Pathfinder: Fifth Element (2012)

Two years after releasing their debut album, Pathfinder released their follow-up which, to this date, is their last release.  No, the album is not a concept album about the 1997 science fiction movie starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich.  That is kind of a shame, because that movie is awesome.  It is a concept album of sorts though.  I am just not sure of the story line.

This album finds Pathfinder honing their own individual sound, which appears to be more of a mixture of European power metal and symphonic metal, sort of a mix between Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody of Fire.  The result is an album that moves the band forward musically but sometimes goes a little overboard with the new elements.  A lot of times the riffs get completely drowned out by the keyboards and symphonic elements to the point that they are barely present. 

The vocals are kind of a mixed bag.  I did not talk about them much in the previous review because there was not much to say.  This time there are a variety of styles present.  All of the members provide vocals during the choral parts, but the lead vocals are kind of all over the place.  He usually uses a clean sound but occasionally tries to work in some harsher vocals, such as screeches that sound like a sillier Dani Filth (which is saying something). 

I do applaud the band for moving beyond simply aping their influences, but I think the symphonic elements are a bit overdone.  Also, the album is long again, though not quite as long as the previous album.  So once again, there is a lot of filler here and songs that are longer than they probably should be.  The album is fine, but I actually prefer the debut.

Pathfinder: Beyond the Space, Beyond the Time (2010)

Of the major metal subgenres, power metal remains the one that it has been hardest for me to discover new bands, especially the European style.  I feel like I have talked about this before, but maybe not in depth.  I think that power metal is the hardest genre play convincingly.  We expect black metal, death metal and thrash metal bands to sound raw and primitive.  European power metal is a much more sophisticated style, and musicians have to really be incredible to pull it off.  And so it is that I have a hard time finding decent new power metal bands.

One group that has recently caught my attention though is Pathfinder from Poland.  Pathfinder is a symphonic power metal band whose sound reminds me a lot of Sonata Arctica.  This is a good thing, because Sonata Arctica remains one of my personal favorite power metal bands, particularly from their earlier albums.  Now, I do not want it to sound like Pathfinder is a clone of Sonata Arctica.  For one, they do not quite possess the same instrumental prowess and technical ability.  They are able to achieve the slower and mid-paced sound, but not quite make it to the same lightning-fast ability of "Wolf & Raven" for instance. 

This album is a lengthy epic full of impressive musicianship and dynamics.  The band is undeniably talented and work together reasonably well.  There are some songs that definitely grab attention, particularly the title track. 

Unfortunately it is not all great.  The album is damn near 75 minutes long and there has rarely been an album that long that utilized that much time to the fullest.  There is guaranteed to be some filler here that could have easily been left off the final product and made it that much stronger.  That is certainly true here. 

I glanced at reviews of this album on the Metal Archives.  It has been reviewed ten times and every single review is either in the high 90s or a zero.  I do not have that extreme of feelings about this album.  It is fine for what it is, but it is neither a perfect album, nor an absolute travesty.  It is merely decent, if too long.

Unleash the Archers: Apex (2017)

Canada has a long and rich tradition of terrific heavy metal.  And I am not referring simply to thrash metal bands like Sacrifice, Razor and Slaughter or to death metal bands like Cryptopsy and Kataklysm.  I am referring to heavy and speed metal bands like Exciter, Anvil, Thor and others.  Bands that wave the the traditional metal banner proudly.  Enter Unleash the Archers.

This album is my first experience checking out Unleash the Archers, despite the fact that I have been aware of them for several years.  I am not sure why I avoided them, possibly due to the name which called to mind some sort of metalcore band.  But as I listen to them, I realize the band whose name most closely resembles this band is fellow British Columbians 3 Inches of Blood.  The sound is pretty damn close too.  Now I realize that they were never really well-liked in the metal underground, but I fucking loved 3 Inches of Blood, so hearing Unleash the Archers on this album and hearing all of the similarities, the album really grabbed me.

The sound is absolutely epic, filled to the brim with lightning-fast riffs, infectious choruses and shredding, neoclassical solos.  The riffs have some bite to them, not at all like European-style power metal.  The vocals too deserve mention.  The band has one lead vocalist and her style is melodic, yet powerful, and it is accentuated by two of the musicians who provide harsh vocals.  The result of all of this is an aggressive, yet extremely melodic sound.

My understanding is that Unleash the Archers has not always been as impressive as they are on this release.  I do not know if I will check out any of their earlier material, but this album is terrific.  I am definitely glad I gave them a chance.

Original Sin: Sin Will Find You Out (1986)

This is a damn good album, but I will be honest, the story behind it is much more interesting than the album.  Time for a history lesson.

When you look at the Metal Archives page, you see a band picture of four women dressed in suitably 1980's metal garb.  And looking at the band lineup, you see four women listed.  But this is all fake information.  Original Sin is a fake band.  The actual Original Sin musicians are primarily the musicians from Virgin Steele, who also recorded the Exorcist album Nightmare Theatre, another fake album.  The one outlier on this release is that the vocals are performed by Virgin Steele vocalist David DeFeis's sister Danae.  The other musicians are the male musicians that performed on the Exorcist album, two of whom were in Virgin Steele.  So why the charade?

Apparently members of the band, and DeFeis in particular, wanted to stretch their wings a little bit musically and play something a little darker.  Specifically DeFeis wanted to write a black metal album (Exorcist) and a darker traditional metal album (Original Sin), but the manager did not want him to release these albums as Virgin Steele because of their established sound. In addition, their manager claimed that the band owed him money and wanted albums to release that they would not be paid for.

Well enough of that, how is it?  Actually pretty damn good.  This is extremely impressive darker-edged heavy/power metal with some very catchy songs, if ridiculously over-the-top evil and campy as hell.  The vocals soar over the riffs and it is clear that Danae is having a great time doing this.  She is apparently operatically trained and it shows.

This album is a very entertaining oddity.  It is obvious the band members had a hell of a good time writing and recording it and there are some exceptional songs on it.  Even if it is a fake project, it resulted in a damn good album.

Omen: The Curse (1986)

Omen is an early example of what has come to be known as U.S. power metal.  This is a style that is very distinct from the European style, particularly the so-called "flower metal" style that has risen primarily in the Scandinavian countries.  Think Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius and others like that.  The American style is more focused on riffs and aggression, though it is obviously not close to thrash metal. 

Prior to this album, I had only heard Omen's debut album, Battle Cry.  This is the band's third album.  I have liked everything I have heard from the band, but given their underground cult status, their material is not easy to come by, no matter what format it is in, and can be pricey.  So it is not often I come across one of their albums.

The band's lyrics often deal with fantasy epic material, such as on "Teeth of the Hydra" and "Bounty Hunter".  Their sound is melodic, yet heavy, with doom-laden riffs that are played at a much faster pace.  Think Trouble on speed.  There are some slower tracks, keeping some variety in the release.  Vocalist J.D. Kimball has a rich tenor that he uses to terrific effect and matches well with the soaring solos herein. 

Omen fits in well with the early U.S. power metal scene, sounding similar to groups like Manilla Road, and even Manowar.  Their sound is melodic, yet powerful, and it is clear why this band was so influential on the burgeoning genre.  Unfortunately, vocalist Kimball would leave the band after this album and they were in for some rough years.  But their early work is terrific.

Dream Tröll: Second to None (2019)

Dream Tröll is one of my favorite bands that I have discovered this year.  That is mostly based on the strength of The Witch's Curse EP, though their first full-length, The Knight of Rebellion, is a fantastic release as well.  So, of course I was excited about their new release.

The first four songs on this release are awesome, and insanely catchy.  The choruses in "Steel Winged Warrior", "I Will Not Die Today" and "Chrome Skull Viper" in particular are absolute ear-worms.  Where the songs really succeed is in their ability to combine power metal with 1980's style arena rock.  And the infectious hooks and choruses are just a part of that.  This combination is particularly prevalent on "Checkmate...Annihilate!" which has several moments, such as the climax, that would make Van Halen proud.  The song genuinely starts off sounding like Bon Jovi.

The album is driven by incredibly strong performances on guitar, vocals and keyboards.  Dream Tröll comes damn close to synth-rock in several places and there are multiple shredding keyboard solos.  If that is what you would call such an instrumentally-proficient solo. 

If there are any negatives, the major one would be that the album is quite long and some of the songs tend to overstay their welcome.  "Chrome Skull Viper" is a great song, but it could have easily been just a four or five minute song, instead of the over seven minutes that it lasts.  The chorus repeats more often than it really needs to.  The only other quibble is that after the awesome first half, the second half kind of disappoints.  The best songs are all on the first half and could have been placed in a better sequence.  But these are fairly minor quibbles.

This is the third release I have picked up from Dream Tröll this year and each one has been very impressive.  I still do not think that it quite matches the incredible EP that I mentioned before, but I do like it better than the debut full-length.  This is a band that I am vowing to follow as they continue to put out music. 

Gamma Ray: Land of the Free (1995)

A few weeks back I reviewed a tribute album to German power metal masters Gamma Ray which featured a number of up and coming groups from the genres of heavy, doom and power metal.  I was familiar with Gamma Ray, but had only checked out one album by the band previously.  Most of that was due to the difficulty in tracking down the older, more highly regarded albums.  Even the one I had (Somewhere Out in Space) was expensive.  But I was blown away by one song in particular off of that tribute album and I decided to see if I could track down the album it appeared on.  This is that album.

The song I was referring to is "Rebellion in Dreamland" and it is the first song on this album.  The cover was pretty damn good, but the original is so much better.  Seriously, this is a power metal masterpiece.  It is extremely dynamic, going through a number of musical sections, but it remains at an extremely high quality throughout.  It is one of the catchier power metal songs I have ever heard, and that is truly saying something.  This song is absolutely terrific.  It is very hard to top.

Unfortunately Gamma Ray is never able to quite match the bar they set on the opening track, but that does not mean that this album is a letdown, far from it.  In fact, this is probably one of the finest examples of a power metal album out there.  There are a number of great songs on the rest of the album, including "Man on a Mission", the title track, "Abyss of the Void" and "Salvation's Calling".  The music is generally fast-paced power metal that clearly resembles the type of music Kai Hansen was writing with his previous band Helloween.  And if this album sounds a lot like Helloween's Walls of Jericho, well there is a reason for that.  Hansen sings on this album, just as he did on Helloween's aforementioned debut.  So we have Hansen writing the music and singing.

There are very few weak moments on the entire album.  I will point out that "Fairytale" is so short as to be mostly irrelevant and "Farewell" tries hard to be Gamma Ray's version of Blind Guardian's "Bard's Song", but mostly fails.  And finally "Time to Break Free", which features Helloween's Michael Kiske, ironically the singer who replaced Hansen in Helloween, comes across a little clumsy.

This album is an absolutely essential power metal album, and should be held in the same esteem as albums like Walls of Jericho, both Keeper of the Seven Keys albums and Tales from the Twilight World.  It is an absolutely incredible album from start to finish, even if it never really comes close to matching "Rebellion in Dreamland".

Dream Tröll: The Knight of Rebellion (2017)

After I loved The Witch's Curse so much, it was only a matter of time before I picked up some of the other material by the Leeds-based band Dream Tröll.  I started with the band's debut album which was released the prior year. 

First of all, let's talk about the album cover.  Now, I could be wrong (though I seldom am), but I am pretty sure the band basically adapted an image from He-Man for that cover.  In fact, having been a huge fan when I was young, I am almost positive that is what we are looking at.  He-Man holding up the Power Sword in front of the Castle Greyskull.  So, that is pretty damn awesome.

Now onto the music.  Honestly, after The Witch's Curse, I was slightly disappointed with this release.  I was kind of hoping all of the band's albums would basically be a rock/metal opera, and that was not the case with this album.  These are much more straightforward power/heavy metal songs and they do not appear to tell a cohesive story.  There are moments where the theatricality appears, particularly in "A Fairy's Tale", which features a few moments of spoken-word narration. 

My disappointment in the lack of story-telling notwithstanding, the album is quite good.  It is mostly slower to mid-paced, lengthier songs with a lot of melody.  The vocals and the lead guitar mostly compete for attention.  The choruses are infectious as hell, particularly on "Velvet Drawbridge" and "Lost in the Pages".  They are not to the same level as those on The Witch's Curse, but they are damn good in their own right.

This album has been growing on me since picking it up.  It is not what I expected, but the album is still very good.  I will still be exploring the music of Dream Tröll, even if The Witch's Curse is more of the exception, rather than the rule.

Dream Tröll: The Witch's Curse (2018)

I fucking LOVE this EP.  Honestly, I have probably listened to this EP more than any other album in my collection since I picked it up.  It is absolutely an incredible listen, musically and lyrically.  There is a theatricality about it as well that calls to mind the concept albums by groups like King Diamond and others.

The EP tells the story of a witch's curse and the battle of one man to free his beloved from the effects of the curse.  The characters are Cyrian, the protagonist who is sent to kill his father Enki in order to lift the curse.  But Enki, after a protracted battle, decides he will not kill his son and decides to lift the curse instead.  And so Cyrian returns to the witch's lair in order to reclaim his beloved Isabella.  It is an incredibly detailed and ambitious story and shocking that it is something original written by the band.  It is also not finally resolved, leaving open the possibility that a sequel could be coming.

Musically, Dream Tröll's sound on this one is a style of heavy metal that has influences from power metal and doom metal.  There are frequent guitar solos and keyboard lines as well as gang vocals.  There is a lot going on musically here, but it is the storytelling that is really the key to this release.  I mentioned the theatricality previously.  The vocals are delivered in different styles depending on the character's point of view.

I fell for this EP the first time I heard it and that has not lessened ever since.  I have checked out Dream Tröll's other releases.  Unfortunately, those releases, while quite good in their own rights, are missing the theatricality and story-telling that is present on this one.  They are much more typical power metal releases while this one skirts the line with hard rock.  This is one of the greatest rock opera concept albums metal has seen in quite some time.

Iced Earth: The Dark Saga (1996)

That's Spawn on the cover isn't it?  I am no big comic book fan, and certainly not of most superheroes, but even I can recognize Spawn when I see him.  The major reason for that is that I have actually seen the live-action movie with Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen and John Leguizamo.  It was bad.  The name of the album does not really give much away, but listening to the album it becomes pretty clear that this is a concept album revolving around the Spawn comic storyline.  At least I am pretty sure, based on my limited knowledge.

Well, let's not waste any more time talking about the concept.  It is what it is and I have no problem with an album covering that storyline.  It is admittedly somewhat compelling.  Let's talk instead about Iced Earth, a band I have enjoyed for something like 20 years.  Yet, I have not done much looking into their works prior to Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is an album I love.  Recently, I picked up second album Night of the Stormrider, but the Iced Earth on that album bears only a passing resemblance even to this album.  The biggest change is the inclusion of vocalist Matt Barlow who joined for Burnt Offerings, the album preceding this one and the most popular vocalist of Iced Earth's tenure.  His rough-edged, deeper-voiced vocals fit well with bandleader Jon Schaeffer's Iron Maiden-esque galloping riffing style.  That style is in fairly short supply on this album however, which is kind of odd.

This album really feels like one drawn-out song with very little variance in the riffing or vocal styles.  Most of the songs are somewhat mid-paced with crunching riffs and Barlow's captivating vocals.  There is one ballad on the release that stands out quite a bit because of how different it is to the rest of the album.  It is really the storyline that drives this album moreso than the music.  Schaeffer sought more to create a cohesive story with music to match than to write anything groundbreaking musically.  Thus, the album comes across as cinematic, but not terribly interesting from a musical standpoint.

Ultimately, I would not recommend this album to someone looking at getting into Iced Earth.  There are some interesting ideas present, but it is not overly representative of the band's general musical style.  I like the album and Barlow's vocals are great, if a little overwrought, but a lot of the other elements that I have come to expect in an Iced Earth album are simply not present.  I am curious to know what Spawn fans think about it though.

Tad Morose: A Mended Rhyme (1997)

Several years ago, I checked out an album by Swedish power metal band Tad Morose called Modus Vivendi.  Simply put, I loved it.  I have always had a difficult time finding new, decent power metal bands.  Obviously there are the well-known leaders in the genre, groups like Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica and others, but as a whole, the genre can be difficult to find other bands that are not too cheesy and overwrought.  So it was a welcome discovery to find Tad Morose.  Unfortunately, it took until just recently for me to find another album by the band.

Unfortunately, this album just is not doing it for me at this time.  I am hoping that this album is just taking some time to sink in.  There are definitely elements to this album that I love, but there are some things that I do not care for as well.  It is an earlier album in Tad Morose's discography and it is possible the band was still finding themselves.  It was their third album and it is apparently a transition album as it is the first one with Urban Breed on vocals and the riffs are generally heavier.  So maybe it is just an album where the ideas were there but the execution was not.

Let's start with the things that I love.  Breed's vocals are incredible.  He has a stunning, melodic voice that can hit some high notes and then can take a harder, gruffer edge as well.  The keyboard melodies are also quite impressive and the songs that rely on them for the primary melodic lines are generally the better songs on the album, such as opener "Circuit Vision" and the title track.  And finally, I really appreciate the song "Goddess of Chaos" which is directly about Alien, my favorite movie of all time.

And now for the primary thing I do not care for.  The heavier riffs are not terribly interesting most of the time.  Tad Morose does not break any new ground, which is fine, but most of the riffs here are rather pedestrian.  They cover that well with the use of keyboards and Breed's vocals, but there are times ("But Angels Shine") where there is nothing concealing the unoriginal riffing.

So there are good moments and bad moments, but the truth is that this is a bit of an uneven release.  It pales in comparison to Modus Vivendi.  It is possible that it will grow on me as I have liked it more and more with each successive listen. 

Running Wild: Under Jolly Roger (1987)

It took me a long time to discover Running Wild's music.  I had always heard about them of course, the German band is a major influence in the power and speed metal genres.  Running Wild is often mentioned in the same breath as Blind Guardian and Helloween when discussing the origins of power metal.  But so much of their material was hard to find and out of print, so it took a long time to find anything.  That started to change last year and this is now the third album by Running Wild in my collection, joining Death or Glory and Blazon Stone.  This is also the earliest of the albums in my collection and was one of my primary targets when I began looking into Running Wild's music.

This album may be Running Wild's first to take on the pirate theme that the band would become well-known for.  I could be wrong about that, but it is certainly when the theme became the most obvious.  This is obviously different than groups like Alestorm, who take the pirate theme to the next level, but Running Wild did have a strong lyrical theme about pirates.  It showed through in the title track here which also featured various sound effects to sound like cannon blasts.

The songs are here are melodic, yet heavy and catchy as all hell.  There are a number of fist-pumping choruses that make the listener stand up and take notice, including the obvious "Raise Your Fist" and then "Beggar's Night" and "Raw Ride".  The riffs take obvious influence from the likes of Accept, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and there are some incredibly impressive galloping guitar solos as well.  The guitars are of course the major drawing card on this album, but the rhythm section shines through as well and is a bit of an underrated part of the band.  The vocals are delivered in kind of a sneering snarl, but are still quite melodic and powerful.

I am still in the process of discovering Running Wild, but this is my favorite album to date.  It packs a punch while retaining an infectious melodic sound.  The pirate theme is not all-consuming at this point, as only a couple of songs deal with pirates.  It is an interesting theme, and at the time was definitely unusual.  This album is a lot of fun and is influential for a very good reason.  This is a great example of what power metal from Europe used to sound like, back when "power" was the operative word.  I will be continuing to explore Running Wild in the future, I have a long way to go.

Nightwish: Wishmaster (2000)

Ah, this takes me back.  In my college days I was kind of obsessed with highly melodic bands with female lead singers.  It started with Evanescence, who my girlfriend at the time really liked, and then built into groups like Tristania, Leaves' Eyes, Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil.  Of course the most famous band fitting that description is Nightwish, who was a particular favorite.  These were in the days when Tarja Tarunen was still the singer.  I had a couple of the band's albums but then grew out of the phase and have only occasionally revisited those albums.

Recently I decided to revisit one of Nightwish's earlier albums because I heard a couple of songs kind of randomly and remembered how much I once enjoyed the band.  Nightwish always stuck out from the legion of similar bands.  For one thing, there was the beautiful, operatic vocals of Tarunen, someone who is clearly well-trained.  This influence was particularly obvious on Century Child's cover of "Phantom of the Opera".  Secondly, there is the music.  Nightwish is quite plainly a power metal band, one with significant symphonic influences, but it is not hard to imagine a group like Sonata Arctica playing the same type of music.  Most of the other bands have generally had a much more mainstream sound, almost rock, instead of the clear power metal sound of Nightwish. 

Wishmaster is one of Nightwish's most highly-regarded albums and was a pretty good bet for the one I would check out if I wanted to rediscover the band.  The album actually pre-dates everything I have heard from them.  That being said, it is still the band's third album and their sound was fully-formed.  The music here is generally fast-paced power metal that would fit in well on an album by any European power metal band.  It is melodic and bombastic with some impressive riffing, terrific solos and a lot of keyboard melodies.  Generally, the music is even better on this release than on their subsequent ones, most likely due to the fact that the band was still pretty far from hitting any sort of mainstream popularity which resulted in a streamlining of their sound.  Songs like "She is My Sin" and the title track are pretty much guaranteed to get stuck in the head.  Then, there's "Crownless", and holy hell this is an amazing track.  With lightning-fast keyboard melodies and riffs, this song stands out as one of the band's best songs of their career, much less just this album.

Of course no discussion of Nightwish would be complete without discussing the vocals.  Tarunen has an amazing voice with a multiple octave range and is able to do some truly impressive vocal gymnastics.  She can easily go from a whisper to a high-pitched howl in the very next note.  She is terrific on this release.

I really think this album has supplanted Century Child as my favorite Nightwish album.  Does that mean I am going to get back into this band?  Probably not to the same degree.  I do appreciate their ability to play true power metal better than most bands who hopped on the bandwagon of placing a beautiful woman in front of the mic to make some money, but this is still music I really have to be in the mood for.  But just maybe that mood will strike me a little more often.

Eternity's End: The Fire Within (2016)

I have been covering a lot of bands that inhabit the darker corners of heavy metal recently.  Brutal thrash metal bands like Blood Feast, filthy and Satanic death metal bands like Vital Remains, cold black metal bands like Uada, etc.  Of course there are much more melodic styles of metal, such as power metal.  Unfortunately, finding decent new power metal bands is not nearly as easy for reasons that have never been quite clear to me.  Maybe it's just me though.  It is somewhat telling that in the last year, the only power metal bands I have covered were Sonata Arctica and Visigoth.  Only Visigoth is relatively recently-formed.

One day I was able to find some decent power metal recommendations from someone and went about trying to find the releases.  Which leads me to German group Eternity's End.  Germany has always been one of the leading exports of power metal from the very beginning.  After all, Helloween, Running Wild and Blind Guardian were all born in Germany.  Eternity's End play a very fast-paced style of power metal.  The best reference points are probably the bombastic melodies of Dragonforce, mixed with the pop sensibilities of Firewind, and the progressive tendencies of Symphony X all thrown together in a blender. 

Eternity's End is something of a supergroup.  The guitarist is Christian Münzner who has previously served with groups like Defeated Sanity, Necrophagist and Obscura.  Sort of odd to find a tech death metal guitarist in a power metal band, sure, but he is fantastic on this release.  Most of the other members have also spent time in similar groups.  Yet these technical death metal musicians make it work.  The biggest impact of these members is in the virtuosic riff work and solos.  Münzner absolutely shreds throughout the entire release.  There are some damn good keyboard solos as well.

The songs throughout are damn impressive.  They are catchy as all hell with terrific hooks and shredding guitar work.  The lyrical content is typical fare for the genre.  Fantasy themes ("Demonblade" and "Twilight Warrior") fit in alongside horror literature ("The Dark Tower" and "the Fall of the House of Usher") and glorious warfare ("Eagle Divine").  So yeah, the album definitely has the typical power metal cheese factor, but when the music is this damn good, it is very easy to overlook.

This is one of the best power metal albums over the last several years.  All of the musicians are absolutely top-notch and the songwriting is extremely impressive as well.  These songs really stick with the listener long after the album is over.  Power metal is probably one of the most difficult metal genres to really get right, but this collection of technical death metal musicians pull it off.  Eternity's End did release another album last year, but I have not yet checked it out.  It will be interesting to see what this band decides to do in the future.

Sonata Artica: Ecliptica (1999)

Silence, Sonata Arctica's sophomore full-length album, probably ranks as one of my favorite power metal albums of all time.  I do not have any kind of true list, but it is one that I come back to again and again.  Unfortunately, I have only been able to track down a couple of other albums from the band, Unia and Stones Grow Her Name, neither of which come even close to the quality of Silence, particularly the latter album which was a massive disappointment.  I figured if I wanted something close to the sound of Silence I should go for albums closer temporally.  And so, as soon as I could find the debut for a reasonable price (and not the re-recorded version which is almost certainly terrible), I decided to go for it.

Sonata Arctica is a highly melodic power metal band from Finland whose songs often tell interesting stories that can often be heart-wrenching.  Their focus is on crafting strong melodies rather than aggression and use powerful vocals and frequent piano/keyboards to supplement the guitar riffs.  Silence caught my attention mostly through some of the high octane songs like "Wolf & Raven" and "False News Travels Fast" and the keyboard-driven "Black Sheep".  That was what I was looking for in delving into this release.

This album is a lot closer to what I was looking for in an album by Sonata Arctica.  It is a very good example of European power metal.  Sure it is cheesy as hell and there is a reason that European power metal is derogatively referred to as "flower metal".  The album is bright and cheery-sounding most of the time, though with a few of the heart-breaking ballads, such as "Letter to Dana", that caught my attention in the other album.  Most of the songs are still fast-paced with wailing vocals, strong melodies and infectious hooks.

Sonata Arctica were still clearly finding themselves with this album.  A lot of the elements present in Silence are here, but it is a work in progress.  The songs are generally shorter, and as a result, the album is shorter too.  The band utilizes the neoclassical keyboard runs and traditional metal riffs.  Tony Kakko's stunning vocals are on full display as well.  All of those elements would become a part of the band's sound that made their next album so great, but they are just not as fleshed out here.  And there is no song that quite reaches the extreme speed of the great songs from the next album.  Not to say there are not some faster tracks, just not to the same extent.  Closing track "Destruction Preventer" definitely has moments where it comes close to the speed of "Wolf & Raven" though.

But despite these differences, this is a truly epic debut album.  It is an incredibly strong example of European power metal done right.  It comes close to the majesty of the follow-up album and if I had heard this one first, I would have been even more blown away by it.  Just because the band improved on the formulas found here, absolutely does not mean that this is inferior. 

Visigoth: Conqueror's Oath (2018)

I had heard rave reviews about this album from the time that it was released, but I did not really pay much attention to the hype for quite some time.  I considered checking it out if I came across it, but that simply never happened.  Then, on the Metal Archives forum Best Album of 2018 vote, this album came out on top.  At that point, I figured I had to at least give it a shot.  After all, my Album of the Year was also the Metal Archives Album of the Year in 2016 and 2017 (Vektor and Power Trip).

Well this album is definitely damn good.  Visigoth is a power/heavy metal band from that well-known metal hot bed of Salt Lake City, Utah.  Hopefully my sarcasm came across.  Nothing says metal like a whole bunch of Mormons.  Kidding.  I have no idea if the group are Mormons or not, and Salt Lake City actually does not have THAT many Mormons anyway.  Also, apparently they do not like being called Mormons.  And now, I am WAY off track.

So anyway, there are some terrific songs on this album.  Visigoth performs a style similar to groups like Manilla Road and Grand Magus.  Of course Grand Magus is one of my favorite bands these days so I am on board here.  The songs are mostly short and mid-paced, but they are melodic and infectious as all hell.  A lot of bands strive hard to achieve the type of sound that Visigoth seems to achieve effortlessly.

Of particular note on the album is the song "Salt City", obviously an homage to the band's home town.  It is also one of the best songs on the album, with an incredibly catchy chorus.  The band sounds like they are having a great time on the song too.  This should become the city's new theme song.

I definitely understand the hype for this album.  It would not have made my top spot, but it probably would have been in the Top Five.

Excalion: Dream Alive (2017)

I have been inundated with power metal submissions lately.  Mostly that is due to Scarlet Records being fairly well-known for its power metal releases and they are one of the labels that sends me the most stuff.  This has been a little difficult for me, because power metal is not one of the subgenres that I am well-versed in.  But I am not going to argue.

Like Cryonic Temple and Cellador, Excalion has released their first album this year in several years.  Excalion's hiatus dates back to 2010.  Excalion is a Finnish power metal band.  The most well-known Finnish power metal bands are Nightwish, Battlelore, Battle Beast, Wintersun, and Children of Bodom.  So those were the reference points for me going in.  Which proved to be absolutely worthless, because Excalion does not sound like any of them.  Instead their sound is much more of an epic, bombastic power metal sound more similar to groups like Sonata Arctica.  That works for me.  I have made my affinity for early Sonata Arctica very clear on this page.

The songs are typically driven by keyboard melodies, with rhythmic riffs played underneath the melodies.  The music tends to not be terribly aggressive.  It is much more melodic.  The highlight throughout is the impressive vocal abilities of singer Marcus Lång.

The first three tracks are mid-paced, and while they are certainly impressive, they are ultimately a little forgettable.  However, the fourth and fifth songs kick things up a notch and instantly grab the listener's attention.  Excalion seems to be one of those bands, like the aforementioned Sonata Arctica, that does their best work when playing at faster speeds.  As the album continues, some of this energy is lost and the music suffers somewhat as a result.  The band does kick things back into gear for the last few tracks.

This is an extremely impressive album when Excalion is speeding through songs.  The slower songs are undoubtedly played well, but just do not have quite the same effect as the faster-paced songs.  It may lack some of the aggression and intensity of other power metal albums, but it is very impressive musically.

Cryonic Temple: Into the Glorious Battle (2017)

Everything about this, musically, lyrically, and thematically, reminds me of Sabaton.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, exactly the opposite in fact.  I really enjoy Sabaton, ever since seeing them opening up for Trivium last Fall.  They put on one of the more impressive live performances I have seen.  I am not saying Cryonic Temple copied Sabaton; I do not know enough about either band's history to know how they got to this point.  I do know that Cryonic Temple actually has been around for a few years longer than Sabaton.  But having an album title like Into the Glorious Battle, songs like "Mighty Eagle", and being a power metal band, the comparisons are obviously there.  Now, I will try to complete the rest of the review without mentioning Sabaton again.  Hopefully.

The album starts off with a light keyboard melody, complete with air-raid sirens, that sounds very much like the introductions that Sabaton (dammit) uses.  It then builds into the first real song of the album, "Man of a Thousand Faces".  Most of the songs are fast-paced, energetic songs driven by epic-sounding keyboard and guitar riffs, and featuring some very impressive clean singing and infectious choruses.  Helloween is the most logical reference point for the band's influence.  Many of the songs are about warfare, just like Sabaton (shit).

There is the occasional slower song on this album, such as "Heroes of the Day" and "This War is Useless", which helps to keep things interesting, making the album much more dynamic.  The slower songs are where vocalist Mattias Lillja really shines.  "This War is Useless" really takes a conflicting view from many of the other songs which are principally about the glories of warfare.  The real highlight on the album is the stupidly catchy "Can't Stop the Heat", which latches on and refuses to let go.

Cryonic Temple have created an insanely catchy, and mostly upbeat melodic power metal album here, mostly about the glory of warfare.  Just like Sabaton (fuck it, I'm out).        

Verscythe: A Time Will Come (2013)

Bands have been progressively adopting sounds that were mostly popular in the 1980's these days.  Much of that has been groups trying to recreate the Bay Area thrash metal sound.  Every once in awhile, a group comes along aiming at a slightly different target.  Verscythe is a group whose sound is rooted in 1980's heavy and power metal.  But this is not the European style, this is real American-style power metal.

The band that Verscythe reminds me of the most is a little-known group called Lethal.  Much of the reason for that is the higher-pitched, plaintive vocal style of Justin St. Pierre.  His vocals really drive the band forward with their air raid siren quality.  He has an impressive vocal range and the ability to hit some astonishing high notes.

Musically, Verscythe is melodic and powerful with some Maiden-esque dual guitar melodies.  They are not as progressive as the aforementioned Lethal, but it is still uplifting and infectious metal.  The guitarists complement the galloping riffs with blazing solos.  Almost all of the songs roll along at a brisk pace but are performed exceptionally well for a band that plays as fast as Verscythe.  They do slow things down at times to prove that they are a multidimensional band, as skilled at playing fast and heavy as they are at slow and melodic.

The only misstep is the ballad "Wednesday's Rain" which comes off sounding like the kind of song Warrant or Extreme would have written.  It comes off a little cheesy and insincere.  The kind of song written just to gain female fans and some radio play.  That is certainly not a problem with anything else on the album.

This is an impressive release from a new band.  While this is not likely a style that will gain them a ton of fans, it should be able to foster a devoted following.

FMA: Satan's Host: Virgin Sails (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

I love Satan's Host. I have made absolutely no secret of that over the years. Their last full-length of original material nabbed the top spot on my end of the year best albums list. I even enjoyed a lot of their black metal material when their Satanic lyrics and image were overwhelming. Of course Patrick Evil's stunning guitar work was the star attraction, as it has always been throughout the band's history. Their blackened power metal style of their last album is still my favorite. So I was pretty excited when Satan's Host released a new album.

This is the long-running evil Colorado band's second album since Leviathan Thisiren, aka Harry Conklin of Jag Panzer, returned to the band for the first time since their 1987 EP. His return had brought back a clean vocal style instead of the blackened rasp of former vocalist L.C.F. Elixir. This change in vocal style brought a significant amount of attention back to the band, even though their black metal material was actually pretty strong.

This album is a continuation of the blackened power metal sound that reared its head on Satan's Host's last album. There is still definitely some black/death metal style riffing that can be heard on occasion, hearkening back to the band's older material before the return of Conklin. Every once in awhile, I expected a song similar to their re-recorded album. But the band would quickly return to the more traditional metal style in both riffs and vocals.

Of course the real stars on this album, as with the last album, are guitarist Patrick Evil and Conklin. Evil's songwriting and riffs continue to be top-notch. He is definitely at the top of his game, even in his 50's. He does a terrific job of combining traditional-sounding riffs with much heavier blackened-death riffing style. What results is an album that is powerful and yet extremely dark. He also throws in some impressive solos.

Conklin's voice is as strong as it has ever been. His soaring wails and harsher backup vocals during call-and-response moments truly drive this album. Conklin is easily one of the more underrated vocalists in metal as his work in Jag Panzer and on this album can attest. Even more impressive is the fact that this is likely his best work.

Satan's Host has definitely continued their excellent string of albums. The only knock is that this album does not have one truly standout track on it. It does not have a "Fallen Angel" like the last one did. But it is an overall excellent release.