Well, thanks to a couple of things so far, it looks like 2010 is off to an entertaining start!
First, Christine shocks the hell out of me by actually LIKING and recommending a symphonic metal band to me. If I haven’t already told you guys, her and I butt heads so much on music tastes that we often end up listening to music via headphones around the house. Unfortunate, but it’s a workaround. Anyways, the band is called Delain and I bought their album immediately after she played a few samples. Very good stuff, with just enough of a commercial sound to appeal to more of the masses. And the singer has got such a phenomenal voice! The music is also progressive enough, with at least a couple of key changes in their songs. Here’s the video for their single “April Rain”
The second cool piece of entertainment was the finale of the Doctor Who: The End Of Time two-parter that finished off the seasonal specials after the 4th season. This finale was totally unexpected, and the ending was so touching, it made me cry. I’m a softie for stuff like that. David Tennant gives up his role as the 10th Doctor with pure style and heart, and Matt Smith picks up the torch as the 11th Doctor with some of the weirdness we saw from David Tennant’s beginnings, but more manic. I won’t say any more. You’ll have to see for yourself!
So, two very entertaining and cool things for me this year so far… I can’t wait to see what else 2010 has in store for us! Cheers!
P.S. – Just got news after planning this blog entry that my beloved pet, Beavis, whom my parents have has since I moved away, died today. I’ll write about this tomorrow.
Well, I couldn’t think of anything really important to write about. I do have some ideas, but none have come to fruition yet. So, desperate times call for… yep, you guessed it; a music blog entry! It never fails, because music is always a good subject of discussion. However, I’m gonna keep this simple and just give a top 20 list of my most-played songs as of this month. I’ll try to link these to Last.fm samples so my readers can have a listen. Let’s dive in…
(*)This version of “Popcorn” is not really by Kraftwerk. I’ve tried researching the cover artist and narrowed it down to a couple of people. Any more info that anyone has would be greatly appreciated.
To the readers: What are a few of your most played songs lately? What’s you’re all-time favorite songs? (if you can limit it to a few; If not, don’t worry about it! )
Ok, I remember some time ago that I talked about Theocracy’s self-titled debut album. I was so impressed with that album and the genius behind it, Matt Smith, that it was one of the very few physical CD’s that I ordered that year. (Most of the time, I buy downloads) What was so impressive was the quality of songwriting, instrumental ability, vocals and recording that was done by just one man. Later on, Matt kept his fans in the loop on album number two’s progress and gained a few talented bandmates. I thought, “If he was able to do the first album by himself, imagine what would happen if he had a complete band!”
Well, last October, I didn’t have to wonder any longer. Before vacation, I got the leaked version of Mirror Of Souls from a torrent site. That put some icing on my vacation, especially when, listening to it on the plane, my jaw dropped a few times. Most new pieces of music don’t elicit that kind of reaction from me. Yes, it’s that good!! Matt certainly learned a lot from the first album (kick ass as it was) and thoughtfully applied that knowledge to this one. I’m telling all dear readers, if you’re into some hard-hitting, yet progressive, epic-sounding fresh and exciting metal… then look no further. I’ve bought/downloaded albums and songs from many artists last year, and this is the one that most impressed me.
Before I break down the tracks, I’ll tell you why I waited so long to write this (besides the fact that I was lazy. Still am!). I wanted to buy the album and give the band full due; I even went so far as to buy the Japanese import for the bonus track. A consumer review is worthless if the product isn’t bought, ya know!
Tower Of Ashes – Much like the last album, this song starts Mirror Of Souls off with a small, majestic keyboard passage that transforms, first into acoustic guitar, and then into crunching riffs with bass and drums. Then they go into double-time with the main theme, breaking afterwards with a very original-sounding vocal opening and way-cool accompanying riff. You’ll have to hear it to understand. The rest of the song gives you a hint of the complexity you’ll find throughout the rest of the album. The ending is a bit cheesy with the instrument crescendo, though the song itself is an awesome start to the album!
On Eagle’s Wings – This is the first song the band featured on its MySpace page. Probably the one song that would be the most “listener-friendly”. Interesting use of a talk box in the beginning but, when I heard the early version of the song, I liked that one better without the talk box. Sounded cleaner. Nonetheless, this song has some soaring moments and, all throughout, the pace doesn’t let up one bit.
Lay The Demon To Rest – If you want a song with face-ripping crunch, then listen to this! This is the closest that Theocracy has come to a thrash metal song, complete with blast-beat drumming from Shawn Benson and a awesome beginning scream from Matt Smith. I don’t know how he held the opening note for so long! There’s a part of the song where the band does gang vocals to complement Matt’s distorted bridge vocals, and it sounds fantastic.
Bethlehem – After the fury of the last song, we’re brought to the one true ballad on the album. If you couldn’t figure out that this is a Christian Metal band by now, then this song should be a dead giveaway. That being said, this is a beautiful song/hymn, perfect for Christmas or after (or even during) church service. The sing-along chorus and majestic choir vocals (and lyrics!) are what make this song so special. The change in style from the last song proves how versatile the band is in their songwriting and instrumental talent.
Absolution Day – Back to full-on ramming speed. This is one of the songs that I can’t get enough of. There’s simply too many good musical moments in this track; some of them were the ones that made my jaw drop! Simply an Epic / Progressive Metal song worthy of the genres. I love the power of one line towards the end, “Absolution for all who believe!!”. The ending is cool too .
Writings In The Sand – I only give this four stars because it didn’t quite grab me like the rest of the song do. It does deserve an extra half-star for continuing the fine musical standards that the rest of the album holds. It has a nice groove to it; a very progressive rock feel to the whole song in general, rounding out the album.
Martyr – I had to resist putting the title in caps. That’s how much I love this song. From beginning to end, this track just… flat… out… ROCKS!! I can’t emphasize it any more than that! Even the spanish guitar interlude near the ending chorus rocks. The only thing that takes away from the awesome feel (IMHO) is the repeating sweep-pick line towards the end. Otherwise, pure awesome!
Mirror Of Souls – This song clocks in at over 22 minutes long, but don’t let this deter you from listening. Think of it as three songs, since there are three distinct parts to it. The whole song is a story about the main character’s search for the truth about his existence. That’s all I’ll say, as I don’t want to spoil it. I will say that the ending of the story made me cry. That’s how good it is. As for the music, there’s so much good songwriting packed into this tour-de-force that it makes my head spin thinking about it too much. Even though it’s a long track, the music constantly evolves and shifts and there’s so many good moments… again, as with many other songs on the album, this is one you’ll have to hear for yourself instead of taking my word for it. As I said, the ending made me cry, as it has a beautiful ending and perfect finish to an awesome album.
Wages Of Sin (Japan edition bonus track) – The shortest song, at three and a half minutes, but very cool. Even though the band was rushed to record this, the same high standards were applied, and you can hear it well. The “The payment is made!!” chant somehow doesn’t get boring or tiresome, the way it’s done here!
Throughout the track review, I didn’t say much about the singing. That’s because the lead singing, choruses, choir vocals and even the gang vocals are immaculate. I’m not exaggerating. Matt Smith is not only the driving force of the band, he’s also the singer and a perfectionist in the studio. His vocal style is clean, with just a hint of grit, but very powerful and controlled. Most of the vocals are done by him, and he does a fantastic job. Below is a video he made in the studio detailing the process behind his choir vocal tracking for the song “Martyr”. What you hear towards the end is a taste of how meticulously the entire album is made.
Matt, Shawn, Jon and the others who made Mirror Of Souls possible, my congratulations to you. This album is pure awesome, I’ll enjoy it for years to come (just like the first album) and I can’t wait to hear the next album. By the way, Shawn’s drumming is excellent throughout the album; I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the “Best New Drummer” award in a few publications! To those reading this review, if you like metal… even if you’re not a Christian, you definitely should pick this one up. Don’t complain, just do it. Cheers!
Well, that multi-cultural and hyperkinetic extreme power metal band is back to have a go at kicking the tar out of our ears again. It seems like I just recovered from their last album, Inhuman Rampage, only to get a new aural assault when I least expect it.
This time around, I’ll have to compare Ultra Beatdown to their previous albums, since they’ve obviously grown by increments, if not leaps and bounds. If you haven’t heard anything by this band, I’d suggest one of their few anthemic ballads to start, as their speed in any other songs can be quite overwhelming when not expected. If you want, you can read my other reviews of their albums, Sonic Firestorm and Inhuman Rampage, to get an idea of what they sound like. This band plays fast, and even that is an understatement sometimes. One may wonder if they’re not going to be content until they break the land-speed record with their instruments! However, it’s not just speed for speed’s sake; they infuse that speed with their own style, and almost every song has a anthemic, over-the-top and epic feel to them. Because of that, many of their songs can sound the same… but only if you’re listening with half an ear! When you really listen, you can hear a complexity in their compositions that most listeners would ignore.
As I’ve stated, with this new album, the band does some more musical exploration and experimentation. Some of the songs have more of a progressive element, and they use changing tempos even more than ever. However, while I have no problem with softer interludes to make things more interesting, their use of interludes in a few of the songs was quite jarring and left me scratching my head. Otherwise, they’re definitely flexing some serious musical muscle, even compared to the last album…
Heroes Of Our Time – Starting off with a bang, as per usual. A good, catchy beat makes up a song for their first single and video. I like the change-up at :29! Very good opening showcasing what we can expect on the album.
The Fire Still Burns – I love the epic way this starts; I caught myself playing the intro over and over again. The bridge before the chorus just grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. The chorus is especially catchy. The interlude at 4:27 is good, but it almost threatens to derail the feel of the song because of how long it goes on. Thankfully, the band picks up the pace before it becomes unrecoverable. After the solo, there’s that cool “who-oh-ah-oh!” chant that the band is most famous for in quite a few of their songs. Only they can pull it off that well… and get away with doing it multiple times!
Reasons To Live – Here’s where the band shines! The beginning started off weird, but the band gets it back together early on. Right when the “Hold me, save me!” pre-chorus kicks is, they had me chanting along. The kickdown to half speed at 2:50 was rather jarring, but I can understand why they did it. There’s a brilliant part from 3:36 to 5:06 that they wanted to transition to, but did they have to suddenly drop the tempo to get to that point? The little touches that make many of their songs so special are evident, with an example being the wolf-whistling guitar at 5:06!
Heartbreak Armageddon – This is a track that I found myself playing the most so far. The chorus is just too catchy not to sing along! Dragonforce packs so much power in this song that I seriously believe they could light up a city the size of Chicago with this song. However, the interlude at 3:50 does the same thing as the one in The Fire Still Burns; it derails the overall feeling of the song and it takes a severe jolt from the band to get back up to speed. The rest of the song is just as brilliant as the beginning, and the ending made me forget about any previous musical transgressions!
The Last Journey Home – And now for something somewhat different! Dragonforce proves they can do… not just fast… not just slow… but an actual mid-tempo song! This is actually an enjoyable effort from them. Listening to it, for some reason, made me think of all the cool anime movies and shows I’ve ever seen. It just has that kind of feel to it. Of all the songs so far, this one has them flexing the most new musical muscles. (I’m not making a deal of the interlude in this song because it fits very well.)
A Flame For Freedom – And now we have the “typical” anthemic power ballad that Dragonforce has done something similar to on every album. Yes, nice break from the rest of the album. Yes, it’s beautiful sounding and makes you wanna hug your neighbor and hold a lighter in the air for all the fallen heroes. Nothing wrong with that. However… move along now, nothing interesting to see here.
Inside The Winter Storm – Back up to their usual speed now, this song just sounds so urgent and so much fire is poured into it and then, at 2:36… POW! What the heck happened?! This is the musical equivalent of, as Douglas Adams put it, “going from fourth gear to first, thus making your engine leap out of the hood in a rather ugly mess.” They pull out of it at around 3:16 and proceed to make the rest of the 8:12 song enjoyable. This is the one song, though, that a interlude like that just didn’t need to be there.
The Warrior Inside – An excellent song overall, with all the power, complexity, speed and conviction that only Dragonforce can throw together in their own patented formula. The piano at 3:46 is a nice touch and really doesn’t take away from the song, especially whey they can hold my interest with everything else going on. It wasn’t as abrupt as the interludes in the other songs I perhaps complained about. The chorus is especially catchy! They slow it down abruptly at 5:55, but this offers a nice closing to the song.
Bonus song – Strike Of The Ninja – Here, they do a bit of experimentation with their overall sound and song tempo/feel. The result is very enjoyable in this, compared to the rest of their songs, very short song!
Bonus song – Scars Of Yesterday – Here’s some more experimentation for us. They do some different things in this track, most notably an interlude that has a kind of new age-ish southwestern feel to it, along with a healthy dose of video game influence to keep the gamers in the audience happy.
All in all, I think this is still a great album to own. Not as awesome as Inhuman Rampage, but it still rates as an enjoyable listen for most metalheads with a thirst for power, speed, melody and style. I have this album and their two last albums in a playlist on my iPod, and it mixes so well with their other songs. I sometimes need a good Dragonforce marathon!
Mufan96, a Twitter friend of mine, wrote an intriguing tweet some time ago. He was blogging about who rules his iTunes library, and asked others on Twitter just who rules their libraries. I gave him a couple of answers that day. Recently, I was listening to the iPod and I thought back to that very question. I started going through my iTunes library, jotting down which bands had the most musical real estate in my library. The results are not too unusual, but a little surprising at the end and I thought it would make a cool blog entry. Well, let me take you, dear reader, by the hand and dive into the musical maelstrom…
1) Def Leppard (84 tracks)
— Most played track: “Dont Believe A Word” from Yeah!
— Most played album: Retroactive
— First album in my life: Pyromania
2) Megadeth (75 tracks)
— Most played track: “Blackmail The Universe” from The System Has Failed
— Most played album: Youthanasia
— First album in my life: So Far, So Good… So What!
3) Rush (73 tracks)
— Most played track: “Dreamline” from Roll The Bones
— Most played album: Signals
— First album in my life: Moving Pictures
4) Dream Theater (72 tracks)
— Most played track: “Constant Motion” from Systematic Chaos
— Most played album: Systematic Chaos
— First album in my life: Images And Words
5) Queensrÿche (46 tracks)
— Most played track: “Suite Sister Mary” (Operation: LIVEcrime version)
— Most played album: Operation: LIVEcrime
— First album in my life: Operation: Mindcrime
As you can see, I just touched on the top five in my collection. The real surprise was the sixth band on the list: Rammstein! The reason this German band has 45 tracks in my library is mainly due to my wife’s influence on some of my tastes. Rammstein, while putting out some brutal music, is also just as talented as the above bands and has some very intriguing songs. The first album I got from them was Sehnsucht, but my favorite album from them is their Reise, Reise album, where I got to hear them grow musically in so many ways between the two CD’s.
I’d like to hear from my commenters! Who rules YOUR music libraries? Go ahead and tell me, no matter how different your taste is from my own. I value our differences and I may even be introduced to some new stuff (well, new for me) that I might take a liking to.
First, Christine shocks the hell out of me by actually LIKING and recommending a symphonic metal band to me. If I haven’t already told you guys, her and I butt heads so much on music tastes that we often end up listening to music via headphones around the house. Unfortunate, but it’s a workaround. Anyways, the band is called Delain and I bought their album immediately after she played a few samples. Very good stuff, with just enough of a commercial sound to appeal to more of the masses. And the singer has got such a phenomenal voice! The music is also progressive enough, with at least a couple of key changes in their songs. Here’s the video for their single “April Rain”
The second cool piece of entertainment was the finale of the Doctor Who: The End Of Time two-parter that finished off the seasonal specials after the 4th season. This finale was totally unexpected, and the ending was so touching, it made me cry. I’m a softie for stuff like that. David Tennant gives up his role as the 10th Doctor with pure style and heart, and Matt Smith picks up the torch as the 11th Doctor with some of the weirdness we saw from David Tennant’s beginnings, but more manic. I won’t say any more. You’ll have to see for yourself! 
I’ll write about this tomorrow.
Tower Of Ashes – Much like the last album, this song starts Mirror Of Souls off with a small, majestic keyboard passage that transforms, first into acoustic guitar, and then into crunching riffs with bass and drums. Then they go into double-time with the main theme, breaking afterwards with a very original-sounding vocal opening and way-cool accompanying riff. You’ll have to hear it to understand. The rest of the song gives you a hint of the complexity you’ll find throughout the rest of the album. The ending is a bit cheesy with the instrument crescendo, though the song itself is an awesome start to the album!
On Eagle’s Wings – This is the first song the band featured on its MySpace page. Probably the one song that would be the most “listener-friendly”. Interesting use of a talk box in the beginning but, when I heard the early version of the song, I liked that one better without the talk box. Sounded cleaner. Nonetheless, this song has some soaring moments and, all throughout, the pace doesn’t let up one bit.
A Flame For Freedom – And now we have the “typical” anthemic power ballad that Dragonforce has done something similar to on every album. Yes, nice break from the rest of the album. Yes, it’s beautiful sounding and makes you wanna hug your neighbor and hold a lighter in the air for all the fallen heroes. Nothing wrong with that. However… move along now, nothing interesting to see here.
