Album Review: PRIMAL FEAR Metal Commando (7/24)

Primal Fear is a German power metal institution formed in 1997 by Ralf Scheepers (vocals, ex-Gamma Ray) and Mat Sinner (bass and vocals, Sinner). Their debut album Primal Fear was released in 1998 and given the already well known skills of Scheepers and Sinner, the album was an instant success not only in Germany but also in other parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Primal Fear makes no no-sense power / traditional metal heavily influence by Judas Priest (specially the first albums). They have been a very consistent band not only in terms of being truthful to their sound but also in releasing good albums. In fact, you can count on a new album every other year and while none have beaten the first two records, the other 10 albums are all decent power metal bonanzas.

Now Metal Commando is the thirteenth studio album and, with Primal Fear, you again know what you are getting. Pure unapologetic borderline cheesy power metal. As a long time fan of the band, it's always a difficult album to review. While I really like the band and their discography, Metal Commando is more of the same. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it does get repetitive. You could play a game trying to match each song out of these 11 new tracks to a past Primal Fear song. The good news is that the songwriting (at least musically, I will talk about the lyrics later) is still top notch and most songs are heavy, full of hooks, big choruses, and three guitars hammering headbanging riffs. But the album is quite long, 11 songs in one hout of music, including the epic 13-min "Infinity" as closer. 

The first two songs and singles are pure Primal Fear aggressiveness and speed: "I Am Alive" and "Along Came the Devil". "Halo" is a very melodic tune and reminded me of Ralf in Gamma Ray times. Another video single "Hear Me Calling" is a typical mid-tempo catchy tune. Overall the first half of the album goes very well. It also includes the fast and mean "Lost and Forgotten" and the vicious "My name is Fear". But then the ballad "I Will Be Gone" breaks the streak of heavy metal anthems and, despite a bright spot with "Afterlife", the album never fully recovers. The final act "Infinity" with 13+ minutes is their longest song yet, but unnecessarily long and not their best epic.  

Then the lyrics. Usually they are not a big swing item in my reviews, but sometimes lyrics are so good that they make a positive difference and in other so bad that bother me. Unfortunately with Metal Commando is the latter. At moments, Primal Fear are just cheesy and kind of fun 'There ain’t nobody ever bringin' us down / We will rock forever more'  but at others it is just too bad. A song about a writing a love ballad for example: 'Got a new tune from the boys to work on / On my headphone - finding melodies and words / While I'm thinking about you'.

The line-up with the exception of the drummer has been quite stable and features 3 guitarists.

Interestingly while Magnus Karlsson is a main song writer and records guitars on the studio, he is typically not on live performances and sometimes not in promo pics and videos. He is a very productive song writer and the 3-guitar chemistry with Alex Beyrodt and Tom Naumann is there. And what to say about Ralf Scheepers? He is certainly one of the best singers in this style and he is not loosing steam, quite the opposite Ralf showcases a peak performance with very aggressive vocals. Finally, the production is well done and clear, typical modern power metal production. As Matt Sinner is also the producer, his powerful galloping bass is not forgotten.

While the first half of the album is more of the same, it's very good in delivering what Primal Fear is all about: unapologetic power metal. The second half gets repetitive and less inspired, but as a final verdict, it's still a good album. If you are a fan, you know what's in here and you will like. For new fans that do love Judas Priest, Gamma Ray and Accept, you can't go wrong with Primal Fear, but then check out their first 3 albums as well.

SCORE: 77/100
Genre: Power Metal
Released by Nuclear Blast on July 24th, 2020

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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
wordcount = 728

Album Review: U.D.O. We Are One (7/17)

Following Udo Dirkschneider's departure from the legendary Accept in 1987, he formed his own band called U.D.O.. On November 3, 1987 U.D.O. released their first album Animal House. They release other 3 albums before going into a hiatus and reuniting for the album Solid in 1997. Since then U.D.O. has been very productive, albeit too many lineup changes to count, and released 11 albums in 20 years. Regardless of changes, the band has never deviated from Dirkschneider’s vision of serving up traditional balls-to-the-wall, no-nonsense heavy metal. I personally have always seen U.D.O. as a "best of" band. I don't find any particular album to be a one cohesive and excellent collection of songs. But most of their albums do feature some very good metal tracks and their setlists live are always very nice. With that said, I'd probably highlight the debut Animal House and 1999's Holy.

In 2020 U.D.O. brings a special seventeenth album We Are One which is a joint effort of U.D.O. and Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr ( music corps of the German Armed Forces). It also features a reunion between Udo Dirkschneider, and Accept alumni Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes. The three of them were together during the golden years of Accept (79-87). We Are One contains 15 new songs that have been developed and arranged by U.D.O. together with Christoph Scheibling. The two former Accept musicians have been part of the songwriting too – as well as the German Armed Forces’ composers Guido Rennert and Alexander Reuber. The album is a dream that Dirkschneider has had for a long time. Since the show with Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr in Wacken (2015) as well as the "Navy Metal Night" in Tuttlingen (2014), he fervently wanted to continue and grow the collaboration. Now please note that this is a different concept than the recent Blind Guardian orchestral album, Legacy of the Dark Lands. The 2019 album was fully orchestrated without any guitars. Dirkschneider opted for proper metal/rock songs with a full band and the a 60 piece orchestra and choir arrangements are combined with the band throughout the album. The production and mix are well done as the band can be heard and it’s not too bombastic.

The first four songs on the album, despite some cheesy moments, are pretty much U.D.O. as we love it plus the orchestra. In the middle of the album there's a buried jewel "Rebel Town" and "We Strike Back" brings back the heavy metal and also the instrumental songs are quite nice and are basically film scores. Despite the good songs and my appreciation for such a nice risk taking grandiose project, I have several issues with the album. For example, during the the title track I keep waiting for Stevie Wonder to come in and sing 'We Are the World, We are the Children'. Then, despite the cool saxophone intro on "Neon Diamond" and the guitar solo, the song is too much AOR for me, same for "Mother Earth". "Blindfold (The Last Defender)" could be part of the Titanic soundtrack. "Here We Go Again" is like a ska punk song? Not sure what's going on there but not my cup of tea.

"We all live on this planet. No matter who we are or what we do, we all just have this one planet," Udo Dirkschneider explains about the message behind the songs. Therefore, the songs on We Are One are about the different challenges we are currently facing, climate change and the worldwide refugee movements for example. But in the end it all sounds corny, it's borderline a Christian rock album.

There are nine very good songs on We Are One that would stack up against any U.D.O. album with the extra spice of the orchestra. Those songs amount to 45 minutes which would've made it a very strong album. But as a whole going through 75 min with AOR and pop moments with corny lyrics becomes a bit too much for me. I do appreciate the ambition of the project and there's value in it, so pick your favorite songs and enrich your U.D.O. playlist. 

SCORE: 77/100
Genre: Heavy Metal
Released by AFM Records GmbH on July 17th, 2020

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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
wordcount = 685

Album Review: ENSIFERUM Thalassic (7/10)

Ensiferum (Latin meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The band was founded in 1995 by Markus Toivonen (guitar), but the self -titled debut full-length only came out in 2001. From the beginning the band has been doing a very proficient mix of Folk metal, melodic death metal and power metal. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal." I only came in contact with the band with the release of 2015's One Man Army which I considered a good album, the follow-up 2017's Two Paths not so much. So I am curious to see if they will bring me back with their eighth studio album Thalassic. The line-up has been stable since 2007's Victory Songs. The only exception for Thalassic being the addition of the keyboard player/lead clean vocalist Pekka Montin.

"Seafarer's Dream" is a 3-min intro featuring a beautiful acoustic guitar and melody over some water sound samples. It alludes to the album's whole theme: "of or relating to seas" which in the title translating from ancient Greek. The intro quickly gets very symphonic as in a film score which is a nice touch. Other than the intro, the album features 8 songs in 41 minutes. This is a big plus for the album as it uses the efficient 80's format and most songs are short and engaging.

Musically, Pekka Montin brought a whole new dynamic to the band. If previously the power metal influence was rather on the background, Thalassic is folk power metal. It's still Ensiferum but it sounds a lot like their country mates Amorphis (e.g. "For Sirens") or Children of Bodom but also Stratovarius. This dynamic is clear from the first song "Rum, Women, Victory". The second verse is pure power metal. They are even using vocal harmonies and falsettos that would be suitable for Timo Kotipelto (e.g. "Run from the crushing tide"). Twin guitars licks and riffs are all over the album, usually using the high end of the fretboard. Those are sometimes being played continuously including during verses and choruses. But in some songs which are more keyboard oriented, Petri Lindroos and Markus Toivonen use chugging guitars and the licks are left for the keys. All of those different tools give the album a great dynamic. There are two songs that go a bit longer but thankfully without overstaying their welcome. "One with the Sea" is a power metal epic and anthemic semi-ballad that sounds really big and great. It's one of my favorites of the album. But there's also the epic 9-min closer, "Cold Northland (Väinämöinen, Pt. 3)"  featuring over 2 minutes of instrumental intro and serves as a call back to their debut album.

Thalassic was recorded and produced by Janne Joutsenniemi, who was involved on their albums Victory Songs (2007) and From Afar (2009) which are usually considered their best ones. Production is typical power metal, super modern with a pristine sound. The mix is good and you can hear everything on it. Mikko P. Mustonen once again presided over the orchestrations, and violin virtuoso Lassi Logren recorded folk instruments on a few tracks. The good thing is that the album is a bit more stripped down and not too symphonic. Certainly not bombastic. However, the orchestrations are used smartly and make an impact. For example, "The Defence of the Sampo" has some cool arrangements highly influenced by classical composers. It's very anthemic but while promising it never really gets to a fulfilling climax. Folk instruments also used effectively and not overdone (e.g. "Midsummer Magic"). Finally, I must say I love all of their album covers and artwork. It's not different with Thalassic. It features it all: warriors, eagles and the sea. All very well drawn and with vibrant colors.

This is an exciting new direction and a step-up in quality versus the Ensiferum's previous album. Their ideas were good and the album well thought and executed, but it still feels a bit disjointed. It is not a big surprise for a transitional album. It's hard to know if the power metal focus will bring new fans without alienating old schoolers. As a power metal fan, it is a welcomed change, and I am excited to see how they will take this new direction in the next album. For now Thalassic is a good album, but almost like an appetizer for what's hopefully to come.

SCORE: 81/100
Genre: Folk Metal
Released by Metal Blade Records on July 10th, 2020

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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
wordcount = 733

Album Review: BURY TOMORROW Cannibal (7/3)

Bury Tomorrow are a British metalcore band formed in 2006. The band is composed of five members; lead vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates, rhythm guitarist and singer Jason Cameron, bassist Davyd Winter-Bates, drummer Adam Jackson and lead guitarist Kristan Dawson, who replaced founding guitarist Mehdi Vismara in 2013.

Full disclaimer, I have nothing against metalcore, I actually like quite a few bands and Killswitch Engage is a band that I listen to a lot. But I am very critical and many bands of the genre don't add anything to me. Bury Tomorrow is not a band I was familiar with, but honestly there was nothing else released this week that interested me even remotely. So I decided to give it a shot.

Cannibal is already Bury Tomorrow's sixth studio album and it features 11 songs in 43 minutes. It's a very straightforward metalcore album with short songs and no intros, instrumental tracks or songs hitting the 5 minute mark. The 3rd single "Choke" which opens the album is a bit deceiving as it is by far the best song on the album. The Bury Tomorrow metalcore formula is quite clear: a very balanced split between Daniel Winter-Bates' screaming vocals and Jason Cameron clean singing. But this track is quite aggressive and the clean vocals are limited. It's not the case furing most of the other songs. For example "The Grey (VIXI)" is 60% clean singing. The band uses the clean vocal sections to create a pleasant melody (almost pop/radio -like) with sudden bursts of chugging heaviness. The death metal guitar riffs are heavy but usually gives space to melodic and light guitar phrasing. Guitar solos are underused, despite their potential like the short but nice one in "Voice & Truth". And of course the band uses its breakdowns quite often. My first impression when listening to "Choke" was of a mix of Machine Head with clean vocals that remind me of Jesse Leach from KSE or Corey Taylor in Stone Sour. While I love KSE, in this album's case, it actually reminded me of my least favorite KSE's songs such as 2013's "Always". So, yes, it's very soft album as the clean vocal sections take away the great feeling that the heavy sections have. I mean, I love clean vocals but here they are not only clean but usually very lame. And then a ballad like "Quake" is not listenable. The songs are very catchy, I give you that but that's not enough, I mean, Britney Spears can be catchy, you know?

All in all, this is not the album for me, but I tried and songs like "Choke", title track and "Voice & Truth" are good. I can see myself enjoying those guys in a summer festival (if we ever have those again), but not my cup of tea to listen proactively. I metalcore fan or a someone discovering metal will probably dig this, but for those who are not into this genre, this is the kind of album that gives metalcore a bad name.

SCORE: 69/100
Genre: Metalcore
Released by Music For Nations on July 3rd, 2020

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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
wordcount = 504

Quickies: Second Quarter 2020 Releases included ABYSMAL DAWN, SECRETS OF THE MOON and PROTEST THE HERO

Between April 3rd and June 26th, there were some very decent releases that didn't get a full review but deserved my attention anyway.

ABYSMAL DAWN Phylogenesis (04/17)

The death metal quartet from Los Angeles led by founding member Charles Elliott ( guitars/lead vocals) is back after 6 years with Phylogenesis, their fifth album. Abysmal Dawn plays an aggressive mix of technical modern and early death metal. Honestly, those more tech death bands sound a lot alike, but for some reason I was captivated by Phylogenesis. It could be that I haven't reviewed many death metal bands this year and was missing it. But the fact is that Abysmal Dawn displays skillful songwriting and technical delivery with memorable riffs. There are no frills on this album, it features 44 minutes in 9 songs of straight up death metal from start to finish. It all starts with the aggressive, drum intensive, fast tempo "Mundane Existence" and many songs follow the same feel, but  not all. The single "Hedonistic" is a bit slower and groovy. "The Lament Configuration" is more progressive and almost Meshuggah-like.  Not ground breaking by any means but an interesting (tech) death metal record for the genre enthusiasts.

SECRETS OF THE MOON Black House (5/8)

SotM are (were?) a black metal band from Germany, founded in 1995. Black House, which follows 2015's Sun, is their 7th studio album. It's my first experience listening to this band, so I have no expectations of how they should sound like. They've been to several line up changes and it's not difficult to notice that also they have been changing their style from album to album. With Black House it's clear from the first couple of songs that there's very little left from black metal here. The immediate references are The Cure, Alice In Chains and Fields Of The Nephilim with a touch of Faith No More (e.g. "He Is Here"). As you can imagine it's a Goth Rock/Post Metal album with no screams or anything like black metal blast beats. Every song has a guest appearance which bring a nice variety to the album. But unfortunately Black House doesn't always work, some songs in the middle of the album get boring and too indie rock for my taste. In sum, if you never heard SotM before, go ahead and check this out for something good and different: Dark, mellow, Goth and atmospheric. If you were expecting anything like the black metal albums before Sun and you are not open to a complete 180º turn from that, then don't even bother. 

GRAVE DIGGER Fields of Blood (5/29)

Fields of Blood is the 20th studio album by the pioneers of German Power Metal. The essence of the band has not changed, despite the line-up changes, frontman and founding member Chris Boltendahl was able to keep an incredible consistency in their sound. The only difference from the first couple of albums and all recent releases is the modern and pristine production. I always find amusing why a bunch of Germans with heavy German accent sing about Scotland so much. The band even recorded parts of their new longplayer in the Scottish Highlands. On the other hand I love when the use Bagpipes. The intro "The Clansman's Journey" and the mid-tempo "The Heart of Scotland" being clear examples of that. For most of the album the band stay true to their no-frills traditional brand of metal. For example "All for the Kingdom" and "Freedom" are very welcomed new headbangers to their repertoire. The ballad "Thousand Tears" featuring Noora of Battle Beast is a surprise and the epic title track going over 10 minutes. It stood out to me the quality of the drumming and guitarwork, I found myself really enjoying about half of the songs. But as an overall album there are too many ups and downs. Overall, some fun Teutonic metal as expected by those veterans. Old time fans will enjoy it, for the others it won't change your previous view on the band.

PROTEST THE HERO Palimpsest (6/19)

Palimpsest is the fifth studio album and first full length since 2013's Volition. Those Canadians prog metallers have a neck for catchy melodies and complex and dynamic song structures. Protest The Hero is usually labeled as prog metal, but while it is true, it's a very unique sound. The singing is mostly clean and almost power metal despite some screaming here and there, most notably in "Soliloquy". Musically,  Protest The Hero is close to a mix of Periphery and Dillinger Escape Plan. But there are some Dream Theater-like moments, as in the instrumental passages from "From The Sky" or "Reverie".  Palimpsest is a good album, but it suffers from being a bit too long, I usually get distracted in the middle part and it takes an effort to get back into it. As the songs are complex, it also takes time to get into them, it does help that most of the sing is very clear and melodic.