Of course, I did have a handful of songs for my Spotify playlist before I made this decision, mostly stuff from Accept's Blood of the Nations, which I reviewed back in June. Such a great album! I've also threw in a handful of others, such as Grave Digger singing about Scottish Clans, a few tracks from Disturbed and a sludge metal band called Sonic Brew, and "Screaming Eagles" and a few others from Sabaton's Coat of Arms. Now on to the reviews!
Before they picked up synth-pop and were covering ABBA songs, Amberian Dawn was a more straight-forward symphonic power metal band whose first album I enjoyed very much. It felt like Stratovarius with Nightwish's orchestra behind them, and I still consider it one of the best power metal albums ever made. Their second one was more of the same, but not as strong, I think. And now I've picked up the third one for this anniversary article!
Right off, I notice a greater emphasis of classical styles in the orchestrations (including an entire non-metal symphonic track), which makes the songs sound much more dramatic. However, at the same time, I think there's too much emphasis on atmosphere and storytelling, resulting in less catchy and memorable songs. River of Tuoni had some really catchy choruses and riffs, but I haven't heard them make a comeback at all. The lyrics are also a little clunky, as the cadence and melodies don't seem to match very well. I know I've had similar problems with Dragonland and Rhapsody of Fire.
That's not to say this album is bad by any means. There's still plenty of epicness, and they do spice it up a bit by varying the tempo and the mood. For example, "Ghostly Echoes" has a more gothic tone, with some pretty chunky mid-tempo riffs and "War in Heaven" has a doom metal quality to it. The solos are also pretty solid, featuring some pretty high-speed fingerwork on both the guitars and keys. It's solid stuff, but I don't know if I could say there are any real stand-outs. (And, unfortunately, this album isn't on Spotify for some reason, so I can't include any of it in my playlist below!)
So after the members of Harem Scarem decided to break up and work on other things, singer Herry Hess worked with Frontiers Records to create First Signal, a band focused on that classic 80s AOR sound. I know I've featured a few of their more-recent tracks here, but I thought I'd listen to their debut for this anniversary article.
And it's a solid piece of work. There's a really good balance between the synths and guitars, without one dominating the other. Hess himself is great, as he definitely sounds comfortable and confident with this style of music. As is the case with these things, the songs are pretty predictable. A few rockers here, a few ballads there, some nice solos, nothing really explosive or experimental, but of course that isn't the intention. I'm sure it was a pleasant surprise for Harem Scarem fans at the time. I don't know if there is anything particularly amazing, though "This City" is a good opening track, and "Naked Desire" has a thicker crunch in its guitars that I liked. It's fun while it's on, making for some easy-going melodic rock.
Haken is another one of those bands where I had heard a lot of good things, but never got around to. So for this article, I thought I'd listen to their first full-length album, which happens to be a concept album about a mermaid who gets caught and shown around in a carnival, only to end up being the savior of the world from a massive flood.
Right off, this is definitely jazzier than most other prog metal bands, incorporating a lot of different sounds. I also had impressions of Evergrey, Dream Theater, Rush, The Flower Kings, and even Rick Wakeman. It's really a curious mix of jazz-fusion, prog rock, and metal, like a rock soup. That being said, none of it feels too jarring or schizophrenic, even when the calliope kicks on for some of the carnival parts. It also even throws in some harsh vocals for the first two songs, and I was kind of expecting more of those as they seemed to be representing narrative turns in the story.
As for that story, while certainly aiming for a melodramatic tragedy, some of the details feel a little out of order. For a moment, I wasn't sure if "Eternal Rain" should be before "Aquarius" in the timeline. Then again, maybe fixating on it misses the point, as much of the lyrics seem to settle on the abstract side, especially towards the end. I think the flood still happens, but the mermaid sacrifices her life so that her blood will force humanity to evolve so that they can live in the seas now. Maybe?
Anyways, it works for making some solid prog metal. Even for all the jarring shifts in tone within the songs, they all still seem to fit the story well, in their own way. Of course, they also allow ample opportunities for plenty of soloing and mixed-meter sections to show the band's skills, and they are quite talented. This is definitely an album I'll need to listen to a few more times to really unpack it, but first impressions are quite good.
Well, that was a little different. Hopefully I'll have more for 2010 when this cycle of years comes back in 2025. In the meantime, check out the playlist below and let me know what tracks you think I missed. Until then, rock on! \m/
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