Disclaimer: Knowing how to review this record has been very difficult for me because I’m a big fan of the band and I have no desire to try make my opinion seem bigger than the band’s work. I understand my subjective position as a reviewer very well. But this record suffers from pretty major issues that it make it very difficult for me to enjoy and that show off the weakness of the band in its current incarnation. I am aware that there will be a good amount of whining and gnashing of teeth over this review, and you’re welcome to it. Just remember that I 1) am not invested in Opeth playing death metal; 2) like plenty of bands that have changed their sounds; and 3) enjoy progressive and abstract music of all stripes very much.

It’s hard to believe that we’re actually looking at Opeth‘s 10th full length studio record now in 2011. It’s amazing how the little progressive death metal band that could is a global powerhouse of extreme and progressive music that is signed to one of the biggest labels in the metal world. Heritage was billed as a bit of a ‘look backwards,’ in a sense, with main man Åkerfeldt saying that he thought extreme metal was boring and that he has thought that for a while and so this was going to be something else. As a long time fan (who has regularly been called a fanboy), I think it’s obvious to me that Opeth was outgrowing their roots. While I think that Ghost Reveries is a genius album, Watershed was definitely not. It felt uninspired and rushed. So the big question for me coming into all of this was: would having more time and freedom make Heritage feel fresh? Would it be a record that would change Opeth for good—and also for the better?

Heritage is very much as Åkerfeldt said in a recent interview, it is a progressive rock album that sounds very much like its biggest influence actually is mainly Opeth. Over time, Åkerfeldt has crafted a sound that is unique to the band and that has moved them into the limelight. There is a cadence and melodic structure to Opeth riffs that just feels very Opeth. The linear fashion of writing songs is also something that, nowadays is commonplace, but that has long been associated with Mikael’s writing style. Songs that are often more like movements than traditionally structured tracks works well in death metal, which is so heavily riff-based. This made for epic soundscapes that were at once exciting and interesting, but also had the ability to be fragile and beautiful. It was a sound that worked for the band and launched them into the stratosphere popularitywise.

But while Heritage retains Opeth‘s voice (metaphysically and physically, of course), it does not retain its genius and I think this has to do with the fact that the songwriting on Heritage feels almost lazy, but certainly underdeveloped. A better way to say this might be that Heritage is full of great riffs and ideas, but not many very good songs. Instead, the listener is left feeling like the writing process was just to take a bunch of ideas and to hamfistedly shove them into these somewhat linear songs, often times with little regard as to key, time signature or context and feel. While this could seem “progressive,” for me it doesn’t feel so progressive as disjointed. A case in point is the single “The Devil’s Orchard” where, instead of writing a transition on guitar, keyboards are used to transfer out of a very cool verse/chorus iteration in a pretty jarring, unrelated fashion before trying to segue back to the main “chorus” theme at the end randomly.

This kind of patchwork writing with bad or jarring transitions is basically the mark of Heritage. The same thing happens in “I Feel the Dark,” “Nepenthe,” “Famine,” and “The Lines in My Hand.” It even happens in my favorite songs on the record, which would definitely be “Slither” and “Folklore.” The only tracks that don’t suffer from this are “Heritage,” which is a piano track and the outro “Marrow of the Earth” which features Wishbone Ash or Iron Maiden-style guitar harmonies, which is similar to “Ending Credits” from Damnation or “Epilogue” from My Arms, Your Hearse.

In spite of all of this, there are some really great moments in these songs, too. I love the first 2 minutes and 50 seconds of “Slither,” and it’s very cool riff and “Beneath the Mire” kind of drive, before it devolves into a non-related acoustic guitar part that wasn’t developed. “Famine” works with its very Jethro Tull feel, before devolving into a jam at the end that I’m not a huge fan of. ” Without the first 2 minutes of “Häxprocess” the song would have been genius, but it just sort of meanders in and then despite that the rest is really good, it feels a bit dead on arrival. “Folklore” is probably the most consistent track on the album, in my opinion, and it’s got a great Kebnekajse or Jan Johansson kind of feel to it that really hits the spot. And the band itself is playing as well or better than it ever has. Martin Axenrot is finally achieving Lopez-style jazz feel, while Mendez performs excellently on the bass. Fredrik has a number of great solos and, of course, Per’s keyboard work is the glue that holds the record together.

But beyond the obvious talent of the band, what do they leave the listener with? The record has grown on me to a certain extent since I first got it. There is arguably a “unifying feel” of the album, even if the writing is disparate and disjointed. But the whole is, unfortunately, not greater than its parts. Instead, I’d say there’s about 40 minutes of pretty good to excellent music, but a lot of bad transitions and only a couple great songs. This leaves me, frankly, aghast, as the fantastic transitions and compositions are the thing that really elevated Opeth to the level of great in my mind. If you think about the transition in “A Fair Judgement” at about 4:15 in the track or the transfer from “Pull me down again…” into the new part at 4:01 in “The Drapery Falls”. How about the end of “When”? And I could increase this list 10-fold.

So to say that Heritage is a disappointing record is almost an understatement. While I found some of things really growing on me since I started listening to it, which places it above Watershed in the pantheon, it is not a record that I think really belongs in the same breath as the band’s earlier stuff—or in the same breath as bands like Camel, Rush, Yes, King Crimson or Jethro Tull. Whether it is that the keyboards transitioning unlinked ideas has become a crutch, or that the tendency of death metal riffs to be based around an open E hid a lack of sophistication in Åkerfeldt’s writing style, Heritage exposes these problems in a way that even Watershed didn’t. And that leaves this Angry Opeth Fanboy feeling very disappointed.

Related posts:

1. Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Graveworm – Fragments of Death
2. Opeth Bush Crash/Suicide
3. Leprous – Bilateral Review

Well, now that the top 10 is posted and all of that is out there, I’ve received a record that I had no idea even existed and that is super cool. Of course. I said I was nervous about missing cool December releases and now I have been galvanized. I just thought I’d point that out. But I will not deny you the joy of a review of some very cool new music from this Australian progressive outfit by the name of Ironwood (not to be confused with the pornographic comic that I discovered while searching the Googles for the band’s website).  This is the band’s third release and second full-length and it is available for your perusal at the band’s website.

But hell, why listen to it yourself when you can read my poetic rendition of why this record is something you should listen to for yourself! So let’s get to that then.

Ironwood is best called a progressive band. At their very fundamental base, they are a band like any other band that mixes their influences of extreme metal into other styles, who are doing something that narrows them into a small (if ever-expanding) genre. Storm Over Sea, therefore, is a very enjoyable record to listen to because of these stylistic considerations. But unlike other bands who have mixed in death metal or expanded their doom roots, Ironwood largely draws on folk metal and blackened folk metal. What’s cool, then, is how they blend these together into what I would call a unique blend of prog and folk.

This record has a lot of clean vocals and I fear that’s where individuals will get hung up. The vocals of whoever is doing them primarily are definitely a bit of an acquired taste. He’s not bad per se, but they’re not metal vocals really. They belong far more on the Yes side of the spectrum (with maybe a touch of power metal). They can seem a bit over-stated or exaggerated at times and a bit amateurish at other times (specifically with harmonies and background vocals later on in the record), but over all they work for what the band is trying to accomplish and they help give a unique flavor to the music, which is important for all bands when it comes to vocals.

That said, however, the music is what draws me in on this record. There’s great material here which goes between black metal, technical death metal and folk metal as well as prog. Clocking in at 55 minutes, and with three 11+ minute tracks Storm Over Sea never gets boring. Particularly the epics, “Infinite Sea,” “Weather the Storm” and “A Bond to Sever”, are well constructed tracks loaded to the teeth with interesting movements that bring the listener back to this record time and time again. If you’re a fan of folk metal and progressive metal I’d given this thing a chance. I can’t guarantee that you’ll love it, but I can tell you that it’s worth a shot. With all the various influences and epic composition, it’s hard to imagine that fans of these genres wouldn’t love it.

Related posts:

1. Fejd – Storm
2. Metsatöll – Äio Review
3. Heidevolk – Uit Oude Grond Review

It is not hard to accept one fundamental axiom of the post-black metal Norway that I have referred to recently: Enslaved is easily Norway’s finest band. From the beginning the band has always been strong; grown-ups in a room filled with angry teenagers. This sense has not lessened with the passage of time. While certain members of the scene will forever be singing their equivalent of Alice Cooper ridiculous teen hits as 45 year olds (or older, like the man himself), Enslaved will continue to push the boundaries of black metal with a mature and progressive sound. Starting with the release of Below the Lights in 2003, Enslaved has produced four modern classics of “progressive, psychedelic black metal.” The fourth of this string of amazing albums was Vertebrae, which was released in 2008 and landed the band a tour with Opeth as well as more recognition than they had ever received worldwide. And with good reason: it was the best record the band had written to date.

I never had the good fortunate to review Vertebrae, but I can easily say that it was a perfect album. It advanced the sound of Enslaved, while staying on the trajectory the band had been on since 2001/2003. The record had a still greater progressive feel due to an unusually large amount of clean vocals that the band had written, something that differentiated the album from its predecessors and gave it a unique feel all its own. The production was thick, but organic (if loud) and the song writing had the kind of energy that you get from a band that is in the middle of their prime, not a band producing their eleventh full length. For whatever reason the writing on that album burrowed right into my Angry Metal Heart and set down roots.

And really, Axioma Ethica Odini is more of the same when it comes right down to it. The sound that has been articulated here is quite similar to the Enslaved that we have grown to love (and/or have loved for a long time). The tracks are mid-paced, and chuggy with the occasional bursts of speed and blasts that indicate the band’s history. For example, the track “Ethica Odini” breaks out of the gate in a much more simplistic style than we’ve heard from the band in a long time (“it is perhaps our most repetitive song in 15 years,” says Grutle Kjellson), but instead of upping “the black metal” they stuck with the vocal approach that made Vertebrae such a huge success with new fans and old alike. Another track that stands out is “Waruun”, which starts out with a classic Enslaved riff reminiscent of “Havenless” from Below the Lights, and continues into the trademark clean vocals, again.

So, from those descriptions, you can see this as the natural outcome of the band’s movement forward. Stepping back a bit from the progressiveness of Vertebrae, without abandoning it entirely—certainly the tracks “Giants”, with its heavy keyboards and clean harmonies and “Night Sight” with its very 70s prog intro (a little Wishbone Ash and a little Yes?) maintain the progressive trajectory. And all of this is really embodied in “Lightening”, which I think is one of the finest Enslaved tracks ever written. It starts out beautifully, with a heavy groove/prog part with a fantastic delayed lead that really just rocks my world and contains probably the band’s finest vocals on the whole record. But after this intro it jumps into heavy, powerful black metal riffing which contrasts with a chorus that I cannot describe as anything other than ethereal: it just floats over the tribal drumming and keyboards creating an indescribable atmosphere. There is very little “weird” or “progressive” about the song in the traditional sense, but the structure is perfect in its simplicity and melodic nature. It is a pure moment of musical ecstasy that really pulls up the end of this album.

But it is this final track that also casts a pall over the rest of this record for me. I was expecting this whole album to be as phenomenal as “Lightening” was. But instead, of the 9 tracks, 3 of them (“The Beacon”, “Axioma” and “Giants”) leave me cold, and others are good but they don’t have the same kind of kick that Vertebrae did. There is just something here that doesn’t feel like it’s clicking. Like somehow that x factor just didn’t fall into place somewhere along the line and I am left with the feeling that despite liking this album a lot, I could just as easily go and pop in Vertebrae or Below the Lights and be just as (or more) pleased. This could be the outcome of excessively high expectations, I admit. Enslaved is one of my favorite bands in the modern era and I guess I’m feeling a bit disappointed that I wasn’t laying flat on my back after the first play through. Instead, the record has had to grow for me—something that can be either good or bad (as, for example, both my favorite Katatonia and my favorite Opeth records were growers that I was disappointed with at first). But my gut instinct tells me that while the vocal approach on Vertebrae just sort of “snuck up on” the band, it was a more conscious effort on Axioma Ethica Odini—making it feel more forced; a feeling that I had a hell of a time ignoring as I was listening to the album.

Of course, given everything I’ve read about this record online, everyone is making it out to be the best thing since the beginning of the creation of music. I’m not sure whether or not it’s wise to buy into the hype, but it’s hard for me to deny that this record still contains some very high quality material that will definitely please long time (and new) fans of the band. But I was hoping to give this album a 5/5 because I love the music this band has created so much, but I just can’t. Four outta five it is—but let’s not kid ourselves: Enslaved is still basically the only band from the original wave of black metal that’s still doing anything this original or interesting.

Related posts:

1. Enslaved Enters Studio
2. New Enslaved Title Announced!
3. Solefald – Norrøn Livskunst Review

The name Kaipa might or might not strike a bell for you, depending on where you’re from and how old you are. The band technically been around for a very long time, as they were a part of the Swedish prog scene which in some ways really differentiated itself from what non-Swedes think of when they think of prog. While prog from England, the US or Canada was often times very much about technical expertise, drug induced trips of fancy or philosophically complex ideas and theses, Swedish prog was a very lefty, ideologically communist movement. It’s not something that this Angry Metal Guy has been particularly well-informed about, so instead we called Angry Swedish Prog Correspondent to inform us about this whole fascinating phenomenon. There’s a lot one can say about it, but let us formulate it like this: Swedish prog was dirty, lefty hippies giving even the most talentless member of their friends group the right to play, despite them not having any talent at all. Kaipa wasn’t like this, on the other hand. Instead, they were much more akin to Yes, Genesis, Rush and other progressive rock bands. As a consequence, they were never quite accepted as part of the Swedish scene, but became more internationally accepted. However, unlike the communal-living types like National Teatern, Kaipa reformed in the early 2000s and has been producing records since with just one original member, Hans Lundin.

Because of the fact that Lundin is the only original member, it means that he’s been able to fill in the band with new members making Kaipa a fantastic, talented group of musicians who are really producing music and playing on the plane that one really expects of excellent prog. This demonstrates itself in the varying styles and places Kaipa takes the listener on this long and winding journey. From the eternally happy sunshine land, for example, of the opening and title track on the record, “In the Wake of Evolution”, to the neo-folk “Folkia’s First Decision”. There are moments that are reminiscent of reggae, 50s Rock n’ Roll and, of course, jazz fusion. Of course, the fact that Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry) is playing guitar on this record is evident through some very metal guitar solos, as well.

In the Wake of Evolution isn’t just musically varied—Lundin and company take us through an emotional roller coaster sonically and the effect is great. Every track on the album stands out as a dynamic, self-contained cosmos of fascinating ideas and emotional expression. Despite the fact that the songs range between two and half and 17 minutes long, there is definitely a sense of balance and unity between the separate tracks. However, there are a lot of pieces written in major keys and some very, very happy music on this record. This, of course, makes this Angry Metal Guy a little uncomfortable because it’s just so… HAPPY.  But particularly when you hit the later sections of the record that are a bit more orchestrated, the emotional downs stand out as well. I don’t think you can be an aging progger without having a little bit of pent up sadness and anger.

There are very few things to complain about on this album, actually. Sometimes the composition can feel a little forced, but the biggest problem for me personally are the vocals of Aleena Gibson, who has an incredibly sharp voice. Not like she’s not in tune, but instead she just has a very harsh sounding tone. While she has a unique sound and she blends well with Lundin and Lundström in the harmonies, on her own she can be a bit grating after a while. Instead let us end this here by saying that there are very few progressive bands who are composing music that really carries the same feeling of experimentality and curiosity about blending music into a cohesive whole that is at once intellectually stimulating, catchy and engaging. Kaipa embodies this feeling of progressiveness on their new album and I suggest that open-minded fans of progressive music check this out, because it is a fascinating ride.

Related posts:

1. Things You May Have Missed 2010: Unitopia – Artificial
2. Bison B.C. – Dark Ages Review
3. Sigh – Scenes From Hell Review

When I was in my big power metal phase, which I guess would’ve probably been around 2000/2001, I stumbled upon a Rage CD in a great used CD store that I used to go into all the time (those were the days). I thought for sure it was going to be great just from looking at it. Turns out… not so much. I don’t recall hating a record more than that one. I thought it was a major pile of shit. I’m pretty sure it was the record XIII, but I can’t be sure as it was sold away a long time ago. Needless to say I wasn’t even a little bit excited when I received this record. I was fully expecting this record to be totally crap.

However, the German hockey metal has struck: and I’ve been addicted for about a week to this CD. For fans of the band, I’m sure that this review will probably be not as good as it could be, because I don’t have a lot of reference for the band’s earlier work, however, I’m going to describe this from the perspective of someone who’s really hearing these guys for the first time. Rage is like a blending of 80s Yes with Blind Guardian. They have all the thrash, the classical influences (and these guys actually pre-date Blind Guardian by a few years) and the “hockey choruses” as one individual I know calls it, that make Blind Guardian, Nocturnal Rites and bands of that nature addictive. On the other hand, there’s a progressive bent, that keeps things fresh and that really is reminiscent of the 1980s.

Actually, the biggest surprise here is that a band with such big, modern production can still sound so genuinely 80s. I know that, of course, these guys started making music in the early 80s, but honestly.. no one sounds like that anymore. These guys have not shyed away from the things that made the 80s unique and campy, including a Top Gun love scene kind of soundtrack moment (the track entitled “Fatal Grace” and starring a Kenny G wannabe) in the big “Empty Hollow” track (a 5 part epic, that kicks ass). But despite all of this, it still manages to be good and somehow avoids the camp. It has all of those simple rock beats, straightforward melodies and guitar driven compositions that one associates with the 80s, but somehow they just make it work. There must be something in the tone or the production that I can’t quite put my finger on, but this record manages to be simultaneously nostalgic and relevant.

But don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a glam album either. It is consistent with good German thrash metal and just generally addictive. Very few bands tempt me to headbang at the desk while I’m writing the review and listening to it. Few bands produce melodies that are so intensely addictive as the choruses on this album (see: “Empty Hollow,” “Hunter and Prey,” “Saviour of the Dead”). My biggest complaint about this record, honestly, is that the lyrics are pretty lame. As a buddy put it “Show me a power metal band with good lyrics and I’ll show you the holy grail,” and that’s probably true.. but you’d think that someday we’d be able to get past the embarrassing lyrics that show up on this record (and many other power metal records). It’s a shame, because everything else about this record is great—but just listen to the lyrics to “Hellgirl” and tell me that you’re not embarrassed.

Criticisms aside, I was pretty much wowed by this album. I’ve heard bad things about this band’s later material, so it sounds like this record isn’t at all representative of that era. If you’ve been a fan of this band in the past but quit listening to them, now might be the time to give them another chance. And if you’re a fan of power metal, prog and German thrash you should definitely check out this album.

Related posts:

1. Nevermore – The Obsidian Conspiracy Review
2. Blind Guardian – At the Edge of Time Review
3. Sigh – Scenes From Hell Review