DARK FUNERAL We Are The Apocalypse | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Century Media Records on March 18th, 2022

Quick Background

Swedish black metal pioneers Dark Funeral released their fist album The Secrets of the Black Arts in 1996 as part of the second wave of the black metal movement. Lord Ahriman, is the primary guitarist, songwriter and sole founding member of the band.  Dark Funeral 's previous album, 2016's Where Shadows Forever Reign, was the band's first release to feature vocalist Heljarmadr, whose snarl found a perfect match alongside Lord Ahriman's trademark riffing. Their lyrical themes have traditionally pertained to Satanism and anti-Christianity. While I know the band, I'm not very familiar with their discography, so it will be a review without bias or comparisons to previous works. 

We Are The Apocalypse

We Are The Apocalypse is therefore Dark Funeral 's seventh studio album and features nine straightforward black metal songs in 44 minutes. All tracks are between 4 and 6 minutes. And I want to stars with track number 4 actually because "Nosferatu" kind of summarizes the album for me. While it is a more dynamic song where different singing styles are used, it also fuses the ferocity with groove.

That's how I see We Are The Apocalypse. Some songs will please more traditional Black Metal fans as they are 

 super fast with tremolo guitars and blast beats. The voracious "When Our Vengeance Is Done" and "Beyond the Grave" are two great examples.  The single "Let the Devil In", featuring a fantastic drum intro, is very interesting song. The video is also quite artistic and disturbing. The song is groovier and slower tempo which creates a great contrast with "Nightfall". This song is a good opener: high tempo, blistering drums, tremolo fast picking, Heljarmadr's powerful snarl that is both aggressive and understandable and surprisingly catchy at the same time. Other and most of the other songs are somewhere in between. "When I'm Gone" with almost 6 min is the longest song on the album. It's also the slowest and most melancholic one. Super groovy drums and melodic. The title track closes the album with full blast Black Metal and high energy. 

To top it all, I love that album cover, it reminds of the previous album due to the blue tonality, but still it's beautifully dark. 

The Picky Guy

What I liked the most album this album is how heavy and Black Metal it sounds but it's also groovy and dynamic. So the super fast songs were a little bit less interesting, but by no means bad. The only one thing that bothered me was some "bleah" screams here and there. I mean, why bring metalcore annoyance into Black Metal? As always, probably it's just my taste.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

I came to this album with no expectations and I am now surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's nothing new or innovative, but it's damn good straightforward black metal with that black and roll flavor at times. But most importantly, for a Black Metal album is really dynamic with variability and not just tremolo picking guitars and blast beats. It's well written, performed and produced. In sum a very good 83/100 black metal album.

SCORE: 83/100

Genre: Black Metal

Released by Century Media Records on March 18th, 2022

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 = 518

GHOST Impera | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Loma Vista Recordings on March 11th, 2022

Quick Background

Swedish occultists Ghost have taken the rock/heavy metal world by storm since the 2010 debut album  Opus Eponymous. Since then their following albums: Infestissumam (2013), Meliora (2015), Prequelle (2018) achieve great commercial and critical success. They soon became a headline act. Ghost is easily recognizable owing greatly to its eccentric on-stage presence. Seven of the group's eight members, its 'Nameless Ghouls'. Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge portray himself in a prosthetic mask and makeup as different characters with each tour/album cycle. I remember seeing them live in 2010 during a summer festival at noom! They were the first act in that stage, and I must say I was already truely impressed. I alos love their first album, hate the second one and reallly like the other two. So let's see what 2022 brings us.

Impera

their fifth studio album Impera is themed mainly on "the rise and fall of empires". It is described to take place hundreds of years forward from the 14th century Europe Black Plague era of Ghost's previous album, Prequelle. It features 9 proper tracks and 3 short instrumentals for a total of 47 minutes. As with all but one of their albums, Impera opens with a short instrumental "Imperium". The song builds up quickly leading us into the powerful 5-min upbeat rock anthem "Kaisarion". "Spillways" which is probably my favorite song on the album is a short catchy song with contagious beat, it's a lot of fun and will do wonders live. "Hunter's Moon" which is featured on the soundtrack of the 2021 film Halloween Kills and "Call Me Little Sunshine" were the first two singles out of Impera.  Both a super well designed hits, the structure, the hooks, simply perfect rock songs. "Watcher In The Sky" dial up the heaviness a bit more with some heavy riffs and chugging guitars. But of course the super catchy melodies are also present. Before we get the next single "Twenties" we first get "Dominion" which is short symphonic dark instrumental, it flows very well.  But "Twenties" is mixed result for me while I like the heaviness of the opening riff and verses, the children's choir singing twenties simply annoys me. I was initially deceived by the first bars of "Respite On The Spitalfields" thinking it was just a long ballad. But actually it's a longer song with some ups and downs and a nice touch t close the album with a song slightly different and more ambitious. 

I'm not sure if all or some of the musicians are the same as in the previous records, but I felt that musically this is the best Ghost album yet. Very interesting guitar and drum work throughout the album. Impera was produced by Klas Åhlund, who also sat behind the desk for the band's great Meliora record. Ghost will be celebrating the release of Impera with the cleverly-titled Imperatour

The Picky Guy

"Darkness At The Heart Of My Love" is the only song on the album that I skip every time now, it's just boring. Other than that I really can't complain about this about. It misses the heaviness and darkness of the debut album, but that's just my taste. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

One of the things I love about Ghost is how concise they are, the songs are short the albums are not too long. And yet the songs features changes, variations and go to different places all of that while being super catchy and dark or heavy at times. It's a powerful combination and it's not a surprise that they have grown so much so quickly. To me this is a 83/100 very good album from a band that will continue to grow and increase their fan base while not alienating the older ones like myself.  

SCORE: 83/100

Genre: Heavy Metal

Released by Loma Vista Recordings on March 11th, 2022

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 = 627

HAMMERFALL Hammer of Dawn | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Napalm Records on February 25th, 2022

Quick Background

Swedish metallers Hammerfall have been carrying the flag of true/power metal since 1993 when Oscar Dronjak (guitars) started the band. Soon after Joacim Cans (vocals) joined him and the debut album Glory to the Brave was released in 1997. Legacy of Kings followed in the next year and to me it's still their best album. 9 more albums followed and despite the only constants being the two founders, the band never had a break or extended downtime. To be fair the only line-up change since 2009 has been on the drums. In each album there are several anthemic songs that make us fans raise our fists and bang our heads immediately. The sheer power of their performance and their irresistible melodies are legendary and I love seeing them live. I've always seen them as a more contained version of Manowar with deep Helloween and Judas Priest influences. But they have created their own sound and stuck to it without any significant changes. Hammerfall were massively important for the underground power metal movement of the 90's. It's in fact a band that I've seen 10 times live, so one of the bands I've been the most live. But the latest albums have all been just OK and not impressive, so let's see now. 

Hammer of Dawn

After 2019's Dominion, Hammerfall is back with their 12th studio album. Hammer of Dawn brings us 10 straightforward metal tunes in just about 45 minutes. It's a high energy album, despite one ballad, with no bells and whistles. "Brotherhood" opens the album with all trademarks and clichés we would expect from them. It's a catchy song, it sounds very familiar and the lyrics are kind of a compilation of previous songs: "the hammer will fall" and "hammers held high we are heeding the call".  It's not very different with the title track "The hammer beside me, a heart made of steel". This one reminds me of Gloryhammer which is ironic since Hammerfall inspired them. "No Son of Odin" is my favorite song on this album just because the chorus sounds really great and fun to sing along. Musically it is similar to the other songs but the songwriting here was a bit more inspired specially on the vocal melodies. "Venerate Me" which features King Diamond, closes the strong album start with those new four potential live favorites. There are two bright spots on the second half of the album "Live Free or Die" (old Helloween style song, with some variations, and slightly better lyrics, and great vocal performance) and "State of the W.I.L.D." (such a catchy chorus!). Overall, Joacim Cans delivered very solid vocal performance, no surprises there. The guitar work is mainly based on power chords, palm muting and chugging guitars. There's not a lot of riffing or twin guitars. When present, the solos are short and to the point.  

The Picky Guy

Putting aside that one is ok with the lack of musical progression in their sound and the lazy lyrics, my problem with the album is the middle section. "Reveries" (some cool guitar riffs, but all that Na-na-na-na-na, no  sorry), "Too Old to Die Young" (super happy metal) and "Not Today" ( a ballad alla Scorpios that is expandable) do not work for me. They sound uninspired and not adding value. Same goes to the closer "No Mercy".

Wrap Up Opinion 

Look, I love this band for what they do, their first two albums are awesome and a playlist with my favorite songs from other albums are as much fun as I can have with Power Metal. Hammer of Dawn brings a few more songs to be added to my playlist and they will also fit well their live set. Besides that, Hammerfall have again played safe and delivered more of the same. Because of it about half of the songs don't add much value, therefore I'm giving it 77/100, a borderline good album with good Hammerfall songs in it. So long time fans will enjoy this, like I did (for the most part).

SCORE: 77/100

Genre: Power Metal

Released by Napalm Records on February 25th, 2022

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 = 674

STAR ONE Revel In Time | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Inside Out Music on February 18th, 2022

Quick Background

Star One (also referred to as Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One) is a Dutch progressive metal supergroup/side-project of Arjen Anthony Lucassen of Ayreon. Prior to 2022, the band had released two albums: their first in 2002, their second in 2010, plus a live album in 2003, and features four different singers: Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (ex-Threshold, Headspace), Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity), and Floor Jansen (Nightwish). Unlike Ayreon, albums do not follow one storyline; instead, each song is a different story with a sci-fi concept, most of the tracks based on existing movies and series. The music of Star One is usually heavier than that of Ayreon. Lucassen explained that the songwriting was different in that Star One songs are built on guitar riffs whereas Ayreon songs stem primarily off chord arrangements. 

Revel In Time

After twelve years, Revel In Time is finally out as the third Star One album and it is a direct reaction to 2020's Ayreon Transitus. That album was almost a musical and written to be a film. Revel In Time is heavy and guitar riff driven. Another noticeable and important difference, instead of having singers for the whole album trading vocal lines, each track has its own separate singer (with exception of "Prescient" with two, Michael Mills and Ross Jennings (Haken)). In addition to the same quartet of four guest vocalists (Damian Wilson, Dan Swanö, Floor Jansen and Russel Allen), Revel in Time features Roy Khan (ex-Kamelot), Jeff Scott Soto, Joe Lynn Turner among others. The eleven tracks are inspired by science fiction movies or TV series, only this time they focus on movies involving time manipulation, such as time loops and time travel. (e.g. The Terminator, Back to the Future,  Groundhog Day, etc). The album clocks in at 67 minutes. Not too bad for a prog album, but on the longer side of my taste.

Based on The Terminator (1984), "Fate of Man" opens the album with a power metal hymn featuring powerful performances from Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers) on vocals and a guitar solo from Michael Romeo (Symphony X). Talking about Symphony X, the next song "28 Days (Till the End of Time)" is 7:20 song featuring Sir Russell Allen. You can't go wrong with him, another great vocal performance! The song is great, a bit more mid tempo but super groovy, almost epic doom at times. "Prescient" highlight is the performance of the great Ross Jennings. The song is perfect for him as it does have a Haken/Dream Theater vibe. You may even think that James LaBrie is in there, but as far as I know that's not the case. Based on one of my favorite movies of all time, "Back from the Past" features some funny lyrics about Back to the Future (1985).  Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal lays down the intriguing guitar solo and interestingly the vocals are from his band mate on Sons of Apollo, Jeff Scott Soto. It's a straightforward rock song, a lot of fun. Another direct song is the title track which is the shortest song on the album and placed as song #5. It gives me this Whitesnake / Guns N Roses vibe. 

The Final Countdown is a 1980 American science fiction war film about a modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Hence why the track is named "The Year of '41". Legendary Joe Lynn Turner fronts this song which is one of the coolest vocal lines in the album. A fun track! To top it off, there are nice guitar and synth solos...kind of a Rainbow/Malmsteen homage, the synth solo? it's by Jens Johansson. "Bridge of Life" is classic Damian Wilson giving me goose bumps! What a beautiful song. Floor Jansen is also back for the song "A Hand on the Clock" with it she revives her After Forever partnership with  Joost van den Broek who plays the Hammond solo. It's nice to hear Floor singing a straightforward full of energy metal song. What a performance! The almost 10 min closer "Lost Children of the Universe" delight us with Roy Khan in top performance, specially the initial verses are so Kamelot, it's great. I haven't been able to fully embrace his work after Kamelot, but this song proves to me that he still have it. The cherry on top of this time travel themed cake is a amazing solo by Steve Vai. That's it! Nothing more to say.

The Picky Guy

If I am to pick on a couple of things, I'd say that to my taste there is still too much backing vocals. I'd also like the album to be a bit heavier with even more emphasis on the guitars. But those are not actual problems but more a matte of taste. "Today is Yesterday" (based on the fantastic Groundhog Day) and "Beyond the Edge of it All" are the two songs the suffer the most for me on those points. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Musicians and singer choices make total sense for the style or vibe of each song, Arjen knows how to pick them. And his song writing is top notch as always. He delivers the material so that those singers can perform at their best. Given the pandemic, it's even more impressive that he was still able to produce such a high quality album with so many top musicians. I can only highly recommend this one with a very good 82/100 score. If you like prog/power metal and clean powerful singing over great guitar work and amazing solos, you can't go wrong with Star One's best album to date. 

SCORE: 82/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Inside Out Music on February 18th, 2022

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 = 933