LEPROUS Aphelion | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by InsideOutMusic on August 27th, 2021

Quick Background

Leprous is a progressive metal (early) / rock (later) band from Norway, formed in 2001 with the first album released in 2009. The group was founded by singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke. Both are the remaining founding members left and they are the main songwriters. Since 2015's The Congregation Solberg is gradually dominating the writing process. Their acclaimed 2011 album Bilateral brought a lot of attention to them. After two albums which followed the same musical direction, Coal (2013) and The Congregation (2015), Leprous took a more rock-oriented and less metal approach with Malina (2017), their first record not to feature harsh vocals. 2019's Pitfalls continued with the prog rock direction and a lot of experimentations. I personally didn't really like that album and direction. So let's see what Aphelion brings.

Aphelion

Leprous' seventh studio album is a consequence of the pandemic as the band was not planning for a follow-up to Pitfalls so soon. According to Solberg "The aphelion is the point in the orbit of an object where it is farthest from the sun, and it has a symbolic value which I will leave to your own interpretation." Aphelion features ten tracks and clocks in at 56 minutes.  It's an intuitive and spontaneous album in which the band again did a lot of experimentation. With that said, differently than Pitfalls they brought back a bit more of the early sound albeit not going into super heavy territory. It's again mostly written by Solberg with some exceptions. 

The album was first hinted by the single "Castaway Angels" in December 2020, an acoustic ballad with a build up emphasizing the keys and drums. An emotional rock song. Six months later, the band announced the album began releasing a string of promotional singles prior to the album's release: "Running Low" the album opener was released with a video in June. This a dark and interesting song. Featuring some peaks and valleys of aggression and emotion. Musically it also includes cello, violin and brass orchestra arrangements. And that pretty much summarizes the album. Most of the songs have cool energetic moments and even some guitar parts of interest. But mostly they are very slow and soft, almost like a lullaby. For example, "Out of Here" despite a very soft and mellow song for the most part, when it explodes with the drums it becomes one of the coolest and heaviest moments on the album. Other songs mostly go to peaks and valleys within it.  "The Silent Revelation", also released as single, again the same, but the soft parts are so boring. but at least we do hear some nice guitarwork. Same for "The Shadow Side" which features the only guitar solo on the album. It's a nice one though. So it leaves with the feeling, why so few guitar moments? Finally, "Nighttime Disguise" which was a also a video single, closes the album. It's the only song fully credited as a collective effort. The best thing of this song is that the explosions of aggressiveness are worth the wait. There's even harsh screams! That is a song that fully works for me. And leaves me with a bad taste from the album but hope for the future.

The Picky Guy

Unfortunately I have a lot to be picky here. But overall this super soft mellow direction doesn't hold my attention and interest. "Have You Ever?" being a painful example but all over the album, the soft parts are a snooze fest. Sometimes beautiful, yes I admit, but often boring and close to put me to sleep. Very few guitar highlights for a band with two guitar players. In addition to the keys, the strings and brass orchestra dominate the album. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Leprous became Solberg's band and this direction mostly doesn't work for me. It is however a better album than the previous one as at least we have some bursts of heaviness and strong emotions. And even a short harsh vocals at the end. Didn't that sound good? Maybe there's hope. They are obviously a very capable band and the good moments here leaves me with hope that a future release will appeal to me more. But for now Aphelion to me is a mixed bag, so I am giving it 76/100. If you liked the last album, this will work as well, but if you didn't, Aphelion while bringing the sound a bit closer to the older stuff, it doesn't do so by much.  

SCORE: 76/100

Genre: Progressive Rock

Released by InsideOutMusic on August 27th, 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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BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Colors II | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Sumerian Records on August 20th, 2021

Quick Background

One of my favorite modern prog metal bands, Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from North Carolina. They formed in 2000 by Tommy Rogers (lead vocals, keyboards) and Paul Waggoner (guitar). The other members Dustie Waring (guitar), Dan Briggs (bass, keyboards), and Blake Richardson (drums) joined the band in 2005 for the release of their third album Alaska. Their fourth album Colors (2007) was their breakthrough and it's now considered one of the best modern progressive metal albums. Now we will talk about the sequel to it, Colors II. 

Colors II 

Colors II is their tenth studio album and their second release with this label, following the two-part album Automata. It serves as a direct follow-up to Colors. Prog fans won't be disappointed, there's a lot of BTBAM here! 80 minutes of music in 12 tracks. 

Like the first Colors, the album was written as one piece of music, but it's not a concept album. Thematically it is linked to the idea of the first one and there are call backs and little nuggets of the music.  "Monochrome" opens the album and it picks up from were Colors left off with a piano melody.  It's a Pink Floydian start with an 80's vibe to it, and I also love the simple chugging guitar to get us started. As trademark BTBAM, the song builds up to a heavy track to transition to the super heavy "The Double Helix of Extinction". I love the drums and the bass interlude on it. A fun note, it's very cool that 'between the buried and me' sentence is part of the lyrics. 

I love Colors but I am not an expert on it, still when we get to "Revolution In Limbo", third longest song on the album, it features a very nice melodic chorus  that I think has calls back to part one. First I thought that Corpse Grinder was a guest singer but apparently it's Blake who sings on this song, giving it a nice touch. There's an Opeth vibe when the song transition into this Latin flavored interlude. The album's 1st single "Fix The Error" is a drum delight. It starts with a cool drum into followed by a bass jazz line. But there's much more,  while many bands invite guitar player to do guest solos, BTBAM invited a drummer, oh sorry I must say, drummers! There's actually 3 drummers contributing to this amazing drum solo sequence. Mike Portnoy, Navene Koperweis (Entheos) and Ken Schalk (Candiria). 

"Never Seen / Future Shock" is the second longest song on the album.  It has a nice groove, a folky interlude but the best for me it is the last minutes were it gets really prog rock. It is a good lead into the short "Stare Into The Abyss". "Prehistory" is another short one to kick off the second half of the album. I believe some call backs to Colors are also present. A highlight is the bass solo, that to me sounds like an homage to Cliff Burton. The cartoon sounds give it a different touch and overall it is also a more prog rock influenced track. 

"Bad Habits" shows another example of the diversity of guitar tones and styles used on the album. The solos are different from each other, often drawing from different styles and influences. As expected the album is very eclectic with unusual mixes and influences, but somehow BTAM has perfected the art of combining all of those styles and influences seamlessly. "The Future Is Behind Us" is a prog rock song with a deathcore breakdown, pretty cool huh? Then "Turbulent" features a 80's synth, and it all seem to work for me. Like in Colors a short song, the David Gilmour spired "Sfumato", gives away to the epic closer and longest song of the album "Human Is Hell (Another One With Love)", even longer than "White Walls". Actually the intro riff reminds a lot of the Colors album closer.

Overall, it feels that the first half of the album is heavier and angrier than Colors, less softer parts maybe? But the second half gives away a more prog rock vibe while still being BTBAM and heavy at moments. Overall Colors II is a culmination of everything the band has done and experienced so far. The production is great and brighter than Colors'.

The Picky Guy

If I am to pick something, the only thing I can say is that there's a lot of singing, I know it's weird to say that. But I'd prefer more instrumental parts and not packed with lyrics, but it's a very personal choice and not a big deal.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Colors II like a good complex prog album, takes time to assimilate, with that said, it brings no surprises to the long term BTBAM fans. Their style is solidified and if anything this album relates more to their early stuff than to the last couple of albums. But it's a culmination of them all. It is very dynamic and eclectic, but still heavy, specially the first half. Is Colors II at par with Colors? Probably not, but we will only be able to really say that after months or even years. One thing is certain it's worthy of its name already. It's a great album, 87/100 and probably will stay on my top 5 albums of 2021. So take your time with it, you are in for a journey and enjoy it. 

SCORE: 87/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Sumerian Records on August 20th, 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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PRESTIGE Reveal the Ravage | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Massacre Records on August 13th, 2021

Quick Background

Prestige is one of the oldest and the most established thrash metal bands in Finland. In January 1989 the debut album by the quartet  Attack Against Gnomes was released. The band had lived fast, toured extensively and had released three albums in less than 4 years! Then they took a break, a long one and since 2020 are active releasing singles. Now we finally get the full album.

Reveal the Ravage

The comeback albums features 10 no non-sense thrash metal bombs. It clocks in at 44 minutes. No frills or bells and whistles, just high tempo songs around the 4 minute mark. The album sounds modern and the production is clear, but the attitude and music writing are old school thrash metal. It does remind me of a more aggressive version of the German band Rage, specially the vocals. Also Prestige uses a lot of gang vocals. "Blessed Be" is a clear example but really it's in almost every song. "You Weep" has even a 'hey hey hey' that sounds just like Ramones. With that said, this is one of the coolest songs on the album. Very nice groove and guitar work. The longest song  on the album "Prime Time" closes Reveal the Ravage with a different touch. 

The Picky Guy

While this is fun and well written record, there's nothing new. It will be certainly fun to see Prestige live, but I don't see myself going back to this album very often. Also I am not a big fan of the over usage of gang vocals which here happens in almost every single song.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

Prestige delivers straightforward classic thrash metal sound from the 80's. If that's all you are looking for, then here you won't be disappointed. On the other hand it's impossible to differentiate Reveal the Ravage from countless thrash albums on the same style. With a 76/100, the album felt just short to be be considered a good album. So cautiously give it a try. 

SCORE: 76/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by Massacre Records on August 13th, 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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