DARKTHRONE Eternal Hails...... | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Peaceville Records on June 25th, 2021

Quick Background

Darkthrone, the black metal legends, became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 90's with the release of their  Unholy Trinity albums: A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992), Under a Funeral Moon (1993) and Transilvanian Hunger (1994). They are considered to be among the most influential albums in black metal. Darkthrone has been a duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto since guitarist Zephyrous left the band in 1993. From 2006, their music strayed from the traditional black metal style and incorporated more elements of traditional heavy metal, punk, and speed metal, while more recent albums have also included doom metal.  

Eternal Hails......

Eternal Hails marks the band’s first album since 2019’s Old Star which to me was a good album. But slightly inferior to 2016's Arctic Thunder. Now their 19th album Eternal Hails consists of five new songs all exceeding seven minutes, adding up to 45 minutes. The duo has stated that this was intentional as some of their most important influences such as Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost and Candlemass all have long songs. Those longer and doomier tracks taking their time to make their point reflect drummer Fenriz’s love of doom. I personally also hear a hint of early Mercyful Fate on this album, falsettos not included, obviously. 

The opener track "His Masters Voice" balances well speed with slow tempo sections. It gets specially slow during the last 2 minutes with the melancholic guitar solo and last verses. I really enjoyed this choice to drag the song to its sorrowful end. It all also fade out with the opening arpeggio so it's a nice way to round it up full circle.

The production uses a lot of reverb on the vocals giving this old school somber vibe to their sound despite the guitars sounding very doom/traditional metal. Other than the vocals nothing else really reminds us of Black Metal. There's no tremolo or fast guitar picking on the album. The guitar work is rather simplistic but effective, there are tons of straightforward Iommi-like riffs. The band take their time with the riffs, giving that trippy transcending feel. One of the coolest riffs on the album is on track 2 "Hate Cloak" a 9-min doomy trip. "Voyage to a Northpole Adrift" is the longest song on the album with 10 minutes. Some very cool riffs as well with slow build ups

Now things do speed up with "Wake of the Awakened" which is the closest one to the black metal roots. It is very groovy and therefore it's a delightful Black N' Roll headbanger. Overall the drumming is very prominent with groovy beats combined with some engaging drum fills. I love the album cover by the way, the choice of colors and somber image worked very well. 

The Picky Guy

I guess my only complain is that it all sounds very familiar. I enjoyed all 5 songs, but on the other hand none blew me away. Very safe album, playing with their strengths and focusing on their sound from the last few albums and not truly taking us anywhere we haven't been before. But it is fun to listen to, I can't complain about that. The other thing is by the time we get to "Lost Arcane City of Uppakra" I am a bit tired of the rather similar songs and this song seem to extend its welcome.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Darkthrone. is a reliable source of good albums. They manage to stay fresh while keeping it consistent with previous records. The black metal roots are deeply berried below their doom sound but Eternal Hails still sounds like Darkthrone. While not a game changer, it's an interesting and fun album to listen to, for those reasons I am giving it 81/100 a good album that will please Doom and Black N Roll fans. 

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Black/Doom Metal

Released by Peaceville Records on June 25th, 2021

Rating System

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

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HELLOWEEN Helloween | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Nuclear Blast on June 18th, 2021

Quick Background

Helloween is a German power metal institution founded in 1984 in Hamburg. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. With the addition of singer Michael Kiske and the released of the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums (1987 and 1988), Helloween led the creation of the power metal subgenre. Despite several line-up changes, Andi Deris established himself as the lead singer since the release of the powerful albums Master of the Rings (1994) and The Time of the Oath (1996). In 2002 Sascha Gerstner  became the second guitarist and in 2005 Daniel Löble the drummer. The line-up has been stable since then and has released 5 studio albums. The last one being My God-Given Right back in 2015. In November 2016, it was announced that former members Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske were re-joining the band for a world tour titled the Pumpkins United. After several successful shows and tours and a live album, In March 2021, it was announced that the band's first album with the Pumpkins United line-up would be simply titled Helloween.

Helloween

Consequently, Helloween is their first self-titled and sixteenth full length studio album. Following the longest gap between two albums from the band, the S/T album is the first to feature more than one singer, as Hansen, Kiske and Andi Deris, all of whom had performed as sole lead vocalist on previous albums, share lead vocal duties. The three of them have very different voices and marked different moments of the band's history. So now to enjoy them now together on one record, is the ultimate Helloween experience.

The standard version of the album features 12 tracks and runs for 65 minutes. This is a band that tends go long on their albums. On one hand, the collaboration of different songwriters created a unique mix which draws from all chapters of the band's history. On the other hand, the new line-up didn't change the writing credits that much. The returning members, Kiske has no song with writing credits and Hansen is credited with 2. The short instrumental "Orbit" which serves as an intro to the epic 12-min and album closer "Skyfall". The song was also released as edit 7-min single back in April. Weikath wrote 3 songs, Deris 4, Grosskopf  and Gerstner one each and "Best Time" is the only co-written song and it is pinned to Deris and Gerstner. This is actually a very fun track that reminds us of the mockery phase of the Keepers, it's on the same veins of "I Want Out" for example. 

Charlie Bauerfeind who has worked with the band on all studio albums since The Dark Ride in 2000 and Dennis Ward who has worked with Hansen and Kiske (Unisonic) and Deris (Pink Cream 69) produced the album and apparently were in charge of keeping all the egos in balance. They made the decisions of which songs to include. The album sounds good and quite organic, but given the long time producer and the strong contribution from Deris, it doesn't deviate too much from the last albums and it doesn't call back to the first albums as much as one might have expected. 

Now, we must talk about "Skyfall", an amazing song capturing the best of early and modern Helloween with a flavor of early Gamma Ray. It's a mix of the Keeper song and Gamma Ray's "Heal Me". It's epic, it's catchy and fantastic. The three vocalists work in perfect balance sharing the lead vocals but also adding some powerful backing vocals to each other. And the vocal melodies are beautiful and constantly changing. A very dynamic song and yet the chorus is so catchy and powerful. The ending feels inspired by Stargazer, even singing coming home. It's of course no Rainbow, but still great. Anyways, I can't praise this song enough. 

Another great one: "Out For The Glory". Is it this just me or the intro sounds a lot like "South of Heaven"? But overall this song is a merger of Walls of Jericho with Pink Bubbles Go Ape. It's really cool to hear Kiske singing again a tune from Weikath. It's a trademark Weikath song but with Hansen vocals we get this early Helloween vibe. Great opener and one of the stronger songs of the album. 

"Down in the Dumps" is another great contribution from Weikath. A darker and heavier song reminds me of The Dark Ride or 7 Sinners albums. I think the highest notes are sang on this song, I would not expect to see this one on the live set-list. A pity if I am right, because it's a very good song.

"Fear of the Fallen" the single by Deris and two of his songs "Mass Pollution" and "Rise Without Chains" are all typical Deris era Helloween but with the added value of the shared vocal duties with Kiske.

Guitar solos are not overdone, but they are all over the album and always come to add value to the songs and not just a check in the box. Despite 3 guitars, there is still room for some very cool bass lines taking the spotlight. Grosskopf is one of the best and underrated bass player in power metal. Additionally his song is also good, "Indestructible"

The Picky Guy

Helloween tends to go for loaded albums and inevitably some fillers. I am happy they didn't go for a double CD and left some songs out and others as bonus tracks. But even then some songs are less interesting than others. "Robot King", "Cyanide" and "Angels" did not work for me. Given that "Skyfall" is the best song on the album, I'd have liked to see more contribution from Hansen and maybe more co-written tracks to fully leverage the powerhouse of song writers they have. The good thing is that we don't a mellow ballad or a pop oriented song.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

Despite the return of Hansen and Kiske, the album doesn't sound much different than previous records from the Deris era. It is not a bad thing but a missed opportunity. With that said the album is very good and shines at most moments. "Skyfall" is an instant classic and many songs call back subtly to other phases of the band. All and all, the self titled 2021 album has a little something for any Helloween fan, old or new, and the execution is outstanding. At the end of the day, I am giving it 85/100 a very good album, and highly recommended for any power metal enthusiast. 

SCORE: 85/100

Genre: Power Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast on June 18th, 2021

Rating System

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

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FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Blood in the Water | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by AFM Records on June 4th, 2021

Quick Background

Veteran Arizona thrashers Flotsam and Jetsam released their landmark debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in 1986. It is their only album with Jason Newsted before his departure for Metallica. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson as the only constant member. Their current lineup also includes guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary.

Blood in the Water

Blood in the Water is their fourteenth studio album and the follow-up for 2019's The End of Chaos which is a good album. The new effort is a relatively long disc running for 53 min and containing 12 songs. All but one song ("Undone" with 3:30) are on the four minute mark. No intros, short instrumentals or anything like that. Just pure thrash metal from start to finish. That by the way was the same formula of the previous album. 

Flotsam and Jetsam makes a thrash metal heavily influenced by traditional heavy metal such as Judas Priest. It's very melodic and full of hooks. The vocals while featuring some drive are rather clean and yet powerful. With that said this album seems to show the band dialing up the aggression and sounding heavier than ever before. That can be heard with the opening title track already. While being one of the heaviest songs on the album, track 1 also features some catchy melodies and a big chorus. 

It was a good choice as title track as it summarizes the next 5 songs as well. The first half of the album is very good. I was hooked after a couple of spins. The guitars are heavy full of riffs, solos and crunchy power chords, the vocal melodies are really catchy and the choruses contagious. 

While subtle the band did improve the album variability and dynamic when compared to the previous record. Track number 6 "Cry for the Dead" has some slower tempo moments and that worked well. But don't get me wrong, it's not a ballad, it does go up and down, so the heaviness is still there, kind of "Beyond the Reals of Death" but also with a Iron Maiden flavor. 

Now we get to the second half of the album to me it feels a but of a hit and miss situation. The highlight on this half are "Too Many Lives" and the short and sweet NWOBHM inspired "Undone". 

 

The Picky Guy

The album suffers from the same problem as the predecessor, too many songs which leads to the album being frontloaded due to some fillers on side B.  While "Reaggression" brings also some dynamic to the album, I personally don't like the execution as it sounds uninspired, specially the chorus is kind of irritating. I also can't stand the 'oh oh oh oh' on "Grey Dragon". Other than that, nothing really to complain here. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Overall a good album, (mostly) well written, executed and produced, it ticks like a clock and never looses the energy. Despite extending its welcome, it's a good addition to their catalog and notch better than the previous record. So I am giving it 81/100, good album, so check it out. 

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by AFM Records on June 4th, 2021

Rating System

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

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