I wrote my last 50p album review at the start of 2009 (I got as far as 'Ma-'), tailing off due to a combination of reliable employment meeting my needs and unreliable to non-existent home internet. I always thought I might carry on and complete the alphabet one day, but then I started my copywriting career where I basically do the same thing, only writing repetitive descriptions about blockout blinds rather than Blind Guardian. And for slightly better pay. Not quite as enjoyable though. But now it's too late.
Reviews of albums from bands beginning with K, L and M written for dooyoo.co.uk (RIP) from 2001–2009. My angsty teenage Korn reviews were too toxic and have been quarantined in their own post.
K
Into the Oriental Phantasma
****
Written on 12.08.08
Kadenzza is the interesting solo project of Japanese musician You Oshima, one that will appeal to symphonic and black metal fans alike for its effective balance of elements, and for its unexpected ferocity. Far from another band wasting its cultural identity to produce something in exactly the same style as another nation, Kadenzza strives to be unique, and although there's nothing distinctly Japanese about it, it's obvious it didn't come from Scandinavia like the rest.
You Oshima's creative vision is permitted to run riot on this solo recording, though his totalitarian performance does have some drawbacks, most prominently the lack of an actual drummer. The drum machine used throughout sounds distractingly false at all times, despite still being powerful, especially in songs such as the slower 'Mononoke.' But while his talents clearly lie primarily in guitar work, evidenced by the excellent, intricate solos, the vocals are also impressive in their viciousness.
1. Kamikaze Blows
2. Mononoke (God of Worm)
3. Wheel of Fortune
4. Endless Labyrinth
5. Lament 1999
6. War Phantasma
Kalmah
Swamplord
****
Written on 12.08.08
Kalmah's first album established them as a force to be reckoned with, within the tightly-knit sub-genre of Finnish melodic death metal with power metal influence. Essentially, a genre dominated by the popular Children of Bodom with Kalmah and Norther lagging some distance behind, but appreciated more by metal snobs like me who prefer their consistency.
Kalmah's sound may not be unique, but it's certainly impressive, and they have always possessed a fiercer edge than Bodom, bordering on black metal on occasion. This is even evidenced in their lyrical preoccupation with swamps as opposed to Bodom's lake fixation, and the vocals are delivered in a deep rasp. The dual guitar harmonies are what will keep most genre fans satisfied, even if they owe much to the classic metal tradition, but sadly there are only rare occasions taken to pay respect to the band's Finnish ancestry, such as the folky lead melody of 'Heritance of Berija' reminiscent of Amorphis.
1. Evil in You
2. Withering Away
3. Heritance of Berija
4. Black Roija
5. Dance of the Water
6. Hades
7. Alteration
8. Using the Word
Kalmah
They Will Return
****
Written on 12.08.08
Kalmah's second album perfects their derivative style, taking their death metal and classic heavy metal influences to new extremes that contrast delightfully for fans in both camps, and are sure to really irritate those whose loyalty is entirely one-sided. Beginning with a trudge through a marsh, the listener approaches the sound of an exciting riff that leads into the first song, setting the tone for the rest of the experience. The sound is predominantly led by classic metal guitar riffs played at an energetic pace with a heavier approach, but is frequently spoiled by over-reliance on bleeping and booping keyboards that sound out of place and somewhat amateurish.
These songs are at their best when the riffs are catchy, the performance is energetic and the elements are kept in balance, which is why the album falters when it tries too hard to favour one direction over the other. 'The Blind Leader' is interesting in its classic metal style with heavier supplementation and 'They Will Return' itself is the liveliest and most exciting song here, but sadly the closing cover of Megadeth fails in the same way nearly all death metal covers of classic metal fail: the growling of familiar lyrics just sounds plain silly.
1. Hollow Heart
2. Swamphell
3. Principle Hero
4. Human Fates
5. They Will Return
6. Kill the Idealist
7. The Blind Leader
8. My Nation
9. Skin o' My Teeth (Megadeth cover)
Advantages: Faster, more energetic and more talented than predecessor.
Disadvantages: Classic heavy metal style sounds comparatively weak on occasion.
Kalmah
Swampsong
***
Written on 12.08.08
Seeming like a rushed release from a band with its mind elsewhere (namely in the band Eternal Tears of Sorrow), Kalmah's third release doesn't even have the originality to come up with a title that isn't stolen from their first album. This is more or less the same Children of Bodom esque melodic death metal that fans will be familiar with, only much less energetic than 'They Will Return,' very generic, and with an annoying tendency to rely on atmospheric sections that exude little atmosphere.
Songs such as the opener 'Heroes to Us' go off on more tangents than the band's previous works, and there's an uncomfortable contrast between fierce, fast-paced songs like 'Bird of Ill Omen' and tedious, slower songs like 'The Third, the Magical' that entirely lack the fun of the previous album. The slow finale 'Moon of My Nights' is particularly offensive to my ears for essentially being light gothic metal with growled vocals, and this entire album feels like a regrettable misstep.
1. Heroes to Us
2. Burbot's Revenge
3. Cloned Insanity
4. The Third, the Magical
5. Bird of Ill Omen
6. Doubtful About It All
7. Tordah
8. Man With Mystery
9. Moon of My Nights
Kalmah
The Black Waltz
****
Written on 12.08.08
Like their fellow countrymen Children of Bodom, Kalmah opted to change direction from power metal influenced death metal to something more focused on the heavy end of the scale, but fortunately, unlike Bodom, their new albums aren't absolutely awful. 'The Black Waltz' may indeed lack the originality and sheer fun of the band's earlier albums such as 'They Will Return,' but the greater death metal approach at least avoids the music sounding bipolar in its mixture of melody and ferocity, the melody now being a little subtler and kept in check.
One continued irritant is the prominent presence of keyboards that still serve to spoil the atmosphere of many songs with their electronic beeping, but the guitars, almost entirely devoid of Iron Maiden style riffing and soloing, should now be more acceptable to death metal aficionados, as the main focus is on heavy riffs. Even the vocal performance is meaner than before, but that's not to say that the jovial atmosphere has dissipated entirely, and this is a lot more enjoyable and easy to listen to than hostile death bands.
1. Defeat
2. Bitter Metallic Side
3. Time Takes Us All
4. To the Gallows
5. Svieri Doroga
6. The Black Waltz
7. With Terminal Intensity
8. Man of the King
9. The Groan of Wind
10. Mindrust
11. One from the Stands
Kamelot
Siege Perilous
***
Written on 12.08.08
The debut of new vocalist Roy S. Khan (formerly of influential power metal band Conception) doesn't cause much of a stir within Kamelot's discography, as 'Siége Perilous' is a largely dull and mellow affair. That's not to say that it's a bad album, but the band's distinctive sound is still some distance short of perfection, and their slow, regal, faux-symphonic sound is rather amateurish and unfocused in comparison to their later classics.
The band relies heavily on keyboards which is a failing at this point, as the keys rarely do anything of interest beyond providing atmospheric backing for the guitars. Khan's orations are pleasant but lacking in power, and only a few songs really pack a punch, such as the heavier groove riffs of 'Expedition.' Opener 'Providence' is majestic but dull, 'Millennium' picks up the pace a little but is ultimately unsatisfying, and the instrumental finale 'Siége' fails in its bid to sound really epic.
1. Providence
2. Millennium
3. King's Eyes
4. Expedition
5. Where I Reign
6. Parting Visions
7. Once a Dream
8. Rhydin
9. Irea
10. Siége
Kamelot
Karma
****
Written on 12.08.08
'Karma' is an excellent release from Kamelot that falls short of greatness merely for failing to live up to its own ambition. Overflowing with regal keyboards, soaring vocals and some of the most delightfully cheesy guitar lines to spew out of the last decade, this is a collection of mostly great songs to appeal to metal fans who don't mind a bit of corniness.
My main issue with the album is the frequency of ballads, which are well-executed, especially with Roy S. Khan's excellent vocals, but do interrupt the flow somewhat. 'Don't You Cry' is fairly good, but not enough to merit a later French version tagged onto the end of the album, 'Temples of Gold' is merely boring, and 'Mirror Mirror' is excusable as the introduction to the Elizabeth suite, a trio of songs that bear no sonic relation.
'Karma' itself is my favourite Kamelot song, fusing regal keyboards with chugging riffs in a more talented and exciting manner than I've heard before or since, and most songs are guaranteed to throw out a guilty pleasure in the form of either a self-indulgent cheese-laden lead guitar riff or a catchy chorus.
1. Regalis Apertura
2. Forever
3. Wings of Despair
4. The Spell
5. Don't You Cry
6. Karma
7. The Light I Shine on You
8. Temples of Gold
9. Across the Highlands
10. Elizabeth, Part I: Mirror Mirror
11. Elizabeth, Part II: Requiem for the Innocent
12. Elizabeth, Part III: Fall From Grace
13. Ne Pleure Pas
Kamelot
Epica
*****
Written on 12.08.08
Kamelot's sixth album is their most ambitious to date, and the leap really pays off. Based around the first part of Goethe's 'Faust,' this is a tightly focused album that matches the story perfectly, working as both an excellent concept album and a fine collection of symphonic metal songs that could be just as easily enjoyed by listeners who had no idea that this was all following a plot, and who thought the interludes were just there to bulk out the tracklist or something.
The conceptual focus doesn't detract from the sheer enjoyment of the music, which is evident as soon as the feel-good lead guitar of 'Center of the Universe' blares out of the speakers. This album accomplishes everything Kamelot achieved with the previous two albums, but with more confidence and integrity that makes each song more satisfying and varied, from the spellbinding chorus of 'Descent of the Archangel' to the ominous riffs and fun solos of 'Lost & Damned' and finally the stellar guitar performance of 'III Ways to Epica' that really saves the best for last.
1. Prologue
2. Center of the Universe
3. Farewell
4. Interlude I (Opiate Soul)
5. The Edge of Paradise
6. Wander
7. Interlude II (Omen)
8. Descent of the Archangel
9. Interlude III (At the Banquet)
10. A Feast for the Vain
11. On the Coldest Winter Night
12. Lost & Damned
13. Helena's Theme
14. Interlude IV (Dawn)
15. The Mourning After (Carry On)
16. III Ways to Epica
Kamelot
The Black Halo
***
Written on 12.08.08
I don't know what happened after the magnificent 'Epica,' but somehow Kamelot forgot how to be quite as fun, talented and interesting as they had been in previous years. 'The Black Halo' is a fairly solid album, but as a sequel to 'Epica,' based around the second part of Goethe's 'Faust,' it leaves much to be desired. Every song sounds more or less the same, and absent are the cheesy, cheery melodies and choruses that made Kamelot so distinctive, if irritating on occasion.
The album opens impressively enough with 'March of Mephisto,' wasting no time on a separate introductory track by incorporating it into the song itself, and aside from questionable use of death metal style growling in the chorus, this is a reasonable opener that sets an appropriately dark tone. Unfortunately, the album fails to pick up hereafter, plodding onwards with tedious riffs and a seemingly bored vocal performance from the formerly exuberant Roy S. Khan, only really picking up towards the end with some enjoyable guitar solos in the title track and an upbeat chorus in the finale.
1. March of Mephisto
2. When the Lights Are Down
3. The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)
4. Soul Society
5. Interlude I: Dei Gratia
6. Abandoned
7. This Pain
8. Moonlight
9. Interlude II: Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso
10. The Black Halo
11. Nothing Ever Dies
12. Memento Mori
13. Interlude III: Midnight / Twelve Tolls for a New Day
14. Serenade
Kamelot
Ghost Opera
***
Written on 12.08.08
Kamelot try something ever so slightly different with their eighth album, but it's still not different enough to stave off my increasing boredom with this formerly masterful band. Said difference comes in the form of the violin that permeates most songs, from the opening intro to the upbeat 'Blücher,' but otherwise this is the same brand of light, unexciting power metal as the band's early releases, seemingly having learned nothing from their classic period.
One positive aspect of the album is that the inevitable boring ballad is pushed right back to track ten, but regrettably there's no energetic finale to go out on, as 'EdenEcho' is just as slow. Some songs such as 'Silence of the Darkness' rely on a cheery drum beat to put across the illusion that the listener is having a good time, but overall this album lacks the energy and punch of something like 'Epica' or even 'The Black Halo.'
1. Solitaire
2. Rule the World
3. Ghost Opera
4. The Human Stain
5. Blücher
6. Love You to Death
7. Up Through the Ashes
8. Mourning Star
9. Silence of the Darkness
10. Anthem
11. EdenEcho
Kataklysm
Prevail
***
Written on 12.08.08
Kataklysm is an extremely reliable Canadian death metal band, but this consistency comes at a cost to their originality as each album sounds much the same as the last. Their latest release 'Prevail' breaks the style somewhat by favouring a medium tempo and groove-laden style, and although it's not the most original or gripping death metal album I've heard, it's certainly aggressive enough to merit a listen if you're in a particularly nihilistic mood.
The vocals are the strongest point, ranging from a guttural belch to more forceful yells, and juvenile metalcore fans should see albums such as this as required listening, as education in what angry music should really sound like. The production quality is high, which cheapens the drums a little by making them sound clinical, but gives a great razor-sharp edge to the guitar riffs, while the band still finds time to execute fun solos in songs like 'Blood in Heaven' in particular.
1. Prevail
2. Taking the World by Storm
3. The Chains of Power
4. As Death Lingers
5. Blood in Heaven
6. To the Throne of Sorrow
7. Breathe to Dominate
8. Tear Down the Kingdom
9. The Vultures Are Watching
10. The Last Effort (Renaissance II)
Katatonia
Brave Murder Day
****
Written on 12.08.08
Returning from the dead, Katatonia released one of the iconic doom metal albums of the 1990s, the much-imitated 'Brave Murder Day.' Enlisting the aid of Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt to provide the death metal growls that Jonas Renkse apparently decided he could no longer handle, this is nevertheless a departure from the band's previous Anathema-style doom, making a significant step towards the depressive rock that would characterise their subsequent releases. For coming right in the centre, this album boasts a distinctive sound, or at least it did until numerous other bands started to copy it.
The style here is based largely around repetition, and is thus reminiscent of both modern post-rock and eighties gothic rock, especially in the plodding drum beats. Blackheim dispenses with keyboards to concentrate on minimalistic yet effective guitar chords, and the songs are all effective at creating a sparse, cold and mournful atmosphere. It doesn't even matter too much that 'Brave' is at least twice as long as it needs to be, nor that 'Rainroom' is almost an exact copy of 'Brave,' as this is a perfect album to chill out to when contemplating life's woes, throwing out the occasional guitar solo to keep your mind from wandering in more depressive directions.
1. Brave
2. Murder
3. Day
4. Rainroom
5. 12
6. Endtime
Katatonia
Discouraged Ones
****
Written on 12.08.08
Katatonia's third album marks the point at which the band abandoned doom metal in favour of a more commercially accessible depressive rock direction, but accusations of selling out are unfounded in light of the high quality and integrity of 'Discouraged Ones.' The guitar work still dominates in a similar manner to the previous 'Brave Murder Day,' and this is essentially a natural continuation of that style, dropping the growled vocals and editing the songs to more convenient lengths.
It's difficult to pick out specific songs here, as most are quite similar, and identifiable largely by each distinctive guitar melody that Blackheim chooses to lead the way with. Some songs are still quite heavy, namely 'Nerve,' but the new direction is entirely successful, not yet giving over to bland pop elements as would be the case in subsequent albums. The choruses are heartfelt and energetic, matching the intensity of the repeating guitar chords elsewhere, and it's guaranteed that several of the hypnotic guitar lines will haunt you for days to come.
1. I Break
2. Stalemate
3. Deadhouse
4. Relention
5. Cold Ways
6. Gone
7. Last Resort
8. Nerve
9. Saw You Drown
10. Instrumental
11. Distrust
Katatonia
Last Fair Deal Gone Down
***
Written on 12.08.08
Although it's still not up to the standards of the band's earlier albums, 2001's 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' is an improvement over the bland style of its predecessor 'Tonight's Decision,' returning to a focus on strong musicianship in many songs ('Chrome' in particular) rather than merely trying to win over teenage goth girls with recycled depressive lyrics.
The album is quite varied, despite all coming under the overarching style of depressive rock, and several songs contain comparatively upbeat sections, as is the case with 'Teargas' before it slows down. 'I Transpire' manages to be effectively slow and engulfing in a way that the previous album's tedious 'Had To (Leave),' and the band incorporates nice touches such as the violin (or perhaps synth-violin) in 'The Future of Speech.'
Jonas Renkse's singing is much improved over the previous album, as he has now evidently found his own distinctive approach, and the keyboards are used more effectively to create and enhance the atmosphere.
1. Dispossession
2. Chrome
3. We Must Bury You
4. Teargas
5. I Transpire
6. Tonight's Music
7. Clean Today
8. The Future of Speech
9. Passing Bird
10. Sweet Nurse
11. Don't Tell a Soul
Kayo Dot
Choirs of the Eye
****
Written on 12.08.08
My introduction to Kayo Dot was a bit of a letdown, considering the high quality of the band's previous incarnation Maudlin of the Well, but despite the less prominent metal influence, this is still a rewarding and satisfying album of avant-garde post-rock, even if it will inevitably deter listeners with short to moderate attention spans.
For the most part, this sounds like a mix between ambient classical, post-rock and grindcore with jazz elements (the latter mainly in the form of the occasional horn section), but it really isn't as off-putting as it sounds, avoiding Dream Theater style showmanship and concentrating on crafting well-structured compositions. These compositions are almost universally long, and while the lengths are ultimately justified, the lengthy sections of near-silence do become irritating.
This isn't an album to relax to, as the listener is constantly aware of a potential grindcore outburst lurking around the next corner, but it's inventive enough to be worth a listen for prog fans.
1. Marathon
2. A Pitcher of Summer
3. The Manifold Curiosity
4. Wayfarer
5. The Antique
Keep of Kalessin
Armada
****
Written on 12.08.08
Keep of Kalessin were away for a few years before exploding back onto the Norwegian black metal scene with their exciting brand of epic war metal. Thebon yells his vocals in a hoarse shout rather than a typical black metal rasp, making his cries to war more emotive, and the musicianship is based more around structural progression and the search for epic lead guitar melodies, as opposed to black metal's traditional focus on repetition and poor production values.
'Armada' is a very strong album, full of long songs that are complex enough to maintain interest over six to seven minutes apiece, without being too progressive to deter casual listeners. While I'm not fond of describing much heavy metal as genuinely 'epic' (only bands like Summoning come close), there are moments on this album where the music almost reaches that higher plain, particularly the warbling guitar harmonies of 'Winged Watcher' and the lengthy acoustic section of 'The Black Uncharted' that adds great atmosphere.
1. Surface
2. Crown of the Kings
3. The Black Uncharted
4. Vengeance Rising
5. Many Are We
6. Winged Watcher
7. Into the Fire
8. Deluge
9. The Wealth of Darkness
10. Armada
Khlyst
Chaos Is My Name
**
Written on 12.08.08
I'm always eager to listen to music proclaiming itself to be avant-garde, as although most of the time it's just a bunch of stoned musicians making rubbish noise, sometimes something beautiful and genre-defining will emerge. Not in the case of Khlyst's debut release though, which is mostly awful.
This album is a near fifty-fifty mix of freestyle black metal drone and tedious ambience, and just to further the band's obvious disdain for its own music, the tracks are merely numbered rather than named. Guitarist James Plotkin does nothing to impress here in the drone sections, sounding like he's tuning up all the time and playing the exact same slow riff behind songs I and III before varying slightly later on, and Tim Wyskida's drums only come into play on rare occasions. Runhild Gammelsæter is the most memorable performer, beginning the album with creepy black metal rasps devoid of musical accompaniment, and he pops up every song or two to deliver more of the same pig-squealing scatting.
It's unlikely that you would have come across this album anyway. But just in case you do, it would probably be best to avoid.
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
7. VII
8. VIII
Killwhitneydead
***
Written on 01.09.08
I'm not usually a fan of hardcore bands whose meaningless tracklists consist of ridiculous titles that take longer to read aloud than they do to play out, but Killwhitneydead have enough of a death metal edge to keep things musically entertaining throughout. And even though the extensive samples from films and television shows are far from original, and frequently irrelevant, the style still works in a reasonably satisfying way for the first half of the album at least. At the very least, their interruptions of repeating guitar riffs contrive a false sense of excitement when the music returns some time later.
The disconcerting thing about this style is that it's almost impossible to tell where one song begins and the other ends, but as this isn't the sort of album that lends itself to serving up favourite tracks amidst the rest, it's enough to just sit back and enjoy the laughably misogynist journey.
1. Where There's Smoke
2. I Didn't Know 'I Love You' Came With a Knife in the Back
3. Duct Tape and Death Threats
4. The Fine and Subtle Art of Deception
5. I Already Have Enough Friends (Take Two)
6. Like You Didn't Hear Me the First Time I Told You to 'F**k Off'
7. Love Is Like a Mouth Full of Broken Glass
8. You Like Knife Play? I Love Knife Play (Want to Fuck?)
9. You'll Get Exactly What You Deserve (And Not One Bullet Less)
10. Forgiveness Isn't As Much Fun As Holding a Grudge
11. Broken Hearts Don't Hurt As Much As Broken Bones
12. Bitterness Is a Beautiful Thing
13. She Didn't Look Like She Had a Disease
14. Who Said Alcohol and Handguns Didn't Go Great Together?
15. It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself
16. Revenge (My Part Time Lover)
17. Nothing Says 'Party' Like Her Head On a Stick
Killwhitneydead
Nothing Less Nothing More
***
Written on 01.09.08
Killwhitneydead have been pretty busy throughout their relatively short career thus far, and coming several years down the line, it's clear that the band has matured in a way. Though even the briefest glance at the tracklist proves that they really haven't in others.
The main difference between this album and the band's earlier material is that it's now much easier to discern specific songs due to changes in speed and a more coherent grasp of internal structure. The production quality is also more mechanical and less raw, which personally I'm not so fond of, but the band's technical proficiency is still a selling point, with enjoyable guitar solos such as that in track two.
My main gripe is that there's still far too much reliance on extended samples from films and television, and even though these samples are more relevant to the song titles this time round, they still serve to get in the way, especially as the album plods on.
1. Words Don't Last Forever Your Wounds Will
2. Just When You Thought I Was Listening
3. Time to Teach Her a Lesson Called 'Replaceable'
4. Put a Sock In It
5. Skip the Break Up, Get to the Make Up
6. (Here's an Idea) How About More of Me and Less of You
7. White Trash But Worth Every Cent
8. Losing Weight & Looking Great
9. Maybe Death is a Gift
10. If Only My Eyes Were Loaded
11. You Getting Boom Boom With the Bridesmaids?
12. Stop Crying Just Start Dying
13. Funny Enough It Sounds Just Like Tainted Love (7" Single Version)
King Crimson
*****
Written on 12.02.06
The groundbreaking debut record of progressive rock continues to be of interest to music historians. 1969 was the year of the first moon landings, the first gay rights, the final Beatles performance, Woodstock, continuing conflict in Vietnam and Northern Ireland, the first ATM machine and, of course, the withdrawal of the halfpenny as legal tender in the UK. What influence, if any, did this incredible year have on guitarist Robert Fripp and the musicians he assembled under the provisional name of Giles, Giles and Fripp?
None at all, evidently. ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ a surprising success, seems to have come out of nowhere. While the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ is rightly acclaimed for its experimentation and the young Pink Floyd’s albums were becoming increasingly complex, King Crimson were the first to produce, however unintentionally, the record that defined and kick-started the prog movement, with its textured atmospheres, crazy structures and darkly poetic lyrics from non-musician Peter Sinfield.
ITCOTCK, to use its even more confusing abbreviation, is lauded by many as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, but it isn’t without its weaknesses. Some of the experiments aren’t entirely successful, and there’s a tendency for songs to outstay their welcome, but on the whole this is an amazing independent work by some excellent musicians:
Robert Fripp, the band’s founder, guitarist and a man who has repeatedly found himself the only remaining band member over King Crimson’s long and turbulent existence, alternates between the loud and distorted heavy-metal-inspiring riffs that would dominate the band’s seventies output, and calmer, subdued acoustics for the softer songs.
Greg Lake, departing after this album to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, is responsible for the great melodic driving bass line that holds the insanity of the famous first track together, and handles vocal duties competently and clearly on all tracks, achieving his best performance on the haunting ‘Epitaph.’
Drummer Michael Giles, like Fripp, adapts seamlessly between manic and peaceful songs, but his greatest feat here is the wild jazzy drumming of ‘21st Schizoid Man.’ Ian McDonald handles all keyboard duties, including the roaring mellotron that dominates the title track. He also adds the exotic woodwind and flute sounds that enchance the album’s distinctive and much-imitated atmosphere.
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
… (including Mirrors)
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
… a) March for No Reason
… b) Tomorrow and Tomorrow
4. Moonchild
… a) The Dream
… b) The Illusion
5. The Court of the Crimson King
… a) The Return of the Fire Witch
… b) The Dance of the Puppets
The five songs on this album have become legendary in prog rock, and are superbly varied in style. After thirty seconds of quiet, distant background noise, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ explodes with its sax-and-guitar combo riff and leads into Lake’s distorted, angry, staccato screams. The song speeds all over the place during its seven minutes, but stays coherent and impressive, building up anticipation for the final reprise. Surely the most covered prog rock song outside of Pink Floyd, I’ve even heard an Ozzy Osbourne cover that is predictably irritating and rubbish.
It would be hard to top the madness and volume of the first track, and the music becomes far more subdued for most of the album as a result. This may disappoint some listeners, but the songs work so well (on the whole) that the album remains consistent and impressive. ‘I Talk to the Wind’ is the yin to Schizoid Man’s yang (or whichever one is the good, friendly half of the balance), dreamy and ethereal. McDonald’s flutes combine perfectly with the other instruments, this focus on coherence marking the song out from most other ballads.
‘Epitaph’ is an incredible song, another led by acoustic guitar but enhanced with the ever-popular mellotron, making this disillusioned epitaph sound like a bleaker equivalent of something like ‘Trespass’ by Genesis (released the following year). As mentioned earlier, Lake’s vocals are at their most powerful and effective here, especially in the chorus, blending perfectly against the backdrop, whether that’s a mellotron overload or simply a muted drum beat.
‘Moonchild’ is undoubtedly the weak point of the album, an overlong and frankly boring song. It’s pleasant enough for the first three minutes, if a little too quiet and similar to ‘I Talk to the Wind,’ but then tails off for ten minutes of more or less nothingness. Fans of soundscapes may find something to like in this sparse instrumental, but it’s even been admitted since that this section was created (probably improvised) because the album was too short. Moonchild serves only to lead into the epic conclusion.
With ‘The Court of the Crimson King,’ the band arguably saved the best song till last. Not as immediately impressive as ‘Schizoid Man,’ and lacking the depth of ‘Epitaph,’ the simple melodies and exaggerated chorus point this song in a hit single direction, perhaps hindered by the changes in instruments and the breaks taken in-between sections. The dominating mellotron somehow bridges the gap between the classical past and (at the time) ultra-modern period in creating a real courtly mood, aided greatly by Sinfield’s fantastical and memorable lyrics. The woodwind interlude and final reprise are a little unnecessary, but it’s a brilliant conclusion to the album that combines most of the best elements from the earlier songs and creates one of the earliest prog classics.
ITCOTCK is a necessary album for all prog rock fans, and despite its reliance on some distinctly 1969 traits, its lack of clear influences and contemporaries means it will never really sound dated. The studio production is crystal clear, as are the vocals, and there’s enough diversity in the song structures to keep fans listening to the album throughout their lives. It’s debatable whether the band succeeded in their goal to Anglicise rock, especially considering the obvious jazz influence, but their efforts are far more exciting and commendable than the romanticised pastoral sound of their far more successful contemporaries like Genesis and Yes.
A sixth song would have benefited this album greatly, avoiding the waste of time that is ‘Moonchild.’ Other tracks can seem too drawn-out sometimes, depending on the listener’s mood, especially ‘Schizoid Man’ and the final track, but based on the next album, the King Crimson of this era had used up their four brilliant song ideas already.
The song formula of aggression, calm, darkness, fusion and epic is completely successful. So successful, in fact, that King Crimson would accidentally repeat it entirely on 1970’s 'In the Wake of Poseidon,' at the same time forgetting to come up with another amazing and iconic album cover.
Advantages: A landmark album, four inspired songs
Disadvantages: 'Moonchild' is a waste of everyone's time
King Crimson
In the Wake of Poseidon
***
Written on 01.09.08
King Crimson's second album is difficult to review objectively, as its copy-cat structure largely mirrors its landmark predecessor 'In the Court of the Crimson King,' to the point that the songs can't hope to stand on their own merits so much as be judged as either superior or inferior versions of their equivalents from the first album. As this came second, it also brings the reflex prejudiced response of deeming them all inferior, which perhaps isn't always the case (though still certainly is for the most part).
King Crimson has never managed to sustain a coherent line-up throughout any period of its long career, and even on the second album it's clear that relationships are strained, with singer Greg Lake walking out before the recording was finished, leading to his replacement by the weaker Gordon Haskell on 'Cadence and Cascade.' Creatively, there isn't much to appeal to prog fans on this album as it's mostly lifted straight from the debut: 'Pictures of a City' is a fun, jazzy piece reminiscent of a less hectic '21st Century Schizoid Man,' 'Cadence and Cascade' is a tranquil ballad with flutes directly comparable to 'I Talk to the Wind,' and the title song is insultingly identical to the excellent 'Epitaph,' based heavily on the mellotron.
Oddly, it's where the album attempts something new that it ends up failing, as the band explores beyond the winning formula. This is most evident in the overlong and frankly tedious 'The Devil's Triangle,' which steals the theme from Holst's 'Mars, the Bringer of War' and spectacularly fails to do anything exciting with it.
1. Peace - A Beginning
2. Pictures of a City (including 42nd at Treadmill)
3. Cadence and Cascade
4. In the Wake of Poseidon (including Libra's Theme)
5. Peace - A Theme
6. Cat Food
7. The Devil's Triangle
... a) Mesday Morn
... b) Hand of Sceiron
... c) Garden of Worm
8. Peace - An End
King Crimson
Lizard
***
Written on 26.06.06
The third album by progressive rock pioneers King Crimson is the band’s most demanding, patchy and deservedly obscure. If nothing else, fans of avant-garde music should admire it for those very reasons. The band’s debut, ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ is a landmark of experimental rock, a brilliant fusion of modern (1969) technology and Medieval influence that acts as a dingy counterpart to the happy psychedelia and pastoral prog played by Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes around the same time. The second album, ‘In the Wake of Poseidon,’ disappointingly repeats exactly what the first album did, but with less impressive results. For ‘Lizard,’ released later the same year, Fripp and the other musicians created a record that stands apart in the Crimson discography for its basis in experimental jazz, which ultimately leads to the band’s first (and only) side-long song, the 23-minute eponymous ‘Lizard.’
This emphasis on jazz style lends the album a free-roaming, unsettling sound that is heavy on the horns. For listeners unaccustomed to the style, it can be a little off-putting, especially in the album’s second half. There are enough recognisable structures in the first four songs to avoid deterring newcomers, but fans of long epic prog rock songs, Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes,’ Genesis’ ‘Supper’s Ready,’ Yes’ ‘Close to the Edge,’ Rush’s ‘2112’ and, more recently, Porcupine Tree’s ‘The Sky Moves Sideways’ and Dream Theater’s ‘A Change of Seasons,’ won’t necessarily appreciate the length granted to ‘Bolero’ and ‘The Battle of the Glass Tears’ in the second half. Lizard is a challenging and demanding album, even for prog fans who pride themselves on having what it takes to handle everything the seventies can throw at them.
Former vocalist Greg Lake departed to form one third of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (in which he starred as the ‘Lake’ one), and Greg Haskell was recruited as the new voice to ethereally spout the dark, fantastical, unusual lyrics written, as usual, by non-performer Peter Sinfield. Haskell had appeared on ‘Cadence and Cascade’ on the previous Crimson album, and his vocals impress as much as Lake’s on that album, although don’t approach the level of the debut. For some reason, Jon Anderson of Yes makes a guest appearance half-way through the album, lending his androgynous angelic voice to the opening part of the album’s ‘epic’ composition.
The single stable element in King Crimson is influential guitarist and keyboard player Robert Fripp, as even at this early point in the band’s history, all other performers were subject to change. Fripp’s co-founders Giles and Giles have now both departed, bass guitar duties handled by vocalist Haskell and drums by Robert McCulloch, both of whom would depart before the next release. This temporary line-up appears to be a studio-necessitated phenomenon, and would never tour or exist in any form thereafter.
King Crimson, ‘Lizard’ (Atlantic, 1970)
1. Cirkus (including Entry of the Chameleons)
2. Indoor Games
3. Happy Family
4. Lady of the Dancing Water
Lizard:
5. a) Prince Rupert Awakes
6. b) Bolero – The Peacock’s Tale
7. c) The Battle of the Glass Tears
____i) Dawn Song
____ii) Last Skirmish
____iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament
8. Big Top
If any single song from this overlooked album deserves to appear in at least one King Crimson live set or compilation CD, it’s the opener ‘Cirkus.’ An unforgettable yet simple guitar-and-sax riff looms ominously between Haskell’s soft-spoken verses, all of which taper to a louder vocal assault not dissimilar to Lake’s on the first album’s title track. At six and a half minutes, ‘Cirkus’ is the closest to perfection that this album attains, although it’s still in a radically different league than ‘In the Court of the Crimson King.’ ‘Indoor Games’ and ‘Happy Family’ take a disappointing refrain from this nightmarish darkness, opting for a more melodic mood, the latter of which sounds similar to early Genesis, circa ‘Nursery Cryme.’ It’s a problem common to King Crimson that by changing line-up so often, and veering off in such drastically uncharacteristic musical directions, is it still the same band we’re listening to? It’s certainly not typical of the distinctive Crimson sound, or rather what I imagine that to be amidst all this evolution.
‘Indoor Games’ isn’t very impressive, but ‘Happy Family’ at least manages to be more complex; Haskell’s vocals are all over the place, playing around with a weird staccato style rather than the excellent pseudo-singing of the first track, and the middle of the song seems fairly directionless. The final song on side one of the album’s vinyl pressing is ‘Lady of the Dancing Water,’ which again doesn’t sound particularly Crimson-esque, despite obviously being this album’s continuation of the flute-ballad trend that began with the excellent ‘I Talk to the Wind’ and continued with the less excellent ‘Cadence and Cascade.’ ‘Lady of the Dancing Water’ is the least impressive of the three, despite Mel Collins’ pleasant flute work, and is too short at under three minutes to actually go anywhere.
Side two is dominated by the ‘Lizard’ suite. Floyd fans should think more along the lines of ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (released the same year) than ‘Echoes,’ as this is predominantly a brass-led instrumental extravaganza with minimal focus on coherence. The exception is the first section, an airy sing-along piece with soft piano by Ken Tippet, and Jon Anderson’s pleasant vocal cords. Strangely addictive and compelling, this couldn’t sound more dissimilar to the rest of the piece. ‘Bolero’ is jazz for people who are scared of jazz, although it can still be pretty intimidating. More jazz-rock than prog-rock, it’s nevertheless well performed and emotionally confusing to jazz newcomers. I think I quite like it. At seven minutes, it’s not the most concise instrumental offering, but it could have been a lot worse; despite evidence to the contrary, I believe that Fripp seeks to avoid overindulgence in King Crimson.
‘The Battle of the Glass Tears’ is likely the most intriguing and rewarding part of the entire album upon repeated listens, and I haven’t even come close to fully appreciating it. A lengthy piece that opens with dialogue and proceeds to more instrumental fun, the horn section trying to recreate the sound of a battle and its aftermath, this is truly a twentieth-century answer to classical compositions in the same vein. The album ends with the brief ‘Big Top,’ an unnecessary instrumental reminder of ‘Cirkus’ that seems more like a desperate attempt to add structure to a crazy album. It may have been more wise and pleasing to end with the final notes of ‘Lizard,’ but this isn’t a major criticism of the album.
Lizard was an overlooked King Crimson album right from the start, released the same year as their eagerly-anticipated sophomore effort and featuring an almost entirely different line-up and musical direction. It would take two more albums for Fripp and friends to finally settle on a direction, and even that brief solidarity would be gone by 1975. The band’s first live album, ‘USA,’ overlooks this album’s contribution entirely, although that’s forgivable at only six tracks in length. What’s more surprising is the complete absence of choice cuts, admittedly few, such as ‘Cirkus’ and ‘Prince Rupert Awakes’ being excluded from the numerous official ‘best-of’ compilations released over the decades: ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson’ (1976), ‘The Compact King Crimson’ (1986), ‘The Abbreviated King Crimson’ (1991), ‘The Concise King Crimson’ (1993) and ‘A Beginner’s Guide to the King Crimson Collector’s Club’ (1999).
Even the 1999 update of ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson,’ entitled ‘Cirkus’ of all things, fails to feature that track. The only appearance of Lizard material outside the album itself comes with the addition of an edited ‘Bolero’ in the four-disc boxsets ‘Frame By Frame: The Essential King Crimson’ (1991) and ‘21st Century Guide: Volume 1’ (2004), sneaking its way into the end of disc two. It’s perhaps not surprising, given Fripp’s own alleged disappointment at the direction of Lizard, but there’s enough impressive material here to feature occasionally, rather than endless re-releases of ‘21st Century Schizoid Man.’
Lizard is a strange and not completely remarkable album in a fairly zany discography, but dedicated prog rock fans should certainly try it out as, chronologically at least, it’s one of the genre classics. Jon Anderson’s cameo hints at a direction the band could have headed, and indeed seemed to try with the next album, the melodic ‘Islands,’ before abandoning such leanings completely for the grinding, beautiful noisiness of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.’ ‘Cirkus’ is a good song, and the title suite is fun too. The lyrics are intriguing in their customary lack of meaning, and the cover art is nice. I quite like this album.
Advantages: Early, experimental prog rock for people afraid of real jazz.
Disadvantages: Several weak songs, with too much focus on variation.
King Crimson
Dynasty Turns Nasty
***
Written on 01.09.07
King Crimson’s fifth album brings forth, once again, an almost entirely different line-up, with guitarist and founder Robert Fripp being the only permanent member. While such instability potentially alienates fans of the band’s earlier works, the constant introduction of fresh blood and myriad ideas allows for a discography of highly distinctive albums to keep fans on their toes. One of this wildly inconsistent and tirelessly experimental band’s most wildly inconsistent and tirelessly experimental albums, ‘Larks’ Tongues’ is mostly comprised of lengthy, complex instrumentals with a central section of more commercially viable vocal songs, and like many of their more detailed works takes a number of listens to fully appreciate or even enjoy.
Aside from the point of reference provided by Fripp, the mid-70s incarnation of King Crimson comprised bass player and vocalist John Wetton, violinist David Cross and drummer Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes), a line-up that would remain through two more albums until the band’s extended hiatus following the excellent ‘Red.’ This release departs significantly from the Medieval-influenced, mellotron-drenched symphonic prog typified by the classic debut album, but retains the jazz influence of ‘Lizard’ and the tranquillity of ‘Islands,’ combining them with some raw and aggressive proto-heavy metal to create an album that was entirely unique at the time; delicate and elegant while brutal and corrosive (hence the strange title).
In truth, the sound tends to vary between these extremes with very noticeable seams, the central songs in particular owing more to the chilled-out, radio-friendly prog of the previous album, the more extreme sections being confined largely to the bisected title track, though it’s the surprising heaviness of the latter style that stays the most memorable afterwards. Half of these songs soon became live favourites, and can be found easily on commercial live releases of the time, notably the following year’s ‘USA.’ Popular opinion contends that the live releases are preferable for their greater energy and rawer sound, but this album exudes a vibe of controlled disorder, improvisation within boundaries, allowing the original versions to remain definitive.
1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
2. Book of Saturdays
3. Exiles
4. Easy Money
5. The Talking Drum
6. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two
The two uneven halves of the title suite characterise the harder edge of this album, and the thirteen-minute, prog-fusion opener serves to keep unadventurous listeners at a safe distance. The most obvious but relevant comment to make is that it is, indeed, far too long for a song of this type, building very slowly but forgivably over three minutes with some excellent percussion and ominous violins before launching into a violent main section that soon burns out and leaves the remaining bulk of the song to be carried almost solely by Cross’ violin. The song will primarily be remembered for the few minutes immediately following the long introduction, the simplistic but highly effective guitar riff working brilliantly against the fascinating and varied Eastern-tinged percussion of notable guest Jamie Muir, and although the remainder is forgettable by comparison it still offers much for attentive listeners or musicians seeking inspiration. Fripp fades out of the limelight to allow his bandmates to show off their talents, most notable in Cross’ dirty-but-sweet violin dominating the proceedings but also the continued percussion and an excellent bass section for Wetton.
John Wetton’s voice is evidently not as strong as his bass work, evidenced on the three songs that follow, but like the late Quorthon of Scandinavian black metal band Bathory, the rawness and lack of professionalism only makes it more endearing to me. ‘Book of Saturdays’ is the least interesting song on the album, presumably stuck in second place to provide something palatable for those deterred by the gargantuan opening piece, and maintains the mellow mood. Fripp and Cross play at their lightest and most relaxed in tandem, which sounds very pleasant but doesn’t distinguish itself from what is essentially the same thing they’re doing for the rest of the album. Wetton’s afore-mentioned vocals are airy and similar to what Pink Floyd were doing around this time, even resorting to a chorus of ‘doo-doo-doos’ for wont of lyrics, much the same as Floyd’s ‘Green is the Colour.’ ‘Exiles’ is much more impressive, easily the highlight of the vocal part of the album, despite seeming in some ways like an updated version of the band’s classic ‘Epitaph’ from the first record. Fripp and Cross are at their best here, creating a consistent melodic harmony without showing off too much, Fripp allowing himself a relaxed guitar slow-lo at the end. Wetton’s vocal melody is great in this, creatively out of time from the main rhythm (I presume it was intentional, and not merely due to incompetence) and managing to make this more distinct from ‘Epitaph’ than it otherwise would have sounded.
Based principally on an easily memorable guitar riff and simple titular chorus, ‘Easy Money’ is bound to be one of the songs that stands out on early listens more than the more subtle and complex works elsewhere, which is a shame as it doesn’t offer an awful lot in comparison. The marching rhythm keeps things consistent from the onset, not descending into the near-silence that pervades many of the other songs, and Wetton’s Beatles-style vocals in unison with himself are once again a little off, though it sounds more jarring in a straightforward song like this. The second half sees a somewhat surprising descent into a slow jam, which I enjoy far more than the main section of the song but that still sounds out of place, especially with the instrumental tracks that come after. That said, the reprise of the chorus is a nice and welcome touch at the end, and this song at least forms a stable centre for those who are otherwise lost, and really shouldn’t be listening to this type of album in the first place.
Despite its deceptive title, ‘The Talking Drum’ is not simply a drum solo, for which I am very thankful. Bruford is the main star of the piece, but it’s also a chance for the other musicians to return to the sort of things they were doing in the first song, before that annoying need to stop alienating people and make proper songs got in the way. As usual, the first half is quiet and calm in an attempt to deceive listeners into turning up their speakers for the louder second half, where Bruford’s drums and Wetton’s bass take on a harder edge, but Fripp and Cross remain melodic. It’s a nice song, but overshadowed in a big way by its successor, the second part of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.’ Unlike the first song, this launches straight into a squealing start, which instantly makes it the better of the two. Indeed, just about everything that was regrettable about the first song is remedied here, with Fripp’s loud guitar remaining prominent throughout its entirety and the other instruments relegated largely to the background, becoming more audible at the right moments. This song represents everything that the mid-70s King Crimson excelled at (along with the entirety of the ‘Red’ album), which also unfortunately serves to expose the forty minutes leading up to it as below the band’s abilities. Cross’ violin explodes into a screeching, discordant rage before joining in with Fripp once again, ready for the inevitable grand finale that is entirely satisfying and only slightly overdone.
As an album for musicians or improvisation enthusiasts, ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ is fairly good, but spoiled by the more mundane stuff in the middle. For the average listener, there are some standable songs in the centre, surrounded by a screeching, hammering cacophony. This is certainly a transitional, and even introductory album for King Crimson’s most stable line-up (which is really saying something), and it would take a bout of extensive touring, interrupted by the half-arsed ‘Starless and Bible Black’ album, for the band to really come into its own and record one of the finest progressive rock albums of all time in 1974. Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford and David Cross are all excellent and suitably ego-centric musicians whose collaboration had a shaky start, but could only improve from the lessons learned on wild rides like this one.
Arguably superior versions of ‘Larks’ Tongues’ part two, ‘Exiles’ and ‘Easy Money’ form the bulk of the fairly good ‘USA’ live album, but serious fans will want to own the other two interesting, if significantly flawed instrumentals on this strange record that are hard to come by in other forms. Ahead of its time certainly, the style of the title songs now being present in endless hardcore-tinged ‘prog metal’ bands who employ a violinist, but it could only achieve the lukewarm popularity it did in the pretentious early seventies. People said Bruford was crazy to leave Yes and join this chaotic cluster, but that’s just the sort of stupid maverick action that easily wins me over, and it’s clear that the rushed nature of these lesser releases is largely due to a busy schedule, three albums coming out in the space of a year and a half.
Advantages: Unprecedented anger balanced by predictable calm.
Disadvantages: The bits that aren’t quite great are entirely mediocre.
King Crimson
Red
*****
Written on 01.09.08
King Crimson's final album for the best part of a decade, 'Red' would have been a fitting swan song as the finest album in the band's erratic discography since their classic 1969 debut. Similar to that earlier album, there are five tracks beginning with comparatively straightforward prog rock songs (I'm using 'comparatively straightforward' in the loosest possible sense) before letting loose some instrumental indulgence in the longer final couple. Fortunately, each song is excellent, from the back-to-basics rock instrumental 'Red' to the grand finale 'Starless.'
This was the tightest incarnation of the band, here cut down to a three-piece (with several guest performers drafted in when necessary), and the band's song writing ability was never better. The first three songs entirely leave behind the drawn-out, rambling style of the previous few albums in favour of something more easily accessible, though no less worthy of the experienced listener, and there's a great balance between hectic and slower, softer rhythms.
'Providence' is the only song that stands out as being a little too self-indulgent, the only song here aimed more towards avant-garde fans, but even this is a vast improvement over the similar failed experiments on the previous album. The finale 'Starless' is the real highlight, mixing mellotron and guitar in the way only Robert Fripp can. My only real gripe with the otherwise perfect album is that John Wetton's voice can be a little grating.
1. Red
2. Fallen Angel
3. One More Red Nightmare
4. Providence
5. Starless
King Crimson
USA
***
Written on 04.09.06
It’s bizarre that King Crimson hold a place as one of my favourite progressive rock bands, as the constant shifting of band members and musical styles between every album signify more than a little instability. Guitarist Robert Fripp became the only original member of the line-up a mere one year after the band’s debut album, and this trend continued throughout the seventies, with a brief spell of stability recorded here.
The drably titled ‘USA’ is the band’s second live album after the disappointing ‘Earthbound’ in 1972. King Crimson’s continuing process of rebirth inevitably leads to each significant ‘era’ of the band playing many of its more recent songs (as opposed to old favourites written by an almost entirely different group of musicians), however from time to time the band would hit upon a timeless classic that would hold a place in the live repertoire thereafter. ‘USA,’ a chronicle of the 1974 tour, features the most effective and creative King Crimson incarnation to date: the line-up of Fripp, John Wetton (bass and vocals) and Bill Bruford (drums) remained consistent for a staggering three studio albums, all released within a year and a half.
Released shortly after the band’s excellent ‘Red’ album, but sadly before any of those songs had been performed live, this live album focuses predominantly on songs taken from the ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ album, but features a song each from ‘Starless and Bible Black’ and ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ (sadly not the title track) as well as an impressive free-form improvisation. With the exception of the final track, all songs were recorded at the Casino in Asbury Park, New Jersey on June 28th 1974, and all sound far better in their raw and fuzzy live heaviness than the thinner sound of the originals. For some reason, the band’s most famous number ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ was taken from a different show in Providence two days later, and is tethered to the rest of the album by a rather shoddy fade-in-and-out.
1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part II
2. Lament
3. Exiles
4. Asbury Park
5. Easy Money
6. 21st Century Schizoid Man
The two parts of the ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ suite that bookend their namesake studio album are the most distressingly ear-piercingly heavy songs in the King Crimson discography, contributing taking their cues from the burgeoning heavy metal genre. While the severely overlong and repetitive ‘Part I’ took a lifetime to begin and ran out of steam four minutes in, the band made the right decision in performing the much improved ‘Part II’ as their live opener. Based on several of Fripp’s heaviest guitar riffs, and featuring the best bass and drum performances of the album, this six-minute instrumental employs David Cross’ violins better than anywhere else, and features enough shifts and reprises to keep things interested for the enthusiastic (if tinny) crowd.
Both ‘Lament’ and ‘Exiles’ are more laid-back pieces, and the latter is especially improved over the studio version. ‘Lament’ is a little disappointing and bland, especially as the band had accumulated several much better songs in a similar style by this point, but features some rare and inoffensive piano. ‘Exiles’ is one of the show’s highlights. Carefully modified, this is a great relaxed and proggy song that leads seamlessly into the band’s jazzy improvisation, simply labelled ‘Asbury Park.’ Without much in the way of focus, this is the album’s main selling point to fans of either the band itself or improvisation in general: Fripp is astounding as always, and Cross’ keyboards particularly shine, although personally I could have done without Bruford's rather long and showy drum intro. The ditty’s unrestrained nature may be off-putting to newcomers, but certainly won’t be anything new to those familiar with the band’s work, especially the afore-mentioned ‘Larks’ Tongues’ pieces and the jazz epic ‘Lizard.’
Next, starting impressively but soon resigned to repetition, ‘Easy Money’ is led by a very nice Mediterranean-sounding electric riff from Fripp, before attention turns to his backing mellotron. Bruford plays around with the drum timing somewhat, which proves more distracting than entertaining. Overall, this is the album’s weakest point, but the band’s preference for playing newer material means there aren’t many realistic alternatives (though ‘The Night Watch’ would have been nice). As zany and unpredictable as a King Crimson live show may be, the compiler of this album nevertheless couldn’t resist ending things with ‘21st Century Schizoid Man,’ the band’s most well-known song. As I’m much more familiar with the original, this live version is pretty interesting: Wetton’s muffled vocals aren’t anywhere near as good as Greg Lake’s, and although the improved heavy sound of the instruments suits this ‘Larks’ Tongues’ era fine, this leads to a much reduced focus on Ian McDonald’s crazy sax. It’s a really good live version, and a fine alternative to the classic.
The re-release of this CD (which I don't have) adds the extra tracks ‘Fracture’ and ‘Starless,’ the latter of which should be particularly interesting, and a brief introduction called ‘No Pussyfooting’ which lasts for about thirty seconds. As the main chronicle of the second major era of King Crimson, the main problem of ‘USA’ is historical, as it features none of the excellent songs from ‘Red’ which number among the band’s best (although it’s hardly this album’s fault is it?) These songs appear later in the live discography, which seems to be growing rapidly each year as more and more bootlegs are given official releases.
As Red’s rushed predecessor ‘Starless and Bible Black’ was primarily a live album itself, with the crowd noise removed from performances of new songs presumably to save on studio time, only one measly song is included here (and it is a very measly one). This leaves the bulk of ‘USA’ to be filled with the best half of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic,’ which it thankfully improves upon. With the exception once again of the timeless ‘Schizoid Man,’ King Crimson’s first three albums are deliberately completely ignored.
As can be expected from a live album recorded in the early seventies, the sound quality is noticeably inferior to today’s standards, but the clear sound and fairly even mix of all the instruments puts it far above the realms of a bootleg. Fripp’s deep guitar is given a kick in a heavy metal direction that wasn’t always present on the original songs, but the performances and structures are quintessentially prog rock. I’m not sure whether I prefer the flat sound of this crowd to the roaring Dolby 5.1 audiences audible on more recent releases, but like Iron Maiden’s ‘Live After Death’ and Judas Priest’s ‘Unleashed in the East,’ the energy and amplifier set-up of these live shows far outshines the more measured work in the studio. The set-list is disappointingly short by modern standards at six songs and forty minutes, but a double LP release would only have introduced a large amount of filler, without remedying any of the issues with the standard album.
I hesitate to recommend ‘USA’ for the reason I’d worry about recommending any King Crimson album, even to those familiar with some of their work. This is entirely a live album of the hard rocking Fripp/Wetton/Bruford incarnation of the band, and as such won’t necessarily appeal to those who enjoyed the mellotron-soaked tranquillity of the famous debut, or Fripp's strange new-wave offerings of the eighties. Music aficionados may find the ‘Asbury Park’ improv to be of particular interest, but such leanings could alienate those who prefer the simpler, softer side of things with ‘Lament’ and ‘Exiles.’ It’s a nice mix, but clearly there really isn’t any way to win, unless you’re a King Crimson fanatic. And if you’re going to be fanatic about anything, why not this fascinating and temperamental bunch of skilled musicians?
There are plenty of other King Crimson live albums and box-sets out there with all numbers of discs, so fans are given a wide smorgasbord to choose from. ‘USA’ isn’t the best, but it’s historically one of the most important.
Advantages: Good production sound; improvement on studio versions; 'Asbury Park' improv.
Disadvantages: Some weak selections, and it's all far too short.
King Diamond
Fatal Portrait
****
Written on 01.09.08
The first 'solo' album from Mercyful Fate frontman King Diamond ends up being a comparatively modest effort to highlight the whole band's abilities, lacking much of the over-the-top showmanship and camp horror aesthetic of the King's subsequent works. While it isn't as technically proficient or tight as its successor 'Abigail,' this is still a noteworthy release that stands out in the often indistinguishable King Diamond discography.
Recorded in 1986, the production is a little weak, which lessens the impact of many of Andy LaRoque's guitar riffs but also adds an enjoyable echoed effect to King Diamond's high wailing vocals. Only a select few songs on here sound like the material the band would produce hereafter, the excellent 'Halloween' anthem in particular, as most are relatively slow and dingy, enhanced by creepy keyboards.
Anyone who was deterred by the slightly ludicrous campness of King Diamond's later works might even find something to enjoy here; on the other hand, if that's what attracted you to the band in the first place, you may be a little disappointed.
1. The Candle
2. The Jonah
3. The Portrait
4. Dressed in White
5. Charon
6. Lurking in the Dark
7. Halloween
8. Voices from the Past
9. Haunted
King Diamond
Abigail
****
Written on 25.09.06
Danish band King Diamond’s ‘Abigail’ is a staple of horror movie heavy metal, and is the most impressive of the former Mercyful Fate frontman’s ‘solo’ releases (aided in no small part by lead guitarist Andy LaRocque and the other musicians accompanying the King’s torturous multi-octave wails). These nine very cool songs tell the gothic ghost story of a house under a horrific curse, narrated in part by the ghost of Count La’Fey, who threw his pregnant wife down the stairs to kill her bastard daughter Abigail. But the stillborn corpse intends to wreak its revenge on the house’s occupiers forevermore, and the album begins, as King Diamond himself helpfully screeches in the opening song, in the summer of 1845.
The concept is entertaining and the music strangely fitting, in a hairy eighties heavy rock kind of way. One of metal’s most intriguing frontmen, the music always takes second place to King Diamond’s extreme vocals and shock rock stage act (I can reveal that his inevitably disappointing real name is Kim Petersen), but these early albums manage to strike something of a balance. ‘Abigail’ is by far the finest and less ridiculous of these, and many of the songs still form a vital part of the band’s live set to this day. Only its successor ‘Them’ is a worthy rival in terms of album concept and lyrics, concerning itself entirely with a boy’s fear of his insane grandma.
The story is told in an appropriately gothic manner, beginning in the ‘present day’ of 1845 and proceeding in the album’s second half to delve into the terrible events of 1777 before returning to the present for the necessary tragic ending.
Andy LaRocque’s guitars are exceptional on this album, and would never sound as good again. Most tracks are led by a distinctive and memorable lead riff, while the album’s more tender or sinister moments explore equally skilful acoustic territory. ‘Arrival’ is perhaps the highlight of the album as the powerful opener (after the relatively short introduction track), while the epic finale ‘Black Horsemen’ is the album’s technical peak. King ‘Kim’ Diamond’s distinctive vocals may take some time to get used to, and may indeed be either the most incredible or most preposterous high screams you’ve ever heard, as he unashamedly strives to outdo Halford, Dio, Dickinson and the rest of the screeching frontmen that made the eighties so cool (I guess. I can’t remember much about that decade aside from Postman Pat).
With albums so heavily involved in a concept, there always comes the danger of filler material that the writer finds it necessary to include for the good of the story at a cost to the listener’s entertainment (Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ is probably the most famous example of this, ending up a whole disc too long). ‘Abigail’ avoids this, as every song holds its own; aside from ‘Funeral,’ basically an introductory set-up to the story told by Diamond in an unsettling, distorted rasp, the album could be enjoyed whether the listener gives two hoots about the concept or not. They should though, as the over-the-top horror show theatrics sound a lot more entertaining when grounded in a plot like this, even if it is pretty predictable and unoriginal.
King Diamond went on to release the unnecessary sequel ‘Abigail II’ almost twenty years later, but like all of the band’s releases since they hit the 90s, it holds very little of interest. The self-appointed King’s first three albums are his finest, the logical extension of the genre-defining stuff he did with Mercyful Fate in the early 80s before they wimped out, and should be easily enjoyed by fans of like-minded bands. ‘Abigail’ fuses the sound of Judas Priest with the manic stage presence of Alice Cooper or Arthur Brown, but ends up the least accessible of the lot.
1. Funeral
2. Arrival
3. A Mansion in Darkness
4. The Family Ghost
5. The 7th Day of July 1777
6. Omens
7. The Possession
8. Abigail
9. Black Horsemen
Advantages: Great guitars, nice concept and very distinctive vocals.
Disadvantages: The sound becomes repetitive after a while.
King Diamond
"Them"
****
Written on 01.09.08
Another great entry in the highly consistent King Diamond discography, "Them" is one of the band's defining works, and easily the peak of their silliness, however tongue-in-cheek it's intended to be. A concept album that wants to be a cheap horror film, "Them" tells the tale of a grandma's return home from a mental asylum, her reunion with the ghosts in the attic and the initiation of her young grandson to share her fate. There's a lot of stuff about drinking tea as well, with track four possessing the only tea-based heavy metal chorus that I'm aware of.
It's clearly ridiculous, and however much the band and King Diamond himself throw themselves into the whole horror movie gimmick, it's obvious that this isn't as serious a work as the previous 'Abigail.' Even the intro pokes fun at itself, and the album's biggest downfall is that it does tend to favour the concept over the music itself as the album draws to a close, with too many interludes in place of full-length songs. This isn't the case for the first half of the album though, which features many classic King Diamond songs but which is clearly dominated by the excellent 'Welcome Home,' a song that features King Diamond and Andy LaRoque at their very best, and never gets old.
1. Out From the Asylum
2. Welcome Home
3. The Invisible Guests
4. Tea
5. Mother's Getting Weaker
6. Bye, Bye Missy
7. A Broken Spell
8. The Accusation Chair
9. "Them"
10. Twilight Symphony
11. Coming Home
12. Phone Call
Advantages: Fun horror movie heavy metal.
Disadvantages: Pretty daft.
King Diamond
The Spider's Lullabye
***
Written on 02.09.08
After a substantial gap that saw King Diamond return to his former band Mercyful Fate, the Danish shock rock star finally unveiled 'The Spider's Lullabye,' an album that had allegedly been written as far back as 1991. This is one of the band's weaker releases on the whole, but will still be enjoyed by fans as a more melodic take on the usual style, even more so than the previous 'The Eye.' It's just not as memorable on the whole, the exception being the catchy opener 'From the Other Side.'
There are still some hard rocking songs here, chiefly 'Killer,' 'Six Feet Under' and 'Eastmann's Cure,' but the style now lacks the excitement of earlier releases, meaning that the slower, melodic tracks such as 'The Poltergeist' and 'The Spider's Lullabye' end up being favourable. King Diamond's voice is almost entirely rooted in the high end of the scale which spoils its effect through over-use, and will doubtless prove extremely annoying to the uninitiated, but perhaps the biggest disappointment of all is that the album largely forgoes the traditional horror story concept, with only the latter half devoted to a comparatively dull tale of a man's deathly phobia of spiders.
1. From the Other Side
2. Killer
3. The Poltergeist
4. Dreams
5. Moonlight
6. Six Feet Under
7. The Spider's Lullabye
8. Eastmann's Cure
9. Room 17
10. To The Morgue
King Diamond
Voodoo
****
Written on 02.09.08
'Voodoo' sounds like a step in the right direction from a band teetering perilously on the edge of mediocrity, as King Diamond and his Danish boys serve up a heavier and angrier affair than the comparatively melodic previous albums. Andy LaRoque's hard riffs and frantic solos possess a lot more energy than they've had in years, and King Diamond's vocals commendably remain predominantly in the lower range, only using his trademark banshee wails for accentuation.
This album's lyrical concept concerns a wealthy nineteenth-century family moving to a mansion in the Louisiana swamps, and their subsequent right-wing attempts to eradicate the local voodoo community. As ever, it's not the most original plot King Diamond has penned, but it provides an excellent framework for the album's musical journey, not to mention that the twist ending is undeniably cool. Stand-out songs include the energetic and catchy title track, featuring a guest solo from the late Dimebag Darrell of Pantera (incredibly overrated, but let's not speak ill of the dead), and the subsequent tracks that follow a thrash metal approach. This is the best King Diamond album since 'Conspiracy.'
1. Louisiana Darkness
2. LOA House
3. Life After Death
4. Voodoo
5. A Secret
6. Salem
7. One Down Two to Go
8. Sending of Dead
9. Sarah's Night
10. The Exorcist
11. Unclean Spirits
12. Cross of Baron Samedi
13. If They Only Knew
14. Aftermath
King Diamond
Deadly Lullabyes Live
*****
Written on 02.09.08
With a discography as diverse and conceptual as King Diamond's, attempts to compile a collection of the 'best' songs is always going to be difficult, but the band makes a valiant effort with this live set-list recorded on the tour for 'The Puppet Master.' To promote that new album, the band obviously chooses to perform several of its songs in place of old classics, but it was such a good album in any case that this doesn't present a problem.
The set opens with a selection of songs from the classic 'Abigail,' clearly an admission by the band itself that it hasn't recorded anything quite comparable in the decades since, and after this follows a well-chosen mix of classic cuts from "Them," 'Conspiracy,' 'The Eye' and the more recent 'Abigail II,' seemingly ignoring the comparatively forgettable releases from the 1990s altogether. As most King Diamond albums follow a conceptual story, the songs are arranged well to avoid the narratives clashing with each other too badly, not that fans familiar with the plots would care anyway.
It's to the band's credit that the new songs from 'The Puppet Master' opening disc two are greeted with as much enthusiasm from the crowd as the later old-school classics served up for encores, and it would be difficult to top this as a King Diamond live release.
Disc 1
1. Funeral
2. A Mansion in Darkness
3. The Family Ghost
4. Black Horsemen
5. Spare This Life
6. Mansion in Sorrow
7. Spirits
8. Sorry Dear
9. Eye of the Witch
10. Sleepless Nights
Disc 2
1. The Puppet Master
2. Blood to Walk
3. So Sad
4. Living Dead (Outro)
5. Welcome Home
6. The Invisible Guests
7. Burn
8. Introductions
9. Halloween
10. No Presents for Christmas
Kiss
Alive II
Men in Make Up
**
Written on 27.05.04
In the seventies it was okay for men to wear make-up, and most of them did. Kiss’ make-up was based on a flimsy and pretty unnecessary system of keeping the universe in harmony:
* Bass player and alternate vocalist Gene Simmons’ demonic make-up represented the evil elements of the world, and this automatically made him the cool member who male fans liked best and wanted to be exactly like, although probably less obese.
* Main vocalist and rhythm guitar player Paul Stanley’s star-painted eye represented the infinity of space, and probably secretly indicated how good he felt his sustained wails were in comparison to its infinity.
* Lead guitar player Ace Frehley had make-up that would nowadays be considered a little camp, even in comparison to the bare-chested lead singer. Plenty of silver make-up to catch the lighting.
* Last and apparently least is the drummer, Peter Criss. According to the TV series Family Guy, “no one wants to be Peter Criss, not even Peter Criss.” The reason for this hatred is unclear, and I’d prefer to keep the mystery, although an amusing search of eBay shows that he personally has 0% recommendation in comparison to the 100% of the others. He was painted as a cat, which is just an animal really.
KISS (AND) ME
Possibly the cheesiest and oldest album I have ever subjected myself to, Kiss’ second live release has long been hailed as one of the definitive live albums, despite its infamous reputation of tampering in the studio to clean up the vocals. In the seventies, and for some of the eighties, this painted, leather-clad American four-piece captured the imaginations of a large number of young people, their legacy living on today in the form of extortionate collectables and nostalgic TV programmes.
I have long been familiar with Kiss, and despite not really being a fan of their camp-pop-glam-rock style I have enjoyed the occasional song on occasion, having been exposed to their track ‘God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II’ during the closing credits of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey several times a year as a child, but it was a while before I decided to hear an album.
ALIVE II
Kiss’ first live album, titled ‘Alive!’, was a huge hit internationally, and this band did not wait long before releasing a second live anthology containing different songs. Originally on double vinyl, this was long ago transferred to CD format and is most often found spread across two discs.
DISC 1
1. DETROIT ROCK CITY
Some unintelligible screaming breaks into the recognisable riff from one of Kiss’ more well-known songs, punctuated by well-timed and predictable expensive explosions in the first minute. Being a ‘casual’ ‘fan’ of Kiss, this is one of the songs I was previously familiar with and one of my favourites- it has a very catchy beat and some great dual guitar sections halfway through, while not possessing any of the qualities that make other Kiss songs grate on my eardrums. A great opener, nice bass groove from Gene, there was also a film of the same name that apparently featured a Kiss concert as the quite pretentious goal of the lead character. I never saw it.
2. KING OF THE NIGHT TIME WORLD
The sustain of the guitar leads into the next track, an upbeat rock and roll affair with an infectious chorus, spoiled slightly in my opinion by some dated guitar work that unfortunately reminds me of seventies things I dislike. Not including these, these are okay. This is quite a short track.
3. LADIES’ ROOM
Some light banter on the subject of pretty ladies leads into another pretty unimaginative track, but again quite a catchy one, vocals being handled primarily by Gene. Again this sounds exactly the same in terms of structure and guitars to many other bands of the time such as Status Quo, and there’s nothing to impress me here.
4. MAKIN’ LOVE
This very upfront song gets a great reaction from the crowd and has some good guitar work, despite the unimaginative vocals; credit should be given to the rare guitar and drum solos towards the end.
5. LOVE GUN
A more popular song with some very memorable vocals and drumming, this at least gets the structure right, and the crowd seem to love it. The song fades out at the end, a tell-tale sign of the days of vinyl.
6. CALLING DR. LOVE
Still on the theme of love, this is another good track with some good use of short guitar bursts to punctuate the rhythm. I can’t help but visualise the inevitable faces of Ace Frehley on the lengthy guitar solo, and despite being hated, Peter Criss pulls off some well planned drumming on this one. The high-pitched backing vocals are a little irritating, and I still can’t condone the lyrics.
7. CHRISTINE SIXTEEN
Gene’s growling voice is accompanied by a unison chorus with Paul Stanley, but this is yet another unimpressive track that isn’t different enough from the rest to truly sound imaginative. There is good use of guitar though, something that often acts as a saving grace for this band.
8. SHOCK ME
Not too bad, but the chorus is repeated far too many times. There is an interesting progression into a fast guitar riff towards the end, which is the only aspect of the song I enjoy, although the elongated guitar solos once the song has finished sound a little arrogant and big-headed. It’s Kiss though, so that’s alright.
9. HARD LUCK WOMAN
A departure from the ‘in-yer-face’ hard rock, this is a mellow song that has more interesting lyrics and musical changes as a result. Normally I may not like this track, but its situation at this point of the album is very well planned. My only gripe with the track is that it is a little short and once the basic melodies have been established there is little else of interest. But, as I have stated a number of times, it is Kiss after all.
10. TOMORROW AND TONIGHT
After the previous, softer track I realised I had actually started getting into this album, and I was glad that this came afterward. Not a track I was previously familiar with, but this is enjoyable, upbeat (in a non-silly way for a change) and has good performances all round.
DISC 2
11. I STOLE YOUR LOVE
The band waste no time before kicking in with this catchy anthem. It follows the same pattern as virtually every other Kiss song but they never were about being avant-garde or too original, something you would be stupid not to have noticed had you been listening to the first disc.
12. BETH
Another soft song, this opens with a piano and mellow singing from Paul, something the crowd seem to particularly enjoy and which gets them into a clapping rhythm. There are no guitars, bass or drums on this track, so I don’t enjoy it as much as I otherwise would, but I’m glad they didn’t just insert another riff-verse-riff-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-chorus-chorus-chorus track, and the vocals do stay in the listener’s head. The backing orchestration on this track could be seen as a prelude to the band’s collaboration with a symphony orchestra on 2000’s ‘Alive IV’ album, but that was mainly ripping off Metallica. Being Kiss does not, for once, act as an excuse for that, the unoriginal painted idiots.
13. GOD OF THUNDER
The only decent title so far, this is an opportunity for Gene Simmons to shine, a bass intro leading into his vocals. This was a song I had hear before, and it has a very catchy and enjoyable chorus – while the lyrics aren’t on par with H.P. Lovecraft, even the most blissful young lover would have found the ‘love’ lyrics tiresome by now. Both myself and the audible crowd appreciate the space in the centre of the song where a drum solo is carried out, although the production quality does make it sound very tinny. This is by far one of the best tracks on the album.
14. I WANT YOU
Back to this, are we? Fortunately this is another quite different song, beginning with very quiet guitars and vocals and erupting into a great riff that somehow sounds unlike anything else on the album. The high harmony chorus also sounds really good, and this is another song that deceives me into thinking that I like Kiss. But I couldn’t, obviously, this album is just confusing. It does sound nice though. The end of this track features some very, very silly crowd interaction in which Paul Stanley performs the chorus a capella, very over-the-top, and gets the crowd to scream it back at him. It’s forgiveable though, for reasons you should be familiar with by now, pertaining to it being Kiss.
15. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
“Are you people ready to rock and roll?” asks Paul. It seems a bit of a silly question considering they’ve already spent 52 minutes at a Kiss concert, but it does act as a good intro to this track.
This was it, this was the point at which I broke. I admitted to myself that I liked Kiss.
This is one of their most infectious and enjoyable songs, and as well as having some very memorable choruses, it also has some excellent-sounding guitars, particularly at the opening. Repetitive, but not overlong, and it ends with the friendly message, “we love you.” That’s nice isn’t it? It also made me feel less silly about liking them, as at least they were polite.
As the band leave the stage, the audience cheer that they want Kiss. It’s possible that they are cheering for the band, although this seems unlikely as they’ve just been playing for almost an hour and should have been quite noticeable. Given this obvious fact, I think they are all just shouting that after hearing so many shallow songs about love they just want a kiss.
STUDIO TRACKS
After the live show, five extra tracks are included on the album, all recorded in the studio, leaving aside obvious jokes that everything so far has been recorded in a studio except the crowd noise.
‘ALL-AMERICAN MAN’ isn’t a very good track, especially as it simply describes the places to which a man has been, and how this makes him all-American. ‘ROCKIN’ IN THE USA’ is a similarly-themed track but has a better riff and some good vocals, but still isn’t up to the standards of the rest of the album. ‘LARGER THAN LIFE’ takes a different approach that sounds quite Alice Cooper-esque, and makes use of the instruments in short bursts rather than a continuous presence. The only part of the song I really enjoy is the atmospheric guitar at the end. ‘ROCKET RIDE’ is the best of these collected studio tracks, but still feels like it needs crowd accompaniment to take it to a more enjoyable level. ‘ANYWAY YOU WANT IT’ is a fairly boring affair, and the album could have ended on a better note.
VERDICT
There are several immediate problems I had with this album: crowd interaction is often favoured by fans of live albums, and I agree that it adds to the atmosphere and energy of the performances, but the constant wail of the crowd can be heard throughout this entire album, save the fade-outs. More a sign of age than a deliberate problem, the quality of the sound recording is another problem covered by this excuse; the studio fixing at least clears this up somewhat. In fact I consider this tampering to be a bonus point, as while it may be deceptive in accurately showcasing the band’s live talent, it at least makes for a more accurate and pleasant sounding experience.
Kiss clearly are a live band, as their songs are much more about performance than musical quality; this is shown in the poor sales of their studio albums before the release of the first ‘Alive!’ record. I recently saw an excellent Kiss tribute band called ‘Dressed to Kill,’ and the fact that their faces were covered in paint almost deceived me one a couple of occasions; the good thing about a Kiss tribute band is that it’s pretty easy for the members to be as talented as Kiss themselves.
I would recommend this album, in conjunction with the first ‘Alive!’, only to people with an interest in Kiss. Those who are interested enough to buy them. I wasn’t, but there were times when I thought I might (before remembering how many bands I like more, and who are better). This offers a much broader scope of the band than is available with any of the poorly put together ‘best of’ albums, although the first disc does contain its fair share of unimpressive, similar songs.
Don’t buy this album out of sympathy however; I’m sure the band are loaded by now, and any extra sales you provide could just as well go to the money-grabbing record companies fronting less well known bands. Kiss are still quite catchy though, but a live video would help to capture their performance better, overblown pyrotechnics and all.
Advantages: A lot of the band's best songs, Very good value for money
Disadvantages: Not to everyone's taste, Both discs have their share of dodgy tracks, Crowd noises and low production quality
KoRn Kollekted heRe
Korpiklaani
Korven Kuningas
***
Written on 02.09.08
The difficult-to-pronounce-and-spell Korpiklaani are one of the most prominent folk metal bands, and along with their darker counterparts Finntroll favour traditional folk instruments over heavy metal elements in a largely unsatisfying fusion that loses its novelty quite early on.
This isn't folk-tinged power metal in the style of Elvenking, or folky heavy metal in the style of Ensiferum, but rather a fully-fledged folk band supplementing its songs with guitar backing. This means the album won't necessarily appeal to metal fans, even though about half of the songs work towards some sort of balance.
There are songs here to dance a merry jig to ('Northern Fall') and mourn ('Gods on Fire'), but not really anything to really sink your teeth in to. The permanent accordion member is a delight to begin with, as are the gravelly folk vocals, but like most aspects of this band, it all gets old rather quickly.
1. Tapporauta
2. Metsämies
3. Keep on Galloping
4. Northern Fall
5. Shall We Take a Turn?
6. Paljon on Koskessa Kiviä
7. Ali Jäisten Vetten
8. Gods on Fire
9. Kantaiso
10. Kipumylly
11. Suden Joiku
12. Runamoine
13. Syntykoski Syömmehessäin
14. Korven Kuningas
Kreator
Extreme Aggression
***
Written on 02.09.08
Kreator were one of the most significant European thrash bands, taking the American style and twisting it to harder, more violent and more despicable climes along with their contemporaries such as Celtic Frost and Bathory. The band's early albums are widely revered as classics among the thrash metal scene, but their fourth release 'Extreme Aggression' marks a disappointing lull that seems to find the band struggling for ideas.
The vocal yells and down-tuned guitars sound like a primordial version of death metal, but the songs themselves are often lacking in energy, slowing down too often when a faster tempo would be more appealing. Opener 'Extreme Aggression' and the short but sweet 'Bringer of Torture' are both violent metal classics, but the album is weakened on the whole by the inclusion of too many filler tracks (such as 'No Reason to Exist,' to name only the earliest example) that plod along by the numbers.
1. Extreme Aggression
2. No Reason to Exist
3. Love Us or Hate Us
4. Stream of Consciousness
5. Some Pain Will Last
6. Betrayer
7. Don't Trust
8. Bringer of Torture
9. Fatal Energy
Kreator
Coma of Souls
****
Written on 02.09.08
'Coma of Souls' is perhaps the crowning achievement of Kreator, and the German thrash scene at large. Opening with the misleadingly tranquil acoustic guitar of 'When the Sun Burns Red,' the song soon reveals its true colours as a hard, fast and furious thrash classic that even manages to remain atmospheric with some well-placed sound effects. The presence of guitarist Blackfire, formerly of Sodom, helps this band's sound immensely, and Blackfire sounds much more at home here.
The style here will be familiar to thrash fans, though they perhaps won't have heard it this dark and forceful before, bordering on death metal in the drum department particularly. Songs such as 'Terror Zone' are a little slower, steadier and catchier, but for the most part this is raw and brutal thrash that the American bands were too timid to make. At a time when Celtic Frost, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Testament and numerous other thrash masters were cheapening their sound by slowing down for the grunge crowd, Kreator kept it angry.
1. When the Sun Burns Red
2. Coma of Souls
3. People of the Lie
4. World Beyond
5. Terror Zone
6. Agents of Brutality
7. Material World Paranoia
8. Twisted Urges
9. Hidden Dictator
10. Mental Slavery
Krieg
Blue Miasma
***
Written on 02.09.08
The final album from beloved American black metal band Krieg is quite a disappointment, especially following the band's extremely aggressive and nihilistic output comparable to the best of the Norwegian scene.
'Blue Miasma' is, on the whole, slower, duller and more melodic, with riffs plodding on and on against what sounds like gothic rock percussion until the musicians get bored. There are a couple of aggressive moments in songs such as 'Who Shall Stand Against Me?,' 'Scars Brought into Question' and 'The Forest Beneath the Sea,' but for the most part this is pretty mundane and severely lacking in energy.
The mental deterioration of vocalist Imperial was well-documented at the time, but here he sounds more pitiable than anything, not really giving it his all in the black metal screams. There are some nice doom metal moments, more a sign of the band slowing down than anything else, so it's at least nice to see that the slowing down wasn't entirely without merit.
1. The Great Beast Trembled in Nightmare
2. Who Shall Stand Against Me?
3. The Blue Mist
4. Under an Uncaring Moon
5. The Sick Winds Stir the Cold Dawn
6. And Now the End
7. Lingering Doubt
8. Hallucinations in Deep Corruption
9. Every Wound Burned
10. An Empty Room, a Forgotten Funeral
11. The Master's Voice
12. Scars Brought into Question
13. The Forest Beneath the Sea
Kyuss
Blues for the Red Sun
****
Written on 02.09.08
It's with their third album that stoner rock pioneers Kyuss really hit their stride as well as the rock mainstream, letting forth a subtly powerful barrage of slow, warm and fuzzy instrumentation beneath John Garcia's irresistible melodic singing. These songs are still heavily based in the blues rock tradition, but move beyond traditional doom rock towards something more emotive, compelling and bizarrely reminiscent of a drive down a desert road in the Southern United States, picking up hookers and sleeping in seedy motels.
The band are masters of tempo, churning out predominantly slow riffs and rhythms that accelerate to great effect on occasion, particularly at the escalating finale of 'Thumb' and the shorter and faster 'Caterpillar March.' Some songs favour an entirely stoned aesthetic such as the slow and fuzzy 'Molten Universe' and the odd 'Thong Song,' while the band never forgets its blues origins with guitar licks in 'Apothecaries' Weight' and others. The tracklist is bulked out a little misleadingly by frequent short interludes ranging from several seconds to a couple of minutes, but even these serve to bridge the songs in a more coherent fashion.
1. Thumb
2. Green Machine
3. Molten Universe
4. 50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)
5. Thong Song
6. Apothecaries' Weight
7. Caterpillar March
8. Freedom Run
9. 800
10. Writhe
11. Capsized
12. Allen's Wrench
13. Mondo Generator
14. Yeah
Kyuss
Welcome to Sky Valley
*****
Written on 02.09.08
'Welcome to Sky Valley' (or to use its lesser-known correct title, 'Kyuss') is perhaps the finest work the American stoner rock outfit ever produced, and certainly one of the defining works of the genre. A little more energetic than its predecessor, this is still predominantly slow and contented music that never sounds so much lazy as under the influence, the tracklist being helpfully divided into three movements to aid comparison.
The first movement (tracks one to three) starts out with the catchy 'Gardenia' before descending into instrumental indulgence with the sometimes blaring, sometimes peaceful and entirely incoherent 'Asteroid,' one of the finest songs here if one of the less instantly accessible. 'Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop' is laid back before the second movement delivers some blaring guitars in '100 Degrees,' Eastern-tinged acoustic plucking in 'Space Cadet' and the throwback piece 'Demon Cleaner' which, like peanut butter, ranges between crunchy and smooth. The third and final movement is the most rocking and energetic of the album, roughly speaking, and this album should be on anyone's essential list of nineties rock.
1. Gardenia
2. Asteroid
3. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
4. 100 Degrees
5. Space Cadet
6. Demon Cleaner
7. Odyssey
8. Conan Troutman
9. N.O.
10. Whitewater
Lacuna Coil
In a Reverie
***
Written on 02.09.08
The first album from popular Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil catches them before they hit the big time, and is consequently a more true-to-form doom metal album, complete with 'beauty and the beast' vocals alternating between Christina Scabbia's haunting singing and the death metal growls of her boys.
This is a style used to great effect by The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy and others, and while Lacuna Coil was only ever distinctly average, the vocals are the definite highlight here, the music itself being fairly simplistic and derivative of the lighter death-doom bands of the nineties such as Paradise Lost. The album becomes fairly dull as it plods on, but individual songs are well worth listening to in their own right if you're a fan of the genre, particularly the slow and dingy 'Stately Lover' and power ballad style 'To Myself I Turned' where Scabbia is at her best.
1. Circle
2. Stately Lover
3. Honeymoon Suite
4. My Wings
5. To Myself I Turned
6. Cold
7. Reverie
8. Veins of Glass
9. Falling Again
Lacuna Coil
Halflife
**
Written on 03.09.08
'Halflife' is Lacuna Coil's second E.P., an average collection of a few listenable songs that nevertheless fail to live up to the high quality of the previous E.P.
Christina Scabbia is her usual reliable, if unexciting self opposite the far less talented male singer Andre, who is used a lot more here than in the previous album 'In a Reverie' but without the death metal grunts. Nevertheless, a few interesting vocal deviations are made, as the opening title track favours an Eastern vibe and 'Senzafine' is performed entirely in the band's native Italian, complete with spoken word sections. Needless to say for such a predominantly slow band, 'Hyperfast' fails to live up to its name entirely, 'Trance Awake' is merely an overlong, atmospheric introduction to the third song, and the Dubstar cover is uninteresting, albeit covered so well that it could easily be mistaken for merely another repetitive Lacuna Coil track.
1. Halflife
2. Trance Awake
3. Senzafine
4. Hyperfast
5. Stars (Dubstar Cover)
Lacuna Coil
Comalies
****
Written on 03.09.08
'Comalies' was the album that launched Lacuna Coil into the rock mainstream, and commendably they didn't even have to sell out and deviate from their regular style to achieve this. Indeed, this may be the heaviest and most accomplished Lacuna Coil album to date, though this isn't saying all that much.
The band has always favoured catchiness over technicality, which isn't a bad thing obviously, and they achieve this well here, especially with the instantly memorable choruses to 'Swamped' and the single 'Heaven's a Lie.' Male singer Andre still insists on coming in and ruining Christina Scabbia's hard work, which spoils every track to an extent, but Scabbia's distinctive voice is still powerful enough to lead the way with confidence, even if it tends to sound more haunting and passive than compelling.
Some songs favour a poppier direction that will be a little annoying to metalheads who've followed the band from the beginning, the main offender being the Tori Amos style verses of 'Heaven's a Lie,' but there are still enough hard rocking songs to maintain the old-school fans' interest, such as 'Daylight Dancer' and 'Tight Rope,' while the keyboard work of 'The Ghost Woman and the Hunter' proves that the band has musical talents on the rare occasions it decides to display them.
1. Swamped
2. Heaven's a Lie
3. Daylight Dancer
4. Humane
5. Self Deception
6. Aeon
7. Tight Rope
8. The Ghost Woman and the Hunter
9. Unspoken
10. Entwined
11. The Prophet Said
12. Angel's Punishment
13. Comalies
Advantages: More accessible without losing artistic integrity.
Disadvantages: Some songs will be too light for the old-school fans, or too heavy for the newcomers.
Lacuna Coil
Karmacode
**
Written on 03.09.08
It was perhaps inevitable that Lacuna Coil would spiral down to fit in with the artistically torpid rock mainstream, and 'Karmacode' goes full circle in stealing from bands such as Evanescence who had started out as an awful clone of Lacuna Coil's style in the first place. These attempts to fit in with mainstream rock fans by abandoning their own style in favour of that of other bands was a lousy idea to begin with, and the band spectacularly fails to pull it off, attempting to mimic Korn's guitar style in songs such as 'Our Truth' and only ever managing to sound loud and irritating.
Christina Scabbia has lost some of her distinctiveness now as she tries to sound like the girl from Evanescence, and even worse are Andre's male vocals that now adopt a sing-song style. The slow songs such as 'Within Me' end up being the best as Scabbia returns to her usual melancholic style, and even the Depeche Mode cover fails to stand out amidst the repetitive material.
1. Fragile
2. To the Edge
3. Our Truth
4. Within Me
5. Devoted
6. You Create
7. What I See
8. Fragments of Faith
9. Closer
10. In Visible Light
11. The Game
12. Without Fear
13. Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
Lamb of God
Sacrament
***
Written on 03.09.08
Lamb of God is exactly the sort of band I'm usually inclined to hate, for cheapening the metal genre with hardcore influences and all that other rubbish. I was a bit disappointed to realise that their popular 2006 album 'Sacrament' is actually pretty good, certainly a hell of a lot better than the albums I'd previously heard where the drumming style was indistinguishable from a CD skipping.
Lamb of God would still be classed as metalcore, but there's enough of a groove metal foundation to keep this appealing to metal fans, replete with guitar solos and heavy riffs. The over-the-top hostility of the vocals is annoying, especially in the pointlessly sweary chorus of 'Redneck' that I can only hope is supposed to be ironic or something, and similarly the drums are also a little irritating for sounding so much like a set of dustbins. The album balances savagery and melody better than most modern bands are capable of, but in the end this next-generation Pantera all sounds pretty similar.
1. Walk With Me in Hell
2. Again We Rise
3. Redneck
4. Pathetic
5. Foot to the Throat
6. Descending
7. Blacken the Cursed Sun
8. Forgotten (Lost Angels)
9. Requiem
10. More Time to Kill
11. Beating On Death's Door
Leaves' Eyes
Lovelorn
***
Written on 03.09.08
The curiously named Leaves' Eyes was the new musical project formed and fronted by singer Liv Kristine after her dismissal from the increasingly mediocre Theatre of Tragedy, and her vocal talents are utilised more here than the previous band ever permitted. Still possessing enough of a punch in the guitars and drums to avoid this sounding merely like a gothic metal Enya, the album is clearly Liv's project and sidelines the other band members to basic rhythm duties. It's not great, but there are some pretty good songs.
The band is at its finest performing soaring gothic metal in the classic style, as evidenced by the first two songs, and while the brief deviations into atmospheric ballad territory are similarly enjoyable (the title song in particular), the band falls a little flat when attempting to sound meaner than it can realistically achieve. The use of male death metal growls to supplement the female singing in songs like 'Ocean's Way' sound distinctly out of place, and the album loses its steam after the first half.
1. Norwegian Lovesong
2. Tale of the Sea Maid
3. Ocean's Way
4. Lovelorn
5. The Dream
6. Secret
7. For Amelie
8. Temptation
9. Into Your Light
10. Return To Life
Life of Agony
River Runs Red
****
Written on 03.09.08
'River Runs Red' is the debut release from Brooklyn alternative metal band Life of Agony, and is one of the defining examples of the nineties doom rock style with its slow yet powerful guitar riffs and soaring vocals that avoid the pomposity of Candlemass. These songs are simple, catchy and compelling, and the obscure narrative inserted in-between in the form of dialogue and answering machine messages (on 'Monday,' 'Thursday' and 'Friday') add another level of enjoyment for fans intrigued by the lyrical concept as well as the music. Fortunately for those not interested in such things, it's even easier to ignore.
The style does become a little trying as the album moves on and every song sounds similar to its predecessor, but there are some exceptions that aim to keep the listener's attention such as the shorter, harder and punkier title track. Clearly inspired by classic doom bands such as Black Sabbath, this is a less gothic alternative to contemporary equivalents such as Type O Negative for more mainstream rock fans.
1. This Time
2. Underground
3. Monday
4. River Runs Red
5. Through and Through
6. Words and Music
7. Thursday
8. Bad Seed
9. My Eyes
10. Respect
11. Method of Groove
12. The Stain Remains
13. Friday
Advantages: Great nineties doom with memorable vocals.
Disadvantages: Repetitive style.
****
Written on 03.09.08
Liquid Tension Experiment is the instrumental side project of members of Dream Theater (the majority of the band) with King Crimson's Tony Levin providing impressive bass guitar that's nevertheless mostly drowned out by the guitar and keyboard work of John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess respectively. Not to say that these two individuals represent the peak of instrumental virtuosity - in fact, a lot of what they do really isn't up my street - but they impressively manage to lead the way for an entire album and rarely become boring.
The style is a mixture of full-pelt noodling and slower, tranquil melodies, demonstrated most in the shift from the frantic, Pac Man inspired opening song 'Paradigm Shift' to its calm successor 'Osmosis.' The third, 'Kindred Spirits,' really belies the Dream Theater influence and contains a number of keyboard and guitar melodies that would make their way onto subsequent DT works. This song feels like it needs vocal support to some extent, and it's delightfully cheesy in an eighties game show theme tune sort of way.
'Freedom of Speech' escalates from slow piano to full-pelt shred over the course of ten minutes, and the even longer closing song 'Three Minute Warning' is far from epic, but manages to stay energetic throughout. This isn't an album I could listen to the whole way through, but it will doubtless be of interest to experimental jazz/rock fans and musicians.
1. Paradigm Shift
2. Osmosis
3. Kindred Spirits
4. The Stretch
5. Freedom of Speech
6. Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure
7. State of Grace
8. Universal Mind
9. Three Minute Warning
10. Three Minute Warning (continued)
11. Three Minute Warning (continued)
12. Three Minute Warning (continued)
13. Three Minute Warning (continued)
Advantages: Improvised metal fun.
Disadvantages: Often misses the mark.
Lit
A Place in the Sun
****
Written on 23.06.01
I had wanted to buy this album for a long time before I finally saw it in a sale, and couldn't resist any longer. Being a fan of all punk I loved the songs "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Zip-lock" (which both have music videos), and decided that they alone were reason enough to buy the album.
Lit seem to be in the lighter side of punk rock, the only band I can think of that seems similar is Goldfinger, but have not yet had their big break to thrust them out of the underground. "My Own Worst Enemy" is widely known among punk fans but not much further, and a lot of people don't know that the band did the theme for the 2000 animated feature Titan A.E. with their song "Over My Head" (which has yet to be released on an album other than the movie's soundtrack).
Lit consists of:
Jeremy Popoff (guitar)
A. Jay Popoff (vocals)
Allen Shellenberger (drums)
Kevin Baldes (bass)
(I'm guessing Jeremy and A. Jay are brothers).
This album is well worth buying, and does contain a lot of variation. There are happy and sad tracks, and not a single dodgy track on the album; one track even verges into ska-punk territory with horns. The drum beats are sometimes fantastic, and there are several amazing riffs, as well as cool vocals that sound unique.
The album begins suddenly and without hesitation with guitarring for the song "four": a great song about love (or lack of), in which someone keeps phoning their partner when they're alone to ask him to come 'round. It's a good song with a good riff that starts the album on a good note. ("Yeah, she doesn't think we're gonna make it, but when I'm home we're sleeping naked, and we pretend that we're in love.")
Track two is probably my favourite lit song (and the one most people have heard), "My Own Worst Enemy." It starts with an unrelenting guitar solo riff that soon leads into an absolutely fantastic song. The music video for the single has little relevance to the song, which is very funny and is about someone who has had too much to drink the previous night only to wake and find his life in tatters, as the video seems to be about bowling (?) It's definitely a song you want to hear if you like punk. ("Please tell me why my car is in the front yard and I'm sleeping with my clothes on. I came in through the window last night, and you're gone.")
"Down" starts rather oddly and A. Jay's voice sounds quite like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters in this song (at least i think so) which is still very good, but probably one of the worst on the album. The tune's pretty good, but the song sounds more like rock than punk. It's about driving a car at night, seemingly for the fun of driving it, and believing in your car's ability to take you where you want to go. ("Whenever we go down for a ride, ready to drive all night.")
The saddest song on the album ("Miserable") is a great change of pace from the punk, and still has a great tune. It's good to listen to, but I prefer some other tracks more. There are backup vocals from someone called John Gilmore. The song is about someone making someone else completely miserable with everything they do, and it features a slow instrumental session near the end. A good song. ("You make me com, you make me complete, you make me completely miserable...")
The next track builds up with a short beat before returning to the cool punk for "No Big Thing." It's got a fast, pretty heavy tune (for Lit) and is about someone's friend betraying them emotionally. Very good, loud song. ("It's alright, I'm not going crazy. It's alright, It's no big thing.") It was written by Jeremy rather than A. Jay, who wrote most of the other songs.
Another of my favourites off the album, "Zip-Lock" begins after a drum beat that slowly rises in volume, and has a fantastic riff. It's quite a slow song with a good chorus, and its meaning seems to be metaphorical in nature; it's about someone losing things and deciding to place them in a bag so he won't, but it talks about losing someone close as well, which may fit in with the meaning. Confusing, but very cool. ("If I could get another chance I'd put it in a Zip-Lock bag and keep it in my pocket.")
"Lovely Day" is a nice, happy song with a melodic chorus that sounds scarily like some hymn I used to have to sing in Primary School many years ago. It's very good though, and has a good riff and brilliant vocals. It seems to be the tale of a drug addict or simply a smoker who thinks the day seems somehow special. ("And now I live in a world that's all my own, it's always nice when no one's home.")
Track 8, "Perfect One", is another slow love song about someone's partner basically being "the perfect one." The tune does change somewhat for th chorus, but I don't particularly like this song enough for it to be one of my favourites, and it's one of my worst on the album. ("You are everything that I never knew I always wanted. You're the perfect one...")
"Quicksand" is a great song that has a large build-up before beginning. It's normal speed and has a good riff and drum beat, and is the story of a person who is worried that they have done something wrong, but cannot see what. ("When I bring it up you shut me out, so I keep on writing letters to myself.")
The happiest song on the album is rather un-ironically titled "Happy," and features horns, trumpets and a trumbone. The song's not amazing (personally I can't stand trumpets which is why I dislike ska), but it's about wanting to be happy even though he can't be (quite strange). ("It makes me bad cuz I want to be happy so bad.")
"The Best Is Yet to Come Undone" starts with a great guitar solo that is one of the album's highlights, and the song's pretty good as well. It was written by A. Jay along with some guy called Danny Peck, and has good guitarring as well as vocals. It's about having seen the world in all its glory, and now knows it will all soon "come undone": an unspecific, creepy concept. Cool, slow song. ("I touched the world, I felt the sun, I know the best is yet to come undone.")
The album's title track "A Place in the Sun" is a cool, loud, and fast song with excellent guitar and drum beats, and is about a man who thinks he should have left his town, but thinks it is now too late as the proverbial sun has set. An amazing song (among the album's best) that ends the album on a high note. ("I should have left you when I was up, I should have had enough sense to get up and leave this town.")
There has been talk of a secret track on this album, but my copy simply begins again after about ten seconds' silence at the edn of track twelve so I don't know what's going on there. All I know is that Lit may be th next big thing, although it may be unlikely as "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Over My Head", while popular, didn't seem popular enough to let the bnad into the mainstream. Their style is definitely unique though, and this album is well worth looking at (well, and listening to, obviously), although the cover interior is a bit strange, but full lyrics are available inside to all twelve songs, and there is extensive knowledge on the band's friends, etc. A great album.
Advantages: Great songs, Variation, Quite long (45 minutes)
Disadvantages: Cover artwork isn't amazing
Lullacry
Crucify My Heart
***
Written on 07.09.08
Lullacry is yet another metal band seeking mainstream attention branded with the somewhat unhelpful genre of 'gothic.' This Finnish band is far from the popularity of HIM and the big female-fronted goth metal bands, but they come off better than most by comparison. 'Crucify My Heart' is the first album with singer Tanja Lainio, and her voice is quite surprising, forsaking the operatic wails and Enya-style smoothness usually associated with the genre in favour of something more simplistic, catchy and energetic, and fittingly the instruments have a harder edge also.
They're still placed heavily in the background and mainly required to provide rhythm rather than stand out on their own, but there's at least enough diversity between a couple of the songs (the hard rocking 'Every Single Day' and balladic 'Unchain') to demonstrate that the musicians are at least competent, if unimaginative, even throwing out a couple of enjoyable lead guitar melodies in the former.
1. Alright Tonight
2. Crucify My Heart
3. Don't Touch the Flame
4. Every Single Day
5. Pitch Black Emotions
6. Unchain
7. Nothing to Lose
8. Heart of Darkness
9. This Time
10. Over Me
11. Better Days
Lumsk
Troll
**
Written on 07.09.08
Financed by the band's prize money from a Norwegian music festival the previous year, 'Troll' is a more polished and refined album than its predecessor, but also much, much duller. Trading in most of the heavy metal elements for an almost entirely folk sound, this is universally slow and often tedious folk metal lacking in the character and fun I usually associate with the genre. It's not lousy, it's just really, really boring.
The lyrics are probably quite interesting if you speak Norwegian, written professionally by Birger and Kristin Sivertsen, but the music they're put to sounds like a cross between a heavenly lullaby and a soft Jethro Tull. The female vocals are strong but not gripping, and the occasional male vocals are really quite awful, mechanically distorted to completely spoil the otherwise tranquil and historical atmosphere. Only opener 'Nøkken' contains a truly memorable violin melody, and that's probably only because it comes first before the rest of the album all starts to blend together, and even the comparatively upbeat folk performances of 'Perpålsa' and 'Blæster' aren't enough to wake me up significantly.
1. Nøkken
2. Dunker
3. Åsgårdsreia
4. Trolltind
5. Allvis
6. Perpålsa
7. Blæster
8. Byttingen
Luna Ad Noctum
The Perfect Evil in Mortal
***
Written on 07.09.08
Another modern black metal band trying to elevate its sound to epic heights through the use of symphonic keyboards (provided here by session player Flumen), Luna Ad Noctum aren't one of the more memorable Polish black metal bands, and this release certainly can't hope to live up to Behemoth's standards of heaviness, intensity or grandeur. This is fairly run-of-the-mill, generic stuff that will be recognisable to fans of Dimmu Borgir, Zyklon and other similar, keyboard-heavy bands with modern production, dominated by frequently inaudible and rarely interesting guitars and constantly pummelling double bass drums.
The vocals are provided by Adrian Nefarious, who wouldn't be worthy of mention if not for the fact that his name is one of my all-time favourite black metal pseudonyms (after Beherit's frontman Nuclear Holocausto of Bloody Vengeance, of course), but at the same time this will help to satisfy that black metal craving that we all have on occasion, when Borgir or Dissection seem a little too wimpy.
1. Phantoms ov Wrath (Intro)
2. The Perfect Evil in Mortal
3. Diablex Virus
4. Devilrising Impact
5. Humana Androide
6. Deviante Obscurante
7. Deceptive Fatality
8. Dimness in Me
9. Loneliness Ruined My Life
Machinae Supremacy
Overworld
***
Written on 29.12.08
Sweden's Machinae Supremacy kick off the ominous 'M' pile of my collection thanks to that cheeky extraneous vowel pipping Machine Head to the post, and despite the band's aspirations towards genre-innovating 'SID metal,' referencing the 8-bit SID sound chip that lends nostalgically awful synthesiser effects to most songs, this is essentially another run-of-the-mill cheery power metal album full of decent, albeit generic rock riffs and melodic choruses, and a bizarre Britney Spears cover.
The SID chip itself only plays a small supplementary role and in no way defines the songs itself, though its greater presence in songs such as 'Violator' works well in manner that will doubtless provide nostalgia for fans of early video games (it personally reminds me fondly of Codemasters' 'Dizzy' series). The cover of Britney's 'Gimme More' is predictably awful as metal covers of Britney always are, and is disappointingly taken a little too seriously to be amusing as was presumably intended, but the band's own material is enjoyable enough in a repetitive, melodic metal way.
You won't be hearing big things about this band, but if you're a fan of the SID chip, you'll be glad to discover there are things like this to cater for your weird tastes.
Machine Head
The More Things Change...
**
Written on 30.12.08
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Perhaps a more fitting title would have been 'Yes, This is a Different Song, Despite Sounding Exactly the Same as Its Predecessor,' though perhaps that wouldn't have worked quite so well for marketing purposes.
By their second album, Machine Head have already fallen into a rut of self-replication that can only be countered by deliberate efforts to change, as seen most explicitly in the two songs there that increase the tempo and attempt to sound like punk ('Struck a Nerve' and 'Bay of Pigs'), and the band's faltering, wandering musical choices in subsequent albums before eventually returning to something resembling this original, already somewhat annoying style.
'Annoying' is all I have to say for the relentless use of pinch harmonics across this album, which makes the pause between riffs and verses unbearable in 'Ten Ton Hammer,' 'Take My Scars' and 'Frontlines.' The songs all follow the same style of breakdown riffs with shouted vocals culminating in a lighter sung chorus, and it becomes old and a little grating even by the second track, Rob Flynn's shout sounding forced in its youth angst unlike the more natural, hoarse yells of the previous 'Burn My Eyes.'
Without much originality to its credit, this has always been Machine Head's most overlooked album, perhaps deservedly, but it can still offer some angsty brutality for those unprepared to venture into the realm of death metal.
Machine Head
The Burning Red
***
Written on 17.06.04
Machine Head emerged onto the heavy metal scene in the early nineties with their dark and incredibly heavy album 'Burn My Eyes,' following the examples of earlier and contemporary bands such as Pantera and Sepultura. The music scene suddenly changed quite drastically however, with the advent of grunge rock all but eradicating the popularity of heavy, aggressive metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer. Machine Head's debut and its successor, the equally heavy but much darker 'The More Things Change,' did not perform as well as the band or the record companies expected, and a change in direction was necessary for their third outing, aided by a new guitarist.
STYLE
Whenever a band changes their music to suit the climate they are accused of selling out, although in the case of Machine Head the alterations actually kept their music interesting when it could have easily become repetitive. 'The Burning Red' maintained the bleakness and anger of the previous records while cutting down on some of the lengthy guitar sections and introducing hip hop inspiration to a lot of the songs through vocalist Rob Flynn's passion for the genre. This allowed Machine Head to be very easily categorised into the so-called 'Nu Metal' scene dominated by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit, although their heaviness and technical skill exceeds that of such bands. These tracks are fairly diverse within the constraints of the music, with changes in speed and mood.
Machine Head were:
Rob Flynn - Vocals
Ahrue Luster - Guitars
Adam Duce - Bass guitar
Dave McClain - Drums
1. ENTER THE PHOENIX
This introductory track of 55 seconds sets the dark tone of the album with a slow build-up of a guitar whine accompanied by feedback and an ominous drum beating slowly.
2. DESIRE TO FIRE
A heavy and distinctive riff begins this song while Rob Flynn shouts indistinctly in the background, before the main verses start in a slower, quieter tune. The rap metal element of the album makes itself clear in the main verses, accompanied by some good guitar work, while the chorus is the usual Machine Head slow shout-along. A good opening track, but one that pales in comparison to later songs due to its similarity. There is some progression towards the end, but it isn't interesting enough to fill up the five minutes. Machine Head blowing their own trumpets a little bit as well.
"Save some for me,
Can't stop what were going to be.
Just watch as I demonstrate
The reason we dominate"
3. NOTHING LEFT
A more aggressive, heavy and impressive track, this balances angry and melodic vocals perfectly and has some impressive guitar work as well as interesting gaps in the music; the main appeal is in the speedy and upbeat-sounding verses however. Less of a rap influence in this one, although the 'Nu Metal' leanings are clear with the muted vocals and guitars in the latter half that sound similar to the band Disturbed.
"I am the things that you fear
My leap of faith without a sound
Don't push my back against the wall
Yes I have strength will never fall"
4. THE BLOOD, THE SWEAT, THE TEARS
My favourite track on the album, this anthemic metal song has everything going for it; an incredibly catchy chorus, a mixture of singing and shouting, great guitars and excellent plodding verses. The guitar solo isn't up to much, but then again that's not what this band are about - the anger and heaviness are at their most defined here.
"Its all about the blood, the sweat, the tears
A tribute to the strength built through the years"
5. SILVER
A different outing, this begins very melodically and softly, only breaking into heavier chorus sections towards the middle of the song. Not one of the best, but a song that was necessary at this point and keeps some diversity on the CD. Rob shows off his singing again here.
"Take my hand
Across this land
Escape this, all the hell inside
Create this man
To make my stand
And break this hardened shell in time"
6. FROM THIS DAY
The most well-known song on this album and Machine Head's biggest selling single, the hip hop influence is most prominent here but that doesn't spoil the metal aspects of the song, although the rapping verses do get on my nerves. The rousing chorus makes up for it though, and is the single best part of the album musically, appealing to many different tastes. It is therefore repeated many times at the end.
"Time to see, believe this in me,
The pain that I feel deep inside"
7. EXHALE THE VILE
Slowly building up after the excitement of the previous track, there is over a minute of a tribal-esque drum beat before the guitar riffs kick in. The chorus is angry and sounds great, alternating between sung and shouty, and some of the haunting guitar sections are reminiscent of the band's earlier work. One of my favourite tracks, partly because there is no rap involvement.
"Time will tell because my friend and
Never will I concede the end.
Heretic Jackals worship liars,
Forever I'll be the god that you desire"
8. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
A cover of a song by the Police shows a different side of Machine Head, although not one I particularly like. The sound has been modified substantially from the original and Rob's vocals are possibly at their best here, but it gets a bit too light for me. I listen to these guys when I want something angry and powerful. Not Sting.
"I'll send an SOS to the world,
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle"
9. DEVIL WITH THE KING’S CARD
One of the most aggressive and hateful tracks on the album, this makes it a little less enjoyable to listen to. There is a nice, slower section towards the end but that doesn't save this from being incredibly average. It doesn't spoil the album though. An unadulterated stab at the band's former guitarist who apparently turned against them.
"Give it to me, let it be,
But you're the one who quit
You said it yourself, you're the best
and you can handle it
The cry, watch how Machine Head takes it all"
10. I DEFY
A little bit of rapping in the verses backed by some very atmospheric and interesting high guitar work. By this point in the album the general style has become a little tiresome, but nice touches like the sound of the bass drum and the afore-mentioned guitars keep it worth listening to. Another dark outing.
"Maker makes me long for a better way,
You fear my strength if we're backed into a cage
Because I
I defy
So burn it apart son"
11. FIVE
A very interesting and somewhat disturbing track that, like songs from the band Korn, deals with child abuse related to the vocalist. The crying at the end makes this a little awkward, but the guitars and the bleaker tone set this apart as a high point of the album. May appeal to people who enjoy the deeply personal tracks from Korn, Nirvana and others.
"For all the times I'd be losing my mind,
You molest and destroy just a five year old boy
And you make me suffer, motherf***er,
Ripped my heart out"
12. THE BURNING RED
The longest and most "epic" track on the album, although not by much, the title track is an excellent ending to the album. Remaining slow, bleak and melodic throughout, never breaking into a somewhat expected heavy verse, this isn't an immediate classic but rounds off the album in the finest way possible. Meaningful and interesting lyrics and musicianship.
"Caress the needle prick in my eye,
The tears fell like rain.
I've rode the phoenix as she glides
And I've gone insane.
I've seen the light of suicide
And I'm dying"
VERDICT
This is a fairly solid album that expanded Machine Head's appeal while not alienating the majority of their existing support in the way that the bland follow-up 'Supercharger' did. As I stated earlier I am not a big fan of the rap influences, but at least they are tastefully done and don't hinder the style of any of the tracks, although musically this isn’t as interesting or diverse as some of the band's other albums that I enjoy a lot more.
The rap elements and shorter tracks mean that this album will likely begin to show its age in the not-too-distant future, although tracks such as 'the Blood, the Sweat, the Tears' and 'Nothing Left' make for an album that at least has some long-lasting appeal. Personally I would recommend the band's most recent album 'Through the Ashes of Empires,' which is more in the melodic, (very-) heavy metal style of their debut album, but which continues some threads from 'The Burning Red.' Roberty Flynn is one of the great metal vocalists, his growl seeming quite unnatural and certainly inimitable, although on this album the rest of the musicians sound only adequate rather than truly impressive masters of their respective fields.
Machine Head
**
Written on 30.12.08
As soon as the opening song 'Imperium' explodes through the speakers and entertains with its changeable riffs, long-overdue thrash sections and genuine high-energy hostility, it's clear that Machine Head are finally back in the realm of respectable metal, a decade after their last decent album that was never matched. Tragically however, the celebration is short-lived as the band instantly runs out of inspiration and the album becomes increasingly repetitive and redundant with each subsequent song.
There are very few songs that make a lasting impression in this generic modern metal album, often sounding more like modern Slipknot than the band's earlier contemporaries and influences, and some songs such as 'Left Unfinished' in particular feel like they're tapping the already overused youth angst / child abuse / excessive profanity angle that's been a mainstay of nu-metal since Korn. Musically, this album sounds like an even more irritating copy of the second album in its over-reliance on pinch harmonics and alternating vocal styles, and even a slight classic metal angle to 'Days Turn Blue to Gray' and inevitable acoustic near-ballad 'Descend the Shades of Night' can't make this any more worthwhile for repeated listens.
Still, the single was good though.
Mael Mórḋa
Cluain Tarḃ
****
Written on 30.12.08
One of the comparatively few Irish metal bands in my ludicrously vast collection, Dublin's Mael Mórdha instantly contrive a sense of the exotic by refusing to venture outside of Gaelic language and themes in their nostalgic, nationalistic take on gothic doom metal.
The music isn't depressing along the lines of Anathema or My Dying Bride, but also isn't too flamboyant and fantastical like Candlemass, lying somewhere in-between and also acting as a satisfying smorgasbord of current metal trends. The heavy framework will keep this powerful enough for death metal fans without scaring away newcomers with anything too harsh, and the strong Celtic folk angle is reigned in without being excessive or distracting, mostly in the form of a light piano or flute melody providing a melodic contrast to the underlying guitar riffs.
There are occasions when the band strays a little too far from its established sound to maintain a coherent style, occasionally sounding like an imitation of bands as diverse as Metallica and Amon Amarth, but as a debut album from a promising band this is one of the more interesting doom albums I've come across in some time.
Mägo de Oz
Gaia
***
Written on 30.12.08
I first approached Mägo de Oz with unreasonably high expectations, having heard them misleadingly labelled as 'progressive' when in fact their style is more along the lines of run-of-the-mill folk metal, albeit without much in the way of 'metal.' I can see why prog fans would enjoy this album, for its double-disc flamboyance, conceptual subject matter and grating bloody Hammond organs, but for those experienced in the delights of folk metal, it doesn't offer much in the way of excitement.
For a start, the album just feels much too long to listen to in one sitting, even down to individual songs that feel stretched and over-repetitive such as the otherwise enjoyable 'Alma.' Secondly, the subject matter, that of the Spanish conquerors of America, doesn't even come through in the music a great deal despite the array of traditional folk instrumentation, and the band's (presumably) negative attitude towards the shameful conquest is not communicated in the overly happy music, particularly for those listeners who are unable to decipher the Spanish lyrics being sung. I'd recommend Angra's classic 'Holy Land' for a more accomplished and entertaining take on the same theme.
The music itself is reasonable enough, though all quite predictable in its balance of upbeat rockers and contemplative ballads, book-ended by unnecessarily long eleven-minute tracks that lack the overall consistency demanded of such epic durations. The performances all-round are quite exceptional it has to be said, but the band's creative abilities don't feel like they live up to their individual talents and the ambition of this promising album.
Malevolent Creation
The Ten Commandments
****
Written on 30.12.08
One of the stronger debuts of early nineties American death metal, 'The Ten Commandments' is far from a classic of the genre, but perfectly encapsulates that early, pure death metal sound that would soon be lost amidst international experimentation and breeding.
The album mostly impresses by not all sounding the same, as this angry, violent music tends to. A slow spoken word intro leads into a series of internally changeable songs blessed with excellent production that many bands today attempt to imitiate by toning down their disappointingly modern studio equipment, and although modern listeners may feel like the raw and echoed sound robs the instruments of their force, the resulting atmosphere is genuinely quite unsettling.
There are enough decent guitar riffs in songs such as 'Sacrificial Annihilation' and solo and lead melodies in 'Impaled Existence' to disprove claims that death metal is an artistically void genre, and although this lacks some of the ability and tightness found on their subsequent 'Retribution' and amongst some of their contemporaries such as Death, this is still an enjoyable metal milestone.
Malevolent Creation
Retribution
****
Written on 30.12.08
A staple of extreme metal top-ten lists from those in the know (and with too much time on their hands), Malevolent Creation's second album is certainly their finest work, an artistic and sonic improvement over its predecessor, but it has perhaps tended to be over-hyped by the death metal elite. It's a very good album, but doesn't accomplish as much as the best from the band's contemporaries.
The music varies in tempo to keep things interesting throughout, with only a couple of songs such as 'Monster' maintaining a consistent speed, and the full-pelt drum, guitar and vocal work is very impressive... as is the bass, for the few seconds it's actually audible. The production job is perfect for a death metal album, enveloping the listener in its sheer nastiness without pushing them away or seeking to crush their eardrums, and each song lasts for an appropriate length of time to remain ultimately satisfying.
Ultimately, this is a great album for those who wish to immerse themselves in some aural violence for thirty minutes, but not so appealing for those who would prefer to pick out individual songs. There are certainly songs here that stand strong, but it's usually down to a gimmick such as the solo of 'Slaughter of Innocence' or increased aggression of the finale 'Iced.'
Malevolent Creation
Warkult
***
Written on 30.12.08
Targeting the listener at the end of a massive gun, Malevolent Creation's ninth album is indeed a fiercer beast than some of their comparatively tame previous albums, but still seems to be trying a little too hard to convince us of its ferocity through the aggressive subject matter, and ultimately this packs nowhere near as good a punch as their first couple of albums.
A spoken word oration in 'Dead March' leads nicely in to the energetic and fitting 'Preemptive Strike,' but after this my attention tended to drift through the similarity of style, broken only by touches such as the unexpected melodic dual guitars of 'Murder Reigns' and the slower approach of the inevitably duller 'Captured.'
As modern thrash-inspired death metal goes, you can't really fault this album apart from its lack of ambition, although it doesn't have quite so many interesting theatrics as the American band's Scandinavian counterparts such as the Crown.
Malevolent Creation
Doomsday X
**
Written on 30.12.08
Malevolent Creation's tellingly titled tenth album, 'Doomsday X' doesn't feel much like a celebration, but rather an unimaginative clone of the band's endlessly repetitive thrash-death metal style, based on dull chugging guitars and shouting. The production job is sharp, but this robs the band of its character to a degree.
The band seems unable to remedy this problem of tedium despite their best efforts, as the repetitive thrash riffs of 'Deliver My Enemy' are followed up by restless, ever-changing guitar lines in 'Buried in a Nameless Grave' that end up being irritating and changeable for the sake of it.
Some songs such as 'Bio-Terror' are enhanced in their violence merely by the contrast of a slightly less extreme neighbour, and the only song that truly impressed me was the instrumental 'Prelude to Doomsday,' which is far from the best death metal instrumental I've heard, but which showcases the band's guitar and drum talents greater than the other tracks are permitted.
Yngwie Malmsteen
Eclipse
**
Written on 31.12.08
Viewed in one way as Yngwie Malmsteen's first true solo album - and in another, ultimately more correct way, not - 1990's 'Eclipse' sees the tortured guitar genius finally abandoned by his old Rising Force comrades and teaming up with a bunch of new musicians and a singer, whose mediocrity would be assumed to increase Malmsteen's own virtuosity, were he putting in any real degree of effort.
I'm not particularly a fan of so-called 'shred' acts, as being the most technically proficient guitarist in the world doesn't necessarily mean you have any creative talent (Michael Angelo Batio's work in the awful eighties glam band Nitro is almost too perfect an example of this). Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the limits of a genre of instrument pushed, and I was curious to check Malmsteen out. I can only hope that this isn't a fair representation of his work.
The primary lasting impression is, where the hell are the guitar theatrics? There are a couple of impressive solos here and there, but nothing you wouldn't find on any heavy metal album of the eighties. It's clear that this album (I can't vouch for his others, which I haven't heard) is targeted primarily at the musical mainstream, especially in the airy vocals and over-saturation of shiny keyboards. Malmsteen's only real chance to shine himself is in the instrumental title track at the end, and even that isn't anything too special.
Overall, this isn't that bad, and is probably quite good as commercial glam metal albums go, but it wasn't what I was expecting from the axeman.
Månegarm
Dödsfärd
*****
Written on 31.12.08
Swedish Viking metal band Månegarm really comes into its own with their third album 'Dödsfärd,' retaining the fierce black metal framework of their earlier works, but adding a highly successful melodic folk angle that sees every song transformed from enjoyable black metal into an instantly memorable hit.
Harsher and more energetic than the atmospheric Viking metal of Bathory and Moonsorrow, Månegarm's style is distinctive and will likely satisfy fans of either extreme. The cover art is entirely appropriate to these tales of plunder and conquest, but the album still finds time for softer melodic moments, albeit to a lesser extent than their later works. Compared to their subsequent classic 'Vredens Tid,' 'Dödsfärd' is punchier and faster, though the shorter playing times and total length of just over half an hour leave things feeling a little unsatisfying when it's all over too soon.
Despite the issue with length, 'Dödsfärd' still deserves to be recognised as a classic of the loosely-defined Viking metal genre, and while it's less accomplished than their later works, this adds an appealing punk aesthetic, and the increased folk elements are thankfully incorporated in a tasteful, enhancing manner rather than drawing too much attention to themselves, as would be the case for bands such as Finntroll.
Månegarm
****
Written on 31.12.08
As Sweden's Månegarm became increasingly successful in the extreme metal field, the amusingly named Displeased Records reissued the band's demo tapes as a collected vinyl and CD, as both a cheap cash-in and present for fans.
Unlike the majority of black metal demos, the sound quality here is actually pretty good, and certainly has nothing of the lo-fi bedroom/garage studio hiss about it. What it does have in common with the majority of demos is that the band's sound is comparatively amateur and primitive in these early stages, though it's interesting to see the change in direction between the first four tracks comprising 1996's 'Vargaresa' and the latter songs from 1997's 'Ur Nattvindar,' the second demo really introducing the folk elements that would later make Månegarm so distinctive.
This is, for the most part, simplistic but incessantly catchy black metal, but fans of the band's later, more melodic works may find the drum and vocal work surprisingly vicious. 'Nattens Jungfru' is the only song in the first half that expands beyond customary black metal to introduce folk elements, and this is expanded in most of the later songs, though without a great deal of ideas to go around, the songs do become repetitive. Not an essential Månegarm release by any means, but still an interesting treat for fans.
Månegarm
Vredens Tid
*****
Written on 31.12.08
Since Bathory's Quorthon first introduced folk instruments to black metal and started to sing about longboats in the late 1980s, the Viking metal genre has expanded and developed to become one of my firm favourite strange sub-genres of heavy metal music. While there are many cheap imitation acts of the genre leaders, my favourites are the ones that manage to remain distinctive and unique, and Sweden's Månegarm, in particular their excellent album 'Vredens Tid,' are at the top of my list.
'Vredens Tid' perfects the previous album 'Dödsfärd' by focusing on slightly longer, more intricate songs, mostly rooted in folk-tinged black metal but increasingly experimenting with moments of pure folk, female vocals and melodic elements comparable to melodic death metal, as in the catchy 'Dödens Strand.' The band retains its talents for instantly compelling and memorable lead melodies, performed by a comination of guitar and violin in most cases, and the alternation between yelled, growled and sung vocals works brilliantly, though may take a while to get used to before you reach the point of joining in with the unintelligible Swedish choruses.
Longer songs such as 'Kolöga Trolltand' and 'Hemfärd' are extended through contrivances such as folk sections, but these never feel out of place, and although the extended atmospheric build-up of 'Preludium' may be a little excessive in repeated doses, it does lead excellently into the war-torn title song. Fans of the band's black metal roots may find some elements a little soft here and there, but for the most part this is excellent, high-octane mead-drinking music, perfect for the kind of Viking-themed parties that I wish I was invited to. Perhaps I'll have to throw my own.
Månegarm
***
Written on 31.12.08
Just as many women will doubtless be interested in becoming pregnant just to see how their womb works, or just as many men will try to grow a beard at some point out of curiosity, bands such as Sweden's Månegarm who experiment with mixed genres, in their case supplementing black metal with folk elements, will feel the need to prove their credentials at some point in their career in the form of an experimental E.P. 'Urminnes Hävd - The Forest Sessions' is their permissible indulgence into the realm of pure folk, and it's actually pretty good.
The problem that some bands encounter when altering their sound is that the music they're playing ends up sounding merely like a cheaper, stilted, unplugged version of their usual style, but the wide array of instruments and vocal styles on offer here, as well as the more relaxed tempo, makes this practically unrecognisable as the same band responsible for the fierce 'Dödsfärd.'
This inevitably makes it somewhat less riveting to a metal fan, but the band succeeds in proving itself, and is arguably much more successful than their contemporaries such as Borknagar and Empyrium in their own shift towards a lighter style; thankfully, this is restrained to a single experimental release, with a mix of bouncy folk jigs and more subtle, reflective acoustic instrumentals.
Månegarm
Vargstenen
*****
Written on 31.12.08
The most recent release from Månegarm is no disappointment even after the high quality of 'Vredens Tid,' combining the band's perfected Viking metal style with their harsh black metal roots and introducing more of the folk elements found on the previous E.P. 'Urminnes Hävd,' particularly in the form of the entirely folk 'Den Gamle Talar' but also in the frequent acoustic interludes to even the fiercest tracks, seeing the return of the female vocalist.
The black metal comes to the fore in the fifth song 'Genom Världar Nio,' but also makes the rest of the album that little bit harder-hitting than its more melodic predecessors. The vocals are extremely addicitive in both their growled and bellowed sung forms, and impossible to resist joining in with even if you don't know a word of Swedish, while the longer songs certainly carry that epic feel that Viking metal bands achieve so well and other genres fail to.
Manowar
Battle Hymns
****
Written on 14.08.07 [2016 retrospective]
Manowar’s debut is widely regarded as a classic of early 80s heavy metal before the spawning of ‘false metal’ glam acts, as well as Manowar’s own increasing movement towards self-parody, robbed the genre of its credibility. That’s not to say that ‘Battle Hymns,’ for all its legacy, is an entirely sombre and sinister affair, featuring the band’s usual ridiculous lyrics on numerous themes from bikes to heavy metal to ancient battles, but sung over music that remains true to the spirit and sound of early, simplistic metal without any of the pompous excess that would later turn the band into a laughing stock.
Collecting most of the songs recorded by the band in the previous two years, ‘Battle Hymns’ is something of a mixed bag with songs heading in often wildly different directions, the earlier pieces tending more towards a party atmosphere in the vein of Kiss, but with more testosterone, and the final three songs experimenting with a more epic sound that had never been attempted before, but has since spawned numerous sub-genres within heavy metal. Eric Adams’ distinctive wail hasn’t reached its full power yet despite a valiant effort to hold notes at the end of many songs, and like many bands’ first releases it’s entertaining to hear how much younger he sounds than on their definitive ‘Kings of Metal.’ Joey DeMaio is the band’s founder, primary song-writer and bass player, and there are no limits to his ego. Not only does DeMaio intersperse most songs with complex and foregrounded bass riffs over the guitars, but the penultimate song is handed over to him entirely as he speeds through the William Tell Overture with no thought for the safety of his fingers or the attention span of the listener, also writing the band’s title song that explains their English origins (DeMaio was a roadie and tech for Black Sabbath, where he ‘heard the call’) and the steps that led to them becoming, clearly, the most powerful force on the planet.
The remainder of the band comprises musicians who would both soon depart, making way for the classic line-up. Ross Funicello’s guitar work is good, but is noticeably weak compared to DeMaio’s bass work, requiring the talents of his later replacement Ross “The Boss” to provide more effective competition. As such, most of the riffs are very simplistic to the point of sounding derivative of other bands, and the guitar solos are nothing spectacular, though the long-forgotten Funicello admirably keeps up to speed on the faster pieces such as ‘Manowar,’ and employs interesting effects in the songs that follow. Scott Columbus’ predecessor on the drum kit is Donnie Hamzik, drafted in from a newspaper advertisement put out by DeMaio and Adams and doing his job as promised, but once again failing to make a lasting impression. There’s nothing here to rival the drums on later songs such as ‘March for Revenge,’ but for the more straightforward songs that dominate this album, Hamzik is essentially required to play fast and hard, and he does so competently.
1. Death Tone
2. Metal Daze
3. Fast Taker
4. Shell Shock
5. Manowar
6. Dark Avenger
7. William’s Tale
8. Battle Hymn
As mentioned earlier, there is a very clear split in this album between the two styles of song, made even more obvious by the original double-sided vinyl than the CD version. Opener ‘Death Tone’ is a fairly fast and energetic song in which the character of a juvenile biker spouts some truly abominable lyrics (‘I give some square the finger,’ etc.), and is very similar both lyrically and musically to ‘Fast Taker,’ the appropriately faster speed of which makes it the more exciting of the two, as well as its more original guitar work. The song between, ‘Metal Daze,’ is the first of oh-so-many anthems dedicated to the glory of heavy metal, and easily my least favourite song on the album due to its unwise and unconvincing chorus chanting. Later live versions are much more credible, as the crowd sings along instead of this stilted-sounding noise, but it’s also incredibly uneventful and dull, especially at this early point. ‘Shell Shock’ is one of the more memorable songs, describing the debilitating after-effects of Vietnam from the perspective of an ex-soldier but also scorning those who escaped the war, represented by the despised ‘businessman at home.’ I’m sure there are several thousand more emotive and worthwhile songs about the Vietnam conflict out there, but with its cool riff, incredibly catchy rhythm and fine chorus, this would still be my favourite. This first, uneven ‘half’ of the album is concluded with the band’s titular song ‘Manowar,’ which strives to be even faster and more full of energy than those that have come before it, and succeeds to some extent. At only three-and-a-half minutes long it feels a little unsatisfying and brief, despite another great chorus, but the band would make sure to record many more testaments to their own greatness over the next twenty-five years and beyond. Excellent.
While the first half of the album effectively offers a slightly rougher and more energetic version of the sound Judas Priest had moved beyond two years previously, it’s the remaining songs of the album (with one very definite exception that is easy to spot) that elevate this record to classic and influential status, beginning the epic sound that the band would embrace more fully on their second album as they began to deal with Viking themes. ‘Dark Avenger’ is a brilliant song of two halves, the first a slow, dark and foreboding bass and guitar instrumental of sorts overlaid with narration from the inimitable diaphragm of Orson Welles. The dialogue is fairly silly and simplistic fantasy pap, detailing the story of the eponymous dark avenger riding up from Hell on his demon horse Black Death, before an escalating ‘woah’ from Eric Adams rises to an ear-splitting scream and the song hits its stride. The final few minutes are back in familiar territory, but with grander aspirations, and some humorously sexist lyrics that the band encourage us to sing along to, not for the last time. The bass instrumental ‘William’s Tale’ then proceeds to waste a couple of minutes in an extremely shoddy sounding display of fast string-plucking to an over-familiar tune, before the album delivers its final and most satisfying punch in the form of the semi-titular ‘Battle Hymn.’ Originally recorded for Manowar’s demo release, this song takes the slow and heavy approach of ‘Dark Avenger’ and mixes in some lighter sections of acoustic guitar and even a very drastic piano break, which ends up sounding a little too out of place and lullaby-like amidst all the death and destruction. It’s one of the purest Manowar classics, and the song that launched a thousand thousand geeky fantasy metal bands.
Manowar’s debut is far from being their strongest album, being beaten very satisfyingly by the next few subsequent releases before the band’s deterioration with their move to a major label towards the end of the decade. It nevertheless remains one of their most enduringly popular, especially among non-hardcore fans who can appreciate its greater simplicity in the era of NWOB(A)HM, the New Wave of British (and American) Heavy Metal, and who would likely find the greater excesses of all their subsequent albums a little off-putting. I enjoy this album for its diversity, but with the far greater things they would produce soon hereafter it’s not an album I often listen to in full, often opting for a quick blast of ‘Dark Avenger’ or ‘Shell Shock,’ two very different songs, one of which will always be ideally suited to my mood at any given time.
Advantages: Classic old-school heavy metal songs on more diverse topics than the band usually covers.
Disadvantages: Weak and simplistic compared to the second album and others, partly due to the temporary line-up.
Manowar
Into Glory Ride
*****
Written on 21.08.07
It’s often cheesy, it’s gratuitously sexist and geeky, and it’s got a photo of the band pretending to be barbarians on the front, but Manowar’s second album has to be among my favourite albums of all time. In the whole history of the world’s albums – ever! I’m quite clearly insane, but at least I didn’t opt for one of their more ridiculous later albums like ‘Louder Than Hell.’
Picking up right where ‘Battle Hymns’ left off, Manowar’s second album marks a clear decision from the band (led by bass player Joey DeMaio) to embrace the epic sound of the debut’s latter half, mostly abandoning more simplistic hard rock anthems in favour of pursuing this innovative sound. It’s this dedicated focus on perfecting a style, found in various stages across the album which, like the debut, improves as it goes, that makes this a more solid and exciting album than any of Manowar’s later efforts, which mostly relied on safe, tried-and-tested techniques. The subject matter takes an appropriate turn from the debut also, beginning with another song about a juvenile biker before skidding off completely to deal with battles, swords and Viking mythology for the remainder of the record. The lyrics are less absurdly funny than on Manowar’s other releases, apart from the classic opening dialogue where the Warlord is discovered deflowering an angry couple’s sixteen-year-old daughter and has to flee the shouting father, and as the most sensible of Manowar’s releases it’s perhaps the one most appealing to newcomers. Unless, of course, they’re into the band for the absurdity alone, in which case they will be justly disappointed.
The predominant sound of ‘Into Glory Ride’ is that of a slow and heavy march, newcomers Ross “The Boss” on guitar and Scott Columbus on drums completing the band’s classic line-up and providing the memorable riffs and rhythms that were lacking in the debut. Songs such as ‘Hatred’ and ‘Secret of Steel’ crawl along with the crushing heaviness of Black Sabbath’s classic debut album, Eric Adams holding the high notes in some of his best performances, while others such as the excellent ‘Revelation’ are among the fastest and most energetic Manowar would record until the late 80s. With the exception of ‘Warlord,’ which stands out as a more deliberately simplistic single, all of the songs are longer than the heavy metal average and more complex, the later songs particularly featuring several major breaks that could almost make them different songs as part of an epic suite. The sound certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, Eric Adams’ powerful wails going overboard in places such as the soft introduction to ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ and as usual there are several references that openly celebrate the more ravishing aspects of Viking invasion, but as a work of epic metal this album wouldn’t be beaten until Bathory created so-called Viking metal a number of years later, based on many of the ideas found here.
1. Warlord
2. Secret of Steel
3. Gloves of Metal
4. Gates of Valhalla
5. Hatred
6. Revelation (Death’s Angel)
7. March for Revenge (By the Soldiers of Death)
The primary failing of this album is evidently that it’s fairly short, at least compared to modern releases, lasting the Manowar average of just under forty minutes. Insistent that the sound quality of the record should not be compromised or diluted in any way, the band left off the excellent song ‘Defender’ that was recorded in this session, which featured a second celebrity guest monologue from Orson Welles after ‘Dark Avenger’ on the first album, instead releasing it as a limited edition single before a re-recorded version finally found its way onto 1987’s otherwise terrible ‘Fighting the World.’ The addition of this song would have made this album even more impressive, though perhaps would have been an overkill of slowness for some metal fans, and it’s to its credit that ‘Into Glory Ride’ manages to exude such incredible atmosphere simply from the standard rock instruments without any technical tomfoolery or attempts to incorporate a symphony. As mentioned earlier, ‘Warlord’ opens the album with a comical piece of drama (presumably unintentional, though I’ve never been sure about this one) , performed as usual by laughably inept actors, before launching into a fun and catchy metal anthem that’s up there with anything Judas Priest released in the same era. A marked improvement on the directly comparable songs from the debut album, namely ‘Death Tone’ and ‘Fast Taker,’ it’s clear that the band gels together in its new, fixed line-up far better than was possible with the drafted players on the earlier release.
‘Secret of Steel’ immediately launches listeners into the album’s preferred style, and along with its successor ‘Gloves of Metal’ is a slow and forceful piece that remains far too powerful throughout to ever become dull. The chorus is one of Manowar’s best, evolving seamlessly from the verses and featuring some innovative guitar from Ross “The Boss,” whose clanky melodies would define many of the band’s finest songs, though it inevitably becomes repetitive towards the end. ‘Gloves of Metal’ is similar in approach, but more amusing for its celebration of the heavy metal lifestyle through its clothing (not shallow at all), replete with great heavy riffs but not too remarkable after the second song, mostly memorable for the first instance of the band referring to themselves as ‘the Metal Kings.’ Attempting to top its predecessors in the epic stakes, something the album will continue to do throughout, ‘Gates of Valhalla’ follows a similar style to the classic older song ‘Battle Hymn’ with a melodic, quiet introduction led by Adams in his first real performance as a tenor, before falling back on the familiar Manowar sound, slightly faster here. It’s a great song, if a little lacking towards the end, and the first of a great many Viking epics to be penned by DeMaio, culminating in this year’s Norse concept release ‘Gods of War.’
‘Hated’ is something of an acquired taste, expanding on the slow and heavy style of the second and third songs and pushing it just that little bit too far in the reliable Manowar manner. It can be gruelling and even painful at times, but in the right circumstances the crawling chorus can be just as effective as any of the faster pieces, the guitar work of Ross “The Boss” managing to owe a debt to Black Sabbath without sounding in any way derivative, a true feat. After this exhausting slump (which perhaps should have been replaced by the excluded ‘Defender’ to achieve the same effect, if I’m going to take a Fantasy Manowar angle), the album kicks into its most energetic song yet, with the incredible ‘Revelation (Death’s Angel),’ my all-time favourite Manowar song, charging through and decimating anything they have recorded before or since. The chorus is perfect, Adams wailing with appropriate gusto over the galloping drums and bass while Ross “The Boss” noodles around his guitar, the song beating Iron Maiden’s classic ‘The Trooper’ in conjuring a war-torn scene and really taking the listener along for the bumpy steedback ride. Both ‘Revelation’ and the final song, ‘March for Revenge (By the Soldiers of Death),’ display a self-aware grandeur in their (bracketed) sub-titles, and both utilise their full running times to build upon the songs and experiment, unlike some of the earlier tracks which simply lasted for a long time. ‘March for Revenge,’ like ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ takes a drastic turn part way through from a slow introduction to a rip-roaring finale that it’s impossible not to sing along to, even if the lyrics are ‘maim and kill them – take the women and chiiiiildren.’
Most Manowar albums improve towards the end, as more easily palatable singles make way for experimental epics, but only with ‘Into Glory Ride’ does the onward march truly improve throughout, the possible exception of ‘Hatred’ only coming with someone unaccustomed to such a slow piece, and itself forming a necessary bridge. ‘Revelation’ and ‘March for Revenge’ are both so irresistibly catchy and energetic that you should be sure nobody’s around to see you enthusiastically joining in, while the earlier songs such as ‘Gloves of Metal’ are slow and methodical head-banging heaven. The band’s follow-up ‘Hail to England’ would prove less satisfying and more of a rushed effort, attempting to mimic the style of this sophomore release but ultimately failing to recapture the thunder. Perhaps it was divine intervention from Thor, or simply the result of an incredibly focused year, but ‘Into Glory Ride’ remains one of the most definitive heavy metal albums alongside ‘Black Sabbath,’ ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ and ‘The Number of the Beast.’
Advantages: Perfects the band's epic heavy metal sound, and features many of their finest songs.
Disadvantages: Too predominantly slow for some.
Manowar
Hail to England
***
Written on 28.08.07
New York’s Manowar have always been quick to praise their European brothers of metal, the continent housing their largest fan-base and offering them headlining events at major metal festivals, compared to the lukewarm reception of their home country. Although later releases such as ‘Kings of Metal’ would attempt to balance out the praise for all European nations (it even name-checks Wales), their third album, or more specifically its titular song, is a celebration of the nation that created heavy metal and provided Manowar with the opportunity to hear the call. The country’s name is... oh yes, it’s in the title.
‘Hail to England’ is in some ways a disappointing follow-up to ‘Into Glory Ride,’ but this was perhaps inevitable, the band having all but exhausted their epic sound across its seven tracks. At a shorter thirty minutes of music, this third release at first seems to display signs of either laziness or a writer’s block, yet the release of ‘Sign of the Hammer’ later in the same year indicates that it was presumably more due to pressure from the record label, or for financial necessity, to churn these records out in quick succession. ‘Hail to England’ includes a couple of immortal Manowar classics, particularly the first song which still beats anything recorded by Scandinavian Viking metal bands in its short and simple piece of Norse mythology, but for the most part it seems to be a re-tread of the more successful aspects of the first two albums. Still, it’s only fussy people like me who will really be irked by this lack of progress, and for the average Manowar or heavy metal fan this is an enjoyable, if unremarkable and noticeably short, album, and one that can easily be dealt with track-by-track.
1. Blood of My Enemies
2. Each Dawn I Die
3. Kill With Power
4. Hail to England
5. Army of Immortals
6. Black Arrows
7. Bridge of Death
‘Blood of My Enemies’ is the primary reason that I still bother with this album, as it’s one of my favourite Manowar songs. Unlike the previous album, attention seems to have been made to keep the song lengths more acceptable, with the exception of the monster final track, and the shorter, edited style really works to keep this first song from becoming tedious. The chorus is a somewhat surprising mellow sing-along, but incessantly catchy, and Ross “The Boss” puts in some of his best guitar work in the album’s trademark Viking song. ‘Each Dawn I Die’ is less impressive, and begins something of a slump, wrongly placed as a slow song at this early point to suck the energy from the great opener and remaining largely unmemorable even after several listens. The main riff is cool and clanky in the Manowar fashion, accompanied by DeMaio’s bass which is more prominent on this album, but overall this has the unfortunate distinction of being the first Manowar song that can truly be regarded as filler.
‘Kill With Power’ is next, bringing back the speed and attempting to push the heaviness further than before as it approaches thrash metal, but on the whole I find this popular song a little unconvincing, and at times irritating. The customary ridiculous lyrics aside (‘Kill With Power?’), the song sacrifices strong development and interest in the pursuit of this harder edge that it doesn’t quite achieve, due to the slightly weak production values and the musicians’ incompatible playing style, but the greatest annoyance is the irritating whistling effect produced by the guitar after each line of the chorus. It was a nice intention for the band to try to keep up with their country’s thrashers, but ultimately their true home is in pure old British heavy metal, the subject matter of the fourth song, ‘Hail to England,’ which also seems to indicate that they wish to gallop to London Town (as with most Manowar songs, this is set in the past) and claim the throne. Relying on a traditional heavy metal style there really isn’t much that excites me in this one, but the verses possess the great energy of the band on top form, and the unison chanting in the chorus manages to be a vast improvement over that of the horrible ‘Metal Daze’ on the first album. Ross “The Boss” provides a great lead guitar riff that weaves its way around the entire song, and not once is there a rubbish attempt made to play ‘Greensleeves’ or some other song that American people might assume plays over England’s green and pleasant land; Manowar has too much respect.
As usual with Manowar albums, the final few tracks attempt something grander and more eloquent, though in this instance the results are less impressive, sadly forming the weaker half of the material. ‘Army of Immortals’ is the band’s tribute to their fans (they’re big on praise in this album), but only the chorus manages to rise above mediocrity in this re-hash of the previous album’s ideas. Things become really bleak with the return of DeMaio’s bass solo spot, avoided on the previous album but usually a staple of Manowar releases, and ‘Black Arrows’ has the distinction of being the least impressive of the lot. Beginning with a silly spoken word introduction distorted through some gadget or other that will resurface on the final song, DeMaio bellows that each of his notes will be as a black arrow sent straight through the hearts of all those who play false metal. It’s too depressingly awful to even be funny in the way the later ‘Kings of Metal’ album is hilarious, and the next few minutes of discordant bass masturbation should be confined only to the most hardcore DeMaio fan.
Fortunately, ‘Bridge of Death’ brings the quality back towards the end as a grand finale, but doesn’t live up to the high quality of the previous two albums with its crawling pace and lack of real progression. Eric Adams is fantastic in the chorus, holding the high notes with even greater ease than in the last album’s ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ but the return of the distorted voice processor, which sees Adams invocate the power of Satan in an uncharacteristic and pointless move that will only have invited criticism, keeps this from being a truly enjoyable song. It also has nothing to do with Monty Python, which adds to the disappointment.
‘Hail to England’ is one of Manowar’s more well-known, but weaker releases, perhaps viewed as a classic for its fortunate production in the middle of heavy metal’s popularity when people worldwide seemed to crave the generic heavy rock that it offers. The more impressive elements of this album will have gone over such peoples’ heads, but provide the only real reason for me to keep listening to this otherwise forgettable album, contributing ‘Blood of My Enemies’ to the Manowar canon along with a number of comparatively worthless, but nonetheless enjoyable pieces. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ would be released later the same year, and effectively fills in the obvious gaps of this album while managing to be the stronger of the two releases, yet even though many retailers such as Amazon sell these early albums for incredibly low prices of around £3.99 – meaning that they could all be bought to compliment each other for the same price as a single album from another band – it’s still a largely weak effort when viewed in the proper historical context. That said, it’s a whole lot better than some of the rubbish they would release later...
Advantages: Simplistic and enjoyable classic heavy metal.
Disadvantages: Disappointing lack of progression after the previous album, and mediocre songs.
Manowar
Sign of the Hammer
****
Written on 10.07.07
The eighties were an incredible and stupid time, though my own memories are admittedly vague and mainly concern Postman Pat and fish paste sandwiches. Heavy metal bands wearing codpieces and singing about historical battles were unusually motivated in their craft, and most managed to consistently release a brand new studio album every single year while also managing to fit in a painstaking world tour to promote the last one. In 1984, Manowar served up two doses of overkill in the form of ‘Hail to England’ and its less well-known successor, ‘Sign of the Hammer.’ While the New Yorkers were obviously heavily driven that year to spread their message of the glory of Vikings and heavy metal, two releases in such a short space of time arouse fears that these records will favour quantity over quality. But could you really get enough Manowar? The answer is clearly no. Shut up.
Manowar is often quite rightly seen as the silliest band of the lot, but these earlier albums are right up there with the best of eighties metal, filled with classic speed assaults and more relaxed and compelling offerings. The band’s penchant for showing off costs their releases a little of their otherwise high quality, particularly noticeable in Joey DeMaio’s trademark bass solo track for each album, but there aren’t many bands that achieved a similarly high level of consistency in the same period. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ is significantly the end of a era for Manowar, before they switched to the major label Atlantic Records and their more polished and commercially viable tirades against ‘false metal’ sell-outs took on a decidedly hypocritical side. Coming in at the tail-end of an exhaustive period that saw the band’s sound become increasingly epic and its subject matter more fantastical, this album is at once a satisfying culmination of all the disparate Manowar elements, summoned into a final desperate and somewhat knackered charge.
In terms of theme, Manowar’s first album featured songs about (in order) bikes, heavy metal, juvenile independence, Vietnam, the glory of Manowar and the glory of battle. Afterwards, the laughable focus on heavy metal and the band itself remained a staple, but the contemporary political angle was increasingly replaced with more epic songs about Conan the Barbarian-style fantasy battles and the violent side of Viking mythology. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ returns to the more mixed focus of the first album, with the classic final song referring specifically to the 1978 mass suicide of the Jonestown cult, balanced out by an opening song about the band itself that can’t help but be reminiscent of Spinal Tap and the by-now customary Viking song ‘Thor (The Powerhead),’ which is fittingly apt for the band’s last great album in dealing with the prophesied end of Viking civilisation when the gods will fight the giants.
1. All Men Play on 10
2. Animals
3. Thor (The Powerhead)
4. Mountains
5. Sign of the Hammer
6. The Oath
7. Thunderpick
8. Guyana (Cult of the Damned)
The production quality of this album is unfortunately a little inferior to its predecessors, perhaps revealing a rushed nature to this second recording of the year, and it doesn’t help that attention is drawn that way in the opening ‘All Men Play on 10,’ as Eric Adams condemns his contemporaries in other bands that settle for ‘a sound that’s real thin.’ All Manowar albums thus far have begun with a fast and upbeat metal anthem such as this, and although it’s undeniably cool in the 80s metal fashion, it doesn’t really stand out against the competition, but the main guitar riff is distinctive and memorable. Its successor ‘Animals’ is an unfortunate piece of very early filler that manages to be fast and full of energy, but isn’t really about anything significant, and sounds more like KISS than anything. At only three and a half minutes it’s not long enough to become tedious or a problem, but the album really needed a stand-out track at this early point to win the listener over, and sadly this isn’t it. It’s a shame, as the mediocre song, which isn’t helped by its arbitrary thematic title, is the precursor to a very solid half-hour of Manowar at its finest, interrupted only by DeMaio’s inevitable bass session at the penultimate track.
The afore-mentioned ‘Thor (The Powerhead)’ starts things off brilliantly, a five minute mini-epic that remains exciting throughout. Ross “The Boss” excels at guitar, from the opening riffs to the long and very cool solo, backed up by Scott Columbus with some of his best drum work and the always reliable bass clunk of DeMaio. As they achieved with the astounding ‘Blood of My Enemies’ on the previous album, the band manages to evoke the ancient Viking landscape with all the atmosphere of a film score, but without having to rely on external gimmicks such as a keyboard or the orchestration that pervades their more recent work. In this respect, there’s a clear link between songs like ‘Thor,’ ‘Blood of My Enemies’ and the title track, discussed later, and the later ‘Viking metal’ genre pioneered by Bathory and other Scandinavian black metal artists. It may seem ludicrous to newcomers on first listen, but Manowar’s music has had far-reaching implications across the board, explaining why so many black, death, symphonic and power metal bands have covered their work.
Despite the foreboding generality of a title similar to that of ‘Animals,’ ‘Mountains’ proves to be the far more impressive of the two, and is executed at a far slower pace. DeMaio’s bass provides the rhythm while Ross “The Boss” is free to exude some atmospheric minimalism with his down-tuned guitar, never striving for the soaring melodies of other bands, only becoming prominent and heavy in the slow choruses. Eric Adams’ triumphal vocals are punctuated by drumming in a sequence that’s a little over the top, but should just be enjoyed for the optimistic ‘feel-good’ anthem that it is. Unfortunately, this is the one song on the album that outstays its welcome, somehow lasting past seven minutes without much variation, aside from a pleasant atmospheric section led by the bass in the middle. A cacophonous riff breaks the silence at the end as ‘Sign of the Hammer’ begins, another great battle anthem that seems thematically linked to ‘Thor,’ but only as much as any of Manowar’s battle songs are related to each other. The pace is relentless and exhausting, not up to the impossible heights later set by death metal but beating all of the band’s contemporaries, and Adams screams along very satisfyingly above the pounding instruments in the chorus. It’s a shame, really, that a couple of minutes weren’t transferred from ‘Mountains’ to this one, but that probably would have ruined things.
‘The Oath’ suffers a little from its position so late in the album as it doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been heard a little better elsewhere, but it’s essential listening for Eric Adams going even more out of control than he did on the previous song, and for approaching the thrash metal of the band’s earlier ‘Kill With Power.’ The main riff is memorable, and if this had opened the album it would be a Manowar classic, rather than the second rate song it’s relegated to at track six. Afterwards, it’s bass solo time again with the standable ‘Thunderpick,’ a little longer than DeMaio usually puts us through but apparently a rhythm of his own devising this time, rather than a butchering of a classical piano melody. The one advantage of this song, which is at the same time a little irritating, is that its conclusion really does lead perfectly into ‘Guyana (Cult of the Damned),’ making that final song sound a little incomplete without it. ‘Guyana’ is similar to ‘Mountains’ in its reflective and atmospheric sound, but this time builds brilliantly over the first minutes with Adams’ sinister thanks echoing over a marching drum-beat leading to the inevitable moment of mass suicide and the song’s bitter finale. It’s not a subject matter Manowar are more remembered for, and seems very tucked away at the end of this comparatively obscure album, but it’s among their better songs from the period.
Overall, ‘Sign of the Hammer’ tries to be something of a reworking of the first album aided by several years’ worth of valuable experience, but it falls a little flat. The debut album worked so well for beginning with very traditional Motörhead/Judas Priest hard rock and moving towards the grander and more original epic style towards the end, the style that would dominate the next two albums and the majority of this release. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ struggles to recapture that innocent simplicity in the first two songs, but the band no longer seem confident in the stripped down approach. It’s just as well, because epic territory is where they always excelled the best, and ‘Thor (The Powerhead),’ ‘Sign of the Hammer,’ ‘The Oath’ and ‘Guyana (Cult of the Damned)’ stand proudly alongside songs from the earlier albums such as ‘Dark Avenger,’ ‘Battle Hymn,’ ‘Blood of My Enemies,’ ‘Army of the Immortals’ and the entire ‘Into Glory Ride’ album (bet you can’t wait for that review) as the band’s finest work.
The question remains whether more patience that year would have resulted in a single, highly consistent album in the vein of ‘Into Glory Ride,’ rather than this mostly good album and the fairly mediocre ‘Hail to England.’ It’s probable that some of the more throwaway songs on both would have been discarded in favour of putting more work into the better ones, but that would mean essentially losing all the enjoyable rubbish and not gaining very much for songs like ‘Thor’ which the band couldn’t conceivably improve. It’s probably for the best that ‘Hail to England’ was rushed out when it was so that work could begin on its more worthwhile predecessor, it’s probably just a case of the band being too impatient to wait around perfecting things when they’re all ready to go. Either way, Manowar wouldn’t release another album for a comparatively astonishing three years, after which things would never be quite so good again...
Advantages: Some of their best material, continuing to evolve the 'Viking metal' sound.
Disadvantages: Some songs reveal the rushed production.
Manowar
Fighting the World
**
Written on 25.07.07
Manowar’s major label debut brought their self-styled brand of bass-driven, ear-splitting, macho heavy metal to a wider audience, raising concerns among long-time fans that their favourite stupid-but-excellent band had sold out to the same faceless institution they had assaulted in earlier songs such as ‘All Men Play on 10.’ Clearly aware of this, Manowar lays rest to such fears in their customary way with the single ‘Blow Your Speakers,’ in which Eric Adams yells his love of true metal and hatred of mainstream labels against a catchy, Village People-style backing chorus and stilted guitars. Something here is awry.
Released three years after the last of Manowar’s previous four albums, which were released in rapid succession, as detailed in my review for ‘Sign of the Hammer,’ the ‘Fighting the World’ album likely represents the greatest disappointment of their career. It isn’t their worst album by far, as the few releases of the past decade have all been disappointing in unique ways, but it represents a significant drop in quality and an unappreciated change in direction from the dark and epic heavy metal of their earlier efforts towards something resembling, in places, the ‘false metal’ the band boasts so much hatred for. Whether this was due to pressure from Atlantic Records to create something easier to sell is unclear, though it must have become obvious soon after that only those with a certain frame of mind were going to buy Manowar records in the first place, and the band should essentially be allowed to do their inexplicably popular thing uninterrupted.
Thematically it’s much the same as everything bass player and songwriter Joey DeMaio puts out, a mix of songs set in the present day of the metal-loving, bike-riding East Coast, and tales of battle fought in ancient history. There’s even a song about Vietnam which harks back to the debut album, and as usual a couple of pieces glorifying Manowar’s fans and the band itself. Anyone who had followed Manowar up to this point would recognise the usual shift in style from straightforward metal anthems in the first, ‘present day’ side of the album to the more grandiose style of the later songs that continues the style the band excels at the most. With this significant split between styles, the album is structured similarly to the classic debut ‘Battle Hymns,’ but most of the material sadly falls short of its predecessor. It’s notable, and disappointing, that the only truly excellent song here is the epic ‘Defender,’ which I discovered years later was written way back in the glorious era of ‘Into Glory Ride,’ but jettisoned from that album for issues of space.
1. Fighting the World
2. Blow Your Speakers
3. Carry On
4. Violence and Bloodshed
5. Defender
6. Drums of Doom
7. Holy War
8. Master of Revenge
9. Black Wind, Fire and Steel
The first four tracks have a noticeably different audience than the later songs, and it’s clear they were placed at the beginning, as usual with Manowar releases, to provide something more straightforward for newcomers that won’t put them off persevering to the later, more seasoned territory. Not that there isn’t an awful lot to put people off in these arrogant and hypocritical heavy metal anthems, which display a far more commercial side of the band not heard since the opening songs of ‘Battle Hymns,’ before the band found its feet. ‘Fighting the World’ itself is a medium pace rocker with lyrics that are too embarrassing even to be considered amusing in the traditional Manowar sense (‘stripes on a tiger don’t wash away / Manowar’s made of steel, not clay’), and even in terms of the music that these lyrics uncharacteristically overshadow to a large degree, the plodding drum beat, predictable guitar riff and overly repetitive chorus isn’t what listeners have come to expect from a Manowar opener. ‘Blow Your Speakers’ is even worse, and the music video was placed in VH1’s list of ‘Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs,’ though for the long-time Manowar fan it’s more of a crushing disappointment than a cheesy laugh. It’s clear that this is a re-tread of the older song ‘Metal Daze,’ but the backing chorus, mentioned earlier, is many times worse, and once again the lyrics are abominable (‘I wrote a letter to the MTV / Said “what’s going on, don’t you care about me?”’). This pair of slow, preachy dance floor songs (presumably the result of the lyric, ‘people want music to get ’em movin’), lacks the energy and compelling sincerity of Manowar’s traditional shorter songs, and makes an unforgivably poor start to the album.
‘Carry On’ is a slight improvement, and works alright as a cheesy eighties metal song complete with TV game show solo, but still isn’t what the album needs to get on track. Notably, it’s Manowar’s first real foray into the rousing crowd chant style that would appear on many releases hereafter, beginning with a plodding drum and Adams’ irresistible vocals before breaking into a speedier riff for the verses and returning in the chorus. I have a soft spot for this song, but it’s still essentially crap. Things continue to improve, slowly but surely, with the excitingly titled ‘Violence and Bloodshed,’ promising the aggression of some of Manowar’s finest songs and delivering this to an extent. The drastically improved production quality of all albums released hereafter makes this song sound stilted and unfulfilled by comparison, as we’re not hearing the full effect a live performance would provide, but it’s still a step in the right direction at last. Ross “The Boss” delivers his first notable riff of the album and creates quite a cacophony, while Eric Adams is at his vocal best in both the driving verses and excellent chorus, which sees him increase the pitch of his wail incrementally after each power chord.
‘Defender,’ the finest song on the album, takes the listener back to an undisclosed time of warfare for the remainder of the performance, and is a fine example of a slow, epic song executed to perfection. The late Orson Welles provides narration as he did for the similarly excellent ‘Dark Avenger’ on the debut album, recorded four years earlier for the original version of the song in which time Welles had passed away, and his steady, deep tone contrasts excellently with Eric Adams’ high singing, especially when the two voices of ‘father and son’ are pitted against each other in the finale. It’s touching in a very simplistic way, as a young warrior reads a letter written by his late father explaining why he had to leave and ultimately die in service of his kingdom/country/warlord, and the boy promises to follow his example. Ross “The Boss” gives a nice solo, and the bass and drum rhythm is vital in holding the whole thing together, but this is very clearly a song dominated and led by the two great vocal performances, the higher one of which acts almost like a guitar solo in itself.
‘Drums of Doom’ is nothing more than a short drum solo designed to introduce the next song, complete with the sound effects of horses galloping that begin what will later become an obsession with inserting sound samples into the music. The best thing about this song is that drummer Scott Columbus’ simplistic and non-flamboyant performance replaces any lengthy bass solo track that might have made its way onto the album like all others before it (and most afterwards). ‘Holy War’ returns to the battle metal sound of Manowar’s great Viking epics, beginning softly before erupting into a bass-dominated and highly energetic performance that can’t help but be seen, in hindsight, like a direct precursor to ‘Hail and Kill’ on the subsequent release. This is easily one of the best songs on the album, but is spoiled slightly by the decision to make tracks six to nine flow together in something of a contrived suite, meaning that the song can’t really be played in isolation without sounding odd at the beginning and end as it catches the tail-end of other songs.
It’s worse that the following song, ‘Master of Revenge,’ is merely a one-minute prelude to the final song in which Ross “The Boss” plays a repetitive riff over Adams’ wailing vocals, something that would sound good as part of a longer piece but doesn’t really work here. Closer ‘Black Wind, Fire and Steel’ is a bit of an over-rated album closer as it lies uncomfortably between epic and speedy territory and, as usual for Manowar finales, takes an excruciating amount of time to actually finish once the song is over, including a ridiculous wailing section towards the close. The bulk of the song itself is pretty good, led by DeMaio’s hyper clanging bass and putting Eric Adams through his paces as his verse vocals have to keep up. The chorus is incredibly memorable and catchy, if a little meaningless, and if it wasn’t for the regrettable finale this would be on even par with ‘Holy War,’ both of which suffer slightly thanks to whoever came up with the seguing idea.
It’s both sad and embarrassing that Manowar had such a bad start on their major label debut, failing to live up their own standards and slogans as they struggle to weakly cobble together something more commercially viable, but at the same time decide to go overboard on the ridiculous lyrics and attitude that are the most off-putting aspect of even their best work. Without the re-use of ‘Defender,’ this album would truly be feeble, and no amount of studio trickery and fake song suites can elevate it to the classic status of their earlier releases (tracks six to nine are all different songs, and no amount of cross-fading is going to convince people otherwise). The performances from DeMaio and Adams are superb on occasion, compared to the fairly average contributions from Ross “The Boss” and Columbus, but this album feels like a severe mis-step even after the slightly directionless ‘Sign of the Hammer.’ The following year’s definitive ‘Kings of Metal’ would solidify Manowar’s ambitions and objectives forever after, making them appear even stupider in some ways but also much more focused and determined to spread their message, making ‘Fighting the World’ an insignificant and hopefully forgettable stepping stone between the Manowar of the early eighties and the band that continues to grow ever more elaborate today.
I really should talk about the album cover... no, I think it’s fairly self-explanatory.
Advantages: A couple of great Manowar epics to add to the list.
Disadvantages: Largely disappointing and feeble, not helped by weak production.
Manowar
Kings of Metal
***
Written on 02.07.07
‘Kings of Metal’ has all the makings of a self-consciously definitive Manowar album, like the Black Album was for Metallica. Now forming the centre of their discography, it does indeed represent pretty much everything Manowar is about: the good, and the incredibly bad. The style is a seamless blend of their earlier, more traditional heavy metal style, and the delusions of Wagnerian grandeur that have only increased in the twenty years since, culminating in the tedious embarrassment of their most recent concept effort ‘Gods of War.’ On first listening to ‘Kings of Metal,’ the same overarching themes appear to be present: songs of Odin, Viking conquest, and drinking thy last ale, but elsewhere the subject matter returns to the other characteristic Manowar staples with songs about bikes, women and the glory of Manowar itself. You would be hard pressed to find a more arrogant, chauvinistic and nerdy album even in the eighties metal scene, and while it’s arguable whether this is Manowar at their finest, it certainly catches them at their most hilarious.
This was Manowar’s second major label album after the previous year’s disappointing ‘Fighting the World,’ and the band put their increased budget to use. The production is pretty excellent for an album of the eighties, surpassing the other major metal albums of that year, while an authentic choir of old European men provides the chorus for ‘The Crown and the Ring.’ This album effectively marks the end of an era, as it would be the final outing for guitarist Ross “The Boss” and drummer Scott Columbus, though the latter would return some years later, but also set the standard for all albums that came after, focusing heavily on the contrast between extremely loud and fast heavy metal and more calm and reflective pieces, all striving for the label of ‘epic.’ Although the album is let down by its numerous weak spots and bold but ludicrous experimentation, it still remains their last ‘classic’ album and stands out from the discography. And not just for the hilarious macho cover, in fact there are far worse examples elsewhere.
1. Wheels of Fire
2. Kings of Metal
3. Heart of Steel
4. Sting of the Bumblebee
5. The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings)
6. Kingdom Come
7. Pleasure Slave
8. Hail and Kill
9. The Warrior’s Prayer
10. Blood of the Kings
It’s a fairly straightforward task to divide the album into the tracks that are more traditionally ‘metal’ and those that aren’t, with the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth being the former, and the others being... well, the best term would indeed be ‘something else.’ ‘Heart of Steel’ is led by piano, and gives Eric Adams a chance to show off his vocal cords in a more refined setting, before crushing drums return to a more familiar heavy territory. ‘The Crown and the Ring’ does something similar, only with a male choir replacing the need for heaviness and Adams reaching the high notes in a very minimal soundscape, with some more rousing lyrics as his character rides between battles. ‘Sting of the Bumblebee’ is the trademark Joey DeMaio bass guitar interpretation on a classical theme, this time Rimsky Korsakov’s speedy piano ditty, and as usual is several borderline-unendurable minutes of a cocky musician showing off, scoring over earlier efforts simply for the inclusion of drums towards the end. The final oddball is the enigmatic ‘The Warrior’s Prayer,’ which I still can’t determine is serious or just an in-joke. I would love it to be the latter, I’d have an enormous amount of respect for Manowar if all of this over-the-top performance has all just been a big laugh, but sadly I have heard all of their albums, and watched some interviews, and the reality is that they’re just pretty dumb. Here we have an overlong narrative between a bombastic grandfather and an annoying child, telling a tale of four ultimate warriors wielding weapons that doesn’t even bother veiling itself as an obvious allegory for Manowar, leading into the self-aggrandising finale.
The majority of the album follows the style that has continued since the band’s debut album, but increased volume of guitars and screams doesn’t live up to the simplistic enjoyment and energy of the first four classic albums. ‘Wheels of Fire’ opens with motorbike sound effects, the third time a Manowar album has done this, and although the increased volume of the chorus allows for the clear production of the guitars and double bass drums to be admired, it does tend to be a little too overpowering. The title track is better, a little unoriginal in its medium speed but delightfully pompous in its lyrics, as Eric Adams sings about how amazing Manowar are for playing loud and ‘wearing jeans and leather, not crackerjack clothes,’ for about the fifth time. ‘Kingdom Come’ is the closest thing to filler on this diverse album, a solid metal song that plods along enjoyably but a little uninterestingly until the incredible screamathon over the relentless guitar solo at the conclusion, but is probably the song least likely to be remembered afterwards.
‘Pleasure Slave,’ on the other hand, is instantly shockingly memorable for the band’s unadulterated honesty about the use of women. It could be argued that the lyrics are written from the voice of a character rather than the band themselves, but as they identify so much with the brave warriors elsewhere, and since, as I said, I’ve seen interviews and music videos, there’s no irony to be found here. Depending on the listener, it will provoke a strong reaction towards laughter, offence or possibly a sincere nod of agreement. I know which group I belong to. The final song, ‘Blood of the Kings,’ seems to pick up where ‘Wheels of Fire’ left off, and is similarly loud and furious, but as with the finale to the previous few albums, doesn’t really know when to call it quits with guitars and drums winding down for a couple of minutes just when you thought everything was over.
‘Kings of Metal’ has a clear target audience, and Manowar is very strict on the issue of compromise. ‘We don’t attract wimps cause we’re too loud, just true metal people that’s Manowar’s crowd,’ they proclaim. While their definition of true metal is a little debatable (half of this album consisting of classically influenced piano, choral and bass songs, with one really stupid spoken word piece), this would nevertheless most likely suit the tastes of someone whose appetite has already been whetted by the more accessible likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Metallica. Then again, anyone who braves the album cover and the track titles should know what they’re getting into, and any offence they find in suggestions that women should remove their garments, kneel before men, and be chained unto the bed is completely their own fault. This borders on being a classic metal album, and was doubtless as influential as its predecessors towards the evolution of fantasy metal genres in the past decade, but far from Manowar’s finest forty seven minutes.
Advantages: Metal at its most bold and uncompromising, with excellent production.
Disadvantages: Some really, really bad decisions.
Manowar
The Hell of Steel
***
Written on 08.07.04
In 1994, steadfast American heavy metal warriors Manowar released this fourteen-track collection composed of their finest songs. The problem is they didn’t, and it isn’t.
The most notable thing about this ‘Best of Manowar’ collection is that it includes absolutely nothing from the band’s first four albums. This decision was not made according to taste, it is Manowar after all, but because the band were signed up to Atlantic Records in 1987: this collection, released by Atlantic in 1994, is based solely on the three albums released on that label and as such is immediately faulted as an objective view of the band’s finest moments.
‘The Hell of Steel’ is a pretty meaningless and silly title anyway, but adding the subtitle ‘The Best of Manowar’ rubs word salt into the proverbial wound. A more appropriate title would be ‘Some of the Steel: Roughly Half of the Tracks Released By Manowar on this Record Label So Far, Chosen Either Randomly or By an Idiot.’ This title would also help to cover up the appalling front cover.
THE HELL OF STEEL
1. Fighting the World *
2. Kings of Metal †
3. The Demon’s Whip ♂
4. The Warrior’s Prayer †
5. Defender *
6. The Crown and the Ring †
7. Blow Your Speakers *
8. Metal Warriors ♂
9. Black Wind, Fire and Steel *
10. Hail and Kill †
11. The Power of Thy Sword ♂
12. Herz Aus Stahl (obscure German language version of ‘Heart of Steel’*)
13. Kingdom Come †
14. Master of the Wind ♂
* From ‘Fighting the World’ (1987)
† From ‘Kings of Metal’ (1988)
♂ From ‘The Triumph of Steel’ (1992)
I quite like Manowar, despite the band’s obvious flaws. Musically their songs are typical heavy metal in their rhythm, structure and diversity, but the band set themselves apart by their image and their ability to create genuinely impressive metal epics. I don’t so much have a problem with the songs on this CD as with the existence of this album in general: many of the songs do not deserve to be on here and should have either been replaced with better examples or simply left off the album (as it is fairly long anyway at over seventy minutes), and the problem even extends to the basic ordering of the songs.
MIX-MASTER’OWAR
I’m pretty sure that Manowar were left out of this album’s creation, as very little attention seems to have been given to the structure and placement of the tracks. It opens nicely with an anthemic track and closes well with a slow, melodic song but it only takes a child to stick the first track from the 1987 album at the beginning and the final track from the 1992 album at the end. Other than this the tracks aren’t arranged chronologically, although if they were it would at least provide an excuse, but the thinking behind the arrangement of songs is far too obvious and, in my opinion as someone who regularly makes tapes for my Dad’s car, flawed.
‘Defender’ and ‘The Crown and the Ring’ are both excellent plodding tracks with epic qualities, but placing them next to each other diminishes their effect. The overlong ending of ‘Black Wind, Fire and Steel’ is irrelevant now it isn’t the closer of an album, the quiet opening of ‘The Demon’s Whip’ is very out of place at such an early point and as for the inclusion of ‘The Warrior’s Prayer,’ I don’t know what the band were thinking in even creating that spoken word discussion between an old man and his grandson. It’s frankly embarrassing to listen to.
A ‘Best-of’ collection inevitably lends itself to disappointments when peoples’ favourite tracks are omitted, but some decisions made here, probably in the interest of creating a wider range of styles, could easily have been altered to make a stronger collection. ‘Wheels of Fire,’ ‘Holy War,’ ‘Carry On’ and ‘Spirit Horse of the Cherokee’ are some of the most impressive tracks from the albums featured here, but these songs are nowhere in sight. I also don’t see the relevance of including a German language version of ‘Heart of Steel’ towards the end instead of the original track from the Kings of Metal album as the different language is incredibly distracting and very odd sounding after an hour of Eric Adams’ US dialect, drawing attention away from what is otherwise a great power ballad. It would be like me suddenly typing dieses in mein nicht-so-gutes Deutsch, weil ich kann Deutsch nicht so gut sprächen oder schreiben, aber ich werde nicht an das schlechtes sogenannten ,Babelfisch‘ hängen. Annoying isn’t it?
EVERY SWORD HAS A SILVER LINING
This album isn’t all bad however; despite having a very limited range of Manowar’s work there are many of my favourites on here amidst the rest, and although the band produced some excellent music prior to their Atlantic debut, their leaning towards more of a power metal sound here appeals to me more than the straightforward rock of their earlier records, although my favourite all-round Manowar album would be released two years later and see this sound perfected. Atlantic have clearly chosen tracks to show the band’s range and this makes for a more interesting album, the speedy bass-driven ‘Demon’s Whip’ and ‘Black Wind…’ being grouped with more rousing anthems ‘Metal Warriors’ and ‘Kingdom Come’ and reflective songs such as ‘The Crown and the Ring’ and ‘Master of the Wind.’
My favourite tracks on here come towards the end in the form of the excellent ‘Hail and Kill’ and ‘Power of Thy Sword’: the former features a high guitar that would be one of Metallica’s most popular riffs if it appeared in their songs and is basically the song that the band could never quite make on the Fighting the World album, no matter how hard they tried. ‘Power of Thy Sword’ has a pretty straightforward galloping rhythm that sounds very powerful and energetic but the chorus is completely infectious in its Iron Maiden-esque rousingness. And at least they didn’t include one of Joey DeMaio’s god-awful bass solo renditions of a classical composition. I really hate those.
DEATH TO FALSE METAL!
Many people find Manowar’s above slogan and obsession with bringing it up again and again in their songs quite a silly feature of the band. It is, but it’s also very funny, balanced out by equally cheesy Conan the Barbarian-style fantasy and conquest tales. It’s always the silly and pretentious lyrics that are the most memorable, so here are some examples from the songs collected here. Manowar don’t just blow their own trumpet: they even create characters of themselves within the music, each musician wielding a different heavy weapon in place of an instrument.
“Heavy metal or no metal at all. Wimps and posers – leave the hall”
“If you’re not into metal then you are not my friend”
“Stripes on a tiger don’t wash away. Manowar’s made of steel, not clay”
“When we’re in town, speakers explode … wearing jeans and leather, not crackerjack clothes”
“I wrote a letter to the MTV, said ‘what’s going on, don’t ya care about me?’”
“May your sword stay wet, like a young girl in her prime”
Surely lyrics like this demonstrate Manowar’s superiority to that poser Shakespeare. In some ways they are much funnier than the fictional (but still big-selling) Spinal Tap as Manowar are not joking. It’s not even tongue-in-cheek. The only thing in their cheeks is, I don’t know, leather or something. The worst offender is the unbelievably awful afore-mentioned ‘Warrior’s Prayer,’ which I’m not even going to quote, but these themes and lyrics stretch right back to their debut album and still haven’t gone away.
ARTWORK
James Hetfield proudly stated that Metallica’ excellent self-titled album featured a pitch black cover because covers shouldn’t distract the listener from the music. This is true, but as it’s Manowar let’s take a look at how the album art shapes up anyway.
Manowar’s album covers are usually quite skilled, original paintings of battle scenes or victories, however the art for ‘The Hell of Steel’ is not up to the usual standard. In fact, accustomed as I am to extravagant fantasy landscapes and beasts, once I opened the booklet out to see the full image I couldn’t help but say: “that is so stupid.” As usual the hero is an overbuilt, mostly naked masked warrior man but the situation he appears to be in is both badly designed and poorly coloured in. His arms also look more wrinkled than muscular, while the cutting down of the image to fit the front cover leaves a predominantly red and grey colour scheme. Aside from the presence of turquoise in anything ever, red and grey are a definite turn off in terms of colours for me.
A final point that isn’t really important but does matter somewhat is the way a green demon’s wing overlaps onto the album spine: this makes it look like someone’s left the top off a green felt tip pen and it’s soaked in. But then, it’s not about the art. Strangely the booklet does not credit any of the musicians or writers, only publicising the fact that Atlantic own the tracks. Yes, I’m pretty sure Manowar were left out of this release.
VERDICT
I’ve said a lot of negative things about this album, but it’s still quite a good collection of Manowar songs from their 1987-1992 ‘era.’ Many are badly chosen however or simply out of place, while the difference in sound quality and volume shows how little attention had been paid to make it a coherent listen. Out of my whole album collection – which isn’t actually that large, and is somehow kept at a stable size through my constant buying and selling – this is the only album on which I will definitely skip tracks. Not according to my mood or desires, but there are some tracks I simply have no interest in hearing. I’ll probably keep this album for the sole reason that it contains some enjoyable stand-alone tracks, the original albums of which are fairly short and not really worth owning (although I did own them all at one point), but I feel let down by Atlantic marketing this as the ‘best’ songs of a band with a large and omitted back catalogue.
A similar collection entitled ‘Manowar Anthology’ covers their entire career up to this point, although there are less tracks and it does feature what must literally be the most unappealing album cover ever (the band topless and very sweaty, I’m not walking up to the HMV counter with that. Not even for a dare, unless it was a triple-dare and I couldn’t call ‘time-out’ or anything like that). Many fans recommend ‘Hell on Stage Live,’ which is reportedly a very well produced live album containing some of the band’s more epic songs, although these same fans warn potential buyers to avoid the earlier ‘Hell on Wheels’ like an album with sweaty topless men on the cover.
This is basically Atlantic Records trying to cash in on Manowar’s success, which isn’t as much of a contradiction in terms as you may think. Their notable lack of popularity in their homeland of the brave is balanced by their large impact on the European mainland, and this is probably the reason behind the oddity that is track twelve. Either that or they just thought it was clever.
Manowar
Louder Than Hell
**
Written on 31.12.08
Seemingly learning a lesson from their previous, frankly dull album, Manowar return their focus to average-length heavy metal songs, albeit performed in a more power metal style suited to the 1990s. New guitarist Karl Logan is a vast improvement over his predecessor David Shankle, providing many fast and twiddly guitar solos throughout, but the quality and originality of the songs tends to fall flat, especially compared to the band's early work.
Songs such as 'Outlaw' and 'The Power' are extremely fast and energetic, balanced out by anthemic grooves in 'Return of the Warlord' and 'Number 1,' but the album's experimentations elsewhere aren't as successful. Continuing the melodic ballad style that would only increase with each subsequent album, 'Courage' sounds more like Elton John than anything produced by a band insistent on crowning itself the Kings of Metal, and softer touches added to 'King' and the overlong, boring instrumental 'Today is a Good Day to Die' make this a less than riveting release from the metal kings.
That's not to mention that the ridiculous lyrics of 'The Gods Made Heavy Metal' transcend Spinal Tap in their silliness.
Manowar
Hell on Stage Live
****
Written on 31.12.08
Manowar's first live album 'Hell on Wheels' was largely viewed as a disappointment, in terms of both sound quality and performance. It seems unlikely that this follow-up two years later wasn't intended to remedy the situation, but also supplements the original by focusing on the band's earlier, more epic works than the cheap thrill short rock songs of the previous collection.
It's great to hear the band's earliest and finest material represented here, particularly in the form of 'Dark Avenger,' 'March for Revenge,''Gates of Valhalla' and 'Guyana (Cult of the Damned)' in chronological order on the first disc, before the inevitable slump of disc two which focuses on the band's material after 1987, but the selection could have been an awful lot worse. In fact, anyone who has previously been put off by the tragic, unintentional silliness of the self-appointed Kings of Metal will surely be impressed at the high quality of material here, captured perfectly by a band on top form apart from an issue with Eric Adams' vocals in the first few tracks.
On the other hand, even those who appreciate Manowar on a solely humorous level are still provided the cringe-worthy 'Warrior's Prayer' and unnecessary bass take on Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Sting of the Bumblebee' to have a good laugh at, but you'll unfortunately have to put up with some pretty decent material elsewhere.
Manowar
**
Written on 31.12.08
Continuing the trend of increasingly disappointing and increasingly self-aggrandising albums, Manowar's first offering of the new millennium reinvents the band's sound slightly, and experiments with genres that are really stretching their credibility as Metal Kings.
Released in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, this album from the New York band mixes modern patriotism with their ever-present Viking complex, leading to a bizarre and never particularly satisfying blend of old and new. There are a few heavy metal songs on here, but only a few: roughly half of the album is consumed by interludes ('Valhalla' and 'The March'), well-performed but unnecessary covers ('An American Trilogy' and 'Nessun Dorma') and initially pleasant but ultimately tedious anthems ('Fight for Freedom' and 'Swords in the Wind'), and this is arguably the band's cheesiest release since 'Fighting the World.'
The heavy metal itself is particularly disappointing for its generic sound, not helped by a polished production job that focuses on the background orchestration and robs the guitars of their power. 'Fight Until We Die' is perhaps the best offering, merely for providing simple respite at the end and concluding the album on an energetic note.
Marduk
Those of the Unlight
****
Written on 31.12.08
The sole black metal pioneer previously missing from my collection for no particular reason, Marduk is among the more impressive of the elite, particularly in the early albums.
'Those of the Unlight' is a varied, fierce and convincingly evil entry in the black metal canon, based around a frenzy of drum blast beats and basic though creative and memorable guitar riffs, avoiding many of the clichés and gimmicks of the genre and risking the odd experiment, such as the melodic guitar and bass of 'On Darkened Wings' and the slow and atmospheric 'Echoes of the Past.'
Each song also avoids the repetition that often plagues black metal, perhaps best demonstrated in the title song which seemingly never ceases to alter and introduce new riffs and speed changes, without ever seeming excessive. This is a fine black metal album from a band that has always deserved more recognition in light of their contemporaries.
Marduk
***
Written on 31.12.08
Along with many of their contemporaries, notably Poland's Behemoth. Marduk's sound has veered increasingly towards a style of black metal concerned overly with heaviness and intensity at the expensive of creativity.
If you're after something fierce and heavy-handed, this is certainly an album to check out, pummelling the listener with controlled bursts of violence that don't outstay their welcome, but as is probably obvious from my lower rating of this album compared to the band's earlier offerings, it's not a style that I'm particularly fond of.
The band makes gratuitous use of war sound effects in an unconvincing bid to add the sense of atmosphere that used to come so readily, and although the guitar riffs and solos are all suitably ferocious and gripping, there's little creativity or memorability here. At an average of three to four minutes, the songs are all fairly typical and none stand out, despite some pretty funny titles like 'Christraping Black Metal' which surely can't be intended seriously.
Marilyn Manson
Antichrist Superstar
***
Written on 17.11.01
Although I'm a huge fan of so-called "alternative" music, Marilyn Manson has never appealed to me as much as to some people. However, although he's not by any means my favourite artist, I do still appreciate and enjoy a lot of his music. This should hopefully allow me to write a fair opinion of my views on this album.
To start with, I feel I must explain the cult status of Manson. If any of you feel you are easily offended, I would strongly suggest against buying this album. Every song has either a blatant or hidden meaning relating to real-life situations or hatred, an even the cover art and interior pictures would be considered deeply offensive by Christians. I personally have no problem with this, however out of all the Manson albums, this is undoubtedly the most controversial.
This album, while not generally being his most popular, may in fact be my favourite. Aside from the fact that it has an amazing name, it features what is generally considered Manson's best song, "The Beautiful People," as well as the releases "Tourniquet" and "Man That You Fear."
Each Manson release seems to have a general trend in the majority of songs. The first album, "Portrait Of An American Family," was more geared toward heavy rock or metal, the admittedly-s**te "Smells Like Children" was largely uncoordinated sounds and melodies, the popular "Mechanical Animals" was usually slower, softer songs, and "Holy Wood (In the Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)" tended to be slow and peaceful. This album gives me the impression of slightly heavy songs featuring a lot of weird sampling and melodic bits which, although they do not always work well together, (and in fact are sometimes rubbish), make the album more interesting and different from the norm.
Although I have been informed that a lot of people do not like track-by-track listings, I feel it gives a good impression of each individual song's style. Basically, the album is divided into three parts (or "cycles"): tracks 1 to 4 are dubbed "The Heirophant," tracks 5 to 11 (most of the album) "Inauguration Of The Worm," and tracks 12 to 16 "Disintegrator Rising." In my opinion, the first and final part contain some of the album's finest songs, however "cycle 2" has its share of interesting tunes.
Starting at the beginning, "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is a song most people find annoying but that i find one of the best on the album. After Manson introduces the song in front of a cheering crowd, the song kicks in with a heavy, loud guitar riff and a shouting chorus of "F*** It!" The song is basically about Manson hating stuff, and is an angry look at society today; not a very original premise, but a good song nevertheless. ("Everybody's someone else's n***er, I know you are so am I. I wasn't born with enough middle fingers, I don't need to choose a side.")
Beginning with an odd bit of inteference, "The Beautiful People" slowly reveals its full potential with seperate instruments coming together to produce the finest Manson song. The song features an amazing riff and great vocals, as well as very noticeable, ever-present drumming. The song appears to be about capitalism creating societies where people are judged on their religion or background, and where discrimination is allowed against the minorities. A really cool song that appeals to a large number of people, it is also very interesting and thought-provoking, while being a little too communist for my tastes. ("The horrible people, the horrible people, it's as anatomic as the size of your steeple. Capitalism has made it this way, old-fashioned fascism will take it away.")
Track three, "Dried Up, Tied and Dead To The World" is one of my worst songs on the album, and does not even begin promisingly. Odd samples that change with every portion of the song, from whines to distorted voices, do not add to it at all in my opinion, although I like the sound of Manson's voice in the chorus ("I'll be you lover, I'll be forever, I'll be tomorrow, I am anything when I'm high.") The song features talk of cutting off fingers (possibly in order to pay for drugs), and hints at drug use.
"Tourniquet" is a slow song that was released by Manson, and is another of my favourites off the album. A slow, melodic chorus and loud yet soft riff make this tale of sexual encounters and love a fantastic song that can be listened to in any mood. ("I wrapped our love in all this foil, silver-tight like spider legs, I never wanted it to ever spoil, but flies will always lay their eggs.") N.B., a tourniquet is "an instrument for arresting hemorrhage. It consists essentially of a pad or compress upon which pressure is made by a band which is tightened by a screw or other means."
Heading into cycle 2, "Little Horn" features explicit lyrics linking the shape of a mouth to a "p**sy," and the arrival of some high deity. The song surprisingly kicks in with a cool yet distorted riff, and I find it one of the better songs on the album, however not as good as those I have noted as my favourites. Not a melodic song by any means, even the song title seems to imply innuendo. ("The world spreads its legs for another star, world shows its face for another scar.")
"Cryptorchild" is a sad song about a boy's experience of his mother's murder and his own rape by the murderer. ("Each time I look outside my mother dies, I feel my back is changing shape. When the worm (N.B., possible innuendo) consumes the boy it's never considered rape.") The song is certainly one of the album's stranger offerings, with high-pitched vocals for the chorus, ever-present samplings, and a completely different section in the middle which may or may not be sung by Manson- I really can't tell whether his voice has been distorted or if some guest vocals are being put into play. Even though I don't normally like stuff like this, I consider this quite a good song, and a daring attempt to be different. Very good lyrics as well.
"Deformography" features potentially offensive lyrics regarding God, and is the story of how someone would take over another person whether they want them to or not. The song is slow and more regular than its successor, although still features background samples. Manson's vocals are deep and sombre, and the song is quite good, however does not appeal to me as much as a lot of the others. I find my attention drifting as the song becomes too similar towards the end to the point where I sometimes fail to notice its presence. ("You eat up my heart and all the little parts, your star is so sharp it leaves me jagged holes. (N.B., possible innuendo). I make myself sick just to poison you.")
"Wormboy" is certainly one of the most memorative tracks on the album for me due to its weirdness. Beginning fairly promisingly, the tune suddenly changes into one that seems contrastingly happy to the album's nature. Backing vocals are also used very inappropriately that seem to be adding to the happiness of song, and Manson's vocals in the chorus are pitched to high to be taken seriously. I'm not sure whether the song was intended to be a slight comedy interlude at the middle of the album, but the lyrics describe somebody's ascent into heaven, and his realisation that things would be better off in hell. No a particularly good song by any means unless you can fully appreciate the attempted comedy of it all and enjoy that. But unfortunately, I feel against the idea of someone as serious and influential as Manson producing something like this. ("When you get to heaven you will wish you're in hell. When will you realise, you're already here.") Aside from the word hell, this song also fails to meet any serious taboos unlike the rest of the songs.
Track nine, "Mister Superstar," is a song about disturbed superstar fans who would love to see their idols die, or they will do it for them (after killing themselves). The lyrics describe many types of star (from rock star to "porno star"), and relate the fans' desires to make love to them and become their friends. There is also a whispered section at the end in which Manson is asking if his idol can kill himself on TV which, along with other lines in this song, may be offensive to fans of any famous people who have famously died in these fashions. ("Hey Mister Big Rock Star, I wanna grow up just like you. I know that I can turn you on, I wish I could just turn you off.") As for the song, it comes in fairly long at around five minutes (the majority of songs on this album average just over four minutes), and begins with a soft riff overlaid with Manson's quiet voice. I quite like the song, especially the chorus, and Manson displays several different examples of his vocal talents throughout the song's run.
"Angel With The Scabbed Wings" begins with a great instrumental, and then becomes a bass solo to allow Manson to begin his vocals more powerfully. Certainly one of the album's finer tracks, it deals with drug abuse and the effects it has upon people. ("He is the angel with the scabbed wings hard-drug face, want to powder his nose?") It also deals with rape. The song does not get tiresome at all, and becomes even better towards the end when odd samples are allowed to flow in. Certainly worth listening to.
"Kinderfeld" has a very odd start that features what sounds like a buzz saw and a laughing duck, and is very slow and light. Manson's vocals become all high again for the chorus that adds to the eerie effect of this song, and later on he begins to scream and talk with an odd voice that seems purposefully out of time with the tune. The song's meaning is very cryptic, and it basically attempts to tie together the theme of the worm boy who descended to Hell with the Disintegrator. ("When I got my wings and I never even knew it, when I was a worm, thought I couldn't get through it.")
Onto cycle three and the title track, "Antichrist Superstar" begins brilliantly with an eerie orchestral sound of many voices wailing quietly at once being joined by the main riff. A good riff, it does unfortunately wear thin by the time the five minute song has finished. Featuring a spooky reprise of lyrics from "Cryptorchild" and more than its fair share of odd, high-pitched vocals, the song is one of the middley ones on the album. I don't dislike it, but then again I don't find it amazing. The song talks about, basically, the self-proclaimed Antichrist controlling people, and ends with another odd whispery bit. ("Prick your finger it is done, the moon has now eclipsed the sun, the Angel has spread His wings, the time has come for better things.")
Although generally one of the most disliked on the album, I believe "1996" to be in the better half due to its catchy, cool riff. The instruments are all played perfectly; the only problem is the lyrics. Very repetitive and not very clever, Manson basically proclaims to be "anti"-everything, stating conflicting ideologies which he is against. The song seems disrespectful to gay people (calling them "fa***ts"), and against the Pope. Still, I do think the song sounds really cool, and is not worth all the bad press. ("Anti-Satan, Anti-Black, Anti-World is on my back. Anti-gay and Anti-Dope, I am the fa***t Anti-Pope.")
"Minute of Decay" is memorable mostly for its bass solo which is not original or cool, but simply present throughout the song. The lyrics are about somebody depressed who feels death is his only option, and he expresses a desire to take the listener with him. The song is very dull and tedious as it never really sounds like it gets going, even when other instruments join on several occasions. One of the poorest on the album, in my view, just due to the fact that I generally find myself getting bored. ("There is no cue for what is killing me, I'm on my way down. I looked ahead and saw a world that's dead, I guess that I am too.")
Beginning with the kind of Manson intro I dislike (the kind of "yeah, let's state something to try and be clever" approach), the penultimate track on this album, "The Reflecting God," is quite a good song. It starts very slowly and quietly before throwing the listener into a memorable, catchy chorus ("I went to God just to see that I was looking at me.") The song deals with very anti-religious themes, suggesting that the singer has been to Hell & back, and that he is the true God. There is also yet another bout of swearing, in which Manson blurts out "Shoot shoot shoot motherf***er." Quite good, good enough to be contained on Manson's 1999 live album "Last Tour on Earth," but not fantastic. ("Let's jump upon the sharp swords and cut away our smiles, without the threat of death there's no reason to live at all.")
Ending the album in a song that holds very mixed views is "Man That You Fear." Released, this song is a very slow, light tune that begins and ends very oddly. Personally, I really like the song and think it ends the album really well. Despite its slow, pleasant approach, Man That You Fear deals with abortion and other issues, as well as featuring even more swearing. Fans of Manson's heavier stuff that don't like the more mellow songs should probably avoid, but it should be given a chance. ("Peel off all those eyes and crawl into the dark, you've poisoned all your children to camouflage your scars.") The last couple of minutes of the song is basically voices distorted and played at different intervals that you really shouldn?t listen to late at night. And of course, tracks 17 to 98 should be ignored completely.
This album contributed five tracks ("The Reflecting God," "Antichrist Superstar," "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" and "The Beautiful People" to Manson's "Last Tour on Earth" official live album, and three songs ("The Beautiful People," "Tourniquet" and "Man That You Fear") were released as singles. The album remains controversial, and will for some time, however a lot of underground, less popular material is far worse in content. For example, most black metal albums. I would recommend this album to a Manson fan, although for the causal listener it may be a bit too different and odd for easy listening. It was worth the price I paid anyway, and has a nice cardboard extra cover thing that's cool.
Marilyn Manson
The Last Tour on Earth
****
Written on 03.07.01
Live albums have a tendency to be low quality and merely an attempt to cheaply add an album to the artist's discography without having to bother writing new songs. However, the good points are that they often contain most of the band's best songs from across their albums, which make them accessible more easily to newcomers.
This albums is basically that: Marilyn Manson's fifth album, "Last Tour on Earth" is a collection of manson singles and popular songs from the previous albums "Portrait of an American Family" (1995), "Smells Like Children" (1996)- a very poor album which is explained in my review of it- "Antichrist Cuperstar" (1997) and "Mechanical Animals" (1998). the track list goes:
1. Inaugration of the Mechanical Christ
2. The Reflecting God
3. Great Big White World
4. Get Your Gunn
5. Sweet Dreams
6. Rock Is Dead
7. The Dope Show
8. Lunchbox
9. I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)
10. Antichrist Superstar
11. The Beautiful People
12. Irresponsible Hate Anthem
13. The Last Day on Earth
14. Everlasting Panorama of the Endtimes
There is also a bonus cd (which is added to try and make the album more worth buying for those who already own all the others), which includes:
1. Coma white
2. Get My Rocks Off
3. Coma White Acoustic
4. A Rose and a Baby Ruth
The tracks "Rock Is Dead", "The Beautiful People" and "The Dope Show" were all released as singles off their respective albums, guaranteeing them a place on this album, and many of the others are very good as well.
The first track is basically a long-winded, dull intro which would obviously generate a feeling of suspense and longing if one were to see the band live, but which just seems worthy of skipping when you have the album.
The album opener, "The Reflecting God", is an average song, and nothing fantastic. It doesn't distinguish itself in any way, and when "Great Big White World" comes on I've been known to think it was the same song if I've not been payin much attention.
The album really starts getting fantastic with the amazing "Get Your Gunn" (my favourite track off the band's debut album), which is loud and relatively heavy.
"Sweet Dreams" is the cover of an old pop song (I'm sorry, but I can't remember who originally sang it), and is the only track of the band's remix album, "Smells Like Children." It does sound good, even though it's not the band's own work, and actually sounds better on here than on the original album. (But I hate that album so I never listen to it anyway).
"Rock is Dead" (the music accompanying the end credits to "The Matrix"), is a great song, and probably Manson's most radio-friendly. Even though it talks about the death of rock, it is rocked across to the audience very well. There is also a brief intro at the start of this track (track five), introducing the band, which leads me to believe this album is made up of different live concerts.
Although it is a very popular song, I do dislike "The Dope Show." It's very slow and dull, and just doesn't get me excited at all. The video is something to behold though, as it demonstrates human frailties by featuring Manson in a pale, breasted guise receiving doses of drugs in some sort of laboratory.
"Lunchbox" is another great song off Portrait, and the original version started with an angry kid's voice about how some mother****er stole his lunchbox. It's a very god, enjoyable song.
Prior to the start of "I Don't Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me"), Manson (or rather Brian Warner, to use the controversial singer's real name), relates a tale of a dream he apparently had, which receives great response from the gathered crowd every time a narcotic substance is mentioned. It relates a rather confusing tale of how Manson was "drowning in a sea of liquor", and washed up on "a beach made of cocaine." He states, "the sky was made of L.S.D.- and every tree was made of marijuana." Being his controversial self, Manson then goes on to report on how "God came down from heaven", due to the apparent beauty of a police officer taking him in his mouth, and stated that "God would no longer be spelt G.O.D."- Manson goes on asking the crowd to give him a D, R, U, G and S, evoking the huge response of "DRUGS!!!" An interesting build-up to a song which I don't think is that good, but which features backing vocals from some woman (who is either on stage with the band or used as samples).
"Antichrist Superstar" has a fantastic rhythm, and is another of my favourites off this album. It is obviously originally from the album of the same name, and has great drumming as well as guitar work.
My favourite Manson song ever, "The Beautiful People" is track eleven, and is one of the band's heaviest and most popular songs. The original video has now been banned from screening (at least in the UK) due to its freakish nature, and a newer (albeit still rather weird) video has taken its place. The original can only be shown on late night, uncensored video programmes, along with the likes of the later "Disposable Teens" original video, which was also deemed too sinister for daytime viewing. I love everything about this song, from the vocals and guitar to the bass and drums.
"Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is quite a good song, and begins again with Manson preaching, this time about how children shout "we hate love" and "we love hate." It's quite good, but nothing memorable.
One of the slowest on the album, "The Last Day on Earth" could be seen as a soothing change from the high volume and heaviness of some of the previous songs, but alone it isn't anything spectacular.
The album finishes with "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes", a fantastic song that ends the album and the liv show on a good note.
The extra disc isn't anything fantastic, although the previously released "Coma White" is a pretty good song. It's still good that an extra CD was included, but none of it is live.
Contrary to some opinions I've read on this album, I believe that this is a great album for newcomers, as the band play extremely well live (unlike some other acts), and many of the best songs are included. It's kind of like a compilation of best and new songs, but being live actually adds to it for those who already own the originals, as they get a different version (and excessive, excited drumbeats to finish most songs).
Had the album been released later than 1999 it would undoubtedly have featured some of the new tracks off the sixth album, "Holy Wood" (subtitled "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death"), especially the singles "Disposable Teens" and "The Fight Song". However, I believe this one of the best Marilyn Manson albums, if not the most talked about, although it still seems that the band couldn't think of a release for 1999 and that this was their solution. It still remains to be seen whether the band will stick to their one album per year agenda this year, as I haven't heard anything, and time is running out...
Advantages: Most of the best songs, The band play very well outside a studio, The commentaries get waring after a few listens
Disadvantages: Some poor songs, A lot of tracks
Masterplan
Aeronautics
***
Written on 31.12.08
Masterplan is a reasonably popular power metal band that I had previously avoided due to a personal aversion to singer Jørn Lande, based only on his work in the disappointing Allen-Lande side project. This wasn't entirely fair though, as although his style is certainly more commercial and soft than most power metal vocalists, there was no reason to expect that his own band would necessarily follow the same insufferably melodic route. And it hardly does at all. Well, maybe a little bit.
Masterplan is the sort of power metal that could easily appeal to the masses, as long as they're stuck in the mid-1980s. It's polished, well-produced and very well performed, and I was pleased to hear that it wasn't all about the choruses, guitarist Roland Grapow sharing the spotlight equally with his solos. There are extended instrumental sections in songs such as 'I'm Not Afraid,' but an attempt to reach more epic heights by adding piano and extending the song length in ten-minute finale 'Black in the Burn' doesn't really convince.
The band has a knack for slow, soft songs that don't entirely lose the power metal kick, but those looking for something with more energy and intensity should continue their quest; there are plenty of bands out there to satisfy your needs.
Mastery
Lethal Legacy
***
Written on 10.01.09
'Lethal Legacy' is thus far the only release from Canadian band Mastery, whose take on thrash metal is somewhat unusual in that it is entirely instrumental.
These kids brought up on Metallica and Megadeth have forsaken a vocalist, perhaps out of necessity but more likely as a creative choice, and although this makes them inherently more interesting as a curiosity, it can't help but make their music sound stilted and lacking. All of the songs collected here are really crying out for vocal accompaniment, especially ones such as 'No Tomorrow' which even seems to supply a gap for verses, making the whole thing feel like a job that's only 80% complete.
This is entertaining, high-octane thrash metal performed energetically both in the studio and a live environment, and although the guitars are kept interesting, it never descends into the showy realm of virtuoso 'shred' metal. Mastery are playing a very old but enduringly popular sound, and it remains to be seen whether their next release will increase the stakes in terms of guitar showmanship, or simply chicken out and add a vocalist like everyone else.
Megadeth in general
****
Written on 15.08.04
- “Hi, I’m Lars”
- “Hi, I’m Dave”
- “Oh, that’s a much more regular name than mine. Do you want to be in a band I’ve started making, with me as a drummer and you as lead guitarist? I’ve already collected the rhythm guitarist and bass player.”
- “Cool, can we call it ‘Megadeth?’ I’ve always wanted to be in a band called that.”
- “No, that’s rubbish. We’re called ‘Metallica.’”
- “Man, that sucks even worse than your name, Lars.”
- “This isn’t going to last long is it?”
Megadeth are a band most people have heard of, and who have mainly registered for their silly and inexcusably spelled name. Always a step away from being mainstream rock material, the integrity and influence of this American four-piece led to them getting name-dropped in plenty of ‘youth’ films, most notably the excellent ‘Wayne’s World 2’ and the reasonable ‘Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey’ that’s not quite as good now as when I was six.
Almost any discussion of Megadeth returns to their history and origins in the more successful band Metallica, so in a break with breaking tradition I shall do the same. When drummer Lars Ulrich posted advertisements in local newspapers and magazines to recruit band members for Metallica, Dave was the original guitarist (replaced by Kirk Hammett) but soon left due to disagreements and arguments that have never really ceased, despite what they would have us believe. Dave’s thrashy style suited the band and it can be argued that he set the tone for their early years, however the music of both bands sounds very different, as do the general tones of their albums.
This review of Megadeth in general is based on the assumption that anyone interested is already slightly familiar with the more serious world of heavy metal, such as Metallica. And if you’re not, there’s some silly pun album titles that you might like or something.
SOUND & THE VOICE
‘Megadeth’ is:
Dave Mustaine – guitars, vocals
Al Pitrelli – guitars
David Ellefson – bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – drums
Megadeth’s music has evolved over time, but not through the various stages of commercialism that Metallica’s has taken. Comparing the early albums of both bands, the differences are clear: Megadeth’s sound is funkier and less aggressive, but also less experimental and diverse. While Metallica offer a seven to nine minute epic with every other track, Megadeth’s albums are collections of more manageable length offerings that rarely exceed six minutes.
The guitars of both bands range from fast and heavy to lighter and more reflective, the drums are similar, the bass plays a vital role (in Metallica’s early years, bass player Cliff Burton’s influence on the songs was enormous), but even the eardrum untrained to metal would immediately notice the main difference: voice.
James Hetfield’s gruff, powerful shouting will be familiar to anyone who has heard Metallica’s most well-known songs ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ and despite being less developed and more whiny in the early albums, it doesn’t distract from the music. Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth voice is the single aspect of the band that put me off investing in any of their music for a long time, and although I’ve grown used to it I still find it hard to believe that they have sold so many albums over the years with what sounds like a bossy little girl crossed with that Chucky doll from ‘Child’s Play.’ The more recent albums have seen the extremities of Mustaine’s voice toned down a little, but there is only really one thing that redeems the older releases…
SUBJECT MATTER & LYRICS
Megadeth’s album titles say it all:
‘KILLING IS MY BUSINESS … AND BUSINESS IS GOOD’
(Artwork: artefacts of the dead on a table)
‘PEACE SELLS … BUT WHO’S BUYING?’
(Artwork: a monster soldier thing)
‘RUST IN PEACE’
(Artwork: a Frankingstein’s monster in a coffin)
‘YOUTHANASIA’
(Artwork: children strung up on crucifixes)
Similarly, Metallica’s album titles say it all:
‘KILL ‘EM ALL’
(Artwork: a shadowed figure with a hammer, blood leaking across the floor)
‘RIDE THE LIGHTNING’
(Artwork: an empty electric chair in a storm)
‘MASTER OF PUPPETS’
(Artwork: ominous hands holding strings to dead soldiers’ makeshift graves)
‘…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL’
(Artwork: that scales woman justice statue in ropes)
Both bands are concerned with political events such as war and the justice system, but after a brief fascination with murder for the sake of it in their debut albums, there is a clear difference in the style of album name: Metallica’s are thought-provoking and sensible; Megadeth’s are silly puns. This isn’t to say that the themes are any less serious, but Mustaine presents the lyrics in a more light-hearted, comedic style that suits the band’s less intense style of playing.
Excerpt from ‘Mechanix’, from Killing is My Business:
“You’re a burner, yeah a real motor car,
Said you wanna get your order filled
Made me shiver when I put it in,
Pumping just won't do ya know.
Made my drive shaft crank,
Made my pistons bulge,
Made my ball bearing melt from the heat,
I'm giving you my room service”
It’s this attitude that made Megadeth so appealing to many people, as well as the excellent quality of the musicianship. In the afore-mentioned film, Bill promises to give Ted his entire Megadeth collection if they die, which shows the admiration those two moronic losers had for the band, although they were sensible enough to realise that we have been “totally lied to by our album covers” when it comes to the layout of Hell.
CAREERS
Metallica hit the big-time in 1991 with their self-titled black album, adapting and trimming their sound to a more mainstream rock style that continued into the late nineties with their more experimental, blues-influenced ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ albums. Megadeth on the other hand never went through this process (I’ll avoid the term ‘selling out’ as I don’t believe the money was Metallica’s real motive in progressing their sound), but their albums from the mid-nineties do follow a slower and less punchy style than that of their earlier records, possibly explaining their album title ‘Risk.’
Megadeth split up in 2001 following Mustaine’s arm injury, but a live album and compilation have led to the band reforming and producing a new album, which is scheduled for September. The last studio offering from ‘Deth (I wonder if anyone calls them that?) still followed a thrashy style, incorporating even more elements of eighties heavy metal than before, while Metallica’s comeback ‘St. Anger’ shares many similarities with modern ‘nu-metal,’ but has returned to an angrier, heavier style than it has been in a long time.
CONCLUSION
In my opinion Metallica are clearly bestest, but both bands will appeal to different people equally. The main reason I wrote this review is that I’ve recently decided to embrace a bit of ‘Deth, having quite liked what I heard a few years ago from a thrash-obsessed friend, and allowing Mustaine’s vocals to ruin the experience is something that no longer happens. If you’re into any kind of heavy metal from the eighties onwards, Megadeth would definitely be worth checking out – the underdogs they may be, but the guitars are cool.
And his voice isn’t that bad really.
Alright, it is.
Advantages: Excellent, talented musicians, Fun, fast and hard metal, Still going strong
Disadvantages: The early vocals, Lacking some diversity
Megadeth
Cryptic Writings
This Time It's Impersonal
***
Written on 29.06.07
The post-1991 output of a great number of 80s thrash bands in the wake of Metallica’s hugely successful ‘Black Album’ boast a consciously simplified and commercialised sound that largely replaces the aggressive, punk-inspired nihilism of their earlier work with a more refined, approachable, and in most cases mellow direction more in line with current musical trends. Following the example of their more successful rival, Megadeth’s sound entered a process of gradual departure from the speedy thrash perfection of 1990’s ‘Rust in Peace,’ as their subsequent albums became increasingly consumer-oriented. Third stop along this line is ‘Cryptic Writings,’ representing the culmination of this radio-friendly approach, before careening off the rails with the frankly embarrassing chaos of 1999’s ‘Risk.’
Abandoning thrash for the most part in favour of a more traditional heavy metal style, though targeted more towards its dissolution through the popular grunge bands of the time, ‘Cryptic Writings’ features twelve unremarkable and unsurprising songs ranging from around three minutes long to about five. Dave Mustaine’s trademark growl improved over the course of the band’s early albums as he started to sound less like an angry school girl and more like a grown up man doing a childish impression of a goblin, but it’s pretty much the same delivery that’s been used since ‘Countdown to Extinction,’ as are the default medium speed rhythms and restrained guitars. As the band is still called Megadeth, and is thus obligated to remain a little on the dark side, there are no glam rock piano ballads or overly optimistic lyrics, as the material ranges from short and punchy Nirvana-style generic disgust to acoustic ennui with catchy choruses, and occasional short-but-sweet call-backs to the band’s more energetic days.
1. Trust
2. Almost Honest
3. Use the Man
4. Mastermind
5. The Disintegrators
6. I’ll Get Even
7. Sin
8. A Secret Place
9. Have Cool, Will Travel
10. She-Wolf
11. Vortex
12. FFF
Setting the pace of the album right from the start, the single ‘Trust’ opens with a slow drum solo that’s almost tribal sounding, one of the few mildly interesting touches of percussion on the album, before atmospheric backing keyboards fade in and David Eleffson’s bass clunks slowly along until it settles upon the recognisable main riff of the song, all too soon joined by Mustaine’s crisp sounding guitar. The production job on this album is technically impressive as is the norm for Megadeth’s 1990s releases, the instruments generally filling out the sound-scape with a little help from backing keyboards, making a radical departure from the dirty, echoed sound of their earlier work. As one of the longest songs on the album, still coming in at under six minutes, the song diversifies slightly through a soft, whispered middle section featuring acoustic guitar before the chorus returns and Mustaine is permitted to go off on one with his guitar solos. Overall, a song that owes far more to Black Sabbath or Nirvana than 80s Megadeth, but competently executed and inoffensive, much like the majority of the music to follow. The driving riff of the poppier ‘Almost Honest’ sounds even more like straight-up rock as the song leaves heavy metal behind, and this piece generally sounds a little outdated, even down to the slower, blues-inspired guitar solo. The main chorus is annoyingly and inappropriately upbeat and bouncy for the subject matter, but there’s really very little of interest here.
Perhaps taking note of this disappointing descent into archaism, the much improved ‘Use the Man’ begins with the conceit of a jolly sounding soft rock song in the vein of the Beatles being piped through a tinny radio, a trick used earlier in the band’s career with the album ‘So Far, So Good... So What?’ which proceeded to explode into a fast thrash riff. Here, the change is less cataclysmic and more mournful, as Mustaine takes over with an acoustic guitar, creating a spartan atmosphere for this tirade on drug use. Mustaine sounds like Kurt Cobain on this one, and his electric riffs, when they kick in, sound a lot like Sabbath. The climax of this song makes it all worthwhile, as strange sound effects beckon an unprecedented faster take on the song for the final forty seconds, which has the adverse effect of making the rest seem like a waste of time. It may be my own preference for the band’s earlier catalogue taking over, but the faster sections of this album, the really fast sections that stand out as being fast and full of energy, always prove to be my favourite parts.
Although the material thus far has been far from extraordinary, the songs have generally been individual and memorable enough to be credited as such. On an album of twelve very similar sounding songs, a useless filler track was going to come along sooner or later, and ‘Mastermind’ proves to be the first. Again sounding more like a traditional rock song than anything contemporary, perhaps revealing Mustaine’s own listening habits as Metallica would later unveil their taste for hard rock and country on ‘Load,’ this song does little more than take up three and a half minutes between two much more worthwhile songs, and not only because of Mustaine’s unintentional self-parody in the chorus, performing his snarling monster impressions for no reason. The only factor in this song’s credit is the guitar solo, which lasts a little longer and harks back to the slower solo sections of the classic ‘Rust in Peace’ album, something that continues in the very Megadeth-sounding ‘The Disintegrators.’ This shorter piece is the fastest on the album so far, lacking some of the volume and power of early Megadeth but still generating enough energy in the fast delivery of the chorus that Mustaine occasionally forgets to shout along in time. Even if it fades from memory after the disc is ejected, this song will at least, perhaps, cause the listener to think ‘there was quite a good fast one somewhere around track five.’
‘I’ll Get Even’ returns to pop territory a little, with the most obvious ‘beat’ of the album and a slow, sing-along chorus, but for once it’s done exactly right. The lyrics of insomnia and depression are perfectly suited to Mustaine’s off-sounding vocals, almost spoken word but still somehow managing to bridge a gap between rasping and singing, while the cool, slow guitar riffs are complemented by refreshingly unusual cow bells. This one stood out significantly on my last listen, even if it doesn’t sound as traditionally ‘Megadethy’ as the previous offering. Sadly, it’s time for another piece of filler, this time with a second-rate replica of ‘Trust’ that I keep expecting to descend back into that opening riff of the album. Mustaine continues to use the same vocal delivery as ‘I’ll Get Even,’ interspersing spoken word between guitar chords, but it sounds a lot more formulaic this time around. ‘A Secret Place’ is one of the most repetitive songs on the album, and pop-oriented again in the vein of ‘Almost Honest’ and ‘I’ll Get Even,’ but is weirdly my favourite of the lot. After the opening ‘THX digitally mastered’-sounding build-up comes an Eastern-sounding melody that lasts throughout the whole song, occasionally transferred between instruments if Mustaine needs to do a bit of a solo. It’s far from being a perfect song, ending frustratingly soon before heading off in interesting directions, but still individual enough to stand out.
In a seemingly deliberate reaffirmation of Megadeth’s political edge after all the wussy stuff, the band unwisely start the final third of the album with the mostly irritating ‘Have Cool, Will Travel.’ As the stupid title suggests, this is something of an unusual song, featuring harmonica and piano sections, but is primarily a very tired sounding blend of knock-off Sabbath riffs and unimaginative ‘nothing’s getting done’ and ‘point the finger’ accusations. Things look up with ‘She-Wolf,’ likely my favourite song on the album and a fine return to form, opening with a scratchy thrash riff that only increases to blistering speed as the music continues. With lyrics concerning the ‘mother of all that is evil,’ this is a great metal song in the classic tradition, even going out on a dual lead guitar section that would sound fairly run-of-the-mill on an Iron Maiden album, but really shines out here. The next song ‘Vortex’ continues in the same style, but can’t really keep up with the pace, acting as the filler for this final heavy metal third of the album, and sounding oddly long despite only lasting for three and a half minutes. The final track, enigmatically titled ‘FFF’ which the chorus reveals, disappointingly, to be merely ‘Fight For Freedom’ rather than anything more risqué, is an average but enjoyable return to Megadeth’s roots as a punk-thrash band, though the uncertain lyrics – eventually arriving at ‘fight for anything’– reveal the naivety of this early, nihilistic attitude. Sounding much like Metallica’s ‘Motorbreath,’ written when Mustaine was still a primary songwriter before that band started releasing albums, this nevertheless feels more nostalgic than genuine.
The desperation for radio/MTV attention permeates the entire album, and it’s clear that the formerly talented and experimental musicians, particularly lead guitarist Marty Friedman, face imposing restrictions on their originality due to Mustaine’s self-confessed desire ‘for that Number One record I so badly needed,’ admitted in the album booklet (it would only get to Number Ten). ‘Cryptic Writings’ is still currently the last Megadeth album to sell comparatively well, showing that the recent return to form with this year’s ‘United Abominations’ may not be what the public are into so long after the band’s heyday, but at least the band can satisfy and win back its large and loyal fan base.
‘She-Wolf’ is perhaps the only song on here to live up to fan expectations, though ‘Trust,’ ‘I’ll Get Even’ and the last thirty seconds of ‘Use the Man’ manage to be fairly successful examples of what the band were aiming for at this period; sadly, the majority of the album sounds weak in comparison. ‘Cryptic Writings’ favours clichéd emotional lyrics and weakly abstract political themes over the more specifically targeted anarchy the band are more famous for, and no amount of irrelevantly mysterious cover art can satiate disappointed long-time fans.
Advantages: More accessible.
Disadvantages: Watered down.
Metallica in general
*****
Written on 29.06.01
Current lineup: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Kirk Hammet (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums). Bassist still unconfirmed.
I decided to buy some Metallica as I felt my collection of punk and nu-metal needed some token older music, and from the kind of bands that were available (namely Guns N' Roses, Van Halen and things of that variety) Metallica seemed the best. And it was only when I heard a few songs that I realised even though they're old, their music is fantastic.
My favourite all-time Metallica song is actually in my top ten singles list, and is the excellent "One" (from the album "...And Justice For All")- quite an old song from the late eighties, "One" is better than most of the nu-metal available nowadays, and is generally not given a chance due to its age. If you are interested and want to hear or download some particularly good Metallica, I recommend "One," "Master Of Puppets," "The Call Of Ktulu" or "Leper Messiah," however there are many, many good examples.
Metallica are still going strong nowadays (although I'd say their popularity has dwindled, but only slightly, in the last few years), and their new album is due out in late summer 2001 (which contains the popular single "I Disappear", from the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack). The band's image has certainly changed with the times, now mostly giving out a short-hair, goatee vibe as opposed to the long-haired, bearded, torn-clothes biker image they had when they started. I personally think their old image suits the music better, but I can see why they have changed to try and suit the times.
Metallica's fantastic riffs and solos are complemented by some of the best drumming I've ever heard from the insane Lars; just look at him in any Metallica video, especially the video to "One", and you'll see what I mean. (The guy's mouth seems to be blurting out silent vocals that are nothing to do with the song, and don't seem to make any sense with the tune). The band's 1999 live "S & M" album, I think, sounded poor as it was accompanied by an orchestra, but also made the band seem "past it" and "vintage": the kind of people who are too proud to tour concert halls without making themselves seem larger than life.
I have to admit that this is an element of Metallica I do not like; although their albums (especially the self-titled Black Album of 1991) have sold millions of copies, the band are incredibly against MP3 sharing on Napster and associated programs. Most bands are content with the notion that these file sharing programs actually expand their fan base and increase album sales (I know I've bought a few albums due to hearing some tracks on Napster). The band need to lighten up on these fronts I think.
Metallica have released nine official albums: "Kill 'Em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets", "...And Justice For All", "Metallica" (the Black Album), "Load", "Re-Load", "S & M" and "Garage Inc." (a cover double album covering mostly Motorhead songs), and are set to release their new one (with their new bassist) later this year, as I stated earlier.
I won't bore you with their complete history, but the band was originally started by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield in the late seventies; the full history is available on Metallica.com, the official website. Metallica were definitely the best band to come out of the eighties for me, and are one of my favourite bands (I so far have four of their albums, but I'm working on it). Part of the reason is that they are expanding my musical taste to older rock, but it's also because... well, they ROCK!
Metallica
Kill 'Em All
***
Written on 22.06.04
Metallica’s musical progression has kept them in the spotlight throughout their twenty-year career as they explore all angles of rock music. Their latest release, St. Anger, is a very violent record with which the band intended to capture the hostility and aggression of their early albums, especially the debut ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ While it was musically very different, it’s easy to see why the band wished to return to this style as it has remained incredible popular even to this day.
‘Metallica’ were:
James Hetfield – Rhythm guitar, vocals
Kirk Hammett – Lead guitar
Cliff Burton (R.I.P.) – Bass guitar
Lars Ulrich - Drums
STYLE
This is a pure thrash metal album, and possibly the definitive example of this genre of speed metal, although saying that I’m not too familiar with works of Slayer and the band’s other contemporaries. This means that, for the most part, the melodic touches and orchestral influence on song composition that would make the band’s following albums increasingly impressive is here replaced by speed, aggression, power and energy, although bear in mind that this is an album I am reviewing and not some family’s ‘Robot Wars’ effort.
Although Metallica have grown up, matured and progressed since these early, angry days, many of the songs contained on this album are still live favourites, some being played even more now than ten years ago due to the recent reawakening of Metallica’s interest in metal over hard rock. While ‘The Four Horsemen,’ ‘Seek and Destroy’ and ‘Whiplash’ are fantastic live, they don’t serve to make this disc any more appealing to those who aren’t diehard fans of thrash music.
TRACKS
1. HIT THE LIGHTS
The song that opened every Metallica show for a couple of years, this features forty seconds of build-up in which crashing drums and pounding guitars fade in before a distinctive riff can be heard. The riff itself is not completely original, and has been much-copied since by bands such as Rocket From the Crypt, but this is still a very fun track with fast-paced solos that doesn’t outstay its welcome. Aside from James’ slightly annoying vocals (something present on every track, so not a point I’ll bother coming back to until later), the only fault with this track lies in the weak and cheesy lyrics describing how Metallica are going to “rip right through your brain,” but it’s alright because the fans are “insane.” Such a shame.
“No life ‘til leather,
We are gonna kick some ass tonight!
We got the metal madness,
When our fans start screaming it's right”
2. THE FOUR HORSEMEN
The defining track of this album, this set the standard for the band’s faster tracks over the next few albums, although it was soon beaten by the powerful ‘Creeping Death’ on their next record. Fast, big and full of interesting changes, this is the most diverse track on the album with the guitarists kicking out different riffs before returning to the established rhythms for the verses and chorus. This is a really great metal track and one that outshines the rest of the album; it even has a typically heavy metal theme.
“The Horsemen are drawing nearer
On the leather steeds they ride
They have come to take your life
On through the dead of night
With the four Horsemen ride
or choose your fate and die”
3. MOTORBREATH
The shortest track on the album and a more straightforward offering, but that doesn’t mean it’s the least impressive. I really like the riff in the verses here, and I can imagine the chorus going down very well live, while the drum keeps a great groove throughout. Nothing too special but still highly enjoyable, although it does suffer from coming after ‘The Four Horsemen.’ Oh yes, and it’s no relation to the British heavy metal band of a similar name – this is about drug abuse.
“Don't stop for nothing its full speed or nothing,
I am taking down you know whatever is in my way.
Getting your kicks as you are shooting the line,
Sending the shivers up and down your spine”
4. JUMP IN THE FIRE
Any claims that this album all sounds the same would be immediately dispelled once the opening riff from this track explodes through the speakers. With James Hetfield taking on the persona of Satan (“down in the depths of my fiery hole”), this is perhaps the closest Metallica have come to a ‘romp’ of a track – it’s incredibly catchy and upbeat, yet doesn’t betray the thrash element still. As it fades out with a guitar solo at the end, it becomes instantly missed.
“So come on -
Jump in the Fire!
So come on -
Jump in the Fire!”
5. (ANESTHESIA) PULLING TEETH
This oddly named track expands even further on the album’s diversity by offering the most diverse track of the lot: a bass solo from Cliff Burton! Not being a bass player myself there really isn’t much for me to gain from this, but I still (occasionally) enjoy listening to it for its comedy value; the early eighties production quality makes the majority of it sound like Nintendo game music (in particular, those underground levels on Mario with the dingy music). After two and a half minutes, Lars joins in with a drum beat to speed things along and is quite welcome, however this is a good example of a track that is probably best off played live. Thankfully it doesn’t seem over-excessive or self-indulgent though.
6. WHIPLASH
Cutting off the last note of the bass solo comes a long-overdue guitar riff, although this soon gives way to a section dominated by Lars’ rolling drums. This is a very fast thrash track in the vein of ‘The Four Horsemen’ and is another track that has survived into the band’s current live sets, although I don’t have the same fondness for it as many other tracks on here. The riffs are powerful and very energetic but still sound a little uninventive, while the chorus section seems a little too contrived. I don’t know what I’m saying really, but I still don’t think it’s as good as it’s made out to be. It’s also the worst offender in terms of James’ vocals, which I’ll elaborate on afterwards. Just enjoy the music first.
“Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before,
Make it ring, make it bleed,
Make it really sore”
7. PHANTOM LORD
Another of my favourites along with ‘Horsemen,’ this is the only track that gives a clue of the band’s later offerings. Despite beginning with a very speedy and heavy riff that leads into great metal choruses and verses, this then becomes darker and much more mysterious with the move into a slower tempo with clanking, acoustic-sounding guitar licks reminiscent of their later hit ‘One.’ It’s this sole part of the song that endears it to me, being a fan of their deeper and darker offerings, and while I don’t consider this in the same light as ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’ and ‘Sanitarium,’ both from the Master of Puppets album, it is an excellent addition to the second half of this record. Plus it’s got a great title.
“Victims falling under chains,
You hear them crying death pains.
The fists of terrors breaking through,
Now there's nothing you can do”
8. NO REMORSE
This is a bit of an atypical track structurally, in that a guitar solo breaks out after only a few seconds, but it’s still a heavy thrash number, although slightly slowed to continue the darkness of the seventh track. Although I wasn’t impressed by this track at first it did grow on me over time and is one of the most complex on here due to the changes in tempo and rhythm, but it still has a killer chorus with some of the best sounding guitars on the whole album. At six and a half minutes this is unfortunately a track that drags on past its own ability to stay interesting, and the last couple of verses and choruses are a little unwelcome, but in many ways this is an unrecognised gem of the album along with ‘Motorbreath’ and ‘Jump in the Fire.’
“War without end -
No remorse, no repent,
We don't care what it meant.
Another day, another death,
Another sorrow, another breath”
9. SEEK & DESTROY
The most well-known track from this album due to its popularity as a live track, and although it’s not one of my favourites I can easily see why. The opening riff is insanely catchy and the drums keep a very upbeat atmosphere throughout, however listening to it on a CD rather than at a live show means that it does drag on towards the end after a brief drum solo from Lars Ulrich. I’d definitely recommend this as a live track, but on the album it seems a little stale in comparison.
“Running,
On our way
Hiding,
You will pay
Dying,
One thousand deaths –
Searching,
Seek and Destroy!”
10. METAL MILITIA
The fastest and hardest track on the album comes at the end, and although it’s not one of my favourites I still enjoy it. The guitars sound similar to those of ‘Seek & Destroy,’ although a little less effective, but the speed and rhythm of the verses sounds excellent. In my opinion this would be more effective if it were a little shorter, but there’s still enough in the way of guitar solos to keep it interesting. A good ending to the album, however it could have been done better – and the fade-out to the sounds of marching at the end is a little cheesy.
“On through the mist and the madness
We are trying to get the message to you,
Metal Militia
Metal Militia”
VERDICT
Opinion is divided amongst Metallica’s huge fan base regarding this album, as it is clearly an incredibly strong and successful debut – even managing to earn tenth place in the US album charts on its release despite a complete lack of radio play for any of the songs – but I don’t appreciate the less sophisticated, more brutal style over the more impressive music they would go on to create. Several songs here are still very worthy of a place in any Metallica set list however, although there are a few reasons why they don’t live up to my personal view of what Metallica’s later standards would be:
The ‘Whiplash’ Factor
The main issue I have with this album is that James Hetfield’s vocals do not suit the music, as his voice has not yet dropped sufficiently to the trademark growl and deep American singing of the later albums. There’s a hint of annoying AC/DC-esque gravely screaming in many of the songs, especially ‘Whiplash,’ that was very soon eradicated from the band’s music between here and 1986. Speaking of ‘Whiplash,’ that song is based around a fairly tired and unimpressive theme – heavy metal being great, and Metallica being the best there is. This slightly arrogant attitude is more suited to lesser bands such as Manowar and Kiss, making this track as well as the opening and closing songs a little unnecessary.
Cliff ‘Em All
Personally I find that the more straightforward thrash approach to this CD counts against it when compared to the likes of 1983’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ and 1986’s ‘Master of Puppets,’ as the influence of bassist Cliff Burton is not that prominent here; Burton’s interest in classical music led to more intricate and ultimately more enjoyable metal tracks once he was fully integrated into the band, however his late addition to the original line-up meant that most of the tracks here were already completed and only needed to be recorded. Even his bass solo track was reportedly composed by the previous bassist.
Cliff Burton died in a bus accident while the band were on tour in 1986, and although their popularity has soared since then through successful music videos and moves towards a more commercial style, the talent and re-listen value of the Cliff Burton era has never been matched. Due to the rather moderate production quality of Kill ‘Em All, Cliff Burton cannot be heard throughout as much as on the band’s later offerings, but his skills still contribute to the pulse of the tracks.
Anyone who has been introduced to Metallica through some of their successful singles such as ‘Enter Sandman,’ ‘One’ or ‘Nothing Else Matters’ should hesitate before stepping this far back in the band’s discography in case you don’t like what you hear. I listen to this album a lot, but I still don’t regard it in the same light as everything released afterwards, until the decline during the nineties that is. Following is my rough and possibly unfounded opinion of Metallica’s albums that may not help you in your quest to find the perfect ‘Tallica album, but which at least gives me something else to write about. And I am the new music guide so I’m obviously right.
1983 – Kill ‘Em All ***
The thrash debut that I’ve just explored at length, as you should be aware.
1984 – Ride the Lightning *****
Cliff’s influence brings the music to a grand scale, with many classic tracks. One of the most acclaimed metal albums ever made, ranging from power ballads to heavy thrash metal.
1986 – Master of Puppets *****
Even more successful than ‘Ride,’ this expands on that album’s strengths to produce the biggest selling Metallica album overall. Their true classic, every single song is a killer.
1988 – …And Justice For All ***
Cliff’s death meant that this record was less impressive, and largely attempted to return to the band’s roots. Some excellent songs and brilliant guitar work throughout, but a change of direction was needed.
1991 – Metallica (aka the Black Album) *****
The change of direction had finally come, and produced an immediate bestseller. A distinct change in style from the early albums, but nonetheless a true classic of rock. More accessible, but still energetic.
1992 – Live Sh*t: Binge & Purge *****
Three CDs and two videos (now DVDs) capturing the band at their prime. Features songs from all the previous albums, meaning this one purchase could technically satiate your Metallica thirst.
1996 – Load **
The band’s controversial change to a more traditional hard and soft rock approach. This still sold well as it was Metallica, and is quite skilled, but many fans including myself were disappointed.
1997 – Reload **
An effort to bring back some of their metal elements, but this ends up sounding even weaker than ‘Load’; while Load was at least consistent in its averageness, the last half of this is fairly dire.
1998 – Garage Inc. **
A double CD of covers of other bands. A bit of a cheap shot but some songs are good; nevertheless, not an album I’m fond of and one that I’ve avoided buying.
1999 – S&M ****
The band’s live collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra, this is very interesting and features songs from many of their albums that combine with the orchestra in varying degrees of success. Nothing from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ though.
2003 – St. Anger ***
The most recent release that has received mixed reviews. It’s not particularly skilful or a painless listen, but it at least shows promise that the band have got back in touch with their metal origins and angry messages of the past: kill ‘em all!
(Albeit not literally).
Advantages: Some excellent and timeless metal classics, Mixture of emotions and styles, An excellent and inventive debut
Disadvantages: Some weak links, Not as impressive as what was to come, James' voice and the production quality are in severe need of improvement
Metallica
Master of Puppets
*****
Written on 20.03.04
Master of Puppets is a landmark metal album, and not one that's particularly accessible to the general public. Their 1991 hit "Metallica," also known as the Black Album, managed to reach this more accessible level leading to its number one spot and successful single releases, while their later albums had their success largely based on the Black Album. Puppets has many elements of fast, heavy thrash metal, but it's the interesting diversity of styles incorporated into songs that makes the album so appealing to me. Whether it's an acoustic introduction, a slow and lengthy solo section or a deep instrumental I find it has much more longevity than some of the band's less complex later work.
Ask any long-haired headbanging American what he was listening to in 1986, and Metallica would be the response; unless he failed to relate the two or just thumped you because you were asking questions. Still going strong today, Metallica are often thought to have reached their musical peak with "Puppets" and it's very easy to see why.
The major factor contributing to the difference between this album and the later releases is the tragic death of bass player Cliff Burton, whose speedy basswork on songs such as "Pulling Teeth," "Creeping Death" and "Orion" etablished him as one of the top bassists in the business. if it wasn't for his death in a tour bus crash in 1986, it has often been speculated that Cliff would have left the band soon anyway, however the loss of a comrade was clearly the inspiration for a number of Metallica's decisions including he mournful black colour they wore through to the 90s.
THE MUSIC
1. BATTERY
One of my favourite starts to an album, Battery gets the Metallica sound just right. An acoustic introduction leads into a fantastic dual guitar section before the riff kicks in and the song really begins. Coming in at just over 5 minutes it's actually one of the shorter songs on the album, but that doesn't mean it lacks complexity. Seperate sections in the middle lead up to the solo, while the ensemble shouting of "battery" would surely make this a hit when played live. A surprising number of riff and speed changes even in this song alone.
2. MASTER OF PUPPETS
An epic song at 8:35, this is much more detailed and worth listening to than some of the lenghty tracks on the next album, "...And Justice For All." A main guitar riff that's doubtless familiar to millions of people over the world, the lyrics are also handled greatly and the main "come crawling faster" choruses have great but short guitar sections which bring the song closer to perfection. The middle section is unlike anything Metallica have done before or since, apart from sections in instrumentals, in that it includes no lyrics for several minutes and is at a completely different speed. Suddenly changing the tempo from fast and angry to contemplative and mellow shouldn't come out so well, but 'Tallica pull it off so well that it's something to look forward to. By the end of the song the return to the verses and chorus start to drag on a little, but it's clear that the end is nigh and you can feel free to headbang if you like. Every instrument is at its very best here, leading it to become one of the band's deservedly most popular songs. It's certainly one of mine.
3. THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE
Starting very deeply and quietly, it's clear from the onset that "Thing" is a darker song. In a way it continues the band's affection for the Cthulhu myths, touched upon in their classic instrumental "The Call of Ktulu" from the previous album, Ride the Lightning. Memorable choruses and dark verses make this another of my favourite Metallica songs although it's clearly one 'for the fans.' The guitar solo is again very interesting and enjoyable; they don't just churn out fast and whiny bits that the average metal fan is used to playing with his air guitar, although not as memorable as some. Still, it's a fantastic song, especially as it comes in the wake of "Puppets" itself. Unusual funky bass-led rock band Primus covered this song for their Rhinoplasty album, however it's the only good song on there so I wouldn't recommend it.
4. WELCOME HOME (SANITARIUM)
A great song that verges on 'power ballad' but doesn't want to give up its catchy riffs, "Sanitarium" would be on all the music channels and known by many more people if the band hadn't been opposed to music videos and single releases in this era. One of the band's very best slow and meaningful tracks along with "Fade to Black" and their first big single "One," this is another of my favourite Metallica songs - they're not all my favourites I assure you, this album just contains a large proportion of them in its eight tracks. As a great rock ballad usually has the ability to greet the general public more than a fast shout anthem, this is probably one of the songs that can be most enjoyed by someone who doesn't usually like them long-haired men. One of the band's great songs dealing with mental instability, something which was expanded upon in the "Justice" album and a couple of others afterwards.
5. DISPOSABLE HEROES
As it deals with the futility of war and the a**-hole nature of the arrogant officer classes, this is Metallica entering territory that is familair to the metal genre of post-Vietnam. Along with "Puppets," this is a song that links to the album's cover, which features numerous ready-made graves, one of which has a soldier's hat hanging from it. Oh, and there's a big Master of Puppets pulling their strings. This isn't one of my favourites off the album as it seems unnecessarily long at 8:16 and the main riff isn't particularly original, but nevertheless it's a great listen with some interesting lyrics and rhyme schemes. And it's always worth holding on to the solo section, which is very memorable and fast here.
6. LEPER MESSIAH
The overlooked king of shorter tracks, "Messiah" is another of my favourite Metallica etc. At 5:39, the song is in the same league as "Battery," however I find this the superior track. Everything is again at its very best, with guitar riffs that are unbeleivably catchy and my favourite guitar solo section of any song; this means a lot as I really like solos! This is a Metallica song that is rarely mentioned, but which I have listened to as much as any of my other favourites. An unrealised metal classic here, which features more changes and progressions than anything else would have successfully managed in 5:39.
7. ORION
Metallica's three great instrumental tracks, the afore-mentioned "Ktulu" from Ride, this song, and "To Live is to Die" from Justice, do not have the same capacity for headbang as their lyrical angry songs, but are still fantastic and intricate songs which can create as many feelings. Orion builds up with a slow and memorable drum beat and whiny guitar before the song starts to get going, and there are literally far too many different riffs and tunes for me to mention here. It's got the heaviness of the other songs as well as some of the best guitar and basswork of the album, and there is a strange section that conjures an image of a swampy marsh in my head for some reason. One advantage of instrumentals is that you can listen to them while writing Dooyoo reviews and appreciate them fully without getting distracted by lyrics and choruses. Fading out at the end also, Orion is another track I would describe as 'epic,' and it's a chance to hear james Hetfield try some guitar solo as he did in "Master of Puppets" itself.
8. DAMAGE INC.
A slightly disappointign end to the album is my least favourite track, although I can see the need to put another thrashy song after the long and sombre Orion. Describing an organisation which I assume is fictional, and seems akin to the "Fight Club" in that film I can't remember the name of, Damage Inc. builds up with a very interesting bass section that sounds a little like whalesong before kicking it with the heaviest riff of the album. The solo section is good and the choruses are enjoyable, but the song could have been better.
VERDICT
Although the album only features eight tracks it comes in at just under 55 minutes and there is so much diversity on the album, in terms of heavy metal in any case, that it was a guaranteed success even when he band was relatively low-profile in the mid-80s. Aside from changing bass players, the band's line up is the same here as it has been on all of the albums with James Hetfield's vocals in a good stage that's not quite as good as his deeper voice later on but at least isn't as screechy as his unbroken voice's screams on some of the earlier songs. His rhythm guitar work is impeccable as always. Kirk Hammet's lead guitarwork is diverse and he provides metal with some of its greatest solos here, while drummer Lars Ulrich's drums aren't as pouding as they should be, although this is more due to the production than anything else.
The only flaw I have with this album is the production value, as it could have been made so much clearer if it had been better produced or brought out later. It isn't noticeable on many songs, and doesn't dampen the enjoyment of the raw sound. Compared to Metallica's other albums, you'll know whether you prefer thrashy heavy metal or their later work, but aside from the music I get a lot of good vibes off the album. The dark red and orange colour scheme looks great, while the photos of band members clearly enjoying themselves inside is a great touch before the death of Cliff on this album's later tour.
Whether you love or hate Metallica, this album is very important in their discography and is my personal favourite. They're clearly making music because that's what they love to do, and this is always easy to tell on albums.
Advantages: Diverse (within the heavy metal genre)
Disadvantages: Although an hour long, eight tracks may seem insufficient to some
Metallica
...And Justice For All
****
Written on 17.03.02
Considered the last album to be made in Metallica's original style, "...And Justice For All" is a very unique album from the others, and I at least consider it to be their "heaviest" (in terms of riffs and double bass pedal whacking). The album was the first the band promoted with a music video and single release, a practice they had previously been against, for the phenomenal and mould-breaking "One," and it was undoubtedly due to this song that the album scored a chart position of 6 on the US list.
The first official album to be made following the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 (although the "Garage Days Re-Revisited" or "$5.98 EP" recorded the previous year featured six cover songs), "Justice" retains the strong Metallica themes of protest, and features what are probably the strongest statements the band have ever made in their songs, against the themes of war, suicide, insanity and the judicial system. There is also an instrumental in memory of Cliff, featuring a short extract from some of his poetry, read by James.
At first appearance, nine tracks may not seem like value for money, but with two songs approaching the ten minute barrier it is more than made up for. The practice of inserting more classical elements into some songs, as had been used to great effect in "Ride The Lightning" (1984) and "Master Of Puppets" (1986) is also present here, with an acoustic, King Arthur-esque guitar introducing the lengthy title track, and a similar composition both preceding and following the track eight instrumental. However, on the whole I find this (apart from the band's official debut album "Kill 'Em All!" Metallica's least diverse and original album as, although many of the songs are masterpieces (and "One" is certainly among my favourite songs of all time), there is not much variation.
While "Puppets" had the fast, thrash songs "Battery" and "Damage, Inc." balanced by symphonic ballads within "Master Of Puppets" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," it is only part of the instrumental, and the beginning of "One," which offers any form of contrast to the hard, Slayer-esque heavy metal which makes up the album. Although this is not a problem it does serve to make the album more of an acquired taste, and would most likely not suit ever mood.
This aside, along with the first signs of the band's desire to make it big by going against their own, self-implemented parameters, "...And Justice For All" is an amazing metal album, and I certainly prefer it to most of their later offerings (except maybe the famous "Black Album.") The tunes feature fantastic riffs, often changing into even catchier riffs half way through songs, and an abundance of guitar solos, however it must be pointed out how similar some of these sound.
The album begins with a guitar build-up, before "Blackened" begins. A pretty basic tune, Blackened features a memorable (if a bit silly) riff, and a cool solo. This is followed up by the classic "...And Justice For All"; a controversial poke at the justice system, all instruments working to their full effect to create a truly fantastic piece of music. And that solo at four minutes fifty or so is very worth the wait. Only real problem is the feeling of repetitiveness that creeps in towards the end, but it's soon finished after that.
Track three may initially seem silent until you hear the drums and other instruments fading in for what is truly one of the album's finest songs. "Eye Of The Beholder," which also has the distinction of being my favourite Metallica song title (and the title of an episode of The Next Generation; bet you didn't know that did you?) features some amazing work all round, with James' voice taking on a new edge as he neither sings nor shouts this tale of the search for freedom. The distorted guitars also sound amazing. After the song comes some more quiet, with the distant sound of shouting, gunfire and a helicopter, but this is simply the prelude at the start of track four...
Of course, the song usually considered to be the album's best, and my opinion is no different, "One" metaphorically takes the proverbial biscuit of song bestness. I was going so good there as well. The tale of surviving a war, but in a condition that causes a longing for death, is dealt with fantastically, with a pleasant guitar build-up with heavier choruses, leading into the legendary double-bass and palm-muting heavy bit, with James shouting "Landmine has taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul, left me with life in hell." The video's really cool too, and is a favourite of most contemporary bands. Certainly a song that broke and formed new ground. And not forgetting that famous, knackering solo; anyone ever have an Amiga with speakers? I'm sure Kirk Hammet was the inspiration for every low budget game theme from 1990 to '93.
Onto the rest of the album, "The Shortest Straw" is a cool song, but not as special as "One." The song deals with blacklisting, and the high point for me is the solo, accompanied by cool double-bassing; it just doesn't seem to know when to quit! "Harvester Of Sorrow" sounds slightly lacking, as all instruments decide not to take the full-on approach this time, and have a bit of a breather. The song is more a vehicle for James? voice, which is a shame as he doesn't really do anything special with it. "One"-style guitar can also be heard near the start, with a more mellow, chilled out solo accompanying the near-end of this song. It may not be apparent (and it certainly wasn't to me), but the story is that of a drunken and drugged man who torments his family before murdering them. Pretty unpleasant stuff.
"The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" is an often-overlooked but very good song which decides to feature some Wizard Of Oz at the start (the march of the Evil Witch's soldiers apparently, but I'm not a particularly avid viewer of such films), and the guitar work is particularly impressive; the solo is once again really cool, as is the alternative riff introduced after four minutes, which is unfortunately quirt short-lived. The song does come in a bit long and repetitive by the end, but the middle bit (with the solos and the like) is certainly very interesting and worth the wait.
Onto the final two tracks, "To live Is To Die" is a tribute to the afore-mentioned Cliff Burton, and the main riff is one which the band used to compose songs around but never decided to use, I think. It's a great riff at that, especially after 4:30, where I feel the song really hits its stride. There is even a quiet, solo portion which eventually builds slowly back into the full instrumental, with James reciting a poem of Cliff's about lies murdering the soul. The acoustic end to the song leads into the very different, middle finger up, youth angst song, "Dyers Eve." A good song, it seems nonetheless a little too fast and heavy for its own good, and ends up as a pretty pale end to an otherwise amazing album.
Definitely a classic, although not so much as some of the even earlier work, it did mark the end of an era.
Metallica
Metallica
More Appealing? Yea-arh!
*****
Written on 16.03.02
(N.B, I apologise for not being able to write James Hetfield's "yeah.")
Metallica's most well-known, and widely-considered finest, album was released in 1991, and received a phenomenal number one slot both in the US and the UK. The band had broken new ground for mainstream metal, and the first single, "Enter Sandman," remains one of the most popular alternative songs to this day.
Being a huge fan of Metallica's music, I find that this album (unofficially designated as "The Black Album" due to its almost completely black cover which is present, according to Mr. Hetfield, so the listener "is not distracted from the music by artwork") is, on the whole, a fantastic album, however I do not find it their greatest work. The structure, length and style of the songs has obviously been deliberately altered for this record due to Metallica's new association with producer Bob Rock, and this album is certainly more "accessible" than the band's previous four, lesser-known albums; "Kill 'Em All" (1982), "Ride the Lightning" (1984), "Master of Puppets" (1986) and "...And Justice for All" (1988). These previous offerings featured roughly eight to nine tracks, each occasionally lasting anywhere up to ten minutes, with lengthy guitar, bass and drum solos and drastic rhythm or riff changes within songs. It was also customary to include a lengthy instrumental track, which demonstrates the band's incredible talent, and the lyrics were more rooted in anti-war or anti-democracy themes. These characteristics were all but dropped for the Black Album, and the customary length for songs was five minutes.
While I do not believe Metallica completely "sold out" (at least not at this point in their career), I find it cannot be disputed that the deliberate changes were an attempt to break out into the mainstream (although their previous album "...And Justice For All" did score a chart position of six in the US, due largely to the phenomenal single "One.") It just seems a little hypocritical of, apparently, the most anti-mainstream metal band of the eighties to suddenly become very popular, especially through music videos and singles (which they had previously vowed never to stoop to). Ironic then that "Metallica" eventually denoted five songs (nearly half the album) to music video creation. Perhaps after the death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 the band decided to rethink their strategies; I suppose everyone likes a bit of money to line their hair.
As for the songs, the albums is not bad at all, and if you are a fan of Metallica you should most certainly like the album; even if you are just a casual listener you will likely find this album appeals to you more than the others. Beginning with the amazing metal anthem "Enter Sandman," the album starts on a high note, and if you find yourself hating this song then you should probably have re-thought buying the album. Or downloading the MP3 which, we all know, is bad. So we are told. "Sad But True" is the second track; a slower, yet even heavier song, the repetitive nature and long pauses between verses should make this stick in your head longer than most. The riff will sound familiar if anyone happens to be a Kid Rock fan, as it was "borrowed" for the wannabe cowboy dumbass for his "American Bad Ass", most standable track he has produced, single. Track three, "Holier Than Thou", is nothing special really; although enjoyable and featuring the most harsh language on the entire album (the "c" word used to describe human excrement), the song is fairly short and nothing that hasn?t been heard before. Nice and fast though.
Possibly my favourite tracks on the album, "The Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam" were also released as very popular singles. "The Unforgiven" is one of the album's two light, harmonic pieces, featuring James Hetfield's singing voice in the chorus and a clean guitar tune throughout. An amazing song that I would recommend. The latter track, "Wherever I May Roam," begins sounding similar in speed and context (with a gong "bwosh!" and slow, Asian-esque guitar tune), before speeding up into another amazing, and also highly repetitive song.
Track six, "Don't Tread On Me," is most likely my worst song on the album. Sounding like some pathetic, unconvincing protest, the song starts with a riff that, I have been told, is a homage to the classic (yeah, right) film "West Side Story." "Through The Never" is a very good song, slightly unoriginal however more so than some on this album, and acts as a very effective filler beginning the second half of the album.
Track eight is the furthest point from the beginning of an album that a song was released, and it is the very popular symphonic "Nothing Else Matters." Foreshadowing the S&M; tour at the climax of the 90s, maestro Michael Kamen was drafted in to add a quiet but effective backing track to Metallica's light, clean and lengthy song. I like this song, but I have found there are many people who find the blend of partial symphony makes this the album's finest track by far. Decide for yourselves. The following track is the comedily-named "Of Wolf and Man," which is not even attempting irony at the appearance of the hairy, fanged James Hetfield at the time. Or maybe I imagined the fangs. The song is similar to the style of those from the early part of the album, featuring a heavy riff and interesting, if dubious, lyrics.
The penultimate two songs also appeal to me in a big way, and are slightly tamer than some of those on the album. "The God That Failed" is slower and bass-lead, but at no cost to the power, and features a fantastic clean riff and chorus, while "My Friend Of Misery" is a slower song in much the same style. 'Cept it's longer and it has a really good solo (my personal favourite on the album) that has, in the past, caused an overwhelming desire in me to play on the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, due to its similarity to the music from "Scrap Brain Zone." Both excellent, very often overlooked songs.
The final track, "The Struggle Within," is interesting and enjoyable; just a fast, short song with military drumming at the beginning overlaid with a guitar solo. The riff that appears briefly towards the end is very worth waiting for, and you don?t finish the album on a low, depressing note. Cool song, and bonus points for including the lyric "kicking at a dead horse pleases you."
Overall, the Black Album is a fine, landmark album, and well worth the money; the twelve tracks come in at a little over an hour. This is often viewed as the final album of Metallica's old style, or the beginning of their new. Either way, it does serve to bridge the gap, and was the only thing they released for another six years. How's that for a sales ploy? Enjoy. (Hey, I was a poet and I didn't even know I was).
Advantages: Amazing, legendary songs, Long and value for money
Disadvantages: The band have deliberatly changed from their older style, and this was not greeted well by many fans, "Don't Trad On Me"
Metallica
Load
****
Written on 30.07.04
In the mid-nineties, platinum-selling US rock band Metallica returned to the studio with the eagerly awaited follow up album to their self-titled record of 1991. Hits such as the anthemic ‘Enter Sandman’ and the reflective ‘Nothing Else Matters’ had made the dedicated band a household name, so the unanticipated change in style led to mixed reactions among the rock community when ‘Load’ was finally released.
These fourteen tracks were only a portion of Metallica’s new material, but their plans for a double album spread across the discs ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ was thwarted by an eager record label that wasn’t prepared to wait any longer for the band to finish the rest of their songs. ‘Reload’ was released the following year and is a clear companion record to this 1996 release, although its less consistent quality and reliance on a limited number of crowd-pleasers would have been less of an issue, had the proposed double album occurred. More on ‘Reload’ at a later date.
There are very few remnants of the ‘old’ Metallica sound here: five years away from the recording studio resulted in a complete change of direction for the Bay Area Thrashers, and while the band members still have their own distinctive styles it seems more surprising more than expected when the guitars briefly lapse into a familiar muted grind lick reminiscent of the Black Album. It wasn’t a change that could be anticipated from observing their previous progression but, although it understandably didn’t sit well with many fans from the band’s early days, ‘Load’ is an impressive, consistent and overall excellent rock album from one of the most influential rock bands in history.
STYLE
Metallica began as a thrash band, playing covers of their favourite hard metal songs and developing their own unique sound based on power, aggression and an underlying sense of pure fun that would come to the fore every so often. The increasing influence of bass player Cliff Burton led to more of a classical influence on their song structure and choice of instrumentation, leading to their classic albums ‘Ride the Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets,’ seen by many as the pinnacle of the band’s achievement. Tragically, Cliff was killed in a tour bus accident and the band’s attempt to recover their thrash sound was a moderate failure. Under the tutelage of producer Bob Rock, Metallica modified their sound to something more accessible and akin to hard rock, but still retaining the power and enjoyment of their earlier albums with even greater diversity.
Load owes more to older blues and hard rock acts than their thrash roots, the faster riffs and solos a little reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and their contemporary prodigies such as Fu Manchu, while the slower beats of the more low-key tracks show a definite blues influence on Lars’ drumming. The real points of interest are the experimental longer tracks where each band member shines and creates something that can’t easily be classified as anything other than Metallica.
Metallica were:
James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
Jason Newsted – bass
Lars Ulrich – drums
James’ vocals have noticeably improved since the band’s last album, not that they presented a problem previously (although his whining screech on their first couple of albums is a big turn-off), and while many people could find his more country-and-western laid back approach irritating, the faster tracks show that he has lost none of his deep gravely sound. Songs such as ‘Bleeding Me’ demonstrate the clear improvement in his singing voice that sounded enjoyable but a little untrained in the earlier song ‘The Unforgiven’ (although it’s still one of my favourites), while his rhythm guitar also takes a step back from the fore.
Kirk Hammett’s interest in classical, baroque guitars has been present since the acoustic opening of the band’s 1984 record, but his varied influences and preferences come across a lot more here. The relentless solos have been replaced with more easy-going ‘stoner rock’ high notes, often played with the aid of a finger bar or handy beer bottle. Jason Newsted’s bass hasn’t undergone that many changes since its refinement for the Black Album although it can be heard a lot more in this album, complimenting the slower songs. Lars Ulrich’s drums also take a step down from the manic pounding that made him so well-known, even retreating far into the background and only making themselves known with a couple of sporadic thumps every so often in some instances. The band members weren’t selling themselves short: they were now in a position where they felt comfortable playing in a different style at a more relaxed pace.
THE MUSIC
1. Ain’t My Bitch (5:03)
2. 2 x 4 (5:28)
3. The House That Jack Built (6:37)
4. Until it Sleeps (4:27)
5. King Nothing (5:29)
6. Hero of the Day (4:21)
7. Bleeding Me (8:16)
8. Cure (4:53)
9. Poor Twisted Me (3:59)
10. Wasting My Hate (3:57)
11. Mama Said (5:18)
12. The Thorn Within (5:51)
13. Ronnie (5:17)
14. The Outlaw Torn (9:48)
A hard drum rhythm opens the album with the speedy, catchy ‘AIN’T MY BITCH,’ and this track is one of the highlights of the album. The slow, ‘stoner’ solo and infectious chorus and bridge vocal sections are likely the saving graces of this album for those who bought it expecting to hear aggressive heavy metal, but this would still sound very out of place on any previous album. The fast and catchy style is also present in the more plodding but excellently guitar-based ‘2X4,’ the deceptively simple ‘CURE’ and the overlooked but incredible catchy ‘WASTING MY HATE,’ the closest thing to a metal track on this album. While these all blend into the overall style of this album perfectly, isolating them to play as part of a live set amongst harder offerings proves that they work alongside Metallica’s other hits and still get the crowd going. As a fan of the band’s faster offerings, these are my songs of preference here.
I wouldn’t say that there’s anything ‘brave’ about this album: Metallica were certainly offering something very different, but they were still creating music that they enjoyed (with the exception of the silent malcontent Newsted), although it was a bit of a gamble to precede this album’s release with one of the more experimental, bluesy songs as a single in the shape of ‘UNTIL IT SLEEPS.’ With a strong bass presence keeping everything slow and dismal, elevating to a fun track only in the loud chorus, this divided Metallica fans just as much as the album did and while it’s not one of my favourites, it still works very well within the tapestry of the CD. The slow, chugging style also leads the tracks ‘KING NOTHING’ (also released as a single, but much more enjoyable and catchy) and the hit-and-miss ‘THE THORN WITHIN’ that sounds quite good but never really goes anywhere.
The most noticeable change in Metallica’s songs came with the acoustic ballad ‘MAMA SAID,’ also released as a single (an odd decision) and sounding like a slow country release. This is one of my least favourites on the album as I don’t enjoy the style, but I still appreciate its worth in expanding the musical style, and James’ vocals are very good. ‘HERO OF THE DAY’ is the other slow track, but this one worthy of much more attention and appreciation: James’ vocals are arguably at their very best in this melancholy, electric guitar track that bursts into rousing heaviness half-way through. Often described as the band’s most radio-friendly song, obviously bringing the ‘sell-out’ accusations along with it, but it’s one of the best songs on the disc.
Tracks seven and fourteen, the meaningful and dark ‘BLEEDING ME’ and the almost orchestral ‘THE OUTLAW TORN’ are the experimental grooving monsters of the album and it’s no surprise that they both featured on the band’s ‘S&M’ collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra. Both tracks feature complex instrumentation and great choruses but are simply too long and unbearable slow for some: I like them a lot, but they aren’t songs I can listen to endlessly, and are candidates for the ‘skip’ button, not that I play this album too often anyway. ‘THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT’ is half-way to this style and becomes lost in mediocrity by its uncertain style.
Mood and preference aside, there are only two songs on this album that I truly dislike and honestly fail to understand the inclusion of: the lacking, grating ‘POOR TWISTED ME’ where Hetfield’s distorted vocals drone over a boring, tedious guitar and the truly awful ‘RONNIE.’ These songs will never be included on any Metallica collection, live set or ‘to-learn’ list of tribute bands and their presence is unnecessary, degrading filler that adds nothing to the album and does in fact subtract some of the enjoyment. Still, the rest’s quite good.
THE OUTLAWS TORN
James Hetfield explained the pitch black featureless nature of Metallica’s self-titled album as a way for the listener to concentrate on the music rather than the artwork. Wise words that I completely agree with, however I am always influenced (in quite a big way) by the artwork of albums when I listen to them. Even the briefest glance at the cover can add a twist to the sounds I hear, and in the case of Metallica’s black album I can’t help but imagine an infinite black abyss that gives the songs a more sombre and serious edge. ‘Load’ greeted me with images of the band wearing what could be seen as ‘cowboy-casual’ attire, and seeing the music video for the track ‘Mama Said’ I was reluctantly blighted to apply a western mental theme to every track I listened to, regardless of its subject matter. Strange as it may seem, this impeded my enjoyment of the songs on here and it took over a year before I was able to appreciate all of the (good) songs in their own right.
It also didn’t help that they titled a song ‘The Outlaw Torn’ and that songs featured lyrics such as “he takes this gun from his pocket” and “caught under wheels roll,” both of which fell victim to my strange brain curse. The artwork itself also tries a little too hard to be ‘stylishly rubbish,’ the front cover featuring a reddish splash of what is apparently animal blood and semen (I can’t remember where I read that to confirm it) and the photos of the band lingering around in-between the very brief printed lyrics causes a little resentment at their change in style from angry youths to mature dads. It happens to the best of us though, except for me obviously.
VERDICT: RELEVANT AND MORONIC CRITICISM
I’ll start with the hair. No matter where I read, hear or view a discussion of this album, the issue of the band’s hairstyles is always brought up. As if a haircut has any affect on the music whatsoever. Metallica moving away from black tee-shirts, leather and wild hair to more ‘establishment’ (sorry) looks show their changing attitudes as adults and, in some cases, fathers and husbands, but it’s this changing perspective and expanding taste in music and other media that influenced their creative decisions, not some prophetic trip to the barber’s where a guy told them “you’re pretty damn good, but you should head down a more cowboy avenue.” Idiots.
Onto the relevant criticisms, many of which I agree with. This is not my favourite Metallica album as it is basically not the Metallica I heard, loved and rushed out to buy – Metallica’s music from the mid-eighties impressed me on my first listen and expanded my taste in metal. ‘Load’ was an album I bought because I saw it cheap and reasoned that, although I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much, would still be of interest, and it is. While it’s different from the rest of my CD collection it’s really good at being different, only slipping up in a few places with two poor tracks that really didn’t need to be included on what is already a lengthy album. Being a fan of Metallica doesn’t mean you will enjoy this, just as a fan of Michael Jackson’s infectious eighties hits may have (very wisely) hated that ‘Earth Song’ thing. The other side of the coin is that many fans of this type of music (back to Metallica here) will have gained a new appreciation for that band that used to be sweaty youths with discordant loud instruments playing rubbish. They are still idiots for having that opinion, but it is understandable.
‘Load’ sold very well and impressed a great many people, but as much as I am prepared to listen to it and enjoy the occasional track I can’t help wishing that the band had stuck to their roots a little more. 1988’s ‘…And Justice For All’ proved that they had already conquered the thrash genre and had to move on, but the move from the Black Album to the ‘Load’/‘Reload’ albums could have headed in a much more enjoyable direction if the band had been more at ease with themselves and each other. But more on Newsted’s dissatisfaction and the band’s shallow attempts to satiate fans another time…
Stand-out tracks: Ain’t My Bitch, Hero of the Day, Bleeding Me, Wasting My Hate.
Advantages: Talented, enjoyable and diverse, Great mix of hard rock and longer tracks, Metallica were back
Disadvantages: Dissapointment to many fans, Similar and less impressive tracks, Some very weak links
Metallica
Reload
**
Written on 03.08.04
Metallica’s 1996 album ‘Load’ received mixed reactions on its release. The band’s first album since their self-titled classic of 1991, Load saw the commercial rock side of the band come to the fore, mixed with elements of blues, country and experimental rock to create a sound that, while a disappointment to fans from their earlier thrash metal days, was at least original, creative and enjoyable.
The not-so-long-awaited follow up ‘Reload’ was released in 1997, containing the thirteen tracks that would have appeared on the proposed Load double album, before the record company urged the band to release an album sooner rather than later. While most of these songs had their inception during the original Load sessions, it seems that the band tried to return to a harder style in some areas to please fans who had been disappointed with Load, but the main problem with Reload is its inconsistency: there are some great fast and slow songs, but far too many mediocre tracks that only serve to damage the lengthy listening experience.
STYLE
Metallica were:
James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
Jason Newsted – bass
Lars Ulrich – drums
As described in my earlier review of Load, the band’s instruments have been toned down in both pitch and intensity from their eighties albums, the guitars showing clear hard rock, Led Zeppelin-esque influences and the drums often following laid back blues rhythms in contrast to Lars’ famous manic pounding. James Hetfield’s vocals have also changed since the Black Album; his husky voice sounds more measured and his singing, while not exactly excellent, has improved to the point where it no longer sounds out of place and cringe-worthy. The bass guitar is still reasonably present but doesn’t show much creativity or flair, a sign that Jason was unhappy with some of the band’s decisions (both musically and with regard to their family commitments over the music).
THE MUSIC
1. Fuel (4:29)
2. The Memory Remains (4:39)
3. Devil’s Dance (5:18)
4. The Unforgiven II (6:36)
5. Better Than You (5:21)
6. Slither (5:13)
7. Carpe Diem Baby (6:12)
8. Bad Seed (4:05)
9. Where the Wild Things Are (6:52)
10. Prince Charming (6:04)
11. Low Man’s Lyric (7:36)
12. Attitude (5:16)
13. Fixxxer (8:15)
Hetfield’s shouting opens the album as the first track explodes into fury: ‘FUEL’ is one of the definite highlights of the album and is the most energetic and speedy track on this album, complete with an incredibly catchy riff and slower sections. If the whole album was this good I would easily give it a five star rating, but unfortunately the band seem to know the limits of their abilities, grouping the singles together near the start. Similar to Fuel (but nowhere near as good) is the penultimate ‘ATTITUDE,’ while the fun ‘PRINCE CHARMING’ and the slightly tedious ‘BETTER THAN YOU’ also bring the album back up to a fast and loud level every so often. These tracks seem at first to be much harder than those of Load, but that’s only because Load classics such as ‘Ain’t My Bitch’ and ‘Wasting My Hate’ featured more elements of the band’s adapted sound: aside from ‘Fuel,’ these tracks are all very lacking in depth and creativity, but leaving that aside they still present a fun listen every once in a while.
Slower, deeper rock tracks are the other main feature of this album, the first single ‘THE MEMORY REMAINS’ being very compelling and catchy apart from the inexplicable croaking of Dame Marianne Faithful, one of the band’s poorer experimental decisions. It doesn’t relate directly to the album, but the music video for this featuring the band playing in a rotating room is pretty cool. ‘DEVIL’S DANCE’ is deliberately lacking and led primarily by the bass and drums, making for a different and original sound and also containing a memorable chorus. Not a Metallica classic, but one of the better offerings here, the same being true for ‘CARPE DIEM BABY’ which has nice guitars but gets a little dull. The other two tracks fitting the ‘slow rock’ label are ‘SLITHER’ and ‘BAD SEED,’ both of which fail to impress even after repeated listens: the former features a riff that sounds very similar to Metallica’s classic ‘Enter Sandman,’ only much worse for the bluesy distortion, while the latter is spoiled by carnival sound effects and voice overs (although I hear it went down very well during the band’s live performances, when they would improvise a jam based around its riffs).
‘THE UNFORGIVEN II’ and ‘FIXXXER’ appear to be the most developed tracks on the album and benefit from this. Although ‘Unforgiven II’ isn’t a patch on its earlier namesake from the Black Album, it successfully revives riffs from that song and alters them to a Reload style, with a new chorus. ‘Fixxxer’ is the lengthy album closer that builds up with an excellent feedback sound and again has an excellent, moving chorus. The remaining two tracks are slow, reflective songs, but even for these similarities they sound very different: ‘WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE’ alternates between a quiet bass riff with atmospheric backing guitars and a military-style chorus, while ‘LOW MAN’S LYRIC’ is another attempt (after the earlier ‘Mama Said’) at a country and western ballad. This time it works better as Hetfield is accompanied by more drum presence, but it’s still a little too cowboy for me, which is incidentally one of the flaws of Load.
MY SILLY MENTAL SCARS
It’s a sad fact that once I get a mental image or idea about something that is either amusing or slightly relevant, it remains forever. The photos in the previous album ‘Load’ have forever given every song a cowboy feel and a mental image of the band playing in a ramshackle Western town with a swinging saloon door, tumbleweed, etc. (and I’m not just saying that to try and be funny), but my mental problem with Reload is based completely on the sound itself: for some reason, it really sounds like James is swearing, specifically with use of that ‘F’ word, to the point where I had to check the lyrics online to confirm what he was saying.
It’s a feature of his laid-back vocal style on this album that “a hundred PLUS through black and white” (from ‘Fuel’) and the repeated chorus of ‘The Unforgiven II,’ “behind the door, should I open it FOR YOU.” The offending articles are capitalised as you probably noticed, but they need to be heard to be understood. It’s a shame that I get an imaginary earful of abuse whenever I listen to this album, which thankfully isn’t that often. Anyway, there’s more of my mind stuff for you.
VERDICT
This album is a second half to ‘Load’ in every way, even down to the front cover design and artwork, although the booklet features blurred photos of the band playing live rather than hanging around streets in flash attire. Several songs from this album became instant live favourites, but it only takes one listen of the CD to work out how very few songs that is: ‘Fuel’ is incredibly catchy and rousing, ‘The Memory Remains’ plods along excellently and ‘The Unforgiven II’ is deep meaning blues-core, but leaving the album without these three singles it’s mostly an incredibly disappointing release that wouldn’t have sold anywhere near as well if it didn’t have the privilege of being a Metallica album.
Anyone who likes Metallica for their speedy, grinding riffs and fast guitar solos would not necessarily enjoy Reload as there are very few traces of the old band’s sound left, save the occasional guitar chug. It’s true that the band headed in a more commercial rock direction, although this does seem to be a result of their changing musical taste rather than a desire to make more money, making Reload potentially more popular to the average buyer than albums such as ‘Ride the Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets.’ Even if a large number of people would enjoy tracks from this album if heard on the radio, many would doubtless feel disappointed at the album in its entirety. It’s not that it’s a bad CD, but it is a forgettable one.
Advantages: A couple of great songs - 'Fuel' is a classic, The band still experiment and mature, Reasonably diverse
Disadvantages: Disappointingly average, Could believably be mostly 'Load B-sides,' Doesn't know what it's aiming for
Metallica
S&M
A Wagnerian Orgasm
****
Written on 04.05.04
In 1999, Metallica released a live album that saw them performing twenty tracks spanning their musical career, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The idea of mixing hard, heavy metal anthems with soft, orchestral overtures had not been attempted often, and deservedly awarded the band an amount of media interest. S&M is a very interesting album that deserves a number of listens, and manages to recreate some great Metallica songs with great success, and some poor ones with little success.
GENESIS
The band's former bass player Cliff Burton, who tragically died during the band's 1986 tour, had a large impact on the style of the band's earlier albums, his passion for classical music leading to more intricate and layered tracks than those of competing bands, with mellow guitar sections creating an epic and orchestral sound with only four instruments. Following Cliff's death, the band were forced to pursue other avenues, which led to the eventual release of their more commercial rock album 'Metallica' (aka the Black Album) in 1991.
Many fans felt that the band lost the plot after this, and the next albums to be released after a lenghty gap of touring and enjoying their profits reflected a far more bluesy, soft-rock approach. It was obvious that the band's appreciation for other musical forms was impacting on the music they enjoyed creating, and in 1998 their experimentation with orchestral accompaniment was seen by many metal fans as the ultimate sell-out act, despite the fact that their earlier works had such a classical and baroque influence, however much the surviving band members had not realised this.
Metallica's founding member and drummer, Lars Ulrich, contacted composer and self-proclaimed heavy metal fan Michael Kamen with the band's idea, and the composer set to work deciding which songs would most benefit from the orchestra's input, taking into account that the band's live set-lists reflected both their classic and contemporary tracks. Kamen had previously composed the soundtracks to a number of prominent films, while working with bands such as Queensryche and, yes, Metallica, in adding symphonic elements to some of their album tracks.
PERFORMERS
VOCALS, RHYTHM GUITAR - James Hetfield
LEAD GUITAR - Kirk Hammett
DRUMS - Lars Ulrich
BASS - Jason Newsted
COMPOSER - Michael Kamen, conducting many talented musicians on violins, violas, violincellos, basses, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion and kayboard than I can list here.
THE S&M EXPERIENCE
DISC 1
The Ecstasy Of Gold
The Call of Ktulu
Master of Puppets
Of Wolf and Man
The Thing That Should Not Be
Fuel
The Memory Remains
No Leaf Clover
Hero of the Day
Devil's Dance
Bleeding Me
DISC 2
Nothing Else Matters
Until it Sleeps
For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Human
Wherever I May Roam
The Outlaw Torn
Sad But True
One
Enter Sandman
Battery
FIRST HALF
The album opens calmly with the quiet roars of an expectant crowd, and the first notes of the orchestra for THE ECSTACY OF GOLD, a short and relaxing excerpt from the soundtrack to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, performed here by the orchestra. As soon as that is completed and the band have taken their positions, the haunting guitar intro of THE CALL OF KTULU is played by Kirk and James, and the sound of Metallica and the symphony are shown to their full potential. Ktulu is an epic in its own right, and the orchestra only compliments its dark and moody sound, using horns to great effect. As with most of the band's early material, Ktulu already felt complete and epic in its own right, so while the orchestra doesn't make it any better it is a great track to begin with.
James' distinctive vocal growls begin on the third track, MASTER OF PUPPETS. One of the band's most popular tracks, originating in their 1986 album of the same name, the progressive nature of this track means that the orchestra works in varying degrees of success. Personally, I find the orchestration a little over-the-top during the speedy verses and chorus, but the mellow sections of the song work excellently. It takes a while to get used to James' vocals accompanying such orchestration, but once he calms down on the band's softer songs there doesn't seem to be anything awry. There is some excellent use of violins towards the end of this track also, which is a nice touch.
OF WOLF AND MAN is what I consider the first "mistake" of this album; taken from Metallica's self-titled 1991 album, the less intricate style of this track doesn't lend itself to the orchestra, and this is one of the unfortunate examples of a song where the rock element and the orchestration have clearly been planned independently. In contrast, THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE is one of their older and darkest tracks, and this works with the orchestra in the same way that the instrumental Ktulu did. Sounding better and more interesting with the orchestra in many places, this is one of the tracks that definitely does "work," and features an improvised rendition of the Funeral March before leading into the next tracks.
FUEL and THE MEMORY REMAINS were tracks released from the band's 1997 album 'Reload,' the band's most recent studio release at the time of this recording, and as such they seem mainly included out of necessity. Still, the symphony adds to the commercial rock sound a lot more successfully than in similar tracks, especially in the slower 'The Memory Remains,' but 'Fuel' still sounds a little forced, adding unnecessary depth and grandeur to what is essentially a fast-paced hard rock anthem. The melodic vocal sections on Memory are handed to the crowd, providing the album with that element of audience interaction. Overall, a couple of songs that were a little lacking, but aren't really helped by this arrangement.
NO LEAF CLOVER is one of the most interesting tracks for the reason that is was released and performed for the first time with this CD. Much more impressive than releases from 'Reload,' this has been designed with the orchestra in mind and as such it really benefits from the addition. A great soft chorus has some of James' best vocals, while the hard rock isn't lost in the verses and chorus. It seems Metallica only needed a little inspiration to start producing great songs again.
I consider HERO OF THE DAY to be one of the best examples of S&M here, which is surprising as it took me a while to appreciate the original version of this 'Load' track. The band's most commercial release, this mixes elements of very soft acoustics with a hard rock ending, but the orchestra gives it the depth necessary to elevate it into a beautiful piece of music. Very sombre.
An unfortunate return to failed efforts sees DEVIL'S DANCE, possibly the least memorable track on this whole album, getting the unnecessary S&M treatment. The orchestra is mainly comprised of horns here which is a nice touch, but can't save the fact that this isn't a very impressive track that could have been replaced with something much better.
The first CD ends with one of the longer moody tracks from the 'Load' album, the quite impressive BLEEDING ME. Interesting and a little moving, with great vocals on the chorus, this is helped by the presence of the orchestra, but it is so subliminal in places that I can never remember the orchestral additions unless I listen to the track fresh. Still, a nice end to the first half which promises that, if nothing else, there can't be much more from the Load and Reload albums to follow.
SECOND HALF
The second disc opens in style with one of the band's most popular tracks, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. Their emotional, semi-acoustic number from the Black Album, the symphonic arrangement is so good here that there is plenty of debate amongst fans as to which is the best version. I personally prefer the album version, as the drums are used throughout and there is some great background electric guitar work that is lost here, but in terms of beauty I have to admit that this is one of the best examples of the S&M experience. Following on is a track from 'Load,' the controversial UNTIL IT SLEEPS, which is only controversial for being the first sign of the "new" Metallica in the mid-90s. The orchestra works very well with in adding atmosphere to this dark track, and it is another sign that the partnership is performing very well.
But no matter how loyal and appreciative the long-time fans are of the band's musical changes, it is obvious from the appreciative uproar that their 1984 classic FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS is still considered a much finer work than anything from recent years. With great sections for the bass, guitars and drums, "Bellz" (as it is referred to in shorthand on the album sleeve) is an excellent metal song, and while the orchestra is again largely unnecessary, it does add quite a nice Batman-esque feel to the song.
Following this is -HUMAN, the other original track on here along with 'Clover' from Disc 1. Not quite as classic or impressive, largely because it had been "lingering around for some time now" according to Newsted and therefore not composed with the symphony in mind, is it a good hard rock song that shows signs of where the band may have headed if not for Newsted's departure and their temporary time away from it all.
WHEREVER I MAY ROAM benefits from the orchestra more than I would have expected, considering it is again fairly recent, but I still don?t like this track too much in any incarnation, mainly as it is incredibly repetitive and seems to drag on for far too long. I think I like this symphonic version more however, and as it follows some great tracks on here it is an excuse to listen to it more. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, THE OUTLAW TORN is quite a good track from 'Load,' but it feels a little annoying in its placement here due to its ten-minute length, along with the fact that the similar and equally lengthy 'Bleeding Me' has already featured. The orchestra don't really add to this too much either, and it certainly suffers from its placement amongst the Metallica "classics."
SAD BUT TRUE is one of the band's best hard rock releases, but the orchestra once again fail to make anything too grand of it due to the limitations of its original style. Still a great song however, but it is overshadowed by the next track. ONE was the band's first music video release and has been a staple of their live shows for over ten years, and a great deal of effort has clearly gone into the orchestra arrangements of this track, although it has to be heard to be appreciated. The power of the drum sections towards the end do seem a little dampened, but the sombre first half benefits exceptionally well. One of the very best tracks on here.
The band's most well-known track is always used as the crowd-pleasing ending, and ENTER SANDMAN is a good track, but isn?t really aided by the symphony. There are interludes and encores later in the track which keep it interesting, but it doesn't work as well as it does with the band members alone. Fortunately, the band still have some tricks up their sleeve and an orchestral rendition of the start of their Master of Puppets album leads into BATTERY, one of their best thrash songs and a feature that probably came as a welcome surprise to those gathered. The orchestra is good in this one, but it is completely stolen by Metallica's power as a group.
AFTERMATH
Judging by the sounds on the CDs, the crowd were very pleased with the result of this unholy union of symphony and rock, and they even shout out their appreciation for the composer at the end. In his introduction within the album's booklet, Kamen describes how the symphony were unused to receiving roars of approval from metal fans, and while at first being a little apprehensive about this it would evnetually fuel them into putting in even more energy. "The crowd's reaction was like adrenaline on stage, and we all thrived on it. That kind of approval is inspiring!"
In an interview, James recalls how Kamen would deconstruct some of their songs and point out the kinds of musical changes they had implemented; something he, Kirk, Lars and Jason had never even realised, which is a tribute to the late Cliff Burton. Lars Ulrich also criticises fans who condemn this album as far from the Metallica angle, pointing out that Cliff was the only one of them that used to be influenced by classical music, and that it is an element of their early albums. "Cliff would have loved this."
VERDICT
The inherent problem with live albums is that not all of the listener's favourites are included, and this feeling is certainly present in S&M (Symphony & Metallica in case you were a little worried), but to a greater extent when considering which tracks did and did not "work." It is obvious that the band's older and more intricate tracks, as well as their more modern mellow releases, work far better than their hard rock songs, but Kamen and the band did not seem to realise this. This leads to the disappointment that 'Devil's Dance,' 'Of Wolf and Man' and 'The Outlaw Torn' could have been replaced by songs that really would have added to this experience, such as the classics 'Sanitarium,' 'The God That Failed' and, especially, 'Fade to Black.' These seemingly bad decisions do dampen my enjoyment of the album somewhat, but once they have been accepted it is easier to appreciate this as a "best-of" that takes an interesting approach.
I do like the orchestra accompaniment in general, even though at times it seems unnecessary or over-the-top, but when it fits it makes for more interesting songs, especially when the listener already owns the originals. The musicians are all very talented and the band themselves make no mistakes, although whether there was any Kiss-style studio tampering is unknown, and also irrelevant; the guys rock live anyway.
The album's design is incredibly stylish, with a mostly black cover featuring a colourful photo of James' legs and guitar, with assorted musicians behind him. There are no lyrics which is a bit of a letdown, instead opting for far more blurred photos of the band than are really necessary inside the booklet. There is a section at the end which details the original albums that the songs are taken from, which would be very useful for newer Metallica fans to plan their next CD purchases and also gives insight into the band's minds; apparently they did not find anything from their thrashy debut 'Kill 'Em All' would cut the symphonic mustard, and the thrash songs from 'Justice' are also ommitted. Thankfully the band do not use any of their cover tracks here, something which can get a little annoying on the band's other live albums.
S&M was an interesting idea that involved the band putting in a lot of effort and extending their musical variety, and there is nothing "sell-out" about it. There is a striking contrast between the melodic nature of this album and their next release, the hard and heavy St. Anger in 2003, but that's evolution. Love them or hate them, Metallica may not know much about art, but they know what they like.
Merchandise
A double DVD version of S&M is also available, while 'No Leaf Clover' was released as a single. An in-depth documentary featuring interviews entitled 'Metallica: Four Men and an Orchestra' can occasionally be found on appropriate music channels, as can S&M live music videos of 'No Leaf Clover' and 'Nothing Else Matters.' The official S&M shirt, sold over the several performances and featuring a quite funny tuxedo design on the front, is still available from many retailers.
Advantages: A great idea, many songs complimented by the orchestra, A Metallica live album with an interesting slant, A strong collection of tracks
Disadvantages: Some unwise decisions, Some songs would have worked excellently, but were not included, Often expensive
Metallica
St. Anger
Some Kind of Monster
****
Written on 29.04.04
In the summer of 2003, one of the world’s most successful and well-known rock bands released their much-anticipated St. Anger, their first original studio release in six years. Sales were not as high as the band would have hoped, however their constant re-writing and re-awakened camaraderie ensured that this would be an album they hold dear much more than some of their previous releases. Besides, they’re obviously loaded by now anyway, and it’s great to see them continuing to make music they love.
BACKGROUND
Metallica’s current line-up has remained almost identical since the release of their first album ‘Kill ‘Em All’ in 1983, with the exception of their bass player. The original bassist Cliff Burton died in a road accident during the band’s 1986 tour, and the replacement Jason Newsted was never considered by many fans to be a worthy replacement, especially with the band’s increasing popularity. Disillusionment with Metallica’s changing musical styles, as well as health problems caused by his heavy choices of bass, led to Jason’s amicable departure from the band in 2001. The years following ‘Reload’ and their successful hit ‘I Disappear’ recorded for the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack saw vocalist James Hetfield admitting his problems and entering rehabilitation, drummer Lars Ulrich taking on the internet music world of Napster and guitarist Kirk Hammett spending more time on his beloved outdoor sport pursuits.
In 2002, the three-part backbone of Metallica decided to collaborate again, and bought themselves a brand new studio for a fresh start. Friend and producer Bob Rock filled in on bass guitar as the band undertook in a lengthy and wholly positive approach to coming up with literally dozens of songs, forming the eventual St. Anger. Towards the end of production the band decided the time was right for a new bass player, which ended up being ex-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo, a man whose presence Metallica had noticed when the band had toured with them in the past, and who was now working with Ozzy Osbourne. The four horsemen released their album on 9th June 2003.
James Hetfield – rhythm guitar, vocals
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals
Lars Ulrich – drums
Note: Despite being present in the album’s photo shoots and artwork, Rob Trujillo does not appear on this album; bass was handled by Bob Rock. Rob can be seen in the St. Anger bonus DVD, where his true bass proficiency on tracks such as ‘Some Kind of Monster’ can be appreciated. Or failing that, see the band live.
STYLE
St. Anger has a very distinctive playing style that runs throughout the entire album. It is certainly very heavy, with pounding and potentially headache-inducing snare drums punctuating dark and over-distorted guitars, James Hetfield’s vocals being the only immediately recognisable Metallica trait to the unconditioned eardrum.
I always find that there is an element of fun carrying through on the album, from James’ sing-song vocals in places and the catchier sections of songs such as ‘Invisible Kid’; despite the focus on negative emotions and feelings such as loneliness, worry, fear and especially angrrr (as they like to spell it in the booklet). There are differences in speed and tone to all the songs, but there are no equivalents of the ballads and acoustic tracks that have been popular or infamous aspects of the band’s previous work, depending on the listener’s viewpoint.
I am very glad that I saw the documentaries and interviews conducted prior to this album’s release, as without the background knowledge of the band’s contentedness and newfound sense of enjoyment I could have found myself listening to something that sounded largely depressing and full of hatred. As for those who have branded this album as ‘Nu-Metal,’ a genre led by such angry personalities as Korn and Limp Bizkit, the messages are certainly similar, but the Metallica style can still be detected in the guitar playing, but the traditional guitar solos have now been replaced by expanding riffs and repeated chorus and verse sections.
TRACKS
There are eleven tracks coming in at a huge 75 minutes. Unlike their more recent albums, the band are back to writing long songs, the shortest being over five minutes in length and the longest approaching nine minutes.
1. FRANTIC
Possible my favourite on the album, I rank this among Metallica’s classic album openers ‘Battery’ and ‘Blackened,’ and there are elements of that latter song here. The song has been released as a single, but it does not betray the album’s style; from the opening machine gun-style pounding of drums and the hardest riff Metallica have played in over ten years, the song’s main sections begin with some great use of a quiet guitar section exploding into the main riff that sums up the song’s title. James’ frantic screaming towards the end of the song is also a great touch, and this is definite crowd-pleaser material.
“If I could have my wasted days back, would I use them to get back on track?”
2. ST. ANGER
The first song released off this album, it left many people disappointed. Fairly lengthy and a little repetitive, I really like this song’s layered approach that make it sound as if there are far more instruments taking part than the listener has been told. Very angry, fast-paced, heavy and profane, this was the first Metallica song to include more than two uses of a swear word. A lot more.
“Medallion noose, I hang myself, St. Anger round my neck.”
3. SOME KIND OF MONSTER
In comparison to the previous songs, this is very slow, dark and hulking, and I love it. The song does drag on to an unnecessary eight and a half minutes, but there are enough changes in pace and riffs to keep it interesting. There always seem to be unrecognised gems on Metallica albums, and this is one of them.
“This is the God that is not pure, this is the voice of silence no more.”
4. DIRTY WINDOW
Not really filler, but not too impressive, this is enjoyably short and has some very drastic changes for the chorus sections. These very light and almost whispered sections do make the song stand out more than it otherwise would, and act in a similar way to the low-key, quiet sections of the title track, contrasting perfectly with everything around them.
“I drink from the cup of denial, I’m judging the world from my throne.”
5. INVISIBLE KID
My other favourite song on the album, Invisible Kid has a very catchy and upbeat riff and the lyrics and title remind me of earlier songs by other rock bands dealing with similar issues, Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’ being the most notable example. Despite this element of unoriginality, this is a song to look forward to that serves to brighten up the album, and has great vocal work from Hetfield.
“He looks so calm floating ‘round and around in himself.”
6. MY WORLD
A little lacking in anything special, this is still a good song that doesn’t overstay its welcome. There are some big changes towards the end which are among the angriest parts of the whole album, and this doesn’t let the album down in any way. James sounds refreshingly different in the chorus.
“Who’s in charge of my head today, dancing devils in angels’ way.”
7. SHOOT ME AGAIN
This would be a contender for my favourite track if it didn’t last far too long, there is a quieter section half-way through that used to deceive me into thinking I was hearing a different track before the repetitive chorus began again. Great guitars and vocal decisions by Hetfield that I find very amusing (the spoken word taunting of “shoot me agin, I ’in’t dead yet”) make this track stand out, but it gets a little annoying. The same is true of a number of the other tracks, although as with most of them this does redeem itself a little through nice changes in tempo and rhythm in the second half. They’re not making epics, but they are making them long.
“All the shots I take, I spit back at you. All the sh*t you fake, comes back to haunt you.”
8. SWEET AMBER
Possibly a song about alcohol, which seems a little absurd given Hetfield’s recent problems, this is often highly regarded but is my least favourite track. I don’t particularly like Hetfield’s decisions with the whiny vocals, despite finding him a great and fitting vocalist who has really excelled himself in most of the tracks, and the riff gets on my nerves a little. But it’s not a bad song, and not one of the over-long ones; the lyrics are a little too vague though.
“Live your life so you won’t see mine, drape your back so you won’t shine.”
9. THE UNNAMED FEELING
One of the most musically complex on the album, this is the slowest song and also the one with the most emotion; as I said earlier there is no equivalent of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ or ‘Fade to Black’ on this album, but this comes the closest in terms of dealing with feelings in a sombre mood. Great lyrics and very good use of heaviness balanced with high guitar notes, this was recently released as the album’s third single and seems to be most peoples’ favourite track. Personally, I don’t think you can beat the all-out chaos of ‘Frantic.’
“Cross my heart hope not to die, swallow evil, ride the sky. I lose myself in a crowded room- you fool, you fool, it’ll be here soon.”
10. PURIFY
Not too impressive, but something about this song makes me love it. James’ backing screams of ‘Purifyyy’ make the song work for me, and it’s one of the better songs out of the shorter tracks. Heavy and with a recognisable and catchy riff, perhaps it’s the inclusion of this lyric that makes me like it so much:
“I ain’t dancing with your skeletons.”
11. ALL WITHIN MY HANDS
An interesting track to end the album on, this takes an enjoyable amount of time to get started, presumably affording the listener some time to recuperate. James very softly sings near the start, before the drums and guitars kick back in and the song begins in earnest. Not great, but not a disappointment either, this was certainly the best track to go out on. The end of the track makes it all worthwhile as well, hearing James Hetfield shouting “kill kill kill kill, kill” to different, improvised tunes; it’s not Shakespeare, but metal rarely is, it’s far better than that boring dead man.
“Love is control, I’ll die if I let go.”
VERDICT
Producer and temporary bass player Bob Rock has explained his love for this album as seeing Metallica return to long, progressive songs, and in some cases this is true, however as stated in the track overviews I feel many songs could have been considerably shortened to keep the listener’s interest and reduce the album to a more manageable size. I actually have great respect and love for St. Anger; in truth I would have hoped for something more akin to the band’s glory days of the mid-80s, but judging by their decisions here it would have been a less enjoyable experience for all concerned and this would show through on the recordings.
St. Anger is not an album that should be listened to in full, although I have done this on several occasions. The similarity in style does become annoying towards the end, and I have found myself resenting the length of the album in these instances. The quality is pretty consistent throughout, and I much prefer taking it in small doses, lest the metallic drums give me an undesired headache, or lest I start resenting Metallica for bringing out eleven songs that are essentially about their previous problems. Now the band are back in the limelight, it will be interesting to see what decisions are taken with their next album; I’m just glad they seem to have left their tired blues era far behind them.
Metallica Discography
St. Anger (2003) – Aggressive and powerful, a heavier and more dedicated Metallica for the new millennium.
S&M (1999) – The band’s only official live album, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony. A very interesting take on a number of the band’s songs.
Garage Inc. (1998) – Largely unimpressive album of covers, recorded between 1984 and 1998.
Reload (1997) – Essentially a second half to Load, it begins with some promising rock songs before descending into uninteresting blues-rock filler.
Load (1996) – Not as bad as some people would have you believe, this is certainly not Metallica at their most impressive, but it is a strong album for fans of more traditional rock.
Metallica (1991) – aka ‘The Black Album,’ Metallica’s first commercial success. Shorter songs retaining the Metallica energy, this is deservedly hailed as a rock classic.
…And Justice For All (1988) – Signalling the end of Metallica’s thrashier albums, this suffers due to the loss of Cliff Burton’s influence on the songwriting. Some of the band’s best fast tracks however.
Master of Puppets (1986) – Most Metallica and metal fans will hail this as their classic album. Eight long tracks with great lyrics and excellent and inventive playing all round.
Ride the Lightning (1984) – The precursor to ‘Puppets,’ this includes many of the band’s finest tracks. The style has improved considerably from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ to include classically-inspired guitar sections.
Kill ‘Em All (1983) – Not to my tastes, this is Metallica’s thrash debut. Very fast and powerful, but suffering form bad production, the songs on here are not as memorable as on later releases.
Advantages: A very enjoyable listen, contributing some great tracks to Metallica's extensive playlist, 'Frantic' is a great fast song, 'The Unnamed Feeling' is a great slow song, The band are back for good
Disadvantages: The bass playing is unimpressive and doesn't take precedence- this will undoubtedly be rectified in future albums, Too heavy or aggressive for some peoples' tastes, Not as good as their older albums, but the band are staying original
Misfits
Famous Monsters
The Next Generation
*****
Written on 03.04.04
Famous Monsters is a collection of seventeen fast-paced modern punk rock songs, all loosely based on famous monsters from the big screen. As a fan of some contemporary punk rock, as well as heavy metal which has clearly influenced this album's sound, this is one of my favourite albums, but it unfortunately has the Misfits legacy to live up to for the rest of the world's population.
The mid-1990s saw the return of one of the most influential and famous punk rock bands, namely the 'horror-rock' band the Misfits. Original guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, possibly not his real name (everyone knows it's spelt Frankingstein), and bass player Jerry Only, which may indeed be his name, recruited vocalist Michael Graves and drummer Dr. Chud and released their 1997 album "American Psycho" to mixed reactions.
Their sound had changed considerably from the gungy, rock-n-roll style of their famous "Legacy of Brutality," "Earth A.D." and "Static Age" albums from the late seventies and early eighties to a much more modern and clean-sounding punk. As someone raised on this kind of music, I prefer its sound to the 'Evil Elvis' era of the original vocalist Glenn Danzig however the sheer popularity of the band's old line-up ensured that this album was not as successful as expected. Following in a similar style, 1999's "Famous Monsters" features slightly longer and more complex songs influenced by heavy metal bands such as Metallica, and manages to both uplift and engage the listener.
THE TRACKS
The album opens with "Kong at the Gates," an obvious reference to the scene from 1933's King Kong in which the overgrown gorilla barricades a village. A short and slow instrumental, this leads excellently into the album before the first proper song, "The Forbidden Zone." A reference to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes, this second track is one of my very favourites on the album due to its speed, the energy behind the instruments and vocals, and basically just because it sounds great.
The fast-paced structure continues through "Lost in Space" and "Dust to Dust," the latter of which has some fantastic vocals in its sing-a-long chorus. Track five, "Crawling Eye," is the heaviest and most metal-inspired song on the album and as such will appeal to fans of that genre. It also illustrates how much the band have distanced themselves from the original laid-back crooning style that made them so famous, but in my opinion they're all the better for it. The next track, "Witch Hunt," is basic short filler material but still manages to be a good song in its own right.
On to the most recognised track on the album, "Scream!" is a slower but powerful song with the best vocal performance from Graves on the album and was released with a typically 'gory in an enjoyable way' video. "Saturday Night" shows the band's variety and is a very slow number that reflects 50s songs; this is perhaps my least favourite song but is very catchy. "Pumpkin Head" and "Scarecrow Man" are both progressive and heavy songs with some excellent guitar solo work in the latter, before the album returns to simpler catchy hooks with the impossibly catchy "Die Monster Die" and the low-key "Living Hell."
My other favourite track on the album, and one that will appeal to fans of slow punk rock, is "Descending Angel." Haunting vocals and the atmosphere created by the instruments makes this a contender for one of my favourite songs of all time. After the excellent thirteenth track the album takes a turn for the unimpressive with "Them," "Fiend Club" and "Hunting Humans" not leaving much of a lasting impression, however the penultimate track "Helena" is another gem. Starting very slow and quiet with some excellent vocals in true Misfits style ("If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, would you still love me?") the song breaks into a fats and hard rock song that leads into the epilogue, a reprise of the opening track entitled "Kong Unleashed."
STYLE
Fans of the original Misfits' music will not aurtomatically love or hate this new style, which is so far detached that it's almost always described unofficially as 'New Misfits.' The lyrics are sublimely horrific while at the same time being humorous and strangely uplifting, while the musical style seems to be a blend of modern punk bands such as the Offspring and AFI, and 80s metal bands such as Metallica.
This album is truly one to suit all moods, assuming you like the music, and this sheer replay value makes it one of my top albums. The Old Misfits are gone, and these New Misfits have effectively ceased to exist in the last couple of years, but this album lives on as a testament to adapting to suit a different environment, while not having to write sensible lyrics. "Giant spiders prepare... to take over!"
Mudvayne
L.D. 50
****
Written on 24.06.01
Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne are a new "math metal" band from the USA; described by Mark Lamaar (on the BBC's "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" comedy music quiz) as "freaky metal American gargoyles." He was obviously referring to the band's unique imahge of facial and body art. Singer Kud (Chad Gray) has a thigh-length beard and silver face with black artwork painted on, bassist Ryknow has his face painted brown and has his hair fashioned into devil horns, drummer Spag alternates between black and white makeup or a seldom-used red body makeup, and guitarist Gurrg can usually be found with spikes in his red face. An unusual image indeed, as is their music.
The band are very heavy, and have amazing guitar riffs that remind me of the Quake computer game series (my friend pointed this out to me, and it is very true). The single "Dig" is a favourite among metal fans, although the band are not usually fully appreciated by people who claim to be into bands such as Slipknot and KoRn; it may be because Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne are not as popular, while Slipknot just had success in a bag when they appeared in full mask gear.
Not exactly a radio friendly album, "L.D. 50" is not the band's first release, but is the first to be released commercially (by Epic Records). There's a lot of variation, and with seventeen tracks (many over five minutes long) it's well worth the money. The only problems are a lack of lyrics (these can be obtained from www.mudvayne.com or other internet sources, and the cover is rather freakish; a fat, naked baby in some kind of test chamber.
The album begins with "Monolith", a two-minute introduction with a peculiar sound effect that features somebody taling quietly about evolution, and their actions under hallucinogenics (i.e. the L.D. 50, whatevr that may be).
Monolith leads into the amazing "Dig"- the band's only single to be released thus far. With its extreme heaviness and enviably-fast vocals, "Dig" is the band's most popular song, and it is probably the best on the album. (For anyone who's interested, the chorus goes "Dig, bury me, underneath, everything that I am. Rearranging. Dig, bury me, underneath, everything that I was. Slowly changing...") Great song.
"Internal Primates Forever" is a bit of a slower song, and isn't one of the best on the album. The chorus' vocals sound a little odd, and are sung by both Kud and Gurrg (as are many of the songs on the album).
"-1" features melodic singing before breaking into shouting (another thing about Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne is their lack of synthesised vocals- everything you hear is true, unlike bands such as Slipknot and Cradle of Filth which utilise distortion on the vocals). It's a very cool song that goes slow for when you're feeling like a change of pace.
"Death Blooms" is another fantastic song, and is sung all the way through, with a confusing amount of talking near the end. If the album releases another single, this is the probable choice. It's got a good riff and the vocals are a refreshing change of pace.
"Golden Ratio" is a short intro to "Cradle", track seven, and isn't very interesting, although it does build up with a strange wind-like sound effect that sounds pretty good and is used in the next track.
"Cradle" itself begins slowly (it integrates seamlessly with the previous track), and begins with Kud releasing a powerful vocal burst after roughly 35 seconds. It's another of my favourite songs on the album, and shouting and singing are both used again to great effect.
"Nothing to Gein" is a slow song at the start that soon leads into a loud, fast tune with great drumming. It's not a highlight of the album, but certainly sounds good.
"Mutatis Mutandis" is another intro track that leads into track ten. It does seem a bit pointless, and just fetures a quiet tune.
"Everything and Nothing" integrates very nicely with drumming from the end of track nine, and is a good song, although songs on the latter half of the album just all seem fairly average. It's loud and heavy, and has a very memorable drum beat.
"Severed" begins with a cool guitar riff, and features fast drumming and peculiar stops in the song every so often which (I think anyway) don't sound good. There is singing and shouting at the same time in this song, which does sound very good.
Another pretty short track (at two minutes) is "Recombinant Resurgence." It's another randomly-placed instrumental build-up that does (like all the others) demand a skipping on the CD player.
"Prod" is a long song that takes a while to get started, and it sounds pretty good, even if it is a bit slow. The end section basically consists of Kud shouting "Drain us of life and clean the mess" again and again.
"Pharmaecopia" is a loud shouty song, and begins after about ten seconds of introing, but is a pretty average song on listening. By this point in the album I think the songs have lost their fire, and they begin to get repetetive.
"Under My Skin" is a very good song that has the speed and volume of "Dig", but isn't as good. It's not a clever cover version of the Sinatra song, but is a very cool song, if a bit average and samey.
One of the other most popular songs on the album, "[K]now F[orever]" is also very cool, and has a very good riff that leads into a loud song. There are also sections of quiet, cool-sounding bass soloing, which is always good, and singing.
The end of track sixteen (strange whispery voices) leads into the album's closing track, "Lethal Dosage" (which once again brings up the pill idea). The track is basically an outro which also features a guy talking, which soon becomes completely clouded in strange noises as reality dwindles vaway and the album comes to a spinning halt...
My Dying Bride
***
Written on 14.09.07
Following the limited release of their ‘God is Alone’ E.P. earlier that year, Halifax’s My Dying Bride re-recorded their two rather basic death metal offerings and added an unexpectedly sophisticated and compelling title song that inaugurates their classic sound. The band’s penchant for classical and romantic themes is evident both in their moniker and the elaborate title of this three-track E.P., but it would take a couple of years and a couple more releases for their aspirations to be fully merged with their sound, which here has its foot trapped in the insidious casket of death metal.
Despite being an early release, the line-up of the band would remain remarkably stable for most of the decade, although only vocalist and tortured songwriter Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andy Craighan remain today. Despite its historical significance in developing the band’s sound, there’s little to hide the fact that this is an early E.P. from a band struggling to find its feet. The production quality is noticeably poor and weak (which I often find adds to the grim and funereal atmosphere of recordings such as this, but for others will present a problem), and although the musicians are skilled at playing fast as all death metal performers should be, there’s very little to distinguish their talents from their obvious influences. Aaron’s vocals in particular sound exactly the same as every other British person growling in a death or grind band at the time, and whatever achievements Rick Miah may be performing on the drum kit are lost behind the fuzzy sound quality.
The most notable addition to the music comes in the form of violin passages pervading the first half of the title track, something that would later become a staple of the band’s music until Martin Powell’s departure in 1998. This demonstrates the bold and experimental side of the band that would see them record some wildly divergent albums as the decade continued before settling down on a sound not dissimilar to this one. Catching the band at its genesis, with a mass of potential and ideas floating just out reach, ‘Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium’ is a nice E.P. for the serious collectors, bordering on essential for its unique and impressive titular piece, and little else.
1. Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium
2. God is Alone
3. De Sade Soliloquy
The first song of the E.P. consumes over half its playing time at a staggering eleven and a half minutes, and puts the time to good use with multiple speed, rhythm and style changes, best expressed in the switch to pure death metal around the half-way point. Beginning with a chiming harpsichord and screeching violin whining in the darkness, the primary instruments thunder into life after one minute and the violin is shocked into a greater degree of intensity. The sound is classic and distinctive My Dying Bride from the onset, and it’s regrettable that the song veers increasingly away from this direction as it continues, the slow and memorable main guitar riff eventually giving way to thrash-influenced scratching that can’t possibly achieve the effect it desires on such a limited studio budget. At its slowest, this song evokes sadness and a general feeling of gloom, though Aaron’s largely unintelligible vocals make it difficult to really invest emotionally in the song. After being excluded for several sections in favour of a greater focus on the guitar, the violin is lost completely as a momentary pause signifies a major change.
The second half of the song, coming after the five minute mark, is essentially a traditional death metal song that varies in speed and intensity somewhat, but is still entirely derivative of the American scene of the time. The riffs sound dirty and grimy as they scratch along the ground, the bellowed vocals implore the listener to do something that they know not what, and the papery drums can rarely be heard as anything other than cymbal fuzz. While depressed black metal from Norway is right at home in this low level of production, angry and brutal death metal lacks a significant punch, and without the punch there’s little of interest. Nevertheless, the band perseveres and explodes into an assault of pure death metal fury after seven minutes that surpasses anything else on the recording in terms of sheer intensity, but still makes me yearn for a higher quality version (ultimately provided by the long-overdue live album ‘Voice of the Wretched’ in 2004). Despite slowing back down for the end and rejoining the main riff, there’s little notion of natural progression in this song, something that isn’t aided by its use of pauses to signify a change of direction, but it nevertheless foreshadows the direction the band would take after it had shaken off the restrictions of its death metal origins.
Inevitably, the remaining two songs are fairly disappointing, but viewed purely as novice death metal rather than My Dying Bride that doesn’t sound anything like My Dying Bride should sound, it’s still enjoyable and worth the listener’s time, as the band continue their experiments to some small degree. The re-recorded ‘God is Alone’ is sharper than the earlier version, but this time the slightly longer length is to its disadvantage. Although five minutes is a lot easier to digest than the previous eleven, and the band’s energy commendably remains throughout its duration, the exhausting pace and repetitive riffs serve to bore me as the song approaches an overdue climax. The thrash-influenced guitars are performed well, and in their more creative sections reminiscent of bands such as Testament, but my biggest problem comes with the weak sound allocated to the drums through the production; it’s no fault of Rick Miah, but the brief solo spot unwisely granted to his double bass drumming sounds more like rain pattering on a plastic bag. The relentless song is admirable as a slice of British early nineties death metal, but it’s nothing that hasn’t been heard before.
The final song returns ever so slightly to the direction that fans of the band’s later work will be craving, but remains essentially a slowed down death metal song with little in the way of innovation. It’s refreshing to hear a slower pace for the guitars, drums and growls after the previous song, and there’s a great, short solo towards the end that again reminds me of Testament, but on the whole this sounds like the sort of song that any budding death metal band could come up with, if they couldn’t be bothered to play their instruments too fast. It’s obviously unfair to compare this E.P. with the classic, more refined albums My Dying Bride would produce throughout the decade, but it does sound to some extent like a split release between a budding experimental death metal band and a more mundane one, the former side providing the more worthwhile listen. This E.P., along with other rare material, was later collected into the more widely available ‘Trinity’ compilation where it sits uncomfortably alongside some great material from a few years later, but to listen in isolation isn’t an entirely unrewarding experience. ‘Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium’ is a grand and complex piece with its heart in the right place, and ‘God is Alone’ is the most brutal thing to come out of Yorkshire since Peter Sutcliffe.
Advantages: Excellent title track shows a lot of promise.
Disadvantages: The rest is still rooted in average death metal.
My Dying Bride
Trinity
***
Written on 09.08.06
Death-doom evidently comes in threes. This collection of My Dying Bride’s first three EPs, the third time the songs have been released, proves why this band has always been the greatest of England’s ‘great three’ death-doom metal pioneers. Constantly building upon their original sound, the Yorkshiremen have managed to avoid the bizarre temptations that led to their contemporaries Paradise Lost and Anathema retreating to commercially viable and artistically dead atmospheric rock territory.
Released during their creative peak in 1995, ‘Trinity’ collects together three EPs (well, three and a half) from 1991 to ’94 and, despite covering a small but varied portion of My Dying Bride’s career, demonstrates the band’s relentless attempt to improve and progress its sound with almost every release, integrity that has remained to the present day.
My Dying Bride and their contemporaries were influenced by the traditional slow, gloomy and brooding doom metal from the likes of Black Sabbath, Cathedral and Candlemass, as well as the more aggressive and guttural sound of death metal. Although the two styles would be used only as inspiration by the time of the band’s second full-length album (and the latter two third of this collection) in which their unique, romanticised sound begins to be fully realised, their earliest material sounds entirely and unashamedly like the fusion of death and doom that it is.
This album incorporates, in appropriately chronological order, ‘Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium’ (track 1 to 3), ‘The Thrash of Naked Limbs’ (4 to 6), ‘I Am the Bloody Earth’ (7 and 9) and the title song from ‘The Sexuality of Bereavement’ (track 8). The first three EPs were originally limited in production and became rare collector’s items instantaneously, which led to their re-release in the 1994 boxset ‘The Stories.’ Sadly, but quite humorously, this collection proved incredibly popular and sold out also… making it even rarer than the EPs themselves.
A second attempt at preserving the songs, ‘Trinity’ is still being circulated, and is an essential purchase for fans of the band or the genre. Stylistically inconsistent by its very nature, the album may deter newcomers but works brilliantly as a full-length overview of the band’s continuously evolving sound. The EPs all featured exclusive material that wasn’t included on the surrounding album releases, but that also wasn’t any less impressive as a result. The only such album song is the remix of ‘The Crown of Sympathy’ from the 1994 studio album.
1. Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium
2. God is Alone
3. De Sade Soliloquy
4. The Thrash of Naked Limbs
5. Le Cerf Malade
6. Gather Me Up Forever
7. I am the Bloody Earth
8. The Sexuality of Bereavement
9. The Crown of Sympathy (remix)
The opening song ‘Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium’ hints at the direction the band would later take in its slow thudding rhythm and atmospheric bleakness, but its companion pieces ‘God is Alone’ and ‘De Sade Soliloquy’ sound completely dissimilar to the trademark My Dying Bride sound. Absent are the thunderous, plodding drums, crushing guitars and erotic lyrics, replaced by disappointingly ‘straight’ thrashy death metal. Track two is especially disappointing, amounting to nothing more than a Slayer sound-alike, and would fit perfectly into that band’s ‘Reign in Blood’ album which was an obvious influence here. These three tracks are fairly dispensable in the band’s discography, but act as a nice precursor to the rest of the album, which can only get better.
There is subsequently a rather abrupt but pleasant shift at track four, when clean singing replaces death growls and Martin Powell’s violins take a lead role for the first time. Powell, who would later leave the band to play keyboards for Cradle of Filth, is an integral element of My Dying Bride’s classic period, his violins providing the necessary sweeping sense of melancholy and despair that elevates this music above its imitators. It’s also the reason that their modern material is less effective. From ‘The Thrash of Naked Limbs,’ the sound and subject matter are distinctively My Dying Bride, even including a lengthy ambient atmospheric interlude (‘La Cerf Malade’) that works more effectively in the context of this re-released album that it could ever have hoped to on a three-track EP.
‘I Am the Bloody Earth’ is very effective as a conscious combination of the band’s first two album approaches, retaining the atmospheric gothic sound but with a little more of an evil death metal kick, and features guest vocals from Ghost, of GGFH. The main riff is memorable and catchy, which is surprising considering the band’s wearily slow pace, and increased song length starts indicating a more complex and engrossing listen from this point onwards, rather than acting as a deterrent as it may have done in the eleven-minute opening track.
The more reflective ‘The Sexuality of Bereavement’ is the best song here (although the final three are all excellent), and is an especially commendable inclusion as the song was originally released alone in extremely limited edition, but still remains a part of the band’s live set. The album closes with the remix of ‘The Crown of Sympathy,’ a majestic doom cut from the ‘Turn Loose the Swans’ album that is shortened at the end, but extended at the beginning. The album closes on a typically bleak minor chord.
The only very minor quibble that die-hard fans could make of Trinity is that it does not, in fact, include everything from the EPs it collects. There is but one song missing, in the form of ‘Transcending (Into the Exquisite),’ the House remix of riffs from the band’s second album. An unfortunate product of the band’s misguided electronic edge, which would culminate in their weird album ’34.788%... Complete,’ it goes without saying that this abomination is entirely expendable, and deserves to die. Fans are also denied the pleasing original artwork for the EPs, but this is a small price to pay to have the classic songs grouped together in this way.
Trinity is a thoughtful and enjoyable compilation, saving dedicated fans the burden of having to track down EP releases (although I’ll bet there are still many who try). Despite preconceptions that doom makes for a dull and tedious listening experience, Trinity at least has the advantage of improving as it goes along, through each phase of the band’s early years. There’s nothing better to listen to on a black and stormy November night, with the possible exception of Opeth. Forget those face-painted glam artists who make teenage goths go weak at the knees and brain; doom metal under My Dying Bride represents the natural evolution of gothic music after the eighties, and Trinity acts as both its prototype and archetype.
Advantages: An affordable and concise collection of previously rare material.
Disadvantages: The first part of the album is weaker material, and even the better stuff isn't the best stuff.
You Oshima's creative vision is permitted to run riot on this solo recording, though his totalitarian performance does have some drawbacks, most prominently the lack of an actual drummer. The drum machine used throughout sounds distractingly false at all times, despite still being powerful, especially in songs such as the slower 'Mononoke.' But while his talents clearly lie primarily in guitar work, evidenced by the excellent, intricate solos, the vocals are also impressive in their viciousness.
1. Kamikaze Blows
2. Mononoke (God of Worm)
3. Wheel of Fortune
4. Endless Labyrinth
5. Lament 1999
6. War Phantasma
Swamplord
****
Written on 12.08.08
Kalmah's first album established them as a force to be reckoned with, within the tightly-knit sub-genre of Finnish melodic death metal with power metal influence. Essentially, a genre dominated by the popular Children of Bodom with Kalmah and Norther lagging some distance behind, but appreciated more by metal snobs like me who prefer their consistency.
Kalmah's sound may not be unique, but it's certainly impressive, and they have always possessed a fiercer edge than Bodom, bordering on black metal on occasion. This is even evidenced in their lyrical preoccupation with swamps as opposed to Bodom's lake fixation, and the vocals are delivered in a deep rasp. The dual guitar harmonies are what will keep most genre fans satisfied, even if they owe much to the classic metal tradition, but sadly there are only rare occasions taken to pay respect to the band's Finnish ancestry, such as the folky lead melody of 'Heritance of Berija' reminiscent of Amorphis.
1. Evil in You
2. Withering Away
3. Heritance of Berija
4. Black Roija
5. Dance of the Water
6. Hades
7. Alteration
8. Using the Word
They Will Return
****
Written on 12.08.08
Kalmah's second album perfects their derivative style, taking their death metal and classic heavy metal influences to new extremes that contrast delightfully for fans in both camps, and are sure to really irritate those whose loyalty is entirely one-sided. Beginning with a trudge through a marsh, the listener approaches the sound of an exciting riff that leads into the first song, setting the tone for the rest of the experience. The sound is predominantly led by classic metal guitar riffs played at an energetic pace with a heavier approach, but is frequently spoiled by over-reliance on bleeping and booping keyboards that sound out of place and somewhat amateurish.
These songs are at their best when the riffs are catchy, the performance is energetic and the elements are kept in balance, which is why the album falters when it tries too hard to favour one direction over the other. 'The Blind Leader' is interesting in its classic metal style with heavier supplementation and 'They Will Return' itself is the liveliest and most exciting song here, but sadly the closing cover of Megadeth fails in the same way nearly all death metal covers of classic metal fail: the growling of familiar lyrics just sounds plain silly.
1. Hollow Heart
2. Swamphell
3. Principle Hero
4. Human Fates
5. They Will Return
6. Kill the Idealist
7. The Blind Leader
8. My Nation
9. Skin o' My Teeth (Megadeth cover)
Advantages: Faster, more energetic and more talented than predecessor.
Disadvantages: Classic heavy metal style sounds comparatively weak on occasion.
Swampsong
***
Written on 12.08.08
Seeming like a rushed release from a band with its mind elsewhere (namely in the band Eternal Tears of Sorrow), Kalmah's third release doesn't even have the originality to come up with a title that isn't stolen from their first album. This is more or less the same Children of Bodom esque melodic death metal that fans will be familiar with, only much less energetic than 'They Will Return,' very generic, and with an annoying tendency to rely on atmospheric sections that exude little atmosphere.
Songs such as the opener 'Heroes to Us' go off on more tangents than the band's previous works, and there's an uncomfortable contrast between fierce, fast-paced songs like 'Bird of Ill Omen' and tedious, slower songs like 'The Third, the Magical' that entirely lack the fun of the previous album. The slow finale 'Moon of My Nights' is particularly offensive to my ears for essentially being light gothic metal with growled vocals, and this entire album feels like a regrettable misstep.
1. Heroes to Us
2. Burbot's Revenge
3. Cloned Insanity
4. The Third, the Magical
5. Bird of Ill Omen
6. Doubtful About It All
7. Tordah
8. Man With Mystery
9. Moon of My Nights
The Black Waltz
****
Written on 12.08.08
Like their fellow countrymen Children of Bodom, Kalmah opted to change direction from power metal influenced death metal to something more focused on the heavy end of the scale, but fortunately, unlike Bodom, their new albums aren't absolutely awful. 'The Black Waltz' may indeed lack the originality and sheer fun of the band's earlier albums such as 'They Will Return,' but the greater death metal approach at least avoids the music sounding bipolar in its mixture of melody and ferocity, the melody now being a little subtler and kept in check.
One continued irritant is the prominent presence of keyboards that still serve to spoil the atmosphere of many songs with their electronic beeping, but the guitars, almost entirely devoid of Iron Maiden style riffing and soloing, should now be more acceptable to death metal aficionados, as the main focus is on heavy riffs. Even the vocal performance is meaner than before, but that's not to say that the jovial atmosphere has dissipated entirely, and this is a lot more enjoyable and easy to listen to than hostile death bands.
1. Defeat
2. Bitter Metallic Side
3. Time Takes Us All
4. To the Gallows
5. Svieri Doroga
6. The Black Waltz
7. With Terminal Intensity
8. Man of the King
9. The Groan of Wind
10. Mindrust
11. One from the Stands
Siege Perilous
***
Written on 12.08.08
The debut of new vocalist Roy S. Khan (formerly of influential power metal band Conception) doesn't cause much of a stir within Kamelot's discography, as 'Siége Perilous' is a largely dull and mellow affair. That's not to say that it's a bad album, but the band's distinctive sound is still some distance short of perfection, and their slow, regal, faux-symphonic sound is rather amateurish and unfocused in comparison to their later classics.
The band relies heavily on keyboards which is a failing at this point, as the keys rarely do anything of interest beyond providing atmospheric backing for the guitars. Khan's orations are pleasant but lacking in power, and only a few songs really pack a punch, such as the heavier groove riffs of 'Expedition.' Opener 'Providence' is majestic but dull, 'Millennium' picks up the pace a little but is ultimately unsatisfying, and the instrumental finale 'Siége' fails in its bid to sound really epic.
1. Providence
2. Millennium
3. King's Eyes
4. Expedition
5. Where I Reign
6. Parting Visions
7. Once a Dream
8. Rhydin
9. Irea
10. Siége
Karma
****
Written on 12.08.08
'Karma' is an excellent release from Kamelot that falls short of greatness merely for failing to live up to its own ambition. Overflowing with regal keyboards, soaring vocals and some of the most delightfully cheesy guitar lines to spew out of the last decade, this is a collection of mostly great songs to appeal to metal fans who don't mind a bit of corniness.
My main issue with the album is the frequency of ballads, which are well-executed, especially with Roy S. Khan's excellent vocals, but do interrupt the flow somewhat. 'Don't You Cry' is fairly good, but not enough to merit a later French version tagged onto the end of the album, 'Temples of Gold' is merely boring, and 'Mirror Mirror' is excusable as the introduction to the Elizabeth suite, a trio of songs that bear no sonic relation.
'Karma' itself is my favourite Kamelot song, fusing regal keyboards with chugging riffs in a more talented and exciting manner than I've heard before or since, and most songs are guaranteed to throw out a guilty pleasure in the form of either a self-indulgent cheese-laden lead guitar riff or a catchy chorus.
1. Regalis Apertura
2. Forever
3. Wings of Despair
4. The Spell
5. Don't You Cry
6. Karma
7. The Light I Shine on You
8. Temples of Gold
9. Across the Highlands
10. Elizabeth, Part I: Mirror Mirror
11. Elizabeth, Part II: Requiem for the Innocent
12. Elizabeth, Part III: Fall From Grace
13. Ne Pleure Pas
Epica
*****
Written on 12.08.08
Kamelot's sixth album is their most ambitious to date, and the leap really pays off. Based around the first part of Goethe's 'Faust,' this is a tightly focused album that matches the story perfectly, working as both an excellent concept album and a fine collection of symphonic metal songs that could be just as easily enjoyed by listeners who had no idea that this was all following a plot, and who thought the interludes were just there to bulk out the tracklist or something.
The conceptual focus doesn't detract from the sheer enjoyment of the music, which is evident as soon as the feel-good lead guitar of 'Center of the Universe' blares out of the speakers. This album accomplishes everything Kamelot achieved with the previous two albums, but with more confidence and integrity that makes each song more satisfying and varied, from the spellbinding chorus of 'Descent of the Archangel' to the ominous riffs and fun solos of 'Lost & Damned' and finally the stellar guitar performance of 'III Ways to Epica' that really saves the best for last.
1. Prologue
2. Center of the Universe
3. Farewell
4. Interlude I (Opiate Soul)
5. The Edge of Paradise
6. Wander
7. Interlude II (Omen)
8. Descent of the Archangel
9. Interlude III (At the Banquet)
10. A Feast for the Vain
11. On the Coldest Winter Night
12. Lost & Damned
13. Helena's Theme
14. Interlude IV (Dawn)
15. The Mourning After (Carry On)
16. III Ways to Epica
The Black Halo
***
Written on 12.08.08
I don't know what happened after the magnificent 'Epica,' but somehow Kamelot forgot how to be quite as fun, talented and interesting as they had been in previous years. 'The Black Halo' is a fairly solid album, but as a sequel to 'Epica,' based around the second part of Goethe's 'Faust,' it leaves much to be desired. Every song sounds more or less the same, and absent are the cheesy, cheery melodies and choruses that made Kamelot so distinctive, if irritating on occasion.
The album opens impressively enough with 'March of Mephisto,' wasting no time on a separate introductory track by incorporating it into the song itself, and aside from questionable use of death metal style growling in the chorus, this is a reasonable opener that sets an appropriately dark tone. Unfortunately, the album fails to pick up hereafter, plodding onwards with tedious riffs and a seemingly bored vocal performance from the formerly exuberant Roy S. Khan, only really picking up towards the end with some enjoyable guitar solos in the title track and an upbeat chorus in the finale.
1. March of Mephisto
2. When the Lights Are Down
3. The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)
4. Soul Society
5. Interlude I: Dei Gratia
6. Abandoned
7. This Pain
8. Moonlight
9. Interlude II: Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso
10. The Black Halo
11. Nothing Ever Dies
12. Memento Mori
13. Interlude III: Midnight / Twelve Tolls for a New Day
14. Serenade
Ghost Opera
***
Written on 12.08.08
Kamelot try something ever so slightly different with their eighth album, but it's still not different enough to stave off my increasing boredom with this formerly masterful band. Said difference comes in the form of the violin that permeates most songs, from the opening intro to the upbeat 'Blücher,' but otherwise this is the same brand of light, unexciting power metal as the band's early releases, seemingly having learned nothing from their classic period.
One positive aspect of the album is that the inevitable boring ballad is pushed right back to track ten, but regrettably there's no energetic finale to go out on, as 'EdenEcho' is just as slow. Some songs such as 'Silence of the Darkness' rely on a cheery drum beat to put across the illusion that the listener is having a good time, but overall this album lacks the energy and punch of something like 'Epica' or even 'The Black Halo.'
1. Solitaire
2. Rule the World
3. Ghost Opera
4. The Human Stain
5. Blücher
6. Love You to Death
7. Up Through the Ashes
8. Mourning Star
9. Silence of the Darkness
10. Anthem
11. EdenEcho
Prevail
***
Written on 12.08.08
Kataklysm is an extremely reliable Canadian death metal band, but this consistency comes at a cost to their originality as each album sounds much the same as the last. Their latest release 'Prevail' breaks the style somewhat by favouring a medium tempo and groove-laden style, and although it's not the most original or gripping death metal album I've heard, it's certainly aggressive enough to merit a listen if you're in a particularly nihilistic mood.
The vocals are the strongest point, ranging from a guttural belch to more forceful yells, and juvenile metalcore fans should see albums such as this as required listening, as education in what angry music should really sound like. The production quality is high, which cheapens the drums a little by making them sound clinical, but gives a great razor-sharp edge to the guitar riffs, while the band still finds time to execute fun solos in songs like 'Blood in Heaven' in particular.
1. Prevail
2. Taking the World by Storm
3. The Chains of Power
4. As Death Lingers
5. Blood in Heaven
6. To the Throne of Sorrow
7. Breathe to Dominate
8. Tear Down the Kingdom
9. The Vultures Are Watching
10. The Last Effort (Renaissance II)
Brave Murder Day
****
Written on 12.08.08
Returning from the dead, Katatonia released one of the iconic doom metal albums of the 1990s, the much-imitated 'Brave Murder Day.' Enlisting the aid of Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt to provide the death metal growls that Jonas Renkse apparently decided he could no longer handle, this is nevertheless a departure from the band's previous Anathema-style doom, making a significant step towards the depressive rock that would characterise their subsequent releases. For coming right in the centre, this album boasts a distinctive sound, or at least it did until numerous other bands started to copy it.
The style here is based largely around repetition, and is thus reminiscent of both modern post-rock and eighties gothic rock, especially in the plodding drum beats. Blackheim dispenses with keyboards to concentrate on minimalistic yet effective guitar chords, and the songs are all effective at creating a sparse, cold and mournful atmosphere. It doesn't even matter too much that 'Brave' is at least twice as long as it needs to be, nor that 'Rainroom' is almost an exact copy of 'Brave,' as this is a perfect album to chill out to when contemplating life's woes, throwing out the occasional guitar solo to keep your mind from wandering in more depressive directions.
1. Brave
2. Murder
3. Day
4. Rainroom
5. 12
6. Endtime
Discouraged Ones
****
Written on 12.08.08
Katatonia's third album marks the point at which the band abandoned doom metal in favour of a more commercially accessible depressive rock direction, but accusations of selling out are unfounded in light of the high quality and integrity of 'Discouraged Ones.' The guitar work still dominates in a similar manner to the previous 'Brave Murder Day,' and this is essentially a natural continuation of that style, dropping the growled vocals and editing the songs to more convenient lengths.
It's difficult to pick out specific songs here, as most are quite similar, and identifiable largely by each distinctive guitar melody that Blackheim chooses to lead the way with. Some songs are still quite heavy, namely 'Nerve,' but the new direction is entirely successful, not yet giving over to bland pop elements as would be the case in subsequent albums. The choruses are heartfelt and energetic, matching the intensity of the repeating guitar chords elsewhere, and it's guaranteed that several of the hypnotic guitar lines will haunt you for days to come.
1. I Break
2. Stalemate
3. Deadhouse
4. Relention
5. Cold Ways
6. Gone
7. Last Resort
8. Nerve
9. Saw You Drown
10. Instrumental
11. Distrust
Last Fair Deal Gone Down
***
Written on 12.08.08
Although it's still not up to the standards of the band's earlier albums, 2001's 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' is an improvement over the bland style of its predecessor 'Tonight's Decision,' returning to a focus on strong musicianship in many songs ('Chrome' in particular) rather than merely trying to win over teenage goth girls with recycled depressive lyrics.
The album is quite varied, despite all coming under the overarching style of depressive rock, and several songs contain comparatively upbeat sections, as is the case with 'Teargas' before it slows down. 'I Transpire' manages to be effectively slow and engulfing in a way that the previous album's tedious 'Had To (Leave),' and the band incorporates nice touches such as the violin (or perhaps synth-violin) in 'The Future of Speech.'
Jonas Renkse's singing is much improved over the previous album, as he has now evidently found his own distinctive approach, and the keyboards are used more effectively to create and enhance the atmosphere.
1. Dispossession
2. Chrome
3. We Must Bury You
4. Teargas
5. I Transpire
6. Tonight's Music
7. Clean Today
8. The Future of Speech
9. Passing Bird
10. Sweet Nurse
11. Don't Tell a Soul
Choirs of the Eye
****
Written on 12.08.08
My introduction to Kayo Dot was a bit of a letdown, considering the high quality of the band's previous incarnation Maudlin of the Well, but despite the less prominent metal influence, this is still a rewarding and satisfying album of avant-garde post-rock, even if it will inevitably deter listeners with short to moderate attention spans.
For the most part, this sounds like a mix between ambient classical, post-rock and grindcore with jazz elements (the latter mainly in the form of the occasional horn section), but it really isn't as off-putting as it sounds, avoiding Dream Theater style showmanship and concentrating on crafting well-structured compositions. These compositions are almost universally long, and while the lengths are ultimately justified, the lengthy sections of near-silence do become irritating.
This isn't an album to relax to, as the listener is constantly aware of a potential grindcore outburst lurking around the next corner, but it's inventive enough to be worth a listen for prog fans.
1. Marathon
2. A Pitcher of Summer
3. The Manifold Curiosity
4. Wayfarer
5. The Antique
Armada
****
Written on 12.08.08
Keep of Kalessin were away for a few years before exploding back onto the Norwegian black metal scene with their exciting brand of epic war metal. Thebon yells his vocals in a hoarse shout rather than a typical black metal rasp, making his cries to war more emotive, and the musicianship is based more around structural progression and the search for epic lead guitar melodies, as opposed to black metal's traditional focus on repetition and poor production values.
'Armada' is a very strong album, full of long songs that are complex enough to maintain interest over six to seven minutes apiece, without being too progressive to deter casual listeners. While I'm not fond of describing much heavy metal as genuinely 'epic' (only bands like Summoning come close), there are moments on this album where the music almost reaches that higher plain, particularly the warbling guitar harmonies of 'Winged Watcher' and the lengthy acoustic section of 'The Black Uncharted' that adds great atmosphere.
1. Surface
2. Crown of the Kings
3. The Black Uncharted
4. Vengeance Rising
5. Many Are We
6. Winged Watcher
7. Into the Fire
8. Deluge
9. The Wealth of Darkness
10. Armada
Chaos Is My Name
**
Written on 12.08.08
I'm always eager to listen to music proclaiming itself to be avant-garde, as although most of the time it's just a bunch of stoned musicians making rubbish noise, sometimes something beautiful and genre-defining will emerge. Not in the case of Khlyst's debut release though, which is mostly awful.
This album is a near fifty-fifty mix of freestyle black metal drone and tedious ambience, and just to further the band's obvious disdain for its own music, the tracks are merely numbered rather than named. Guitarist James Plotkin does nothing to impress here in the drone sections, sounding like he's tuning up all the time and playing the exact same slow riff behind songs I and III before varying slightly later on, and Tim Wyskida's drums only come into play on rare occasions. Runhild Gammelsæter is the most memorable performer, beginning the album with creepy black metal rasps devoid of musical accompaniment, and he pops up every song or two to deliver more of the same pig-squealing scatting.
It's unlikely that you would have come across this album anyway. But just in case you do, it would probably be best to avoid.
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
7. VII
8. VIII
Never Good Enough For You
***
Written on 01.09.08
I'm not usually a fan of hardcore bands whose meaningless tracklists consist of ridiculous titles that take longer to read aloud than they do to play out, but Killwhitneydead have enough of a death metal edge to keep things musically entertaining throughout. And even though the extensive samples from films and television shows are far from original, and frequently irrelevant, the style still works in a reasonably satisfying way for the first half of the album at least. At the very least, their interruptions of repeating guitar riffs contrive a false sense of excitement when the music returns some time later.
The disconcerting thing about this style is that it's almost impossible to tell where one song begins and the other ends, but as this isn't the sort of album that lends itself to serving up favourite tracks amidst the rest, it's enough to just sit back and enjoy the laughably misogynist journey.
1. Where There's Smoke
2. I Didn't Know 'I Love You' Came With a Knife in the Back
3. Duct Tape and Death Threats
4. The Fine and Subtle Art of Deception
5. I Already Have Enough Friends (Take Two)
6. Like You Didn't Hear Me the First Time I Told You to 'F**k Off'
7. Love Is Like a Mouth Full of Broken Glass
8. You Like Knife Play? I Love Knife Play (Want to Fuck?)
9. You'll Get Exactly What You Deserve (And Not One Bullet Less)
10. Forgiveness Isn't As Much Fun As Holding a Grudge
11. Broken Hearts Don't Hurt As Much As Broken Bones
12. Bitterness Is a Beautiful Thing
13. She Didn't Look Like She Had a Disease
14. Who Said Alcohol and Handguns Didn't Go Great Together?
15. It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself
16. Revenge (My Part Time Lover)
17. Nothing Says 'Party' Like Her Head On a Stick
Nothing Less Nothing More
***
Written on 01.09.08
Killwhitneydead have been pretty busy throughout their relatively short career thus far, and coming several years down the line, it's clear that the band has matured in a way. Though even the briefest glance at the tracklist proves that they really haven't in others.
The main difference between this album and the band's earlier material is that it's now much easier to discern specific songs due to changes in speed and a more coherent grasp of internal structure. The production quality is also more mechanical and less raw, which personally I'm not so fond of, but the band's technical proficiency is still a selling point, with enjoyable guitar solos such as that in track two.
My main gripe is that there's still far too much reliance on extended samples from films and television, and even though these samples are more relevant to the song titles this time round, they still serve to get in the way, especially as the album plods on.
1. Words Don't Last Forever Your Wounds Will
2. Just When You Thought I Was Listening
3. Time to Teach Her a Lesson Called 'Replaceable'
4. Put a Sock In It
5. Skip the Break Up, Get to the Make Up
6. (Here's an Idea) How About More of Me and Less of You
7. White Trash But Worth Every Cent
8. Losing Weight & Looking Great
9. Maybe Death is a Gift
10. If Only My Eyes Were Loaded
11. You Getting Boom Boom With the Bridesmaids?
12. Stop Crying Just Start Dying
13. Funny Enough It Sounds Just Like Tainted Love (7" Single Version)
In the Court of the Crimson King
Smiles as the Puppets Dance
*****
Written on 12.02.06
The groundbreaking debut record of progressive rock continues to be of interest to music historians. 1969 was the year of the first moon landings, the first gay rights, the final Beatles performance, Woodstock, continuing conflict in Vietnam and Northern Ireland, the first ATM machine and, of course, the withdrawal of the halfpenny as legal tender in the UK. What influence, if any, did this incredible year have on guitarist Robert Fripp and the musicians he assembled under the provisional name of Giles, Giles and Fripp?
None at all, evidently. ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ a surprising success, seems to have come out of nowhere. While the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ is rightly acclaimed for its experimentation and the young Pink Floyd’s albums were becoming increasingly complex, King Crimson were the first to produce, however unintentionally, the record that defined and kick-started the prog movement, with its textured atmospheres, crazy structures and darkly poetic lyrics from non-musician Peter Sinfield.
ITCOTCK, to use its even more confusing abbreviation, is lauded by many as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, but it isn’t without its weaknesses. Some of the experiments aren’t entirely successful, and there’s a tendency for songs to outstay their welcome, but on the whole this is an amazing independent work by some excellent musicians:
Robert Fripp, the band’s founder, guitarist and a man who has repeatedly found himself the only remaining band member over King Crimson’s long and turbulent existence, alternates between the loud and distorted heavy-metal-inspiring riffs that would dominate the band’s seventies output, and calmer, subdued acoustics for the softer songs.
Greg Lake, departing after this album to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, is responsible for the great melodic driving bass line that holds the insanity of the famous first track together, and handles vocal duties competently and clearly on all tracks, achieving his best performance on the haunting ‘Epitaph.’
Drummer Michael Giles, like Fripp, adapts seamlessly between manic and peaceful songs, but his greatest feat here is the wild jazzy drumming of ‘21st Schizoid Man.’ Ian McDonald handles all keyboard duties, including the roaring mellotron that dominates the title track. He also adds the exotic woodwind and flute sounds that enchance the album’s distinctive and much-imitated atmosphere.
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
… (including Mirrors)
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
… a) March for No Reason
… b) Tomorrow and Tomorrow
4. Moonchild
… a) The Dream
… b) The Illusion
5. The Court of the Crimson King
… a) The Return of the Fire Witch
… b) The Dance of the Puppets
The five songs on this album have become legendary in prog rock, and are superbly varied in style. After thirty seconds of quiet, distant background noise, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ explodes with its sax-and-guitar combo riff and leads into Lake’s distorted, angry, staccato screams. The song speeds all over the place during its seven minutes, but stays coherent and impressive, building up anticipation for the final reprise. Surely the most covered prog rock song outside of Pink Floyd, I’ve even heard an Ozzy Osbourne cover that is predictably irritating and rubbish.
It would be hard to top the madness and volume of the first track, and the music becomes far more subdued for most of the album as a result. This may disappoint some listeners, but the songs work so well (on the whole) that the album remains consistent and impressive. ‘I Talk to the Wind’ is the yin to Schizoid Man’s yang (or whichever one is the good, friendly half of the balance), dreamy and ethereal. McDonald’s flutes combine perfectly with the other instruments, this focus on coherence marking the song out from most other ballads.
‘Epitaph’ is an incredible song, another led by acoustic guitar but enhanced with the ever-popular mellotron, making this disillusioned epitaph sound like a bleaker equivalent of something like ‘Trespass’ by Genesis (released the following year). As mentioned earlier, Lake’s vocals are at their most powerful and effective here, especially in the chorus, blending perfectly against the backdrop, whether that’s a mellotron overload or simply a muted drum beat.
‘Moonchild’ is undoubtedly the weak point of the album, an overlong and frankly boring song. It’s pleasant enough for the first three minutes, if a little too quiet and similar to ‘I Talk to the Wind,’ but then tails off for ten minutes of more or less nothingness. Fans of soundscapes may find something to like in this sparse instrumental, but it’s even been admitted since that this section was created (probably improvised) because the album was too short. Moonchild serves only to lead into the epic conclusion.
With ‘The Court of the Crimson King,’ the band arguably saved the best song till last. Not as immediately impressive as ‘Schizoid Man,’ and lacking the depth of ‘Epitaph,’ the simple melodies and exaggerated chorus point this song in a hit single direction, perhaps hindered by the changes in instruments and the breaks taken in-between sections. The dominating mellotron somehow bridges the gap between the classical past and (at the time) ultra-modern period in creating a real courtly mood, aided greatly by Sinfield’s fantastical and memorable lyrics. The woodwind interlude and final reprise are a little unnecessary, but it’s a brilliant conclusion to the album that combines most of the best elements from the earlier songs and creates one of the earliest prog classics.
ITCOTCK is a necessary album for all prog rock fans, and despite its reliance on some distinctly 1969 traits, its lack of clear influences and contemporaries means it will never really sound dated. The studio production is crystal clear, as are the vocals, and there’s enough diversity in the song structures to keep fans listening to the album throughout their lives. It’s debatable whether the band succeeded in their goal to Anglicise rock, especially considering the obvious jazz influence, but their efforts are far more exciting and commendable than the romanticised pastoral sound of their far more successful contemporaries like Genesis and Yes.
A sixth song would have benefited this album greatly, avoiding the waste of time that is ‘Moonchild.’ Other tracks can seem too drawn-out sometimes, depending on the listener’s mood, especially ‘Schizoid Man’ and the final track, but based on the next album, the King Crimson of this era had used up their four brilliant song ideas already.
The song formula of aggression, calm, darkness, fusion and epic is completely successful. So successful, in fact, that King Crimson would accidentally repeat it entirely on 1970’s 'In the Wake of Poseidon,' at the same time forgetting to come up with another amazing and iconic album cover.
Advantages: A landmark album, four inspired songs
Disadvantages: 'Moonchild' is a waste of everyone's time
In the Wake of Poseidon
***
Written on 01.09.08
King Crimson's second album is difficult to review objectively, as its copy-cat structure largely mirrors its landmark predecessor 'In the Court of the Crimson King,' to the point that the songs can't hope to stand on their own merits so much as be judged as either superior or inferior versions of their equivalents from the first album. As this came second, it also brings the reflex prejudiced response of deeming them all inferior, which perhaps isn't always the case (though still certainly is for the most part).
King Crimson has never managed to sustain a coherent line-up throughout any period of its long career, and even on the second album it's clear that relationships are strained, with singer Greg Lake walking out before the recording was finished, leading to his replacement by the weaker Gordon Haskell on 'Cadence and Cascade.' Creatively, there isn't much to appeal to prog fans on this album as it's mostly lifted straight from the debut: 'Pictures of a City' is a fun, jazzy piece reminiscent of a less hectic '21st Century Schizoid Man,' 'Cadence and Cascade' is a tranquil ballad with flutes directly comparable to 'I Talk to the Wind,' and the title song is insultingly identical to the excellent 'Epitaph,' based heavily on the mellotron.
Oddly, it's where the album attempts something new that it ends up failing, as the band explores beyond the winning formula. This is most evident in the overlong and frankly tedious 'The Devil's Triangle,' which steals the theme from Holst's 'Mars, the Bringer of War' and spectacularly fails to do anything exciting with it.
1. Peace - A Beginning
2. Pictures of a City (including 42nd at Treadmill)
3. Cadence and Cascade
4. In the Wake of Poseidon (including Libra's Theme)
5. Peace - A Theme
6. Cat Food
7. The Devil's Triangle
... a) Mesday Morn
... b) Hand of Sceiron
... c) Garden of Worm
8. Peace - An End
Lizard
Stake a Lizard by the Throat
***
Written on 26.06.06
The third album by progressive rock pioneers King Crimson is the band’s most demanding, patchy and deservedly obscure. If nothing else, fans of avant-garde music should admire it for those very reasons. The band’s debut, ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ is a landmark of experimental rock, a brilliant fusion of modern (1969) technology and Medieval influence that acts as a dingy counterpart to the happy psychedelia and pastoral prog played by Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes around the same time. The second album, ‘In the Wake of Poseidon,’ disappointingly repeats exactly what the first album did, but with less impressive results. For ‘Lizard,’ released later the same year, Fripp and the other musicians created a record that stands apart in the Crimson discography for its basis in experimental jazz, which ultimately leads to the band’s first (and only) side-long song, the 23-minute eponymous ‘Lizard.’
This emphasis on jazz style lends the album a free-roaming, unsettling sound that is heavy on the horns. For listeners unaccustomed to the style, it can be a little off-putting, especially in the album’s second half. There are enough recognisable structures in the first four songs to avoid deterring newcomers, but fans of long epic prog rock songs, Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes,’ Genesis’ ‘Supper’s Ready,’ Yes’ ‘Close to the Edge,’ Rush’s ‘2112’ and, more recently, Porcupine Tree’s ‘The Sky Moves Sideways’ and Dream Theater’s ‘A Change of Seasons,’ won’t necessarily appreciate the length granted to ‘Bolero’ and ‘The Battle of the Glass Tears’ in the second half. Lizard is a challenging and demanding album, even for prog fans who pride themselves on having what it takes to handle everything the seventies can throw at them.
Former vocalist Greg Lake departed to form one third of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (in which he starred as the ‘Lake’ one), and Greg Haskell was recruited as the new voice to ethereally spout the dark, fantastical, unusual lyrics written, as usual, by non-performer Peter Sinfield. Haskell had appeared on ‘Cadence and Cascade’ on the previous Crimson album, and his vocals impress as much as Lake’s on that album, although don’t approach the level of the debut. For some reason, Jon Anderson of Yes makes a guest appearance half-way through the album, lending his androgynous angelic voice to the opening part of the album’s ‘epic’ composition.
The single stable element in King Crimson is influential guitarist and keyboard player Robert Fripp, as even at this early point in the band’s history, all other performers were subject to change. Fripp’s co-founders Giles and Giles have now both departed, bass guitar duties handled by vocalist Haskell and drums by Robert McCulloch, both of whom would depart before the next release. This temporary line-up appears to be a studio-necessitated phenomenon, and would never tour or exist in any form thereafter.
King Crimson, ‘Lizard’ (Atlantic, 1970)
1. Cirkus (including Entry of the Chameleons)
2. Indoor Games
3. Happy Family
4. Lady of the Dancing Water
Lizard:
5. a) Prince Rupert Awakes
6. b) Bolero – The Peacock’s Tale
7. c) The Battle of the Glass Tears
____i) Dawn Song
____ii) Last Skirmish
____iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament
8. Big Top
If any single song from this overlooked album deserves to appear in at least one King Crimson live set or compilation CD, it’s the opener ‘Cirkus.’ An unforgettable yet simple guitar-and-sax riff looms ominously between Haskell’s soft-spoken verses, all of which taper to a louder vocal assault not dissimilar to Lake’s on the first album’s title track. At six and a half minutes, ‘Cirkus’ is the closest to perfection that this album attains, although it’s still in a radically different league than ‘In the Court of the Crimson King.’ ‘Indoor Games’ and ‘Happy Family’ take a disappointing refrain from this nightmarish darkness, opting for a more melodic mood, the latter of which sounds similar to early Genesis, circa ‘Nursery Cryme.’ It’s a problem common to King Crimson that by changing line-up so often, and veering off in such drastically uncharacteristic musical directions, is it still the same band we’re listening to? It’s certainly not typical of the distinctive Crimson sound, or rather what I imagine that to be amidst all this evolution.
‘Indoor Games’ isn’t very impressive, but ‘Happy Family’ at least manages to be more complex; Haskell’s vocals are all over the place, playing around with a weird staccato style rather than the excellent pseudo-singing of the first track, and the middle of the song seems fairly directionless. The final song on side one of the album’s vinyl pressing is ‘Lady of the Dancing Water,’ which again doesn’t sound particularly Crimson-esque, despite obviously being this album’s continuation of the flute-ballad trend that began with the excellent ‘I Talk to the Wind’ and continued with the less excellent ‘Cadence and Cascade.’ ‘Lady of the Dancing Water’ is the least impressive of the three, despite Mel Collins’ pleasant flute work, and is too short at under three minutes to actually go anywhere.
Side two is dominated by the ‘Lizard’ suite. Floyd fans should think more along the lines of ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (released the same year) than ‘Echoes,’ as this is predominantly a brass-led instrumental extravaganza with minimal focus on coherence. The exception is the first section, an airy sing-along piece with soft piano by Ken Tippet, and Jon Anderson’s pleasant vocal cords. Strangely addictive and compelling, this couldn’t sound more dissimilar to the rest of the piece. ‘Bolero’ is jazz for people who are scared of jazz, although it can still be pretty intimidating. More jazz-rock than prog-rock, it’s nevertheless well performed and emotionally confusing to jazz newcomers. I think I quite like it. At seven minutes, it’s not the most concise instrumental offering, but it could have been a lot worse; despite evidence to the contrary, I believe that Fripp seeks to avoid overindulgence in King Crimson.
‘The Battle of the Glass Tears’ is likely the most intriguing and rewarding part of the entire album upon repeated listens, and I haven’t even come close to fully appreciating it. A lengthy piece that opens with dialogue and proceeds to more instrumental fun, the horn section trying to recreate the sound of a battle and its aftermath, this is truly a twentieth-century answer to classical compositions in the same vein. The album ends with the brief ‘Big Top,’ an unnecessary instrumental reminder of ‘Cirkus’ that seems more like a desperate attempt to add structure to a crazy album. It may have been more wise and pleasing to end with the final notes of ‘Lizard,’ but this isn’t a major criticism of the album.
Lizard was an overlooked King Crimson album right from the start, released the same year as their eagerly-anticipated sophomore effort and featuring an almost entirely different line-up and musical direction. It would take two more albums for Fripp and friends to finally settle on a direction, and even that brief solidarity would be gone by 1975. The band’s first live album, ‘USA,’ overlooks this album’s contribution entirely, although that’s forgivable at only six tracks in length. What’s more surprising is the complete absence of choice cuts, admittedly few, such as ‘Cirkus’ and ‘Prince Rupert Awakes’ being excluded from the numerous official ‘best-of’ compilations released over the decades: ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson’ (1976), ‘The Compact King Crimson’ (1986), ‘The Abbreviated King Crimson’ (1991), ‘The Concise King Crimson’ (1993) and ‘A Beginner’s Guide to the King Crimson Collector’s Club’ (1999).
Even the 1999 update of ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson,’ entitled ‘Cirkus’ of all things, fails to feature that track. The only appearance of Lizard material outside the album itself comes with the addition of an edited ‘Bolero’ in the four-disc boxsets ‘Frame By Frame: The Essential King Crimson’ (1991) and ‘21st Century Guide: Volume 1’ (2004), sneaking its way into the end of disc two. It’s perhaps not surprising, given Fripp’s own alleged disappointment at the direction of Lizard, but there’s enough impressive material here to feature occasionally, rather than endless re-releases of ‘21st Century Schizoid Man.’
Lizard is a strange and not completely remarkable album in a fairly zany discography, but dedicated prog rock fans should certainly try it out as, chronologically at least, it’s one of the genre classics. Jon Anderson’s cameo hints at a direction the band could have headed, and indeed seemed to try with the next album, the melodic ‘Islands,’ before abandoning such leanings completely for the grinding, beautiful noisiness of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.’ ‘Cirkus’ is a good song, and the title suite is fun too. The lyrics are intriguing in their customary lack of meaning, and the cover art is nice. I quite like this album.
Advantages: Early, experimental prog rock for people afraid of real jazz.
Disadvantages: Several weak songs, with too much focus on variation.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Dynasty Turns Nasty
***
Written on 01.09.07
King Crimson’s fifth album brings forth, once again, an almost entirely different line-up, with guitarist and founder Robert Fripp being the only permanent member. While such instability potentially alienates fans of the band’s earlier works, the constant introduction of fresh blood and myriad ideas allows for a discography of highly distinctive albums to keep fans on their toes. One of this wildly inconsistent and tirelessly experimental band’s most wildly inconsistent and tirelessly experimental albums, ‘Larks’ Tongues’ is mostly comprised of lengthy, complex instrumentals with a central section of more commercially viable vocal songs, and like many of their more detailed works takes a number of listens to fully appreciate or even enjoy.
Aside from the point of reference provided by Fripp, the mid-70s incarnation of King Crimson comprised bass player and vocalist John Wetton, violinist David Cross and drummer Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes), a line-up that would remain through two more albums until the band’s extended hiatus following the excellent ‘Red.’ This release departs significantly from the Medieval-influenced, mellotron-drenched symphonic prog typified by the classic debut album, but retains the jazz influence of ‘Lizard’ and the tranquillity of ‘Islands,’ combining them with some raw and aggressive proto-heavy metal to create an album that was entirely unique at the time; delicate and elegant while brutal and corrosive (hence the strange title).
In truth, the sound tends to vary between these extremes with very noticeable seams, the central songs in particular owing more to the chilled-out, radio-friendly prog of the previous album, the more extreme sections being confined largely to the bisected title track, though it’s the surprising heaviness of the latter style that stays the most memorable afterwards. Half of these songs soon became live favourites, and can be found easily on commercial live releases of the time, notably the following year’s ‘USA.’ Popular opinion contends that the live releases are preferable for their greater energy and rawer sound, but this album exudes a vibe of controlled disorder, improvisation within boundaries, allowing the original versions to remain definitive.
1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
2. Book of Saturdays
3. Exiles
4. Easy Money
5. The Talking Drum
6. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two
The two uneven halves of the title suite characterise the harder edge of this album, and the thirteen-minute, prog-fusion opener serves to keep unadventurous listeners at a safe distance. The most obvious but relevant comment to make is that it is, indeed, far too long for a song of this type, building very slowly but forgivably over three minutes with some excellent percussion and ominous violins before launching into a violent main section that soon burns out and leaves the remaining bulk of the song to be carried almost solely by Cross’ violin. The song will primarily be remembered for the few minutes immediately following the long introduction, the simplistic but highly effective guitar riff working brilliantly against the fascinating and varied Eastern-tinged percussion of notable guest Jamie Muir, and although the remainder is forgettable by comparison it still offers much for attentive listeners or musicians seeking inspiration. Fripp fades out of the limelight to allow his bandmates to show off their talents, most notable in Cross’ dirty-but-sweet violin dominating the proceedings but also the continued percussion and an excellent bass section for Wetton.
John Wetton’s voice is evidently not as strong as his bass work, evidenced on the three songs that follow, but like the late Quorthon of Scandinavian black metal band Bathory, the rawness and lack of professionalism only makes it more endearing to me. ‘Book of Saturdays’ is the least interesting song on the album, presumably stuck in second place to provide something palatable for those deterred by the gargantuan opening piece, and maintains the mellow mood. Fripp and Cross play at their lightest and most relaxed in tandem, which sounds very pleasant but doesn’t distinguish itself from what is essentially the same thing they’re doing for the rest of the album. Wetton’s afore-mentioned vocals are airy and similar to what Pink Floyd were doing around this time, even resorting to a chorus of ‘doo-doo-doos’ for wont of lyrics, much the same as Floyd’s ‘Green is the Colour.’ ‘Exiles’ is much more impressive, easily the highlight of the vocal part of the album, despite seeming in some ways like an updated version of the band’s classic ‘Epitaph’ from the first record. Fripp and Cross are at their best here, creating a consistent melodic harmony without showing off too much, Fripp allowing himself a relaxed guitar slow-lo at the end. Wetton’s vocal melody is great in this, creatively out of time from the main rhythm (I presume it was intentional, and not merely due to incompetence) and managing to make this more distinct from ‘Epitaph’ than it otherwise would have sounded.
Based principally on an easily memorable guitar riff and simple titular chorus, ‘Easy Money’ is bound to be one of the songs that stands out on early listens more than the more subtle and complex works elsewhere, which is a shame as it doesn’t offer an awful lot in comparison. The marching rhythm keeps things consistent from the onset, not descending into the near-silence that pervades many of the other songs, and Wetton’s Beatles-style vocals in unison with himself are once again a little off, though it sounds more jarring in a straightforward song like this. The second half sees a somewhat surprising descent into a slow jam, which I enjoy far more than the main section of the song but that still sounds out of place, especially with the instrumental tracks that come after. That said, the reprise of the chorus is a nice and welcome touch at the end, and this song at least forms a stable centre for those who are otherwise lost, and really shouldn’t be listening to this type of album in the first place.
Despite its deceptive title, ‘The Talking Drum’ is not simply a drum solo, for which I am very thankful. Bruford is the main star of the piece, but it’s also a chance for the other musicians to return to the sort of things they were doing in the first song, before that annoying need to stop alienating people and make proper songs got in the way. As usual, the first half is quiet and calm in an attempt to deceive listeners into turning up their speakers for the louder second half, where Bruford’s drums and Wetton’s bass take on a harder edge, but Fripp and Cross remain melodic. It’s a nice song, but overshadowed in a big way by its successor, the second part of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.’ Unlike the first song, this launches straight into a squealing start, which instantly makes it the better of the two. Indeed, just about everything that was regrettable about the first song is remedied here, with Fripp’s loud guitar remaining prominent throughout its entirety and the other instruments relegated largely to the background, becoming more audible at the right moments. This song represents everything that the mid-70s King Crimson excelled at (along with the entirety of the ‘Red’ album), which also unfortunately serves to expose the forty minutes leading up to it as below the band’s abilities. Cross’ violin explodes into a screeching, discordant rage before joining in with Fripp once again, ready for the inevitable grand finale that is entirely satisfying and only slightly overdone.
As an album for musicians or improvisation enthusiasts, ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ is fairly good, but spoiled by the more mundane stuff in the middle. For the average listener, there are some standable songs in the centre, surrounded by a screeching, hammering cacophony. This is certainly a transitional, and even introductory album for King Crimson’s most stable line-up (which is really saying something), and it would take a bout of extensive touring, interrupted by the half-arsed ‘Starless and Bible Black’ album, for the band to really come into its own and record one of the finest progressive rock albums of all time in 1974. Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford and David Cross are all excellent and suitably ego-centric musicians whose collaboration had a shaky start, but could only improve from the lessons learned on wild rides like this one.
Arguably superior versions of ‘Larks’ Tongues’ part two, ‘Exiles’ and ‘Easy Money’ form the bulk of the fairly good ‘USA’ live album, but serious fans will want to own the other two interesting, if significantly flawed instrumentals on this strange record that are hard to come by in other forms. Ahead of its time certainly, the style of the title songs now being present in endless hardcore-tinged ‘prog metal’ bands who employ a violinist, but it could only achieve the lukewarm popularity it did in the pretentious early seventies. People said Bruford was crazy to leave Yes and join this chaotic cluster, but that’s just the sort of stupid maverick action that easily wins me over, and it’s clear that the rushed nature of these lesser releases is largely due to a busy schedule, three albums coming out in the space of a year and a half.
Advantages: Unprecedented anger balanced by predictable calm.
Disadvantages: The bits that aren’t quite great are entirely mediocre.
Red
*****
Written on 01.09.08
King Crimson's final album for the best part of a decade, 'Red' would have been a fitting swan song as the finest album in the band's erratic discography since their classic 1969 debut. Similar to that earlier album, there are five tracks beginning with comparatively straightforward prog rock songs (I'm using 'comparatively straightforward' in the loosest possible sense) before letting loose some instrumental indulgence in the longer final couple. Fortunately, each song is excellent, from the back-to-basics rock instrumental 'Red' to the grand finale 'Starless.'
This was the tightest incarnation of the band, here cut down to a three-piece (with several guest performers drafted in when necessary), and the band's song writing ability was never better. The first three songs entirely leave behind the drawn-out, rambling style of the previous few albums in favour of something more easily accessible, though no less worthy of the experienced listener, and there's a great balance between hectic and slower, softer rhythms.
'Providence' is the only song that stands out as being a little too self-indulgent, the only song here aimed more towards avant-garde fans, but even this is a vast improvement over the similar failed experiments on the previous album. The finale 'Starless' is the real highlight, mixing mellotron and guitar in the way only Robert Fripp can. My only real gripe with the otherwise perfect album is that John Wetton's voice can be a little grating.
1. Red
2. Fallen Angel
3. One More Red Nightmare
4. Providence
5. Starless
USA
O'er the Land of the Free
***
Written on 04.09.06
It’s bizarre that King Crimson hold a place as one of my favourite progressive rock bands, as the constant shifting of band members and musical styles between every album signify more than a little instability. Guitarist Robert Fripp became the only original member of the line-up a mere one year after the band’s debut album, and this trend continued throughout the seventies, with a brief spell of stability recorded here.
The drably titled ‘USA’ is the band’s second live album after the disappointing ‘Earthbound’ in 1972. King Crimson’s continuing process of rebirth inevitably leads to each significant ‘era’ of the band playing many of its more recent songs (as opposed to old favourites written by an almost entirely different group of musicians), however from time to time the band would hit upon a timeless classic that would hold a place in the live repertoire thereafter. ‘USA,’ a chronicle of the 1974 tour, features the most effective and creative King Crimson incarnation to date: the line-up of Fripp, John Wetton (bass and vocals) and Bill Bruford (drums) remained consistent for a staggering three studio albums, all released within a year and a half.
Released shortly after the band’s excellent ‘Red’ album, but sadly before any of those songs had been performed live, this live album focuses predominantly on songs taken from the ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ album, but features a song each from ‘Starless and Bible Black’ and ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ (sadly not the title track) as well as an impressive free-form improvisation. With the exception of the final track, all songs were recorded at the Casino in Asbury Park, New Jersey on June 28th 1974, and all sound far better in their raw and fuzzy live heaviness than the thinner sound of the originals. For some reason, the band’s most famous number ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ was taken from a different show in Providence two days later, and is tethered to the rest of the album by a rather shoddy fade-in-and-out.
1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part II
2. Lament
3. Exiles
4. Asbury Park
5. Easy Money
6. 21st Century Schizoid Man
The two parts of the ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ suite that bookend their namesake studio album are the most distressingly ear-piercingly heavy songs in the King Crimson discography, contributing taking their cues from the burgeoning heavy metal genre. While the severely overlong and repetitive ‘Part I’ took a lifetime to begin and ran out of steam four minutes in, the band made the right decision in performing the much improved ‘Part II’ as their live opener. Based on several of Fripp’s heaviest guitar riffs, and featuring the best bass and drum performances of the album, this six-minute instrumental employs David Cross’ violins better than anywhere else, and features enough shifts and reprises to keep things interested for the enthusiastic (if tinny) crowd.
Both ‘Lament’ and ‘Exiles’ are more laid-back pieces, and the latter is especially improved over the studio version. ‘Lament’ is a little disappointing and bland, especially as the band had accumulated several much better songs in a similar style by this point, but features some rare and inoffensive piano. ‘Exiles’ is one of the show’s highlights. Carefully modified, this is a great relaxed and proggy song that leads seamlessly into the band’s jazzy improvisation, simply labelled ‘Asbury Park.’ Without much in the way of focus, this is the album’s main selling point to fans of either the band itself or improvisation in general: Fripp is astounding as always, and Cross’ keyboards particularly shine, although personally I could have done without Bruford's rather long and showy drum intro. The ditty’s unrestrained nature may be off-putting to newcomers, but certainly won’t be anything new to those familiar with the band’s work, especially the afore-mentioned ‘Larks’ Tongues’ pieces and the jazz epic ‘Lizard.’
Next, starting impressively but soon resigned to repetition, ‘Easy Money’ is led by a very nice Mediterranean-sounding electric riff from Fripp, before attention turns to his backing mellotron. Bruford plays around with the drum timing somewhat, which proves more distracting than entertaining. Overall, this is the album’s weakest point, but the band’s preference for playing newer material means there aren’t many realistic alternatives (though ‘The Night Watch’ would have been nice). As zany and unpredictable as a King Crimson live show may be, the compiler of this album nevertheless couldn’t resist ending things with ‘21st Century Schizoid Man,’ the band’s most well-known song. As I’m much more familiar with the original, this live version is pretty interesting: Wetton’s muffled vocals aren’t anywhere near as good as Greg Lake’s, and although the improved heavy sound of the instruments suits this ‘Larks’ Tongues’ era fine, this leads to a much reduced focus on Ian McDonald’s crazy sax. It’s a really good live version, and a fine alternative to the classic.
The re-release of this CD (which I don't have) adds the extra tracks ‘Fracture’ and ‘Starless,’ the latter of which should be particularly interesting, and a brief introduction called ‘No Pussyfooting’ which lasts for about thirty seconds. As the main chronicle of the second major era of King Crimson, the main problem of ‘USA’ is historical, as it features none of the excellent songs from ‘Red’ which number among the band’s best (although it’s hardly this album’s fault is it?) These songs appear later in the live discography, which seems to be growing rapidly each year as more and more bootlegs are given official releases.
As Red’s rushed predecessor ‘Starless and Bible Black’ was primarily a live album itself, with the crowd noise removed from performances of new songs presumably to save on studio time, only one measly song is included here (and it is a very measly one). This leaves the bulk of ‘USA’ to be filled with the best half of ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic,’ which it thankfully improves upon. With the exception once again of the timeless ‘Schizoid Man,’ King Crimson’s first three albums are deliberately completely ignored.
As can be expected from a live album recorded in the early seventies, the sound quality is noticeably inferior to today’s standards, but the clear sound and fairly even mix of all the instruments puts it far above the realms of a bootleg. Fripp’s deep guitar is given a kick in a heavy metal direction that wasn’t always present on the original songs, but the performances and structures are quintessentially prog rock. I’m not sure whether I prefer the flat sound of this crowd to the roaring Dolby 5.1 audiences audible on more recent releases, but like Iron Maiden’s ‘Live After Death’ and Judas Priest’s ‘Unleashed in the East,’ the energy and amplifier set-up of these live shows far outshines the more measured work in the studio. The set-list is disappointingly short by modern standards at six songs and forty minutes, but a double LP release would only have introduced a large amount of filler, without remedying any of the issues with the standard album.
I hesitate to recommend ‘USA’ for the reason I’d worry about recommending any King Crimson album, even to those familiar with some of their work. This is entirely a live album of the hard rocking Fripp/Wetton/Bruford incarnation of the band, and as such won’t necessarily appeal to those who enjoyed the mellotron-soaked tranquillity of the famous debut, or Fripp's strange new-wave offerings of the eighties. Music aficionados may find the ‘Asbury Park’ improv to be of particular interest, but such leanings could alienate those who prefer the simpler, softer side of things with ‘Lament’ and ‘Exiles.’ It’s a nice mix, but clearly there really isn’t any way to win, unless you’re a King Crimson fanatic. And if you’re going to be fanatic about anything, why not this fascinating and temperamental bunch of skilled musicians?
There are plenty of other King Crimson live albums and box-sets out there with all numbers of discs, so fans are given a wide smorgasbord to choose from. ‘USA’ isn’t the best, but it’s historically one of the most important.
Advantages: Good production sound; improvement on studio versions; 'Asbury Park' improv.
Disadvantages: Some weak selections, and it's all far too short.
Fatal Portrait
****
Written on 01.09.08
The first 'solo' album from Mercyful Fate frontman King Diamond ends up being a comparatively modest effort to highlight the whole band's abilities, lacking much of the over-the-top showmanship and camp horror aesthetic of the King's subsequent works. While it isn't as technically proficient or tight as its successor 'Abigail,' this is still a noteworthy release that stands out in the often indistinguishable King Diamond discography.
Recorded in 1986, the production is a little weak, which lessens the impact of many of Andy LaRoque's guitar riffs but also adds an enjoyable echoed effect to King Diamond's high wailing vocals. Only a select few songs on here sound like the material the band would produce hereafter, the excellent 'Halloween' anthem in particular, as most are relatively slow and dingy, enhanced by creepy keyboards.
Anyone who was deterred by the slightly ludicrous campness of King Diamond's later works might even find something to enjoy here; on the other hand, if that's what attracted you to the band in the first place, you may be a little disappointed.
1. The Candle
2. The Jonah
3. The Portrait
4. Dressed in White
5. Charon
6. Lurking in the Dark
7. Halloween
8. Voices from the Past
9. Haunted
Abigail
A Heavy Metal Horror Movie
****
Written on 25.09.06
Danish band King Diamond’s ‘Abigail’ is a staple of horror movie heavy metal, and is the most impressive of the former Mercyful Fate frontman’s ‘solo’ releases (aided in no small part by lead guitarist Andy LaRocque and the other musicians accompanying the King’s torturous multi-octave wails). These nine very cool songs tell the gothic ghost story of a house under a horrific curse, narrated in part by the ghost of Count La’Fey, who threw his pregnant wife down the stairs to kill her bastard daughter Abigail. But the stillborn corpse intends to wreak its revenge on the house’s occupiers forevermore, and the album begins, as King Diamond himself helpfully screeches in the opening song, in the summer of 1845.
The concept is entertaining and the music strangely fitting, in a hairy eighties heavy rock kind of way. One of metal’s most intriguing frontmen, the music always takes second place to King Diamond’s extreme vocals and shock rock stage act (I can reveal that his inevitably disappointing real name is Kim Petersen), but these early albums manage to strike something of a balance. ‘Abigail’ is by far the finest and less ridiculous of these, and many of the songs still form a vital part of the band’s live set to this day. Only its successor ‘Them’ is a worthy rival in terms of album concept and lyrics, concerning itself entirely with a boy’s fear of his insane grandma.
The story is told in an appropriately gothic manner, beginning in the ‘present day’ of 1845 and proceeding in the album’s second half to delve into the terrible events of 1777 before returning to the present for the necessary tragic ending.
Andy LaRocque’s guitars are exceptional on this album, and would never sound as good again. Most tracks are led by a distinctive and memorable lead riff, while the album’s more tender or sinister moments explore equally skilful acoustic territory. ‘Arrival’ is perhaps the highlight of the album as the powerful opener (after the relatively short introduction track), while the epic finale ‘Black Horsemen’ is the album’s technical peak. King ‘Kim’ Diamond’s distinctive vocals may take some time to get used to, and may indeed be either the most incredible or most preposterous high screams you’ve ever heard, as he unashamedly strives to outdo Halford, Dio, Dickinson and the rest of the screeching frontmen that made the eighties so cool (I guess. I can’t remember much about that decade aside from Postman Pat).
With albums so heavily involved in a concept, there always comes the danger of filler material that the writer finds it necessary to include for the good of the story at a cost to the listener’s entertainment (Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ is probably the most famous example of this, ending up a whole disc too long). ‘Abigail’ avoids this, as every song holds its own; aside from ‘Funeral,’ basically an introductory set-up to the story told by Diamond in an unsettling, distorted rasp, the album could be enjoyed whether the listener gives two hoots about the concept or not. They should though, as the over-the-top horror show theatrics sound a lot more entertaining when grounded in a plot like this, even if it is pretty predictable and unoriginal.
King Diamond went on to release the unnecessary sequel ‘Abigail II’ almost twenty years later, but like all of the band’s releases since they hit the 90s, it holds very little of interest. The self-appointed King’s first three albums are his finest, the logical extension of the genre-defining stuff he did with Mercyful Fate in the early 80s before they wimped out, and should be easily enjoyed by fans of like-minded bands. ‘Abigail’ fuses the sound of Judas Priest with the manic stage presence of Alice Cooper or Arthur Brown, but ends up the least accessible of the lot.
1. Funeral
2. Arrival
3. A Mansion in Darkness
4. The Family Ghost
5. The 7th Day of July 1777
6. Omens
7. The Possession
8. Abigail
9. Black Horsemen
Advantages: Great guitars, nice concept and very distinctive vocals.
Disadvantages: The sound becomes repetitive after a while.
"Them"
****
Written on 01.09.08
Another great entry in the highly consistent King Diamond discography, "Them" is one of the band's defining works, and easily the peak of their silliness, however tongue-in-cheek it's intended to be. A concept album that wants to be a cheap horror film, "Them" tells the tale of a grandma's return home from a mental asylum, her reunion with the ghosts in the attic and the initiation of her young grandson to share her fate. There's a lot of stuff about drinking tea as well, with track four possessing the only tea-based heavy metal chorus that I'm aware of.
It's clearly ridiculous, and however much the band and King Diamond himself throw themselves into the whole horror movie gimmick, it's obvious that this isn't as serious a work as the previous 'Abigail.' Even the intro pokes fun at itself, and the album's biggest downfall is that it does tend to favour the concept over the music itself as the album draws to a close, with too many interludes in place of full-length songs. This isn't the case for the first half of the album though, which features many classic King Diamond songs but which is clearly dominated by the excellent 'Welcome Home,' a song that features King Diamond and Andy LaRoque at their very best, and never gets old.
1. Out From the Asylum
2. Welcome Home
3. The Invisible Guests
4. Tea
5. Mother's Getting Weaker
6. Bye, Bye Missy
7. A Broken Spell
8. The Accusation Chair
9. "Them"
10. Twilight Symphony
11. Coming Home
12. Phone Call
Advantages: Fun horror movie heavy metal.
Disadvantages: Pretty daft.
The Spider's Lullabye
***
Written on 02.09.08
After a substantial gap that saw King Diamond return to his former band Mercyful Fate, the Danish shock rock star finally unveiled 'The Spider's Lullabye,' an album that had allegedly been written as far back as 1991. This is one of the band's weaker releases on the whole, but will still be enjoyed by fans as a more melodic take on the usual style, even more so than the previous 'The Eye.' It's just not as memorable on the whole, the exception being the catchy opener 'From the Other Side.'
There are still some hard rocking songs here, chiefly 'Killer,' 'Six Feet Under' and 'Eastmann's Cure,' but the style now lacks the excitement of earlier releases, meaning that the slower, melodic tracks such as 'The Poltergeist' and 'The Spider's Lullabye' end up being favourable. King Diamond's voice is almost entirely rooted in the high end of the scale which spoils its effect through over-use, and will doubtless prove extremely annoying to the uninitiated, but perhaps the biggest disappointment of all is that the album largely forgoes the traditional horror story concept, with only the latter half devoted to a comparatively dull tale of a man's deathly phobia of spiders.
1. From the Other Side
2. Killer
3. The Poltergeist
4. Dreams
5. Moonlight
6. Six Feet Under
7. The Spider's Lullabye
8. Eastmann's Cure
9. Room 17
10. To The Morgue
Voodoo
****
Written on 02.09.08
'Voodoo' sounds like a step in the right direction from a band teetering perilously on the edge of mediocrity, as King Diamond and his Danish boys serve up a heavier and angrier affair than the comparatively melodic previous albums. Andy LaRoque's hard riffs and frantic solos possess a lot more energy than they've had in years, and King Diamond's vocals commendably remain predominantly in the lower range, only using his trademark banshee wails for accentuation.
This album's lyrical concept concerns a wealthy nineteenth-century family moving to a mansion in the Louisiana swamps, and their subsequent right-wing attempts to eradicate the local voodoo community. As ever, it's not the most original plot King Diamond has penned, but it provides an excellent framework for the album's musical journey, not to mention that the twist ending is undeniably cool. Stand-out songs include the energetic and catchy title track, featuring a guest solo from the late Dimebag Darrell of Pantera (incredibly overrated, but let's not speak ill of the dead), and the subsequent tracks that follow a thrash metal approach. This is the best King Diamond album since 'Conspiracy.'
1. Louisiana Darkness
2. LOA House
3. Life After Death
4. Voodoo
5. A Secret
6. Salem
7. One Down Two to Go
8. Sending of Dead
9. Sarah's Night
10. The Exorcist
11. Unclean Spirits
12. Cross of Baron Samedi
13. If They Only Knew
14. Aftermath
Deadly Lullabyes Live
*****
Written on 02.09.08
With a discography as diverse and conceptual as King Diamond's, attempts to compile a collection of the 'best' songs is always going to be difficult, but the band makes a valiant effort with this live set-list recorded on the tour for 'The Puppet Master.' To promote that new album, the band obviously chooses to perform several of its songs in place of old classics, but it was such a good album in any case that this doesn't present a problem.
The set opens with a selection of songs from the classic 'Abigail,' clearly an admission by the band itself that it hasn't recorded anything quite comparable in the decades since, and after this follows a well-chosen mix of classic cuts from "Them," 'Conspiracy,' 'The Eye' and the more recent 'Abigail II,' seemingly ignoring the comparatively forgettable releases from the 1990s altogether. As most King Diamond albums follow a conceptual story, the songs are arranged well to avoid the narratives clashing with each other too badly, not that fans familiar with the plots would care anyway.
It's to the band's credit that the new songs from 'The Puppet Master' opening disc two are greeted with as much enthusiasm from the crowd as the later old-school classics served up for encores, and it would be difficult to top this as a King Diamond live release.
Disc 1
1. Funeral
2. A Mansion in Darkness
3. The Family Ghost
4. Black Horsemen
5. Spare This Life
6. Mansion in Sorrow
7. Spirits
8. Sorry Dear
9. Eye of the Witch
10. Sleepless Nights
Disc 2
1. The Puppet Master
2. Blood to Walk
3. So Sad
4. Living Dead (Outro)
5. Welcome Home
6. The Invisible Guests
7. Burn
8. Introductions
9. Halloween
10. No Presents for Christmas
Alive II
Men in Make Up
**
Written on 27.05.04
In the seventies it was okay for men to wear make-up, and most of them did. Kiss’ make-up was based on a flimsy and pretty unnecessary system of keeping the universe in harmony:
* Bass player and alternate vocalist Gene Simmons’ demonic make-up represented the evil elements of the world, and this automatically made him the cool member who male fans liked best and wanted to be exactly like, although probably less obese.
* Main vocalist and rhythm guitar player Paul Stanley’s star-painted eye represented the infinity of space, and probably secretly indicated how good he felt his sustained wails were in comparison to its infinity.
* Lead guitar player Ace Frehley had make-up that would nowadays be considered a little camp, even in comparison to the bare-chested lead singer. Plenty of silver make-up to catch the lighting.
* Last and apparently least is the drummer, Peter Criss. According to the TV series Family Guy, “no one wants to be Peter Criss, not even Peter Criss.” The reason for this hatred is unclear, and I’d prefer to keep the mystery, although an amusing search of eBay shows that he personally has 0% recommendation in comparison to the 100% of the others. He was painted as a cat, which is just an animal really.
KISS (AND) ME
Possibly the cheesiest and oldest album I have ever subjected myself to, Kiss’ second live release has long been hailed as one of the definitive live albums, despite its infamous reputation of tampering in the studio to clean up the vocals. In the seventies, and for some of the eighties, this painted, leather-clad American four-piece captured the imaginations of a large number of young people, their legacy living on today in the form of extortionate collectables and nostalgic TV programmes.
I have long been familiar with Kiss, and despite not really being a fan of their camp-pop-glam-rock style I have enjoyed the occasional song on occasion, having been exposed to their track ‘God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II’ during the closing credits of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey several times a year as a child, but it was a while before I decided to hear an album.
ALIVE II
Kiss’ first live album, titled ‘Alive!’, was a huge hit internationally, and this band did not wait long before releasing a second live anthology containing different songs. Originally on double vinyl, this was long ago transferred to CD format and is most often found spread across two discs.
DISC 1
1. DETROIT ROCK CITY
Some unintelligible screaming breaks into the recognisable riff from one of Kiss’ more well-known songs, punctuated by well-timed and predictable expensive explosions in the first minute. Being a ‘casual’ ‘fan’ of Kiss, this is one of the songs I was previously familiar with and one of my favourites- it has a very catchy beat and some great dual guitar sections halfway through, while not possessing any of the qualities that make other Kiss songs grate on my eardrums. A great opener, nice bass groove from Gene, there was also a film of the same name that apparently featured a Kiss concert as the quite pretentious goal of the lead character. I never saw it.
2. KING OF THE NIGHT TIME WORLD
The sustain of the guitar leads into the next track, an upbeat rock and roll affair with an infectious chorus, spoiled slightly in my opinion by some dated guitar work that unfortunately reminds me of seventies things I dislike. Not including these, these are okay. This is quite a short track.
3. LADIES’ ROOM
Some light banter on the subject of pretty ladies leads into another pretty unimaginative track, but again quite a catchy one, vocals being handled primarily by Gene. Again this sounds exactly the same in terms of structure and guitars to many other bands of the time such as Status Quo, and there’s nothing to impress me here.
4. MAKIN’ LOVE
This very upfront song gets a great reaction from the crowd and has some good guitar work, despite the unimaginative vocals; credit should be given to the rare guitar and drum solos towards the end.
5. LOVE GUN
A more popular song with some very memorable vocals and drumming, this at least gets the structure right, and the crowd seem to love it. The song fades out at the end, a tell-tale sign of the days of vinyl.
6. CALLING DR. LOVE
Still on the theme of love, this is another good track with some good use of short guitar bursts to punctuate the rhythm. I can’t help but visualise the inevitable faces of Ace Frehley on the lengthy guitar solo, and despite being hated, Peter Criss pulls off some well planned drumming on this one. The high-pitched backing vocals are a little irritating, and I still can’t condone the lyrics.
7. CHRISTINE SIXTEEN
Gene’s growling voice is accompanied by a unison chorus with Paul Stanley, but this is yet another unimpressive track that isn’t different enough from the rest to truly sound imaginative. There is good use of guitar though, something that often acts as a saving grace for this band.
8. SHOCK ME
Not too bad, but the chorus is repeated far too many times. There is an interesting progression into a fast guitar riff towards the end, which is the only aspect of the song I enjoy, although the elongated guitar solos once the song has finished sound a little arrogant and big-headed. It’s Kiss though, so that’s alright.
9. HARD LUCK WOMAN
A departure from the ‘in-yer-face’ hard rock, this is a mellow song that has more interesting lyrics and musical changes as a result. Normally I may not like this track, but its situation at this point of the album is very well planned. My only gripe with the track is that it is a little short and once the basic melodies have been established there is little else of interest. But, as I have stated a number of times, it is Kiss after all.
10. TOMORROW AND TONIGHT
After the previous, softer track I realised I had actually started getting into this album, and I was glad that this came afterward. Not a track I was previously familiar with, but this is enjoyable, upbeat (in a non-silly way for a change) and has good performances all round.
DISC 2
11. I STOLE YOUR LOVE
The band waste no time before kicking in with this catchy anthem. It follows the same pattern as virtually every other Kiss song but they never were about being avant-garde or too original, something you would be stupid not to have noticed had you been listening to the first disc.
12. BETH
Another soft song, this opens with a piano and mellow singing from Paul, something the crowd seem to particularly enjoy and which gets them into a clapping rhythm. There are no guitars, bass or drums on this track, so I don’t enjoy it as much as I otherwise would, but I’m glad they didn’t just insert another riff-verse-riff-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-chorus-chorus-chorus track, and the vocals do stay in the listener’s head. The backing orchestration on this track could be seen as a prelude to the band’s collaboration with a symphony orchestra on 2000’s ‘Alive IV’ album, but that was mainly ripping off Metallica. Being Kiss does not, for once, act as an excuse for that, the unoriginal painted idiots.
13. GOD OF THUNDER
The only decent title so far, this is an opportunity for Gene Simmons to shine, a bass intro leading into his vocals. This was a song I had hear before, and it has a very catchy and enjoyable chorus – while the lyrics aren’t on par with H.P. Lovecraft, even the most blissful young lover would have found the ‘love’ lyrics tiresome by now. Both myself and the audible crowd appreciate the space in the centre of the song where a drum solo is carried out, although the production quality does make it sound very tinny. This is by far one of the best tracks on the album.
14. I WANT YOU
Back to this, are we? Fortunately this is another quite different song, beginning with very quiet guitars and vocals and erupting into a great riff that somehow sounds unlike anything else on the album. The high harmony chorus also sounds really good, and this is another song that deceives me into thinking that I like Kiss. But I couldn’t, obviously, this album is just confusing. It does sound nice though. The end of this track features some very, very silly crowd interaction in which Paul Stanley performs the chorus a capella, very over-the-top, and gets the crowd to scream it back at him. It’s forgiveable though, for reasons you should be familiar with by now, pertaining to it being Kiss.
15. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
“Are you people ready to rock and roll?” asks Paul. It seems a bit of a silly question considering they’ve already spent 52 minutes at a Kiss concert, but it does act as a good intro to this track.
This was it, this was the point at which I broke. I admitted to myself that I liked Kiss.
This is one of their most infectious and enjoyable songs, and as well as having some very memorable choruses, it also has some excellent-sounding guitars, particularly at the opening. Repetitive, but not overlong, and it ends with the friendly message, “we love you.” That’s nice isn’t it? It also made me feel less silly about liking them, as at least they were polite.
As the band leave the stage, the audience cheer that they want Kiss. It’s possible that they are cheering for the band, although this seems unlikely as they’ve just been playing for almost an hour and should have been quite noticeable. Given this obvious fact, I think they are all just shouting that after hearing so many shallow songs about love they just want a kiss.
STUDIO TRACKS
After the live show, five extra tracks are included on the album, all recorded in the studio, leaving aside obvious jokes that everything so far has been recorded in a studio except the crowd noise.
‘ALL-AMERICAN MAN’ isn’t a very good track, especially as it simply describes the places to which a man has been, and how this makes him all-American. ‘ROCKIN’ IN THE USA’ is a similarly-themed track but has a better riff and some good vocals, but still isn’t up to the standards of the rest of the album. ‘LARGER THAN LIFE’ takes a different approach that sounds quite Alice Cooper-esque, and makes use of the instruments in short bursts rather than a continuous presence. The only part of the song I really enjoy is the atmospheric guitar at the end. ‘ROCKET RIDE’ is the best of these collected studio tracks, but still feels like it needs crowd accompaniment to take it to a more enjoyable level. ‘ANYWAY YOU WANT IT’ is a fairly boring affair, and the album could have ended on a better note.
VERDICT
There are several immediate problems I had with this album: crowd interaction is often favoured by fans of live albums, and I agree that it adds to the atmosphere and energy of the performances, but the constant wail of the crowd can be heard throughout this entire album, save the fade-outs. More a sign of age than a deliberate problem, the quality of the sound recording is another problem covered by this excuse; the studio fixing at least clears this up somewhat. In fact I consider this tampering to be a bonus point, as while it may be deceptive in accurately showcasing the band’s live talent, it at least makes for a more accurate and pleasant sounding experience.
Kiss clearly are a live band, as their songs are much more about performance than musical quality; this is shown in the poor sales of their studio albums before the release of the first ‘Alive!’ record. I recently saw an excellent Kiss tribute band called ‘Dressed to Kill,’ and the fact that their faces were covered in paint almost deceived me one a couple of occasions; the good thing about a Kiss tribute band is that it’s pretty easy for the members to be as talented as Kiss themselves.
I would recommend this album, in conjunction with the first ‘Alive!’, only to people with an interest in Kiss. Those who are interested enough to buy them. I wasn’t, but there were times when I thought I might (before remembering how many bands I like more, and who are better). This offers a much broader scope of the band than is available with any of the poorly put together ‘best of’ albums, although the first disc does contain its fair share of unimpressive, similar songs.
Don’t buy this album out of sympathy however; I’m sure the band are loaded by now, and any extra sales you provide could just as well go to the money-grabbing record companies fronting less well known bands. Kiss are still quite catchy though, but a live video would help to capture their performance better, overblown pyrotechnics and all.
Advantages: A lot of the band's best songs, Very good value for money
Disadvantages: Not to everyone's taste, Both discs have their share of dodgy tracks, Crowd noises and low production quality
KoRn Kollekted heRe
Korven Kuningas
***
Written on 02.09.08
The difficult-to-pronounce-and-spell Korpiklaani are one of the most prominent folk metal bands, and along with their darker counterparts Finntroll favour traditional folk instruments over heavy metal elements in a largely unsatisfying fusion that loses its novelty quite early on.
This isn't folk-tinged power metal in the style of Elvenking, or folky heavy metal in the style of Ensiferum, but rather a fully-fledged folk band supplementing its songs with guitar backing. This means the album won't necessarily appeal to metal fans, even though about half of the songs work towards some sort of balance.
There are songs here to dance a merry jig to ('Northern Fall') and mourn ('Gods on Fire'), but not really anything to really sink your teeth in to. The permanent accordion member is a delight to begin with, as are the gravelly folk vocals, but like most aspects of this band, it all gets old rather quickly.
1. Tapporauta
2. Metsämies
3. Keep on Galloping
4. Northern Fall
5. Shall We Take a Turn?
6. Paljon on Koskessa Kiviä
7. Ali Jäisten Vetten
8. Gods on Fire
9. Kantaiso
10. Kipumylly
11. Suden Joiku
12. Runamoine
13. Syntykoski Syömmehessäin
14. Korven Kuningas
Extreme Aggression
***
Written on 02.09.08
Kreator were one of the most significant European thrash bands, taking the American style and twisting it to harder, more violent and more despicable climes along with their contemporaries such as Celtic Frost and Bathory. The band's early albums are widely revered as classics among the thrash metal scene, but their fourth release 'Extreme Aggression' marks a disappointing lull that seems to find the band struggling for ideas.
The vocal yells and down-tuned guitars sound like a primordial version of death metal, but the songs themselves are often lacking in energy, slowing down too often when a faster tempo would be more appealing. Opener 'Extreme Aggression' and the short but sweet 'Bringer of Torture' are both violent metal classics, but the album is weakened on the whole by the inclusion of too many filler tracks (such as 'No Reason to Exist,' to name only the earliest example) that plod along by the numbers.
1. Extreme Aggression
2. No Reason to Exist
3. Love Us or Hate Us
4. Stream of Consciousness
5. Some Pain Will Last
6. Betrayer
7. Don't Trust
8. Bringer of Torture
9. Fatal Energy
Coma of Souls
****
Written on 02.09.08
'Coma of Souls' is perhaps the crowning achievement of Kreator, and the German thrash scene at large. Opening with the misleadingly tranquil acoustic guitar of 'When the Sun Burns Red,' the song soon reveals its true colours as a hard, fast and furious thrash classic that even manages to remain atmospheric with some well-placed sound effects. The presence of guitarist Blackfire, formerly of Sodom, helps this band's sound immensely, and Blackfire sounds much more at home here.
The style here will be familiar to thrash fans, though they perhaps won't have heard it this dark and forceful before, bordering on death metal in the drum department particularly. Songs such as 'Terror Zone' are a little slower, steadier and catchier, but for the most part this is raw and brutal thrash that the American bands were too timid to make. At a time when Celtic Frost, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Testament and numerous other thrash masters were cheapening their sound by slowing down for the grunge crowd, Kreator kept it angry.
1. When the Sun Burns Red
2. Coma of Souls
3. People of the Lie
4. World Beyond
5. Terror Zone
6. Agents of Brutality
7. Material World Paranoia
8. Twisted Urges
9. Hidden Dictator
10. Mental Slavery
Blue Miasma
***
Written on 02.09.08
The final album from beloved American black metal band Krieg is quite a disappointment, especially following the band's extremely aggressive and nihilistic output comparable to the best of the Norwegian scene.
'Blue Miasma' is, on the whole, slower, duller and more melodic, with riffs plodding on and on against what sounds like gothic rock percussion until the musicians get bored. There are a couple of aggressive moments in songs such as 'Who Shall Stand Against Me?,' 'Scars Brought into Question' and 'The Forest Beneath the Sea,' but for the most part this is pretty mundane and severely lacking in energy.
The mental deterioration of vocalist Imperial was well-documented at the time, but here he sounds more pitiable than anything, not really giving it his all in the black metal screams. There are some nice doom metal moments, more a sign of the band slowing down than anything else, so it's at least nice to see that the slowing down wasn't entirely without merit.
1. The Great Beast Trembled in Nightmare
2. Who Shall Stand Against Me?
3. The Blue Mist
4. Under an Uncaring Moon
5. The Sick Winds Stir the Cold Dawn
6. And Now the End
7. Lingering Doubt
8. Hallucinations in Deep Corruption
9. Every Wound Burned
10. An Empty Room, a Forgotten Funeral
11. The Master's Voice
12. Scars Brought into Question
13. The Forest Beneath the Sea
Blues for the Red Sun
****
Written on 02.09.08
It's with their third album that stoner rock pioneers Kyuss really hit their stride as well as the rock mainstream, letting forth a subtly powerful barrage of slow, warm and fuzzy instrumentation beneath John Garcia's irresistible melodic singing. These songs are still heavily based in the blues rock tradition, but move beyond traditional doom rock towards something more emotive, compelling and bizarrely reminiscent of a drive down a desert road in the Southern United States, picking up hookers and sleeping in seedy motels.
The band are masters of tempo, churning out predominantly slow riffs and rhythms that accelerate to great effect on occasion, particularly at the escalating finale of 'Thumb' and the shorter and faster 'Caterpillar March.' Some songs favour an entirely stoned aesthetic such as the slow and fuzzy 'Molten Universe' and the odd 'Thong Song,' while the band never forgets its blues origins with guitar licks in 'Apothecaries' Weight' and others. The tracklist is bulked out a little misleadingly by frequent short interludes ranging from several seconds to a couple of minutes, but even these serve to bridge the songs in a more coherent fashion.
1. Thumb
2. Green Machine
3. Molten Universe
4. 50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)
5. Thong Song
6. Apothecaries' Weight
7. Caterpillar March
8. Freedom Run
9. 800
10. Writhe
11. Capsized
12. Allen's Wrench
13. Mondo Generator
14. Yeah
Welcome to Sky Valley
*****
Written on 02.09.08
'Welcome to Sky Valley' (or to use its lesser-known correct title, 'Kyuss') is perhaps the finest work the American stoner rock outfit ever produced, and certainly one of the defining works of the genre. A little more energetic than its predecessor, this is still predominantly slow and contented music that never sounds so much lazy as under the influence, the tracklist being helpfully divided into three movements to aid comparison.
The first movement (tracks one to three) starts out with the catchy 'Gardenia' before descending into instrumental indulgence with the sometimes blaring, sometimes peaceful and entirely incoherent 'Asteroid,' one of the finest songs here if one of the less instantly accessible. 'Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop' is laid back before the second movement delivers some blaring guitars in '100 Degrees,' Eastern-tinged acoustic plucking in 'Space Cadet' and the throwback piece 'Demon Cleaner' which, like peanut butter, ranges between crunchy and smooth. The third and final movement is the most rocking and energetic of the album, roughly speaking, and this album should be on anyone's essential list of nineties rock.
1. Gardenia
2. Asteroid
3. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
4. 100 Degrees
5. Space Cadet
6. Demon Cleaner
7. Odyssey
8. Conan Troutman
9. N.O.
10. Whitewater
L
In a Reverie
***
Written on 02.09.08
The first album from popular Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil catches them before they hit the big time, and is consequently a more true-to-form doom metal album, complete with 'beauty and the beast' vocals alternating between Christina Scabbia's haunting singing and the death metal growls of her boys.
This is a style used to great effect by The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy and others, and while Lacuna Coil was only ever distinctly average, the vocals are the definite highlight here, the music itself being fairly simplistic and derivative of the lighter death-doom bands of the nineties such as Paradise Lost. The album becomes fairly dull as it plods on, but individual songs are well worth listening to in their own right if you're a fan of the genre, particularly the slow and dingy 'Stately Lover' and power ballad style 'To Myself I Turned' where Scabbia is at her best.
1. Circle
2. Stately Lover
3. Honeymoon Suite
4. My Wings
5. To Myself I Turned
6. Cold
7. Reverie
8. Veins of Glass
9. Falling Again
Halflife
**
Written on 03.09.08
'Halflife' is Lacuna Coil's second E.P., an average collection of a few listenable songs that nevertheless fail to live up to the high quality of the previous E.P.
Christina Scabbia is her usual reliable, if unexciting self opposite the far less talented male singer Andre, who is used a lot more here than in the previous album 'In a Reverie' but without the death metal grunts. Nevertheless, a few interesting vocal deviations are made, as the opening title track favours an Eastern vibe and 'Senzafine' is performed entirely in the band's native Italian, complete with spoken word sections. Needless to say for such a predominantly slow band, 'Hyperfast' fails to live up to its name entirely, 'Trance Awake' is merely an overlong, atmospheric introduction to the third song, and the Dubstar cover is uninteresting, albeit covered so well that it could easily be mistaken for merely another repetitive Lacuna Coil track.
1. Halflife
2. Trance Awake
3. Senzafine
4. Hyperfast
5. Stars (Dubstar Cover)
Comalies
****
Written on 03.09.08
'Comalies' was the album that launched Lacuna Coil into the rock mainstream, and commendably they didn't even have to sell out and deviate from their regular style to achieve this. Indeed, this may be the heaviest and most accomplished Lacuna Coil album to date, though this isn't saying all that much.
The band has always favoured catchiness over technicality, which isn't a bad thing obviously, and they achieve this well here, especially with the instantly memorable choruses to 'Swamped' and the single 'Heaven's a Lie.' Male singer Andre still insists on coming in and ruining Christina Scabbia's hard work, which spoils every track to an extent, but Scabbia's distinctive voice is still powerful enough to lead the way with confidence, even if it tends to sound more haunting and passive than compelling.
Some songs favour a poppier direction that will be a little annoying to metalheads who've followed the band from the beginning, the main offender being the Tori Amos style verses of 'Heaven's a Lie,' but there are still enough hard rocking songs to maintain the old-school fans' interest, such as 'Daylight Dancer' and 'Tight Rope,' while the keyboard work of 'The Ghost Woman and the Hunter' proves that the band has musical talents on the rare occasions it decides to display them.
1. Swamped
2. Heaven's a Lie
3. Daylight Dancer
4. Humane
5. Self Deception
6. Aeon
7. Tight Rope
8. The Ghost Woman and the Hunter
9. Unspoken
10. Entwined
11. The Prophet Said
12. Angel's Punishment
13. Comalies
Advantages: More accessible without losing artistic integrity.
Disadvantages: Some songs will be too light for the old-school fans, or too heavy for the newcomers.
Karmacode
**
Written on 03.09.08
It was perhaps inevitable that Lacuna Coil would spiral down to fit in with the artistically torpid rock mainstream, and 'Karmacode' goes full circle in stealing from bands such as Evanescence who had started out as an awful clone of Lacuna Coil's style in the first place. These attempts to fit in with mainstream rock fans by abandoning their own style in favour of that of other bands was a lousy idea to begin with, and the band spectacularly fails to pull it off, attempting to mimic Korn's guitar style in songs such as 'Our Truth' and only ever managing to sound loud and irritating.
Christina Scabbia has lost some of her distinctiveness now as she tries to sound like the girl from Evanescence, and even worse are Andre's male vocals that now adopt a sing-song style. The slow songs such as 'Within Me' end up being the best as Scabbia returns to her usual melancholic style, and even the Depeche Mode cover fails to stand out amidst the repetitive material.
1. Fragile
2. To the Edge
3. Our Truth
4. Within Me
5. Devoted
6. You Create
7. What I See
8. Fragments of Faith
9. Closer
10. In Visible Light
11. The Game
12. Without Fear
13. Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
Sacrament
***
Written on 03.09.08
Lamb of God is exactly the sort of band I'm usually inclined to hate, for cheapening the metal genre with hardcore influences and all that other rubbish. I was a bit disappointed to realise that their popular 2006 album 'Sacrament' is actually pretty good, certainly a hell of a lot better than the albums I'd previously heard where the drumming style was indistinguishable from a CD skipping.
Lamb of God would still be classed as metalcore, but there's enough of a groove metal foundation to keep this appealing to metal fans, replete with guitar solos and heavy riffs. The over-the-top hostility of the vocals is annoying, especially in the pointlessly sweary chorus of 'Redneck' that I can only hope is supposed to be ironic or something, and similarly the drums are also a little irritating for sounding so much like a set of dustbins. The album balances savagery and melody better than most modern bands are capable of, but in the end this next-generation Pantera all sounds pretty similar.
1. Walk With Me in Hell
2. Again We Rise
3. Redneck
4. Pathetic
5. Foot to the Throat
6. Descending
7. Blacken the Cursed Sun
8. Forgotten (Lost Angels)
9. Requiem
10. More Time to Kill
11. Beating On Death's Door
Lovelorn
***
Written on 03.09.08
The curiously named Leaves' Eyes was the new musical project formed and fronted by singer Liv Kristine after her dismissal from the increasingly mediocre Theatre of Tragedy, and her vocal talents are utilised more here than the previous band ever permitted. Still possessing enough of a punch in the guitars and drums to avoid this sounding merely like a gothic metal Enya, the album is clearly Liv's project and sidelines the other band members to basic rhythm duties. It's not great, but there are some pretty good songs.
The band is at its finest performing soaring gothic metal in the classic style, as evidenced by the first two songs, and while the brief deviations into atmospheric ballad territory are similarly enjoyable (the title song in particular), the band falls a little flat when attempting to sound meaner than it can realistically achieve. The use of male death metal growls to supplement the female singing in songs like 'Ocean's Way' sound distinctly out of place, and the album loses its steam after the first half.
1. Norwegian Lovesong
2. Tale of the Sea Maid
3. Ocean's Way
4. Lovelorn
5. The Dream
6. Secret
7. For Amelie
8. Temptation
9. Into Your Light
10. Return To Life
River Runs Red
****
Written on 03.09.08
'River Runs Red' is the debut release from Brooklyn alternative metal band Life of Agony, and is one of the defining examples of the nineties doom rock style with its slow yet powerful guitar riffs and soaring vocals that avoid the pomposity of Candlemass. These songs are simple, catchy and compelling, and the obscure narrative inserted in-between in the form of dialogue and answering machine messages (on 'Monday,' 'Thursday' and 'Friday') add another level of enjoyment for fans intrigued by the lyrical concept as well as the music. Fortunately for those not interested in such things, it's even easier to ignore.
The style does become a little trying as the album moves on and every song sounds similar to its predecessor, but there are some exceptions that aim to keep the listener's attention such as the shorter, harder and punkier title track. Clearly inspired by classic doom bands such as Black Sabbath, this is a less gothic alternative to contemporary equivalents such as Type O Negative for more mainstream rock fans.
1. This Time
2. Underground
3. Monday
4. River Runs Red
5. Through and Through
6. Words and Music
7. Thursday
8. Bad Seed
9. My Eyes
10. Respect
11. Method of Groove
12. The Stain Remains
13. Friday
Advantages: Great nineties doom with memorable vocals.
Disadvantages: Repetitive style.
Liquid Tension Experiment
Liquid Tension Experiment
****
Written on 03.09.08
Liquid Tension Experiment is the instrumental side project of members of Dream Theater (the majority of the band) with King Crimson's Tony Levin providing impressive bass guitar that's nevertheless mostly drowned out by the guitar and keyboard work of John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess respectively. Not to say that these two individuals represent the peak of instrumental virtuosity - in fact, a lot of what they do really isn't up my street - but they impressively manage to lead the way for an entire album and rarely become boring.
The style is a mixture of full-pelt noodling and slower, tranquil melodies, demonstrated most in the shift from the frantic, Pac Man inspired opening song 'Paradigm Shift' to its calm successor 'Osmosis.' The third, 'Kindred Spirits,' really belies the Dream Theater influence and contains a number of keyboard and guitar melodies that would make their way onto subsequent DT works. This song feels like it needs vocal support to some extent, and it's delightfully cheesy in an eighties game show theme tune sort of way.
'Freedom of Speech' escalates from slow piano to full-pelt shred over the course of ten minutes, and the even longer closing song 'Three Minute Warning' is far from epic, but manages to stay energetic throughout. This isn't an album I could listen to the whole way through, but it will doubtless be of interest to experimental jazz/rock fans and musicians.
1. Paradigm Shift
2. Osmosis
3. Kindred Spirits
4. The Stretch
5. Freedom of Speech
6. Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure
7. State of Grace
8. Universal Mind
9. Three Minute Warning
10. Three Minute Warning (continued)
11. Three Minute Warning (continued)
12. Three Minute Warning (continued)
13. Three Minute Warning (continued)
Advantages: Improvised metal fun.
Disadvantages: Often misses the mark.
A Place in the Sun
The Best Has Come Undone...
****
Written on 23.06.01
I had wanted to buy this album for a long time before I finally saw it in a sale, and couldn't resist any longer. Being a fan of all punk I loved the songs "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Zip-lock" (which both have music videos), and decided that they alone were reason enough to buy the album.
Lit seem to be in the lighter side of punk rock, the only band I can think of that seems similar is Goldfinger, but have not yet had their big break to thrust them out of the underground. "My Own Worst Enemy" is widely known among punk fans but not much further, and a lot of people don't know that the band did the theme for the 2000 animated feature Titan A.E. with their song "Over My Head" (which has yet to be released on an album other than the movie's soundtrack).
Lit consists of:
Jeremy Popoff (guitar)
A. Jay Popoff (vocals)
Allen Shellenberger (drums)
Kevin Baldes (bass)
(I'm guessing Jeremy and A. Jay are brothers).
This album is well worth buying, and does contain a lot of variation. There are happy and sad tracks, and not a single dodgy track on the album; one track even verges into ska-punk territory with horns. The drum beats are sometimes fantastic, and there are several amazing riffs, as well as cool vocals that sound unique.
The album begins suddenly and without hesitation with guitarring for the song "four": a great song about love (or lack of), in which someone keeps phoning their partner when they're alone to ask him to come 'round. It's a good song with a good riff that starts the album on a good note. ("Yeah, she doesn't think we're gonna make it, but when I'm home we're sleeping naked, and we pretend that we're in love.")
Track two is probably my favourite lit song (and the one most people have heard), "My Own Worst Enemy." It starts with an unrelenting guitar solo riff that soon leads into an absolutely fantastic song. The music video for the single has little relevance to the song, which is very funny and is about someone who has had too much to drink the previous night only to wake and find his life in tatters, as the video seems to be about bowling (?) It's definitely a song you want to hear if you like punk. ("Please tell me why my car is in the front yard and I'm sleeping with my clothes on. I came in through the window last night, and you're gone.")
"Down" starts rather oddly and A. Jay's voice sounds quite like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters in this song (at least i think so) which is still very good, but probably one of the worst on the album. The tune's pretty good, but the song sounds more like rock than punk. It's about driving a car at night, seemingly for the fun of driving it, and believing in your car's ability to take you where you want to go. ("Whenever we go down for a ride, ready to drive all night.")
The saddest song on the album ("Miserable") is a great change of pace from the punk, and still has a great tune. It's good to listen to, but I prefer some other tracks more. There are backup vocals from someone called John Gilmore. The song is about someone making someone else completely miserable with everything they do, and it features a slow instrumental session near the end. A good song. ("You make me com, you make me complete, you make me completely miserable...")
The next track builds up with a short beat before returning to the cool punk for "No Big Thing." It's got a fast, pretty heavy tune (for Lit) and is about someone's friend betraying them emotionally. Very good, loud song. ("It's alright, I'm not going crazy. It's alright, It's no big thing.") It was written by Jeremy rather than A. Jay, who wrote most of the other songs.
Another of my favourites off the album, "Zip-Lock" begins after a drum beat that slowly rises in volume, and has a fantastic riff. It's quite a slow song with a good chorus, and its meaning seems to be metaphorical in nature; it's about someone losing things and deciding to place them in a bag so he won't, but it talks about losing someone close as well, which may fit in with the meaning. Confusing, but very cool. ("If I could get another chance I'd put it in a Zip-Lock bag and keep it in my pocket.")
"Lovely Day" is a nice, happy song with a melodic chorus that sounds scarily like some hymn I used to have to sing in Primary School many years ago. It's very good though, and has a good riff and brilliant vocals. It seems to be the tale of a drug addict or simply a smoker who thinks the day seems somehow special. ("And now I live in a world that's all my own, it's always nice when no one's home.")
Track 8, "Perfect One", is another slow love song about someone's partner basically being "the perfect one." The tune does change somewhat for th chorus, but I don't particularly like this song enough for it to be one of my favourites, and it's one of my worst on the album. ("You are everything that I never knew I always wanted. You're the perfect one...")
"Quicksand" is a great song that has a large build-up before beginning. It's normal speed and has a good riff and drum beat, and is the story of a person who is worried that they have done something wrong, but cannot see what. ("When I bring it up you shut me out, so I keep on writing letters to myself.")
The happiest song on the album is rather un-ironically titled "Happy," and features horns, trumpets and a trumbone. The song's not amazing (personally I can't stand trumpets which is why I dislike ska), but it's about wanting to be happy even though he can't be (quite strange). ("It makes me bad cuz I want to be happy so bad.")
"The Best Is Yet to Come Undone" starts with a great guitar solo that is one of the album's highlights, and the song's pretty good as well. It was written by A. Jay along with some guy called Danny Peck, and has good guitarring as well as vocals. It's about having seen the world in all its glory, and now knows it will all soon "come undone": an unspecific, creepy concept. Cool, slow song. ("I touched the world, I felt the sun, I know the best is yet to come undone.")
The album's title track "A Place in the Sun" is a cool, loud, and fast song with excellent guitar and drum beats, and is about a man who thinks he should have left his town, but thinks it is now too late as the proverbial sun has set. An amazing song (among the album's best) that ends the album on a high note. ("I should have left you when I was up, I should have had enough sense to get up and leave this town.")
There has been talk of a secret track on this album, but my copy simply begins again after about ten seconds' silence at the edn of track twelve so I don't know what's going on there. All I know is that Lit may be th next big thing, although it may be unlikely as "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Over My Head", while popular, didn't seem popular enough to let the bnad into the mainstream. Their style is definitely unique though, and this album is well worth looking at (well, and listening to, obviously), although the cover interior is a bit strange, but full lyrics are available inside to all twelve songs, and there is extensive knowledge on the band's friends, etc. A great album.
Advantages: Great songs, Variation, Quite long (45 minutes)
Disadvantages: Cover artwork isn't amazing
Crucify My Heart
***
Written on 07.09.08
Lullacry is yet another metal band seeking mainstream attention branded with the somewhat unhelpful genre of 'gothic.' This Finnish band is far from the popularity of HIM and the big female-fronted goth metal bands, but they come off better than most by comparison. 'Crucify My Heart' is the first album with singer Tanja Lainio, and her voice is quite surprising, forsaking the operatic wails and Enya-style smoothness usually associated with the genre in favour of something more simplistic, catchy and energetic, and fittingly the instruments have a harder edge also.
They're still placed heavily in the background and mainly required to provide rhythm rather than stand out on their own, but there's at least enough diversity between a couple of the songs (the hard rocking 'Every Single Day' and balladic 'Unchain') to demonstrate that the musicians are at least competent, if unimaginative, even throwing out a couple of enjoyable lead guitar melodies in the former.
1. Alright Tonight
2. Crucify My Heart
3. Don't Touch the Flame
4. Every Single Day
5. Pitch Black Emotions
6. Unchain
7. Nothing to Lose
8. Heart of Darkness
9. This Time
10. Over Me
11. Better Days
Troll
**
Written on 07.09.08
Financed by the band's prize money from a Norwegian music festival the previous year, 'Troll' is a more polished and refined album than its predecessor, but also much, much duller. Trading in most of the heavy metal elements for an almost entirely folk sound, this is universally slow and often tedious folk metal lacking in the character and fun I usually associate with the genre. It's not lousy, it's just really, really boring.
The lyrics are probably quite interesting if you speak Norwegian, written professionally by Birger and Kristin Sivertsen, but the music they're put to sounds like a cross between a heavenly lullaby and a soft Jethro Tull. The female vocals are strong but not gripping, and the occasional male vocals are really quite awful, mechanically distorted to completely spoil the otherwise tranquil and historical atmosphere. Only opener 'Nøkken' contains a truly memorable violin melody, and that's probably only because it comes first before the rest of the album all starts to blend together, and even the comparatively upbeat folk performances of 'Perpålsa' and 'Blæster' aren't enough to wake me up significantly.
1. Nøkken
2. Dunker
3. Åsgårdsreia
4. Trolltind
5. Allvis
6. Perpålsa
7. Blæster
8. Byttingen
The Perfect Evil in Mortal
***
Written on 07.09.08
Another modern black metal band trying to elevate its sound to epic heights through the use of symphonic keyboards (provided here by session player Flumen), Luna Ad Noctum aren't one of the more memorable Polish black metal bands, and this release certainly can't hope to live up to Behemoth's standards of heaviness, intensity or grandeur. This is fairly run-of-the-mill, generic stuff that will be recognisable to fans of Dimmu Borgir, Zyklon and other similar, keyboard-heavy bands with modern production, dominated by frequently inaudible and rarely interesting guitars and constantly pummelling double bass drums.
The vocals are provided by Adrian Nefarious, who wouldn't be worthy of mention if not for the fact that his name is one of my all-time favourite black metal pseudonyms (after Beherit's frontman Nuclear Holocausto of Bloody Vengeance, of course), but at the same time this will help to satisfy that black metal craving that we all have on occasion, when Borgir or Dissection seem a little too wimpy.
1. Phantoms ov Wrath (Intro)
2. The Perfect Evil in Mortal
3. Diablex Virus
4. Devilrising Impact
5. Humana Androide
6. Deviante Obscurante
7. Deceptive Fatality
8. Dimness in Me
9. Loneliness Ruined My Life
M
Overworld
***
Written on 29.12.08
Sweden's Machinae Supremacy kick off the ominous 'M' pile of my collection thanks to that cheeky extraneous vowel pipping Machine Head to the post, and despite the band's aspirations towards genre-innovating 'SID metal,' referencing the 8-bit SID sound chip that lends nostalgically awful synthesiser effects to most songs, this is essentially another run-of-the-mill cheery power metal album full of decent, albeit generic rock riffs and melodic choruses, and a bizarre Britney Spears cover.
The SID chip itself only plays a small supplementary role and in no way defines the songs itself, though its greater presence in songs such as 'Violator' works well in manner that will doubtless provide nostalgia for fans of early video games (it personally reminds me fondly of Codemasters' 'Dizzy' series). The cover of Britney's 'Gimme More' is predictably awful as metal covers of Britney always are, and is disappointingly taken a little too seriously to be amusing as was presumably intended, but the band's own material is enjoyable enough in a repetitive, melodic metal way.
You won't be hearing big things about this band, but if you're a fan of the SID chip, you'll be glad to discover there are things like this to cater for your weird tastes.
The More Things Change...
**
Written on 30.12.08
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Perhaps a more fitting title would have been 'Yes, This is a Different Song, Despite Sounding Exactly the Same as Its Predecessor,' though perhaps that wouldn't have worked quite so well for marketing purposes.
By their second album, Machine Head have already fallen into a rut of self-replication that can only be countered by deliberate efforts to change, as seen most explicitly in the two songs there that increase the tempo and attempt to sound like punk ('Struck a Nerve' and 'Bay of Pigs'), and the band's faltering, wandering musical choices in subsequent albums before eventually returning to something resembling this original, already somewhat annoying style.
'Annoying' is all I have to say for the relentless use of pinch harmonics across this album, which makes the pause between riffs and verses unbearable in 'Ten Ton Hammer,' 'Take My Scars' and 'Frontlines.' The songs all follow the same style of breakdown riffs with shouted vocals culminating in a lighter sung chorus, and it becomes old and a little grating even by the second track, Rob Flynn's shout sounding forced in its youth angst unlike the more natural, hoarse yells of the previous 'Burn My Eyes.'
Without much originality to its credit, this has always been Machine Head's most overlooked album, perhaps deservedly, but it can still offer some angsty brutality for those unprepared to venture into the realm of death metal.
The Burning Red
Savage in Capacity (the Machine Head Battery)
***
Written on 17.06.04
Machine Head emerged onto the heavy metal scene in the early nineties with their dark and incredibly heavy album 'Burn My Eyes,' following the examples of earlier and contemporary bands such as Pantera and Sepultura. The music scene suddenly changed quite drastically however, with the advent of grunge rock all but eradicating the popularity of heavy, aggressive metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer. Machine Head's debut and its successor, the equally heavy but much darker 'The More Things Change,' did not perform as well as the band or the record companies expected, and a change in direction was necessary for their third outing, aided by a new guitarist.
STYLE
Whenever a band changes their music to suit the climate they are accused of selling out, although in the case of Machine Head the alterations actually kept their music interesting when it could have easily become repetitive. 'The Burning Red' maintained the bleakness and anger of the previous records while cutting down on some of the lengthy guitar sections and introducing hip hop inspiration to a lot of the songs through vocalist Rob Flynn's passion for the genre. This allowed Machine Head to be very easily categorised into the so-called 'Nu Metal' scene dominated by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit, although their heaviness and technical skill exceeds that of such bands. These tracks are fairly diverse within the constraints of the music, with changes in speed and mood.
Machine Head were:
Rob Flynn - Vocals
Ahrue Luster - Guitars
Adam Duce - Bass guitar
Dave McClain - Drums
1. ENTER THE PHOENIX
This introductory track of 55 seconds sets the dark tone of the album with a slow build-up of a guitar whine accompanied by feedback and an ominous drum beating slowly.
2. DESIRE TO FIRE
A heavy and distinctive riff begins this song while Rob Flynn shouts indistinctly in the background, before the main verses start in a slower, quieter tune. The rap metal element of the album makes itself clear in the main verses, accompanied by some good guitar work, while the chorus is the usual Machine Head slow shout-along. A good opening track, but one that pales in comparison to later songs due to its similarity. There is some progression towards the end, but it isn't interesting enough to fill up the five minutes. Machine Head blowing their own trumpets a little bit as well.
"Save some for me,
Can't stop what were going to be.
Just watch as I demonstrate
The reason we dominate"
3. NOTHING LEFT
A more aggressive, heavy and impressive track, this balances angry and melodic vocals perfectly and has some impressive guitar work as well as interesting gaps in the music; the main appeal is in the speedy and upbeat-sounding verses however. Less of a rap influence in this one, although the 'Nu Metal' leanings are clear with the muted vocals and guitars in the latter half that sound similar to the band Disturbed.
"I am the things that you fear
My leap of faith without a sound
Don't push my back against the wall
Yes I have strength will never fall"
4. THE BLOOD, THE SWEAT, THE TEARS
My favourite track on the album, this anthemic metal song has everything going for it; an incredibly catchy chorus, a mixture of singing and shouting, great guitars and excellent plodding verses. The guitar solo isn't up to much, but then again that's not what this band are about - the anger and heaviness are at their most defined here.
"Its all about the blood, the sweat, the tears
A tribute to the strength built through the years"
5. SILVER
A different outing, this begins very melodically and softly, only breaking into heavier chorus sections towards the middle of the song. Not one of the best, but a song that was necessary at this point and keeps some diversity on the CD. Rob shows off his singing again here.
"Take my hand
Across this land
Escape this, all the hell inside
Create this man
To make my stand
And break this hardened shell in time"
6. FROM THIS DAY
The most well-known song on this album and Machine Head's biggest selling single, the hip hop influence is most prominent here but that doesn't spoil the metal aspects of the song, although the rapping verses do get on my nerves. The rousing chorus makes up for it though, and is the single best part of the album musically, appealing to many different tastes. It is therefore repeated many times at the end.
"Time to see, believe this in me,
The pain that I feel deep inside"
7. EXHALE THE VILE
Slowly building up after the excitement of the previous track, there is over a minute of a tribal-esque drum beat before the guitar riffs kick in. The chorus is angry and sounds great, alternating between sung and shouty, and some of the haunting guitar sections are reminiscent of the band's earlier work. One of my favourite tracks, partly because there is no rap involvement.
"Time will tell because my friend and
Never will I concede the end.
Heretic Jackals worship liars,
Forever I'll be the god that you desire"
8. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
A cover of a song by the Police shows a different side of Machine Head, although not one I particularly like. The sound has been modified substantially from the original and Rob's vocals are possibly at their best here, but it gets a bit too light for me. I listen to these guys when I want something angry and powerful. Not Sting.
"I'll send an SOS to the world,
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle"
9. DEVIL WITH THE KING’S CARD
One of the most aggressive and hateful tracks on the album, this makes it a little less enjoyable to listen to. There is a nice, slower section towards the end but that doesn't save this from being incredibly average. It doesn't spoil the album though. An unadulterated stab at the band's former guitarist who apparently turned against them.
"Give it to me, let it be,
But you're the one who quit
You said it yourself, you're the best
and you can handle it
The cry, watch how Machine Head takes it all"
10. I DEFY
A little bit of rapping in the verses backed by some very atmospheric and interesting high guitar work. By this point in the album the general style has become a little tiresome, but nice touches like the sound of the bass drum and the afore-mentioned guitars keep it worth listening to. Another dark outing.
"Maker makes me long for a better way,
You fear my strength if we're backed into a cage
Because I
I defy
So burn it apart son"
11. FIVE
A very interesting and somewhat disturbing track that, like songs from the band Korn, deals with child abuse related to the vocalist. The crying at the end makes this a little awkward, but the guitars and the bleaker tone set this apart as a high point of the album. May appeal to people who enjoy the deeply personal tracks from Korn, Nirvana and others.
"For all the times I'd be losing my mind,
You molest and destroy just a five year old boy
And you make me suffer, motherf***er,
Ripped my heart out"
12. THE BURNING RED
The longest and most "epic" track on the album, although not by much, the title track is an excellent ending to the album. Remaining slow, bleak and melodic throughout, never breaking into a somewhat expected heavy verse, this isn't an immediate classic but rounds off the album in the finest way possible. Meaningful and interesting lyrics and musicianship.
"Caress the needle prick in my eye,
The tears fell like rain.
I've rode the phoenix as she glides
And I've gone insane.
I've seen the light of suicide
And I'm dying"
VERDICT
This is a fairly solid album that expanded Machine Head's appeal while not alienating the majority of their existing support in the way that the bland follow-up 'Supercharger' did. As I stated earlier I am not a big fan of the rap influences, but at least they are tastefully done and don't hinder the style of any of the tracks, although musically this isn’t as interesting or diverse as some of the band's other albums that I enjoy a lot more.
The rap elements and shorter tracks mean that this album will likely begin to show its age in the not-too-distant future, although tracks such as 'the Blood, the Sweat, the Tears' and 'Nothing Left' make for an album that at least has some long-lasting appeal. Personally I would recommend the band's most recent album 'Through the Ashes of Empires,' which is more in the melodic, (very-) heavy metal style of their debut album, but which continues some threads from 'The Burning Red.' Roberty Flynn is one of the great metal vocalists, his growl seeming quite unnatural and certainly inimitable, although on this album the rest of the musicians sound only adequate rather than truly impressive masters of their respective fields.
Through the Ashes of Empires
**
Written on 30.12.08
As soon as the opening song 'Imperium' explodes through the speakers and entertains with its changeable riffs, long-overdue thrash sections and genuine high-energy hostility, it's clear that Machine Head are finally back in the realm of respectable metal, a decade after their last decent album that was never matched. Tragically however, the celebration is short-lived as the band instantly runs out of inspiration and the album becomes increasingly repetitive and redundant with each subsequent song.
There are very few songs that make a lasting impression in this generic modern metal album, often sounding more like modern Slipknot than the band's earlier contemporaries and influences, and some songs such as 'Left Unfinished' in particular feel like they're tapping the already overused youth angst / child abuse / excessive profanity angle that's been a mainstay of nu-metal since Korn. Musically, this album sounds like an even more irritating copy of the second album in its over-reliance on pinch harmonics and alternating vocal styles, and even a slight classic metal angle to 'Days Turn Blue to Gray' and inevitable acoustic near-ballad 'Descend the Shades of Night' can't make this any more worthwhile for repeated listens.
Still, the single was good though.
Cluain Tarḃ
****
Written on 30.12.08
One of the comparatively few Irish metal bands in my ludicrously vast collection, Dublin's Mael Mórdha instantly contrive a sense of the exotic by refusing to venture outside of Gaelic language and themes in their nostalgic, nationalistic take on gothic doom metal.
The music isn't depressing along the lines of Anathema or My Dying Bride, but also isn't too flamboyant and fantastical like Candlemass, lying somewhere in-between and also acting as a satisfying smorgasbord of current metal trends. The heavy framework will keep this powerful enough for death metal fans without scaring away newcomers with anything too harsh, and the strong Celtic folk angle is reigned in without being excessive or distracting, mostly in the form of a light piano or flute melody providing a melodic contrast to the underlying guitar riffs.
There are occasions when the band strays a little too far from its established sound to maintain a coherent style, occasionally sounding like an imitation of bands as diverse as Metallica and Amon Amarth, but as a debut album from a promising band this is one of the more interesting doom albums I've come across in some time.
Gaia
***
Written on 30.12.08
I first approached Mägo de Oz with unreasonably high expectations, having heard them misleadingly labelled as 'progressive' when in fact their style is more along the lines of run-of-the-mill folk metal, albeit without much in the way of 'metal.' I can see why prog fans would enjoy this album, for its double-disc flamboyance, conceptual subject matter and grating bloody Hammond organs, but for those experienced in the delights of folk metal, it doesn't offer much in the way of excitement.
For a start, the album just feels much too long to listen to in one sitting, even down to individual songs that feel stretched and over-repetitive such as the otherwise enjoyable 'Alma.' Secondly, the subject matter, that of the Spanish conquerors of America, doesn't even come through in the music a great deal despite the array of traditional folk instrumentation, and the band's (presumably) negative attitude towards the shameful conquest is not communicated in the overly happy music, particularly for those listeners who are unable to decipher the Spanish lyrics being sung. I'd recommend Angra's classic 'Holy Land' for a more accomplished and entertaining take on the same theme.
The music itself is reasonable enough, though all quite predictable in its balance of upbeat rockers and contemplative ballads, book-ended by unnecessarily long eleven-minute tracks that lack the overall consistency demanded of such epic durations. The performances all-round are quite exceptional it has to be said, but the band's creative abilities don't feel like they live up to their individual talents and the ambition of this promising album.
The Ten Commandments
****
Written on 30.12.08
One of the stronger debuts of early nineties American death metal, 'The Ten Commandments' is far from a classic of the genre, but perfectly encapsulates that early, pure death metal sound that would soon be lost amidst international experimentation and breeding.
The album mostly impresses by not all sounding the same, as this angry, violent music tends to. A slow spoken word intro leads into a series of internally changeable songs blessed with excellent production that many bands today attempt to imitiate by toning down their disappointingly modern studio equipment, and although modern listeners may feel like the raw and echoed sound robs the instruments of their force, the resulting atmosphere is genuinely quite unsettling.
There are enough decent guitar riffs in songs such as 'Sacrificial Annihilation' and solo and lead melodies in 'Impaled Existence' to disprove claims that death metal is an artistically void genre, and although this lacks some of the ability and tightness found on their subsequent 'Retribution' and amongst some of their contemporaries such as Death, this is still an enjoyable metal milestone.
Retribution
****
Written on 30.12.08
A staple of extreme metal top-ten lists from those in the know (and with too much time on their hands), Malevolent Creation's second album is certainly their finest work, an artistic and sonic improvement over its predecessor, but it has perhaps tended to be over-hyped by the death metal elite. It's a very good album, but doesn't accomplish as much as the best from the band's contemporaries.
The music varies in tempo to keep things interesting throughout, with only a couple of songs such as 'Monster' maintaining a consistent speed, and the full-pelt drum, guitar and vocal work is very impressive... as is the bass, for the few seconds it's actually audible. The production job is perfect for a death metal album, enveloping the listener in its sheer nastiness without pushing them away or seeking to crush their eardrums, and each song lasts for an appropriate length of time to remain ultimately satisfying.
Ultimately, this is a great album for those who wish to immerse themselves in some aural violence for thirty minutes, but not so appealing for those who would prefer to pick out individual songs. There are certainly songs here that stand strong, but it's usually down to a gimmick such as the solo of 'Slaughter of Innocence' or increased aggression of the finale 'Iced.'
Warkult
***
Written on 30.12.08
Targeting the listener at the end of a massive gun, Malevolent Creation's ninth album is indeed a fiercer beast than some of their comparatively tame previous albums, but still seems to be trying a little too hard to convince us of its ferocity through the aggressive subject matter, and ultimately this packs nowhere near as good a punch as their first couple of albums.
A spoken word oration in 'Dead March' leads nicely in to the energetic and fitting 'Preemptive Strike,' but after this my attention tended to drift through the similarity of style, broken only by touches such as the unexpected melodic dual guitars of 'Murder Reigns' and the slower approach of the inevitably duller 'Captured.'
As modern thrash-inspired death metal goes, you can't really fault this album apart from its lack of ambition, although it doesn't have quite so many interesting theatrics as the American band's Scandinavian counterparts such as the Crown.
Doomsday X
**
Written on 30.12.08
Malevolent Creation's tellingly titled tenth album, 'Doomsday X' doesn't feel much like a celebration, but rather an unimaginative clone of the band's endlessly repetitive thrash-death metal style, based on dull chugging guitars and shouting. The production job is sharp, but this robs the band of its character to a degree.
The band seems unable to remedy this problem of tedium despite their best efforts, as the repetitive thrash riffs of 'Deliver My Enemy' are followed up by restless, ever-changing guitar lines in 'Buried in a Nameless Grave' that end up being irritating and changeable for the sake of it.
Some songs such as 'Bio-Terror' are enhanced in their violence merely by the contrast of a slightly less extreme neighbour, and the only song that truly impressed me was the instrumental 'Prelude to Doomsday,' which is far from the best death metal instrumental I've heard, but which showcases the band's guitar and drum talents greater than the other tracks are permitted.
Eclipse
**
Written on 31.12.08
Viewed in one way as Yngwie Malmsteen's first true solo album - and in another, ultimately more correct way, not - 1990's 'Eclipse' sees the tortured guitar genius finally abandoned by his old Rising Force comrades and teaming up with a bunch of new musicians and a singer, whose mediocrity would be assumed to increase Malmsteen's own virtuosity, were he putting in any real degree of effort.
I'm not particularly a fan of so-called 'shred' acts, as being the most technically proficient guitarist in the world doesn't necessarily mean you have any creative talent (Michael Angelo Batio's work in the awful eighties glam band Nitro is almost too perfect an example of this). Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the limits of a genre of instrument pushed, and I was curious to check Malmsteen out. I can only hope that this isn't a fair representation of his work.
The primary lasting impression is, where the hell are the guitar theatrics? There are a couple of impressive solos here and there, but nothing you wouldn't find on any heavy metal album of the eighties. It's clear that this album (I can't vouch for his others, which I haven't heard) is targeted primarily at the musical mainstream, especially in the airy vocals and over-saturation of shiny keyboards. Malmsteen's only real chance to shine himself is in the instrumental title track at the end, and even that isn't anything too special.
Overall, this isn't that bad, and is probably quite good as commercial glam metal albums go, but it wasn't what I was expecting from the axeman.
Dödsfärd
*****
Written on 31.12.08
Swedish Viking metal band Månegarm really comes into its own with their third album 'Dödsfärd,' retaining the fierce black metal framework of their earlier works, but adding a highly successful melodic folk angle that sees every song transformed from enjoyable black metal into an instantly memorable hit.
Harsher and more energetic than the atmospheric Viking metal of Bathory and Moonsorrow, Månegarm's style is distinctive and will likely satisfy fans of either extreme. The cover art is entirely appropriate to these tales of plunder and conquest, but the album still finds time for softer melodic moments, albeit to a lesser extent than their later works. Compared to their subsequent classic 'Vredens Tid,' 'Dödsfärd' is punchier and faster, though the shorter playing times and total length of just over half an hour leave things feeling a little unsatisfying when it's all over too soon.
Despite the issue with length, 'Dödsfärd' still deserves to be recognised as a classic of the loosely-defined Viking metal genre, and while it's less accomplished than their later works, this adds an appealing punk aesthetic, and the increased folk elements are thankfully incorporated in a tasteful, enhancing manner rather than drawing too much attention to themselves, as would be the case for bands such as Finntroll.
Vargaresa – The Beginning
****
Written on 31.12.08
As Sweden's Månegarm became increasingly successful in the extreme metal field, the amusingly named Displeased Records reissued the band's demo tapes as a collected vinyl and CD, as both a cheap cash-in and present for fans.
Unlike the majority of black metal demos, the sound quality here is actually pretty good, and certainly has nothing of the lo-fi bedroom/garage studio hiss about it. What it does have in common with the majority of demos is that the band's sound is comparatively amateur and primitive in these early stages, though it's interesting to see the change in direction between the first four tracks comprising 1996's 'Vargaresa' and the latter songs from 1997's 'Ur Nattvindar,' the second demo really introducing the folk elements that would later make Månegarm so distinctive.
This is, for the most part, simplistic but incessantly catchy black metal, but fans of the band's later, more melodic works may find the drum and vocal work surprisingly vicious. 'Nattens Jungfru' is the only song in the first half that expands beyond customary black metal to introduce folk elements, and this is expanded in most of the later songs, though without a great deal of ideas to go around, the songs do become repetitive. Not an essential Månegarm release by any means, but still an interesting treat for fans.
Vredens Tid
*****
Written on 31.12.08
Since Bathory's Quorthon first introduced folk instruments to black metal and started to sing about longboats in the late 1980s, the Viking metal genre has expanded and developed to become one of my firm favourite strange sub-genres of heavy metal music. While there are many cheap imitation acts of the genre leaders, my favourites are the ones that manage to remain distinctive and unique, and Sweden's Månegarm, in particular their excellent album 'Vredens Tid,' are at the top of my list.
'Vredens Tid' perfects the previous album 'Dödsfärd' by focusing on slightly longer, more intricate songs, mostly rooted in folk-tinged black metal but increasingly experimenting with moments of pure folk, female vocals and melodic elements comparable to melodic death metal, as in the catchy 'Dödens Strand.' The band retains its talents for instantly compelling and memorable lead melodies, performed by a comination of guitar and violin in most cases, and the alternation between yelled, growled and sung vocals works brilliantly, though may take a while to get used to before you reach the point of joining in with the unintelligible Swedish choruses.
Longer songs such as 'Kolöga Trolltand' and 'Hemfärd' are extended through contrivances such as folk sections, but these never feel out of place, and although the extended atmospheric build-up of 'Preludium' may be a little excessive in repeated doses, it does lead excellently into the war-torn title song. Fans of the band's black metal roots may find some elements a little soft here and there, but for the most part this is excellent, high-octane mead-drinking music, perfect for the kind of Viking-themed parties that I wish I was invited to. Perhaps I'll have to throw my own.
Urminnes Hävd – The Forest Sessions
***
Written on 31.12.08
Just as many women will doubtless be interested in becoming pregnant just to see how their womb works, or just as many men will try to grow a beard at some point out of curiosity, bands such as Sweden's Månegarm who experiment with mixed genres, in their case supplementing black metal with folk elements, will feel the need to prove their credentials at some point in their career in the form of an experimental E.P. 'Urminnes Hävd - The Forest Sessions' is their permissible indulgence into the realm of pure folk, and it's actually pretty good.
The problem that some bands encounter when altering their sound is that the music they're playing ends up sounding merely like a cheaper, stilted, unplugged version of their usual style, but the wide array of instruments and vocal styles on offer here, as well as the more relaxed tempo, makes this practically unrecognisable as the same band responsible for the fierce 'Dödsfärd.'
This inevitably makes it somewhat less riveting to a metal fan, but the band succeeds in proving itself, and is arguably much more successful than their contemporaries such as Borknagar and Empyrium in their own shift towards a lighter style; thankfully, this is restrained to a single experimental release, with a mix of bouncy folk jigs and more subtle, reflective acoustic instrumentals.
Vargstenen
*****
Written on 31.12.08
The most recent release from Månegarm is no disappointment even after the high quality of 'Vredens Tid,' combining the band's perfected Viking metal style with their harsh black metal roots and introducing more of the folk elements found on the previous E.P. 'Urminnes Hävd,' particularly in the form of the entirely folk 'Den Gamle Talar' but also in the frequent acoustic interludes to even the fiercest tracks, seeing the return of the female vocalist.
The black metal comes to the fore in the fifth song 'Genom Världar Nio,' but also makes the rest of the album that little bit harder-hitting than its more melodic predecessors. The vocals are extremely addicitive in both their growled and bellowed sung forms, and impossible to resist joining in with even if you don't know a word of Swedish, while the longer songs certainly carry that epic feel that Viking metal bands achieve so well and other genres fail to.
Battle Hymns
There's No Charge for the Haircut - and the Bullets Come Free
****
Written on 14.08.07 [2016 retrospective]
Manowar’s debut is widely regarded as a classic of early 80s heavy metal before the spawning of ‘false metal’ glam acts, as well as Manowar’s own increasing movement towards self-parody, robbed the genre of its credibility. That’s not to say that ‘Battle Hymns,’ for all its legacy, is an entirely sombre and sinister affair, featuring the band’s usual ridiculous lyrics on numerous themes from bikes to heavy metal to ancient battles, but sung over music that remains true to the spirit and sound of early, simplistic metal without any of the pompous excess that would later turn the band into a laughing stock.
Collecting most of the songs recorded by the band in the previous two years, ‘Battle Hymns’ is something of a mixed bag with songs heading in often wildly different directions, the earlier pieces tending more towards a party atmosphere in the vein of Kiss, but with more testosterone, and the final three songs experimenting with a more epic sound that had never been attempted before, but has since spawned numerous sub-genres within heavy metal. Eric Adams’ distinctive wail hasn’t reached its full power yet despite a valiant effort to hold notes at the end of many songs, and like many bands’ first releases it’s entertaining to hear how much younger he sounds than on their definitive ‘Kings of Metal.’ Joey DeMaio is the band’s founder, primary song-writer and bass player, and there are no limits to his ego. Not only does DeMaio intersperse most songs with complex and foregrounded bass riffs over the guitars, but the penultimate song is handed over to him entirely as he speeds through the William Tell Overture with no thought for the safety of his fingers or the attention span of the listener, also writing the band’s title song that explains their English origins (DeMaio was a roadie and tech for Black Sabbath, where he ‘heard the call’) and the steps that led to them becoming, clearly, the most powerful force on the planet.
The remainder of the band comprises musicians who would both soon depart, making way for the classic line-up. Ross Funicello’s guitar work is good, but is noticeably weak compared to DeMaio’s bass work, requiring the talents of his later replacement Ross “The Boss” to provide more effective competition. As such, most of the riffs are very simplistic to the point of sounding derivative of other bands, and the guitar solos are nothing spectacular, though the long-forgotten Funicello admirably keeps up to speed on the faster pieces such as ‘Manowar,’ and employs interesting effects in the songs that follow. Scott Columbus’ predecessor on the drum kit is Donnie Hamzik, drafted in from a newspaper advertisement put out by DeMaio and Adams and doing his job as promised, but once again failing to make a lasting impression. There’s nothing here to rival the drums on later songs such as ‘March for Revenge,’ but for the more straightforward songs that dominate this album, Hamzik is essentially required to play fast and hard, and he does so competently.
1. Death Tone
2. Metal Daze
3. Fast Taker
4. Shell Shock
5. Manowar
6. Dark Avenger
7. William’s Tale
8. Battle Hymn
As mentioned earlier, there is a very clear split in this album between the two styles of song, made even more obvious by the original double-sided vinyl than the CD version. Opener ‘Death Tone’ is a fairly fast and energetic song in which the character of a juvenile biker spouts some truly abominable lyrics (‘I give some square the finger,’ etc.), and is very similar both lyrically and musically to ‘Fast Taker,’ the appropriately faster speed of which makes it the more exciting of the two, as well as its more original guitar work. The song between, ‘Metal Daze,’ is the first of oh-so-many anthems dedicated to the glory of heavy metal, and easily my least favourite song on the album due to its unwise and unconvincing chorus chanting. Later live versions are much more credible, as the crowd sings along instead of this stilted-sounding noise, but it’s also incredibly uneventful and dull, especially at this early point. ‘Shell Shock’ is one of the more memorable songs, describing the debilitating after-effects of Vietnam from the perspective of an ex-soldier but also scorning those who escaped the war, represented by the despised ‘businessman at home.’ I’m sure there are several thousand more emotive and worthwhile songs about the Vietnam conflict out there, but with its cool riff, incredibly catchy rhythm and fine chorus, this would still be my favourite. This first, uneven ‘half’ of the album is concluded with the band’s titular song ‘Manowar,’ which strives to be even faster and more full of energy than those that have come before it, and succeeds to some extent. At only three-and-a-half minutes long it feels a little unsatisfying and brief, despite another great chorus, but the band would make sure to record many more testaments to their own greatness over the next twenty-five years and beyond. Excellent.
While the first half of the album effectively offers a slightly rougher and more energetic version of the sound Judas Priest had moved beyond two years previously, it’s the remaining songs of the album (with one very definite exception that is easy to spot) that elevate this record to classic and influential status, beginning the epic sound that the band would embrace more fully on their second album as they began to deal with Viking themes. ‘Dark Avenger’ is a brilliant song of two halves, the first a slow, dark and foreboding bass and guitar instrumental of sorts overlaid with narration from the inimitable diaphragm of Orson Welles. The dialogue is fairly silly and simplistic fantasy pap, detailing the story of the eponymous dark avenger riding up from Hell on his demon horse Black Death, before an escalating ‘woah’ from Eric Adams rises to an ear-splitting scream and the song hits its stride. The final few minutes are back in familiar territory, but with grander aspirations, and some humorously sexist lyrics that the band encourage us to sing along to, not for the last time. The bass instrumental ‘William’s Tale’ then proceeds to waste a couple of minutes in an extremely shoddy sounding display of fast string-plucking to an over-familiar tune, before the album delivers its final and most satisfying punch in the form of the semi-titular ‘Battle Hymn.’ Originally recorded for Manowar’s demo release, this song takes the slow and heavy approach of ‘Dark Avenger’ and mixes in some lighter sections of acoustic guitar and even a very drastic piano break, which ends up sounding a little too out of place and lullaby-like amidst all the death and destruction. It’s one of the purest Manowar classics, and the song that launched a thousand thousand geeky fantasy metal bands.
Manowar’s debut is far from being their strongest album, being beaten very satisfyingly by the next few subsequent releases before the band’s deterioration with their move to a major label towards the end of the decade. It nevertheless remains one of their most enduringly popular, especially among non-hardcore fans who can appreciate its greater simplicity in the era of NWOB(A)HM, the New Wave of British (and American) Heavy Metal, and who would likely find the greater excesses of all their subsequent albums a little off-putting. I enjoy this album for its diversity, but with the far greater things they would produce soon hereafter it’s not an album I often listen to in full, often opting for a quick blast of ‘Dark Avenger’ or ‘Shell Shock,’ two very different songs, one of which will always be ideally suited to my mood at any given time.
Advantages: Classic old-school heavy metal songs on more diverse topics than the band usually covers.
Disadvantages: Weak and simplistic compared to the second album and others, partly due to the temporary line-up.
Into Glory Ride
Leather! Metal! Spikes - and Chaaaiiins
*****
Written on 21.08.07
It’s often cheesy, it’s gratuitously sexist and geeky, and it’s got a photo of the band pretending to be barbarians on the front, but Manowar’s second album has to be among my favourite albums of all time. In the whole history of the world’s albums – ever! I’m quite clearly insane, but at least I didn’t opt for one of their more ridiculous later albums like ‘Louder Than Hell.’
Picking up right where ‘Battle Hymns’ left off, Manowar’s second album marks a clear decision from the band (led by bass player Joey DeMaio) to embrace the epic sound of the debut’s latter half, mostly abandoning more simplistic hard rock anthems in favour of pursuing this innovative sound. It’s this dedicated focus on perfecting a style, found in various stages across the album which, like the debut, improves as it goes, that makes this a more solid and exciting album than any of Manowar’s later efforts, which mostly relied on safe, tried-and-tested techniques. The subject matter takes an appropriate turn from the debut also, beginning with another song about a juvenile biker before skidding off completely to deal with battles, swords and Viking mythology for the remainder of the record. The lyrics are less absurdly funny than on Manowar’s other releases, apart from the classic opening dialogue where the Warlord is discovered deflowering an angry couple’s sixteen-year-old daughter and has to flee the shouting father, and as the most sensible of Manowar’s releases it’s perhaps the one most appealing to newcomers. Unless, of course, they’re into the band for the absurdity alone, in which case they will be justly disappointed.
The predominant sound of ‘Into Glory Ride’ is that of a slow and heavy march, newcomers Ross “The Boss” on guitar and Scott Columbus on drums completing the band’s classic line-up and providing the memorable riffs and rhythms that were lacking in the debut. Songs such as ‘Hatred’ and ‘Secret of Steel’ crawl along with the crushing heaviness of Black Sabbath’s classic debut album, Eric Adams holding the high notes in some of his best performances, while others such as the excellent ‘Revelation’ are among the fastest and most energetic Manowar would record until the late 80s. With the exception of ‘Warlord,’ which stands out as a more deliberately simplistic single, all of the songs are longer than the heavy metal average and more complex, the later songs particularly featuring several major breaks that could almost make them different songs as part of an epic suite. The sound certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, Eric Adams’ powerful wails going overboard in places such as the soft introduction to ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ and as usual there are several references that openly celebrate the more ravishing aspects of Viking invasion, but as a work of epic metal this album wouldn’t be beaten until Bathory created so-called Viking metal a number of years later, based on many of the ideas found here.
1. Warlord
2. Secret of Steel
3. Gloves of Metal
4. Gates of Valhalla
5. Hatred
6. Revelation (Death’s Angel)
7. March for Revenge (By the Soldiers of Death)
The primary failing of this album is evidently that it’s fairly short, at least compared to modern releases, lasting the Manowar average of just under forty minutes. Insistent that the sound quality of the record should not be compromised or diluted in any way, the band left off the excellent song ‘Defender’ that was recorded in this session, which featured a second celebrity guest monologue from Orson Welles after ‘Dark Avenger’ on the first album, instead releasing it as a limited edition single before a re-recorded version finally found its way onto 1987’s otherwise terrible ‘Fighting the World.’ The addition of this song would have made this album even more impressive, though perhaps would have been an overkill of slowness for some metal fans, and it’s to its credit that ‘Into Glory Ride’ manages to exude such incredible atmosphere simply from the standard rock instruments without any technical tomfoolery or attempts to incorporate a symphony. As mentioned earlier, ‘Warlord’ opens the album with a comical piece of drama (presumably unintentional, though I’ve never been sure about this one) , performed as usual by laughably inept actors, before launching into a fun and catchy metal anthem that’s up there with anything Judas Priest released in the same era. A marked improvement on the directly comparable songs from the debut album, namely ‘Death Tone’ and ‘Fast Taker,’ it’s clear that the band gels together in its new, fixed line-up far better than was possible with the drafted players on the earlier release.
‘Secret of Steel’ immediately launches listeners into the album’s preferred style, and along with its successor ‘Gloves of Metal’ is a slow and forceful piece that remains far too powerful throughout to ever become dull. The chorus is one of Manowar’s best, evolving seamlessly from the verses and featuring some innovative guitar from Ross “The Boss,” whose clanky melodies would define many of the band’s finest songs, though it inevitably becomes repetitive towards the end. ‘Gloves of Metal’ is similar in approach, but more amusing for its celebration of the heavy metal lifestyle through its clothing (not shallow at all), replete with great heavy riffs but not too remarkable after the second song, mostly memorable for the first instance of the band referring to themselves as ‘the Metal Kings.’ Attempting to top its predecessors in the epic stakes, something the album will continue to do throughout, ‘Gates of Valhalla’ follows a similar style to the classic older song ‘Battle Hymn’ with a melodic, quiet introduction led by Adams in his first real performance as a tenor, before falling back on the familiar Manowar sound, slightly faster here. It’s a great song, if a little lacking towards the end, and the first of a great many Viking epics to be penned by DeMaio, culminating in this year’s Norse concept release ‘Gods of War.’
‘Hated’ is something of an acquired taste, expanding on the slow and heavy style of the second and third songs and pushing it just that little bit too far in the reliable Manowar manner. It can be gruelling and even painful at times, but in the right circumstances the crawling chorus can be just as effective as any of the faster pieces, the guitar work of Ross “The Boss” managing to owe a debt to Black Sabbath without sounding in any way derivative, a true feat. After this exhausting slump (which perhaps should have been replaced by the excluded ‘Defender’ to achieve the same effect, if I’m going to take a Fantasy Manowar angle), the album kicks into its most energetic song yet, with the incredible ‘Revelation (Death’s Angel),’ my all-time favourite Manowar song, charging through and decimating anything they have recorded before or since. The chorus is perfect, Adams wailing with appropriate gusto over the galloping drums and bass while Ross “The Boss” noodles around his guitar, the song beating Iron Maiden’s classic ‘The Trooper’ in conjuring a war-torn scene and really taking the listener along for the bumpy steedback ride. Both ‘Revelation’ and the final song, ‘March for Revenge (By the Soldiers of Death),’ display a self-aware grandeur in their (bracketed) sub-titles, and both utilise their full running times to build upon the songs and experiment, unlike some of the earlier tracks which simply lasted for a long time. ‘March for Revenge,’ like ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ takes a drastic turn part way through from a slow introduction to a rip-roaring finale that it’s impossible not to sing along to, even if the lyrics are ‘maim and kill them – take the women and chiiiiildren.’
Most Manowar albums improve towards the end, as more easily palatable singles make way for experimental epics, but only with ‘Into Glory Ride’ does the onward march truly improve throughout, the possible exception of ‘Hatred’ only coming with someone unaccustomed to such a slow piece, and itself forming a necessary bridge. ‘Revelation’ and ‘March for Revenge’ are both so irresistibly catchy and energetic that you should be sure nobody’s around to see you enthusiastically joining in, while the earlier songs such as ‘Gloves of Metal’ are slow and methodical head-banging heaven. The band’s follow-up ‘Hail to England’ would prove less satisfying and more of a rushed effort, attempting to mimic the style of this sophomore release but ultimately failing to recapture the thunder. Perhaps it was divine intervention from Thor, or simply the result of an incredibly focused year, but ‘Into Glory Ride’ remains one of the most definitive heavy metal albums alongside ‘Black Sabbath,’ ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ and ‘The Number of the Beast.’
Advantages: Perfects the band's epic heavy metal sound, and features many of their finest songs.
Disadvantages: Too predominantly slow for some.
Hail to England
We Ride for the Crown
***
Written on 28.08.07
New York’s Manowar have always been quick to praise their European brothers of metal, the continent housing their largest fan-base and offering them headlining events at major metal festivals, compared to the lukewarm reception of their home country. Although later releases such as ‘Kings of Metal’ would attempt to balance out the praise for all European nations (it even name-checks Wales), their third album, or more specifically its titular song, is a celebration of the nation that created heavy metal and provided Manowar with the opportunity to hear the call. The country’s name is... oh yes, it’s in the title.
‘Hail to England’ is in some ways a disappointing follow-up to ‘Into Glory Ride,’ but this was perhaps inevitable, the band having all but exhausted their epic sound across its seven tracks. At a shorter thirty minutes of music, this third release at first seems to display signs of either laziness or a writer’s block, yet the release of ‘Sign of the Hammer’ later in the same year indicates that it was presumably more due to pressure from the record label, or for financial necessity, to churn these records out in quick succession. ‘Hail to England’ includes a couple of immortal Manowar classics, particularly the first song which still beats anything recorded by Scandinavian Viking metal bands in its short and simple piece of Norse mythology, but for the most part it seems to be a re-tread of the more successful aspects of the first two albums. Still, it’s only fussy people like me who will really be irked by this lack of progress, and for the average Manowar or heavy metal fan this is an enjoyable, if unremarkable and noticeably short, album, and one that can easily be dealt with track-by-track.
1. Blood of My Enemies
2. Each Dawn I Die
3. Kill With Power
4. Hail to England
5. Army of Immortals
6. Black Arrows
7. Bridge of Death
‘Blood of My Enemies’ is the primary reason that I still bother with this album, as it’s one of my favourite Manowar songs. Unlike the previous album, attention seems to have been made to keep the song lengths more acceptable, with the exception of the monster final track, and the shorter, edited style really works to keep this first song from becoming tedious. The chorus is a somewhat surprising mellow sing-along, but incessantly catchy, and Ross “The Boss” puts in some of his best guitar work in the album’s trademark Viking song. ‘Each Dawn I Die’ is less impressive, and begins something of a slump, wrongly placed as a slow song at this early point to suck the energy from the great opener and remaining largely unmemorable even after several listens. The main riff is cool and clanky in the Manowar fashion, accompanied by DeMaio’s bass which is more prominent on this album, but overall this has the unfortunate distinction of being the first Manowar song that can truly be regarded as filler.
‘Kill With Power’ is next, bringing back the speed and attempting to push the heaviness further than before as it approaches thrash metal, but on the whole I find this popular song a little unconvincing, and at times irritating. The customary ridiculous lyrics aside (‘Kill With Power?’), the song sacrifices strong development and interest in the pursuit of this harder edge that it doesn’t quite achieve, due to the slightly weak production values and the musicians’ incompatible playing style, but the greatest annoyance is the irritating whistling effect produced by the guitar after each line of the chorus. It was a nice intention for the band to try to keep up with their country’s thrashers, but ultimately their true home is in pure old British heavy metal, the subject matter of the fourth song, ‘Hail to England,’ which also seems to indicate that they wish to gallop to London Town (as with most Manowar songs, this is set in the past) and claim the throne. Relying on a traditional heavy metal style there really isn’t much that excites me in this one, but the verses possess the great energy of the band on top form, and the unison chanting in the chorus manages to be a vast improvement over that of the horrible ‘Metal Daze’ on the first album. Ross “The Boss” provides a great lead guitar riff that weaves its way around the entire song, and not once is there a rubbish attempt made to play ‘Greensleeves’ or some other song that American people might assume plays over England’s green and pleasant land; Manowar has too much respect.
As usual with Manowar albums, the final few tracks attempt something grander and more eloquent, though in this instance the results are less impressive, sadly forming the weaker half of the material. ‘Army of Immortals’ is the band’s tribute to their fans (they’re big on praise in this album), but only the chorus manages to rise above mediocrity in this re-hash of the previous album’s ideas. Things become really bleak with the return of DeMaio’s bass solo spot, avoided on the previous album but usually a staple of Manowar releases, and ‘Black Arrows’ has the distinction of being the least impressive of the lot. Beginning with a silly spoken word introduction distorted through some gadget or other that will resurface on the final song, DeMaio bellows that each of his notes will be as a black arrow sent straight through the hearts of all those who play false metal. It’s too depressingly awful to even be funny in the way the later ‘Kings of Metal’ album is hilarious, and the next few minutes of discordant bass masturbation should be confined only to the most hardcore DeMaio fan.
Fortunately, ‘Bridge of Death’ brings the quality back towards the end as a grand finale, but doesn’t live up to the high quality of the previous two albums with its crawling pace and lack of real progression. Eric Adams is fantastic in the chorus, holding the high notes with even greater ease than in the last album’s ‘Gates of Valhalla,’ but the return of the distorted voice processor, which sees Adams invocate the power of Satan in an uncharacteristic and pointless move that will only have invited criticism, keeps this from being a truly enjoyable song. It also has nothing to do with Monty Python, which adds to the disappointment.
‘Hail to England’ is one of Manowar’s more well-known, but weaker releases, perhaps viewed as a classic for its fortunate production in the middle of heavy metal’s popularity when people worldwide seemed to crave the generic heavy rock that it offers. The more impressive elements of this album will have gone over such peoples’ heads, but provide the only real reason for me to keep listening to this otherwise forgettable album, contributing ‘Blood of My Enemies’ to the Manowar canon along with a number of comparatively worthless, but nonetheless enjoyable pieces. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ would be released later the same year, and effectively fills in the obvious gaps of this album while managing to be the stronger of the two releases, yet even though many retailers such as Amazon sell these early albums for incredibly low prices of around £3.99 – meaning that they could all be bought to compliment each other for the same price as a single album from another band – it’s still a largely weak effort when viewed in the proper historical context. That said, it’s a whole lot better than some of the rubbish they would release later...
Advantages: Simplistic and enjoyable classic heavy metal.
Disadvantages: Disappointing lack of progression after the previous album, and mediocre songs.
Sign of the Hammer
Crush the Infidels in Your Way
****
Written on 10.07.07
The eighties were an incredible and stupid time, though my own memories are admittedly vague and mainly concern Postman Pat and fish paste sandwiches. Heavy metal bands wearing codpieces and singing about historical battles were unusually motivated in their craft, and most managed to consistently release a brand new studio album every single year while also managing to fit in a painstaking world tour to promote the last one. In 1984, Manowar served up two doses of overkill in the form of ‘Hail to England’ and its less well-known successor, ‘Sign of the Hammer.’ While the New Yorkers were obviously heavily driven that year to spread their message of the glory of Vikings and heavy metal, two releases in such a short space of time arouse fears that these records will favour quantity over quality. But could you really get enough Manowar? The answer is clearly no. Shut up.
Manowar is often quite rightly seen as the silliest band of the lot, but these earlier albums are right up there with the best of eighties metal, filled with classic speed assaults and more relaxed and compelling offerings. The band’s penchant for showing off costs their releases a little of their otherwise high quality, particularly noticeable in Joey DeMaio’s trademark bass solo track for each album, but there aren’t many bands that achieved a similarly high level of consistency in the same period. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ is significantly the end of a era for Manowar, before they switched to the major label Atlantic Records and their more polished and commercially viable tirades against ‘false metal’ sell-outs took on a decidedly hypocritical side. Coming in at the tail-end of an exhaustive period that saw the band’s sound become increasingly epic and its subject matter more fantastical, this album is at once a satisfying culmination of all the disparate Manowar elements, summoned into a final desperate and somewhat knackered charge.
In terms of theme, Manowar’s first album featured songs about (in order) bikes, heavy metal, juvenile independence, Vietnam, the glory of Manowar and the glory of battle. Afterwards, the laughable focus on heavy metal and the band itself remained a staple, but the contemporary political angle was increasingly replaced with more epic songs about Conan the Barbarian-style fantasy battles and the violent side of Viking mythology. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ returns to the more mixed focus of the first album, with the classic final song referring specifically to the 1978 mass suicide of the Jonestown cult, balanced out by an opening song about the band itself that can’t help but be reminiscent of Spinal Tap and the by-now customary Viking song ‘Thor (The Powerhead),’ which is fittingly apt for the band’s last great album in dealing with the prophesied end of Viking civilisation when the gods will fight the giants.
1. All Men Play on 10
2. Animals
3. Thor (The Powerhead)
4. Mountains
5. Sign of the Hammer
6. The Oath
7. Thunderpick
8. Guyana (Cult of the Damned)
The production quality of this album is unfortunately a little inferior to its predecessors, perhaps revealing a rushed nature to this second recording of the year, and it doesn’t help that attention is drawn that way in the opening ‘All Men Play on 10,’ as Eric Adams condemns his contemporaries in other bands that settle for ‘a sound that’s real thin.’ All Manowar albums thus far have begun with a fast and upbeat metal anthem such as this, and although it’s undeniably cool in the 80s metal fashion, it doesn’t really stand out against the competition, but the main guitar riff is distinctive and memorable. Its successor ‘Animals’ is an unfortunate piece of very early filler that manages to be fast and full of energy, but isn’t really about anything significant, and sounds more like KISS than anything. At only three and a half minutes it’s not long enough to become tedious or a problem, but the album really needed a stand-out track at this early point to win the listener over, and sadly this isn’t it. It’s a shame, as the mediocre song, which isn’t helped by its arbitrary thematic title, is the precursor to a very solid half-hour of Manowar at its finest, interrupted only by DeMaio’s inevitable bass session at the penultimate track.
The afore-mentioned ‘Thor (The Powerhead)’ starts things off brilliantly, a five minute mini-epic that remains exciting throughout. Ross “The Boss” excels at guitar, from the opening riffs to the long and very cool solo, backed up by Scott Columbus with some of his best drum work and the always reliable bass clunk of DeMaio. As they achieved with the astounding ‘Blood of My Enemies’ on the previous album, the band manages to evoke the ancient Viking landscape with all the atmosphere of a film score, but without having to rely on external gimmicks such as a keyboard or the orchestration that pervades their more recent work. In this respect, there’s a clear link between songs like ‘Thor,’ ‘Blood of My Enemies’ and the title track, discussed later, and the later ‘Viking metal’ genre pioneered by Bathory and other Scandinavian black metal artists. It may seem ludicrous to newcomers on first listen, but Manowar’s music has had far-reaching implications across the board, explaining why so many black, death, symphonic and power metal bands have covered their work.
Despite the foreboding generality of a title similar to that of ‘Animals,’ ‘Mountains’ proves to be the far more impressive of the two, and is executed at a far slower pace. DeMaio’s bass provides the rhythm while Ross “The Boss” is free to exude some atmospheric minimalism with his down-tuned guitar, never striving for the soaring melodies of other bands, only becoming prominent and heavy in the slow choruses. Eric Adams’ triumphal vocals are punctuated by drumming in a sequence that’s a little over the top, but should just be enjoyed for the optimistic ‘feel-good’ anthem that it is. Unfortunately, this is the one song on the album that outstays its welcome, somehow lasting past seven minutes without much variation, aside from a pleasant atmospheric section led by the bass in the middle. A cacophonous riff breaks the silence at the end as ‘Sign of the Hammer’ begins, another great battle anthem that seems thematically linked to ‘Thor,’ but only as much as any of Manowar’s battle songs are related to each other. The pace is relentless and exhausting, not up to the impossible heights later set by death metal but beating all of the band’s contemporaries, and Adams screams along very satisfyingly above the pounding instruments in the chorus. It’s a shame, really, that a couple of minutes weren’t transferred from ‘Mountains’ to this one, but that probably would have ruined things.
‘The Oath’ suffers a little from its position so late in the album as it doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been heard a little better elsewhere, but it’s essential listening for Eric Adams going even more out of control than he did on the previous song, and for approaching the thrash metal of the band’s earlier ‘Kill With Power.’ The main riff is memorable, and if this had opened the album it would be a Manowar classic, rather than the second rate song it’s relegated to at track six. Afterwards, it’s bass solo time again with the standable ‘Thunderpick,’ a little longer than DeMaio usually puts us through but apparently a rhythm of his own devising this time, rather than a butchering of a classical piano melody. The one advantage of this song, which is at the same time a little irritating, is that its conclusion really does lead perfectly into ‘Guyana (Cult of the Damned),’ making that final song sound a little incomplete without it. ‘Guyana’ is similar to ‘Mountains’ in its reflective and atmospheric sound, but this time builds brilliantly over the first minutes with Adams’ sinister thanks echoing over a marching drum-beat leading to the inevitable moment of mass suicide and the song’s bitter finale. It’s not a subject matter Manowar are more remembered for, and seems very tucked away at the end of this comparatively obscure album, but it’s among their better songs from the period.
Overall, ‘Sign of the Hammer’ tries to be something of a reworking of the first album aided by several years’ worth of valuable experience, but it falls a little flat. The debut album worked so well for beginning with very traditional Motörhead/Judas Priest hard rock and moving towards the grander and more original epic style towards the end, the style that would dominate the next two albums and the majority of this release. ‘Sign of the Hammer’ struggles to recapture that innocent simplicity in the first two songs, but the band no longer seem confident in the stripped down approach. It’s just as well, because epic territory is where they always excelled the best, and ‘Thor (The Powerhead),’ ‘Sign of the Hammer,’ ‘The Oath’ and ‘Guyana (Cult of the Damned)’ stand proudly alongside songs from the earlier albums such as ‘Dark Avenger,’ ‘Battle Hymn,’ ‘Blood of My Enemies,’ ‘Army of the Immortals’ and the entire ‘Into Glory Ride’ album (bet you can’t wait for that review) as the band’s finest work.
The question remains whether more patience that year would have resulted in a single, highly consistent album in the vein of ‘Into Glory Ride,’ rather than this mostly good album and the fairly mediocre ‘Hail to England.’ It’s probable that some of the more throwaway songs on both would have been discarded in favour of putting more work into the better ones, but that would mean essentially losing all the enjoyable rubbish and not gaining very much for songs like ‘Thor’ which the band couldn’t conceivably improve. It’s probably for the best that ‘Hail to England’ was rushed out when it was so that work could begin on its more worthwhile predecessor, it’s probably just a case of the band being too impatient to wait around perfecting things when they’re all ready to go. Either way, Manowar wouldn’t release another album for a comparatively astonishing three years, after which things would never be quite so good again...
Advantages: Some of their best material, continuing to evolve the 'Viking metal' sound.
Disadvantages: Some songs reveal the rushed production.
Fighting the World
Fists Like Hammers Fill the Air
**
Written on 25.07.07
Manowar’s major label debut brought their self-styled brand of bass-driven, ear-splitting, macho heavy metal to a wider audience, raising concerns among long-time fans that their favourite stupid-but-excellent band had sold out to the same faceless institution they had assaulted in earlier songs such as ‘All Men Play on 10.’ Clearly aware of this, Manowar lays rest to such fears in their customary way with the single ‘Blow Your Speakers,’ in which Eric Adams yells his love of true metal and hatred of mainstream labels against a catchy, Village People-style backing chorus and stilted guitars. Something here is awry.
Released three years after the last of Manowar’s previous four albums, which were released in rapid succession, as detailed in my review for ‘Sign of the Hammer,’ the ‘Fighting the World’ album likely represents the greatest disappointment of their career. It isn’t their worst album by far, as the few releases of the past decade have all been disappointing in unique ways, but it represents a significant drop in quality and an unappreciated change in direction from the dark and epic heavy metal of their earlier efforts towards something resembling, in places, the ‘false metal’ the band boasts so much hatred for. Whether this was due to pressure from Atlantic Records to create something easier to sell is unclear, though it must have become obvious soon after that only those with a certain frame of mind were going to buy Manowar records in the first place, and the band should essentially be allowed to do their inexplicably popular thing uninterrupted.
Thematically it’s much the same as everything bass player and songwriter Joey DeMaio puts out, a mix of songs set in the present day of the metal-loving, bike-riding East Coast, and tales of battle fought in ancient history. There’s even a song about Vietnam which harks back to the debut album, and as usual a couple of pieces glorifying Manowar’s fans and the band itself. Anyone who had followed Manowar up to this point would recognise the usual shift in style from straightforward metal anthems in the first, ‘present day’ side of the album to the more grandiose style of the later songs that continues the style the band excels at the most. With this significant split between styles, the album is structured similarly to the classic debut ‘Battle Hymns,’ but most of the material sadly falls short of its predecessor. It’s notable, and disappointing, that the only truly excellent song here is the epic ‘Defender,’ which I discovered years later was written way back in the glorious era of ‘Into Glory Ride,’ but jettisoned from that album for issues of space.
1. Fighting the World
2. Blow Your Speakers
3. Carry On
4. Violence and Bloodshed
5. Defender
6. Drums of Doom
7. Holy War
8. Master of Revenge
9. Black Wind, Fire and Steel
The first four tracks have a noticeably different audience than the later songs, and it’s clear they were placed at the beginning, as usual with Manowar releases, to provide something more straightforward for newcomers that won’t put them off persevering to the later, more seasoned territory. Not that there isn’t an awful lot to put people off in these arrogant and hypocritical heavy metal anthems, which display a far more commercial side of the band not heard since the opening songs of ‘Battle Hymns,’ before the band found its feet. ‘Fighting the World’ itself is a medium pace rocker with lyrics that are too embarrassing even to be considered amusing in the traditional Manowar sense (‘stripes on a tiger don’t wash away / Manowar’s made of steel, not clay’), and even in terms of the music that these lyrics uncharacteristically overshadow to a large degree, the plodding drum beat, predictable guitar riff and overly repetitive chorus isn’t what listeners have come to expect from a Manowar opener. ‘Blow Your Speakers’ is even worse, and the music video was placed in VH1’s list of ‘Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs,’ though for the long-time Manowar fan it’s more of a crushing disappointment than a cheesy laugh. It’s clear that this is a re-tread of the older song ‘Metal Daze,’ but the backing chorus, mentioned earlier, is many times worse, and once again the lyrics are abominable (‘I wrote a letter to the MTV / Said “what’s going on, don’t you care about me?”’). This pair of slow, preachy dance floor songs (presumably the result of the lyric, ‘people want music to get ’em movin’), lacks the energy and compelling sincerity of Manowar’s traditional shorter songs, and makes an unforgivably poor start to the album.
‘Carry On’ is a slight improvement, and works alright as a cheesy eighties metal song complete with TV game show solo, but still isn’t what the album needs to get on track. Notably, it’s Manowar’s first real foray into the rousing crowd chant style that would appear on many releases hereafter, beginning with a plodding drum and Adams’ irresistible vocals before breaking into a speedier riff for the verses and returning in the chorus. I have a soft spot for this song, but it’s still essentially crap. Things continue to improve, slowly but surely, with the excitingly titled ‘Violence and Bloodshed,’ promising the aggression of some of Manowar’s finest songs and delivering this to an extent. The drastically improved production quality of all albums released hereafter makes this song sound stilted and unfulfilled by comparison, as we’re not hearing the full effect a live performance would provide, but it’s still a step in the right direction at last. Ross “The Boss” delivers his first notable riff of the album and creates quite a cacophony, while Eric Adams is at his vocal best in both the driving verses and excellent chorus, which sees him increase the pitch of his wail incrementally after each power chord.
‘Defender,’ the finest song on the album, takes the listener back to an undisclosed time of warfare for the remainder of the performance, and is a fine example of a slow, epic song executed to perfection. The late Orson Welles provides narration as he did for the similarly excellent ‘Dark Avenger’ on the debut album, recorded four years earlier for the original version of the song in which time Welles had passed away, and his steady, deep tone contrasts excellently with Eric Adams’ high singing, especially when the two voices of ‘father and son’ are pitted against each other in the finale. It’s touching in a very simplistic way, as a young warrior reads a letter written by his late father explaining why he had to leave and ultimately die in service of his kingdom/country/warlord, and the boy promises to follow his example. Ross “The Boss” gives a nice solo, and the bass and drum rhythm is vital in holding the whole thing together, but this is very clearly a song dominated and led by the two great vocal performances, the higher one of which acts almost like a guitar solo in itself.
‘Drums of Doom’ is nothing more than a short drum solo designed to introduce the next song, complete with the sound effects of horses galloping that begin what will later become an obsession with inserting sound samples into the music. The best thing about this song is that drummer Scott Columbus’ simplistic and non-flamboyant performance replaces any lengthy bass solo track that might have made its way onto the album like all others before it (and most afterwards). ‘Holy War’ returns to the battle metal sound of Manowar’s great Viking epics, beginning softly before erupting into a bass-dominated and highly energetic performance that can’t help but be seen, in hindsight, like a direct precursor to ‘Hail and Kill’ on the subsequent release. This is easily one of the best songs on the album, but is spoiled slightly by the decision to make tracks six to nine flow together in something of a contrived suite, meaning that the song can’t really be played in isolation without sounding odd at the beginning and end as it catches the tail-end of other songs.
It’s worse that the following song, ‘Master of Revenge,’ is merely a one-minute prelude to the final song in which Ross “The Boss” plays a repetitive riff over Adams’ wailing vocals, something that would sound good as part of a longer piece but doesn’t really work here. Closer ‘Black Wind, Fire and Steel’ is a bit of an over-rated album closer as it lies uncomfortably between epic and speedy territory and, as usual for Manowar finales, takes an excruciating amount of time to actually finish once the song is over, including a ridiculous wailing section towards the close. The bulk of the song itself is pretty good, led by DeMaio’s hyper clanging bass and putting Eric Adams through his paces as his verse vocals have to keep up. The chorus is incredibly memorable and catchy, if a little meaningless, and if it wasn’t for the regrettable finale this would be on even par with ‘Holy War,’ both of which suffer slightly thanks to whoever came up with the seguing idea.
It’s both sad and embarrassing that Manowar had such a bad start on their major label debut, failing to live up their own standards and slogans as they struggle to weakly cobble together something more commercially viable, but at the same time decide to go overboard on the ridiculous lyrics and attitude that are the most off-putting aspect of even their best work. Without the re-use of ‘Defender,’ this album would truly be feeble, and no amount of studio trickery and fake song suites can elevate it to the classic status of their earlier releases (tracks six to nine are all different songs, and no amount of cross-fading is going to convince people otherwise). The performances from DeMaio and Adams are superb on occasion, compared to the fairly average contributions from Ross “The Boss” and Columbus, but this album feels like a severe mis-step even after the slightly directionless ‘Sign of the Hammer.’ The following year’s definitive ‘Kings of Metal’ would solidify Manowar’s ambitions and objectives forever after, making them appear even stupider in some ways but also much more focused and determined to spread their message, making ‘Fighting the World’ an insignificant and hopefully forgettable stepping stone between the Manowar of the early eighties and the band that continues to grow ever more elaborate today.
I really should talk about the album cover... no, I think it’s fairly self-explanatory.
Advantages: A couple of great Manowar epics to add to the list.
Disadvantages: Largely disappointing and feeble, not helped by weak production.
Kings of Metal
May Your Sword Stay Wet Like a Young Girl in Her Prime
***
Written on 02.07.07
‘Kings of Metal’ has all the makings of a self-consciously definitive Manowar album, like the Black Album was for Metallica. Now forming the centre of their discography, it does indeed represent pretty much everything Manowar is about: the good, and the incredibly bad. The style is a seamless blend of their earlier, more traditional heavy metal style, and the delusions of Wagnerian grandeur that have only increased in the twenty years since, culminating in the tedious embarrassment of their most recent concept effort ‘Gods of War.’ On first listening to ‘Kings of Metal,’ the same overarching themes appear to be present: songs of Odin, Viking conquest, and drinking thy last ale, but elsewhere the subject matter returns to the other characteristic Manowar staples with songs about bikes, women and the glory of Manowar itself. You would be hard pressed to find a more arrogant, chauvinistic and nerdy album even in the eighties metal scene, and while it’s arguable whether this is Manowar at their finest, it certainly catches them at their most hilarious.
This was Manowar’s second major label album after the previous year’s disappointing ‘Fighting the World,’ and the band put their increased budget to use. The production is pretty excellent for an album of the eighties, surpassing the other major metal albums of that year, while an authentic choir of old European men provides the chorus for ‘The Crown and the Ring.’ This album effectively marks the end of an era, as it would be the final outing for guitarist Ross “The Boss” and drummer Scott Columbus, though the latter would return some years later, but also set the standard for all albums that came after, focusing heavily on the contrast between extremely loud and fast heavy metal and more calm and reflective pieces, all striving for the label of ‘epic.’ Although the album is let down by its numerous weak spots and bold but ludicrous experimentation, it still remains their last ‘classic’ album and stands out from the discography. And not just for the hilarious macho cover, in fact there are far worse examples elsewhere.
1. Wheels of Fire
2. Kings of Metal
3. Heart of Steel
4. Sting of the Bumblebee
5. The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings)
6. Kingdom Come
7. Pleasure Slave
8. Hail and Kill
9. The Warrior’s Prayer
10. Blood of the Kings
It’s a fairly straightforward task to divide the album into the tracks that are more traditionally ‘metal’ and those that aren’t, with the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth being the former, and the others being... well, the best term would indeed be ‘something else.’ ‘Heart of Steel’ is led by piano, and gives Eric Adams a chance to show off his vocal cords in a more refined setting, before crushing drums return to a more familiar heavy territory. ‘The Crown and the Ring’ does something similar, only with a male choir replacing the need for heaviness and Adams reaching the high notes in a very minimal soundscape, with some more rousing lyrics as his character rides between battles. ‘Sting of the Bumblebee’ is the trademark Joey DeMaio bass guitar interpretation on a classical theme, this time Rimsky Korsakov’s speedy piano ditty, and as usual is several borderline-unendurable minutes of a cocky musician showing off, scoring over earlier efforts simply for the inclusion of drums towards the end. The final oddball is the enigmatic ‘The Warrior’s Prayer,’ which I still can’t determine is serious or just an in-joke. I would love it to be the latter, I’d have an enormous amount of respect for Manowar if all of this over-the-top performance has all just been a big laugh, but sadly I have heard all of their albums, and watched some interviews, and the reality is that they’re just pretty dumb. Here we have an overlong narrative between a bombastic grandfather and an annoying child, telling a tale of four ultimate warriors wielding weapons that doesn’t even bother veiling itself as an obvious allegory for Manowar, leading into the self-aggrandising finale.
The majority of the album follows the style that has continued since the band’s debut album, but increased volume of guitars and screams doesn’t live up to the simplistic enjoyment and energy of the first four classic albums. ‘Wheels of Fire’ opens with motorbike sound effects, the third time a Manowar album has done this, and although the increased volume of the chorus allows for the clear production of the guitars and double bass drums to be admired, it does tend to be a little too overpowering. The title track is better, a little unoriginal in its medium speed but delightfully pompous in its lyrics, as Eric Adams sings about how amazing Manowar are for playing loud and ‘wearing jeans and leather, not crackerjack clothes,’ for about the fifth time. ‘Kingdom Come’ is the closest thing to filler on this diverse album, a solid metal song that plods along enjoyably but a little uninterestingly until the incredible screamathon over the relentless guitar solo at the conclusion, but is probably the song least likely to be remembered afterwards.
‘Pleasure Slave,’ on the other hand, is instantly shockingly memorable for the band’s unadulterated honesty about the use of women. It could be argued that the lyrics are written from the voice of a character rather than the band themselves, but as they identify so much with the brave warriors elsewhere, and since, as I said, I’ve seen interviews and music videos, there’s no irony to be found here. Depending on the listener, it will provoke a strong reaction towards laughter, offence or possibly a sincere nod of agreement. I know which group I belong to. The final song, ‘Blood of the Kings,’ seems to pick up where ‘Wheels of Fire’ left off, and is similarly loud and furious, but as with the finale to the previous few albums, doesn’t really know when to call it quits with guitars and drums winding down for a couple of minutes just when you thought everything was over.
‘Kings of Metal’ has a clear target audience, and Manowar is very strict on the issue of compromise. ‘We don’t attract wimps cause we’re too loud, just true metal people that’s Manowar’s crowd,’ they proclaim. While their definition of true metal is a little debatable (half of this album consisting of classically influenced piano, choral and bass songs, with one really stupid spoken word piece), this would nevertheless most likely suit the tastes of someone whose appetite has already been whetted by the more accessible likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Metallica. Then again, anyone who braves the album cover and the track titles should know what they’re getting into, and any offence they find in suggestions that women should remove their garments, kneel before men, and be chained unto the bed is completely their own fault. This borders on being a classic metal album, and was doubtless as influential as its predecessors towards the evolution of fantasy metal genres in the past decade, but far from Manowar’s finest forty seven minutes.
Advantages: Metal at its most bold and uncompromising, with excellent production.
Disadvantages: Some really, really bad decisions.
The Hell of Steel
A Steel Cheeseburger of Half-Truths and Bearskins
***
Written on 08.07.04
In 1994, steadfast American heavy metal warriors Manowar released this fourteen-track collection composed of their finest songs. The problem is they didn’t, and it isn’t.
The most notable thing about this ‘Best of Manowar’ collection is that it includes absolutely nothing from the band’s first four albums. This decision was not made according to taste, it is Manowar after all, but because the band were signed up to Atlantic Records in 1987: this collection, released by Atlantic in 1994, is based solely on the three albums released on that label and as such is immediately faulted as an objective view of the band’s finest moments.
‘The Hell of Steel’ is a pretty meaningless and silly title anyway, but adding the subtitle ‘The Best of Manowar’ rubs word salt into the proverbial wound. A more appropriate title would be ‘Some of the Steel: Roughly Half of the Tracks Released By Manowar on this Record Label So Far, Chosen Either Randomly or By an Idiot.’ This title would also help to cover up the appalling front cover.
THE HELL OF STEEL
1. Fighting the World *
2. Kings of Metal †
3. The Demon’s Whip ♂
4. The Warrior’s Prayer †
5. Defender *
6. The Crown and the Ring †
7. Blow Your Speakers *
8. Metal Warriors ♂
9. Black Wind, Fire and Steel *
10. Hail and Kill †
11. The Power of Thy Sword ♂
12. Herz Aus Stahl (obscure German language version of ‘Heart of Steel’*)
13. Kingdom Come †
14. Master of the Wind ♂
* From ‘Fighting the World’ (1987)
† From ‘Kings of Metal’ (1988)
♂ From ‘The Triumph of Steel’ (1992)
I quite like Manowar, despite the band’s obvious flaws. Musically their songs are typical heavy metal in their rhythm, structure and diversity, but the band set themselves apart by their image and their ability to create genuinely impressive metal epics. I don’t so much have a problem with the songs on this CD as with the existence of this album in general: many of the songs do not deserve to be on here and should have either been replaced with better examples or simply left off the album (as it is fairly long anyway at over seventy minutes), and the problem even extends to the basic ordering of the songs.
MIX-MASTER’OWAR
I’m pretty sure that Manowar were left out of this album’s creation, as very little attention seems to have been given to the structure and placement of the tracks. It opens nicely with an anthemic track and closes well with a slow, melodic song but it only takes a child to stick the first track from the 1987 album at the beginning and the final track from the 1992 album at the end. Other than this the tracks aren’t arranged chronologically, although if they were it would at least provide an excuse, but the thinking behind the arrangement of songs is far too obvious and, in my opinion as someone who regularly makes tapes for my Dad’s car, flawed.
‘Defender’ and ‘The Crown and the Ring’ are both excellent plodding tracks with epic qualities, but placing them next to each other diminishes their effect. The overlong ending of ‘Black Wind, Fire and Steel’ is irrelevant now it isn’t the closer of an album, the quiet opening of ‘The Demon’s Whip’ is very out of place at such an early point and as for the inclusion of ‘The Warrior’s Prayer,’ I don’t know what the band were thinking in even creating that spoken word discussion between an old man and his grandson. It’s frankly embarrassing to listen to.
A ‘Best-of’ collection inevitably lends itself to disappointments when peoples’ favourite tracks are omitted, but some decisions made here, probably in the interest of creating a wider range of styles, could easily have been altered to make a stronger collection. ‘Wheels of Fire,’ ‘Holy War,’ ‘Carry On’ and ‘Spirit Horse of the Cherokee’ are some of the most impressive tracks from the albums featured here, but these songs are nowhere in sight. I also don’t see the relevance of including a German language version of ‘Heart of Steel’ towards the end instead of the original track from the Kings of Metal album as the different language is incredibly distracting and very odd sounding after an hour of Eric Adams’ US dialect, drawing attention away from what is otherwise a great power ballad. It would be like me suddenly typing dieses in mein nicht-so-gutes Deutsch, weil ich kann Deutsch nicht so gut sprächen oder schreiben, aber ich werde nicht an das schlechtes sogenannten ,Babelfisch‘ hängen. Annoying isn’t it?
EVERY SWORD HAS A SILVER LINING
This album isn’t all bad however; despite having a very limited range of Manowar’s work there are many of my favourites on here amidst the rest, and although the band produced some excellent music prior to their Atlantic debut, their leaning towards more of a power metal sound here appeals to me more than the straightforward rock of their earlier records, although my favourite all-round Manowar album would be released two years later and see this sound perfected. Atlantic have clearly chosen tracks to show the band’s range and this makes for a more interesting album, the speedy bass-driven ‘Demon’s Whip’ and ‘Black Wind…’ being grouped with more rousing anthems ‘Metal Warriors’ and ‘Kingdom Come’ and reflective songs such as ‘The Crown and the Ring’ and ‘Master of the Wind.’
My favourite tracks on here come towards the end in the form of the excellent ‘Hail and Kill’ and ‘Power of Thy Sword’: the former features a high guitar that would be one of Metallica’s most popular riffs if it appeared in their songs and is basically the song that the band could never quite make on the Fighting the World album, no matter how hard they tried. ‘Power of Thy Sword’ has a pretty straightforward galloping rhythm that sounds very powerful and energetic but the chorus is completely infectious in its Iron Maiden-esque rousingness. And at least they didn’t include one of Joey DeMaio’s god-awful bass solo renditions of a classical composition. I really hate those.
DEATH TO FALSE METAL!
Many people find Manowar’s above slogan and obsession with bringing it up again and again in their songs quite a silly feature of the band. It is, but it’s also very funny, balanced out by equally cheesy Conan the Barbarian-style fantasy and conquest tales. It’s always the silly and pretentious lyrics that are the most memorable, so here are some examples from the songs collected here. Manowar don’t just blow their own trumpet: they even create characters of themselves within the music, each musician wielding a different heavy weapon in place of an instrument.
“Heavy metal or no metal at all. Wimps and posers – leave the hall”
“If you’re not into metal then you are not my friend”
“Stripes on a tiger don’t wash away. Manowar’s made of steel, not clay”
“When we’re in town, speakers explode … wearing jeans and leather, not crackerjack clothes”
“I wrote a letter to the MTV, said ‘what’s going on, don’t ya care about me?’”
“May your sword stay wet, like a young girl in her prime”
Surely lyrics like this demonstrate Manowar’s superiority to that poser Shakespeare. In some ways they are much funnier than the fictional (but still big-selling) Spinal Tap as Manowar are not joking. It’s not even tongue-in-cheek. The only thing in their cheeks is, I don’t know, leather or something. The worst offender is the unbelievably awful afore-mentioned ‘Warrior’s Prayer,’ which I’m not even going to quote, but these themes and lyrics stretch right back to their debut album and still haven’t gone away.
ARTWORK
James Hetfield proudly stated that Metallica’ excellent self-titled album featured a pitch black cover because covers shouldn’t distract the listener from the music. This is true, but as it’s Manowar let’s take a look at how the album art shapes up anyway.
Manowar’s album covers are usually quite skilled, original paintings of battle scenes or victories, however the art for ‘The Hell of Steel’ is not up to the usual standard. In fact, accustomed as I am to extravagant fantasy landscapes and beasts, once I opened the booklet out to see the full image I couldn’t help but say: “that is so stupid.” As usual the hero is an overbuilt, mostly naked masked warrior man but the situation he appears to be in is both badly designed and poorly coloured in. His arms also look more wrinkled than muscular, while the cutting down of the image to fit the front cover leaves a predominantly red and grey colour scheme. Aside from the presence of turquoise in anything ever, red and grey are a definite turn off in terms of colours for me.
A final point that isn’t really important but does matter somewhat is the way a green demon’s wing overlaps onto the album spine: this makes it look like someone’s left the top off a green felt tip pen and it’s soaked in. But then, it’s not about the art. Strangely the booklet does not credit any of the musicians or writers, only publicising the fact that Atlantic own the tracks. Yes, I’m pretty sure Manowar were left out of this release.
VERDICT
I’ve said a lot of negative things about this album, but it’s still quite a good collection of Manowar songs from their 1987-1992 ‘era.’ Many are badly chosen however or simply out of place, while the difference in sound quality and volume shows how little attention had been paid to make it a coherent listen. Out of my whole album collection – which isn’t actually that large, and is somehow kept at a stable size through my constant buying and selling – this is the only album on which I will definitely skip tracks. Not according to my mood or desires, but there are some tracks I simply have no interest in hearing. I’ll probably keep this album for the sole reason that it contains some enjoyable stand-alone tracks, the original albums of which are fairly short and not really worth owning (although I did own them all at one point), but I feel let down by Atlantic marketing this as the ‘best’ songs of a band with a large and omitted back catalogue.
A similar collection entitled ‘Manowar Anthology’ covers their entire career up to this point, although there are less tracks and it does feature what must literally be the most unappealing album cover ever (the band topless and very sweaty, I’m not walking up to the HMV counter with that. Not even for a dare, unless it was a triple-dare and I couldn’t call ‘time-out’ or anything like that). Many fans recommend ‘Hell on Stage Live,’ which is reportedly a very well produced live album containing some of the band’s more epic songs, although these same fans warn potential buyers to avoid the earlier ‘Hell on Wheels’ like an album with sweaty topless men on the cover.
This is basically Atlantic Records trying to cash in on Manowar’s success, which isn’t as much of a contradiction in terms as you may think. Their notable lack of popularity in their homeland of the brave is balanced by their large impact on the European mainland, and this is probably the reason behind the oddity that is track twelve. Either that or they just thought it was clever.
Louder Than Hell
**
Written on 31.12.08
Seemingly learning a lesson from their previous, frankly dull album, Manowar return their focus to average-length heavy metal songs, albeit performed in a more power metal style suited to the 1990s. New guitarist Karl Logan is a vast improvement over his predecessor David Shankle, providing many fast and twiddly guitar solos throughout, but the quality and originality of the songs tends to fall flat, especially compared to the band's early work.
Songs such as 'Outlaw' and 'The Power' are extremely fast and energetic, balanced out by anthemic grooves in 'Return of the Warlord' and 'Number 1,' but the album's experimentations elsewhere aren't as successful. Continuing the melodic ballad style that would only increase with each subsequent album, 'Courage' sounds more like Elton John than anything produced by a band insistent on crowning itself the Kings of Metal, and softer touches added to 'King' and the overlong, boring instrumental 'Today is a Good Day to Die' make this a less than riveting release from the metal kings.
That's not to mention that the ridiculous lyrics of 'The Gods Made Heavy Metal' transcend Spinal Tap in their silliness.
Hell on Stage Live
****
Written on 31.12.08
Manowar's first live album 'Hell on Wheels' was largely viewed as a disappointment, in terms of both sound quality and performance. It seems unlikely that this follow-up two years later wasn't intended to remedy the situation, but also supplements the original by focusing on the band's earlier, more epic works than the cheap thrill short rock songs of the previous collection.
It's great to hear the band's earliest and finest material represented here, particularly in the form of 'Dark Avenger,' 'March for Revenge,''Gates of Valhalla' and 'Guyana (Cult of the Damned)' in chronological order on the first disc, before the inevitable slump of disc two which focuses on the band's material after 1987, but the selection could have been an awful lot worse. In fact, anyone who has previously been put off by the tragic, unintentional silliness of the self-appointed Kings of Metal will surely be impressed at the high quality of material here, captured perfectly by a band on top form apart from an issue with Eric Adams' vocals in the first few tracks.
On the other hand, even those who appreciate Manowar on a solely humorous level are still provided the cringe-worthy 'Warrior's Prayer' and unnecessary bass take on Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Sting of the Bumblebee' to have a good laugh at, but you'll unfortunately have to put up with some pretty decent material elsewhere.
Warriors of the World
**
Written on 31.12.08
Continuing the trend of increasingly disappointing and increasingly self-aggrandising albums, Manowar's first offering of the new millennium reinvents the band's sound slightly, and experiments with genres that are really stretching their credibility as Metal Kings.
Released in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, this album from the New York band mixes modern patriotism with their ever-present Viking complex, leading to a bizarre and never particularly satisfying blend of old and new. There are a few heavy metal songs on here, but only a few: roughly half of the album is consumed by interludes ('Valhalla' and 'The March'), well-performed but unnecessary covers ('An American Trilogy' and 'Nessun Dorma') and initially pleasant but ultimately tedious anthems ('Fight for Freedom' and 'Swords in the Wind'), and this is arguably the band's cheesiest release since 'Fighting the World.'
The heavy metal itself is particularly disappointing for its generic sound, not helped by a polished production job that focuses on the background orchestration and robs the guitars of their power. 'Fight Until We Die' is perhaps the best offering, merely for providing simple respite at the end and concluding the album on an energetic note.
Those of the Unlight
****
Written on 31.12.08
The sole black metal pioneer previously missing from my collection for no particular reason, Marduk is among the more impressive of the elite, particularly in the early albums.
'Those of the Unlight' is a varied, fierce and convincingly evil entry in the black metal canon, based around a frenzy of drum blast beats and basic though creative and memorable guitar riffs, avoiding many of the clichés and gimmicks of the genre and risking the odd experiment, such as the melodic guitar and bass of 'On Darkened Wings' and the slow and atmospheric 'Echoes of the Past.'
Each song also avoids the repetition that often plagues black metal, perhaps best demonstrated in the title song which seemingly never ceases to alter and introduce new riffs and speed changes, without ever seeming excessive. This is a fine black metal album from a band that has always deserved more recognition in light of their contemporaries.
Panzer Division Marduk
***
Written on 31.12.08
Along with many of their contemporaries, notably Poland's Behemoth. Marduk's sound has veered increasingly towards a style of black metal concerned overly with heaviness and intensity at the expensive of creativity.
If you're after something fierce and heavy-handed, this is certainly an album to check out, pummelling the listener with controlled bursts of violence that don't outstay their welcome, but as is probably obvious from my lower rating of this album compared to the band's earlier offerings, it's not a style that I'm particularly fond of.
The band makes gratuitous use of war sound effects in an unconvincing bid to add the sense of atmosphere that used to come so readily, and although the guitar riffs and solos are all suitably ferocious and gripping, there's little creativity or memorability here. At an average of three to four minutes, the songs are all fairly typical and none stand out, despite some pretty funny titles like 'Christraping Black Metal' which surely can't be intended seriously.
Antichrist Superstar
World Spreads Its Legs for Another Star
***
Written on 17.11.01
Although I'm a huge fan of so-called "alternative" music, Marilyn Manson has never appealed to me as much as to some people. However, although he's not by any means my favourite artist, I do still appreciate and enjoy a lot of his music. This should hopefully allow me to write a fair opinion of my views on this album.
To start with, I feel I must explain the cult status of Manson. If any of you feel you are easily offended, I would strongly suggest against buying this album. Every song has either a blatant or hidden meaning relating to real-life situations or hatred, an even the cover art and interior pictures would be considered deeply offensive by Christians. I personally have no problem with this, however out of all the Manson albums, this is undoubtedly the most controversial.
This album, while not generally being his most popular, may in fact be my favourite. Aside from the fact that it has an amazing name, it features what is generally considered Manson's best song, "The Beautiful People," as well as the releases "Tourniquet" and "Man That You Fear."
Each Manson release seems to have a general trend in the majority of songs. The first album, "Portrait Of An American Family," was more geared toward heavy rock or metal, the admittedly-s**te "Smells Like Children" was largely uncoordinated sounds and melodies, the popular "Mechanical Animals" was usually slower, softer songs, and "Holy Wood (In the Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)" tended to be slow and peaceful. This album gives me the impression of slightly heavy songs featuring a lot of weird sampling and melodic bits which, although they do not always work well together, (and in fact are sometimes rubbish), make the album more interesting and different from the norm.
Although I have been informed that a lot of people do not like track-by-track listings, I feel it gives a good impression of each individual song's style. Basically, the album is divided into three parts (or "cycles"): tracks 1 to 4 are dubbed "The Heirophant," tracks 5 to 11 (most of the album) "Inauguration Of The Worm," and tracks 12 to 16 "Disintegrator Rising." In my opinion, the first and final part contain some of the album's finest songs, however "cycle 2" has its share of interesting tunes.
Starting at the beginning, "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is a song most people find annoying but that i find one of the best on the album. After Manson introduces the song in front of a cheering crowd, the song kicks in with a heavy, loud guitar riff and a shouting chorus of "F*** It!" The song is basically about Manson hating stuff, and is an angry look at society today; not a very original premise, but a good song nevertheless. ("Everybody's someone else's n***er, I know you are so am I. I wasn't born with enough middle fingers, I don't need to choose a side.")
Beginning with an odd bit of inteference, "The Beautiful People" slowly reveals its full potential with seperate instruments coming together to produce the finest Manson song. The song features an amazing riff and great vocals, as well as very noticeable, ever-present drumming. The song appears to be about capitalism creating societies where people are judged on their religion or background, and where discrimination is allowed against the minorities. A really cool song that appeals to a large number of people, it is also very interesting and thought-provoking, while being a little too communist for my tastes. ("The horrible people, the horrible people, it's as anatomic as the size of your steeple. Capitalism has made it this way, old-fashioned fascism will take it away.")
Track three, "Dried Up, Tied and Dead To The World" is one of my worst songs on the album, and does not even begin promisingly. Odd samples that change with every portion of the song, from whines to distorted voices, do not add to it at all in my opinion, although I like the sound of Manson's voice in the chorus ("I'll be you lover, I'll be forever, I'll be tomorrow, I am anything when I'm high.") The song features talk of cutting off fingers (possibly in order to pay for drugs), and hints at drug use.
"Tourniquet" is a slow song that was released by Manson, and is another of my favourites off the album. A slow, melodic chorus and loud yet soft riff make this tale of sexual encounters and love a fantastic song that can be listened to in any mood. ("I wrapped our love in all this foil, silver-tight like spider legs, I never wanted it to ever spoil, but flies will always lay their eggs.") N.B., a tourniquet is "an instrument for arresting hemorrhage. It consists essentially of a pad or compress upon which pressure is made by a band which is tightened by a screw or other means."
Heading into cycle 2, "Little Horn" features explicit lyrics linking the shape of a mouth to a "p**sy," and the arrival of some high deity. The song surprisingly kicks in with a cool yet distorted riff, and I find it one of the better songs on the album, however not as good as those I have noted as my favourites. Not a melodic song by any means, even the song title seems to imply innuendo. ("The world spreads its legs for another star, world shows its face for another scar.")
"Cryptorchild" is a sad song about a boy's experience of his mother's murder and his own rape by the murderer. ("Each time I look outside my mother dies, I feel my back is changing shape. When the worm (N.B., possible innuendo) consumes the boy it's never considered rape.") The song is certainly one of the album's stranger offerings, with high-pitched vocals for the chorus, ever-present samplings, and a completely different section in the middle which may or may not be sung by Manson- I really can't tell whether his voice has been distorted or if some guest vocals are being put into play. Even though I don't normally like stuff like this, I consider this quite a good song, and a daring attempt to be different. Very good lyrics as well.
"Deformography" features potentially offensive lyrics regarding God, and is the story of how someone would take over another person whether they want them to or not. The song is slow and more regular than its successor, although still features background samples. Manson's vocals are deep and sombre, and the song is quite good, however does not appeal to me as much as a lot of the others. I find my attention drifting as the song becomes too similar towards the end to the point where I sometimes fail to notice its presence. ("You eat up my heart and all the little parts, your star is so sharp it leaves me jagged holes. (N.B., possible innuendo). I make myself sick just to poison you.")
"Wormboy" is certainly one of the most memorative tracks on the album for me due to its weirdness. Beginning fairly promisingly, the tune suddenly changes into one that seems contrastingly happy to the album's nature. Backing vocals are also used very inappropriately that seem to be adding to the happiness of song, and Manson's vocals in the chorus are pitched to high to be taken seriously. I'm not sure whether the song was intended to be a slight comedy interlude at the middle of the album, but the lyrics describe somebody's ascent into heaven, and his realisation that things would be better off in hell. No a particularly good song by any means unless you can fully appreciate the attempted comedy of it all and enjoy that. But unfortunately, I feel against the idea of someone as serious and influential as Manson producing something like this. ("When you get to heaven you will wish you're in hell. When will you realise, you're already here.") Aside from the word hell, this song also fails to meet any serious taboos unlike the rest of the songs.
Track nine, "Mister Superstar," is a song about disturbed superstar fans who would love to see their idols die, or they will do it for them (after killing themselves). The lyrics describe many types of star (from rock star to "porno star"), and relate the fans' desires to make love to them and become their friends. There is also a whispered section at the end in which Manson is asking if his idol can kill himself on TV which, along with other lines in this song, may be offensive to fans of any famous people who have famously died in these fashions. ("Hey Mister Big Rock Star, I wanna grow up just like you. I know that I can turn you on, I wish I could just turn you off.") As for the song, it comes in fairly long at around five minutes (the majority of songs on this album average just over four minutes), and begins with a soft riff overlaid with Manson's quiet voice. I quite like the song, especially the chorus, and Manson displays several different examples of his vocal talents throughout the song's run.
"Angel With The Scabbed Wings" begins with a great instrumental, and then becomes a bass solo to allow Manson to begin his vocals more powerfully. Certainly one of the album's finer tracks, it deals with drug abuse and the effects it has upon people. ("He is the angel with the scabbed wings hard-drug face, want to powder his nose?") It also deals with rape. The song does not get tiresome at all, and becomes even better towards the end when odd samples are allowed to flow in. Certainly worth listening to.
"Kinderfeld" has a very odd start that features what sounds like a buzz saw and a laughing duck, and is very slow and light. Manson's vocals become all high again for the chorus that adds to the eerie effect of this song, and later on he begins to scream and talk with an odd voice that seems purposefully out of time with the tune. The song's meaning is very cryptic, and it basically attempts to tie together the theme of the worm boy who descended to Hell with the Disintegrator. ("When I got my wings and I never even knew it, when I was a worm, thought I couldn't get through it.")
Onto cycle three and the title track, "Antichrist Superstar" begins brilliantly with an eerie orchestral sound of many voices wailing quietly at once being joined by the main riff. A good riff, it does unfortunately wear thin by the time the five minute song has finished. Featuring a spooky reprise of lyrics from "Cryptorchild" and more than its fair share of odd, high-pitched vocals, the song is one of the middley ones on the album. I don't dislike it, but then again I don't find it amazing. The song talks about, basically, the self-proclaimed Antichrist controlling people, and ends with another odd whispery bit. ("Prick your finger it is done, the moon has now eclipsed the sun, the Angel has spread His wings, the time has come for better things.")
Although generally one of the most disliked on the album, I believe "1996" to be in the better half due to its catchy, cool riff. The instruments are all played perfectly; the only problem is the lyrics. Very repetitive and not very clever, Manson basically proclaims to be "anti"-everything, stating conflicting ideologies which he is against. The song seems disrespectful to gay people (calling them "fa***ts"), and against the Pope. Still, I do think the song sounds really cool, and is not worth all the bad press. ("Anti-Satan, Anti-Black, Anti-World is on my back. Anti-gay and Anti-Dope, I am the fa***t Anti-Pope.")
"Minute of Decay" is memorable mostly for its bass solo which is not original or cool, but simply present throughout the song. The lyrics are about somebody depressed who feels death is his only option, and he expresses a desire to take the listener with him. The song is very dull and tedious as it never really sounds like it gets going, even when other instruments join on several occasions. One of the poorest on the album, in my view, just due to the fact that I generally find myself getting bored. ("There is no cue for what is killing me, I'm on my way down. I looked ahead and saw a world that's dead, I guess that I am too.")
Beginning with the kind of Manson intro I dislike (the kind of "yeah, let's state something to try and be clever" approach), the penultimate track on this album, "The Reflecting God," is quite a good song. It starts very slowly and quietly before throwing the listener into a memorable, catchy chorus ("I went to God just to see that I was looking at me.") The song deals with very anti-religious themes, suggesting that the singer has been to Hell & back, and that he is the true God. There is also yet another bout of swearing, in which Manson blurts out "Shoot shoot shoot motherf***er." Quite good, good enough to be contained on Manson's 1999 live album "Last Tour on Earth," but not fantastic. ("Let's jump upon the sharp swords and cut away our smiles, without the threat of death there's no reason to live at all.")
Ending the album in a song that holds very mixed views is "Man That You Fear." Released, this song is a very slow, light tune that begins and ends very oddly. Personally, I really like the song and think it ends the album really well. Despite its slow, pleasant approach, Man That You Fear deals with abortion and other issues, as well as featuring even more swearing. Fans of Manson's heavier stuff that don't like the more mellow songs should probably avoid, but it should be given a chance. ("Peel off all those eyes and crawl into the dark, you've poisoned all your children to camouflage your scars.") The last couple of minutes of the song is basically voices distorted and played at different intervals that you really shouldn?t listen to late at night. And of course, tracks 17 to 98 should be ignored completely.
This album contributed five tracks ("The Reflecting God," "Antichrist Superstar," "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" and "The Beautiful People" to Manson's "Last Tour on Earth" official live album, and three songs ("The Beautiful People," "Tourniquet" and "Man That You Fear") were released as singles. The album remains controversial, and will for some time, however a lot of underground, less popular material is far worse in content. For example, most black metal albums. I would recommend this album to a Manson fan, although for the causal listener it may be a bit too different and odd for easy listening. It was worth the price I paid anyway, and has a nice cardboard extra cover thing that's cool.
The Last Tour on Earth
All the Best Manson on One Album
****
Written on 03.07.01
Live albums have a tendency to be low quality and merely an attempt to cheaply add an album to the artist's discography without having to bother writing new songs. However, the good points are that they often contain most of the band's best songs from across their albums, which make them accessible more easily to newcomers.
This albums is basically that: Marilyn Manson's fifth album, "Last Tour on Earth" is a collection of manson singles and popular songs from the previous albums "Portrait of an American Family" (1995), "Smells Like Children" (1996)- a very poor album which is explained in my review of it- "Antichrist Cuperstar" (1997) and "Mechanical Animals" (1998). the track list goes:
1. Inaugration of the Mechanical Christ
2. The Reflecting God
3. Great Big White World
4. Get Your Gunn
5. Sweet Dreams
6. Rock Is Dead
7. The Dope Show
8. Lunchbox
9. I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)
10. Antichrist Superstar
11. The Beautiful People
12. Irresponsible Hate Anthem
13. The Last Day on Earth
14. Everlasting Panorama of the Endtimes
There is also a bonus cd (which is added to try and make the album more worth buying for those who already own all the others), which includes:
1. Coma white
2. Get My Rocks Off
3. Coma White Acoustic
4. A Rose and a Baby Ruth
The tracks "Rock Is Dead", "The Beautiful People" and "The Dope Show" were all released as singles off their respective albums, guaranteeing them a place on this album, and many of the others are very good as well.
The first track is basically a long-winded, dull intro which would obviously generate a feeling of suspense and longing if one were to see the band live, but which just seems worthy of skipping when you have the album.
The album opener, "The Reflecting God", is an average song, and nothing fantastic. It doesn't distinguish itself in any way, and when "Great Big White World" comes on I've been known to think it was the same song if I've not been payin much attention.
The album really starts getting fantastic with the amazing "Get Your Gunn" (my favourite track off the band's debut album), which is loud and relatively heavy.
"Sweet Dreams" is the cover of an old pop song (I'm sorry, but I can't remember who originally sang it), and is the only track of the band's remix album, "Smells Like Children." It does sound good, even though it's not the band's own work, and actually sounds better on here than on the original album. (But I hate that album so I never listen to it anyway).
"Rock is Dead" (the music accompanying the end credits to "The Matrix"), is a great song, and probably Manson's most radio-friendly. Even though it talks about the death of rock, it is rocked across to the audience very well. There is also a brief intro at the start of this track (track five), introducing the band, which leads me to believe this album is made up of different live concerts.
Although it is a very popular song, I do dislike "The Dope Show." It's very slow and dull, and just doesn't get me excited at all. The video is something to behold though, as it demonstrates human frailties by featuring Manson in a pale, breasted guise receiving doses of drugs in some sort of laboratory.
"Lunchbox" is another great song off Portrait, and the original version started with an angry kid's voice about how some mother****er stole his lunchbox. It's a very god, enjoyable song.
Prior to the start of "I Don't Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me"), Manson (or rather Brian Warner, to use the controversial singer's real name), relates a tale of a dream he apparently had, which receives great response from the gathered crowd every time a narcotic substance is mentioned. It relates a rather confusing tale of how Manson was "drowning in a sea of liquor", and washed up on "a beach made of cocaine." He states, "the sky was made of L.S.D.- and every tree was made of marijuana." Being his controversial self, Manson then goes on to report on how "God came down from heaven", due to the apparent beauty of a police officer taking him in his mouth, and stated that "God would no longer be spelt G.O.D."- Manson goes on asking the crowd to give him a D, R, U, G and S, evoking the huge response of "DRUGS!!!" An interesting build-up to a song which I don't think is that good, but which features backing vocals from some woman (who is either on stage with the band or used as samples).
"Antichrist Superstar" has a fantastic rhythm, and is another of my favourites off this album. It is obviously originally from the album of the same name, and has great drumming as well as guitar work.
My favourite Manson song ever, "The Beautiful People" is track eleven, and is one of the band's heaviest and most popular songs. The original video has now been banned from screening (at least in the UK) due to its freakish nature, and a newer (albeit still rather weird) video has taken its place. The original can only be shown on late night, uncensored video programmes, along with the likes of the later "Disposable Teens" original video, which was also deemed too sinister for daytime viewing. I love everything about this song, from the vocals and guitar to the bass and drums.
"Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is quite a good song, and begins again with Manson preaching, this time about how children shout "we hate love" and "we love hate." It's quite good, but nothing memorable.
One of the slowest on the album, "The Last Day on Earth" could be seen as a soothing change from the high volume and heaviness of some of the previous songs, but alone it isn't anything spectacular.
The album finishes with "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes", a fantastic song that ends the album and the liv show on a good note.
The extra disc isn't anything fantastic, although the previously released "Coma White" is a pretty good song. It's still good that an extra CD was included, but none of it is live.
Contrary to some opinions I've read on this album, I believe that this is a great album for newcomers, as the band play extremely well live (unlike some other acts), and many of the best songs are included. It's kind of like a compilation of best and new songs, but being live actually adds to it for those who already own the originals, as they get a different version (and excessive, excited drumbeats to finish most songs).
Had the album been released later than 1999 it would undoubtedly have featured some of the new tracks off the sixth album, "Holy Wood" (subtitled "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death"), especially the singles "Disposable Teens" and "The Fight Song". However, I believe this one of the best Marilyn Manson albums, if not the most talked about, although it still seems that the band couldn't think of a release for 1999 and that this was their solution. It still remains to be seen whether the band will stick to their one album per year agenda this year, as I haven't heard anything, and time is running out...
Advantages: Most of the best songs, The band play very well outside a studio, The commentaries get waring after a few listens
Disadvantages: Some poor songs, A lot of tracks
Aeronautics
***
Written on 31.12.08
Masterplan is a reasonably popular power metal band that I had previously avoided due to a personal aversion to singer Jørn Lande, based only on his work in the disappointing Allen-Lande side project. This wasn't entirely fair though, as although his style is certainly more commercial and soft than most power metal vocalists, there was no reason to expect that his own band would necessarily follow the same insufferably melodic route. And it hardly does at all. Well, maybe a little bit.
Masterplan is the sort of power metal that could easily appeal to the masses, as long as they're stuck in the mid-1980s. It's polished, well-produced and very well performed, and I was pleased to hear that it wasn't all about the choruses, guitarist Roland Grapow sharing the spotlight equally with his solos. There are extended instrumental sections in songs such as 'I'm Not Afraid,' but an attempt to reach more epic heights by adding piano and extending the song length in ten-minute finale 'Black in the Burn' doesn't really convince.
The band has a knack for slow, soft songs that don't entirely lose the power metal kick, but those looking for something with more energy and intensity should continue their quest; there are plenty of bands out there to satisfy your needs.
Lethal Legacy
***
Written on 10.01.09
'Lethal Legacy' is thus far the only release from Canadian band Mastery, whose take on thrash metal is somewhat unusual in that it is entirely instrumental.
These kids brought up on Metallica and Megadeth have forsaken a vocalist, perhaps out of necessity but more likely as a creative choice, and although this makes them inherently more interesting as a curiosity, it can't help but make their music sound stilted and lacking. All of the songs collected here are really crying out for vocal accompaniment, especially ones such as 'No Tomorrow' which even seems to supply a gap for verses, making the whole thing feel like a job that's only 80% complete.
This is entertaining, high-octane thrash metal performed energetically both in the studio and a live environment, and although the guitars are kept interesting, it never descends into the showy realm of virtuoso 'shred' metal. Mastery are playing a very old but enduringly popular sound, and it remains to be seen whether their next release will increase the stakes in terms of guitar showmanship, or simply chicken out and add a vocalist like everyone else.
Megadeth vs. Metallica - Bay Area Thrashers
****
Written on 15.08.04
- “Hi, I’m Lars”
- “Hi, I’m Dave”
- “Oh, that’s a much more regular name than mine. Do you want to be in a band I’ve started making, with me as a drummer and you as lead guitarist? I’ve already collected the rhythm guitarist and bass player.”
- “Cool, can we call it ‘Megadeth?’ I’ve always wanted to be in a band called that.”
- “No, that’s rubbish. We’re called ‘Metallica.’”
- “Man, that sucks even worse than your name, Lars.”
- “This isn’t going to last long is it?”
Megadeth are a band most people have heard of, and who have mainly registered for their silly and inexcusably spelled name. Always a step away from being mainstream rock material, the integrity and influence of this American four-piece led to them getting name-dropped in plenty of ‘youth’ films, most notably the excellent ‘Wayne’s World 2’ and the reasonable ‘Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey’ that’s not quite as good now as when I was six.
Almost any discussion of Megadeth returns to their history and origins in the more successful band Metallica, so in a break with breaking tradition I shall do the same. When drummer Lars Ulrich posted advertisements in local newspapers and magazines to recruit band members for Metallica, Dave was the original guitarist (replaced by Kirk Hammett) but soon left due to disagreements and arguments that have never really ceased, despite what they would have us believe. Dave’s thrashy style suited the band and it can be argued that he set the tone for their early years, however the music of both bands sounds very different, as do the general tones of their albums.
This review of Megadeth in general is based on the assumption that anyone interested is already slightly familiar with the more serious world of heavy metal, such as Metallica. And if you’re not, there’s some silly pun album titles that you might like or something.
SOUND & THE VOICE
‘Megadeth’ is:
Dave Mustaine – guitars, vocals
Al Pitrelli – guitars
David Ellefson – bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – drums
Megadeth’s music has evolved over time, but not through the various stages of commercialism that Metallica’s has taken. Comparing the early albums of both bands, the differences are clear: Megadeth’s sound is funkier and less aggressive, but also less experimental and diverse. While Metallica offer a seven to nine minute epic with every other track, Megadeth’s albums are collections of more manageable length offerings that rarely exceed six minutes.
The guitars of both bands range from fast and heavy to lighter and more reflective, the drums are similar, the bass plays a vital role (in Metallica’s early years, bass player Cliff Burton’s influence on the songs was enormous), but even the eardrum untrained to metal would immediately notice the main difference: voice.
James Hetfield’s gruff, powerful shouting will be familiar to anyone who has heard Metallica’s most well-known songs ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ and despite being less developed and more whiny in the early albums, it doesn’t distract from the music. Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth voice is the single aspect of the band that put me off investing in any of their music for a long time, and although I’ve grown used to it I still find it hard to believe that they have sold so many albums over the years with what sounds like a bossy little girl crossed with that Chucky doll from ‘Child’s Play.’ The more recent albums have seen the extremities of Mustaine’s voice toned down a little, but there is only really one thing that redeems the older releases…
SUBJECT MATTER & LYRICS
Megadeth’s album titles say it all:
‘KILLING IS MY BUSINESS … AND BUSINESS IS GOOD’
(Artwork: artefacts of the dead on a table)
‘PEACE SELLS … BUT WHO’S BUYING?’
(Artwork: a monster soldier thing)
‘RUST IN PEACE’
(Artwork: a Frankingstein’s monster in a coffin)
‘YOUTHANASIA’
(Artwork: children strung up on crucifixes)
Similarly, Metallica’s album titles say it all:
‘KILL ‘EM ALL’
(Artwork: a shadowed figure with a hammer, blood leaking across the floor)
‘RIDE THE LIGHTNING’
(Artwork: an empty electric chair in a storm)
‘MASTER OF PUPPETS’
(Artwork: ominous hands holding strings to dead soldiers’ makeshift graves)
‘…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL’
(Artwork: that scales woman justice statue in ropes)
Both bands are concerned with political events such as war and the justice system, but after a brief fascination with murder for the sake of it in their debut albums, there is a clear difference in the style of album name: Metallica’s are thought-provoking and sensible; Megadeth’s are silly puns. This isn’t to say that the themes are any less serious, but Mustaine presents the lyrics in a more light-hearted, comedic style that suits the band’s less intense style of playing.
Excerpt from ‘Mechanix’, from Killing is My Business:
“You’re a burner, yeah a real motor car,
Said you wanna get your order filled
Made me shiver when I put it in,
Pumping just won't do ya know.
Made my drive shaft crank,
Made my pistons bulge,
Made my ball bearing melt from the heat,
I'm giving you my room service”
It’s this attitude that made Megadeth so appealing to many people, as well as the excellent quality of the musicianship. In the afore-mentioned film, Bill promises to give Ted his entire Megadeth collection if they die, which shows the admiration those two moronic losers had for the band, although they were sensible enough to realise that we have been “totally lied to by our album covers” when it comes to the layout of Hell.
CAREERS
Metallica hit the big-time in 1991 with their self-titled black album, adapting and trimming their sound to a more mainstream rock style that continued into the late nineties with their more experimental, blues-influenced ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ albums. Megadeth on the other hand never went through this process (I’ll avoid the term ‘selling out’ as I don’t believe the money was Metallica’s real motive in progressing their sound), but their albums from the mid-nineties do follow a slower and less punchy style than that of their earlier records, possibly explaining their album title ‘Risk.’
Megadeth split up in 2001 following Mustaine’s arm injury, but a live album and compilation have led to the band reforming and producing a new album, which is scheduled for September. The last studio offering from ‘Deth (I wonder if anyone calls them that?) still followed a thrashy style, incorporating even more elements of eighties heavy metal than before, while Metallica’s comeback ‘St. Anger’ shares many similarities with modern ‘nu-metal,’ but has returned to an angrier, heavier style than it has been in a long time.
CONCLUSION
In my opinion Metallica are clearly bestest, but both bands will appeal to different people equally. The main reason I wrote this review is that I’ve recently decided to embrace a bit of ‘Deth, having quite liked what I heard a few years ago from a thrash-obsessed friend, and allowing Mustaine’s vocals to ruin the experience is something that no longer happens. If you’re into any kind of heavy metal from the eighties onwards, Megadeth would definitely be worth checking out – the underdogs they may be, but the guitars are cool.
And his voice isn’t that bad really.
Alright, it is.
Advantages: Excellent, talented musicians, Fun, fast and hard metal, Still going strong
Disadvantages: The early vocals, Lacking some diversity
Cryptic Writings
This Time It's Impersonal
***
Written on 29.06.07
The post-1991 output of a great number of 80s thrash bands in the wake of Metallica’s hugely successful ‘Black Album’ boast a consciously simplified and commercialised sound that largely replaces the aggressive, punk-inspired nihilism of their earlier work with a more refined, approachable, and in most cases mellow direction more in line with current musical trends. Following the example of their more successful rival, Megadeth’s sound entered a process of gradual departure from the speedy thrash perfection of 1990’s ‘Rust in Peace,’ as their subsequent albums became increasingly consumer-oriented. Third stop along this line is ‘Cryptic Writings,’ representing the culmination of this radio-friendly approach, before careening off the rails with the frankly embarrassing chaos of 1999’s ‘Risk.’
Abandoning thrash for the most part in favour of a more traditional heavy metal style, though targeted more towards its dissolution through the popular grunge bands of the time, ‘Cryptic Writings’ features twelve unremarkable and unsurprising songs ranging from around three minutes long to about five. Dave Mustaine’s trademark growl improved over the course of the band’s early albums as he started to sound less like an angry school girl and more like a grown up man doing a childish impression of a goblin, but it’s pretty much the same delivery that’s been used since ‘Countdown to Extinction,’ as are the default medium speed rhythms and restrained guitars. As the band is still called Megadeth, and is thus obligated to remain a little on the dark side, there are no glam rock piano ballads or overly optimistic lyrics, as the material ranges from short and punchy Nirvana-style generic disgust to acoustic ennui with catchy choruses, and occasional short-but-sweet call-backs to the band’s more energetic days.
1. Trust
2. Almost Honest
3. Use the Man
4. Mastermind
5. The Disintegrators
6. I’ll Get Even
7. Sin
8. A Secret Place
9. Have Cool, Will Travel
10. She-Wolf
11. Vortex
12. FFF
Setting the pace of the album right from the start, the single ‘Trust’ opens with a slow drum solo that’s almost tribal sounding, one of the few mildly interesting touches of percussion on the album, before atmospheric backing keyboards fade in and David Eleffson’s bass clunks slowly along until it settles upon the recognisable main riff of the song, all too soon joined by Mustaine’s crisp sounding guitar. The production job on this album is technically impressive as is the norm for Megadeth’s 1990s releases, the instruments generally filling out the sound-scape with a little help from backing keyboards, making a radical departure from the dirty, echoed sound of their earlier work. As one of the longest songs on the album, still coming in at under six minutes, the song diversifies slightly through a soft, whispered middle section featuring acoustic guitar before the chorus returns and Mustaine is permitted to go off on one with his guitar solos. Overall, a song that owes far more to Black Sabbath or Nirvana than 80s Megadeth, but competently executed and inoffensive, much like the majority of the music to follow. The driving riff of the poppier ‘Almost Honest’ sounds even more like straight-up rock as the song leaves heavy metal behind, and this piece generally sounds a little outdated, even down to the slower, blues-inspired guitar solo. The main chorus is annoyingly and inappropriately upbeat and bouncy for the subject matter, but there’s really very little of interest here.
Perhaps taking note of this disappointing descent into archaism, the much improved ‘Use the Man’ begins with the conceit of a jolly sounding soft rock song in the vein of the Beatles being piped through a tinny radio, a trick used earlier in the band’s career with the album ‘So Far, So Good... So What?’ which proceeded to explode into a fast thrash riff. Here, the change is less cataclysmic and more mournful, as Mustaine takes over with an acoustic guitar, creating a spartan atmosphere for this tirade on drug use. Mustaine sounds like Kurt Cobain on this one, and his electric riffs, when they kick in, sound a lot like Sabbath. The climax of this song makes it all worthwhile, as strange sound effects beckon an unprecedented faster take on the song for the final forty seconds, which has the adverse effect of making the rest seem like a waste of time. It may be my own preference for the band’s earlier catalogue taking over, but the faster sections of this album, the really fast sections that stand out as being fast and full of energy, always prove to be my favourite parts.
Although the material thus far has been far from extraordinary, the songs have generally been individual and memorable enough to be credited as such. On an album of twelve very similar sounding songs, a useless filler track was going to come along sooner or later, and ‘Mastermind’ proves to be the first. Again sounding more like a traditional rock song than anything contemporary, perhaps revealing Mustaine’s own listening habits as Metallica would later unveil their taste for hard rock and country on ‘Load,’ this song does little more than take up three and a half minutes between two much more worthwhile songs, and not only because of Mustaine’s unintentional self-parody in the chorus, performing his snarling monster impressions for no reason. The only factor in this song’s credit is the guitar solo, which lasts a little longer and harks back to the slower solo sections of the classic ‘Rust in Peace’ album, something that continues in the very Megadeth-sounding ‘The Disintegrators.’ This shorter piece is the fastest on the album so far, lacking some of the volume and power of early Megadeth but still generating enough energy in the fast delivery of the chorus that Mustaine occasionally forgets to shout along in time. Even if it fades from memory after the disc is ejected, this song will at least, perhaps, cause the listener to think ‘there was quite a good fast one somewhere around track five.’
‘I’ll Get Even’ returns to pop territory a little, with the most obvious ‘beat’ of the album and a slow, sing-along chorus, but for once it’s done exactly right. The lyrics of insomnia and depression are perfectly suited to Mustaine’s off-sounding vocals, almost spoken word but still somehow managing to bridge a gap between rasping and singing, while the cool, slow guitar riffs are complemented by refreshingly unusual cow bells. This one stood out significantly on my last listen, even if it doesn’t sound as traditionally ‘Megadethy’ as the previous offering. Sadly, it’s time for another piece of filler, this time with a second-rate replica of ‘Trust’ that I keep expecting to descend back into that opening riff of the album. Mustaine continues to use the same vocal delivery as ‘I’ll Get Even,’ interspersing spoken word between guitar chords, but it sounds a lot more formulaic this time around. ‘A Secret Place’ is one of the most repetitive songs on the album, and pop-oriented again in the vein of ‘Almost Honest’ and ‘I’ll Get Even,’ but is weirdly my favourite of the lot. After the opening ‘THX digitally mastered’-sounding build-up comes an Eastern-sounding melody that lasts throughout the whole song, occasionally transferred between instruments if Mustaine needs to do a bit of a solo. It’s far from being a perfect song, ending frustratingly soon before heading off in interesting directions, but still individual enough to stand out.
In a seemingly deliberate reaffirmation of Megadeth’s political edge after all the wussy stuff, the band unwisely start the final third of the album with the mostly irritating ‘Have Cool, Will Travel.’ As the stupid title suggests, this is something of an unusual song, featuring harmonica and piano sections, but is primarily a very tired sounding blend of knock-off Sabbath riffs and unimaginative ‘nothing’s getting done’ and ‘point the finger’ accusations. Things look up with ‘She-Wolf,’ likely my favourite song on the album and a fine return to form, opening with a scratchy thrash riff that only increases to blistering speed as the music continues. With lyrics concerning the ‘mother of all that is evil,’ this is a great metal song in the classic tradition, even going out on a dual lead guitar section that would sound fairly run-of-the-mill on an Iron Maiden album, but really shines out here. The next song ‘Vortex’ continues in the same style, but can’t really keep up with the pace, acting as the filler for this final heavy metal third of the album, and sounding oddly long despite only lasting for three and a half minutes. The final track, enigmatically titled ‘FFF’ which the chorus reveals, disappointingly, to be merely ‘Fight For Freedom’ rather than anything more risqué, is an average but enjoyable return to Megadeth’s roots as a punk-thrash band, though the uncertain lyrics – eventually arriving at ‘fight for anything’– reveal the naivety of this early, nihilistic attitude. Sounding much like Metallica’s ‘Motorbreath,’ written when Mustaine was still a primary songwriter before that band started releasing albums, this nevertheless feels more nostalgic than genuine.
The desperation for radio/MTV attention permeates the entire album, and it’s clear that the formerly talented and experimental musicians, particularly lead guitarist Marty Friedman, face imposing restrictions on their originality due to Mustaine’s self-confessed desire ‘for that Number One record I so badly needed,’ admitted in the album booklet (it would only get to Number Ten). ‘Cryptic Writings’ is still currently the last Megadeth album to sell comparatively well, showing that the recent return to form with this year’s ‘United Abominations’ may not be what the public are into so long after the band’s heyday, but at least the band can satisfy and win back its large and loyal fan base.
‘She-Wolf’ is perhaps the only song on here to live up to fan expectations, though ‘Trust,’ ‘I’ll Get Even’ and the last thirty seconds of ‘Use the Man’ manage to be fairly successful examples of what the band were aiming for at this period; sadly, the majority of the album sounds weak in comparison. ‘Cryptic Writings’ favours clichéd emotional lyrics and weakly abstract political themes over the more specifically targeted anarchy the band are more famous for, and no amount of irrelevantly mysterious cover art can satiate disappointed long-time fans.
Advantages: More accessible.
Disadvantages: Watered down.
The Grandpappies of Good Music
*****
Written on 29.06.01
Current lineup: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Kirk Hammet (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums). Bassist still unconfirmed.
I decided to buy some Metallica as I felt my collection of punk and nu-metal needed some token older music, and from the kind of bands that were available (namely Guns N' Roses, Van Halen and things of that variety) Metallica seemed the best. And it was only when I heard a few songs that I realised even though they're old, their music is fantastic.
My favourite all-time Metallica song is actually in my top ten singles list, and is the excellent "One" (from the album "...And Justice For All")- quite an old song from the late eighties, "One" is better than most of the nu-metal available nowadays, and is generally not given a chance due to its age. If you are interested and want to hear or download some particularly good Metallica, I recommend "One," "Master Of Puppets," "The Call Of Ktulu" or "Leper Messiah," however there are many, many good examples.
Metallica are still going strong nowadays (although I'd say their popularity has dwindled, but only slightly, in the last few years), and their new album is due out in late summer 2001 (which contains the popular single "I Disappear", from the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack). The band's image has certainly changed with the times, now mostly giving out a short-hair, goatee vibe as opposed to the long-haired, bearded, torn-clothes biker image they had when they started. I personally think their old image suits the music better, but I can see why they have changed to try and suit the times.
Metallica's fantastic riffs and solos are complemented by some of the best drumming I've ever heard from the insane Lars; just look at him in any Metallica video, especially the video to "One", and you'll see what I mean. (The guy's mouth seems to be blurting out silent vocals that are nothing to do with the song, and don't seem to make any sense with the tune). The band's 1999 live "S & M" album, I think, sounded poor as it was accompanied by an orchestra, but also made the band seem "past it" and "vintage": the kind of people who are too proud to tour concert halls without making themselves seem larger than life.
I have to admit that this is an element of Metallica I do not like; although their albums (especially the self-titled Black Album of 1991) have sold millions of copies, the band are incredibly against MP3 sharing on Napster and associated programs. Most bands are content with the notion that these file sharing programs actually expand their fan base and increase album sales (I know I've bought a few albums due to hearing some tracks on Napster). The band need to lighten up on these fronts I think.
Metallica have released nine official albums: "Kill 'Em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets", "...And Justice For All", "Metallica" (the Black Album), "Load", "Re-Load", "S & M" and "Garage Inc." (a cover double album covering mostly Motorhead songs), and are set to release their new one (with their new bassist) later this year, as I stated earlier.
I won't bore you with their complete history, but the band was originally started by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield in the late seventies; the full history is available on Metallica.com, the official website. Metallica were definitely the best band to come out of the eighties for me, and are one of my favourite bands (I so far have four of their albums, but I'm working on it). Part of the reason is that they are expanding my musical taste to older rock, but it's also because... well, they ROCK!
Kill 'Em All
The Original Horsemen
***
Written on 22.06.04
Metallica’s musical progression has kept them in the spotlight throughout their twenty-year career as they explore all angles of rock music. Their latest release, St. Anger, is a very violent record with which the band intended to capture the hostility and aggression of their early albums, especially the debut ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ While it was musically very different, it’s easy to see why the band wished to return to this style as it has remained incredible popular even to this day.
‘Metallica’ were:
James Hetfield – Rhythm guitar, vocals
Kirk Hammett – Lead guitar
Cliff Burton (R.I.P.) – Bass guitar
Lars Ulrich - Drums
STYLE
This is a pure thrash metal album, and possibly the definitive example of this genre of speed metal, although saying that I’m not too familiar with works of Slayer and the band’s other contemporaries. This means that, for the most part, the melodic touches and orchestral influence on song composition that would make the band’s following albums increasingly impressive is here replaced by speed, aggression, power and energy, although bear in mind that this is an album I am reviewing and not some family’s ‘Robot Wars’ effort.
Although Metallica have grown up, matured and progressed since these early, angry days, many of the songs contained on this album are still live favourites, some being played even more now than ten years ago due to the recent reawakening of Metallica’s interest in metal over hard rock. While ‘The Four Horsemen,’ ‘Seek and Destroy’ and ‘Whiplash’ are fantastic live, they don’t serve to make this disc any more appealing to those who aren’t diehard fans of thrash music.
TRACKS
1. HIT THE LIGHTS
The song that opened every Metallica show for a couple of years, this features forty seconds of build-up in which crashing drums and pounding guitars fade in before a distinctive riff can be heard. The riff itself is not completely original, and has been much-copied since by bands such as Rocket From the Crypt, but this is still a very fun track with fast-paced solos that doesn’t outstay its welcome. Aside from James’ slightly annoying vocals (something present on every track, so not a point I’ll bother coming back to until later), the only fault with this track lies in the weak and cheesy lyrics describing how Metallica are going to “rip right through your brain,” but it’s alright because the fans are “insane.” Such a shame.
“No life ‘til leather,
We are gonna kick some ass tonight!
We got the metal madness,
When our fans start screaming it's right”
2. THE FOUR HORSEMEN
The defining track of this album, this set the standard for the band’s faster tracks over the next few albums, although it was soon beaten by the powerful ‘Creeping Death’ on their next record. Fast, big and full of interesting changes, this is the most diverse track on the album with the guitarists kicking out different riffs before returning to the established rhythms for the verses and chorus. This is a really great metal track and one that outshines the rest of the album; it even has a typically heavy metal theme.
“The Horsemen are drawing nearer
On the leather steeds they ride
They have come to take your life
On through the dead of night
With the four Horsemen ride
or choose your fate and die”
3. MOTORBREATH
The shortest track on the album and a more straightforward offering, but that doesn’t mean it’s the least impressive. I really like the riff in the verses here, and I can imagine the chorus going down very well live, while the drum keeps a great groove throughout. Nothing too special but still highly enjoyable, although it does suffer from coming after ‘The Four Horsemen.’ Oh yes, and it’s no relation to the British heavy metal band of a similar name – this is about drug abuse.
“Don't stop for nothing its full speed or nothing,
I am taking down you know whatever is in my way.
Getting your kicks as you are shooting the line,
Sending the shivers up and down your spine”
4. JUMP IN THE FIRE
Any claims that this album all sounds the same would be immediately dispelled once the opening riff from this track explodes through the speakers. With James Hetfield taking on the persona of Satan (“down in the depths of my fiery hole”), this is perhaps the closest Metallica have come to a ‘romp’ of a track – it’s incredibly catchy and upbeat, yet doesn’t betray the thrash element still. As it fades out with a guitar solo at the end, it becomes instantly missed.
“So come on -
Jump in the Fire!
So come on -
Jump in the Fire!”
5. (ANESTHESIA) PULLING TEETH
This oddly named track expands even further on the album’s diversity by offering the most diverse track of the lot: a bass solo from Cliff Burton! Not being a bass player myself there really isn’t much for me to gain from this, but I still (occasionally) enjoy listening to it for its comedy value; the early eighties production quality makes the majority of it sound like Nintendo game music (in particular, those underground levels on Mario with the dingy music). After two and a half minutes, Lars joins in with a drum beat to speed things along and is quite welcome, however this is a good example of a track that is probably best off played live. Thankfully it doesn’t seem over-excessive or self-indulgent though.
6. WHIPLASH
Cutting off the last note of the bass solo comes a long-overdue guitar riff, although this soon gives way to a section dominated by Lars’ rolling drums. This is a very fast thrash track in the vein of ‘The Four Horsemen’ and is another track that has survived into the band’s current live sets, although I don’t have the same fondness for it as many other tracks on here. The riffs are powerful and very energetic but still sound a little uninventive, while the chorus section seems a little too contrived. I don’t know what I’m saying really, but I still don’t think it’s as good as it’s made out to be. It’s also the worst offender in terms of James’ vocals, which I’ll elaborate on afterwards. Just enjoy the music first.
“Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before,
Make it ring, make it bleed,
Make it really sore”
7. PHANTOM LORD
Another of my favourites along with ‘Horsemen,’ this is the only track that gives a clue of the band’s later offerings. Despite beginning with a very speedy and heavy riff that leads into great metal choruses and verses, this then becomes darker and much more mysterious with the move into a slower tempo with clanking, acoustic-sounding guitar licks reminiscent of their later hit ‘One.’ It’s this sole part of the song that endears it to me, being a fan of their deeper and darker offerings, and while I don’t consider this in the same light as ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’ and ‘Sanitarium,’ both from the Master of Puppets album, it is an excellent addition to the second half of this record. Plus it’s got a great title.
“Victims falling under chains,
You hear them crying death pains.
The fists of terrors breaking through,
Now there's nothing you can do”
8. NO REMORSE
This is a bit of an atypical track structurally, in that a guitar solo breaks out after only a few seconds, but it’s still a heavy thrash number, although slightly slowed to continue the darkness of the seventh track. Although I wasn’t impressed by this track at first it did grow on me over time and is one of the most complex on here due to the changes in tempo and rhythm, but it still has a killer chorus with some of the best sounding guitars on the whole album. At six and a half minutes this is unfortunately a track that drags on past its own ability to stay interesting, and the last couple of verses and choruses are a little unwelcome, but in many ways this is an unrecognised gem of the album along with ‘Motorbreath’ and ‘Jump in the Fire.’
“War without end -
No remorse, no repent,
We don't care what it meant.
Another day, another death,
Another sorrow, another breath”
9. SEEK & DESTROY
The most well-known track from this album due to its popularity as a live track, and although it’s not one of my favourites I can easily see why. The opening riff is insanely catchy and the drums keep a very upbeat atmosphere throughout, however listening to it on a CD rather than at a live show means that it does drag on towards the end after a brief drum solo from Lars Ulrich. I’d definitely recommend this as a live track, but on the album it seems a little stale in comparison.
“Running,
On our way
Hiding,
You will pay
Dying,
One thousand deaths –
Searching,
Seek and Destroy!”
10. METAL MILITIA
The fastest and hardest track on the album comes at the end, and although it’s not one of my favourites I still enjoy it. The guitars sound similar to those of ‘Seek & Destroy,’ although a little less effective, but the speed and rhythm of the verses sounds excellent. In my opinion this would be more effective if it were a little shorter, but there’s still enough in the way of guitar solos to keep it interesting. A good ending to the album, however it could have been done better – and the fade-out to the sounds of marching at the end is a little cheesy.
“On through the mist and the madness
We are trying to get the message to you,
Metal Militia
Metal Militia”
VERDICT
Opinion is divided amongst Metallica’s huge fan base regarding this album, as it is clearly an incredibly strong and successful debut – even managing to earn tenth place in the US album charts on its release despite a complete lack of radio play for any of the songs – but I don’t appreciate the less sophisticated, more brutal style over the more impressive music they would go on to create. Several songs here are still very worthy of a place in any Metallica set list however, although there are a few reasons why they don’t live up to my personal view of what Metallica’s later standards would be:
The ‘Whiplash’ Factor
The main issue I have with this album is that James Hetfield’s vocals do not suit the music, as his voice has not yet dropped sufficiently to the trademark growl and deep American singing of the later albums. There’s a hint of annoying AC/DC-esque gravely screaming in many of the songs, especially ‘Whiplash,’ that was very soon eradicated from the band’s music between here and 1986. Speaking of ‘Whiplash,’ that song is based around a fairly tired and unimpressive theme – heavy metal being great, and Metallica being the best there is. This slightly arrogant attitude is more suited to lesser bands such as Manowar and Kiss, making this track as well as the opening and closing songs a little unnecessary.
Cliff ‘Em All
Personally I find that the more straightforward thrash approach to this CD counts against it when compared to the likes of 1983’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ and 1986’s ‘Master of Puppets,’ as the influence of bassist Cliff Burton is not that prominent here; Burton’s interest in classical music led to more intricate and ultimately more enjoyable metal tracks once he was fully integrated into the band, however his late addition to the original line-up meant that most of the tracks here were already completed and only needed to be recorded. Even his bass solo track was reportedly composed by the previous bassist.
Cliff Burton died in a bus accident while the band were on tour in 1986, and although their popularity has soared since then through successful music videos and moves towards a more commercial style, the talent and re-listen value of the Cliff Burton era has never been matched. Due to the rather moderate production quality of Kill ‘Em All, Cliff Burton cannot be heard throughout as much as on the band’s later offerings, but his skills still contribute to the pulse of the tracks.
Anyone who has been introduced to Metallica through some of their successful singles such as ‘Enter Sandman,’ ‘One’ or ‘Nothing Else Matters’ should hesitate before stepping this far back in the band’s discography in case you don’t like what you hear. I listen to this album a lot, but I still don’t regard it in the same light as everything released afterwards, until the decline during the nineties that is. Following is my rough and possibly unfounded opinion of Metallica’s albums that may not help you in your quest to find the perfect ‘Tallica album, but which at least gives me something else to write about. And I am the new music guide so I’m obviously right.
1983 – Kill ‘Em All ***
The thrash debut that I’ve just explored at length, as you should be aware.
1984 – Ride the Lightning *****
Cliff’s influence brings the music to a grand scale, with many classic tracks. One of the most acclaimed metal albums ever made, ranging from power ballads to heavy thrash metal.
1986 – Master of Puppets *****
Even more successful than ‘Ride,’ this expands on that album’s strengths to produce the biggest selling Metallica album overall. Their true classic, every single song is a killer.
1988 – …And Justice For All ***
Cliff’s death meant that this record was less impressive, and largely attempted to return to the band’s roots. Some excellent songs and brilliant guitar work throughout, but a change of direction was needed.
1991 – Metallica (aka the Black Album) *****
The change of direction had finally come, and produced an immediate bestseller. A distinct change in style from the early albums, but nonetheless a true classic of rock. More accessible, but still energetic.
1992 – Live Sh*t: Binge & Purge *****
Three CDs and two videos (now DVDs) capturing the band at their prime. Features songs from all the previous albums, meaning this one purchase could technically satiate your Metallica thirst.
1996 – Load **
The band’s controversial change to a more traditional hard and soft rock approach. This still sold well as it was Metallica, and is quite skilled, but many fans including myself were disappointed.
1997 – Reload **
An effort to bring back some of their metal elements, but this ends up sounding even weaker than ‘Load’; while Load was at least consistent in its averageness, the last half of this is fairly dire.
1998 – Garage Inc. **
A double CD of covers of other bands. A bit of a cheap shot but some songs are good; nevertheless, not an album I’m fond of and one that I’ve avoided buying.
1999 – S&M ****
The band’s live collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra, this is very interesting and features songs from many of their albums that combine with the orchestra in varying degrees of success. Nothing from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ though.
2003 – St. Anger ***
The most recent release that has received mixed reviews. It’s not particularly skilful or a painless listen, but it at least shows promise that the band have got back in touch with their metal origins and angry messages of the past: kill ‘em all!
(Albeit not literally).
Advantages: Some excellent and timeless metal classics, Mixture of emotions and styles, An excellent and inventive debut
Disadvantages: Some weak links, Not as impressive as what was to come, James' voice and the production quality are in severe need of improvement
Master of Puppets
Among the Classic Metal Albums
*****
Written on 20.03.04
Master of Puppets is a landmark metal album, and not one that's particularly accessible to the general public. Their 1991 hit "Metallica," also known as the Black Album, managed to reach this more accessible level leading to its number one spot and successful single releases, while their later albums had their success largely based on the Black Album. Puppets has many elements of fast, heavy thrash metal, but it's the interesting diversity of styles incorporated into songs that makes the album so appealing to me. Whether it's an acoustic introduction, a slow and lengthy solo section or a deep instrumental I find it has much more longevity than some of the band's less complex later work.
Ask any long-haired headbanging American what he was listening to in 1986, and Metallica would be the response; unless he failed to relate the two or just thumped you because you were asking questions. Still going strong today, Metallica are often thought to have reached their musical peak with "Puppets" and it's very easy to see why.
The major factor contributing to the difference between this album and the later releases is the tragic death of bass player Cliff Burton, whose speedy basswork on songs such as "Pulling Teeth," "Creeping Death" and "Orion" etablished him as one of the top bassists in the business. if it wasn't for his death in a tour bus crash in 1986, it has often been speculated that Cliff would have left the band soon anyway, however the loss of a comrade was clearly the inspiration for a number of Metallica's decisions including he mournful black colour they wore through to the 90s.
THE MUSIC
1. BATTERY
One of my favourite starts to an album, Battery gets the Metallica sound just right. An acoustic introduction leads into a fantastic dual guitar section before the riff kicks in and the song really begins. Coming in at just over 5 minutes it's actually one of the shorter songs on the album, but that doesn't mean it lacks complexity. Seperate sections in the middle lead up to the solo, while the ensemble shouting of "battery" would surely make this a hit when played live. A surprising number of riff and speed changes even in this song alone.
2. MASTER OF PUPPETS
An epic song at 8:35, this is much more detailed and worth listening to than some of the lenghty tracks on the next album, "...And Justice For All." A main guitar riff that's doubtless familiar to millions of people over the world, the lyrics are also handled greatly and the main "come crawling faster" choruses have great but short guitar sections which bring the song closer to perfection. The middle section is unlike anything Metallica have done before or since, apart from sections in instrumentals, in that it includes no lyrics for several minutes and is at a completely different speed. Suddenly changing the tempo from fast and angry to contemplative and mellow shouldn't come out so well, but 'Tallica pull it off so well that it's something to look forward to. By the end of the song the return to the verses and chorus start to drag on a little, but it's clear that the end is nigh and you can feel free to headbang if you like. Every instrument is at its very best here, leading it to become one of the band's deservedly most popular songs. It's certainly one of mine.
3. THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE
Starting very deeply and quietly, it's clear from the onset that "Thing" is a darker song. In a way it continues the band's affection for the Cthulhu myths, touched upon in their classic instrumental "The Call of Ktulu" from the previous album, Ride the Lightning. Memorable choruses and dark verses make this another of my favourite Metallica songs although it's clearly one 'for the fans.' The guitar solo is again very interesting and enjoyable; they don't just churn out fast and whiny bits that the average metal fan is used to playing with his air guitar, although not as memorable as some. Still, it's a fantastic song, especially as it comes in the wake of "Puppets" itself. Unusual funky bass-led rock band Primus covered this song for their Rhinoplasty album, however it's the only good song on there so I wouldn't recommend it.
4. WELCOME HOME (SANITARIUM)
A great song that verges on 'power ballad' but doesn't want to give up its catchy riffs, "Sanitarium" would be on all the music channels and known by many more people if the band hadn't been opposed to music videos and single releases in this era. One of the band's very best slow and meaningful tracks along with "Fade to Black" and their first big single "One," this is another of my favourite Metallica songs - they're not all my favourites I assure you, this album just contains a large proportion of them in its eight tracks. As a great rock ballad usually has the ability to greet the general public more than a fast shout anthem, this is probably one of the songs that can be most enjoyed by someone who doesn't usually like them long-haired men. One of the band's great songs dealing with mental instability, something which was expanded upon in the "Justice" album and a couple of others afterwards.
5. DISPOSABLE HEROES
As it deals with the futility of war and the a**-hole nature of the arrogant officer classes, this is Metallica entering territory that is familair to the metal genre of post-Vietnam. Along with "Puppets," this is a song that links to the album's cover, which features numerous ready-made graves, one of which has a soldier's hat hanging from it. Oh, and there's a big Master of Puppets pulling their strings. This isn't one of my favourites off the album as it seems unnecessarily long at 8:16 and the main riff isn't particularly original, but nevertheless it's a great listen with some interesting lyrics and rhyme schemes. And it's always worth holding on to the solo section, which is very memorable and fast here.
6. LEPER MESSIAH
The overlooked king of shorter tracks, "Messiah" is another of my favourite Metallica etc. At 5:39, the song is in the same league as "Battery," however I find this the superior track. Everything is again at its very best, with guitar riffs that are unbeleivably catchy and my favourite guitar solo section of any song; this means a lot as I really like solos! This is a Metallica song that is rarely mentioned, but which I have listened to as much as any of my other favourites. An unrealised metal classic here, which features more changes and progressions than anything else would have successfully managed in 5:39.
7. ORION
Metallica's three great instrumental tracks, the afore-mentioned "Ktulu" from Ride, this song, and "To Live is to Die" from Justice, do not have the same capacity for headbang as their lyrical angry songs, but are still fantastic and intricate songs which can create as many feelings. Orion builds up with a slow and memorable drum beat and whiny guitar before the song starts to get going, and there are literally far too many different riffs and tunes for me to mention here. It's got the heaviness of the other songs as well as some of the best guitar and basswork of the album, and there is a strange section that conjures an image of a swampy marsh in my head for some reason. One advantage of instrumentals is that you can listen to them while writing Dooyoo reviews and appreciate them fully without getting distracted by lyrics and choruses. Fading out at the end also, Orion is another track I would describe as 'epic,' and it's a chance to hear james Hetfield try some guitar solo as he did in "Master of Puppets" itself.
8. DAMAGE INC.
A slightly disappointign end to the album is my least favourite track, although I can see the need to put another thrashy song after the long and sombre Orion. Describing an organisation which I assume is fictional, and seems akin to the "Fight Club" in that film I can't remember the name of, Damage Inc. builds up with a very interesting bass section that sounds a little like whalesong before kicking it with the heaviest riff of the album. The solo section is good and the choruses are enjoyable, but the song could have been better.
VERDICT
Although the album only features eight tracks it comes in at just under 55 minutes and there is so much diversity on the album, in terms of heavy metal in any case, that it was a guaranteed success even when he band was relatively low-profile in the mid-80s. Aside from changing bass players, the band's line up is the same here as it has been on all of the albums with James Hetfield's vocals in a good stage that's not quite as good as his deeper voice later on but at least isn't as screechy as his unbroken voice's screams on some of the earlier songs. His rhythm guitar work is impeccable as always. Kirk Hammet's lead guitarwork is diverse and he provides metal with some of its greatest solos here, while drummer Lars Ulrich's drums aren't as pouding as they should be, although this is more due to the production than anything else.
The only flaw I have with this album is the production value, as it could have been made so much clearer if it had been better produced or brought out later. It isn't noticeable on many songs, and doesn't dampen the enjoyment of the raw sound. Compared to Metallica's other albums, you'll know whether you prefer thrashy heavy metal or their later work, but aside from the music I get a lot of good vibes off the album. The dark red and orange colour scheme looks great, while the photos of band members clearly enjoying themselves inside is a great touch before the death of Cliff on this album's later tour.
Whether you love or hate Metallica, this album is very important in their discography and is my personal favourite. They're clearly making music because that's what they love to do, and this is always easy to tell on albums.
Advantages: Diverse (within the heavy metal genre)
Disadvantages: Although an hour long, eight tracks may seem insufficient to some
...And Justice For All
Now the World Is Gone, I'm Just One
****
Written on 17.03.02
Considered the last album to be made in Metallica's original style, "...And Justice For All" is a very unique album from the others, and I at least consider it to be their "heaviest" (in terms of riffs and double bass pedal whacking). The album was the first the band promoted with a music video and single release, a practice they had previously been against, for the phenomenal and mould-breaking "One," and it was undoubtedly due to this song that the album scored a chart position of 6 on the US list.
The first official album to be made following the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 (although the "Garage Days Re-Revisited" or "$5.98 EP" recorded the previous year featured six cover songs), "Justice" retains the strong Metallica themes of protest, and features what are probably the strongest statements the band have ever made in their songs, against the themes of war, suicide, insanity and the judicial system. There is also an instrumental in memory of Cliff, featuring a short extract from some of his poetry, read by James.
At first appearance, nine tracks may not seem like value for money, but with two songs approaching the ten minute barrier it is more than made up for. The practice of inserting more classical elements into some songs, as had been used to great effect in "Ride The Lightning" (1984) and "Master Of Puppets" (1986) is also present here, with an acoustic, King Arthur-esque guitar introducing the lengthy title track, and a similar composition both preceding and following the track eight instrumental. However, on the whole I find this (apart from the band's official debut album "Kill 'Em All!" Metallica's least diverse and original album as, although many of the songs are masterpieces (and "One" is certainly among my favourite songs of all time), there is not much variation.
While "Puppets" had the fast, thrash songs "Battery" and "Damage, Inc." balanced by symphonic ballads within "Master Of Puppets" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," it is only part of the instrumental, and the beginning of "One," which offers any form of contrast to the hard, Slayer-esque heavy metal which makes up the album. Although this is not a problem it does serve to make the album more of an acquired taste, and would most likely not suit ever mood.
This aside, along with the first signs of the band's desire to make it big by going against their own, self-implemented parameters, "...And Justice For All" is an amazing metal album, and I certainly prefer it to most of their later offerings (except maybe the famous "Black Album.") The tunes feature fantastic riffs, often changing into even catchier riffs half way through songs, and an abundance of guitar solos, however it must be pointed out how similar some of these sound.
The album begins with a guitar build-up, before "Blackened" begins. A pretty basic tune, Blackened features a memorable (if a bit silly) riff, and a cool solo. This is followed up by the classic "...And Justice For All"; a controversial poke at the justice system, all instruments working to their full effect to create a truly fantastic piece of music. And that solo at four minutes fifty or so is very worth the wait. Only real problem is the feeling of repetitiveness that creeps in towards the end, but it's soon finished after that.
Track three may initially seem silent until you hear the drums and other instruments fading in for what is truly one of the album's finest songs. "Eye Of The Beholder," which also has the distinction of being my favourite Metallica song title (and the title of an episode of The Next Generation; bet you didn't know that did you?) features some amazing work all round, with James' voice taking on a new edge as he neither sings nor shouts this tale of the search for freedom. The distorted guitars also sound amazing. After the song comes some more quiet, with the distant sound of shouting, gunfire and a helicopter, but this is simply the prelude at the start of track four...
Of course, the song usually considered to be the album's best, and my opinion is no different, "One" metaphorically takes the proverbial biscuit of song bestness. I was going so good there as well. The tale of surviving a war, but in a condition that causes a longing for death, is dealt with fantastically, with a pleasant guitar build-up with heavier choruses, leading into the legendary double-bass and palm-muting heavy bit, with James shouting "Landmine has taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul, left me with life in hell." The video's really cool too, and is a favourite of most contemporary bands. Certainly a song that broke and formed new ground. And not forgetting that famous, knackering solo; anyone ever have an Amiga with speakers? I'm sure Kirk Hammet was the inspiration for every low budget game theme from 1990 to '93.
Onto the rest of the album, "The Shortest Straw" is a cool song, but not as special as "One." The song deals with blacklisting, and the high point for me is the solo, accompanied by cool double-bassing; it just doesn't seem to know when to quit! "Harvester Of Sorrow" sounds slightly lacking, as all instruments decide not to take the full-on approach this time, and have a bit of a breather. The song is more a vehicle for James? voice, which is a shame as he doesn't really do anything special with it. "One"-style guitar can also be heard near the start, with a more mellow, chilled out solo accompanying the near-end of this song. It may not be apparent (and it certainly wasn't to me), but the story is that of a drunken and drugged man who torments his family before murdering them. Pretty unpleasant stuff.
"The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" is an often-overlooked but very good song which decides to feature some Wizard Of Oz at the start (the march of the Evil Witch's soldiers apparently, but I'm not a particularly avid viewer of such films), and the guitar work is particularly impressive; the solo is once again really cool, as is the alternative riff introduced after four minutes, which is unfortunately quirt short-lived. The song does come in a bit long and repetitive by the end, but the middle bit (with the solos and the like) is certainly very interesting and worth the wait.
Onto the final two tracks, "To live Is To Die" is a tribute to the afore-mentioned Cliff Burton, and the main riff is one which the band used to compose songs around but never decided to use, I think. It's a great riff at that, especially after 4:30, where I feel the song really hits its stride. There is even a quiet, solo portion which eventually builds slowly back into the full instrumental, with James reciting a poem of Cliff's about lies murdering the soul. The acoustic end to the song leads into the very different, middle finger up, youth angst song, "Dyers Eve." A good song, it seems nonetheless a little too fast and heavy for its own good, and ends up as a pretty pale end to an otherwise amazing album.
Definitely a classic, although not so much as some of the even earlier work, it did mark the end of an era.
Metallica
More Appealing? Yea-arh!
*****
Written on 16.03.02
(N.B, I apologise for not being able to write James Hetfield's "yeah.")
Metallica's most well-known, and widely-considered finest, album was released in 1991, and received a phenomenal number one slot both in the US and the UK. The band had broken new ground for mainstream metal, and the first single, "Enter Sandman," remains one of the most popular alternative songs to this day.
Being a huge fan of Metallica's music, I find that this album (unofficially designated as "The Black Album" due to its almost completely black cover which is present, according to Mr. Hetfield, so the listener "is not distracted from the music by artwork") is, on the whole, a fantastic album, however I do not find it their greatest work. The structure, length and style of the songs has obviously been deliberately altered for this record due to Metallica's new association with producer Bob Rock, and this album is certainly more "accessible" than the band's previous four, lesser-known albums; "Kill 'Em All" (1982), "Ride the Lightning" (1984), "Master of Puppets" (1986) and "...And Justice for All" (1988). These previous offerings featured roughly eight to nine tracks, each occasionally lasting anywhere up to ten minutes, with lengthy guitar, bass and drum solos and drastic rhythm or riff changes within songs. It was also customary to include a lengthy instrumental track, which demonstrates the band's incredible talent, and the lyrics were more rooted in anti-war or anti-democracy themes. These characteristics were all but dropped for the Black Album, and the customary length for songs was five minutes.
While I do not believe Metallica completely "sold out" (at least not at this point in their career), I find it cannot be disputed that the deliberate changes were an attempt to break out into the mainstream (although their previous album "...And Justice For All" did score a chart position of six in the US, due largely to the phenomenal single "One.") It just seems a little hypocritical of, apparently, the most anti-mainstream metal band of the eighties to suddenly become very popular, especially through music videos and singles (which they had previously vowed never to stoop to). Ironic then that "Metallica" eventually denoted five songs (nearly half the album) to music video creation. Perhaps after the death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 the band decided to rethink their strategies; I suppose everyone likes a bit of money to line their hair.
As for the songs, the albums is not bad at all, and if you are a fan of Metallica you should most certainly like the album; even if you are just a casual listener you will likely find this album appeals to you more than the others. Beginning with the amazing metal anthem "Enter Sandman," the album starts on a high note, and if you find yourself hating this song then you should probably have re-thought buying the album. Or downloading the MP3 which, we all know, is bad. So we are told. "Sad But True" is the second track; a slower, yet even heavier song, the repetitive nature and long pauses between verses should make this stick in your head longer than most. The riff will sound familiar if anyone happens to be a Kid Rock fan, as it was "borrowed" for the wannabe cowboy dumbass for his "American Bad Ass", most standable track he has produced, single. Track three, "Holier Than Thou", is nothing special really; although enjoyable and featuring the most harsh language on the entire album (the "c" word used to describe human excrement), the song is fairly short and nothing that hasn?t been heard before. Nice and fast though.
Possibly my favourite tracks on the album, "The Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam" were also released as very popular singles. "The Unforgiven" is one of the album's two light, harmonic pieces, featuring James Hetfield's singing voice in the chorus and a clean guitar tune throughout. An amazing song that I would recommend. The latter track, "Wherever I May Roam," begins sounding similar in speed and context (with a gong "bwosh!" and slow, Asian-esque guitar tune), before speeding up into another amazing, and also highly repetitive song.
Track six, "Don't Tread On Me," is most likely my worst song on the album. Sounding like some pathetic, unconvincing protest, the song starts with a riff that, I have been told, is a homage to the classic (yeah, right) film "West Side Story." "Through The Never" is a very good song, slightly unoriginal however more so than some on this album, and acts as a very effective filler beginning the second half of the album.
Track eight is the furthest point from the beginning of an album that a song was released, and it is the very popular symphonic "Nothing Else Matters." Foreshadowing the S&M; tour at the climax of the 90s, maestro Michael Kamen was drafted in to add a quiet but effective backing track to Metallica's light, clean and lengthy song. I like this song, but I have found there are many people who find the blend of partial symphony makes this the album's finest track by far. Decide for yourselves. The following track is the comedily-named "Of Wolf and Man," which is not even attempting irony at the appearance of the hairy, fanged James Hetfield at the time. Or maybe I imagined the fangs. The song is similar to the style of those from the early part of the album, featuring a heavy riff and interesting, if dubious, lyrics.
The penultimate two songs also appeal to me in a big way, and are slightly tamer than some of those on the album. "The God That Failed" is slower and bass-lead, but at no cost to the power, and features a fantastic clean riff and chorus, while "My Friend Of Misery" is a slower song in much the same style. 'Cept it's longer and it has a really good solo (my personal favourite on the album) that has, in the past, caused an overwhelming desire in me to play on the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, due to its similarity to the music from "Scrap Brain Zone." Both excellent, very often overlooked songs.
The final track, "The Struggle Within," is interesting and enjoyable; just a fast, short song with military drumming at the beginning overlaid with a guitar solo. The riff that appears briefly towards the end is very worth waiting for, and you don?t finish the album on a low, depressing note. Cool song, and bonus points for including the lyric "kicking at a dead horse pleases you."
Overall, the Black Album is a fine, landmark album, and well worth the money; the twelve tracks come in at a little over an hour. This is often viewed as the final album of Metallica's old style, or the beginning of their new. Either way, it does serve to bridge the gap, and was the only thing they released for another six years. How's that for a sales ploy? Enjoy. (Hey, I was a poet and I didn't even know I was).
Advantages: Amazing, legendary songs, Long and value for money
Disadvantages: The band have deliberatly changed from their older style, and this was not greeted well by many fans, "Don't Trad On Me"
Load
Load Part I: Bay Area Cowboys
****
Written on 30.07.04
In the mid-nineties, platinum-selling US rock band Metallica returned to the studio with the eagerly awaited follow up album to their self-titled record of 1991. Hits such as the anthemic ‘Enter Sandman’ and the reflective ‘Nothing Else Matters’ had made the dedicated band a household name, so the unanticipated change in style led to mixed reactions among the rock community when ‘Load’ was finally released.
These fourteen tracks were only a portion of Metallica’s new material, but their plans for a double album spread across the discs ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ was thwarted by an eager record label that wasn’t prepared to wait any longer for the band to finish the rest of their songs. ‘Reload’ was released the following year and is a clear companion record to this 1996 release, although its less consistent quality and reliance on a limited number of crowd-pleasers would have been less of an issue, had the proposed double album occurred. More on ‘Reload’ at a later date.
There are very few remnants of the ‘old’ Metallica sound here: five years away from the recording studio resulted in a complete change of direction for the Bay Area Thrashers, and while the band members still have their own distinctive styles it seems more surprising more than expected when the guitars briefly lapse into a familiar muted grind lick reminiscent of the Black Album. It wasn’t a change that could be anticipated from observing their previous progression but, although it understandably didn’t sit well with many fans from the band’s early days, ‘Load’ is an impressive, consistent and overall excellent rock album from one of the most influential rock bands in history.
STYLE
Metallica began as a thrash band, playing covers of their favourite hard metal songs and developing their own unique sound based on power, aggression and an underlying sense of pure fun that would come to the fore every so often. The increasing influence of bass player Cliff Burton led to more of a classical influence on their song structure and choice of instrumentation, leading to their classic albums ‘Ride the Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets,’ seen by many as the pinnacle of the band’s achievement. Tragically, Cliff was killed in a tour bus accident and the band’s attempt to recover their thrash sound was a moderate failure. Under the tutelage of producer Bob Rock, Metallica modified their sound to something more accessible and akin to hard rock, but still retaining the power and enjoyment of their earlier albums with even greater diversity.
Load owes more to older blues and hard rock acts than their thrash roots, the faster riffs and solos a little reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and their contemporary prodigies such as Fu Manchu, while the slower beats of the more low-key tracks show a definite blues influence on Lars’ drumming. The real points of interest are the experimental longer tracks where each band member shines and creates something that can’t easily be classified as anything other than Metallica.
Metallica were:
James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
Jason Newsted – bass
Lars Ulrich – drums
James’ vocals have noticeably improved since the band’s last album, not that they presented a problem previously (although his whining screech on their first couple of albums is a big turn-off), and while many people could find his more country-and-western laid back approach irritating, the faster tracks show that he has lost none of his deep gravely sound. Songs such as ‘Bleeding Me’ demonstrate the clear improvement in his singing voice that sounded enjoyable but a little untrained in the earlier song ‘The Unforgiven’ (although it’s still one of my favourites), while his rhythm guitar also takes a step back from the fore.
Kirk Hammett’s interest in classical, baroque guitars has been present since the acoustic opening of the band’s 1984 record, but his varied influences and preferences come across a lot more here. The relentless solos have been replaced with more easy-going ‘stoner rock’ high notes, often played with the aid of a finger bar or handy beer bottle. Jason Newsted’s bass hasn’t undergone that many changes since its refinement for the Black Album although it can be heard a lot more in this album, complimenting the slower songs. Lars Ulrich’s drums also take a step down from the manic pounding that made him so well-known, even retreating far into the background and only making themselves known with a couple of sporadic thumps every so often in some instances. The band members weren’t selling themselves short: they were now in a position where they felt comfortable playing in a different style at a more relaxed pace.
THE MUSIC
1. Ain’t My Bitch (5:03)
2. 2 x 4 (5:28)
3. The House That Jack Built (6:37)
4. Until it Sleeps (4:27)
5. King Nothing (5:29)
6. Hero of the Day (4:21)
7. Bleeding Me (8:16)
8. Cure (4:53)
9. Poor Twisted Me (3:59)
10. Wasting My Hate (3:57)
11. Mama Said (5:18)
12. The Thorn Within (5:51)
13. Ronnie (5:17)
14. The Outlaw Torn (9:48)
A hard drum rhythm opens the album with the speedy, catchy ‘AIN’T MY BITCH,’ and this track is one of the highlights of the album. The slow, ‘stoner’ solo and infectious chorus and bridge vocal sections are likely the saving graces of this album for those who bought it expecting to hear aggressive heavy metal, but this would still sound very out of place on any previous album. The fast and catchy style is also present in the more plodding but excellently guitar-based ‘2X4,’ the deceptively simple ‘CURE’ and the overlooked but incredible catchy ‘WASTING MY HATE,’ the closest thing to a metal track on this album. While these all blend into the overall style of this album perfectly, isolating them to play as part of a live set amongst harder offerings proves that they work alongside Metallica’s other hits and still get the crowd going. As a fan of the band’s faster offerings, these are my songs of preference here.
I wouldn’t say that there’s anything ‘brave’ about this album: Metallica were certainly offering something very different, but they were still creating music that they enjoyed (with the exception of the silent malcontent Newsted), although it was a bit of a gamble to precede this album’s release with one of the more experimental, bluesy songs as a single in the shape of ‘UNTIL IT SLEEPS.’ With a strong bass presence keeping everything slow and dismal, elevating to a fun track only in the loud chorus, this divided Metallica fans just as much as the album did and while it’s not one of my favourites, it still works very well within the tapestry of the CD. The slow, chugging style also leads the tracks ‘KING NOTHING’ (also released as a single, but much more enjoyable and catchy) and the hit-and-miss ‘THE THORN WITHIN’ that sounds quite good but never really goes anywhere.
The most noticeable change in Metallica’s songs came with the acoustic ballad ‘MAMA SAID,’ also released as a single (an odd decision) and sounding like a slow country release. This is one of my least favourites on the album as I don’t enjoy the style, but I still appreciate its worth in expanding the musical style, and James’ vocals are very good. ‘HERO OF THE DAY’ is the other slow track, but this one worthy of much more attention and appreciation: James’ vocals are arguably at their very best in this melancholy, electric guitar track that bursts into rousing heaviness half-way through. Often described as the band’s most radio-friendly song, obviously bringing the ‘sell-out’ accusations along with it, but it’s one of the best songs on the disc.
Tracks seven and fourteen, the meaningful and dark ‘BLEEDING ME’ and the almost orchestral ‘THE OUTLAW TORN’ are the experimental grooving monsters of the album and it’s no surprise that they both featured on the band’s ‘S&M’ collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra. Both tracks feature complex instrumentation and great choruses but are simply too long and unbearable slow for some: I like them a lot, but they aren’t songs I can listen to endlessly, and are candidates for the ‘skip’ button, not that I play this album too often anyway. ‘THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT’ is half-way to this style and becomes lost in mediocrity by its uncertain style.
Mood and preference aside, there are only two songs on this album that I truly dislike and honestly fail to understand the inclusion of: the lacking, grating ‘POOR TWISTED ME’ where Hetfield’s distorted vocals drone over a boring, tedious guitar and the truly awful ‘RONNIE.’ These songs will never be included on any Metallica collection, live set or ‘to-learn’ list of tribute bands and their presence is unnecessary, degrading filler that adds nothing to the album and does in fact subtract some of the enjoyment. Still, the rest’s quite good.
THE OUTLAWS TORN
James Hetfield explained the pitch black featureless nature of Metallica’s self-titled album as a way for the listener to concentrate on the music rather than the artwork. Wise words that I completely agree with, however I am always influenced (in quite a big way) by the artwork of albums when I listen to them. Even the briefest glance at the cover can add a twist to the sounds I hear, and in the case of Metallica’s black album I can’t help but imagine an infinite black abyss that gives the songs a more sombre and serious edge. ‘Load’ greeted me with images of the band wearing what could be seen as ‘cowboy-casual’ attire, and seeing the music video for the track ‘Mama Said’ I was reluctantly blighted to apply a western mental theme to every track I listened to, regardless of its subject matter. Strange as it may seem, this impeded my enjoyment of the songs on here and it took over a year before I was able to appreciate all of the (good) songs in their own right.
It also didn’t help that they titled a song ‘The Outlaw Torn’ and that songs featured lyrics such as “he takes this gun from his pocket” and “caught under wheels roll,” both of which fell victim to my strange brain curse. The artwork itself also tries a little too hard to be ‘stylishly rubbish,’ the front cover featuring a reddish splash of what is apparently animal blood and semen (I can’t remember where I read that to confirm it) and the photos of the band lingering around in-between the very brief printed lyrics causes a little resentment at their change in style from angry youths to mature dads. It happens to the best of us though, except for me obviously.
VERDICT: RELEVANT AND MORONIC CRITICISM
I’ll start with the hair. No matter where I read, hear or view a discussion of this album, the issue of the band’s hairstyles is always brought up. As if a haircut has any affect on the music whatsoever. Metallica moving away from black tee-shirts, leather and wild hair to more ‘establishment’ (sorry) looks show their changing attitudes as adults and, in some cases, fathers and husbands, but it’s this changing perspective and expanding taste in music and other media that influenced their creative decisions, not some prophetic trip to the barber’s where a guy told them “you’re pretty damn good, but you should head down a more cowboy avenue.” Idiots.
Onto the relevant criticisms, many of which I agree with. This is not my favourite Metallica album as it is basically not the Metallica I heard, loved and rushed out to buy – Metallica’s music from the mid-eighties impressed me on my first listen and expanded my taste in metal. ‘Load’ was an album I bought because I saw it cheap and reasoned that, although I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much, would still be of interest, and it is. While it’s different from the rest of my CD collection it’s really good at being different, only slipping up in a few places with two poor tracks that really didn’t need to be included on what is already a lengthy album. Being a fan of Metallica doesn’t mean you will enjoy this, just as a fan of Michael Jackson’s infectious eighties hits may have (very wisely) hated that ‘Earth Song’ thing. The other side of the coin is that many fans of this type of music (back to Metallica here) will have gained a new appreciation for that band that used to be sweaty youths with discordant loud instruments playing rubbish. They are still idiots for having that opinion, but it is understandable.
‘Load’ sold very well and impressed a great many people, but as much as I am prepared to listen to it and enjoy the occasional track I can’t help wishing that the band had stuck to their roots a little more. 1988’s ‘…And Justice For All’ proved that they had already conquered the thrash genre and had to move on, but the move from the Black Album to the ‘Load’/‘Reload’ albums could have headed in a much more enjoyable direction if the band had been more at ease with themselves and each other. But more on Newsted’s dissatisfaction and the band’s shallow attempts to satiate fans another time…
Stand-out tracks: Ain’t My Bitch, Hero of the Day, Bleeding Me, Wasting My Hate.
Advantages: Talented, enjoyable and diverse, Great mix of hard rock and longer tracks, Metallica were back
Disadvantages: Dissapointment to many fans, Similar and less impressive tracks, Some very weak links
Reload
Load Part II: You Wait 5 Years For a Bus, etc.
**
Written on 03.08.04
Metallica’s 1996 album ‘Load’ received mixed reactions on its release. The band’s first album since their self-titled classic of 1991, Load saw the commercial rock side of the band come to the fore, mixed with elements of blues, country and experimental rock to create a sound that, while a disappointment to fans from their earlier thrash metal days, was at least original, creative and enjoyable.
The not-so-long-awaited follow up ‘Reload’ was released in 1997, containing the thirteen tracks that would have appeared on the proposed Load double album, before the record company urged the band to release an album sooner rather than later. While most of these songs had their inception during the original Load sessions, it seems that the band tried to return to a harder style in some areas to please fans who had been disappointed with Load, but the main problem with Reload is its inconsistency: there are some great fast and slow songs, but far too many mediocre tracks that only serve to damage the lengthy listening experience.
STYLE
Metallica were:
James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
Jason Newsted – bass
Lars Ulrich – drums
As described in my earlier review of Load, the band’s instruments have been toned down in both pitch and intensity from their eighties albums, the guitars showing clear hard rock, Led Zeppelin-esque influences and the drums often following laid back blues rhythms in contrast to Lars’ famous manic pounding. James Hetfield’s vocals have also changed since the Black Album; his husky voice sounds more measured and his singing, while not exactly excellent, has improved to the point where it no longer sounds out of place and cringe-worthy. The bass guitar is still reasonably present but doesn’t show much creativity or flair, a sign that Jason was unhappy with some of the band’s decisions (both musically and with regard to their family commitments over the music).
THE MUSIC
1. Fuel (4:29)
2. The Memory Remains (4:39)
3. Devil’s Dance (5:18)
4. The Unforgiven II (6:36)
5. Better Than You (5:21)
6. Slither (5:13)
7. Carpe Diem Baby (6:12)
8. Bad Seed (4:05)
9. Where the Wild Things Are (6:52)
10. Prince Charming (6:04)
11. Low Man’s Lyric (7:36)
12. Attitude (5:16)
13. Fixxxer (8:15)
Hetfield’s shouting opens the album as the first track explodes into fury: ‘FUEL’ is one of the definite highlights of the album and is the most energetic and speedy track on this album, complete with an incredibly catchy riff and slower sections. If the whole album was this good I would easily give it a five star rating, but unfortunately the band seem to know the limits of their abilities, grouping the singles together near the start. Similar to Fuel (but nowhere near as good) is the penultimate ‘ATTITUDE,’ while the fun ‘PRINCE CHARMING’ and the slightly tedious ‘BETTER THAN YOU’ also bring the album back up to a fast and loud level every so often. These tracks seem at first to be much harder than those of Load, but that’s only because Load classics such as ‘Ain’t My Bitch’ and ‘Wasting My Hate’ featured more elements of the band’s adapted sound: aside from ‘Fuel,’ these tracks are all very lacking in depth and creativity, but leaving that aside they still present a fun listen every once in a while.
Slower, deeper rock tracks are the other main feature of this album, the first single ‘THE MEMORY REMAINS’ being very compelling and catchy apart from the inexplicable croaking of Dame Marianne Faithful, one of the band’s poorer experimental decisions. It doesn’t relate directly to the album, but the music video for this featuring the band playing in a rotating room is pretty cool. ‘DEVIL’S DANCE’ is deliberately lacking and led primarily by the bass and drums, making for a different and original sound and also containing a memorable chorus. Not a Metallica classic, but one of the better offerings here, the same being true for ‘CARPE DIEM BABY’ which has nice guitars but gets a little dull. The other two tracks fitting the ‘slow rock’ label are ‘SLITHER’ and ‘BAD SEED,’ both of which fail to impress even after repeated listens: the former features a riff that sounds very similar to Metallica’s classic ‘Enter Sandman,’ only much worse for the bluesy distortion, while the latter is spoiled by carnival sound effects and voice overs (although I hear it went down very well during the band’s live performances, when they would improvise a jam based around its riffs).
‘THE UNFORGIVEN II’ and ‘FIXXXER’ appear to be the most developed tracks on the album and benefit from this. Although ‘Unforgiven II’ isn’t a patch on its earlier namesake from the Black Album, it successfully revives riffs from that song and alters them to a Reload style, with a new chorus. ‘Fixxxer’ is the lengthy album closer that builds up with an excellent feedback sound and again has an excellent, moving chorus. The remaining two tracks are slow, reflective songs, but even for these similarities they sound very different: ‘WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE’ alternates between a quiet bass riff with atmospheric backing guitars and a military-style chorus, while ‘LOW MAN’S LYRIC’ is another attempt (after the earlier ‘Mama Said’) at a country and western ballad. This time it works better as Hetfield is accompanied by more drum presence, but it’s still a little too cowboy for me, which is incidentally one of the flaws of Load.
MY SILLY MENTAL SCARS
It’s a sad fact that once I get a mental image or idea about something that is either amusing or slightly relevant, it remains forever. The photos in the previous album ‘Load’ have forever given every song a cowboy feel and a mental image of the band playing in a ramshackle Western town with a swinging saloon door, tumbleweed, etc. (and I’m not just saying that to try and be funny), but my mental problem with Reload is based completely on the sound itself: for some reason, it really sounds like James is swearing, specifically with use of that ‘F’ word, to the point where I had to check the lyrics online to confirm what he was saying.
It’s a feature of his laid-back vocal style on this album that “a hundred PLUS through black and white” (from ‘Fuel’) and the repeated chorus of ‘The Unforgiven II,’ “behind the door, should I open it FOR YOU.” The offending articles are capitalised as you probably noticed, but they need to be heard to be understood. It’s a shame that I get an imaginary earful of abuse whenever I listen to this album, which thankfully isn’t that often. Anyway, there’s more of my mind stuff for you.
VERDICT
This album is a second half to ‘Load’ in every way, even down to the front cover design and artwork, although the booklet features blurred photos of the band playing live rather than hanging around streets in flash attire. Several songs from this album became instant live favourites, but it only takes one listen of the CD to work out how very few songs that is: ‘Fuel’ is incredibly catchy and rousing, ‘The Memory Remains’ plods along excellently and ‘The Unforgiven II’ is deep meaning blues-core, but leaving the album without these three singles it’s mostly an incredibly disappointing release that wouldn’t have sold anywhere near as well if it didn’t have the privilege of being a Metallica album.
Anyone who likes Metallica for their speedy, grinding riffs and fast guitar solos would not necessarily enjoy Reload as there are very few traces of the old band’s sound left, save the occasional guitar chug. It’s true that the band headed in a more commercial rock direction, although this does seem to be a result of their changing musical taste rather than a desire to make more money, making Reload potentially more popular to the average buyer than albums such as ‘Ride the Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets.’ Even if a large number of people would enjoy tracks from this album if heard on the radio, many would doubtless feel disappointed at the album in its entirety. It’s not that it’s a bad CD, but it is a forgettable one.
Advantages: A couple of great songs - 'Fuel' is a classic, The band still experiment and mature, Reasonably diverse
Disadvantages: Disappointingly average, Could believably be mostly 'Load B-sides,' Doesn't know what it's aiming for
S&M
A Wagnerian Orgasm
****
Written on 04.05.04
In 1999, Metallica released a live album that saw them performing twenty tracks spanning their musical career, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The idea of mixing hard, heavy metal anthems with soft, orchestral overtures had not been attempted often, and deservedly awarded the band an amount of media interest. S&M is a very interesting album that deserves a number of listens, and manages to recreate some great Metallica songs with great success, and some poor ones with little success.
GENESIS
The band's former bass player Cliff Burton, who tragically died during the band's 1986 tour, had a large impact on the style of the band's earlier albums, his passion for classical music leading to more intricate and layered tracks than those of competing bands, with mellow guitar sections creating an epic and orchestral sound with only four instruments. Following Cliff's death, the band were forced to pursue other avenues, which led to the eventual release of their more commercial rock album 'Metallica' (aka the Black Album) in 1991.
Many fans felt that the band lost the plot after this, and the next albums to be released after a lenghty gap of touring and enjoying their profits reflected a far more bluesy, soft-rock approach. It was obvious that the band's appreciation for other musical forms was impacting on the music they enjoyed creating, and in 1998 their experimentation with orchestral accompaniment was seen by many metal fans as the ultimate sell-out act, despite the fact that their earlier works had such a classical and baroque influence, however much the surviving band members had not realised this.
Metallica's founding member and drummer, Lars Ulrich, contacted composer and self-proclaimed heavy metal fan Michael Kamen with the band's idea, and the composer set to work deciding which songs would most benefit from the orchestra's input, taking into account that the band's live set-lists reflected both their classic and contemporary tracks. Kamen had previously composed the soundtracks to a number of prominent films, while working with bands such as Queensryche and, yes, Metallica, in adding symphonic elements to some of their album tracks.
PERFORMERS
VOCALS, RHYTHM GUITAR - James Hetfield
LEAD GUITAR - Kirk Hammett
DRUMS - Lars Ulrich
BASS - Jason Newsted
COMPOSER - Michael Kamen, conducting many talented musicians on violins, violas, violincellos, basses, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion and kayboard than I can list here.
THE S&M EXPERIENCE
DISC 1
The Ecstasy Of Gold
The Call of Ktulu
Master of Puppets
Of Wolf and Man
The Thing That Should Not Be
Fuel
The Memory Remains
No Leaf Clover
Hero of the Day
Devil's Dance
Bleeding Me
DISC 2
Nothing Else Matters
Until it Sleeps
For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Human
Wherever I May Roam
The Outlaw Torn
Sad But True
One
Enter Sandman
Battery
FIRST HALF
The album opens calmly with the quiet roars of an expectant crowd, and the first notes of the orchestra for THE ECSTACY OF GOLD, a short and relaxing excerpt from the soundtrack to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, performed here by the orchestra. As soon as that is completed and the band have taken their positions, the haunting guitar intro of THE CALL OF KTULU is played by Kirk and James, and the sound of Metallica and the symphony are shown to their full potential. Ktulu is an epic in its own right, and the orchestra only compliments its dark and moody sound, using horns to great effect. As with most of the band's early material, Ktulu already felt complete and epic in its own right, so while the orchestra doesn't make it any better it is a great track to begin with.
James' distinctive vocal growls begin on the third track, MASTER OF PUPPETS. One of the band's most popular tracks, originating in their 1986 album of the same name, the progressive nature of this track means that the orchestra works in varying degrees of success. Personally, I find the orchestration a little over-the-top during the speedy verses and chorus, but the mellow sections of the song work excellently. It takes a while to get used to James' vocals accompanying such orchestration, but once he calms down on the band's softer songs there doesn't seem to be anything awry. There is some excellent use of violins towards the end of this track also, which is a nice touch.
OF WOLF AND MAN is what I consider the first "mistake" of this album; taken from Metallica's self-titled 1991 album, the less intricate style of this track doesn't lend itself to the orchestra, and this is one of the unfortunate examples of a song where the rock element and the orchestration have clearly been planned independently. In contrast, THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE is one of their older and darkest tracks, and this works with the orchestra in the same way that the instrumental Ktulu did. Sounding better and more interesting with the orchestra in many places, this is one of the tracks that definitely does "work," and features an improvised rendition of the Funeral March before leading into the next tracks.
FUEL and THE MEMORY REMAINS were tracks released from the band's 1997 album 'Reload,' the band's most recent studio release at the time of this recording, and as such they seem mainly included out of necessity. Still, the symphony adds to the commercial rock sound a lot more successfully than in similar tracks, especially in the slower 'The Memory Remains,' but 'Fuel' still sounds a little forced, adding unnecessary depth and grandeur to what is essentially a fast-paced hard rock anthem. The melodic vocal sections on Memory are handed to the crowd, providing the album with that element of audience interaction. Overall, a couple of songs that were a little lacking, but aren't really helped by this arrangement.
NO LEAF CLOVER is one of the most interesting tracks for the reason that is was released and performed for the first time with this CD. Much more impressive than releases from 'Reload,' this has been designed with the orchestra in mind and as such it really benefits from the addition. A great soft chorus has some of James' best vocals, while the hard rock isn't lost in the verses and chorus. It seems Metallica only needed a little inspiration to start producing great songs again.
I consider HERO OF THE DAY to be one of the best examples of S&M here, which is surprising as it took me a while to appreciate the original version of this 'Load' track. The band's most commercial release, this mixes elements of very soft acoustics with a hard rock ending, but the orchestra gives it the depth necessary to elevate it into a beautiful piece of music. Very sombre.
An unfortunate return to failed efforts sees DEVIL'S DANCE, possibly the least memorable track on this whole album, getting the unnecessary S&M treatment. The orchestra is mainly comprised of horns here which is a nice touch, but can't save the fact that this isn't a very impressive track that could have been replaced with something much better.
The first CD ends with one of the longer moody tracks from the 'Load' album, the quite impressive BLEEDING ME. Interesting and a little moving, with great vocals on the chorus, this is helped by the presence of the orchestra, but it is so subliminal in places that I can never remember the orchestral additions unless I listen to the track fresh. Still, a nice end to the first half which promises that, if nothing else, there can't be much more from the Load and Reload albums to follow.
SECOND HALF
The second disc opens in style with one of the band's most popular tracks, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. Their emotional, semi-acoustic number from the Black Album, the symphonic arrangement is so good here that there is plenty of debate amongst fans as to which is the best version. I personally prefer the album version, as the drums are used throughout and there is some great background electric guitar work that is lost here, but in terms of beauty I have to admit that this is one of the best examples of the S&M experience. Following on is a track from 'Load,' the controversial UNTIL IT SLEEPS, which is only controversial for being the first sign of the "new" Metallica in the mid-90s. The orchestra works very well with in adding atmosphere to this dark track, and it is another sign that the partnership is performing very well.
But no matter how loyal and appreciative the long-time fans are of the band's musical changes, it is obvious from the appreciative uproar that their 1984 classic FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS is still considered a much finer work than anything from recent years. With great sections for the bass, guitars and drums, "Bellz" (as it is referred to in shorthand on the album sleeve) is an excellent metal song, and while the orchestra is again largely unnecessary, it does add quite a nice Batman-esque feel to the song.
Following this is -HUMAN, the other original track on here along with 'Clover' from Disc 1. Not quite as classic or impressive, largely because it had been "lingering around for some time now" according to Newsted and therefore not composed with the symphony in mind, is it a good hard rock song that shows signs of where the band may have headed if not for Newsted's departure and their temporary time away from it all.
WHEREVER I MAY ROAM benefits from the orchestra more than I would have expected, considering it is again fairly recent, but I still don?t like this track too much in any incarnation, mainly as it is incredibly repetitive and seems to drag on for far too long. I think I like this symphonic version more however, and as it follows some great tracks on here it is an excuse to listen to it more. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, THE OUTLAW TORN is quite a good track from 'Load,' but it feels a little annoying in its placement here due to its ten-minute length, along with the fact that the similar and equally lengthy 'Bleeding Me' has already featured. The orchestra don't really add to this too much either, and it certainly suffers from its placement amongst the Metallica "classics."
SAD BUT TRUE is one of the band's best hard rock releases, but the orchestra once again fail to make anything too grand of it due to the limitations of its original style. Still a great song however, but it is overshadowed by the next track. ONE was the band's first music video release and has been a staple of their live shows for over ten years, and a great deal of effort has clearly gone into the orchestra arrangements of this track, although it has to be heard to be appreciated. The power of the drum sections towards the end do seem a little dampened, but the sombre first half benefits exceptionally well. One of the very best tracks on here.
The band's most well-known track is always used as the crowd-pleasing ending, and ENTER SANDMAN is a good track, but isn?t really aided by the symphony. There are interludes and encores later in the track which keep it interesting, but it doesn't work as well as it does with the band members alone. Fortunately, the band still have some tricks up their sleeve and an orchestral rendition of the start of their Master of Puppets album leads into BATTERY, one of their best thrash songs and a feature that probably came as a welcome surprise to those gathered. The orchestra is good in this one, but it is completely stolen by Metallica's power as a group.
AFTERMATH
Judging by the sounds on the CDs, the crowd were very pleased with the result of this unholy union of symphony and rock, and they even shout out their appreciation for the composer at the end. In his introduction within the album's booklet, Kamen describes how the symphony were unused to receiving roars of approval from metal fans, and while at first being a little apprehensive about this it would evnetually fuel them into putting in even more energy. "The crowd's reaction was like adrenaline on stage, and we all thrived on it. That kind of approval is inspiring!"
In an interview, James recalls how Kamen would deconstruct some of their songs and point out the kinds of musical changes they had implemented; something he, Kirk, Lars and Jason had never even realised, which is a tribute to the late Cliff Burton. Lars Ulrich also criticises fans who condemn this album as far from the Metallica angle, pointing out that Cliff was the only one of them that used to be influenced by classical music, and that it is an element of their early albums. "Cliff would have loved this."
VERDICT
The inherent problem with live albums is that not all of the listener's favourites are included, and this feeling is certainly present in S&M (Symphony & Metallica in case you were a little worried), but to a greater extent when considering which tracks did and did not "work." It is obvious that the band's older and more intricate tracks, as well as their more modern mellow releases, work far better than their hard rock songs, but Kamen and the band did not seem to realise this. This leads to the disappointment that 'Devil's Dance,' 'Of Wolf and Man' and 'The Outlaw Torn' could have been replaced by songs that really would have added to this experience, such as the classics 'Sanitarium,' 'The God That Failed' and, especially, 'Fade to Black.' These seemingly bad decisions do dampen my enjoyment of the album somewhat, but once they have been accepted it is easier to appreciate this as a "best-of" that takes an interesting approach.
I do like the orchestra accompaniment in general, even though at times it seems unnecessary or over-the-top, but when it fits it makes for more interesting songs, especially when the listener already owns the originals. The musicians are all very talented and the band themselves make no mistakes, although whether there was any Kiss-style studio tampering is unknown, and also irrelevant; the guys rock live anyway.
The album's design is incredibly stylish, with a mostly black cover featuring a colourful photo of James' legs and guitar, with assorted musicians behind him. There are no lyrics which is a bit of a letdown, instead opting for far more blurred photos of the band than are really necessary inside the booklet. There is a section at the end which details the original albums that the songs are taken from, which would be very useful for newer Metallica fans to plan their next CD purchases and also gives insight into the band's minds; apparently they did not find anything from their thrashy debut 'Kill 'Em All' would cut the symphonic mustard, and the thrash songs from 'Justice' are also ommitted. Thankfully the band do not use any of their cover tracks here, something which can get a little annoying on the band's other live albums.
S&M was an interesting idea that involved the band putting in a lot of effort and extending their musical variety, and there is nothing "sell-out" about it. There is a striking contrast between the melodic nature of this album and their next release, the hard and heavy St. Anger in 2003, but that's evolution. Love them or hate them, Metallica may not know much about art, but they know what they like.
Merchandise
A double DVD version of S&M is also available, while 'No Leaf Clover' was released as a single. An in-depth documentary featuring interviews entitled 'Metallica: Four Men and an Orchestra' can occasionally be found on appropriate music channels, as can S&M live music videos of 'No Leaf Clover' and 'Nothing Else Matters.' The official S&M shirt, sold over the several performances and featuring a quite funny tuxedo design on the front, is still available from many retailers.
Advantages: A great idea, many songs complimented by the orchestra, A Metallica live album with an interesting slant, A strong collection of tracks
Disadvantages: Some unwise decisions, Some songs would have worked excellently, but were not included, Often expensive
St. Anger
Some Kind of Monster
****
Written on 29.04.04
In the summer of 2003, one of the world’s most successful and well-known rock bands released their much-anticipated St. Anger, their first original studio release in six years. Sales were not as high as the band would have hoped, however their constant re-writing and re-awakened camaraderie ensured that this would be an album they hold dear much more than some of their previous releases. Besides, they’re obviously loaded by now anyway, and it’s great to see them continuing to make music they love.
BACKGROUND
Metallica’s current line-up has remained almost identical since the release of their first album ‘Kill ‘Em All’ in 1983, with the exception of their bass player. The original bassist Cliff Burton died in a road accident during the band’s 1986 tour, and the replacement Jason Newsted was never considered by many fans to be a worthy replacement, especially with the band’s increasing popularity. Disillusionment with Metallica’s changing musical styles, as well as health problems caused by his heavy choices of bass, led to Jason’s amicable departure from the band in 2001. The years following ‘Reload’ and their successful hit ‘I Disappear’ recorded for the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack saw vocalist James Hetfield admitting his problems and entering rehabilitation, drummer Lars Ulrich taking on the internet music world of Napster and guitarist Kirk Hammett spending more time on his beloved outdoor sport pursuits.
In 2002, the three-part backbone of Metallica decided to collaborate again, and bought themselves a brand new studio for a fresh start. Friend and producer Bob Rock filled in on bass guitar as the band undertook in a lengthy and wholly positive approach to coming up with literally dozens of songs, forming the eventual St. Anger. Towards the end of production the band decided the time was right for a new bass player, which ended up being ex-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo, a man whose presence Metallica had noticed when the band had toured with them in the past, and who was now working with Ozzy Osbourne. The four horsemen released their album on 9th June 2003.
James Hetfield – rhythm guitar, vocals
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals
Lars Ulrich – drums
Note: Despite being present in the album’s photo shoots and artwork, Rob Trujillo does not appear on this album; bass was handled by Bob Rock. Rob can be seen in the St. Anger bonus DVD, where his true bass proficiency on tracks such as ‘Some Kind of Monster’ can be appreciated. Or failing that, see the band live.
STYLE
St. Anger has a very distinctive playing style that runs throughout the entire album. It is certainly very heavy, with pounding and potentially headache-inducing snare drums punctuating dark and over-distorted guitars, James Hetfield’s vocals being the only immediately recognisable Metallica trait to the unconditioned eardrum.
I always find that there is an element of fun carrying through on the album, from James’ sing-song vocals in places and the catchier sections of songs such as ‘Invisible Kid’; despite the focus on negative emotions and feelings such as loneliness, worry, fear and especially angrrr (as they like to spell it in the booklet). There are differences in speed and tone to all the songs, but there are no equivalents of the ballads and acoustic tracks that have been popular or infamous aspects of the band’s previous work, depending on the listener’s viewpoint.
I am very glad that I saw the documentaries and interviews conducted prior to this album’s release, as without the background knowledge of the band’s contentedness and newfound sense of enjoyment I could have found myself listening to something that sounded largely depressing and full of hatred. As for those who have branded this album as ‘Nu-Metal,’ a genre led by such angry personalities as Korn and Limp Bizkit, the messages are certainly similar, but the Metallica style can still be detected in the guitar playing, but the traditional guitar solos have now been replaced by expanding riffs and repeated chorus and verse sections.
TRACKS
There are eleven tracks coming in at a huge 75 minutes. Unlike their more recent albums, the band are back to writing long songs, the shortest being over five minutes in length and the longest approaching nine minutes.
1. FRANTIC
Possible my favourite on the album, I rank this among Metallica’s classic album openers ‘Battery’ and ‘Blackened,’ and there are elements of that latter song here. The song has been released as a single, but it does not betray the album’s style; from the opening machine gun-style pounding of drums and the hardest riff Metallica have played in over ten years, the song’s main sections begin with some great use of a quiet guitar section exploding into the main riff that sums up the song’s title. James’ frantic screaming towards the end of the song is also a great touch, and this is definite crowd-pleaser material.
“If I could have my wasted days back, would I use them to get back on track?”
2. ST. ANGER
The first song released off this album, it left many people disappointed. Fairly lengthy and a little repetitive, I really like this song’s layered approach that make it sound as if there are far more instruments taking part than the listener has been told. Very angry, fast-paced, heavy and profane, this was the first Metallica song to include more than two uses of a swear word. A lot more.
“Medallion noose, I hang myself, St. Anger round my neck.”
3. SOME KIND OF MONSTER
In comparison to the previous songs, this is very slow, dark and hulking, and I love it. The song does drag on to an unnecessary eight and a half minutes, but there are enough changes in pace and riffs to keep it interesting. There always seem to be unrecognised gems on Metallica albums, and this is one of them.
“This is the God that is not pure, this is the voice of silence no more.”
4. DIRTY WINDOW
Not really filler, but not too impressive, this is enjoyably short and has some very drastic changes for the chorus sections. These very light and almost whispered sections do make the song stand out more than it otherwise would, and act in a similar way to the low-key, quiet sections of the title track, contrasting perfectly with everything around them.
“I drink from the cup of denial, I’m judging the world from my throne.”
5. INVISIBLE KID
My other favourite song on the album, Invisible Kid has a very catchy and upbeat riff and the lyrics and title remind me of earlier songs by other rock bands dealing with similar issues, Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’ being the most notable example. Despite this element of unoriginality, this is a song to look forward to that serves to brighten up the album, and has great vocal work from Hetfield.
“He looks so calm floating ‘round and around in himself.”
6. MY WORLD
A little lacking in anything special, this is still a good song that doesn’t overstay its welcome. There are some big changes towards the end which are among the angriest parts of the whole album, and this doesn’t let the album down in any way. James sounds refreshingly different in the chorus.
“Who’s in charge of my head today, dancing devils in angels’ way.”
7. SHOOT ME AGAIN
This would be a contender for my favourite track if it didn’t last far too long, there is a quieter section half-way through that used to deceive me into thinking I was hearing a different track before the repetitive chorus began again. Great guitars and vocal decisions by Hetfield that I find very amusing (the spoken word taunting of “shoot me agin, I ’in’t dead yet”) make this track stand out, but it gets a little annoying. The same is true of a number of the other tracks, although as with most of them this does redeem itself a little through nice changes in tempo and rhythm in the second half. They’re not making epics, but they are making them long.
“All the shots I take, I spit back at you. All the sh*t you fake, comes back to haunt you.”
8. SWEET AMBER
Possibly a song about alcohol, which seems a little absurd given Hetfield’s recent problems, this is often highly regarded but is my least favourite track. I don’t particularly like Hetfield’s decisions with the whiny vocals, despite finding him a great and fitting vocalist who has really excelled himself in most of the tracks, and the riff gets on my nerves a little. But it’s not a bad song, and not one of the over-long ones; the lyrics are a little too vague though.
“Live your life so you won’t see mine, drape your back so you won’t shine.”
9. THE UNNAMED FEELING
One of the most musically complex on the album, this is the slowest song and also the one with the most emotion; as I said earlier there is no equivalent of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ or ‘Fade to Black’ on this album, but this comes the closest in terms of dealing with feelings in a sombre mood. Great lyrics and very good use of heaviness balanced with high guitar notes, this was recently released as the album’s third single and seems to be most peoples’ favourite track. Personally, I don’t think you can beat the all-out chaos of ‘Frantic.’
“Cross my heart hope not to die, swallow evil, ride the sky. I lose myself in a crowded room- you fool, you fool, it’ll be here soon.”
10. PURIFY
Not too impressive, but something about this song makes me love it. James’ backing screams of ‘Purifyyy’ make the song work for me, and it’s one of the better songs out of the shorter tracks. Heavy and with a recognisable and catchy riff, perhaps it’s the inclusion of this lyric that makes me like it so much:
“I ain’t dancing with your skeletons.”
11. ALL WITHIN MY HANDS
An interesting track to end the album on, this takes an enjoyable amount of time to get started, presumably affording the listener some time to recuperate. James very softly sings near the start, before the drums and guitars kick back in and the song begins in earnest. Not great, but not a disappointment either, this was certainly the best track to go out on. The end of the track makes it all worthwhile as well, hearing James Hetfield shouting “kill kill kill kill, kill” to different, improvised tunes; it’s not Shakespeare, but metal rarely is, it’s far better than that boring dead man.
“Love is control, I’ll die if I let go.”
VERDICT
Producer and temporary bass player Bob Rock has explained his love for this album as seeing Metallica return to long, progressive songs, and in some cases this is true, however as stated in the track overviews I feel many songs could have been considerably shortened to keep the listener’s interest and reduce the album to a more manageable size. I actually have great respect and love for St. Anger; in truth I would have hoped for something more akin to the band’s glory days of the mid-80s, but judging by their decisions here it would have been a less enjoyable experience for all concerned and this would show through on the recordings.
St. Anger is not an album that should be listened to in full, although I have done this on several occasions. The similarity in style does become annoying towards the end, and I have found myself resenting the length of the album in these instances. The quality is pretty consistent throughout, and I much prefer taking it in small doses, lest the metallic drums give me an undesired headache, or lest I start resenting Metallica for bringing out eleven songs that are essentially about their previous problems. Now the band are back in the limelight, it will be interesting to see what decisions are taken with their next album; I’m just glad they seem to have left their tired blues era far behind them.
Metallica Discography
St. Anger (2003) – Aggressive and powerful, a heavier and more dedicated Metallica for the new millennium.
S&M (1999) – The band’s only official live album, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony. A very interesting take on a number of the band’s songs.
Garage Inc. (1998) – Largely unimpressive album of covers, recorded between 1984 and 1998.
Reload (1997) – Essentially a second half to Load, it begins with some promising rock songs before descending into uninteresting blues-rock filler.
Load (1996) – Not as bad as some people would have you believe, this is certainly not Metallica at their most impressive, but it is a strong album for fans of more traditional rock.
Metallica (1991) – aka ‘The Black Album,’ Metallica’s first commercial success. Shorter songs retaining the Metallica energy, this is deservedly hailed as a rock classic.
…And Justice For All (1988) – Signalling the end of Metallica’s thrashier albums, this suffers due to the loss of Cliff Burton’s influence on the songwriting. Some of the band’s best fast tracks however.
Master of Puppets (1986) – Most Metallica and metal fans will hail this as their classic album. Eight long tracks with great lyrics and excellent and inventive playing all round.
Ride the Lightning (1984) – The precursor to ‘Puppets,’ this includes many of the band’s finest tracks. The style has improved considerably from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ to include classically-inspired guitar sections.
Kill ‘Em All (1983) – Not to my tastes, this is Metallica’s thrash debut. Very fast and powerful, but suffering form bad production, the songs on here are not as memorable as on later releases.
Advantages: A very enjoyable listen, contributing some great tracks to Metallica's extensive playlist, 'Frantic' is a great fast song, 'The Unnamed Feeling' is a great slow song, The band are back for good
Disadvantages: The bass playing is unimpressive and doesn't take precedence- this will undoubtedly be rectified in future albums, Too heavy or aggressive for some peoples' tastes, Not as good as their older albums, but the band are staying original
Famous Monsters
The Next Generation
*****
Written on 03.04.04
Famous Monsters is a collection of seventeen fast-paced modern punk rock songs, all loosely based on famous monsters from the big screen. As a fan of some contemporary punk rock, as well as heavy metal which has clearly influenced this album's sound, this is one of my favourite albums, but it unfortunately has the Misfits legacy to live up to for the rest of the world's population.
The mid-1990s saw the return of one of the most influential and famous punk rock bands, namely the 'horror-rock' band the Misfits. Original guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, possibly not his real name (everyone knows it's spelt Frankingstein), and bass player Jerry Only, which may indeed be his name, recruited vocalist Michael Graves and drummer Dr. Chud and released their 1997 album "American Psycho" to mixed reactions.
Their sound had changed considerably from the gungy, rock-n-roll style of their famous "Legacy of Brutality," "Earth A.D." and "Static Age" albums from the late seventies and early eighties to a much more modern and clean-sounding punk. As someone raised on this kind of music, I prefer its sound to the 'Evil Elvis' era of the original vocalist Glenn Danzig however the sheer popularity of the band's old line-up ensured that this album was not as successful as expected. Following in a similar style, 1999's "Famous Monsters" features slightly longer and more complex songs influenced by heavy metal bands such as Metallica, and manages to both uplift and engage the listener.
THE TRACKS
The album opens with "Kong at the Gates," an obvious reference to the scene from 1933's King Kong in which the overgrown gorilla barricades a village. A short and slow instrumental, this leads excellently into the album before the first proper song, "The Forbidden Zone." A reference to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes, this second track is one of my very favourites on the album due to its speed, the energy behind the instruments and vocals, and basically just because it sounds great.
The fast-paced structure continues through "Lost in Space" and "Dust to Dust," the latter of which has some fantastic vocals in its sing-a-long chorus. Track five, "Crawling Eye," is the heaviest and most metal-inspired song on the album and as such will appeal to fans of that genre. It also illustrates how much the band have distanced themselves from the original laid-back crooning style that made them so famous, but in my opinion they're all the better for it. The next track, "Witch Hunt," is basic short filler material but still manages to be a good song in its own right.
On to the most recognised track on the album, "Scream!" is a slower but powerful song with the best vocal performance from Graves on the album and was released with a typically 'gory in an enjoyable way' video. "Saturday Night" shows the band's variety and is a very slow number that reflects 50s songs; this is perhaps my least favourite song but is very catchy. "Pumpkin Head" and "Scarecrow Man" are both progressive and heavy songs with some excellent guitar solo work in the latter, before the album returns to simpler catchy hooks with the impossibly catchy "Die Monster Die" and the low-key "Living Hell."
My other favourite track on the album, and one that will appeal to fans of slow punk rock, is "Descending Angel." Haunting vocals and the atmosphere created by the instruments makes this a contender for one of my favourite songs of all time. After the excellent thirteenth track the album takes a turn for the unimpressive with "Them," "Fiend Club" and "Hunting Humans" not leaving much of a lasting impression, however the penultimate track "Helena" is another gem. Starting very slow and quiet with some excellent vocals in true Misfits style ("If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, would you still love me?") the song breaks into a fats and hard rock song that leads into the epilogue, a reprise of the opening track entitled "Kong Unleashed."
STYLE
Fans of the original Misfits' music will not aurtomatically love or hate this new style, which is so far detached that it's almost always described unofficially as 'New Misfits.' The lyrics are sublimely horrific while at the same time being humorous and strangely uplifting, while the musical style seems to be a blend of modern punk bands such as the Offspring and AFI, and 80s metal bands such as Metallica.
This album is truly one to suit all moods, assuming you like the music, and this sheer replay value makes it one of my top albums. The Old Misfits are gone, and these New Misfits have effectively ceased to exist in the last couple of years, but this album lives on as a testament to adapting to suit a different environment, while not having to write sensible lyrics. "Giant spiders prepare... to take over!"
L.D. 50
N[ew Kid]s on t[he Bloc]k
****
Written on 24.06.01
Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne are a new "math metal" band from the USA; described by Mark Lamaar (on the BBC's "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" comedy music quiz) as "freaky metal American gargoyles." He was obviously referring to the band's unique imahge of facial and body art. Singer Kud (Chad Gray) has a thigh-length beard and silver face with black artwork painted on, bassist Ryknow has his face painted brown and has his hair fashioned into devil horns, drummer Spag alternates between black and white makeup or a seldom-used red body makeup, and guitarist Gurrg can usually be found with spikes in his red face. An unusual image indeed, as is their music.
The band are very heavy, and have amazing guitar riffs that remind me of the Quake computer game series (my friend pointed this out to me, and it is very true). The single "Dig" is a favourite among metal fans, although the band are not usually fully appreciated by people who claim to be into bands such as Slipknot and KoRn; it may be because Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne are not as popular, while Slipknot just had success in a bag when they appeared in full mask gear.
Not exactly a radio friendly album, "L.D. 50" is not the band's first release, but is the first to be released commercially (by Epic Records). There's a lot of variation, and with seventeen tracks (many over five minutes long) it's well worth the money. The only problems are a lack of lyrics (these can be obtained from www.mudvayne.com or other internet sources, and the cover is rather freakish; a fat, naked baby in some kind of test chamber.
The album begins with "Monolith", a two-minute introduction with a peculiar sound effect that features somebody taling quietly about evolution, and their actions under hallucinogenics (i.e. the L.D. 50, whatevr that may be).
Monolith leads into the amazing "Dig"- the band's only single to be released thus far. With its extreme heaviness and enviably-fast vocals, "Dig" is the band's most popular song, and it is probably the best on the album. (For anyone who's interested, the chorus goes "Dig, bury me, underneath, everything that I am. Rearranging. Dig, bury me, underneath, everything that I was. Slowly changing...") Great song.
"Internal Primates Forever" is a bit of a slower song, and isn't one of the best on the album. The chorus' vocals sound a little odd, and are sung by both Kud and Gurrg (as are many of the songs on the album).
"-1" features melodic singing before breaking into shouting (another thing about Mu|Dv|Ay|Ne is their lack of synthesised vocals- everything you hear is true, unlike bands such as Slipknot and Cradle of Filth which utilise distortion on the vocals). It's a very cool song that goes slow for when you're feeling like a change of pace.
"Death Blooms" is another fantastic song, and is sung all the way through, with a confusing amount of talking near the end. If the album releases another single, this is the probable choice. It's got a good riff and the vocals are a refreshing change of pace.
"Golden Ratio" is a short intro to "Cradle", track seven, and isn't very interesting, although it does build up with a strange wind-like sound effect that sounds pretty good and is used in the next track.
"Cradle" itself begins slowly (it integrates seamlessly with the previous track), and begins with Kud releasing a powerful vocal burst after roughly 35 seconds. It's another of my favourite songs on the album, and shouting and singing are both used again to great effect.
"Nothing to Gein" is a slow song at the start that soon leads into a loud, fast tune with great drumming. It's not a highlight of the album, but certainly sounds good.
"Mutatis Mutandis" is another intro track that leads into track ten. It does seem a bit pointless, and just fetures a quiet tune.
"Everything and Nothing" integrates very nicely with drumming from the end of track nine, and is a good song, although songs on the latter half of the album just all seem fairly average. It's loud and heavy, and has a very memorable drum beat.
"Severed" begins with a cool guitar riff, and features fast drumming and peculiar stops in the song every so often which (I think anyway) don't sound good. There is singing and shouting at the same time in this song, which does sound very good.
Another pretty short track (at two minutes) is "Recombinant Resurgence." It's another randomly-placed instrumental build-up that does (like all the others) demand a skipping on the CD player.
"Prod" is a long song that takes a while to get started, and it sounds pretty good, even if it is a bit slow. The end section basically consists of Kud shouting "Drain us of life and clean the mess" again and again.
"Pharmaecopia" is a loud shouty song, and begins after about ten seconds of introing, but is a pretty average song on listening. By this point in the album I think the songs have lost their fire, and they begin to get repetetive.
"Under My Skin" is a very good song that has the speed and volume of "Dig", but isn't as good. It's not a clever cover version of the Sinatra song, but is a very cool song, if a bit average and samey.
One of the other most popular songs on the album, "[K]now F[orever]" is also very cool, and has a very good riff that leads into a loud song. There are also sections of quiet, cool-sounding bass soloing, which is always good, and singing.
The end of track sixteen (strange whispery voices) leads into the album's closing track, "Lethal Dosage" (which once again brings up the pill idea). The track is basically an outro which also features a guy talking, which soon becomes completely clouded in strange noises as reality dwindles vaway and the album comes to a spinning halt...
Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium
Five Get Crestfallen in Halifax
***
Written on 14.09.07
Following the limited release of their ‘God is Alone’ E.P. earlier that year, Halifax’s My Dying Bride re-recorded their two rather basic death metal offerings and added an unexpectedly sophisticated and compelling title song that inaugurates their classic sound. The band’s penchant for classical and romantic themes is evident both in their moniker and the elaborate title of this three-track E.P., but it would take a couple of years and a couple more releases for their aspirations to be fully merged with their sound, which here has its foot trapped in the insidious casket of death metal.
Despite being an early release, the line-up of the band would remain remarkably stable for most of the decade, although only vocalist and tortured songwriter Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andy Craighan remain today. Despite its historical significance in developing the band’s sound, there’s little to hide the fact that this is an early E.P. from a band struggling to find its feet. The production quality is noticeably poor and weak (which I often find adds to the grim and funereal atmosphere of recordings such as this, but for others will present a problem), and although the musicians are skilled at playing fast as all death metal performers should be, there’s very little to distinguish their talents from their obvious influences. Aaron’s vocals in particular sound exactly the same as every other British person growling in a death or grind band at the time, and whatever achievements Rick Miah may be performing on the drum kit are lost behind the fuzzy sound quality.
The most notable addition to the music comes in the form of violin passages pervading the first half of the title track, something that would later become a staple of the band’s music until Martin Powell’s departure in 1998. This demonstrates the bold and experimental side of the band that would see them record some wildly divergent albums as the decade continued before settling down on a sound not dissimilar to this one. Catching the band at its genesis, with a mass of potential and ideas floating just out reach, ‘Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium’ is a nice E.P. for the serious collectors, bordering on essential for its unique and impressive titular piece, and little else.
1. Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium
2. God is Alone
3. De Sade Soliloquy
The first song of the E.P. consumes over half its playing time at a staggering eleven and a half minutes, and puts the time to good use with multiple speed, rhythm and style changes, best expressed in the switch to pure death metal around the half-way point. Beginning with a chiming harpsichord and screeching violin whining in the darkness, the primary instruments thunder into life after one minute and the violin is shocked into a greater degree of intensity. The sound is classic and distinctive My Dying Bride from the onset, and it’s regrettable that the song veers increasingly away from this direction as it continues, the slow and memorable main guitar riff eventually giving way to thrash-influenced scratching that can’t possibly achieve the effect it desires on such a limited studio budget. At its slowest, this song evokes sadness and a general feeling of gloom, though Aaron’s largely unintelligible vocals make it difficult to really invest emotionally in the song. After being excluded for several sections in favour of a greater focus on the guitar, the violin is lost completely as a momentary pause signifies a major change.
The second half of the song, coming after the five minute mark, is essentially a traditional death metal song that varies in speed and intensity somewhat, but is still entirely derivative of the American scene of the time. The riffs sound dirty and grimy as they scratch along the ground, the bellowed vocals implore the listener to do something that they know not what, and the papery drums can rarely be heard as anything other than cymbal fuzz. While depressed black metal from Norway is right at home in this low level of production, angry and brutal death metal lacks a significant punch, and without the punch there’s little of interest. Nevertheless, the band perseveres and explodes into an assault of pure death metal fury after seven minutes that surpasses anything else on the recording in terms of sheer intensity, but still makes me yearn for a higher quality version (ultimately provided by the long-overdue live album ‘Voice of the Wretched’ in 2004). Despite slowing back down for the end and rejoining the main riff, there’s little notion of natural progression in this song, something that isn’t aided by its use of pauses to signify a change of direction, but it nevertheless foreshadows the direction the band would take after it had shaken off the restrictions of its death metal origins.
Inevitably, the remaining two songs are fairly disappointing, but viewed purely as novice death metal rather than My Dying Bride that doesn’t sound anything like My Dying Bride should sound, it’s still enjoyable and worth the listener’s time, as the band continue their experiments to some small degree. The re-recorded ‘God is Alone’ is sharper than the earlier version, but this time the slightly longer length is to its disadvantage. Although five minutes is a lot easier to digest than the previous eleven, and the band’s energy commendably remains throughout its duration, the exhausting pace and repetitive riffs serve to bore me as the song approaches an overdue climax. The thrash-influenced guitars are performed well, and in their more creative sections reminiscent of bands such as Testament, but my biggest problem comes with the weak sound allocated to the drums through the production; it’s no fault of Rick Miah, but the brief solo spot unwisely granted to his double bass drumming sounds more like rain pattering on a plastic bag. The relentless song is admirable as a slice of British early nineties death metal, but it’s nothing that hasn’t been heard before.
The final song returns ever so slightly to the direction that fans of the band’s later work will be craving, but remains essentially a slowed down death metal song with little in the way of innovation. It’s refreshing to hear a slower pace for the guitars, drums and growls after the previous song, and there’s a great, short solo towards the end that again reminds me of Testament, but on the whole this sounds like the sort of song that any budding death metal band could come up with, if they couldn’t be bothered to play their instruments too fast. It’s obviously unfair to compare this E.P. with the classic, more refined albums My Dying Bride would produce throughout the decade, but it does sound to some extent like a split release between a budding experimental death metal band and a more mundane one, the former side providing the more worthwhile listen. This E.P., along with other rare material, was later collected into the more widely available ‘Trinity’ compilation where it sits uncomfortably alongside some great material from a few years later, but to listen in isolation isn’t an entirely unrewarding experience. ‘Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium’ is a grand and complex piece with its heart in the right place, and ‘God is Alone’ is the most brutal thing to come out of Yorkshire since Peter Sutcliffe.
Advantages: Excellent title track shows a lot of promise.
Disadvantages: The rest is still rooted in average death metal.
Trinity
The Doom Metal Trilogy
***
Written on 09.08.06
Death-doom evidently comes in threes. This collection of My Dying Bride’s first three EPs, the third time the songs have been released, proves why this band has always been the greatest of England’s ‘great three’ death-doom metal pioneers. Constantly building upon their original sound, the Yorkshiremen have managed to avoid the bizarre temptations that led to their contemporaries Paradise Lost and Anathema retreating to commercially viable and artistically dead atmospheric rock territory.
Released during their creative peak in 1995, ‘Trinity’ collects together three EPs (well, three and a half) from 1991 to ’94 and, despite covering a small but varied portion of My Dying Bride’s career, demonstrates the band’s relentless attempt to improve and progress its sound with almost every release, integrity that has remained to the present day.
My Dying Bride and their contemporaries were influenced by the traditional slow, gloomy and brooding doom metal from the likes of Black Sabbath, Cathedral and Candlemass, as well as the more aggressive and guttural sound of death metal. Although the two styles would be used only as inspiration by the time of the band’s second full-length album (and the latter two third of this collection) in which their unique, romanticised sound begins to be fully realised, their earliest material sounds entirely and unashamedly like the fusion of death and doom that it is.
This album incorporates, in appropriately chronological order, ‘Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium’ (track 1 to 3), ‘The Thrash of Naked Limbs’ (4 to 6), ‘I Am the Bloody Earth’ (7 and 9) and the title song from ‘The Sexuality of Bereavement’ (track 8). The first three EPs were originally limited in production and became rare collector’s items instantaneously, which led to their re-release in the 1994 boxset ‘The Stories.’ Sadly, but quite humorously, this collection proved incredibly popular and sold out also… making it even rarer than the EPs themselves.
A second attempt at preserving the songs, ‘Trinity’ is still being circulated, and is an essential purchase for fans of the band or the genre. Stylistically inconsistent by its very nature, the album may deter newcomers but works brilliantly as a full-length overview of the band’s continuously evolving sound. The EPs all featured exclusive material that wasn’t included on the surrounding album releases, but that also wasn’t any less impressive as a result. The only such album song is the remix of ‘The Crown of Sympathy’ from the 1994 studio album.
1. Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium
2. God is Alone
3. De Sade Soliloquy
4. The Thrash of Naked Limbs
5. Le Cerf Malade
6. Gather Me Up Forever
7. I am the Bloody Earth
8. The Sexuality of Bereavement
9. The Crown of Sympathy (remix)
The opening song ‘Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium’ hints at the direction the band would later take in its slow thudding rhythm and atmospheric bleakness, but its companion pieces ‘God is Alone’ and ‘De Sade Soliloquy’ sound completely dissimilar to the trademark My Dying Bride sound. Absent are the thunderous, plodding drums, crushing guitars and erotic lyrics, replaced by disappointingly ‘straight’ thrashy death metal. Track two is especially disappointing, amounting to nothing more than a Slayer sound-alike, and would fit perfectly into that band’s ‘Reign in Blood’ album which was an obvious influence here. These three tracks are fairly dispensable in the band’s discography, but act as a nice precursor to the rest of the album, which can only get better.
There is subsequently a rather abrupt but pleasant shift at track four, when clean singing replaces death growls and Martin Powell’s violins take a lead role for the first time. Powell, who would later leave the band to play keyboards for Cradle of Filth, is an integral element of My Dying Bride’s classic period, his violins providing the necessary sweeping sense of melancholy and despair that elevates this music above its imitators. It’s also the reason that their modern material is less effective. From ‘The Thrash of Naked Limbs,’ the sound and subject matter are distinctively My Dying Bride, even including a lengthy ambient atmospheric interlude (‘La Cerf Malade’) that works more effectively in the context of this re-released album that it could ever have hoped to on a three-track EP.
‘I Am the Bloody Earth’ is very effective as a conscious combination of the band’s first two album approaches, retaining the atmospheric gothic sound but with a little more of an evil death metal kick, and features guest vocals from Ghost, of GGFH. The main riff is memorable and catchy, which is surprising considering the band’s wearily slow pace, and increased song length starts indicating a more complex and engrossing listen from this point onwards, rather than acting as a deterrent as it may have done in the eleven-minute opening track.
The more reflective ‘The Sexuality of Bereavement’ is the best song here (although the final three are all excellent), and is an especially commendable inclusion as the song was originally released alone in extremely limited edition, but still remains a part of the band’s live set. The album closes with the remix of ‘The Crown of Sympathy,’ a majestic doom cut from the ‘Turn Loose the Swans’ album that is shortened at the end, but extended at the beginning. The album closes on a typically bleak minor chord.
The only very minor quibble that die-hard fans could make of Trinity is that it does not, in fact, include everything from the EPs it collects. There is but one song missing, in the form of ‘Transcending (Into the Exquisite),’ the House remix of riffs from the band’s second album. An unfortunate product of the band’s misguided electronic edge, which would culminate in their weird album ’34.788%... Complete,’ it goes without saying that this abomination is entirely expendable, and deserves to die. Fans are also denied the pleasing original artwork for the EPs, but this is a small price to pay to have the classic songs grouped together in this way.
Trinity is a thoughtful and enjoyable compilation, saving dedicated fans the burden of having to track down EP releases (although I’ll bet there are still many who try). Despite preconceptions that doom makes for a dull and tedious listening experience, Trinity at least has the advantage of improving as it goes along, through each phase of the band’s early years. There’s nothing better to listen to on a black and stormy November night, with the possible exception of Opeth. Forget those face-painted glam artists who make teenage goths go weak at the knees and brain; doom metal under My Dying Bride represents the natural evolution of gothic music after the eighties, and Trinity acts as both its prototype and archetype.
Advantages: An affordable and concise collection of previously rare material.
Disadvantages: The first part of the album is weaker material, and even the better stuff isn't the best stuff.
Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy ****
Katatonia - Dance of December Souls ****
Katatonia - Tonight's Decision ***
Katatonia - Viva Emptiness **
Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance ***
Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus ***
King Crimson - Islands ***
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black **
King Diamond - Conspiracy ****
King Diamond - The Eye ****
King Diamond - The Graveyard ***
King Diamond - House of God ****
King Diamond - Abigail II ****
King Diamond - The Puppet Master *****
Kingston Wall - III Tri-Logy ***
Krux - II ****
Lamented Souls - The Origin of Misery ****
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes ***
Malevolent Creation - The Fine Art of Murder ***
Manowar - The Triumph of Steel **
Marduk - Opus Nocturne ****
Marilyn Manson - Smells Like Children *
Metallica - Ride the Lightning *****
