See Clare’s latest album reviews from AVANTASIA, GRIEF OF WAR, LION’S SHARE

March 17, 2008

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AVANTASIA
THE SCARECROW
NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS
!!!

I’m a late bloomer where Tobias Sammet is concerned. It took me years to get into Edguy (and I still don’t care for their earlier, more flowery stuff) and I was kind of uncertain when it came to the first two Avantasia albums (Avantasia, if you don’t know, is Sammet’s rock opera of a side project). Anyway, six years after Avantasia: The Metal Opera Part II we have been given The Scarecrow, which as far as I can tell is independent of the original Avantasia storyline (which I couldn’t follow anyway) though of course I could be horribly wrong. At any rate, let’s get to the music, shall we? Sammet’s music has always had its feet planted in metal but has always had pop and bombastic, operatic leanings. Well, all those ingredients here, though at times it feels a little stripped down compared to what I remember of the first two Avantasia installments. There’s a variety of musical dabblings—a Celtic intro here, electronic synth touches there, radio-friendly choruses and some more up-tempo songs though the bulk of it is mid-paced.
Sammet has enlisted a multitude of our favourite metal voices and players for this operation, some of whom appeared in the previous Avantasia CDs. Alice Cooper, Jørn Lande, Kai Hansen, Roy Khan, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Amanda Somerville, Oliver Hartmann and Rudolf Schenker make up the guests (I may have missed a few?) while the dudes providing the music include producer Sascha Paeth (guitar), Eric Singer (drums) and Sammet himself playing bass and carrying the lead vocals.
As usual Sammet’s music has gone over my head somewhat, but even I enjoyed many tracks here and can certainly respect his efforts. If you enjoyed the first two Avantasia projects, go buy this!

—Clare B.

GRIEF OF WAR
A MOUNTING CRISIS…AS THEIR FURY GOT RELEASED
PROSTHETIC RECORDS
!!!.5

Originally released in 2005 through Yggr Drasill Records, 2008 sees the Prosthetic domestic release of Japan’s thrashers Grief of War. Though I’m not a devout thrash fan, I was pretty damn impresssed with this debut CD. A lot of newer thrash bands (these boys formed in 2002) try to play thrash with a contemporary twist, adding in metalcore elements or what-have-you, but I was relieved to hear that Grief of War leaves thrash alone. A Mounting Crisis…admirably echoes 80s Bay Area thrash without sounding like a direct knock-off of any one band; so although Grief of War contribute nothing new to the genre overall, they nevertheless play pure thrash and haven’t watered it down with any cheesy or accessible ingredients. There is a raw, unfiltered sound to the production—although everything is clearly audible, it doesn’t have the polished coldness that many new releases have, and in that sense feels even more like an 80s throwback. The band’s energy is also an appealing facet, along of course, with the music itself. No technical wankery here, just solid, catchy riffs, appropriate breakdowns and an all-round convincing performance, instruments and vocals alike. If you’re sick of nu-thrash or whatever, check these guys out. They’ll make a thrash fan out of me yet!
—Clare B.

LION’S SHARE
EMOTIONAL COMA
AFM / LOCOMOTIVE RECORDS
!!!!
Though Sweden-based Lion’s Share has been around since the late 80s (and despite solid records and extensive touring) they haven’t really played consistently enough to let them be as big as they could perhaps be. After a six-year hiatus, they’re back with their fifth full-length and only retaining central figure Lars “Chriss” Christmansson (guitar). Newly recruited Nils Patrik Johansson (Wuthering Heights, Astral Doors) makes a welcomed addition to the band. If you’ve heard Johansson’s other work, you know what kind of talent you’re in for. Often compared to Ronnie James Dio, he is able to seamlessly glide between gritty and clear vocals and excels at both.
From what I know of their previous releases, Emotional Coma is a far more heavy and aggressive release, plus they’ve done away with the more progressive stuff and have diminished the promimence of keyboards and background vocals. Style-wise, the record is what could loosely be described as ‘melodic metal,’ having gathered elements from power metal, rock, classic heavy metal and thrash. Catchy riffs, leads and solos grace this album with a solid rhythm section courtesy of drummer Richard Evensand (Soilwork, Therion, Chimaira) and bassist/keyboardist Sampo Axelsson (Glenn Hughes). We also get some guest musicians: Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth, Eidolon), Mats Levin (At Vance, Therion, Yngwie Malmsteen) and Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS). Oh, and Lion’s Share does a crazy cover of Angel Witch’s “Sorcerers.” Really, if you’re into hard-hitting melodic at all, you’ll dig this.
—Clare B.

ULTIMATUM
INTO THE PIT
RETROACTIVE RECORDS
!!!!
Formed in 1992, Christian thrashers Ultimatum are back with their fourth full-length album. After hearing Into the Pit, I regret not listening to these guys earlier. The quartet plays unadulterated thrash with a good sense of composition and structure, ripping riffs and solid leads/solos.Guitarist Robert Gutierrez does an excellent job of balancing crunchy thrash riffs and melodic touches. A lot of the stuff has a simple base, which I appreciate—I often get lost in overly technical music, but Ultimatum concentrate on creating catchy, solid music. New drummer Alan Tuma does a great job and throws in a good dose of double kick. Another plus to Into the Pit is that you can actually hear the bass (Rob Whitlock) really clearly, something which many albums lack. My only issue is the singing. I know that Scott Waters is putting in a lot of energy and variety into his delivery, but I just don’t care for it. When he’s doing a more straight-forward thrash delivery it’s alright, and he’s actually got a nice clear voice, but overall there’s something about his tone that rubs me the wrong way. Despite this, Ultimatum have created an enjoyable, hard-hitting album.
—Clare B.

WHITECROSS
NINETEEN EIGHTY SEVEN
GIRDER RECORDS
!!!!
In case you missed this the first time around (that was in 1987, by the way—their self-titled debut), you can catch this re-recorded version, appropriately titled Nineteen Eighty Seven. This rockin’ time warp comes with two bonus tracks…and oddly one of the songs from the original album (“You’re mine”) was excluded on this release. Hm. Anyhoo, this Whitecross record is tons of fun—huge hard rock hooks, catchy riffs, a good sound and solid, groovy performance. Whitecross really is among the top ‘Christian Headbangers.’ Despite the odd throwaway track, Nineteen Eighty Seven is sure to whet your appetite for Christian hard rock/metal lite!
—Clare B.

DELIVERANCE
RIVER DISTURBANCE
RETRO ACTIVE RECORDS
!!.5
Originally released in 1994 through Brainstorm records, Retro Active has re-released this album with new artwork and four bonus tracks (one of which is a twelve-minute audio commentary from singer/guitarist Jimmy P. Brown about the album, which is really quite interesting). I’ve never listened to L.A.-based band before, so I really couldn’t stay how it compares to their earlier/later releases, but from I can gather it differs greatly from their other records up to this point. In 1994, what was happening in the metal world? Domestically it seemed to be disintergrating in the wake of grunge, etc. It appears that Deliverance changed their tune drastically from thrashier metal to a more slowed-down, groovy sound. Yeah, it might be heavy in parts, but there’s nothing all that up-tempo—which can certainly work, but in this case it feels like it’s lagging in some parts. They’ve got this song, “Speed of Light,” which you’d think would be a rip-roating throwback to their speed/thrash root, but…no. To be honest, with the exception of the odd thing here or there (i.e. “Now and then”), between the rapping on “A little Sleep” (featuring 12th Tribe) and techno-ish remix of “Belltown,” I really don’t know what to make of this record. I’m surprised it has been re-released. It does, however, make me want to listen to their other stuff and see what their ‘good’ albums sound like. The above mentioned commentary track from Brown, however, does something in terms of clearing up the strangeness of this album, and besides, is a unique extra which would be really cool for other bands to do.
—Clare B.

THE DESTINY PROGRAM
SUBERSIVE BLUEPRINT: THE 12-POINT PROGRAM TO SELF REVOLUTION
NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS
!.5
Even worse than the music itself is the fact that there are twelve tracks of it. There are few Nuclear Blast bands that I dislike, but this whiney metal/nu-hardcore stuff (or whatever kind of sub-sub-sub-genre is applicable) drives me crazy; there is no way I can be objective about this. The clear vs shouting vs hardcore-esque singing, chuggy breakdowns, uninspired attempts at melody…arrggh, it’s just so standard-sounding despite their attempts at sticking in some real heaviness. I’m no ‘core guru, and maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t understand this band’s appeal. They’ve enlisted an astonishing production posse—prodouced by Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames) and Anders Fridén (In Flames) and mixed/mastered by Tue Madsen (Himsa, The Haunted)—and the result is a great sound, but it’s wasted on the sub-par compositions. Even if Subversive Blueprint was a metalcore album with some kind of power, I wouldn’t mind; although it may be energetic it still falls flat.
—Clare B.

SAATTUE
JÄÄHYVÄSTI
SPIKEFARM RECORDS
!!!!
Seven years after their formation, Finnish melodic death/doom outfit Saattue got signed to Spikefarm and changed what would have been a self-released EP to their debut full-length. On it, Saattue (which translates vaguely as “procession”) present us with a bleak, plodding landscape, richly detailed but highly listenable and with a strong emotional punch. From grim and chuggy to melodic and lilting, Jäähyvästi (“farewell”) shows the band’s great songwriting ability and musical delivery. As the lyrics are entirely in Finnish (which I don’t speak, except to say “I don’t speak Finnish”), I have no comments but hope they are as admirable as the music. There is so much in this album to rave about…so I will simply say that if you’re into melodic metal, dark or doom at all, this is one album you should definitely invest in.
—Clare B.

EKOTREN
LIGHT THE FIRE
BLIND PROPHECY RECORDS
!!.5
Florida-based quintet Ekotren formed in 2000 and, after positive feedback from their two EPs (“The Tables have Turned” [2006] and “Destroying the American Dream” [2007]) signed to Blind Prophecy Records in 2007. Now we have their full-length debut, “Light the Fire,” and it’s…metalcore. I’ve been surprisingly tolerant of this album considering how little patience I have for the genre. Historically I’ve found metalcore to be really obnoxious, and I still do in this case, but less so. There are some cool melodies, tasteful keyboards and cool drum lines. I still found Light the Fire to be slightly nerve wracking, particularly where the vocals are concerned; I think I’d like this record well enough if it weren’t for for the whining clear vocals and metalcore screams. I have no idea if this is a good album by metalcore standards, but hey, if I can listen to it all the way through, it can’t be that bad.
—Clare B.