Alice Cooper - Welcome to my Nightmare (1975)

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, but changed his name to Alice Cooper in the 1970s for legal reasons. His wikipedia page is filled with all sorts of fascinating facts. Here are a few random ones:

• Alice Cooper enjoys golf and plays almost every day, with a handicap of two.
• He hosts a radio show in Vegas, "Nights with Alice Cooper" (we were listening to it, whilst in the 'States and it was like "Wow, celebrities have day jobs too!").
• After recovering from alcoholism, Cooper went on to support other musicians suffering from addiction, including Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.
• His oldest daughter, Calico, appears in his stage show (I've seen it, it's pretty brutal)
• He pays an annual royalty to the original band members for using the name "Alice Cooper" commercially.

I saw Alice Cooper in concert at the epic, 2008 Rock to Wellington. In-a never-to-be-repeated-because-it-cost-more-than-they-made occasion I saw Ozzy, Cooper, Lordi, Poison, Whitesnake and Kiss all take the stage. Cooper was by far the highlight.

Anyhow, now let us go back in time to when I first heard Alice Cooper. It was "Hey Stoopid" and it was on television and I was blown away. From there I tracked down my "friends" with albums, and got my hands on several bootleg versions. This was one of them. Now, I am pleased to say, I legally own my cd copy!

Released in 1975, this was Cooper's first "solo" album. It got mixed reviews, but with its cabaret style structures, dark lyrics and an eclectic cornucopia of compisitions, which will make it all the more fun to dissect. It is a concept album, featuring the nightmares of a young boy called Steven and, I would suspect, his descent into madness. It is theatrical and entertaining.

The cover is indicative of this, with its soft, slate blue background bespectled with pastiline insects, and from a triangular cut-out in the centre rises Alice Cooper himself, resplendent with top hat and suit. It's pretty awesome, and strikes me as being more than a little tongue-in-cheek.

The album opens with "Welcome to my Nightmare"which starts with heavy, almost bluesy guitar chords, dripping with ominous brooding. The vocals are soft, yet eerie in their gentility, growing stronger and increasing in menace. The horns add an almost cabaret-vibe.

Gluggy, rolling rhythms reel us into "Devil's Food" with its echoing vocals. It quickly fades into the awesome Vincent Price and an arachnology lesson extoling the vicious virtues of the Black Widow with deliberate glee.

The creepy, meancing "Black Widow" brings more slow and heavy rhythms in an ode to this, the most venomous of spiders who will rise and dominate the human race. Piano adds to the theatrical style.

More piano, finger-clicking and very much a cabaret sing-along style to "Some Folks".

This leads into the controversial, beautiful and rather melancholic "Only Women Bleed". The gentle, twiddly guitars and Cooper's sorrow-laden vocals add to the atmosphere. This is not a song about menstruation, as was incorrectly assumed by several radio stations (who refused to play it) but rather about domestic violence. An uncomfortable topic, as relvant back in the 70s as it is still today.

We pick up the pace and liveliness for the anthemic "Department of Youth", with shadow of "School's Out" follows.

Then time for everyone's favourite song about necrophilia - "Cold Ethyl" is somewhat macabre yet funny and oh-so-wrong:

"One thing, no lie, Ethyl's frigid as Eskimo Pie..."

Discordant, jerking rhythms as we reach into the madness that is Steven's mind."Years Ago" is haunting and erratic, like the soundtrack to slowly crumbling sanity. Like a broken carnival.

Emotions afflict "Steven" with an overload in the similarly discordant, disconnected and broken track that bears his name.

"The Awakening" is a very creepy piece, short and sinister.

We conclude with "Escape" which seems more like an end-of-the-work-week celebration than anything dark and dire related to the previous tracks.

Overall, I like this cd, it is theatrical and interesting, filled with a variety of songs with varying rhythms - some that send a shiver down my spine and others to which I can sing along. It has menace mixed with playful fun.

I rate it 7/10.

Black Sabbath - Vol 4 (1972)

I'm feeling a little nostalgic now, so it is time to listen through some old favourites, some classic rock, some classic metal, and a few albums that will take me back to my teenage years.

And what better than Black Sabbath? Okay, so this album was released before I was born, remastered and re-released in 1996. You cannot really get any more classic than the Sabbath. One of the most influencial bands of all time, their tuned down guitars, heavy bass-lines, slow and ponderous rhythms, Ozzy's nasal high-sometimes-whine-something-wail of a voice... They inspired so many, and still tour to this day. Formed in 1968, with various line-up changes and several different vocalists, the iconic Black Sabbath is that of Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi. They have sold over 70 million albums, worldwide.

And this is one of them. I am sorry I have not contributed more to their sales pool.

The cover is fairly stylistic of the era - black with white writing, Ozzy in golden-yellow silhouette, arms raised so that his fringed sleeves hang down. Not sure of his fashion sense, but who cares? He's Ozzy, he can wear what the f**k he likes! And it was the 70s, after all.

For some "fun" information about this album, there's lots of info on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath,_Vol_4

The blues-fueled "Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener" opens the album, guitars churning into the distinctive steady and heavy Sabbath beating. Ozzy's melodious rasp is fresh and young.  The tempo is catchy, down-tuned, earthy in nature and there's something very primeaval and visceral about it.

"Long ago I wandered through my mind
In the land of fairy tales and stories
Lost in happiness I had no fears
Innocence and love was all I knew
Was it illusion? "

More sludge-laden, but suprisingly well produced (this being the re-release) opening chords of "Tomorrow's Dream". A song I've heard on the radio many times, but never really knew the name of. The slow, heavy rifts, the wailing vocals... Very Sabbath.

Now this is the track for which I bought this album. It begins with piano and Ozzy's voice plaintive, mourning the loss of not only his love - but the best friend that he ever had. "Changes" - one of the most sublime and beautiful, haunting pieces that I ever have heard. Strings complement the vocals and add an extra level of sorrow and loss. The lyrics are romantic and bittersweet:

"...but soon the world had its evil way, My heart was blinded, love went astray..."

This track makes use of the mellotron - the 70s equivalent of a synthesizer.

Eerie, echoey "FX" is instrumentation lost in a void, jumping from speaker to speaker, forlorn and abandoned. According to wikipedia (see link above), this track is essentially a joke.

Then we chug on in to "Supernaut". Heavy on the instrumentation, and the drummer (Bill Ward) gets full reign, switching out with the guitarists.

Now, the song "Snowblind" says a lot about what the band were going through at this time: rather large amounts of cocaine. This possibly explains why the album, whilst heavy, doesn't have any really complex and complicated guitars and is, for the most part, moderately straightforward. This song has some nice slower vocals crooning through the chorus.

"Cornucopia" sludges on through, with faster pacing to the verses and a smooth chorus. Competent instrumentation.

Bringing in a slower, golden-tinted edge reminiscent of the rise of the sun over still, calm oceanic water; "Laguna Sunrise" is a most pleasing instrumental, strings intersecting with the mix of lead and bass guitar. An orchestra was actually involved in the making of this piece.

"St Vitus Dance" has slow, jerky rhythms, bringing to mind a puppet tugged about on a string (or yes, the disorder). Ozzy's voice rises high and slightly echooey.

And here we witness the birth of doom metal, in "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" with the slow, blues-heavy, almost dirge like, low and deep opening rhythms, which pick up the pace as the vocals jump in.

I've found it quite difficult to do a track-by-track dissection on this album, probably because the Sabbath sound is so instrinsically a core element of metal: the sludgy down-tuning; the high, slightly raw edged vocals; the slow, almost dirge-like drumming. If you're reading this blog, you've probably heard every track of this album.

It's worth a good, solid 7/10

Atrox - Orgasm (2003)

Now we are back to the beginning of the alphabet and it is time to unveil another cd that was gifted me by my brother. This is, quite possibly, the first time I have ever listened, really listened, to this album - which I have owned for quite some time!

Norwegian band Atrox are classified as "Avante-garde". This is defined as "innovative and experiemental" - in other words, a wee bit weird. They formed in 1988, using the name Suffocation, but changed that when they realised there were other bands with the same name.  In the beginning they were death metal, but by this album (their 4th) they had inserted enough other interesting elements to give them the above classification.

Now, how to describe the album? Well, it is a cardboard digipack, with booklet inserted into a pocket. The cover is a darkly surreal piece of art painted by the vocalist herself, Monika Edvardsen. Somewhat Bosch-esque, it depicts numerous deformed and distorted characters assembled in rows and staring at the viewer - some are cute, others downright creepy - a round-headed, three-eyed pyjama clad child clutches a red toy rabbit; teo horse-headed men bear a pole, from which hangs two pairs of legs, connected at the waist; little imps and goblins cavort in surreal and grotesque glory. It is all rather beautiful. On the back of the case are depicted various caricatures of the band - Afrox, Hatrox, Ratrox, Flatrox, Batrox, Fatrox, whilst a little lizard in spectacles points out his favourite. Crazy, crazy stuff! Inside the booklet, the lyrics are printed in a scrawled font only slightly darker than the background, making them downright undecipherable.

We rage into the steam-rolling, heavy dealing that is "Methods of Survival" with its loud, determined bass and husky, knife-edged vocals, which soar into a softer swoop for the chorus.  Their sound has been described as similar to Meshuggah, a band that I am not familar with. About halfway through it shifts from the immense thunderous wall of power into something distinctly progressive in sound, with screeching vocals and a rhythm that reminds me rather of Ritual, but with a distinctly heavier backing.

"Flesh City" starts similarly heavy, with repetitive thrash and female and male vocals twisting and twining around each other. The rhythms jerk and tug, the drum and bass fading so the guitar can take over, then charging back in. Faster, faster. Then suddenly, almost a jazz-vibe as Monika's husky vocals come in. Chugging, charging rhythms, distortion. The illustration accompanying the lyrics to this piece are frankly somewhat disturbing - although I do like the witch-pig-on-a-broomstick (wearing a gas mask).

Twiddly rhythms, over hand-clap drumming and Monika's low vocals usher on a "Heartquake" which contains lyrics about "little death". I'm not really much good at any genre excepting metal, but I suspect this may have some lounge/jazz sound to it. Or potentially cabaret. I can almost imagine her lying on a piano, kicking her feet in the air and tracing shapes in the air with a feather or some other sort of long and slender device.

"How long to experience a heartquake, but oh so afraid it will end with a heartbreak..."

We are whipped and whirled into the maelstrom of "Burning Bridges", the lyrics of which (for some reason) feature first in the booklet. Raw-edged, filled with tension and drama. Slower, gentler moments interplay with the aggressive; tidy guitar rhythms intercepting the raucous. Then into tiddly, organic rhythms of creeping deceit and lurking imps in the shadows, laughing. Theatrical. A swarm of hornets.

Dramatic, slow; "This Vigil" brings with it an air of the uncanny. Chugging rhythms, interspersed with the croon of the synthesizers (or the moog?) which add an otherworldly, demented air to the wailing vocals. Dirge like bass-line, banshee howls.

Sampling and a springy rhythm usher us into "Tentacles". Organic-sounding guitars, dropping into heavier depths and soaring with the spectral voice of the synthesizer. Tangled and demented. Grabbing, twisting turmoil. Disconcerting, disjointed, sampling and a faintly eerie sense.

"Second Hand Traumas" begins with a more mainstream approach, fast, competent guitar fingering and a mighty bass-line. Vocals with a hint of the shrill. Then more into the complicated, switching tempo and chaotica controlled.

Solid, determined, "Pre-Sense" sets Monika's voice rising into a shrill determination above a more classically metal sound. Going into twiddliness, finding a pattern, then abruptly stopping, jerking rhythms, disconcerting. She really does reach some surprising pitches. Towards the end we draw to a conclusion. Or not. Stop... start... stop... pause... start. The eerie and disjointed nature is messing with me, and I'm not sure I can listen to it through to its eventual conclusion.

Like Swedish band Ritual, there is something about the abrupt jerkiness of the rhythms and the switching tempos that makes me feel ever-so-slightly queasy, like it is messing a little with my inner ear equilibrium.

Strange and beautiful, like the art, the playful with a darker edge, demented and quirky. I can see why my brother decided to give me this. It comes to me in tones of sepia, with shadows and darting light and little creatures that lurk in the shadows and reach out to pluck at your senses with spider-like fingers.

Yes, definitely "Avantgarde" is the best definition.

Rating = 7.5/10

White Lion - The Best of (1992)

Before the rather aesthitically appealing Mike Tramp joined Freak of Nature, he was in a glam-rock band called White Lion. Like many rock bands of the 80s their lyrics focused on the good things in life - sex, parties and rock and roll, with the occasional bit of political commentary thrown in. White Lion originated in Copenhagen, Denmark, when Danish-born Mike Tramp teamed up with American-born Vito Bratta. They had reasonable success - mainly with the songs on this album which is, of course, going to showcase the best of their music. Less of the sex, more of love and rock & roll! (And, of course, the social and political commentary). They are noted for their dyed-blond poodle haircuts, pretty boy eye shadow and the delightful fashions of the 80s (leather jackets, fringed jackets, tight jeans, lether pants etc) . Watching the videos is a little like stepping back in time!

It's a best of album, so it's not the most exciting of sleeves - a lion head, inked in exquisite detail, above wings, beneath the band logo, looking rather like an elaborate door knocker. Inside there's not much of anything - just a track listing and a photograph of ephemera, which includes a rather cute white lion plush.
The album opens with "Wait". Taken from their 1987 album "Pride" (which I own on cassette tape), this track peaked at #8 on the charts in the USA. It is a sweet love song, with Tramp's melodious, but raw-edged vocals adding a hint of pleading.

It's so dated, it sparks something in me, that gentle hint of nostalgia - the memory of long car journeys plugged in to my walkman; of lying in the grass during my lunchbreaks, lost in a world of music; of day-dreaming that one day I might find a poodle-haired musician of my own to make my world a brighter place...

Then we rock on in to the cruisy "Radar Love". This is a cover song, originally performed by Dutch band, Golden Earring. It's rockin' good fun with a bitchin'ly competent guitar solo. A great driving song, play it loud in the car!

More relationship angst, it's time to mourn a "Broken Heart" - starts with heartbreaking loss, then moves into a determination to move on and find something new:

"...I know that things will get better, I know the sun will shine again..."

This would be a good song for a teenage girl suffering her first break-up. Was I such a girl? No, in my teenage/High School years I never dated.

Let's have some real glam - "Hungry" is a song about carnal desires. Filled with all the typical glam-rock metaphors such as "loaded gun". It's fun, frivolous and contains such delightful lines as:

"...baby take off your leather and show me all your lace..."

After that nod to the glam-rock conventions, it's time to show their political side, with the melodious "Little Fighter" - a tribute to the Rainbow Warrior - the Greenpeace ship destroyed by the French Intelligence Service whilst at harbour in New Zealand in 1985, with one activist casualty.*  Filled with determination and passion - this is a love song to a ship, but a ship with a purpose and a mission. This is one song that cannot fail to inspire you.

"... rise again little fighter and let the world know the reason why..."

And now we have a rather impressive array of power and guitars merging into a symphonic intro into the glory and might of "Lights and Thunder". Heavier on the drums, sophisticated structures. Cruising vocals, a gentle and immense purr - like a lion would purr**.

This is followed up with the anthemic*** "All you Need is Rock and Roll". A competent, but repetitive number with skillful guitar solo and a twiddly bass line. Surprisingly long considering there's only about 5 lines to the entire song. But what a guitar fade-out! Very dramatic. Ah, we are back to the days of the long-haired guitar heroes. Not that Vito Bratta ever really made the "guitar hero" list.

Probably the track that made White Lion at least marginally famous, "When the Children Cry" is a gentle, bittersweet ballad beginning with gentle plucking and the taste of tears. Tramp's voice is at its most beautifully broken. It was true in the 80s - and it's even truer now:

"... all that we have broken, you must build again..."

This song never fails to choke me up a little inside.

Another lovesong laden with loss and longing - "Love Don't Come Easy" - nice rhythm, easy to sing along with, nothing special but very likeable. As a follow-up to "Children Cry" it's a bit anticlimactic however. Somewhat repetitive and rather along the line of 'state the obvious'.

Drum and baseline usher us into the cruising, maudlin chords of "Cry for Freedom", another politically slanted piece about the futility of war and the loss of life. Heart-renching with a superbly anthemic chorus. Here again, Tramp's choked, raw voice really adds to the mood. A glorious track.

Another live track, "Lady of the Valley" rips on into the rock and roll with a gloriously enthusiastic guitar riffs, before fading down into a slower beginner and then rising again in passion to crash into a mellow chorus. This is a song of mourning and loss. The lyrics give it a slightly fantastical, maybe almost primeval/pagan air, which makes you wonder who the lady of the valley actually is:

"I have brought my fallen brother and I've laid him, yes I've laid him at your feet..."

"Tell Me" is another song of love lost - teenage love that has turned to ashes. A bittersweet ballad of farewell.

And then the final song of farewell - "Farewell to You" which is a pleasingly mellow, catchy song that works well for any occasion - the last song for a party; a goodbye to your reckless, rock and roll years and also a pleasing way to conclude an album. White Lion, you will always have a place in my heart - rock may come and rock may go.

"It was easier to say hello, than to say goodbye..."

This is probably one of the best choices of White Lion albums for those that are not huge fans - the songs are light on the sexual connotations and lyrics have more substance, with a sense of hope and purity that is somewhat lost in the more cynically-fueled Freak of Nature. Here is a band that is young, and feeling optomistic about the future, despite the pain and suffering caused in the presence. Alas, by the time they had evolved and grown into FoN the pure naivety had been lost in favour of a darker slant and realisation that things were not going to get better, that hope would not necessarily lead to triumph.

This is an album that proves that despite the poodle-hair, the eyeliner, the tight pants, White Lion were (are?) a band with sustance, and beliefs that went far beyond sex, drugs and rock n roll.

Some of these songs bring a tear to my eye, others are mere frivolities. I feel an 8/10 is a fair assessment.

Some of my favourite White Lion songs that don't (for some reason) qualify as "Best of" are "Broken Home" and "'Til Death Do Us Part". I suggest you look them up. The first is heart-breaking, the second beautifully romantic.

* I was only 8 at the time and have vague memories of the event but I guess it wasn't of too much interest  to an 8 year old girl into My Little Pony, Sylvanian Families and collecting erasers, stamps and dinosaurs.

 ** if they could, but lions can't purr.

*** that is to say - stadium rock anthemic - the sort that gets everyone jumping up and down and shouting along. Like Kiss' "God gave rock and roll to you" but not as good.

Virgin Black - Requiem mezzo forte (2007)

Formed in 1993, in Adelaide, Australia, I was first introduced to Virgin Black in the late-90s, when I stumbled upon a Christian metal show on a local radio station - a show which played its last track only a few weeks later.  That song was "Mother of Cripples", an early doom/death number - and quite possibly their demo. For a band played on a Christian Metal show, VB do not come across as typical of that genre.

The name, which sounds almost bordering on black metal, is said to represent "the juxtaposition of purity and humanity's darkness"*

In 2006, they undertook a project to release a trinity of albums, all named for their sound using the classical terms. I (thanks to my beloved brother) own two of them. I do not own the third one, the most beautiful and classical sounding of the three ("Pianissimo"), because the band took an "extended break" and have still not released it.

"Mezzo Forte" means "moderately loud". This album features the band performing with the Adelaide Symphonic Orchestra.

The cover features a portrait on parchment, one of those old style sepia artworks. The head is aflame, the vivide orange dancing across in stunning contrast to the shades of brown and tan. It is a booklet, and inside the lyrics read as typical goth-doom - poetic, majestic, dark and sorrow-filled.

"Requiem, Kyrie" begins with low, haunting melodies, deep and visceral, the sort that sends a chill down your spine. Chanting, spectral and eerie. Slowly the other instruments creep in, an orcheastra laden with gloom and tragedy. Rising over them, flitting like a gentle breeze bringing with it maudlin hope, the vocals rise and swoop and soar. Heavy with melancholy, desolation and loss, this truly is a requiem.

Heavier, but slow, dirge like, "In Death" has male vocals - merging the low, deep and haunted with the guttural snarls and grunts, punctuated by the rise and fall of the orchestra, the tension of drums and a spectral female choir. A gloriously dark, haunting and spooky symphony.

Harmonious, dark shadows of twilight stretching out across the fields as "Midnight's Hymn" comes upon us. The piano touch of frost. The churning of a double bass, and from the shadows a spectral voice rises, a strange and msyetious figure, as though created by moonlight. A man joins her, his voice low, echoeing, powerful.

"...And I am suffering...." is slow and laden with grief, loss and a hint of longing. The harmony between orchestral instruments and the soaring operatic vocals is truly a majestic combination, an aural delight. There is nothing more sublime, more beautiful than classical and metal joined in glorious harmony. So laden with emotion, power, drama. To anyone who claims that heavy metal is "just noise" - I would challenge them to listen to this album - it is impossible to do so without being moved:

"...when will my sorrow begin to pale?"

The bittersweet harmony of strings opens "Domine", in which the guitars and drums come crashing down, slow and strong. This is a much heavier number, the vocals slipping from guttural growls to higher, tenor-esque despair. There is an edge of menace.

Heart-aching, heart breaking, we step into the dirge that is "Lacrimosa (I am blind with weeping)". Lacrimosa is a beautiful word, would make a lovely Goth name. The harmonies of voice and string replicate the grief that falls upon one's heart, making it leaden with misery. Choirs rise in an anthem to despair.

Finally, it is time to "Rest Eternal" with a song reminscient of the earlier one - slow, heart-wrenching, lade with bittersweet melancholia. Atmospheric, emotive. Haunting.

Beautiful.

This is an album laden with layers and beauty. Unrepentingly sorrow-filled, but never gloomy or depressing, just a symphony of sadness, a requiem. The combination of orchestra and choral vocals, interspersed with the occasional more traditional heavy metal instruments and death metal vocals all combine to create an anthemic, sublime and magnificantly dark and haunting album.

I shall rate it 9/10.

I wish I could get my mitts on ""Pianissimo"... Why not release it already!

* From the source of all knowlege - wikipedia

To-Mera - Transcendental (2006)

There is a funny story relating to this album, which I have already told in this blog - essentially I purchased it in some time between 2007-2011 and clearly never took it out of the case, because when I went to listen to it, for what was obviously the first time, I found the box empty. Anyhow, you will be happy to know that not only have I now acquired a copy of the entire album, I did so both legally and without it costing me any further money. All it took was Freegal and three weeks.

Freegal, for those of you who have not heard of it, is a Sony-backed musical provider that acts through local libraries allowing the patrons to download up to three tracks a week forever. Through it I have tracked down songs by Dragonforce, Slough Feg, Judas Priest and Helloween. And, of course, To-Mera.

To-Mera hail from the United Kingdom and wikipedia describes them as:

The band plays a technical style of metal characterized by long songs, multiple time changes and jazz interludes.

We have Julie Kiss on vocals, which will, of course, mean that I will likely be drawing comparisons to other female-lead bands of the era. Julie Kiss is of Hungarian origin, and sometimes you can hear the slight hint of an accent to her vocals.

This edition is a slipcase, unfortunately now with a damaged sleeve, thanks to the blasted stickers applied by the music store I purchased it through (now defunct). Inside, a CD case slides out, with the cover being a rather artistic, somewhat gloomy, multi-shaded panel of a lone orange flower in a feathery plain, with pyrmaidic mountains and a denuded tree in the background, all in various shades of orange/red/brown. The same cover is repeated in a booklet format inside the plastic case. On the pages within are the lyrics and the band photo, all printed over more of these moody, forboding, lonesome images. It looks almost post-apocalyptic, like a land lost to the reds and browns of true and overwhelming gloom.

The album opens with "Traces" begins with a haunting, tribal feel - chanting voices, fluttering guitar - then in crashes the bass like a great, slow dirge of ominous loominosity and haunting melancholia. Like the soundtrack to a feeling of loss and abandonment, with a touch of piano.

With fuzzy, indistinctiveness, it is "Blood". Solid bassline, piano and surging, soaring vocals with crystalline clarity. The chorus is rolling and powerful, rolling into the dramatic. The heavy backing music, with its slow, low and heavy qualities is more reminiscent of modern metal, interspersed with the twiddly keyboards of progressive metallic electronica. All interweaves into a powerful force of nature. Once again, we fade out with piano.

Heavy, surging rhythms and whispered vocals herald the immensity of  "Dreadful Angel". The pacing is erratic - at times slow and dreamy, others rapid and rabid. Julie's voice switches effortlessly from desperate cries to determination and then dropping down into sorrowful melancholia. The music, too, switches with the narrative - heavy and aggressive, slow and haunting. Surging in with the drama. Looming with thread and flurrying into a hectic, frantic maelstrom of drums, keyboards and warring guitars before being jaggedly ripped away and thrust into what could possibly be the afore-mentioned jazz interludes. There is even a touch of grindcore.

This dramatic, eclectic, erratic switches to pacing and pitch reminds me somewhat of the Diablo Swing Orchestra. Except that To-Mera aren't quite as awesome.

After that, we start into the looming darkness of "Phantoms". There is a hint of desolation, loss and confusion here, whilst the backing music looms with symphonic shadows and rips us away with jagged rifts. One cannot help but think about nightmares coming to life, and creatures stalking through dark corridors with blades for hands and a taste for blood:

"A thousand dreams march through the night, a thousand dreams destroy my life..."

Another slow, jazz-inclined interlude offers respite from the frantic fury. Julie's voice swoons sweet and laden with innocence. Before it is overwhelmed, steam-rollered by a mighty, spiky wheel of heavy bass, pounding drums and then its back to the jazz, intermingled with a cornucopia of keyboards.

After that furious conclusion, it is time for another gentle respite - but for how long? "Born of Ashes" starts with Julie and a guitar, soft and lilting, with a hint of folk. Beautifully emotional, haunting and golden. Dramatic and symphonic, the spirits rise in operatic, cinematic glory.

A piano flurry leads us into the haunting, ghostly shadows of "Parfum", a song that begins as sweet as its name.Quickly though, the steamroller of power rumbles in and the drums decimate all with their almighty wall of sound, backed by the raging guitars. Then fade out, and the keyboards come a-twiddling in. It ends with another rampaging rift.

Fading beauty, flitting like butterflies drifting in the starlight, "Obscure Oblivion" is as beautiful and evanescent as its name. Piano and vocals dance together in a melody of sunlight before the drama swells. Then falls back into those jazzy rhythms. Very nifty stylisation with a hint of Dream Theater.

We conclude with the longest track on the album, the haunting "Realm of Dreams" which, once again, starts gentle then is engulfed by power.The lyrics are dreamy and beautiful, the vocals spectral, delicate, with a hint of carnival music.

"The night sky descends onto the mind, leaving the capricious dusk behind..."

More erratic pacing: dramatic shifts and long, slow, soft passages. A hint of folk. Then more drama and, finally, static surges in, demolishing all in its path. Either that or I've just blown my speakers.


Erratic, dramatic; rampaging progressive metal - To-Mera certainly score points for their sophistication and their stylisation. Listening to the album in one go proves to be somewhat exhausting, however, with the dramatic tempo shifts. Not exactly easy listening! And not good background music. However, skillful, eclectic and pretty jolly good.

I'll rate this 7.5/10

Sonata Arctica - Silence (2001)

For too long this blog has suffered in silence - and why? Because I discovered QI, the BBC show that is Quite Interesting. Thus the last two months have been spent either watching episodes of that and making art, or writing my stories.

But now I have watched almost all of it, and must savour the last few episodes, and it is back into the music blog.

This time we have the splendiforously titled "Sonata Arctica" from Finland. Formed in 1995 and still active today, this album is their second full length affair.

The cover is quite beautiful, a split shot of day and night, with a similar scene mirrored in each. A dark shadow of a figure, in one bearing a spear, the other a lantern, stands beside a lake, with pine trees about him and grassy foothills becoming snowladen mountains.

We being with the hauntingly, poetical "Silence":

 "It truly makes the most beautiful music, everything it has to give..."

Piano, an archaic, slightly decrepit voice speaking in sightly menacing, slow tones.

Then its time to take off as the disc spins into a fury and blasts into "Weballergy". Triumphant rhythms swell with glory and victory. Tony Kakko's vocals are high and almost obnoxiously cheerful and the drums move along at a trebly tempo. Plenty of keyboards layered upon drums and rhythm guitars soaring like rainbow unicorns with fairy wings.

Light and lilting, ethereal harpischord like a ladybird's wings, before we surge into the glorious, the over hyper-cheerful of "False News Travel Far". There's a nicely fluttery bit in the middle, before the heavier bass reminds me of a bygone era and is swallowed by the dragon of fast guitars and trebly-laden keyboards.

Telephones? Not vey medieaval. Suspicious caller... "you almost got away from me, didn't you...." Now we are in to one of my favoured pieces, the slow "End of the Chapter" in which we aspire to power ballad, with more modern setting, lovelorn messages and aggressive chorus. Alas, Kakko still sounds happy.
Even with lyrics like : "I have never wished you dead ... yet..."
Oooh, almost synth-pop, so many keyboards, I feel like I've been transported back to the 80s.
They should totally cover Ultravox.
He's stalking her too, sneaking into her house at night, stealing her jewellery.
Sounds less happy now, bit dangerous.

Faster, furious - "Black Sheep" is another fast and cheerful piece. I wonder if they're trying to be Stratovarius, but are a little too high on the treble side - like Skylark.
What's with all these bands starting with "S"?
Chorus is wonderfully catchy, followed by a waterfall of keyboards.

Another haunting opening, and then into the faster and more menacing "Land of the Free". Aggressive, frantic.

Then we fade back into something slower and actually romantic. "Last Drop Falls" is a song of love and longing, but mainly realising that the one he loved was rather less than ideal.

Back to the fountaining keyboards. A glorious firework display of sound. This is "Sans Sebastian". Rther lovely keyboard solo, with the guitars charging in to stage a full frontal attack.

"Sing in Silence" is another slower piece, with dewdrop sprinkling like shattered crystals, or maybe delicate keys.

"Fragile as a rose in the snow..."

It has a fragile, delicate beauty.

A snowstorm of crystal rose petals, sharp and deadly is "Revontulet".

More keyboard/piano leads us into yet another power ballad - this one is to "Tallulah". There's a hint of melancholy in Kakko's chipper tones, slower and slightly haunted. Another song of losing love.

Back into the aggressive and full frontal guitar assault (no keyboards, no wait, there they are). "Wolf and Raven" captures the racing wolf as it rampages through the snow, the raven soaring above it.

Slow again for "The Power of One" which starts with rain and music as grey and forlorn as the implied weather. This is the epic track of the album, and starts with some nicely slow and dream-like, longing vocals.

Overall, this album is something of a chore to listen to from beginning to end. It does have a nice blend of the heavier intermingled with the light, but the cheerful vocals start to grate on the eardrums after a while. There is no question that they are skilful musicians, displaying a distinct flare for the dramatic, but I think they need a little more vocal variation.

I rate this 6.5/10

Rhapsody - Dawn of Victory (2000)

This is a truly handsome set, and one of the only Collector's Editions in my collection. I cannot remember how much I pauid for it, but it is only worth around $70 now anyhow, so not exactly hidden treasure. Anyhow - there's no changing the fact that it is jolly fine packaging. Alas, the sleeves for the two discs are flimsy and card, so they live in a separate place from the 65 page hardback book.

The book starts with an introduction from a wizard called Aresius of Elgard. Ancient (but not too much, eh) wizard of the enchanted lands. But before we get into the plot, we are treated to a double page spread of the band, in full Rhapsody glory, mediaeval tunics, a throne and swords. Very, very D&D.

After that, we are into the plot, which follows on from the previous album/s. This is the third chapter in the Enchanted Lands trilogy.

First chapter = hellish evil army, lead by "Black King".
Second chapter = Heroic "Warrior of Ice" finds and wields the magical "Emerald Sword".
Oooh, a map!

I smell cheese - loads and loads of juicy cheese. Let's highlight the tropes in the plot:
- Black King with evil army
- valiant hero
 - Lands of Chaos
- Ivory Gates that can only be found by three keys (of wisdom)
- Magic sword (can only be wielded by one whose heart is true.
 Also, for some reason, lots of characters starting with "A".

Now, onto the third chapter. The valiant warrior has his magic sword and an army and is about to face off against the Dark Lord Black King.
And rape.... why oh why do these things always involve rape?  Followed soon after by death. But in her case her death saved the rest of them. Let's stop reading and let the music speak for itself!

"At the Court of King Chaos only blood can write its own tragedy...." begins "Lux Triumphans", with choirs, symphonic structures and an epic build up into the "Dawn of Victory". Surging guitars, like horses thundering across the plains. Charging the enemy. Triumphant melodies. Vocals mid-tenor, soaring with passionate power. You can see the hero riding forth on his massive steed, sword raised and hair blowing in the wind, like something out of a cheesy romance novel. Heavy on the pompesity.

Lots of keyboards, maybe even a harpischord, builds an indestructible wall of epic sound. I"m going to use the word "epic" as much as possible! Vocals smoother, as the Warrior celebrates "The triumph for my Magic Steel" (I kid you not). He parades across his Enchanted Lands, his army following, the enemies heads speared on their pikes. The next target is in his eyes, and his army ride to further victory (hopefully).

Gentler now, it's time for a little romance, and a homecoming, as we find our way to the "Village of the Dwarves". Keyboards mimic bagpipe rhythms, nifty! Vocals decidedly more folksy, with penny whistle accompaniment. Lovely, lilting reel of a rhythm. A charming blend of folk whimsy and modern instrumentations.

Time for the next battle this time in "Dargar, Shadowland of the Black Mountain". It begins with a thunderous roar of instrumentations and a cry of victory? Defiance? Dargor has been twisted into a disciple if evil. Cascading chorus, like a stampede across the lands; leaping, slashing, fending off the enemy.

Starting soft and slow, "The Bloody Rage of Titans" celebrates the beauty of the Enchanted Lands - where unicorns once roamed.  After a gentle and soothing intro, it surges into a dramatic and bloody war, vocals tinged with loss and a hint of despearation.

Another dramatic and pompous flourish as we rip roar and rage like a "Holy Thunderforce". Chaotic and violent. Vocals harsh-edged, cutting vicious as a sword. This is a battle hymn anthem. Dramatic harpsichord.

"So we'll fight against the wind for the glory of the kings to defeat the evil enemies..."

Creepy children's choir lead us down into the instrumental "Trolls in the Dark". A surging maelstorm of darkness and treacherous shadows, blood running in the night. Pounding rhythms. Choirs. Guitars ripping up a tornado. Dramatic and dangerous.

Harpischords again as, triumphant now, the horse rises into the sky, flying! Not only has it developed wings, but it is also the "Last Winged Unicorn". Oooh, an alicorn. And flying unicorns breathe innocence. Dragons, eat your heart out, this unicorn will breathe innocence at you. Okay, sarcasm aside, it's a powerful song, rising in triumphance and victory with harpsichord intermingling with guitars and choirs rising and falling, the tempo filled with great flourish and an epic cascard of sound and celebration. It is easy to imagine the great and fearsom last winged unicorn rising from the holy sea of golden flames and racing across the skies.
Is it a phoenix? Mythologies all getting entwined and confused!

Time for celebration, as "The Mighty Ride of the Firelord". I assume that this is the Warrior of the Ice riding on his fiery winged unicorn/phoenix. The symphony builds and builds in scale and power, surging with mighty and an epic wall of sound. Flutes flicker across, like dancing dragonflies, harpsichords shimmer and the vocals soar above it all like a wicked edged sword. Choirs rise like flickering flames. Rhapsody are a very easy band to get metaphorical about.
And it just keeps on going.
For nearly 10 minutes.

There is one word to describe Rhapsody. Epic.
And another. Pretentious.
But despite that, they do what they do with extreme skill and ability and they have totally taken the "epic symphonic power metal" genre and made it their own. So what if their lyrics reek of double cheese pizza with extra cheese on top? Isn't that true of every power metal band? Rhapsody are the Manowar of the modern metal scene - bringing a deliberate level of pompesity and a wall of dramatic and powerful sound. All the rest (Skylark, Olympos Mons, Faeryland etc) fall beneath the hooves of their mighty phoenix-alicorn and get burned to ashes in their wake.

It's strange how keyboards, entirely electronic sound, can succesfully capture a mediaeval vibe.

Rating = 9/10

PS: The rest of the book is suitably impressive. In fact, the very next pages give a breakdown of what the band are trying to achieve with the sounds - which would have been good for me to refer to whilst writing this dissection. *sighs* Then there is some interviews with the band members.
Oooh, they use "bombastic" - I forgot to use that adjective!

Also, I think I am getting violins confused with harpischords, there's apparently lots of violins on the first two full tracks, but I can't *quite* seem to hear it.

Bonus enhanced CD has video clips and variations on the songs we've heard, along with pretty graphics and a screensaver.

Queensryche - Empire (1990)

This is Seattle band Queensryche's fourth album, and this is the album that brought them to the mainstream. Mainly because of one song - you probably know it. But we'll get there in a minute. First off - the packaging.

 Here we have the tri-ryche again, this time in pixelated glory, it soars over the word "Empire" designed like a tower. In terms of graphic design, it is very basic and kinda rubbishy. They could have done better. Let's hope the music makes up for it!

The album opens with the melodic progressive chords of "Best I Can". A radio-friendly song with decent rhythm and the occasional triumphant soaring of keyboards. A little anaemic, however, sanitised and sterile.

We blast into "The Thin Line" in which Geoff Tate starts with his lower, (slightly) deeper vocals. Low tenor, perchance? Some nice guitar interludes and a gentle bridge into the rockier chorus.

A distant shadow of "Revolution: Calling" - "Jet City Woman" starts with similar chords, but fades into a somewhat bland, exsanguinated number. Entirely too accessible and rather lacking in passion.

"Della Brown" is another gentle number. The vocals are quite nice, soothing, good rhythm.

Finally, something with a bit of spirit to it. "Another Rainy Night", the second single, starts with a more dramatic flourish. The vocals have a little more emotion, touched with pain and building to a powerful chorus. Bittersweet lyrics:

"...Strange how laughing looks like crying with no sound..."

 Starting with an answerphone message, we have "Empire", one of the strongest and more energetic tracks on the album. Lyrics are political, and more in the "Operation Mindcrime" league. It builds strong, has nicely echoey chorus, and Tate has a bitter knife-edge to his vocals.

"Resistance" is also pleasingly powerful, building to a strong chorus and again installs memories of OMC. Tate sounds rather more passionate when singing politics rather than love.

The glorious lullaby, "Silent Lucidity" remains the 'ryche's most well known - and probably their best - track. Ever. The use of orchaestral elements gives it majesty and power, and Tate's lower tenor is deeply soothing, slightly sexy and laden with emotion. This track, alone, deserves 10/10. The whispered "help me" sends a shiver down my spine.

"Hand on Heart" tries to be a powerful piece, but "Silent" is a hard act to follow. Tate's voice is smooth and flowing, like a creamy hot chocolate. Some passion, still a bit commercial, however.

Another somewhat sterile, but still appealing piece "One and Only".

The mournful "Anybody Listening?" seems a desperate, anguished plea for someone, anyone, to listen, to realise. The music is strong, thick, laden with guilt and social conscience. Tate's voice tempered with dedicaation and desperation. Deliciously low, thick, melancholic. A fine conclusion.

Something of a santised, polished and radio friendly album from Queensryche. It does contain the one song that made their names known - and is pretty much the only Queensryche song I've ever heard on the radio, outside of specialised "metal" shows (when I used to request a different track from them every 2-3 weeks). The album starts weak, builds to its climax, peaking at "Silent Lucidity", although the songs that follow are still more spirited than the opening. The first four almost had me giving this a lousy 5/10, but I now feel more comfortable lifting it to a 7/10.

Paradise Lost - One Second (1997)

Like Lake of Tears, Paradise Lost are a band that have evolved with the ages. They began with "Lost Paradise", "Gothic" and "Shades of God" which were pure Doom/Death, and then slowly introduced more melodic, baritone vocals (sung, instead of grunting and growling) and a decidedly more Depeche Mode/80s Gothic influence. This was even more pronounced on the follow-up to this album "Host".

I thought I might listening to one of those songs - from "Host", and I'll have to say - this album is better! (And who let the 80s encroach on the late 90s?), comparing "Permanent Solution" with the glory that is "Forever Failure" just makes me shudder at what they became. Now, however, they seem to have transformed again, this time into a more aggressive vocal style, with the doom influences returning.

Anyhow, I'm not sure if this is going to rate higher or lower than the astonishing "Draconian Times" ("Icon" I still haven't managed to listen through all of, let alone review/dissect). So, let us see how it goes.

Cover is an old, wrinkled man (?) in close up, showing the fine carvings of age upon his skin. Booklet features black and white photos, all slightly eerie in concept, with the lyrics featuring on coloured pages opposite. Vocalist Nick Holmes has cut off his golden tresses.

 Keyboard harmonies lead us into the gothic title track, "One Second". Holmes' wonderfully deep voice is as powerful as previous, but here is allowed a bit more melody.

It's been a few years since I last heard "Say Just Words" - a track we managed to smuggle onto party playlists on more than a few occasions, yet I find I can still sing every word of it. The instrumentations are pure, echoing, late 90s gothica. It has power - na da good beat to dance to.

"Lydia" gets off to a sombre, there's an electronica feel here - and in the entire album - that makes you feel the poor keyboardists should be credited as actual band members, and not just lower in the acknowledgements. Holmes lifts up an octave (or pitch, or whatever you call it) to a more melancholic edge, before dropping down for the chorus. There's some samples too. I guess they were popular at the time.

Remembering their doom roots, we slip into "Mercy", which quickly shifts into a sort of downtrodden synthpop. The keyboards, synthesizers and sounds are there, but slowed down and heavy on the gloom, reminiscent of the goth sound, but cleaner and better polished.

"it's mercy you're asking for... take my life or give me more..."

 Faster, more energetic and more 80s, "Soul Courageous" gets off to a rocking start. Complete with catchy chorus.

"Another Day" draws us away even further from the metal and into a slow, languid summer day, starting with keyboard-esque piano and slow synthpop rhythms. The opening verse is decidedly pop-rock, dropping down into more aggressive and slightly urgent vocals, albeit not picking up the pace.

Organs and synthesizers add an eerie and ominous vibe, falling into a faster, almost dance-pop rhythm, before it is steamrolled by the heavy instrumentations of "The Sufferer". Dropping again, into ominous, whispered chorus.

"A time when I'm all alone and I'm breathing afraid, cause all my pride is gone..."

 I think there might be a bit of the Nu-metal sound here too, but I kinda missed that genre out (thankfully) so cannot say for sure.

Even slower, gentler, is "This Cold Life". Vocals stand all but alone, cold and isolated, supported only by low beats, with the occasional explosion of sound. An isolated, lonely piece. And more synthpop.

"Blood of Another" is repetitive and somewhat sterile, polished. It's got a decent rhythm, and good pace, but ultimately the lyrics consist of:

"You see the blood, the blood of another, you see the blood as we roll in it together..."

There's a few verses, but ultimately this line is repeated numerous times. Sounds unhygenic.

"Disappear" is another maudlin, doom-orientated piece. The lyrics are along the lines of "forever failure" and would suit better with heavier, more aching musical backing rather than the somewhat tacky synth accompaniment and what could well be a drum machine. Nice low vocals, however.

At last, the guitarists get chosen over the keyboards, as we roll into "Sane", the initial instrumentation fades to vocals and drums and an eerie, echoey keyboards.

Another slower number, "Take Me Down" starts with some very gothic keyboards, rather reminiscent of the Sisters of Mercy. Vocals are ominous, low, like whispers in the darkness. Creating a spidery, shadowy atmosphere, filled with predatory menace. It's a strong way to conclude the album, despite the overload of unecessary samples. Somewhat haunting.

Overall, this isn't a bad album, just a tad sterile and dull. Synthpop has been described as anemic and soulless, and whilst this is not precisely synthpop, it does seem to rather lack in passion. The original songs are strong, but by the time you're halfway through the album, you are starting to wonder why you bothered. Also, given the high emphasis on vocals and keyboards, one rather wonders if the rest of the band are feeling a little left out. It feels a little like they're trying to go mainstream, and not quite suceeding. I do like the first two tracks and the last one, however.

Rating = 6/10

Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth (2001)

Everyone knows Ozzy Osbourne - or thinks they do. He is a musician that truly needs no introduction. This is his 8th solo studio album. The cover features a three faced figure (two of which are skulls), standing before a cross with arms raised. Inside there are numerous photos of Ozzy divided up into 9-square grids, dominating one half of the concertina fold cover, on the back of which are the lyrics. No wait, no lyrics, just a list of song titles and more pictures of Ozzy. I almost wonder if there's supposed to be some sort of interactive or 3d element to the images which seem to show Ozzy morphing into the 3-faced fellow, but it's all a bit deep and meaningful for my humble little brain. It IS an "enhanced" cd, which means there's an interview on it, but no actual music videos or anything really exciting and interesting.

We open with the self-exploration of "Gets Me Through" - slow piano and dancing flute before the bass and drums surge in, and Ozzy's vocals rasp out melodiously*:

"I'm not the sort of person you think I am - I'm not the anti-christ or the iron man..."

Chugging along at a regular pace, Ozzy sounds almost like he's trying to convince the listener that there ain't nothing that special about him and that he wants to be left alone.
Well, I doubt that is the truth, Mr Osbourne.

Keyboards rising, into the crash of the guitars as we chug into "Facing Hell". Again, the vocals seem a little pained, Ozzy's razor edge seems to be getting more pronounced as he's getting older.

Piano-laden melancholy, and we are into "Dreamer", in which Ozzy's vocals seem a little smoother, a little sweeter. One of the more radio-friendly tracks and undeniably beautiful.

Something a little more energetic now - "No Easy Way Out" in which Ozzy is pretty-much shouting the lyrics. The music is a raucous affair, moving into a smoother chorus, thick and slightly sludgy.

 "That I Never Had" is another perfectly acceptable, but not particularly inspiring rock song. The guitar solo is pretty good though - I believe Zakk Wyld had returned for this album.

Another Ballad in "You Know" - a very short piece indeed.

"Junkie" has a bitter edge to it, not surprisingly (also contains the "Explicit content" warned by the cover). The music is churning, angry, flavoured with tension. A personal song, revealing Ozzy's own struggles with drugs and alcohol:

"...A bird with one wing who's trying to fly..."

Another melancholically wrenching piece "Running Out of Time". I guess Ozzy is starting to understand that he isn't getting any younger.

"Just another broken hero..."

"Black Illusion" surges in with dark and sludgy force.

More melancholy in "Alive":

"What keeps me alive is dreams..."

Sounds like we're getting back into the introspection here, Ozzy. Not even sure if this counts as singing for the most part, he's almost just speaking the lines.

Dramatic start to "Can You Hear Them?" Chugging, clapping rhythms, swelling in force. Vocals the typical Ozzy, double-recorded**, giving it that slightly echoey quality.

As Ozzy gets older, his songs have become more mature, more depressing and more personal. This is darker than my previously reviewed "Ozzmosis" (which felt more introspective). The songs seem heavily laden with shadows and darkness, and even the sweeter, ballad numbers have a bittersweet edge to them. His vocals have worn a little, become harsher with age and it all rather lacks the fun energy of Black Sabbath and earlier songs like "Bark at the Moon". Not remarkedly original or different. Kinda dull, really.

Let's go for 6/10.

* an oxymoron of an adjective+adverb? Well, not if you've listened to Ozzy.
** I'm guessing, but my musical knowledge in this manner is limited. So, feel free to deny this claim if you know better ^^

Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000)

I own a lot of Nightwish, and I love their music - the exquisitely fragile beauty of Tarja's voice, the depth of complexity and power in the instrumentations and the epic force of their melodies. These is their third album, and they have yet to employ an official male vocalist - instead with have a list of men providing their voices - ranging from bass to tenor. And choirs, which should make for an epic production. Oooh, and flutes - can't forget the flutes!

To be honest, I've been putting off reviewing Nightwish becuse my brother does it so much better, so more poetically. You can read his blogpost about the band here. He knows technical terms and so forth - me, I resort to adjectives and repetition of the word "ethereal". Let's see if I can do an entire Nightwish album dissection without using that E word again.

Okay, here goes:

The cover depicts a child, kneeling before a lake, a scroll before him. He raises his hands, summoning the swans to take flight. Above, the sunset paints the sky in orange lava, whilst the dark reflections of trees line the horizon. Dreamy, strings of mist cloak the horizon and set a deep and melancholic mood. The entire palatte is shades of orange and brown. Inside, the booklet contains several fold out pages and the band all look suitably angelic.

Dramatic rhythms lead us into the stirring "She is My Sin" which builds in epic scale and might, broken by Tarja's hauntingly sweet, soaring soprano. It glides like a silver-feathered swift. Now the music has subsided down as a backing, complementing her voice but occasionally taking the opportunity to fly between verses.

"The Kinslayer" pays tribute to those slain in the Columbine massacre, in 1999. It starts with a dramatic cascade of keyboards and drums, before surging into the urgent rhythm and Tarja's exquisite voice soaring above like a lost soul or an avenging angel. It intermingles with the deeper bass (or baritone?) lending an ominous edge to what was a truly tragic event.

"For whom the gun tolls, for whom the prey weeps. Bow before a war, call it religion."

Softer, gentler, flutes and gentle keyboards usher us into the folk-orientated "Come Cover Me". Gliding gently, Tarja's voice soars with the gentle rhythms, like floating through clouds on a sunlit day in early spring. There's an earthy, pagan feel.

"Wanderlust" continues with this pagan, traveler vibe. The chorus is gloriously smooth, the keyboards dancing playfully between the voices, like leaves borne on a summer breeze. It all feels wild and free, unihibited by the restraints of the modern world.

"It's not the end, not the kingdom come - it is the journey that matters, the distant wanderer."

Beautiful fade out, as Tarja's exquisite vocals fade into silence.

Haunting, slow and slumbering, "Two for Tragedy" is a lullaby, a lament. Beautifully melancholy and utterly heart-wrenching.

"Wishmaster" starts with a dramatic flourish. Undeniably fantastical, with shades of epic power metal in the lyrics. Stirring, symphonic.

Keyboards and we're into "Bare Grace Misery" another piece driven by the vocals. Honey-tongued, golden and darkly romantic.

With a flourish and a flare, we rage into "Crownless". Fast in pace and with a fairy-tale theme. Keyboardist Tuomas is given full reign here, and the keyboards surge and swell in drama and pace, whilst the drums race the vocals.

"One fragrant rose worth ten times what I am..."

 Now it is time to be enshrouded in the gloaming shadows, as we find ourselves engulfed by "Deep Silent Complete". Black velvet, sirens calling - darkly romantic, infused with bittersweet melancholic grace.

Poetic and dark, "Dead Boy's Poem" is a last cry for help, a swansong. Vocally sublime, the music plays a soft accompaniment. Haunting.

"FantasMic" offers up a change of pace, starting with a waterfall of keyboards, a beautiful kalediscope of symphonic glory. Here the keyboards are given full, dramatic reign and the lyrics return to the fantastical - and also demonstrate Tuomas' love of Disney*. Part 2 is deliciously slow and heavy with loss and longing. Melodious melancholy. As we roll into Part 3, the flute adds its lilting, playful voice (like a dancing bluebird) to the rhythm and Tuomas returns with a flourish. Tarja's voice becomes a force of nature, fast and energetic. This section seems dedicated to the villains, and as such is heavier, more aggressive.

As an unannounced surprise we have "Sleepwalker", a track not listed on my "not to be sold outside of Russia" cd. This has a more modern sound to it, the keyboards taking on a space-edgy sound. It reads on my WMP as "Passion and the Opera", for some reason.

Overall, another beautiful album from a band of great power and majesty. Epic, symphonic, glorious - do I really need to say anything more?

Rating = 10/10

* I may not have noticed this if my brother hadn't pointed it out in his review, which made me read the lyrics in greater depth: the line "A cub of the king betrayed by usurper" is a dead giveaway - that and I see mentions of Black Cauldron, Fantasia...

Ghost BC - Infestissumam (2013)

I realise that I should be moving right along onto N now - but the only band left I have is Nightwish, lots of Nightwish. I love Nightwish, but there's only so many times you can use the word "ethereal" in reviews. And  since I purchased this album, I 've become slightly obsessed with it.

Firstly, I would like to thank my brother - who is possibly the only person reading this blog (if anyone else is, please make yourself known to me). He suggested I might like the band, shared with me their cover of an Abba song and that lead me to watching them endlessly on youtube until I finally decided to buy one of their albums. And oh, it's been playing on and off in my stereo ever since.

Ghost hail from Sweden and they are a band cloaked in secrecy. They formed in 2008, making them younger than most of my albums (let alone the bands) and perform on stage in robes. The vocalist is known as Papa Emeritus II, and he resembles a Satanic pope. The other band members are all merely Nameless Ghouls. This is their second album (I'm getting the first for my birthday) and it is an attractive affair. My brother recommended I acquire the NZ/Aus edition, which I purchased via the newly discovered WowHd whom with their free shipping and prompt delivery will probably now consume a generous portion of my expendible income. Either that or encourage me to participate in more online surveys, since I earn points that can be spent on $10 vouchers. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure mine is that edition as it cost somewhat more than the other versions and does indeed seem to contain artwork that some might percivably consider to be Heretical.

The cover pays homage to the movie Amadeus, with his anti-lordship, Pope Emeritus II, hands upraised above an infant in a manger. Behind him, the sun illuminates all in orange and sepia tones. Lucifer was, after all, the Light Bringer.

The BC was added for legal reasons (there's another band called Ghost) and according to the band, it's silent. It also contains a "Parental Advisory" sticker, although I do not recall anything in the lyrics. Maybe that is a warning against the artwork? Most of the lyrics seem to be either Latin or somewhat Satanic. Apart from the somewhat heretical nature of the art, the colour - oranges and browns, really appeals to me - and I must admit it, I'm not perturbed or offended by sepia images of orgies and of a more ghoulish nature. In fact, the surreal nature of some of them is excellent, and makes me want to stare at them again and again to take in all the details. I think my favourite is the giant cat,  surrounded by three headed dogs, that seem to be choking a rather cadaverous man whilst being whipped by tiny men.

This album is about the antichrist. According to wikipedia, "Opus Eponymous" concluded with the birth of the anti-christ, and this is his rising.

The album opens with the chanted title track "Infestissumam": Imagine a choir of faceless monks, looming out of the darkness, revealed in jagged sepia-tinged light. Powerful and ever so slightly ominous. The music soars with their voices, overwhelming it and sweeping it away on an epic tide.

It links into the powerful opening rifts of "Per Aspera Ad Inferi" (through hardship to Hell) in which Papa Emeritus II's strong and melodious, almost sweet, vocals rise and soar. Heavy rhythms and the occasional snarled growl of a savage beast, the stirring melodies of keyboards, build to a beautiful symphony.

Papa Emeritus II has the sort of voice I would attribute to Lucifer, the Lightbringer, shortly after he fell. Glorious, melodious, but ultimately sinister.

Crazed out carnival rhythms lead us into "Secular Haze", an appealing progressively orientated number with jerky, staccato rhythms intermingling with the soar and melody of Emeritus's voice.

"Jigolo Har Megiddo" has a poppy, lively melody, with a late 70s, (perhaps, or maybe earlier, it makes me think a little of an evil Abba) vibe to it. It's quite heavy on the synth-pop feel with an added hint of menace. It is exceptionally playful and bouncy, sure to be a hit at parties and probably quite acceptable in the retail workplace, if one does not pay too much attention to the lyrics...

"I am the one who preys on weak - I offer everything they seek..."

This band just screams to be played as loudly as possible. I hope my neighbours like Ghost too!
(and if they don't, tough!)

Sinister, dreamy, languid and soothing are all words to describe "Ghulel/Zombie Queen". Nobody can sing such macabre lyrics with such romantic beauty:

"Putrefaction - a scent that cursed be, undercoat of dust..."

Then follow it up with delicate piano and soft guitars. It is nothing short of an oxymoron. There's  the deep throated voice of an organ, then all turns faster, determined, sinister, enraged, surging into a melodious, triumphant chorus. The Zombie Queen has risen! There's even a bit of surf guitar in this track.

The menacing "Year Zero" (uncensored video, viewer discretion advised) is set to engulf you. It starts steady, pounding, with a looming undertone of threat. And, of course, there's the chants of:

 "Hell Satan - Archangelo..."

Modern in sound, melodious in verses, ominous in chorus. The looming menace is like an atom bomb mushrooming and heralding the apocalypse.

Tinkly, discordant, disconcerting, then Emeritus swoops in like a hawk on its prey, pinning the weak beneath his mighty "Body and Blood".  With its keyboards and regular rhythms, it is rather reminiscent of something from a bygone era. Maybe the 70s.

"Idolatrine" has a haunting melody, it begins with a confused whirlwind of sound that sorts itself out into a straight forward, fast paced rhythm. Insanely catchy.

"Suffer little children to come unto me..."

There are elements of Voivod's "Angel Rat" in the "Depth of Satan's Eyes". Slower and steady, with the cruising, soaring vocals and a somewhat mellow feel.

Low and menacing, we are treated to the steady tones of the "Monstrance Clock" (brand new video!). Eerie, ominous; the worshippers gather, marching through the dark with their black candles blazing to pay tribute to the monstrance clock. This is an anthem, a hymn, a celebration. Reflected in the video, in which fans "confess" of their love of Ghost.
(A "monstance" is an object of piety, one cannot help but wonder what a monstrance clock measures - the days til doomsday? Quite possibly, lyrics seem to indicate it.)

"Come together... together as one. Come together, for Lucifer's son."

There's a lengthy pause after this track, before we are treated to the two bonus tracks. The first "La Mantra Mori" is slow and almost dreamlike, with a languid surreality. The lyrics are repetitive, simple:

"We focus on your death
We focus on your death
You share not the blood of ours
Thus we focus on your death" 

 This is the entire lyrical content of the song. It is haunting and also rather ominous.

Final track "I'm a Marionette" is the compulsory* Abba cover. And what a cover! The original is pretty nifty too, being darker than your typical Abba track. Performed by Ghost, it takes on a new level of mechnical ominisity (look, I invented a word!). The poppy beats of Abba are heavier, leaden, jerky and disconcerting. The chorus is sublime and creepy. I'm glad I purchased the Deluxe edition.


Words cannot describe how I feel about Ghost. They are intensely addictive, beautifully contradictory. Their sinister lyrics intermingle with their tongue-in-cheek appearance and gloriously inspiring and stirring combination of modern sounds and more classic (rock) stylisations. They are also instrinsically catchy. I actually stopped listening to this album for a week or two - scared that I was overdoing it and would make myself tired of it, but then I was struck by a deep and demanding desire to listen to it again. And again.

This is definitely my favourite album for 2013, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next (or came up with first, since I'm getting "Opus Eponymous" soon).

In terms of the satanism... I listen to Christian music, I listen to Satanic music. I'm an agnostic-with-a-touch-of-pagan myself** but I prefer bands like Ghost and Mercyful Fate to the entire Norwegian Black Metal scene, because they are musically superior (and melodiously superior). One cannot help but wonder if Ghost are entirely, instrinsically Satanic, however, or just setting their tongue firmly in cheek. As long as they're not burning down beautiful wooden Norwegian churches or brutally murdering members of other bands, they can believe whatever they like.

I'm going to have to rank this another impossible 11/10.
(Since the last time I did this was with Diabloswing Orchaestra, I think we all have to agree that my brother has an excellent idea of what sort of music flies my kite).

* It is requirement for all Swedish bands to cover at least one Abba track during their career. Ok, so I made that up. But metal Abba covers are the best!
** As in, I'll invent my own religious beliefs if I have to. 
 

Memento Mori - Rhymes of Lunacy (1993)

This is one album I was very excited about. As a major Candlemass fan - I had many of their albums on cassette, I had been highly disappointed when Messiah left, and was thus very happy to see him starting a new project. Other members of Memento Mori included Mike Wead of Hexenhaus. Anyhow, needless to say I ordered it as soon as it became available and eagerly awaited its arrival.

As far as albums go, it's not a particularly dramatic cover-  the purple on black print renders it almost invisible and the cover is fairly plain but quite nifty, featuring the MM bat emblem. I used to draw that all over my school books.

*sigh* Ahh, nostalgia.

Inside there is only the lyrics to one song - but that's okay because you can't read them anyway due to the dark font. There's a photo of the band, in which Messiah looks very rotund and everyone else looks like a long-haired clone. The centre double-page spread is taken up with advertisements for other Black Mark albums.

The album opens with the atmospheric chords of instrumental "The Rhyme", the guitar sounding faintly oriental and fairly moody and dramatic.

It merges seamlessly into the achingly slow chords of "Seeds of Hatred". Messiah's voice is still a thing of power and beauty, swelling into a crescendo that could lift volcanic ash into the sky and move the earth. The drums are slow and slightly trebbly.

"Morbid Fear" brings with it a heavily brooding sound and ominous choruses:

"Deep within your soul, wayward child..."

Also some nicely dramatic and intricate guitar-work, intermingling with slamming bass. Strong harmonising.

With strength and power, "The Caravan of Souls" marches on - slowly, ponderously yet a force to be reckoned with. They are the power, the ominous and the intricate. Wead is truly a fine guitarist. Lead by Messiah's Voice, more souls are drawn to join the journey.

With the aching cry of the desert wind, and the beat of hooves (or rather, drums), we approach "Lost Horizons".  The technical aspects and slow rhythms herald the looming and the ominous. Intense and dramatic, powerful. Strong harmonising.

With the subtility of a steamroller, the immensity of "When Nothing Remain" advances like an avalanche. Messiah's voice builds into soaring, roaring from the heavens, punctuated by staccato drumbeats and an ominous wall of sound. The lyrics are filled with the futility of everything we say and do:

"Do you believe our souls survive to live on lucky clouds above?
Or do you fear, when our time is up, something evil awaits below?"

More twiddly guitar strokes and we enter into the instrumental "Forbidden Dreams".

"Little Anne's not an Angel" is something a bit different, it has lyrics suited for a glam song but is, of course, still laden with the ominous and the powerful. The vocals are strong, but threatening, the chorus pretty epic - but then again, so is everything that comes from Messiah's throat. Little Anne's fate is a sad and depressing one. She's not an Angel, and she sin after sin won't get to Heaven. She sells herself and loses her soul and ends up in Hell.

With a long and drawn out beginning: "The Fear of God" involves some pretty intensive guitar and a lot of drum. Then the vocals crack in, and the pacing turns slightly playful - in a slow and looming kinda way.

"The Riddle" starts low, with the rising of the wind and guitars, weaving a spiralling and intricate pattern, like swirling smoke or a dust-cloud looming.

"The Monolith" looms, Messiah's voice like musical thunder whilst the guitar falls like raindrops.

Induitably a powerful album, a force of musical nature. Powerful, but lacking the heartbreaking emotional of Candlemass. Messiah's voice is fine, Wead is a superb guitarist and the compositions are solid and ominous, but it lacks a little in emotion and spirit. Best played LOUD.

Rating = 6.5/10.

Lorien - Secrets of the Elder (2002)

Lorien were a power metal band. They formed in Catalina, Spain in 1996 and split 10 years later. Named after both a character and a forest from JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion. They play their power metal fairly traditionally - complex guitars and song structures, fantasy themed lyrics etc. This was one of my "this looks fairly interesting and is reasonably priced" cds, which I selected in a record store - probably Real Groovy, and gave a spin to before buying.

Lorien have two lead vocalists, David and Jordi Tordera, presumerably they are brothers or otherwise related. Another Tordera plays rhythm guitar. David and Jordi take turns vocalising the tracks, but their voices do not seem dramatically different from one another.

The cover depicts a door, possibly out of a hobbit hole, opening onto a landscape of blue fir trees. It looks cheaply made, and slightly faded with the colours being muted rather. Inside the lyrics are printed in bold black on frosty blue, with wooden borders.

The album opens with "Ballad of the Knight", starting wtih a crack of thunder and teaming rain. Choral vocals - male with female harmonising, softly spectral it soars through several verses before the instruments crash in in their gloriously sophisticated symphony and the vocals take on a stronger, steadily paced, melodious rhythm. Jordi on vocals.

More harmonising builds the epic feel of "Merlin the Wizard", swelling with power and beginning with soft verses - following a very similar structure to the first track. Hey, if it works, re-use it! Jordi on vocals.

Softer, slower with a somewhat lilting rhythm and almost ephemeral vocals, "Don't Be Afraid" is a love song, accompanied by delicate keyboards and guitar. The delicate verses lead into a somewhat more passionate chorus:

"Don't be afraid, all I want is giving you my love. Close your eyes, sing with me this lovely song of love."

Well, the message is clear even if the lyrics lack literary power. David on vocals.

The next track, "The Silent Mermaid" is probably my favourite. It is a duet between male and female (Elena Martinell) and for a "silent mermaid" she is both very vocal and very masculine. It has a good rhythm and a catchy chorus:
"I am the silent mermaid, I'm mute for ever more. Even if I weep I won't be heard..."

Gentle folkish melodies lead us in to "The Voice of Saruman" which grows in power, along with those familar, high "happy" guitar riffs that characterise the power metal sound. Jordi on vocals again. Now that I am listening more carefully to the distinctions, I think he has the stronger vocal capacities, able to concoct a  more volume and power with his voice. Somewhat more operatic. Chorus has everything you need in a power metal chorus - harmonsing, melodies and that catchy, swelling sound that sucks deep within and stirs the soul. I'm guessing this is inspired by Lord of the Rings.

Another power and glory, epic and traditional piece, "The Island of the Dragon" follows similar structures, including female/male harmonising and features similarly banal lyrics:

"The island of the dragon its beauty was magnificent, its people lived in gentle palaces made of silver and gold."

David is back on vocals in "Aurora Borealis" and really, their voices are very similar, although I think his is slightly sharper and higher. Another traditionally Power Metal piece.

Comcluding track "Eternal Life" offers such of the same. The vocals are fine and melodious, the choruses soaring and inspiration, with that bright and ebullient feel characteristic of the genre.

Overall, it's an appealing album, with a generally epic and powerful feel, although it lacks rather in both creativity and direction. Somewhat banal and the lyrics are definitely mozzarella (I actually tried to look up the name of a Spanish cheese, but failed). So, overall a decent album to listen to but nothing new, dramatic, fresh or inspired. Essentially, it's not surprising that they flared and then disappeared.

Rating: 6.5/10

Kari Rueslatten - Other People's Stories (2004)

Released seven years after the other album of hers, this is a lighter weight, more internationally friendly album. For one thing, the lyrics and vocals are in English. Her voice is as sweet and lilting as before, delicate and fragile like a feather on the breeze, but with a power to it too.

The cover booklet is sophisticated and modern, with photographs "enhanced" by white vectored lines that are used to depict motion, perhaps? The paper is sturdy and quite glossy, high quality ink. It almost looks laminated.

The album opens with the gentle "Other People's Stories". The vocals dominate, the gently strumming guitars playing a pleasing background to the lilting vocals and autumnal rhythms.

Another pleasant and gentle piece with some folk-type rhythms, "Sorrow to My Door" is not a particularly cheerful song, although the litling vocals are sweet and pure as bells, even when singing sorrow:

"The house burned down, to the ground, to the ground, ashes and dust."

 "Dog Star" has a slightly bubbly sound to it, like a record. The vocals are playful and oh-so innocent, Kari's accent becoming more apparent. It's a very narrative song, with the lyrics being rather simplistic, befitting the mood.

"Cry" has a slightly technical edge to it, a twirling, whirling accentuation to the vocals - which are again soft and delicate.

"When Lillies Bloom on Winter Days" is like crystalline snowflakes drifting down to gild the frozen flowers. Pure, untainted, with an icy chill lit by sunlight.

Somewhat more modern, almost technical and with the rhythms more typical of one of the dance genres, "Push" is a faster paced and far more commercial in feel.

"Ride" is another combining the vocals with strangely electronically eerie noises and the stronger modern beats.

Even more spectral and vocal, "Fishing" relies entirely on the vocals. Kari's voice dancing up and down the rhythms, high and sweet and pure. Several verse in the instruments start, a whimsical accompaniment.

"Carved in Stone" is another pleasantly gentle piece with slightly more stirring choruses and light electronic accompaniment.

"Life" offers more of the same and "Orlando" offers little more, although it has a pleasingly melancholic feel to it.

 Overall, this is an extremely easy album to listen to - but not a very inspirational one. It makes for pleasing, soothing background music - along the lines of Enya (but less irritating) with its slow pacing and languid, relaxed rhythms. The tracks are short - the longest being just over 4 and a half minutes. Whilst Kari's voice is certainly sweet and aurally pleasing, each track blurs into one and it's a bit dull.

Rating 6/10.

In This Moment - The Dream (2008)

In This Moment started life in 2005, changing their name from Dying Star, along with their musical direction. Fronted by sassy lass, Maria Brink, they have released four albums and developed a fanbase via MySpace, internet marketing and plenty of small gigs. They hail from Los Angeles, California.

"The Dream" is their second album, released in 2008. Mine is a digipack edition and it is rather whimsical in apperance - designed to look like a sepia-toned novel. The cover depicts a raven, a cute fuzzy bunny rabbit and a heart-shaped clock-flower. Inside, things take a somewhat more sinister bend with the spooky fly-rabbit adorning the cd, and some rather creepy photographs flanking the lyric booklet. The lyrics are illustrated with cartoons of Alice in Wonderland characters, each bearing a striking resemblance to the band member pictured beside them.

It is also a cd rom, and appears to contain a video file for "Forever", along with an audio interview with the band.

The album opens with the eerie and dreamy "The Rabbit Hole" before rocking in to "Forever". A bouncy, catchy pop-come-metal piece, this is one track guaranteed to get the audience bopping up and down. Brink's voice is one of those sweet-and-innocent-but-secretly-malicious that I tend to associate with the deviant school girl or gothic lolita. I can almost imagine her prancing around in a tutu and splashing about in the waves. But then again, that might be just because I watched the video.

"All For You" follows similar themes. Steady rock rhythms, keyboards and guitars, boppy and poppy.

We tone things down a bit for "Lost at Sea" where a desperate and haunted edge lends itself to Brink's voice.

"Mechanical Love" brings us back into the steady rock rhythms, boppy choruses, bringing with it a steady dose of relationship angst:

"Oh, and you'll never understand me...."

 A dark and disconcerting piece, "Her Kiss" starts with a spoken whisper, before being overwhelmed by surging guitars, and Brink's soaring vocals cut in, sounding pure and sweet until she falls into the more familiar boppy-poppy rhythms we've grown used to. The song builds into a dramatic climax before fading out once more into..

This is followed by the soft and delicate "Into the Light" with plenty of piano in a shadow of a reflection of Evanescence's "My Immortal". Brink can sound rather sweet when she wants to.

"You Always Believed" sounds like a bitch song - the sort of "you're gone and I'm better off without you" track that was popular of around this era. This feeling is directly contridicted by the lyrics:

"And you held me through it all, and you never let me fall. And you let me fly away and you always believed..."

 As far as love songs go, it's not very convincing!

"The Great Divide" is another heavier number, with Brink squawking like a ferocious speed-metal chick over pounding drums. The chorus is more familiar ITM, although tinged with anger and desperation.

A surging rock number with shouted vocals, "Violet Skies" brings us back into the rockin', kick-arse chick feel.

We conclude with the slow and gentle "The Dream" which seems a fitting way to end the album.

Except it's not the end - for we have two bonus tracks. They're nothing to write home about - one is another version of "Forever" and the second is an instrumental version of "Forever".

Overall, not a bad album but rather reminiscent of the era - Evanescence, Pink, No Doubt and any of those female bitchy-kick-arse-chick singers that I never really paid much attention to, being rather caught in the nostalgias of the past. The songs are a nice variety of soft and fast, boppy and heavy but alas for ITM, Brink's vocals let them down with her typical vocal style getting very tedious after a few tracks. She's good when she sings it slow or lets her voice soar, she should do that more.

I ummed and ahhed between a 6 and a 7, and eventually settled on the good ol' 6.5/10.

Nuclear Blast Allstars - Into the Light (2007)

This is an intriguing concept for a compilation/celebration album. It is not a "best of" collection, as each song has been crafted for this production, however each features a different vocalist - a "Nuclear Blast Allstar". The band includes Victor Smolski on guitars, bass and sometimes keyboards (can you say multi-talented?) and Andre Hilgers on drums for most of the tracks. I guess this means that this album is essentially Rage with guest vocalists and occasionally other guest musicians as well. Smolski wrote most of the music, and Peavey Wagner writes the lyrics for a number of the tracks.

The cover is beautiful - depicting a castle atop a rocky isle, floating in the clouds. All is eerie and digital, with light illuminating the top of the tower. Inside the booklet begins with an introduction from Smolski and then the following double page spread feture the lyrics on the right and the vocalist on the left, along with  a brief passage talking a little about the band, the song and singing the praises of Nuclear Blast Records.

The first track, "Dirty Wings" is vocalised by the lovely Tobias Sammet, of Edguy. The heavy structures are classic Rage, stronger, more bass-ic than Edguy's complex manouverings. Sammet's voice is its typical pure and slightly raw self. The song is not overly stimulating or exciting - just energetic power and strength.

With slamming guitars and raging drums, we roar into "Terrified" with Peavey Wagner (Rage). With some slower moments, and Wagner's strongly accented vocals, more shouting than singing. Aggressive more than frightened, I'd have to say.

"Ruling the World", feating Toni Kakko (Sonata Arctica) is another aggressive and raw number.

Slower, more haunting, starting with piano; steadily becoming heavier, dirge like. We enter "Death is Alive". Mats Levens voice is soaring and echoeey, melodious then raw, accompanied by the haunting vocals of Jen Majura. Levens does backing vocals for Lions Share, which may be why he sounds familiar. He has also performed with Abstrakt Algebra and Therion.  Majura's voice is strong, relatively low and somewhat angelic - in the avenging angel kind of way!

Racing and raging, we rip into "Bloodsucker". The raw, aggressive and ferocious vocals provided by Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer of Destruction. Classic speed/thrash. Fast, heavy bass, brutal vocals and lyrics.

Slower, guitar rolls like dust blowing in the wind; sand swirling and turning across the golden wastes. Then the electronic noises roll in, the bass grows louder, more ominous (with a few twiddly bits and intricate guitaring). We are "Slaves to the Desert" with Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), his voice low and deep and only later gaining the rasping edge we're more used to from him. This is a more intricate, technical song than BG, with a modern feel.

Heavy, but quite melodic, with the occasional pounding rhythm, And Deris (Helloween) gives us the vocals for "A Perfect Day". The bassline is a force of nature, the guitars weaving an intricate web and the music surging, swelling and soaring in line with Deris' vocals:

"It's just another last goodbye, it's just a perfect day..."

Heavy and churning, "Eternally" then falls into slower and more melodic guitar; dreamy, like floating in the clouds. Odleif Strensland (Communic), has a powerful voice - well suited to epic emotion. Sounds rather like Rage's finer moments.

The "Inner Sanctary" brings us another heavy piece with intricate rhythms and the vocals of Marco Hietala (Nightwish) who has a deeper voice with a razor-edge.

We close with the haunting "In the Picture" which features Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) applying her ethereal voice to vocals. More progressive and technical than Nightwish, but more complex than Rage. There are some beautifully serene moments and, of course, Tarja's voice is second to nonw.

In general, this album feels like Rage with guest vocalists. The music has the epic power and added aggression of some of the later Rage albums, combined with complex guitar structuers and rhythms. The varying vocalists add an interesting touch and overall it is a novel idea for a celebratory album: new tracks with different vocalists.

Rating 8/10.

NZ Music Month - The Grand Finale

The month of May is not over yet, but my collection of NZ music has all been listened to, and thus it is time to move back into the alphabet.

To conclude, I shall share a few music videos from YouTube from NZ bands:

3Ds - Hey Seuss (1994)
This Dunedin 3-piece formed in 1988, releasing 4 albums before disbanding in 1997, then reforming briefly some 10 years later. The name comes because all3 of the members had names starting with "D". They later took on a fourth member, also starting with D but did not change their name to the 4Ds.
This song is a homage to Dr Seuss, and is fun and funky. Also highly irritating when it is top of your playlist and thus played everytime you open up your audio library and it's not set to random. 

Greg Johnson Set - Isabelle (1991)
Greg Johnson left NZ in 2002 and now lives in California. I love this song, which is probably their most successful.

The Front Lawn - The Beautiful Things (1993)
I hated this song when they first started playing it on television. I'm not sure why, because now I actually like it: with its discordant rhythms, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and general quirkiness.
This comedic and theatrical duo comprise of Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair.
McGlashan was also responsible for:

The Muttonbirds - Dominion Road (1992)
Dominion Road is in Auckland. Obviously it is worth singing about. More well known songs by this band are "Nature" and "Anchor Me" but I didn't really feel like listening to them again.

Crowded House - Chocolate Cake (1991)
This song always makes me hungry. And takes me back about 20 years. Mmmm, cake. The lyrics area tongue-in-cheek parody of the American's tendency for excess. It was not well received in the US.
The Finn brothers are from New Zealand, however, because the other two members (at this time) were Australians and they formed in Australia, they've been stolen by the Aussies, just like pavlova.

Split Enz  - Message to my Girl (1984)
Before they were in Crowded House, Tim and Neil Finn were in Split Enz. They are probably one of our most successful bands. They are best known for tracks like "Six months in a leaky boat", "I Got You" and "I See Red".

Finn Brothers - Won't Give In (2004)
And Tim and Neil Finn won't give in with the singing - they have endured! This song always makes me feel a bit glum.

There's about 100 more songs I can add here, but I'm bored with playing on youtube at the moment, so I'll add to this list later, perhaps.