Did a review a few weeks back for Metal Army America that discussed Moonspell’s latest release, Alpha Noir/Omega White. Here is a quick caption:

MOONSPELL is possibly the most popular metal band to ever come out of Portugal, and one of the most popular to come out of the Iberian Peninsula. This release marks the band’s twentieth anniversary, and as a result the have put out several versions of their latest album Alpha Noir, one that contains a sister album called Omega White. When bands do things of this nature, you tend to receive a whole lot of filler, or similar sounding songs. Rest assured, both sound completely different, much to the chagrin of some fans. More on that in a second.

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Did a review a few weeks back for Metal Army America that discussed GOTTHARD’s latest release, Firebirth. Here is a quick caption:

Ok, so more than one person reading this site is going to say “why are they featuring GOTTHARD, who cares about them, they aren’t metal”. Well maybe they’re right based on what metal is in 2012, but this is a band that is extremely popular all over the world. They play all of the bigger festivals in Europe, and are the most successful act to hail from Switzerland. They are consistent chart toppers, having eleven straight number 1 albums, and selling millions of albums worldwide. How many “cult” or “pure” bands can do that? Are they more AOR than MASTODON? Yeah, you’re probably right with that assessment, but they aren’t exactly RHIANNA either!

Firebirth is their first release in three years, and the first after the tragic loss of their lead singer STEVE LEE.

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For those of you that missed it, I’m back at Metal Army America doing reviews, and interviews for them. Here is a link to the first one that I’ve put together, which covers Angelus Apatrida’s new album The Call.

Dream Theater
On The Backs Of Angels

As mentioned early this week, this single was conspicuously released the same day as Mike Portnoy’s Adrenaline Mob made their EP available. Now I’m not here to take sides, with anything that took place, and I want to mention that as a drummer I loved the audition footage that the band made available a few months back. I also thoroughly enjoyed Black Clouds and Silver linings and so I have attentively been waited to hear what the band does next.

If you’ve seen the aforementioned audition footage, you’ll have heard part of this track. My first impression is for as much as there was made out of these auditions, and as much as Mike Mangini’s incorporation has been talked up, his playing is buried in the mix. This to me a complete shame, especially after seeing his emotions pour out in his playing during the audition footage, and in his comments after being given the spot in the band.

Aside from that the track is very generic. It isn’t a bad track, but their last leadoff single Rite Of Passage had a certain energy about it, the mix, the various transitions, it got you pumped for the album, it made you want to hear the rest of the album. On The Backs Of Angels isn’t bad, the issue is we’ve heard all of this before by the band. The track really makes you conjure up all types of questions regarding the album, and band. Some people may ask why I gave Adrenaline Mob a “pass”, but to me it offers something different, something that at least to me is entertaining. This track is just ok, again, we’ve heard most of this already from the band, and you expect something big out of the box. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how the album shapes up, hopefully the full length has been mixed differently to make Mangini’s playing feel less contained.

Rated: C+

With regards to the Dream Theater versus Mike Portnoy issue, I understand what both parties have been trying to get across. Dream Theater has a core audience that the band wants to continue to satisfy. But be careful of you wish for. Will the band’s treatment of their audience be the same? Will they provide fans with a varying setlist as they have in the past? This made things very personal between the band and their fans, this made being a fan of the band “special”. Early indications are they that they will not, as their setlist has not varied all that much from one show to another on their current tour. Will this back fire on the band?

Dream Theater and their audience might have benefitted from the band talking a few years off. You can look at all of the bands Mike Portnoy mentioned (Motley Crue, Rage Against The Machine, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, etc.) but take a look at one specifically, as I feel they match up closest to DT’s audience. The band is Rush, after several years away the band is now bigger than ever, constantly doing well in a live environment, and even venturing over to Europe, something they haven’t done in ages. Saturation is not a good thing, and Dream Theater has been able to saturate the market, and their fans, with their presence. Their fans have allowed for this, due to the personal aspect I mention above, but this can all get shot to hell real fast if they are no longer going to go out of their way to give their fans what they want. Although some may see it as a detriment, not having any radio hits per say may actually benefit the band in the long haul. These are all just a bunch of hypothetical questions/points, we’ll have to see how it all plays out.

Tyr
The Lay Of Thrym

Every time I am provided material by a “Viking Metal” band, I can’t help but think of how hokey these sub-genres actually are. How does this vary from “Folk Metal”? What about “Pagan Metal”? “Celtic Metal”? The line is so blurred between a lot of these sub-genres that it further proves how dumb the need to put a label on something actually is. To boot, a lot of this doesn’t vary all that much from “Power Metal”!

This is the Austrian band’s 6th studio album. The musicianship on this album is outstanding, and is very much in line with what you’ve come to expect from any band that fits any of the sub-genres mentioned above. The album has everything you’d hope, anthemic choruses, battle inspired lyrics, polka like beats at times, plenty of double bass on other occasions, a plethora of arpeggios, some shredding, riffs any festival crowd will more than likely chant along to, etc.

Stand out tracks on the album include Flames of The Free, Shadow Of The Swastika, Take Your Tyrant, Fields Of Fallen and the closer/title track The Lay Of Thrym.

Although a lot bands have come out these past few years that offer this type of metal, Tyr is definitely ahead of the curb, and one of the only bands of this ilk that is worth more than a quick listen.

Rating: B

Evanescence
What You Want

Big Country called and they want their intro back! I know people are going to bitch about this not being metal, or hard rock. Certainly at the time that they released their breakthrough album The Fallen no one had made it big with their sound. Yes I realize bands like Lacuna Coil came first, but the Italian band has yet to release anything that has become remotely as big as that Evanescence album. What they do nowadays is a given as thousands of clones have sprouted up in the past ten years. But looking back in time they were the first band of their style to really make it doing this type of hard rock/metal.

By the time the Ben Moodyless follow up The Open Door came out five years ago, a lot of other bands has swallowed up a lot of the market Evanescence possessed. A lot of these bands are doing the same today, regurgitating songs that remotely sound like tracks off The Fallen. Couple that with the band needing to prove themselves to an extent, the constant bickering between singer Amy Lee and Moody, then the constant bickering between Lee and Seether frontman Shaun Morgan (who is the subject of the leadoff single Call Me When You’re Sober), things just soured for me really quick. I just want to hear some good music, could care less about their personal issues, and in my opinion the follow up missed that infectiousness, that it factor that The Fallen had. Maybe the lyrics where more personal, and the songs where more intricate, but they were far less entertaining for me.

Fast forward to this track, I honestly was not expecting anything from the band. I figured why not, let me listen and see, I’m not expecting much, so it really doesn’t matter if it is any good or not. The track surprised me, aside from the Big Country intro there are aspects of the song that make me think back to The Fallen, yet there are new aspects brought to the table, and that infectious chorus that was missing throughout The Open Door. What was also missing was Terrry Balsalmo’s giant riffs that made Cold such a radio rock stalwart years ago. They are here on this track. Maybe there was such a conscious effort to separate them from Moody that they neglected to realize what got them to the dance initially, or what made a certain member a valuable asset. I’m all for evolution, and change, and what not, but there comes a point where you just alienate the listening audience. That’s what The Open Door did to me.

I know this is just a small glimpse of the album. But it sure seems like a good step forward for the band. Check it out if you’re remotely a fan of the band, or any of the clones that sprouted up after them.

Rated: B+

Sister
Hated

Sweden’s Sister brings us their first full length album for Metal Blade Records called Hatred. It is amazing that while so many people have focused on the “Gothenburg Sound”, which offers a mix between death metal and NWOBHM, that a lot of people have not realized that bands similar to Sister have been alive and well in Sweeden all of these years. As a matter of fact, this movement has already been deemed NWOSSM or the New Wave Of Swedish Sleaze Metal.

Sister brings you a lot of the same sleeze rock/metal that was arguably most influenced by Hanoi Rocks, but made popular by 80s Sunset Strip bands. When listening to Hatred I could see direct parallels between this album, early Skid Row, L.A. Guns, and other bands that made it big towards the end of the 80s. Lead singer Jamie also sounds very similar to fellow Swede Tim Skold who although is best known for his work with Marilyn Manson and KMFDM, was once the lead singer and bass player in Shotgun Messiah.

Standout tracks for me include the first single and video Body Blow, Bullshit & Backstabbing, and the title track Hated. Although nothing new is brought to the table, the album is good, and is recommended to anyone that enjoys any of the bands mentioned above.

Although the album does contain an obligatory ballad, Would You Love A Creature, it is mostly filled with that same punk influenced hard rock that helped make some of those 80s albums I alluded to memorable. Nothing new is brought to the table on this album, but that does not take away from the fact that certain aspects are entertaining.

Grade: B-

Anthrax
The Devil You Know

Worship Music is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. Not only for me personally, but for the entire metal community. Till now things have been pretty tightlipped with the album, at least for a small fry like me! Although I had sort of heard the leadoff single Fight Em Till You Can’t a few years ago when Dan Nelson fronted Anthrax at the Kobetasonik festival, kudos to the band for making the material impossible to hear until said song was made available for free download a few weeks back.

As the release date of Worship Music approaches, I anxiously check my e-mail, and all of the pertinent label sites on a daily basis to see if additional content off of the album has been made available. No dice, so I actually went out and purchased the single once it became available on iTunes.

At first listen I recognized a riff I had seen Scott Ian playing on an album teaser. I thought, ok, let’s see how this progresses. To my surprise/delight, the track has a good mix of old, and new Anthrax. For everyone wanting this to be a 100% throwback to Spreading The Disease or Among The Living, this song isn’t that. It also has equal parts of the darkness of The Persistence Of Time, and Catharsis off of Volume 8 injected into the soul of the track.

For as much as we’ve all seen Lars Ulrich try to not play something “stock”, Charlie Benante once again proves that just following the norm isn’t his style. Gauging from the two tracks that have been released this could be the most anthemic Anthrax album to date. Although the track seems as if it was geared towards the aforementioned Nelson, Joey has managed to make this track his, something a lot of other singers would not have been able to do. His singing sounds reminiscent of The Persistence Of Time, which happens to be my favorite album by the original line up. Rob Caggiano’s solo on the track is possibly his strongest to date with the band. Frank Bello brings those classic backing vocals, and pummeling bass line to the mix, and what can be said about Mr. Ian’s right hand that hasn’t been brought up before.

The album is shaping up to be very strong and very worthy follow up to We’ve Come For You All. That said; let’s not forget Winston Wolf’s famous line. That said, this track really has me pumped for the release of Worship Music.

Rated: A+

Adrenaline Mob
Adrenaline Mob

Russell Allen alluded to the fact that he might be working with Mike Portnoy when I interviewed him late last year. A few days later it was announced that he, Mr. Portnoy and Mike Orlando would be working together. Most of the negative press that has come up is that these three individuals did not put a monster prog album out that will rival what Dream Theather is currently doing, the DT-Slayer if you will. I’m sure that would have been cool, but considering Allen is in Symphony X, recently worked on a Lande/Allen album, and was part of the latest Star One project, why add another prog project to the list? He also mentioned that they had something really cool/special in mind, and he hoped that it would all work out.

That it has, for as much as people (me included) ask for things to be original, different, etc., sometimes something much simpler, and straight to the point gets the point across better. This album, is heavy, has plenty of groove, and enough individualism that it all works, and does a good job at creating enough spaces to highlight each of the players talents.

Russell Allen who has really come into his own with this and the new Symphony X album, although he’s always been a powerhouse, 2011 has brought the best out of him. Another pleasant surprise was that Richard Ward is involved in the project, possibly the most underrated guitarist of his generation; he has constantly put his stamp, his vibe, his tone on everything he’s touched, this EP being no different. Paul DiLeo could be considered the unknown commodity of the group, but he comes across like a monster and fits in perfectly. Mike Orlando provides the right amount of spice to the mix, providing some blazing fretwork, and adds a completely different style to what Mr. Ward brings to the table. And Mike Portnoy? Everyone was waiting to see what he was going to bring to the table after leaving Dream Theater. Yes, I know he was with Avenged Sevenfold for a bit, but that wasn’t “his project”. People where waiting for “his new project”. Could he have gone hog wild on this to show what he’s capable of? Could have set out to put his old bandmates to shame? Yes, and yes, but would that of benefited the music? Seriously, what was he supposed to do, become the Vinnie Vincent of drumming? His playing is spot on, it is complex where it needs to be, and simple where the song calls for things to be straight forward.

The EP consists of five tracks, four original tracks, and the Black Sabbath cover, Mob Rules.

What’s important with this EP is that it works, it’s solid, and it’s entertaining. It could have been more complex, and it could have been boring and really sucked! But it doesn’t, and if this is any indication of the full length, well I can’t wait for it to come out.

Rated: A

On a side note, is it any coincidence that Dream Theater released their single On The Backs Of Angels the same day as the Adrenaline Mob EP? Hmmm, makes you wonder doesn’t it?

Arch Enemy
Khaos Legions

I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Arch Enemy, although I do appreciate their music, and have become accustomed to adding a song off each new album to my iPod/iPhone. I first started listening to them before Angela Grossow joined the band, and although she did add a new dimension to the band, I have usually gravitated towards other bands like Lamb Of God when wanting to listen to this type of metal. As a result I went into this album not expecting anything. As a result I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed the album.

Yesterday Is Dead And Gone is the token leadoff single which as mentioned above ends up on my iPod. The song is along the lines of other singles off of past albums, and although the song is good, it’s what you’ve come to expect from them. So again, I was thinking one and out. The band hasn’t grown much in a while, and perhaps that’s why this album has attracted me, because they take some chances. I’m also not referring to the covers on the album either. This perhaps has to do with The Root Of All Evil album, or the albums the Amott brothers have released outside of the band in recent years?

Tracks that got my attention include Bloodstrained Cross, Under Black Flags We March, No Gods, No Masters, City Of The Dead, Through The Eyes Of A Raven, Vengeance Is Mine and Secrets.

The album presents a melodic aspect to the band’s music, akin to things that you might have heard from Judas Priest or your typical power metalers. I’m not saying you have your typical keyboards, and sing along choruses, but they make these melodic aspects of music that I’m referring to fit.

It is a good album, their best since perhaps 2001’s Wages Of Sin.

Rated: B+