Angry Metal Guy

Fullforce // One
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — One half of a damn good album
Label: SPV Records
Websites: fullforce.se | myspace.com/fullforcesweden
Release Dates: EU: Out Now!  US: 07.26.2011

Well, here’s a release I can easily see falling through the Angry Metal Cracks. One is the first (and maybe last) release by a supergroup of sorts led by Michael Andersson, vocalist for Swedish melodic metallers Cloudscape and featuring members of such renowned acts as Dream Evil, Hammerfall and Yngwie Malmsteen. Now, we all know supergroups can be very iffy propositions and Fullforce is no different. It seems whenever a group of talented musicians get jammed into a room to write and record, disaster is as likely to result as triumph. So where does this one fall? Pretty much exactly in the middle of the two extremes. There’s some top notch, super melodic metal here and some rather generic, boring duds. What makes this album of particular annoyance to Steel Druhm is how good the good stuff is. With some real winners on display, its a total buzz kill to have roughly half the album fizzle out and fail to keep the momentum going Fullforce (yeah, you knew it was gonna happen at some point). OK, it’s time for your slightly bitter host to examine One in a non-bitter fashion. Continue reading

Battle Beast // Steel
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — The power of steel, the scent of cheese
Label: Hype Records
Websites: hypeproductions.fi/battlebeast | myspace.com/battlebeastband
Release Dates:  Out Worldwide!

So there Steel Druhm was, sitting with a promo entitled Steel by the unknown Finns called Battle Beast. A quick perusal of the song titles made it clear they graduated Summa Cum LOUDLY from the Manowar School of Song Namery, as the numerous mentions of “metal,” “steel” and “iron” attest. The cover features a lion man fighting a robot as drawn by a ten year old at metal summer camp. Despite my renowned power metal geekdom, I felt a sense of dread and apprehension as I pressed play. Well damn it all if this thing isn’t full of surprises. Steel is a raging slab of frenetic, over-the-top 80′s metal worship that ladles out heaping helpings of thick cheese sauce and demands that you take seconds. Raging twin guitars, heroic solos, uber dramatic song structures and the vocals, Dear God the vocals!! The singer has a huge set of lungs and an even bigger set of balls which are frequently stuck in a vice! From gravelly, rasping shouts, air raid siren screams and superior singing, he can do it all and its so damn metal it kills my neighbor’s lawn. Imagine my shock to find out there are no balls to put in the vice because the HE is actually a SHE! That’s right, Nitte Valo is a true metal queen and she’s flat out brilliant on this album. However, unless you love the classic sounds of 80′s metal (think Grim Reaper, old Grave Digger, Accept) mixed with a smattering of power metal, this will leave you running for the door but quick. It revels in all the cliches and idiocy of that era and these folks certainly aren’t trying to be the next Opeth. You still with me? OK, stay with me. Continue reading

Closer and closer we draw to the best heavy metal song of all time, but indeed there is much in between and none of it has been come to lightly. I actually have spent a lot of time mulling over this list since its creation and I am pleased, thus far I can’t think of anything major that I’ve left out—which must mean that they are not indeed ‘top songs’ at all. But let me get to one note of concern that people have raised. They say that one of the reasons that a list like Gibson’s travesty is valid is because “it’s hard to know if these songs can stand the test of time!” I just want to take a minute to call bullshit.

Bullshit. First, even by that logic, tracks from At The Gates and Blind Guardian, having been released in the mid-90s could easily have made that list. But I think the other thing that people forget is how metal is no longer as unified then and therefore it’s much harder to come up with newer songs that unify large buying publics. There’s a reason that it’s Korn and Tool that make those lists and not Opeth or Primordial (though arguably Opeth is one of the most popular metal bands in the world today), and it’s because metal doesn’t have the same kind of commercial power that it maybe once did. But does that mean that we should cloister ourselves in stupidity and only pay attention to records that went gold and songs that even people who don’t like metal have heard? This Angry Metal Guy says “Hell no!” And thus I have presented this list (here’s: 50-41 and 40-31) parallel to Steel Druhm’s lists (50-41 and 40-31) with an eye to what has happened in metal since then. Of course not everyone is going to agree—but that is simply because we live in a post-modern metal world, where not everyone is able to get the same metal.

But ask yourself this; which of these bands will be looked back upon fondly, and which of them will be looked back upon with shame. There’s a reason that Warrant and Stryper didn’t make Gibson’s list, and it’s the same reason that Korn shouldn’t have and Papa Roach wasn’t anywhere near it: because these were trends, they were bad, they were cheesy and they are to be looked upon with proper contempt and shame for having ever existed. The same cannot be said of Ulver or Opeth or Primordial or Vintersorg. These are united in excellence and artistic expression, even if they don’t all reach the same listeners.

So my goal here is not to construct the list of the most accessible stuff, it’s the stuff that I see as the best. That means when it comes to songwriting, presentation and, of course, memorability. And now, 30-21.

Continue reading

Unleashed // As Yggdrasil Trembles
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — The Manowar of Death Metal strikes again!
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: unleashed.se | myspace.com/unleashed
Release Dates: EU: 19.03.2010 | 03.19.2010

Unleashed is not without their appeal. They’ve been around for a couple decades now, putting out their first record Where No Life Dwells in 1991, and they’ve been pretty consistently well-respected in the scene for being among the first to do the whole Viking Metal thing. But they’re a band that this Angry Metal Guy has never been able to get into on the basis of one thing: Unleashed is the Manowar of death metal. Now, some people are going to say “But Manowar are the Kings of Metal! Should we not be praising Unleashed for translating such kinglyness into the Death Metal genre?” To which there can only be one response: “Absofuckinglutely not.”

Like Manowar, Unleashed writes some pretty great metal. Musically, the band produces a melodic form of tear-your-head-off death metal that has been associated with Sweden since the early 1990s. The music is powerful, pummeling and thrashy it makes the listener want to headbang! Like their Swedish brethren Amon Amarth, Unleashed likes trem-picked melodic passages that are littered with good groove and plenty of chances to headbang manically. The guitar solos are wickedly thrashy and, surprisingly enough, the bass is even audible! Musically, there isn’t a song on here that I don’t like! And the record pounds out of the gate with amazing tracks, “Courage Today, Victory Tomorrow”, “So it Begins” and “As Yggdrasil Trembles”.

However, like Manowar, Unleashed has a lyrics problem. This chink in the armor becomes the most obvious when one hits the 4th track on the album “Wir Kapitulieren Niemals”, and Johnny starts screaming “Viking Death Metal!” This is not the first time, or the last time, on this record that there are lyrical issues that stand out and make the listener a little bit embarrassing. This sort of idea that one can write about the meta-aspect of heavy metal is one of the reasons that power metal is considered to be so ridiculously cheesy. How does one take  seriously a band that sings about themselves being awesomely metal? And in some ways, its even easier with a band like Lost Horizon or Manowar because they’re wearing loincloths anyway. Unleashed are just a Swedish death metal band cursed with terrible lyrics.

We’ll stop there with our little Manowar comparison, because frankly Unleashed produces way more consistent and interesting music than Manowar ever has. While the latter has a few good songs on every record and then a bunch of shit that litters the side about how metal they are and about how big their “swords” are, the former writes consistent, enjoyable death metal. As Yggdrasil Trembles is par for the Unleashed course, littered with great songs and solid riffs. If you can bring yourself past the silly lyrics, which is often times pretty easy with death metal bands, and you’re a fan of death metal and viking metal, you’ll probably really enjoy this record. Don’t expect to be wowed by their deep interpretations of the Norse myths in reference to our every day, modern life. But then again, when was the last time any metal lyricist wowed you?

Epica – Design Your Universe
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Seriously enjoyable, but not exactly high art
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | USA)
Website(s): epica.nl | myspace.com/epica
Release Dates: EU: 16.10.2009 | US: 11.03.2009

Epica is a symphonic power metal/gothic metal band from the Netherlands that has really taken the scene and the world by storm since their founding in 2002 due to the amazing voice of their mezzo-soprano vocalist (who also happens to be a hotty, there are no coincidences in metal) Simone Simons and the epic *cough* nature of their music. Design Your Universe is the band’s fifth album, and honestly, the first one I’ve ever sat through assuming the band would be like a mix of old Theatre of Tragedy and Nightwish.

So, I guess the best way to describe Epica is as a mix of old Theatre of Tragedy and Nightwish.  Every track on this album is heavily orchestrated, bombastic and saturated with huge choirs and vocals.  The music is pretty much your standard orchestrated female-fronted metal, except a bit heavier due to the death metal side of the band, which is definitely a welcome change from a lot of these bands that seem to be afraid to actually have anything heavy in their music.

No, Epica is not afraid of much of anything.  It’s almost as though they don’t have any shame or self-insight.  There’s no one in that studio going “do you think this is too much?”  No, this record is pretty much a balls-to-the-wall, over-the-top example of what you can do if you have 256 tracks on every song!  And honestly, it’s pretty good for a few reasons.  Let’s take the most obvious (and red-headed) aspect of the band to focus on first: the vocals.  Often a make-or-break aspect of modern power metal and symphonic metal bands, Simone Simons is definitely a serious talent.  Able, unlike other divas, to wander between poppy sounding smooth vocals and operatics, Simone pretty much wanders the range throughout the album delivering her parts with a sincerity and force that few other vocalists can muster.  In a lot of ways, she really carries this album.  While the music is pretty interesting, it is her vocals and melodies that draw me back to the album time and again.

On the other hand, there are some pretty cheesy lyrics on this thing and vocal approaches as well.  On the 13 minute Kingdom of Heaven, even God shows up to scream at someone “NO! You must continue!”  I’m surprised these guys didn’t call in Fabio from Rhapsody of Fire to cheese it up a little bit more for them.  Yes, it’s that bad.  But aside from a few moments like that, and some lyrics that completely lack subtlety (including a rant about martyrdom at one point), I really enjoyed the vocal approach, which honestly goes hand-in-hand with the excellent musical approach. (Also, for you die-hard Sonata Arctica fans, keep your … ears out for Tony Kakko the track White Waters, where he croons a duet with Simone.)

Part of the melodramatic aspect of Epica means that Design Your Universe has a penchant for hugeness that I just can’t resist.  Sure, they try to convince the listener of their extreme existentialism in any way they can, but at the same time they deliver sickly sweet melodies vocally (and sometimes on the guitar, or in the orchestra) and then they layer the hell out of it!  Some people don’t like this, but this approach has always appealed to me.  Sure, bands can go overboard with it, but for whatever reason one just accepts that Epica can’t do without it.  Of course, this approach also lends itself to a much more dynamic approach to music, which allows the band to go into softer, more subtle pieces well.  In a word, they’re … epic.

Design Your Universe picks up where Lost Horizon left off with it’s theme (“I SEE THE WORLD THROUGH MY FATELESS EYES!!!”), but it is deftly executed and will definitely appeal to the fan of symphonic metal.  Those of you who don’t like chick-fronted bands might find some things you like in here with the death metal stuff, but all-in-all, this band is definitely for the fans of Therion, Trail of Tears, Leaves’ Eyes and so forth.  But honestly, since Nightwish‘s masterpiece Once, this is easily the best symphonic female-fronted band I’ve heard.  But take that for what it is.