Catching Up with the Brothers of Metal!!

So this is a style of article I've been thinking about for quite some time.  It's sort of like a Discography Retrospective, but with bands where I don't know much (if anything) about them.   While I've featured a few videos of theirs before, I haven't really taken the dive into The Brothers of Metal or their material.  As this coincides with the release of their third album, I figured it was time to, well, get caught up!  Let's begin!

Prophecy of Ragnarök (2017)

Right off the bat, their sound is pretty iconic.  While they certainly have some heavy/power metal elements, similar to their country mates HammerFall and Sabaton, I think the biggest influence is Manowar, with the mid-tempo songs and over-the-top lyrics.  Not only do they go for epicness all the time, they are also not afraid to sing about themselves and how awesome they are.  Definitely cheesy and fun, while staying focused on Nordic mythology, the album is a treat.

Much of their epicness stems from some solid synth symphonics and a pretty regular 6/8 time signature.  If one didn't know better, this could have been the soundtrack to a very strange metal musical.  In any case, the whole band is on board with their over-the-top vision, and make some fun music along the way.  While all the performances are fine, their most iconic element is their blending of vocals.  Ylva Eriksson is a great female singer in her own right, but when joined by the gravelly bellows of Joakim Eriksson and Mats Nilsson, the trio give the songs an interesting and unique texture that matches well with the triumphant tones of the music.

In all honesty, this kind of niche stuff tends to be divisive.  Either you get it or you don't.  Fortunately, this clicks with me, largely because I can tell that they aren't taking themselves too seriously either.  I liked the title track and the epic power ballad "Yggdrasil," and the ending "We Believe in Metal" is a solid.  If you can get on the same wavelength as them and their niche approach to metal, you'll have a good time like I did.

Emblas Saga (2020)

Three years later and very little has changed.  The symphonic elements are stronger and more lush, but that only adds to their epicness.  I do think this is a better album than the first, mainly because the songwriting is a little tighter, but this really is just more cheesy, Norse-laden metal, and that's just fine by me.

At first, I thought this was going to be a concept album, starting with narration and discussing the evil seed of Loki, but as it goes on, the songs just wanders to other topics within the mythology.  It's not bad, just maybe a little misleading.  The music continues to shift between heavy and power metal styles with a poppy symphonic flair, with many anthemic choruses that are fun to sing along with.  If there is a concern, it's that some of the lyrics wander into the farcical, or maybe they're just a bit childish.  While most of them do well to tell the grand stories, references to the Loch Ness Monster, Marvel's Avengers, and MC Hammer definitely feel out of place.

Still, this is all pretty fun stuff.  "Powersnake," "Chain Breaker," and "Ride of the Valkyries," were stand outs for me on this one, mostly for their upbeat metal epicness.  The title track is also good, going through many different moods to discuss the creation of the world, starting with some mysterious Icelandic vocals before going full into soaring symphonic melodrama.  Overall, the album flows pretty well, showing that the band are maturing as songwriters and performers, which is why I think this is better than the first.  A solid follow-up that expands things to greater heights.

Fimbulvinter (2024)

And now we have the new album that released earlier this month.  The band carries on as one would expect, but with an even stronger emphasis on symphonic orchestrations and a few variations on their established style.

The album starts off with business as usual, featuring their over-the-top metal style in the first handful of tracks, with "Sowilo" being a solid mid-tempo opener, and "Giantslayer" shows the fun epicness they have always been capable of.  However, after that, the album starts to shift around.  "Blood Red Sky" blends heavy with folk music, making me think of The Hu, "Ratatosk" has this bouncy, musical-like quality to it, "Chasing Lights" gets very upbeat like Freedom Call, "Heavy Metal Viking" has them playing a bluesy hard rock song, "The Other Side of Odin" picks up some AOR vibes, especially in the chorus, "Berserkir" is where they really get heavy, and the closer "Fimbulvinter" has them channeling Rhapsody of Fire with a lot of cinematic flair.  Of course, none of this is jarring or feels too far outside their wheelhouse (except "Heavy Metal Viking").  The band really seem to be exploring the style to see what different kinds of songs they can do, with some pretty decent results.

The ones I liked were "Sowilo," "Giantslayer," "Blood Red Sky," "Chasing Lights," and "The Other Side of Odin," largely because they had the kind of majestic and storytelling that I like from symphonic metal.  The rest of the album is still plenty of fun ("Heavy Metal Viking" in particular has the band loosening up quite a bit), and while I don't know if it's better than their second (as it's pretty close to it), the album remains a solid offering to the gods and a good time for those who don't take their metal too seriously.

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So this was a pretty fun article.  Like the retrospectives, I don't know how often I'll do something like this, but I know there are plenty of bands that could use a comprehensive listen, so I imagine this will come back at some point.  As for the blog, I'm working on one more article for November, wrapping up the Anniversary Articles, and then I plan on listening to more releases in December.  Until then, rock on! \m/

Anniversary Series - 2014!

Alright, I think I'm starting to catch up.  When I get to these later years, it's hard to really say anything conclusive, as rock and metal have long since come their own way by this point.  So once again, I'll be reviewing some albums from this year to fill out the article, but be sure to check out the playlist below for some more solid tracks.  

IQ - The Road of Bones

Funny story: I've actually heard this album before.  I remember some prog rock sites highly praising this one, so I gave it a listen, and at the time, most of it just kinda went in one ear and out the other.  Except for "Until the End."  For some reason, that song stuck with me, and I've since listened to it several times.  With this anniversary article, I figured I should give the whole album another shot and really see how I feel, now that I have a better idea of the band's sound.  I've listened to a few of their albums before, including their debut, but I think this one stands out for its rich production and moody atmosphere.

Not to say that IQ was particularly peppy before, but this album really leans into a particular sense of darkness, letting it linger so that it can explored.  Much of the lyrics focusing on wrestling with some abstract concepts, though some of the songs shift into a more hopeful tone, often with the theme of reconciliation.  The band is quite tight, with no performance standing out so much as these songs show just how in sync they are with each other, and the album flows quite well as a consequence.  If there are any problems, it's the songs are so similar to each other that they do kind of blend together.  Sure, they have the dynamics of prog rock within the songs, going from soft to loud and somber to uplifting, but when it's that kind of thing song after song, and the vocal cadences don't vary too much, the album may be a struggle for those wanting more variety in the tones and ideas.  However, those who don't mind letting the music soak around them won't have a problem.

What the band really excels in, though, is interesting transitions, solid atmosphere, and many catchy melodic hooks.  If the album weren't quite so long, I'd say it would be a great starting point for someone getting into the genre.  The songs are all pretty good, even from the curious start with the samples from the classic 30s Dracula, through the epic "Without Walls," the fascinating combo of "Knucklehead" and "1312 Overture," to the fade out ending of "Hardcore."  However, I think the big stand outs are "Until the End", which I mentioned before, "Constellations," which is a good throwback to 80s prog, and "Ten Million Demons," with a pulsing synth bass reminding me of Pink Floyd's "One of The Days."  As usual with prog rock, I'll have to listen to it a few more times to really decide how I feel about it, but overall, this is a good (if long) album of moody prog rock songs that flow, drop, and build-up well, arranged into a satisfying journey.

Sabaton - Heroes

Wow, has it really been more than two years since I last talked about Sabaton?  To be fair, their last album was kinda lackluster, being just another chunk of songs about World War I with some novel elements.  However, they've been pretty busy with their concert film and will likely be working on a new album soon (if they aren't already).  In any case, this article gives me the opportunity to fill in another gap in their discography that I haven't listened to.  The novelty with this one is an emphasis on individuals rather than the great battles of World War 2.

It's business as usual for the band, as Joakim Brodén belts out the stories with his usual charisma.  Naturally the band backs him up with the usual amount of melodrama and bombast, with choirs kicking in from time to time for the big moments.  The songwriting doesn't deviate much from their typical heavy/power metal flair, though "The Ballad of Bull" falls a little flat as it's more of a piano-driven ballad.  This is the first album with newcomers Thobbe Englund and Chris Rörland on guitars and Hannes Van Dahl on drums who all perform admirably.

Honestly, even with the lineup changes, Sabaton is pretty consistent in their style and quality.  As usual, I found a few songs that stand out from the pack, particularly the first two songs "Night Witches" and "No Bullets Fly" which set the tone for the album pretty well, and "Resist and Bite," which is full of the heroic vigor this band does so well.  While some may scoff at their discography being the same thing over and over, those of us who don't mind a bit a cheese with our epicness know that this band delivers where it counts, and that's more than enough.

Accept - Blind Rage

Accept is another band I've been slowly working through.  This one is their third with Mark Torillo, and the last one to have Herman Frank on guitars who would go back to his solo work and other projects.  Unsurprisingly, it's another slab of old-school, traditional metal with solid modern production.

The album chugs along pretty nicely, shaking things up just enough with the tempos.  Things start off energetic with "Stampede," and are carried on with "200 Years" and the closer "Final Journey."  Meanwhile, they get slow and groove-driven with songs like "Dark Side of My Heart," "Fall of the Empire," and "Bloodbath Mastermind."  They even touch on power metal territory with "Trails of Tears."  However, I think the song that stands out the most is "Dying Breed," featuring slick 6/8 riffs and referencing a bunch of their influences.  It's a pretty consistent album from beginning to end.

However, Blind Rage isn't as strong as Blood of the Nations or Stalingrad.  I'm not really quite sure why I feel that way; maybe it's just that I'm getting used to their modern sound and so this album isn't doing anything that the other two already did.  Still, I'm sure to come back to this one (and the others) when I'm in the mood for some classic metal crunchiness.

Retro Reviews - October 2024!

For reasons outside the scope of this blog, I've been jamming a lot of albums from 1984 as they're celebrating a 40th Anniversary.  This includes a bunch of metal album debuts that I've never heard of before, so I figured I'd pull them together into another Retro Reviews article for fun!  Here's some of the stuff I've been checking out lately.

Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken

While this band is known for being pioneers of progressive metal, I've never really heard them before.  I get the impression that this album is not the best place to start, as even the band's guitarist is reportedly not a fan of this work.  From what I read, this was sort of a demo that got upgraded to an album, so it didn't get the polish it deserved. However, every band has to start somewhere, and this isn't necessarily a bad one, sitting in the space between NWOBHM and melodic thrash that defines so much of 80s US power metal.

I see a lot of folks say this sounds a lot like Iron Maiden, and I do hear it here and there, but the riffing and singing feels closer to Judas Priest to me (with a chunk of Metal Church for good measure).  The production is a little flat (perhaps because it was first a demo), but I can tell the performances are solid, and there is some decent guitar work in both the licks and solos.  The two instrumentals provide some variety, but they feel more like finger exercises than songs.  The dark fantasy and horror lyrics do come across as more cheesy than shocking, but otherwise, they're mostly fine, though sometimes it feels John Arch is rushing through them to get them to fit in the phrasing.  

I don't know if this is vital listening, as it is pretty standard stuff for the time, but it also doesn't make any real mistakes, either.  Fans of deeper classic metal cuts will probably dig it, but prog metal fans will likely see it as merely a stepping stone to what the band would become.  As for myself, I liked "Misfit" not only for having some good energy, but for telling an interesting story as well.  Overall, I'd say it's a cut above the standard for 1984, but not by much.

Armored Saint - March of the Saint

Another band I mainly know by reputation (and that singer John Bush joined Anthrax later), Armored Saint fall into that US Power Metal style that was really starting to build by this time.  

I read that the production was shinier than the band wanted, as the producer treated them as more of a glam band.  However, a chunk of this material wouldn't be out of place on Ratt first album, particularly the songs "Can U Deliver," "Seducer," "Envy," and the power balled "Take a Turn."  That doesn't mean the songs are bad, just not perhaps what I expected with cover art like that.  For what it's worth, the clean production makes the performances very clear, the band clearly have a lot of synergy, the guitars carry the energy well with their riffs and noodly licks, and the harmonies on John Bush's voice are great.  The title track is a good opener, starting with some Mussorgsky before into a metal anthem, "Munity on the World" has decent metal gallop, and "Glory Hunter" has some early-Manowar-like epicness.  

Overall, the album kinda falls into the cracks.  Too polished and catchy for the underground and too gritty and sleazy for mainstream.  However, solid performances and tight song-writing keep this one just above average, especially as the album improves quite a bit in the second half.  It certainly makes me curious about the rest of their albums, as I know they didn't pursue MTV-style success.  A good start, even if some of the songs are a bit forgettable.

Hexx - No Escape

At first, this may seem like another also-ran from a decade full of bands trying to make it big.  Hexx never did get much attention at the time, but this album turns out to be pretty satisfying.  Once again, it feels like a blend of glam (I thought of Ratt again) and US power metal, like Metal Church, but I feel like the songs are well-written and the band's performance is tight and solid.

While they would not have him for long, the singer Dennis Manzo actually reminds me of Joey Tempest from Europe, and I mean that in a good way.  He has a soaring quality that really elevates these songs.  They aren't bad, but perhaps average for the era, but the execution is spot on.

As for standout tracks, "Invader" has some very good energy, "The Other Side" sounds like something from a classic Dio album, and "Beware, the Darkness" gets into more of a story-telling vibe with the dynamics.  The rest of the album is solid, but it is quite short, barely clocking at over 30 minutes.  Still, I think it's a shame that this album didn't get more attention at the time as others did, but that makes it all the more unique of a find, I suppose.  Definitely a gem if you're a fan of old-school metal!