Anniversary Series - 2019!

Here we are!  The very last Anniversary Article!  It's been a long five years, but it's been fun writing them all, even if I ended up just reviewing some albums for some of them.  And while this one will be more reviews, this one is a little different.  The blog has technically existed since 2017, but I really didn't start in earnest until late 2018, so 2019 is kind of the first major year for reviewing rock and metal.  As a consequence, this Anniversary Article will be a bit of a catch up on a handful of albums I didn't have a chance to listen to, or discovered to have come out this year.  

Smoulder - Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring

I featured a song from this album in one of my video articles, and while I've always liked it, I'm ashamed that it's taken this long to listen to the rest of the album.  Heavy/doom metal inspired by classic fantasy fiction is right up my alley, and while the album doesn't do anything original, it rolls along well enough.

Clearly I need to listen to epic doom metal more often, as the style's sense of storytelling and atmosphere really is unique.  As for Smoulder, they're par for the course, but they execute their ideas well and know how to mix it up by bringing in some faster tempos here and there.  Honestly, this sounds like if Dio-era Sabbath had a female vocalist and leaned more into Candlemass-style epicness.  Speaking of which, Sarah Ann's vocals are peak melodrama (in a good way), eager to share stories and battles of yore with a flair of haunted and ancient glory.  The production does feel very analog and dry, and I'm not sure if that was deliberate, or just a consequence of what was available to them.  Either way, it makes the songs feel like they came straight out of the 80s to be played along-side a classic AD&D campaign.

I don't know if there are any real standout moments, as the album is generally pretty consistent.  I do kind of wish the production was a little cleaner, but that's really just a nitpick.  While I don't know if this would have cracked the Top 5 for the year, I really should have listened to this back then when I first became aware of them, as it's quite a solid release.

The Dark Element - Songs the Night Sings

Here's another one I should have listened to back then as I was checking out the videos for this album.  Building upon what they established on their first album, Anette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen have worked out the kinks and leaned a little harder into gothic melodrama, making for quite a solid chunk of symphonic metal.

Right off, the songs may not seem all that much different from the previous album, or any other symphonic metal project, but I feel like the songwriting is stronger all around.  The trance-like elements are still around, but I think they're used better here, weaving them into the wall of sound as another part of the orchestrations.  I admit I'm not able to put my finger on a reason why, maybe it was just the mood I was in when I was listening to it, but I really do think this album is an improvement across the board.  The songs have a bit more variety as well, with some drifting into AOR or pop territory, while others get rather dark and somber, but they're all generally a good listen.  The only track that feels out of place is the closer "I Have to Go," which has this bluesy noir jazz tone, like a movie from the 1940s.  It's not bad on its own, but it is a weird way to end a symphonic metal album.

"Not Your Monster," the title track, and "The Pallbearer Walks Alone" are the best tracks (and coincidentally the ones I linked above), but the rest of the album is solid, telling their tales of failed romance and tragedy well.  With such a strong album, I'm surprised they haven't done anything more in the last five years, but I guess Anette and Jani have separately been working on other projects.  However, should they decide to come back together for a third album, I'll definitely check it out, especially if it's going to be more of this!

Gygax - High Fantasy

While their last album drifted into some very loose and fun blues rock, their third brings back the 70s metal sound of their debut, channeling Thin Lizzy and early Judas Priest.  Naturally, it's another set of solid rock/metal tunes dedicated to themes based on Dungeons & Dragons (in case if the band name didn't tip you off).

Despite the short length of the album, it's chock full of upbeat, rocking songs that feature plenty of tasty guitar solos and harmonies, once again provided by Bryant Throckmorton with newcomer Wes Wilson.  Once again, your mileage may vary, considering the overlap of classic rock and fantasy tropes, but fans of both should find something to enjoy on here.  Things start well with the opener "Light Bender," "Mirror Image" has more of a 70s rock song with some great guitar work, and "Spell Shaker" rocks with good energy and catchy melodies, but that describes the whole album really.  The title track which closes the album also throws in some very tight, epic vocal harmonies.

However, in the time since I last reviewed them, it seems they have broken up (at least according to the Metal Archives), which is a bit of a shame.  I understand that what Gygax was doing wasn't particularly original, but they had a fun blend of ideas.  I can't decide if I like High Fantasy more than their first album Critical Hits, but all three albums are worth checking out, especially for all the excellent guitar playing, as long as you can respect their tongue-in-cheek approach!

Warrior Path - Warrior Path

While I enjoyed their second album, I haven't gotten to their self-titled debut until now.  When finally listening to it, I was surprised to hear Yannis Papadopoulos (of Beast in Black fame) as the vocalist!  I did like most of Daniel Heiman's vocals on the second album, but I think Papadopoulos brings out a more Maiden-style epicness here.

Much of what I heard from their other album I'm hearing here: heavy/power metal melodrama, with occasional shifts in tone and tempo to make the songs more narrative and epic.  Many of the melodies, especially the basslines, make me think of Iron Maiden and Yannis is often channeling Bruce Dickinson himself.  However, the songs are quite a bit longer on this album, and unfortunately feel kinda repetitive, as sometimes they don't make use of the space well other than to riff around more.  That's not always a bad thing, but when it's on every song, it makes the album seem bloated.  Ending on two long, acoustic-heavy ballads doesn't really help things, either.

Overall, it's a decent album, but not really great.  The stand outs were "A Sinnersworld," which had a very 80s feel, like Pretty Maids, "Fight For Your Life," which is full-on energetic power metal, and the epic "The Path of the Warrior" has some interesting ideas, but is just too long for its own good.  I like Papadopoulos's vocals, but I think the songwriting is tighter on The Mad King, making it a slightly better album.  It's weird that there hasn't been anything from them since 2021, as this group has a very interesting style.  (And it seems they aren't on Spotify anymore, which isn't a good sign.)

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/