Founded in 1984 in Germany’s Ruhr region by vocalist/bassist Peter "Peavy" Wagner, Rage were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene to emerge in the early 1980s, along with bands such as Running Wild, Blind Guardian and Grave Digger. While their sound is very identifiable, Peavy has experimented with different elements so that the band has emphasized different aspects of thrash, power, speed and symphonic metal throughout their career. The band has released an impressive number of 23 albums during their almost 37-year career. For most of those years Rage has been a power trio, with numerous changes of drummers and guitarists. I've been following the band since the mid-90's and my favorite phase is the more polished power metal era represented best by my favorite album End of All Days.
Now Wings Of Rage is their 24th studio album and third with guitarist Marcos Rodriguez and drummer Vassilios "Lucky" Maniatopoulos following The Devil Strikes Again (2016) and Seasons of the Black (2017). The new adventure features 12 songs in 55 minutes, just one interlude with samples, for the rest 11 proper metal songs. With that said, the songs are quite diverse as the band was looking to explore the different musical elements present in Rage's "colorful" discography. Hence an interesting choice of album title Wings of Rage which is also track number 5. This song brings us back all the way to their roots in speed metal sounding like something out of Perfect man. It's a good track that will work well live.
But that's just one piece of the puzzle. As we can clearly separate the songs in big buckets representing different pieces of the band's sound. Some tracks are very riff driven displaying the thrashier side of the band, those are mainly the initial tracks such as "True" (what an amazing guitar work here, the perfect opening track), and the video singles "Let Them Rest in Peace" and "Chasing the Twilight Zone". It's a great way to start the album, the first impression is strong and positive. The influence of the axeman Rodriguez is quite clear, aggressive riffs and melodic solos in which he takes the time to choose the right notes and stay with them (e.g. "Tomorrow" and "Shine a Light"). It may be the reason they re-recorded one of their biggest hits "Higher than the Sky" now titled "HTTS 2.0". It's the same song and lyrics but more aggressive and faster. It's an interesting choice to add to a studio album. But as third to last song it works well. Overall the drumming is also quite impressive but especially with the closer "For Those Who Wish to Die" drummer Vassilios shows us all that he's got!
"Tomorrow" and "Blame It on the Truth" are still fast tempo but display a bit more of a hard rock / power metal vibe. I love the drum fills before the guitar solo on the former. "A Nameless Grave" brings the symphonic elements from albums such as Lingua Mortis and XIII. The symphonic touch is less pronounced but also present in the two songs that follow: "Don't Let Me Down" which is one of the most anthemic songs, very melodic and with a big chorus. It only bugs me that the opening riff sounds so much like The Simpsons theme song!* And "Shine a Light", the slow tempo and more epic affair clocking at almost seven minutes. Finally, the production is quite modern and polished. And to top it off, the album features a fantastic cover art!
Given what they were going for with an album spanning the band's history, I'd have liked to see the title track being a longer progressive song with all those elements within it. Also by the very nature of the album, there's nothing really new or that we haven't heard before. With those minor points out of the way, I must say that this is the best Rage album in a long time. The musicianship from the "new guys" in combination with Peavy's song writing is bringing Rage to a new level. It's a good album for new and old fans as it gives a good picture of what this iconic band is capable of. My hope now is that they take this potential to new and innovative territories in the next album which could become something really special!
SCORE: 82/100
Genre: Power Metal
Released by SPV/Steamhammer on January 10th, 2020
* correction: I understood from one interview that it may be a reference as an Easter egg :)
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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad
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