Well, this came out later than I was planning, though I did come down with some pretty serious colds. Hopefully I'm over those now and can work on what looks to be a busy year. I'm trying to get a better start on new releases this time, as there are some big ones right off, and because my retro listening is a bit different this time around. In any case, here's a trio of interesting metal albums to get things kicked off!
While I have covered Dream Theater a few times in the past, this one gets the notable return of Mike Portnoy to the fold. From there, they've crafted something of a thematic concept album, focused on various forms of sleep disorders (if the title wasn't a clue). This gives the album a darker feel that's more about mood and atmosphere than heaviness, necessarily. Still, all of the band members' skills remain on display, which I'm sure will delight their fans.
That darkness kicks in pretty quick with the opener "In the Arms of Morpheus," starting with some cinematic ambience before getting some ominous guitar picking, followed by some heavy riffing. It's an interesting intro, testing the rest of the album. From there, the darkness carries on, pretty much through the rest of the album. "Night Terror" feels like a carry over of the heavy parts from their last album, while "A Broken Man" feels like a throwback to their 90s era. "Dead Asleep" gets theatrical with the story telling, throwing in a blues-rocking jam for good measure, while "Midnight Messiah" gets thrashy, similar to Train of Thought (which I ought to review at some point). "Are We Dreaming" is more of an ambient piece that flows into the ballad "Bend the Clock," which features a really nice Pink Floyd segment at the end, allowing Petrucci lean more into his legato style. The album closes (once again) on a big number, "The Shadow Man Incident," which features the band's typical arrangement of styles and transitions, including a Latin rhythm section because why not? It's all performed well, with Portnoy getting plenty of time for some rapid fire drum fills to remind folks he's back.
However, I have this sinking feeling that I've heard it all before. Sure, they have an interesting theme that allows them to explore the darker side of their sound, but compared to the other albums I've listened to, it just feels like more of the same. Fans will be delighted to get an album they've been waiting for more than a decade for, and I do think it's not a bad album, in fact I enjoyed most of it. And yet, when it's over, very little stays with me. Maybe I need to give it a few more spins to let it really sink in (and perhaps the rest of their albums as well), but from my point of view, it's just another (certainly decent) Dream Theater album, just like all the rest.
Grave Digger is another one of those bands where I've seen them around, and enjoyed a song or two, but never seriously checked them out until now. I know they're a long standing German metal band that's had a weird history early on with name changes and break ups, but otherwise they seem to have been a pretty consistent band. Built on the foundation of bands like Accept and Saxon, they add some speed and a lot of metal clichés, but honestly, I wasn't expecting anything else.
Anything you'd think of when you think of German traditional metal is all here: gruff vocals, chunky guitar riffs, and plenty of energy. While I'm new to this band, I speculate this is all very much par-for-the-course for this band. The album starts up with two speed metal songs that go almost too fast for the band. It's a decent start, but then album drifts into more mid-tempo territory, with "Mirror of Hate" and "Riders of Doom" getting very stompy (in a good way). The speed picks up towards the end, with "Forever Evil & Buried Alive" featuring some solid energy. The album then closes on "Whispers of the Damned (The Banality of Evil)," which feels like a Metal Church style power ballad.
While this is all quite fun, the biggest issue is the production. I know it may be a strange way to describe it, but the songs feel narrow, somehow. Chris Boltendahl's vocals sometimes get buried (which is strange as he mixed and mastered the album himself). The lyrics are also a bit on the generic side, which is interesting, as I understand this band has covered more interesting topics in the past. Still, this is not a bad album by any means, as the riffing remains solid and chunky throughout. This album definitely falls under the category of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and that's just fine.
When I saw Beriedir had a new album, I was pretty intrigued. I liked their last one, as it has a lot of lush layering and interesting ideas, though it wasn't perfect. Still, I wanted to see what they would do this time around, only to discover that they had taken a pretty dramatic shift.
While much of their sound is still here, with the synths really filling a wall of sound not unlike other melodic prog metal bands, they have chosen to twist it up with a significant dose of classic Gothenburg melodic death metal. The vocals have both clean and harsh varieties, and the riffing definitely takes a more chaotic turn, resulting in some haphazard songwriting. I'm not sure what compelled them to add this to their sound, but they're clearly dedicated to it, as it shows up on nearly all the songs. The lyrics have also taken a level in pretentiousness, making references to Old Testament prophets and German Renaissance artists, among other things. The band is tight in their performances, even with some pretty jarring rhythms and time signature changes. I can't imagine this stuff would be easy to play live.
What I will say is that it is definitely not a boring listen. I may have been caught off guard by the inclusion of some extreme metal elements, but the songs were compelling nonetheless. I think I'm going to need to listen to this one a few more times to really wrap my head around what they're doing. Credit to them for at least throwing a wrench into their own sound just to see what they could do with it. If anyone is interested in a fusion of Evergrey and Wintersun, this album is definitely worth a listen.
