Angry Metal Guy

Edguy // Age of the Joker
Rating: 3.0/5.0 —Not their best joke
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Websites: edguy.net/ myspace.com/edguy
Release Dates: EU: Out now!  US: 09.13.2011

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. Continue reading

Bloodbound // Unholy Cross
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Bloodless (and Breedless)
Label: AFM Records
Websites: www.bloodbound.se | myspace.com/bloodboundonline
Release Dates: EU: 2011.03.18 | US: 03.29.2011

When I first heard that super talented metal vocalist Urban Breed had left the excellent Tad Morose I was very unhappy. When he popped up in the strangely corpse painted but great classic metal band Bloodbound for their 2006 debut, I was happy again. Then he left, then he came back, and now he’s left yet again. C’mon man, what the hell are you doing? As the ever fickle Mr. Breed contemplates his career options, the boys in Bloodbound soldiered on without him and are set to release their fourth platter Unholy Cross.  With vocals now being handled by Patrik Johnansson (Dawn of Silence), Unholy Cross finds Bloodbound bouncing back and forth between their usual classic metal sound and modern Euro-power metal similar to Edguy, Mystic Prophecy and Stratovarius. Gone is the slick blend of classic and modern metal they explored on 2009′s excellent Tabula Rasa and sadly, a lot of the overall excitement seems leeched from their sound this time as well. While still worthwhile, this is inferior to their earlier material, especially Tabula Rasa. Continue reading

Royal Jester // Night is Young
Rating: 1.5/5.0 – Surely you Jest
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: myspace.com/royaljestermetal
Release Dates: EU: 12.04.2010 | US: ?

Hate is a very strong word and perhaps it gets thrown around too casually these days. After all, hate is a very ugly, negative emotion and even the angriest of metal guys should strive to avoid it. With that said, I hate Royal Jester’s debut album Night is Young. Maybe that sounds harsh but it’s the sad truth. It isn’t the musical style that brings me to hate it. Royal Jester plays Euro power metal and I really like Euro power metal when it’s done properly. I even like some of what might be called “happy power metal.” In fact, it seems I have become the resident power metal geek around these parts and that’s why this review ended up in my lap. However, after sustained, repeated listens to this album with an open mind, and giving this young band from Sweden every possible benefit of the doubt, there isn’t much good to say about Night is Young.

Royal Jester’s take on Euro power metal is painfully generic and unoriginal and it’s done in such a way that absolutely nothing about them stands out and grabs the listener. It seems as if these guys formed a band and ran down the Official Power Metal Checklist™ without any further thought. Fast guitars without edge or bite? Check. Rapid fire double bass runs? Check. Bouncy, happy sounding, utterly non-threatening music? Check, double check. Toss in an extremely nondescript singer and you have Royal Jester. In fact, everything about this band is derivative. From the Edguy themed album cover to the Edguy themed band name (I will refrain from bashing their completely awful name to avoid excessive crankiness).

Of the ten songs on Night is Young, none really stand out from one another. Each attempts to emulate the style of Freedom Call, Insania or Axenstar and all generally fail because this is just so damn plain and average. Of the lot, I suppose “Wings of Tomorrow” and “Born Again” qualify as best in show, but when things are this dismal, what difference does it make? Worst in show is clearly “If You Were Mine,” which is one of the most insipid, cringe worthy, and giggle inducing “metal” songs to come along in quite some time. This is the song you would NOT want to be playing when your other heavy metal buddies came over. Honestly, even your little sister would smack you around if she heard you listening to this pablum.

Basically, there isn’t a whole lot more to say about these guys and why prolong the pain? There is an old expression that applies here. “Success is easy, just be the first, best or different.” Royal Jester fails at all three. They are a clone made from another clone. Nothing here is new, interesting, exciting or even well done. It isn’t heavy and it sure isn’t powerful and only serves to exemplify why power metal has gotten a bad name among the metal intelligentsia. There are only two reasons I can see anyone buying this album: Either because they must have every new power metal album that comes out or they mistakenly thought it was Royal Hunt [or they're from the same town. Support local music! - AMG]. If you want to hear a quality power metal album, hunt down the new release from Sinbreed and see how this is supposed to be done. Stay far, far away from this flowery, candy- coated fiasco.

Avantasia // Angel of Babylon
Rating: 4.25/5.0 — Excellent (but not as good as TWS)
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: tobiassammet.com | myspace.com/tobiassammet
Release Dates: EU: 03.04.2010 | US/CA: 05.04.2010

Tobias Sammet, the voice of Edguy and mastermind behind Avantasia,  clearly doesn’t mess around when it comes to self-confidence and ambition.  Few artists would have the sheer cojones to undertake as daunting of a project as a double album with over 2 hours of music featuring no less than 19 guest musician.  That however is exactly what he serves up with The Wicked Symphony and this album, Angel of Babylon (being Parts II and III of The Scarecrow trilogy respectively).

Both halves of this double album focus on epic, symphonic and bombastic power metal and as you may or may not have noticed, I loved the companion album The Wicked Symphony.  Angel of Babylon continues right where Symphony leaves off and gives you yet another whole hour of over- the- top, melodramatic metal goodness.  I will say upfront that this is the weaker of the two albums. However, that difference is minor and Angel is still chock full of amazingly conceived and executed metal anthems loaded with stellar performances by a veritable “who’s who” of the metal universe.

Look no further than the opener, “Stargazers” to see what I mean as Tobias, Jorn Lande, Russell Allen and Michael Kiske join forces to pummel and enthrall with vocal brilliance in a 9 minutes plus masterpiece of pure metal.   What makes this song work over its considerable  length is the way Tobias allows his guest vocalists to share the spotlight with him and showcase their individual vocal prowess. Of course, none of that would matter if the song itself wasn’t worth the talent involved. Fortunately, Tobias brought his best to the composing table and the overall pacing and ebb/flow of this song is perfect.  In fact, it’s over before you realize it, which is the sign of a good song.

From there we get a traditional metal gem in the title track.  This song rocks hard and rides free with a great riff line and epic dueling vocals between Tobias and Jorn Lande, who once again shows why he is considered the “voice of rock.” Quite simply, this man can shake the rafters with his gruff and powerful delivery.  The Tobias/Jorn dueling duet formula works even better later on with ”Promised Land,” another storming metal anthem  with a no- holds- barred vocal war being waged .

Angel shakes things up and takes more chances  than The Wicked Symphony, especially with “Death is Just a Feeling” where Tobias teams up with Jon Oliva of Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra fame, for a strange, eerie ditty that drifts back and forth between horror movie soundtrack and screaming metal powerhouse.  This song really grows on you and has some great whiskey soaked vocal work by Oliva.  Likewise, “Symphony of Life” provides another twist with its gothic, moody rock style with excellently performed vocals by German rock singer Cloudy Yang (who also provided backing vocals on Edguy’s Tinnitus Sanctus).

The album winds down with “Journey to Arcadia,” another lengthy tour de force with Tobias, Russell Allen, Jorn Lande and Bob Catley all throwing their weight around vocally.  This one builds nicely and  keeps the listener onboard by continual changes in pace and power and concludes things on a high note.

Looking back over the course of the 11 tracks on display, only “Alone I Remember “ failed to initially impress, but even that song improved with repeated listens.  As a longtime fan of traditional and power metal, all I can say about these two albums is, WOW! Wicked and Angel have both been in nonstop rotation in my car, iPod and home stereo and with 22 tracks, you get a ton of variety which keeps things from getting stale too quickly.  Tobias Sammet has outdone himself and truly proven himself to be a great songwriter as well as a great metal voice and he should be proud of what he has accomplished on Angel and The Wicked Symphony. I don’t envy him should he ever attempt to top this double masterpiece but I sure hope he gives it a shot.

Avantasia // The Wicked Symphony
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: tobiassammet.com | myspace.com/tobiassammet
Release Dates: EU: 03.04.2010 | US/CA: 05.04.2010

So here we have The Wicked Symphony, one of two new albums released this week by Avantasia, the brainchild of one Tobias Sammet  (Angel of Babylon being the companion album).  Many of you likely know Mr. Sammet as the singer of German power metallers Edguy.   Avantasia is his long running mega-sized side project where he collaborates with varied musicians across the metal/hard rock spectrum and experiments with moods and sounds that might not necessarily fit within the paradigm of the more straightforward Edguy.  Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon complete the trilogy started by 2008’s Scarecrow album.  For an easy point of reference, think of Avantasia as a more metalized and less (but still quite) self-indulgent version of Ayreon.

Upfront, I will admit that my humble take on musical projects with numerous guest musicians is that they tend to be  dicey propositions and keeping a sense of consistency, flow and unity from track to track can be tough to pull off.  Therefore, with all relevant biases identified for your benefit, my cynical self approached this with suitable caution, suspicion and skepticism.

After a very Conan the Barbarian-esque opening, the festivities kick off in fine form with the title track, a rousing, stomping number with Tobias engaging in very effective dueling vocals with Jorn Lande (Jorn, ex-Mastermind) and Russell Allen (Symphony X).   Even at nine plus minutes, the song never gets boring because of the sheer quality of songwriting and musicianship on display.  This is 100% epic, bombastic power metal with memorable hook after hook.  If I were forced at gunpoint to compare it to a more established band, I would have to say Episode era Stratovarius.

From there we get Tobias accompanied by the legendary Klaus Meine of Scorpions fame on “Dying for an Angel” (the first single and video) with Meine’s vocal lines really sounding classy and oh so familiar and adding a real legitimacy to the proceedings.   Thereafter we get “Scales of Justice” with the mighty Tim “the Ripper” Owens sounding extra mighty and in full air raid siren mode.  This track sounds like it could have been lifted right off of Judas Priest’s Jugulator (if that album didn’t suck) and is pretty damn heavy!  Both songs benefit from the trade off vocal approach and catchy songwriting with big choruses that really get stuck in your head after one or two listens.

What makes this album (and Angel of Babylon) work is the fact that Tobias is a gifted songwriter with a knack for wringing the maximum power and drama from his guest’s performances as well as making things memorable and catchy as hell.  It is important to note that the musical focus of all the tracks is centered around the vocals rather than the guitar.  This works because Mr. Sammet clearly did his homework and selected some major metal talent to join the campaign and his hired guns do not disappoint.  At times it sounds like each is trying to outdo the others for the title of Lord of Metal Pipes (with Jorn usually winning by sounding like he just gargled moonshine before recording his vox).  A perfect example of this vocal combat is Runaway Train where Tobias, Jorn Lande, Bob Catley and Michael Kiske (of old school Helloween fame) all hurl vocal lines at each other over the course of a slowly building eight minute plus epic power ballad.

Despite featuring different singers and musicians from track to track, the entire album manages to feel like one cohesive whole and that whole kicks a whole lot of ass!!!  If there is a downside, it’s that a few songs lack the power and punch of the previously mentioned standout cuts, though none are complete throwaways.  If you forgive the minor filler, this is a standout vocal driven power metal album that really lets the vocals do all the talking! Highly recommended to power metal aficionados.