Merry Christmas! Here's a handful of reviews for your present! Seriously, though, this month has been a ride, catching up with all these albums. Here we've got a good mix of pop, power, and heavy metal, along with Vega's new release. Let's get into it!
Vega have been a pretty solid band when it comes to more melodic hard rock. Only Human was solid 80s anthemic cheese that I loved. Grit Your Teeth loosened things up a bit and let the band feel around a little more, which I liked, but Anarchy and Unity might have taken things a little too far. While I liked the early singles, now that I've listened to the album, this band has shifted slightly.
It's definitely a little strange compared to the previous two, as the keyboards seem to take a backseat to a more guitar-and-vocal focused approach. While the guitars are pretty thick and chunky, giving some great rock riffs, the song-writing and production felt much more modern. The comparisons I kept making was to anthemic alternative rock bands of the 2000s, like Daughtry, The Calling, and the Goo Goo Dolls.
That being said, there's some solid stuff on here. "Beautiful Lie" and "Sooner or Later" are a great start to the album, with big riffs and a great uptempo vibe. I also liked "Bring the Riot," which had a bit of a punk rock vibe. They also try to mix it up, such as the finger-snapping jazzy grove on "C'mon" and an interesting shift in the middle of "Live For Me," where it changes from a power ballad to a straight-up rocker for one very shreddy solo before dropping back into power ballad territory. "2Die4" is also a strange one, trying a few different dynamics than I'm used to for these guys.
To be honest, I think I'm a little disappointed. After I loved the other two so much, I guess maybe I got my hopes up. Perhaps I should take it as a sign that the band are trying to push themselves, and sometimes you have to stumble to really know what works and what doesn't. It's still a decent album, with a lot of anthemic rockers, but this had less of an impact on me, overall.
Victory started in the mid-80s, and despite getting an international hit or two, generally got overshadowed by other German bands like Scorpions and Accept. Herman Frank joined in 1986 and stayed with the band until they disbanded in the mid-90s. However, they reunited in 2003 with Frank, and the lineup has generally changed around him since then, including a lot of members from Frank's solo band. At first, I just thought he had joined a long-running band, but looking over the history, this has pretty much become another Herman Frank solo project in all but name. As such, the music bears a lot of similarities to Frank's solo albums, and to much of the classic German metal sound established by bands like Accept and Sinner.
Because of this, I was going in with the expectation of some solid riffing and rockin' vibe, and this album doesn't disappoint. If there is any difference between this and Frank's recent solo works, I think this is a little closer to 80s rock rather than metal, but it's a pretty subtle difference. Think AOR, but with a German metal vibe.
Honestly, though, it's not a major deal. While the album is a little long and there really isn't anything particularly new or innovative going on, it rocks pretty well, occasionally pushing into faster territory with songs like "Gods of Tomorrow," "Rising Force," and "Into the Light." "Love & Hate" and "On Fire" has a lot of classic Accept vibes, and the album never loses its classic metal energy. I think I actually like this more than Herman Frank's own album from earlier in the year. It will be interesting to compare the two as I prepare for my Top 5 of the year.
Crazy Lixx was one of the bands I discovered in 2019, quite enjoying their 80s pop metal style so much so that they crept into my Top 5 for that year! While I anticipated this one pretty deeply, I expected to get more of the same, and they certainly haven't disappointed.
Once again, we're deep in the style that made household names out of Def Leppard, Dokken, and Whitesnake. Full of big, cheesy anthems and arena rockers, these guys haven't lost a step in their 80s-drenched cinematic vibe. As usual, the uptempo tracks stand out to me, such as "Rise Above," and "Street Lethal." I also liked "Reach Out" and "One Fire - One Goal" with their AOR-heavy elements, and some tracks aren't afraid to get bluesy at times as well. The album ends with some longer songs, with the closer being a 7-minute epic "Thief in the Night," which a decent mid-tempo rocker with a more dramatic tone. I also noticed a greater presence of synthesizers on the album overall, though they're mostly used to give the tracks a bigger, AOR-like feel, a la Europe or Night Ranger.
While Forever Wild was a bit on the long side, this one is definitely tighter, with 2 of its 11 tracks being short instrumentals. That being said, there's plenty of variety, which makes the album feel like it uses its time well. I don't know if this one is better than the last one, but it's pretty dang close in quality. However, just as I said about the last album, this one proves that the glam/pop metal style is still relevant and worth listening to!
After being reminded that this band exists and enjoying their first album so much, I was excited for their follow up. While they retain their classic power metal style, they definitely shift their sound more, experimenting with a lot of different things. However, they seem to be at their best when they build upon the styles of Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica.
Right off, the album kick starts with some high-speed power metal with the great opener "Only Human." From there, the band really starts to try some things. "Wings of Salvation" has a symphonic tone in a 6/8 style, "Future Calls" features Kai Hansen and his son Tim so it has some strong Helloween elements, "The Land of Mystic Rites" pulls out some flutes and Latin folk vibes which made me think of classic Angra, and then "Midnight Bells" and "In the Name of God" were on the heavier side, the former making me think of Brainstorm or Primal Fear, and the latter having the bass-heavy grooves of Metalium. The closer is a symphonic outro that doesn't feature metal at all. It's a nice piece of music (making me think of symphonic Final Fantasy arrangements), but it is a bit of a strange ending. The rest of the album, however, stays in the Stratovarius zone, and I found I enjoyed those songs most of all.
Like I mentioned on an earlier article, their new vocalist Guilherme Hirose sounds a lot like Timo Kotipelto, and I wonder if that was a deliberate choice. The solos trade back and forth between the keyboards and the guitars, only strengthening the Stratovarius comparison. That's a good thing though, as classic Stratovarius is some of my favorite power metal, so I'm pleased to hear a new band write these kinds of songs. I think my favorite songs were "Future Calls" and "Only Human," and I thought the 11-minute epic "Nature's Revenge" was solid as well. Overall, though, I don't know if this album is better than the first one. I'd have to listen to them more to really decide. That being said, if you're looking for quite the smorgasbord of power metal, this album certainly delivers.
Well, that's the year wrapped up. While I know I didn't get to everything I could have, I think I hit all the releases that I wanted to, so I don't have many regrets. That being said, when I was looking over my charts, I found that I have listened to and reviewed 28 albums this year! I don't know if I've ever listened to that much new music within a calendar year! Figuring out my Top 5 is gonna be quite the challenge! We'll see what I decide when that comes out at the end of January.
I plan on having on more article before the end of the year, catching up on some new videos. Otherwise, I plan on having a cozy holiday week, and I hope you all have that as well. Until then, rock on! \m/
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