Power Metal – Page 17 – Wonderbox Metal

Prospekt – The Colourless Sunrise (Review)

Prospekt play Progressive Metal from the UK and this is their début album.

The band are heavier than most of this ilk, and it serves them well. A tight, modern production brings out the shine in them and they play with skill and precision. All of the instruments are punchy and crisp.

I think I detect a bit of a Djent influence in some of the guitar riffs as well. Not overly so, but it’s there nonetheless, adding a certain something extra without becoming overpowering and generic, as Djent so easily can.

The musicianship is exemplary throughout and there are some blinding solos flying around.

These are enjoyable songs that have a glut of ideas and flourishes across the 9 tracks. Most of the songs are on the longer side, as befits a Progressive band, but they never lose their way or become meandering or dull.

The singer has a fluid, melodic voice that can compete with the best that Power Metal has to offer. His vocals slide across the Metallic riffs and keyboard embellishments like liquid light.

This is an album to encapsulate the listener; one you can quite easily sit back, listen to and enjoy the meaty riffs, melodic vocals and crisp atmospheres that the band produce.

Top work, especially for a first album. A bright future dawns.

Noble Beast – Noble Beast (Review)

US Power Metal band Noble Beast are about to unleash this self-titled album on an unsuspecting, unworthy world.

Straight from the off they make a mark with their brand of epic Power Metal, full of sweeping harmonies, electric riffs and boundless feelings of Metal and enthusiasm for epic adventures.

The band remind powerfully of European Power Metal, especially Freedom Call. As such, this is proper Power Metal and certainly not for the average person. It’s refreshing to hear this kind of music done well, and not descend into parody or just plain worthlessness.

With this in mind the singer is slightly unusual in that a lot of the time his voice is deeper than the norm for this kind of music. It may not be as high as one might expect, but this is, of course, no bad thing. He has a great set of pipes and is more than capable of belting out a ripping tune; his vocals are professionally delivered and he puts in an excellent performance. Higher vocals accentuate his deeper ones and overall the effect is gripping and rousing.

The songs are epic, stirring and make you want to stand on mountain tops, sword in hand, defying the Gods. That’s right.

The album features well written songs with good musicianship and a quality recording. The songs are catchy, have plenty of hooks and are smothered in leads and solos.

This is a quality release of pure, unadulterated Power Metal with a heart of molten heroism. If you’re looking for adventure and high thrills you’ve found it.

Along with the recent Burning Shadows, this has firmly reinforced my love of Power Metal.

Interview with Burning Shadows

Gather, Darkness! is the second album from Burning Shadows, and is quite frankly one of the most enjoyable Power Metal albums I’ve heard in a while. Everything, from the album cover to the lyrics, to the sound production to the songs themselves; it all screams top quality at the top of its voice. It’s such a good listen I had to quiz them about it…

How did you form?

Tim Regan, rhythm guitar: Way back in 2000, I met Greg at a Cannibal Corpse show, which is odd because I was never much into Cannibal Corpse. The next day, I saw Greg again at a guitar store. When it turned out we were both guitarists and liked Iced Earth and Dream Theater and so on, it was pretty much a done deal to start a band. After years on working on Burning Shadows on and off with different lineups and playing the local music scene, we eventually found David Spencer (drums), Aaron El-Zeftawy (bass), and Tom Davy (vocals).

What are your influences?

Tom Davy, vocals: We draw a lot from the power, traditional, and thrash scenes. While our music definitely has a unique quality, if you listen close and enjoy any of those genres, our influences are pretty obvious.

What are you listening to at the moment that you want to recommend?

Tom Davy: Right now I’ve got the new Omnium Gatherum in the playlist. A new find for me! Highly recommended!
Tim Regan: Plagues of Babylon by Iced Earth. And the new Primal Fear album.

What was your writing process like for the songs of your album?

Greg Jones, lead guitar: Writing “Gather, Darkness!” started like a lot of my writing does: with one or two riffs I had lying around and hadn’t yet used for anything. But other than that, it was pretty different from previous material I’d written in that the music and lyrics were almost always simultaneously in development. Before, it was more common for me to complete the music first, then add lyrics later. But this time it seemed natural to be constantly working on both, possibly because it was one of the few instances in which I more or less knew what I wanted out of the lyrical content before anything had been completed. Many of the cadences, vocal melodies, rough drafts of the riffs and fragments of the lyrics were worked out in my head often weeks before any of it was ever written down.

Tim Regan: Typically, either of us will come to the band with a song mostly done. Then as we all learn the song, we will tweak things here and there as needed to improve the songs. With “Gather, Darkness!” we changed very little from what Greg originally presented to us.

What can you tell us about the lyrics and the general concept of it?

Greg Jones: A quick summary of the novel “Gather, Darkness!” is based on: the story is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia in the future, where society is thrown back to the dark ages and most knowledge has only been retained by the elite ruling class. The novel itself tells about the main character, named Jarles, rising through the ranks to expose the fraudulent ways of the rulers and throw himself “headlong into the middle of the greatest holy war the world has ever seen.” I can’t exactly verify that claim; that’s just what the description on the back of the book tells me.

Anyhow, the three parts [following the Overture] are primarily distinguished by their lyrical content. The first, “A Thousand Lies,” is essentially the protagonist’s call to arms for the masses to rise up against their leaders. The second, “To Ruin & Divide,” touches on the different mechanisms by which the “holy war” takes place. The third part, “Breaking the Sanctuary,” is mainly a reflection on the struggle as seen by the main character and about what’s to be learned from it.

In my review I praise the vocals in particular, saying that I was pleased that they were not what I was expecting. How much thought went into the vocal style, or was it just something that came naturally?

Tom Davy: Much of the vocal melodies for “Gather, Darkness!” were in place before I joined Burning Shadows in 2009 so vocally the band had a pretty good idea of what the album should sound like. However, the were generous enough to give me a ton of room to experiment and change melodies, lyrics, and even points of harmony. The only criteria being it must sound good. I readily agreed \m/

The process was very simple, try what came naturally, then work with what we liked and throw out that which failed to melt the requisite number of posers. We all reviewed and offered input every step of the way.

Speaking just for me, I came into Burning Shadows loving the sound and potential of “Gather, Darkness!” so the big focus was “does this suit the album? Is this what’s being called for?” With that in mind we marched on.

Are you happy with how the album came out?

Tim Regan: I’m thrilled with how “Gather, Darkness!” came out. Our debut CD “Into the Primordial” was done almost entirely in-house since we had practically no budget. In terms of production, there was definite room for improvement. So when we set out to do “Gather, Darkness!” we upgraded the hardware we use in our studio and completely changed the way we recorded the drums, guitars, and vocals. Then we brought in Kyle Paradis to do the mixing and we were blown away by what he could do with what we gave him. Then when we had Bill Wolf master the album, we could almost see the piles of crushed posers all around us. As the album was developing, it was clear we would need to bring in a great artist to do artwork that can match the album’s grand sound and scope, so we tapped JP Fournier, who has done work for Immortal, Avantasia, and many more. When I first held the final product in my hand, it was almost surreal.

What does the future hold for Burning Shadows?

Tom Davy: Fame, glory, women. Hopefully all at once.

Tim Regan: The two biggest things in the works are another album which we are currently in the midst of recording and an appearance at the Warriors of Metal Fest in June. The latest updates can be found at http://www.burningshadows.com.

Piles of crushed posers indeed.

Shadow Host – Apocalyptic Symphony (Review)

This is the latest album from Russian veteran Thrash Metallers Shadow Host.

The album has a good, chunky sound and everything is clear, crisp, crunchy and very Metal.

This is mainly melodic Thrash with a riff-heavy sensibility, although there is the odd splash of Power Metal in the mix as well. They also have a nice selection of solos scattered across the 10 tracks, which is always a bonus.

Shadow Host concentrate their songwriting powers on hooks and catchiness, meaning that we get songs that stick in the brain and make you want to pound your fist and shout along.

A perfectly enjoyable romp through the Thrash Metal glory days via a modern crunchy sound and production. Shadow Host have written an album they can be proud of. Give them a listen.

Primalfrost – Prosperous Visions (Review)

Primalfrost are from Canada and play Melodic Black Metal with influences from Power Metal.

An extravagant intro heralds in the very textured and multi-layered Metallic sound that the band have. Razor sharp Melodic Black Metal sounds combine with larger-than life orchestration and enough solos to make any Power Metal band blush.

The musicianship in general is flawless, whether it’s the opulent leads, the spiky riffs, the solid drums or the symphonic keyboards.

The vocals for the most part are high pitched rasps straight out of the Black Metal handbook. These are occasionally offset by deeper grunts and heroic cleans that add further flavour to an already tasty meal.

The songs are highly accomplished and there are plenty of ideas at hand to stop things becoming dull. The songs each offer something slightly different, but all built around the central core of the band. We even get an epic 14:00 track that serves as the album’s centrepiece and is an expertly executed slab of Metal.

Prosperous Visions is 55 minutes of prime-time Melodic Black Metal. If you want the epic, fantastical grandeur of Power Metal with the rougher, more aggressive delivery of Black Metal then this is for you. An ambitious album and well worth adding to your collection. May they prosper for many years to come.

Get it here: http://primalfrost1.bandcamp.com/releases

InfiNight – The Vision (Review)

Here we have a gem of a Power Metal release from Germany – InfiNight have released a Rockingly good EP of solid Metal.

Containing 5 tracks and 3 actual songs, (2 interludes), their brand of Power Metal is based not on histrionic vocals or flashy music, but rather it’s all about creating a good song and a catchy hook.

Hideaway is the first song and it’s a corker! A quality Metal song; it’s melodic and catchy with infections riffs. The singer has a voice that’s on top form and he knows when to hold back and when to let loose.

A Loss of Love has more of a restrained opening than the first song, but not to its detriment. Once again it’s incredibly catchy and very well written. The vocals really lift an already good song into almost chart-topping territory.

Final track The Vision sees the band up the tempo and take on almost a Thrash aspect.

Based on this EP InfiNight should be bigger than they are. Much bigger. This EP is an absolute cracker and is 13 minutes well spent for any Metal fan.

Burning Shadows – Gather, Darkness! (Review)

Coming from the US Burning Shadows treat us to 45 minutes of Power Metal.

This is a concept album, (which could probably be gathered from the sub-sectioned song titles alone), and the rather excellent album cover sets the scene perfectly.

The first song Overture – Hymn to Sathanas is all orchestration and builds up to some nice martial pomp that gets the blood pumping and the juices flowing.

After this we’re off into the land of Power Metal for A Thousand Lies – A New Dark Age. The start of this song is nicely written and at this point I remember thinking “so far so good, I just hope it’s not all ruined by a substandard singer”; the idea, of course, that quality music deserves quality vocals, and as I’ve opined about previously the weakest link in Power Metal for me is usually just that – substandard vocals.

When the singer of Burning Shadows does make an entrance I was relieved as it wasn’t the average vocals I was fearing and impressed that he’s also quite different to what I was expecting. He’s more restrained than a lot of Power Metal vocalists, and not as high pitched. Even when really going all out he’s still in control of his voice. It’s refreshing to hear and it makes for a better experience than another band simply fronted by Mr. High-Pitched-Generic-Vocalist-Person.

The music follows the concept and creates a suitable narrative of the story the band wish to tell. The songs combine elements of Power Metal and traditional Heavy Metal and are wonderfully composed. You feel part of the action and it’s easy to get swept away with the passion and excitement the songs elicit.

Everything here is well written, well recorded and well played. Burning Shadows have been an eye opener for me and I’m so happy that there are still bands out there who are doing this kind of music so brilliantly.

One of the best Power Metal albums to darken my door in a long time. Don’t miss this.

Six Degrees Of Separation – The Hike & Other Laments (Review)

This is the fifth album from Czech Metallers Six Degrees Of Separation, and it’s a bit of a conundrum, but a good one at that.

I wouldn’t particularly call this band a Thrash band or a Power Metal band, although they certainly have been termed both. Rather I will just call them a Metal band. Quite a timeless brand of Metal also; it sounds both too modern for Old-School and too classic for New-School.

The band have forged an interesting sound for themselves. It’s not quite Thrash, but not quite Power Metal either; it’s somewhere in the middle, borrowing aspects of both genres.

The album cover is atypical of pretty much all Metal genres, which is a sign that the band don’t necessarily fit into the normal genre pigeon-holes. What I do know however, is that this is very good indeed.

This album has a strong, full production that has a good crunch to it. It’s a sound that is satisfying and more-ish; as soon as it stops playing I could quite happily play it again.

Powerful vocals dominate the proceedings; they are largely clean and rough around the edges, further muddying the separation of harsher Thrash and cleaner Power Metal standards.

Interesting guitar riffs, melodies and leads are included in every song and once again blur the lines between their Thrash and Power Metal influences. The songs are also absurdly catchy.

Six Degrees of Separation may be non-standard, but in my book that’s a very good thing. This is a great release that I can’t recommend enough, and contains some storming Metal songs.

For fans of quality Metal.

Return To Innocence – The Ring of Moon (Review)

Return To Innocence are a Czech band that play a mix of Death, Heavy/Power and Symphonic Black Metal.

After a classical intro the band burst out of the speakers with blastbeats, aggression and epic keyboard backing. The orchestral accompaniment to the songs is cinematic and heavy, but not overbearing. They symphonic effects are wielded as an extra instrument and made full use of; rather than being mere additions to the songs they are an integral part.

The singer growls and rips his way through the songs, sparing time for the occasional high-pitched shriek. That’s when he’s not putting in a characterful performance with his semi-clean vocals which lend an air of European Metal to some of the songs; Tristan’s Dream is a perfect example of this. We are also treated to operatic vocals such as the ones on Blood Related and female vocals make an appearance too. A good variety of content is important, and the vocal contributions to the album certainly deliver this.

The music is based on a solid foundation of Death Metal, supercharged with Symphonic Black Metal and then infused with a good Heavy/Power Metal influence on some of the riffs and arrangements. The songs keep things interesting and the attention doesn’t wane for the 40 minutes that the album runs.

A solid release from a long serving band who have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and the talent and skill to realise it. I suggest you give this a go as it’s well worth the listen.

Solitary Crusade – Future (Review)

Solitary Crusade are from Italy and play Metal that combines a few different genres into a satisfying whole.

This is somewhere between modern Cyber-Metal in the style of Devolved and Fear Factory, and Techno-Black Metal such as Neurotech and Deathstars. There is also a pleasing European Power Metal feel to some of the parts, both guitar and vocals.

A decent-length EP at 24 minutes, the band showcase what they can do in 4 songs, (plus a perfunctory intro).

This is quite catchy and ably executed; there are some well written riffs and melodies, and the keyboards/effects are used well.

I particularly enjoyed Imaginary World, as this song in particular makes a good job of mashing up the disparate influences of Cyber- , Techno- and Power Metal into a coherent whole.

Check them out and see what you think.