I'm getting to the end of this year's anniversary articles, and I have to admit, I'm realizing that I do have some serious gaps in my knowledge base. My playlist for 2012 is going to look very slim, so if you folks have some songs that you think belong, please let me know! However, I was able to check out a handful of albums from the year and give them a review to help fill things out. Let's get into it!
Kamelot - SilverthornAfter recording Poetry for the Poisoned, singer Roy Khan fell ill and later reported having become completely burned out, causing him to leave the music industry for a while. The band was able to get folks like Michael Eriksen and Fabio Lione to cover their tour dates, among many others, but for a permanent replacement, they ended up choosing Tommy Karevik of Seventh Wonder. At the time, I wasn't familiar with him, but I thought he was alright when they released the single for this album. Unfortunately, I never did get around to this album (or the two afterward), so this is my first time really giving this my attention. However, as I wasn't a fan of Kamelot's previous effort, but having since listened to Karevik on Seventh Wonder's second album, I had some high hopes going in, and they were mostly rewarded.
Silverthorn is a bit of a concept album, revolving around an original story of the accident death of a young girl and her twin brothers who were responsible. I don't know if the album itself really tells a story so much as it explores themes of death, grief, remorse, and betrayal. The result is a very dramatic album that pushes the band even further into symphonic territory. I will say that this is quite an improvement over Poetry for the Poisoned, as the songs have solid structures and never become jarring. However, the band does seem to continue their shift into more of a prog metal style. It's not bad, as the classic Kamelot sound does show up in a few places, and it feels like they've ironed out all the quirks from the previous albums to make for a solid set of symphonic metal pieces.
While Karevik isn't Roy Khan, he performs admirably here, giving the songs the dramatic heft they need. Thomas Youngblood's guitar work is a little all over the place, but is much better, and he has some great solos on "Torn" and "Silverthorn." The orchestral arrangements are as bombastic as they have ever been, at times bringing in a cinematic quality that sometimes goes a little to far. "Prodigal Son" in particular could have been shorter, as it feel like the opening was mainly ambience and organ., and the final piece "Continuum" is some instrumental fluff that had a hidden cello solo track for some reason. However, "Song for Jolee" was a nice, dark ballad, and the album flows together pretty well.
I feel kinda bad for ignoring this album over the past ten years, as this is such a step up from before. "Sacrimony," "Torn," "Silverthorn," and "Solitaire" were the stand-out tracks for me, as they still had dashes of the classic power metal I know the band is capable of. While I don't know how I feel about this shift in their style, as I do love the classic albums, but this gives me confidence that the band is still good, and makes me interested in the other two albums that I haven't heard yet. I'll probably get to them in the next year, so keep an eye out for those reviews in the future.
Lionville - III admit I mostly wanted to throw this on the article to try and break up all the metal on here (only to discover later on that this album isn't on Spoitify). While I have enjoyed some Lionville in the past, it's always tough to review this kind of music, and I said as much on my other two reviews. Still, I can't deny that appeal of some solid AOR, and Lionville certainly qualifies.
Their second album offers up much of the same as their first: some mid-tempo rockers, some ballads, all wrapped up in some nice, warm production that gives these songs a shiny polish. "Another Day" and "All This Time" had some good uplifting choruses, and I liked the keyboard noodling on "Higher." "Next To Me" and "One in a Million" were pretty fun tracks as well. It even has a decent ballad with "No Turning Back."
If there is a problem, the album might be a little on the long side, as it doesn't really offer much in the way of variety, making some of the songs bleed together in the mind, though it is pretty nice to having playing in the background as something to bob your head to. For fans of the genre, they'll find this satisfying, as Lionville are very representative of the modern AOR landscape.
Accept - StalingradAfter enjoying their 2010 comeback album a few years ago, I thought I would check out the follow up for this article. Unsurprisingly, they pick up right where they last left off, providing a solid slab of straight-ahead traditional metal. We all knew that would be the case when we saw the word "Accept" on the cover.
Things start of quite well with "Hung, Drawn, & Quartered," a great, uptempo opener establishes that the band remain as fierce and charged as ever. Things get a little darker for the title track and "Hellfire," things pick up again with "Flash to Bang Time" and "Revolution." "Shadow Soldiers" is a little more mellow and reverent, giving me some pretty big Sabaton vibes. I know Accept was doing songs about war and battles long before those Swedes, but it's neat to hear that kind of songwriting cycling back around.
Unfortunately, the second half of the album isn't quite as strong. It's still Accept, full of chunky riffs, melodic solos, and Tornillo's gritty vocals, but things don't seem quite as inspired. "Against the World" and "The Quick and the Dead" feel like the band is on autopilot. However, things pick up a little with the dark and doomy "The Galley," but even that one ends the album on this weird instrumental shift. It's a nice solo, but it seems to exist for its own sake at the end.
That being said, this is a good follow up to Blood of the Nations from two years prior, as it has plenty of the things Accept fans have come to know and love. Herman Frank and Wolf Hoffmann tear up their guitars with plenty of satisfying solos, and everything is very tight and well performed. Those who were happy to see the band come back in 2010 were probably satisfied with this one as well, and I feel much the same way. Accept proved the comeback wasn't a fluke, but that they were here to stay, and the metal world is better for it!
