I really hate way the term “female-fronted Symphonic Metal” is used currently. Not the genre itself, you understand, but the fact that bands or their management/PR feel constantly obliged to make the fact that one or more members of the band are in fact female the most important point that any potential listener needs to be aware of. Not say, the quality of the music, performance or songwriting. This has always felt like an over-compensation for decades of bias, which in this day and age should be completely unnecessary. The way to move on from that is to simply not draw attention to it and focus on the three pillars I just listed and their relative quality. Germany’s Xandria, fortunately have no need for any of this nonsense, and do just that.
And then there is the other challenge I have - that it’s now an insanely crowded market, and one in which only a very small number of bands have achieved a modicum of success, with a style that can be quite limiting in terms of originality. Given that they actually pre-date Nightwish (who are let’s face it the style that the many thousands of clone bands out there are trying, and often failing to emulate) again, Xandria have an edge, because if you literally are one of the true sub-genre pioneers (alongside Therion), then no-one can really accuse you of being a copycat.
That said they have not achieved anything like the same level of impact as either of those two acts, and a huge part of that challenge has been in maintaining a stable line-up. It’s triply hard when the majority of that churn takes place at the main mike stand, because the voice is often the most distinctive part of any act. I’ve read interviews with Tuomas Holopainen who has expressed his frustration that on the two occasions Nightwish have replaced their frontwoman that they’ve had to win over fans all over again, and there are one or two people I can think of who even now refuse to acknowledge anyone other than their particular favourite over the years as the true voice of that band. Xandria have this problem and then some, with no less than six lead singers having been in role since 1996 (seven if you count the fact that one of them came back for a short second stint). To be fair the changes elsewhere in the band have been significant, but it’s the signer the public associates most with a band, so changing your frontwoman is not something to be entered into lightly.
The Wonders Still Awaiting is the debut for the latest incumbent Ambre Vourvahis, and she wastes no time claiming the role as if she was both born to it and, in fact, had been doing it all of this time. OK, so for the a significant portion of the time there’s the usual Operatic clean style associated with the genre in play here, but just when you think that’s she’s a one trick player, she switches styles completely and throws in an extreme vocals style that Alissa White-Gluz would be proud of, or just some good old fashioned traditional gutsy metal rock n roll sounds. The challenge was recognising that those different sounds were all coming from the same larynx, because there’s an awful lot going on in on this record, with a 40-piece classical choir adding some very rich backing vocals (not to mention a guest turn from Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers), so I incorrectly assumed that these different styles were coming from different singers. That will teach me.
Musically this is also quite a dark and moody piece and way heavier than is normal for many symphonic acts, which again works brilliantly when Vourvahis throws in the growls to accompany the blast beats. With a lavish production job, this feels like an awful lot of time and money has been spent on the finished product, but as always with this genre you really need some time to unpick it all and appreciate that. They way the intense and extreme counterpoint with the choral is impressive, and not an easy trick to pull off, but if I have a criticism it’s the lack of a couple of catchy ‘everyman’ songs to hang the album on. Everything in here is quite meaty, and with the thirteen racks taking up and hour and a quarter of run time, it feels like a little pruning and trimming would have gone a long way. That’s a minor quibble though, as this is a rich piece of work that I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of in the limited time I have available. 8/10
STAHV - Simple Mercies (Independent Release) [Mark Young]
One of the best things about reviewing new releases is when I get sent a random pick of music to have a go at. It’s a great way to be exposed to new genre’s which has seen me listen to some absolute stormers in the last month and a bit. Tonight Matthew (see what I did there?) its STAHV with Simple Mercies, with 6 songs clocking in at 19 minutes. No idea what to expect, and I didn’t expect a cracker like this. Sometimes you want something softer to offset your death metal footprint and this is it.
It harks back to the 80’s but luckily ignores the cringy bits and goes for the best bands that this decade had to offer but is presented through a modern filter. This isn’t surprising when you investigate the band, which comprises a one-person act who previous bands shared stages with Sleep and Kyuss. The songs are both light and dark, heavy without the gain but are incredibly catchy. The keyword here is catchy.
Cold Caseis 80s, early synth, Gary Numan, Echo And The Bunnymen on the one side having a fight with later period QOTSA with melodies running through it and it is incredibly catchy. It’s almost as though it should have been released in summer. P vs. P continues with the theme of the 80’s but this time with a country and western twang underpinning it.
Love 4 Nothing has the QOSTA appreciation firmly on display here, it delivered in his goth-rock standard that evokes The Dammed. Its immediate and sits in the brain like all the best tunes do. Snake Key meanwhile has Police chord stabs with another cracking chorus. My Riddle Finger is up tempo and draws more from late 50’s Carl Perkins with Jonny Marr playing guitar for him. While Too Far Yo See comes through like Pink Floyd employing Monster Magnet to baby sit the kids with that spacey, echoed out vocal delivery.
The best is that none of the songs are overlong or overblown for that matter and suddenly the album finishes and it’s like it was too short. Maybe that was the plan just to put the best on this release and test the water. Its one of the best releases I’ve heard in a while and a good sign for me is that each track was individual from the one before. 8/10
Various Artists - Scrap Metal: Vol 2 (RidingEasy Records) [Rich Piva]
Riding Easy Records has me as a fan for life with the always awesome, super prolific Brown Acid Series that brings us lost proto gems from the late 60’s and 70’s and has never ever disappointed over the span of 15 volumes. Last year brought us their newest comp series, Scrap Metal, which brings us the same lost gem theme but this time focusing more on thrash and NWOBHM material.
Volume One was excellent, and you get more of the same from Volume Two, but I am not sure if this series has the legs the Brown Acid Series does where that series has maintained or even improved the quality over the 15 volumes, where with Scrap Metal you get more of the same quality for the most part but with a couple of questionable inclusions that make this not quite on par with Volume One but still worth multiple listens for the bangers that are present.
JJ’s Powerhouse opens us up with some serious Priest worship and it is a ripper indeed. Their track Running For The Line may be the best track on either volume, it is that good. Not sure what happened to them but I would have been all over a full record from JJ and the boys. Storm Queen’s Raising The Roof almost sounds like something off Too Fast For Love, production value and all. Fun track. Half Crue half NWOBHM.
It’s A Crime by Jameson Raid has some very early AC/DC vibes, but if they were socially conscious. Its one of the more interesting tracks on here. Motorhead if they were on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited comp is what you get from the A.R.C. track Homemade Wine, which is not one of my favourites but can see how some could dig it. The Raven by Metropolis starts out like an Ozzy solo song off one of the first two records before heading more towards something like early Saxon. Another cool track.
Prowler and their offering Temporary Insanity is some of that early Metallica vibes we got on Volume One, just not as good but still fun. Need Your Love is like really, really early Def Leppard or maybe Y&T without the production value. Dig it. Sidewinder by Black Rose is perfect NWOBHM and could hang with any of the bands from that era while Star Trippin is some serious, recorded in a garage attempt at early thrash which falls a bit flat. The most know band on here, Sorcery, brings us what is in the running for the best track, Whales, which is just excellent and rips in all of it’s early thrash glory.
The fun of these comps is to dive deep and look at the history of the bands on here which makes this review one tick higher than it may have been as I love this concept so much. Riding Easy rules and this comp, while not their best, is still super fun and worth your time for multiple spins. 8/10
Nothing Sacred - Leviathan EP (Rockshots Records) [James Jackson]
Nothing Sacred have a thrash inspired sound that at times has a more melodic groove to it, accompanied by a more heavy metal vocal style similar to that honed by the likes of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson.
Nothing Sacred have a thrash inspired sound that at times has a more melodic groove to it, accompanied by a more heavy metal vocal style similar to that honed by the likes of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson.
They’ve been around awhile, originally forming in the 80’s, enjoying quite the underground notoriety in their home country of Australia, releasing a number of albums and EP’s before disbanding to reappear during the 2010’s. Leviathan is their latest offering, consisting of five tracks and a remix.
First up is the title track, Leviathan, a typically anti establishment song that many a thrash band has sung, all in equal measure urging us to “take a stand”. It’s got some good hooks in there, that bounce from Thrash to the more Groove laden riffs their bio promises.
Second track Drone has the most infuriating intro, purely because it sounds like something else and I just can’t recall the song that to me, it seems to emulate; it’ll come to me but it’s distracting me from the rest of the song; for reasons unknown this track is also the one that’s remixed; Drone (Trance Remix) sits at the end of this EP and it really doesn’t differ too much from the original, literally the same with the addition of a few effects and minus the guitar solo.
Following tracks Guardian and the bizarrely titled SirMegma lyrically follow a Maiden like storytelling of Demons and Earth scorching battles, musically each is as I’ve come to expect, Thrash with a bit of melody thrown in to the mix. Sudden Death, a tale of duelling diesel heads and there are no surprises musically; vocally the kind of wails you associate with Bruce Dickinson are abundant but with less of an impact. It feels like an album that’s trying hard but just isn’t quite there yet, nothing really stands up and makes me want to give it another shot. 4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment