native speakers should know sound cheesy, particularly “Bastards of the Machine” is uninspired, but the other lyrics on here aren’t winners either. It’s possible that the concept sounded like a winner, but then when they got to writing they realized they were coming up short for material, or who knows—but I’ve never had that feeling about the band before.

Finally, I know there is a special edition of this album that includes two extra tracks and a different tracklisting. What is this about? As a band working on a concept album, you’d think that the flow would be key to writing the best possible album. What makes V such a towering icon of progressive metal, in my oh-so-humble opinion, is that every note is in the right place. I don’t know if there were monetary issues or what, but this is weird and I wonder if the record didn’t suffer because they chose not to include those extra tracks. All of that said, what we’re left with is still a very good album—I know it’s hard to get that through given what appears to be a laundry list of complaints, but it really has some awesome material on it and is really a solid album—but it’s not on par with the band’s earlier material. Fans will like it, but I suspect there will be grumblings among the uninspired and disappointed. I have pre-ordered my special edition and wait eagerly to find out whether my diagnosis is correct.

Related posts:

1. Symphony X – Iconoclast Art, Tracklisting and Release Date Revealed!
2. Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony Review
3. Symphony X – Two New Songs on YouTube!