YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Parabellum | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Mascot Label Group on July 23rd, 2021

Quick Background

Legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen needs no introduction. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 21 studio albums in a career spanning over 40 years. Malmsteen is often cited among the greatest electric guitar players of all time. Additionally, he made a significant impact on many future power metal guitarists. From the first album, his band was always a very fast revolving door. Singers never lasted more than two albums in a row. And he had some amazing ones. The early albums are just great. But Malmsteen is one, if not the, biggest ego in metal. Since the two albums with Doogie White, he moved more and more to instrumental tracks and albums. He still had Ripper Owens singing some songs in two albums. But since then there have been compilations, either instrumental albums, or with himself only singing. In his last album, Blue Lightning (2019) he paid homage to those from the blues world who have fueled his artistic spirit. I honestly wasn't interested or looking forward to this album but decided to give it a try.

Parabellum

Parabellum features 10 tracks, 6 being instrumentals and 4 sang by Malmsteen. The album title is Latin, translating as "Prepare For War". There's a track "(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum" which translates as 'If you want peace, then prepare for war.' There is no information if any other musician was involved, so the conclusion is that it's a 100% written, recorded and produced album by Malmsteen alone. 

The good news is that his singing abilities have improved remarkably and he actually does a good job. Of course he wrote the songs in a way that the singing is not very challenging but it does work very well. As a comparison it resembles the albums with Doug White the most, but with the writing style from the first records. The highlights are the opening track "Wolves At The Door" and track 3 "Relentless Fury".

 

As for the instrumentals. "Presto Vivace in C# minor" is absolutely my favorite track on the album. It's one of the coolest instrumental tracks I heard from him in a long time. It's much in line with "Far Beyond the Sun". With just about 3 minutes each "Toccata" and "Magic Bullet" are short and fun instrumental tracks as well. "God Particle" is another highlight as it changes things a bit with the slower start, mid-tempo, acoustic classical guitar and a baroque/churchy vibe that ties very well with the song title. The background keyboards stand out giving the song character. 

The Picky Guy

I swear when I first glanced at the track list I thought track 7 was named "Good Practice" but it is actually "God Particle". But I think my made up title exemplify the album better than any other title. At this point he doesn't have to prove his guitar skills to anyone but still the album is as you may expect an avalanche of notes at incredible high speed. It works well at times, but of course it gets tiring. So by the time we get to the 8 min instrumental closer "Sea Of Tranquility" my attention is gone. Also the penultimate track "(Fight) The Good Fight" which has vocals, is not different from the two aforementioned sang tracks, so it's expendable. Then the mandatory ballad "Eternal Bliss" which is not that bad but it is also not adding value.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Look there's nothing new here. We all know he can play really fast and write catchy melodies. Parabellum  is in many ways a call back to the first album but through a modern lens of albums like Attack! I miss the keyboard dynamic of early records though. If you are a guitar player or a big old fan, this will be fun. But otherwise it is more and a lot more of the same. On the bright side, it's with quality. For those reasons and from my perspective as a guitar player, I give it 80/100 still a good album with a couple of nice songs with vocals and a handful fun guitar tracks. 

SCORE: 80/100

Genre: Neo Classical / Power Metal

Released by Mascot Label Group on July 23rd, 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

wordcount = 693