Blind Guardian - The God Machine (2022)

I consider myself a punctual person in general. I get the kids to the bus on time, I pick them up on time. If I'm coming for you, I'll be there on time. If you're picking ME up, I'm already waiting when you drive up to the curb. It's likely an obsessive compulsive thing for me, and just something I feel shows the proper amount of respect to other people, be they family or friends or acquaintances. I tell you this because Blind Guardian's 11th proper studio album The God Machine made me late for work. I'd heard a track or two in advance, of course, who hadn't? But I got the CD in the post before a shift, fired it up en route, and when I arrived at the parking lot, I just could not stop listening. I could not get up out of my seat, and promptly forgot where I was until I happened to see a customer wave to me out the rear view mirror. It was then I realized that, through the miracle of technology, I could actually stream the album OUTSIDE of my car and CD player.

But yeah, The God Machine is THAT fucking good. It totally encapsulated me with the charging fury of the unique Teutonic power metal machine, in a way that hadn't really happened for me since the 90s. Now, mind you, I like EVERY album that the band has ever produced, and there's nothing necessarily novel about this one if you've heard the rest, but it just kicked my ass over and over again and I felt a magic to the musicianship that might have been in slightly shorter supply on A Twist in the Myth, At the Edge of Time and Beyond the Red Mirror. The amazing Peter Mohrbacher artwork seemed to hint that there's a song here based on possibly kaiju or Evangelion or something, and even though that doesn't seem to the be the case, there are plenty of subjects here to nerd out about...Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive gets a tune. Great series. The Witcher novels. Good stuff! Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Fantastic. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss...well, that one started out pretty good until it devolved into the author's self-insert fantasies about shagging a fairy queen and a village of hot ninjas.

But I digress. It's all here...André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen's riffs are more inspired than they have been in forever, and what's more, they've's got a great, heavy tone on the rhythm tracks that really drives it all home, while you still get a lot of those popping, squealing little processed melodies, they just blend in better with the overall force of the production. Frederik's drumming is also fire, he's definitely one of those modern power metal drummers who can bring to bear the muscle of extreme metal, but also helps fill in all the gaps. Hansi doesn't sound he's aged a single day since the 90s, his throat still delivers that grittier personality which sounds like absolutely nobody else in his field. The leads are intense, the Queen-like choruses are as involved in their arrangement as you've always loved (another of their distinct features), and this is a 51 one minute album across which I skip absolutely nothing. All nine tracks have something to offer, whether it's the lyrical approach to their varied subjects, or the hooks around every corner, the tasty riffs waiting in the depths, or the freakout leads that catapult its magnificence into the stratosphere.

Even the slow jam, "Let It Be No More", which only gets heavy for a few seconds, is engrossing, with the scintillating acoustic guitars, backing vocals and a little of the orchestration left over from Hansi's total 2019 nerdfest Legacy of the Dark Lands. It's all as well-plotted as any of their previous albums, and Charlie Bauerfeind and company make sure to make this sound like one of the slickest power metal recordings this side of the millennium shift. This thing just explodes out of my car speakers, my PC speakers, my tinny little iPhone, and the surge of energy in "Blood of the Elves", "Deliver us From Evil", and "Damnation" takes complete control of me. The God Machine is not the most progressive of their albums, and it might not be the most ambitious either, but in 2022 when I heard this, it was exactly what I needed, and dozens of spins later I am proud to say it's become one of my favorites in the band's catalogue along with Imaginations and Nightfall in Middle-Earth. Worth being late for work, even, but just make sure you've got an alternate excuse when your boss listens to Taylor Swift and 90s butt rock and doesn't know the Guardian.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

https://www.blind-guardian.com/

Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side Live (2020)

Blind Guardian already has at least three live offerings that I can remember, all being good; 2003's Live probably remaining my favorite of them, but none of them a disappointment, and one of them, Live Beyond the Spheres being quite elaborate in all the history it covers from their discography. So I don't think the market was really chomping at the bit for another, but this is quite a popular band, so this and many more are inevitable. Also, this one has the distinction of being one of those 'played in full' performances, all the rage in recent years, though they've been around for decades. It's recorded in Germany, the band's home turf, and it's Imaginations from the Other Side, my second favorite Blind Guardian album. I'd have loved to see this myself, but I'm happy to settle with this just to hear what I was missing out on...

It's the whole shebang, all nine tracks, played in the order they appear on the studio version, sounding heavy and driven and pretty damn good, though there are a few nuances missing on the stage. For example, the volumes are often a little lopsided, with the rhythm guitar being pretty weak against the drums, vocals, effects, and leads, but it's still something you can make out well enough to support the songs and keep them thundering along. There's a hovering din of audience noise, and the effects like bells and such are amplified here, giving the whole affair a more vaulted effect than the more direct, balanced production of the original. Hansi does sound quite good, getting pretty aggressive and almost turning to extreme metal vocals in a few places, while the backing shouts also sound pretty energized. You'll also get your singalong moments that every Blind Guardian show needs as it goes dweeby, especially here with "A Past and Future Secret", and you can just hear all the lighters popping off (actually I have no idea if they allow for this in Germany but you get what I'm saying).

Hearing favorites like "The Script for My Requiem", "Another Holy War", "Born in a Mourning Hall" and especially the title track and "Bright Eyes", is all I really need to get put in a good mood, because I love this fucking band and that's not about to change even with a subpar live offering. Which this isn't, but I think of the four, if I were going on balance and quality alone, I might not choose it over the three others I've covered; but then, it's Imaginations from the Other Side, I get goosebumps hearing it, and it features a couple tunes that you're obviously not going to hear on all their live tours. Everything sounds adequate, as processed as you'd expect from their modern era, I just think such powerful songs need some more powerful rhythm guitars, but then in my head I already know how these tunes sprawl out so I was able to fill in some of those gaps inwardly. If you haven't heard this stuff, obviously get the studio disc immediately and study it meticulously, but this also isn't a bad introduction to how one of their shows just charges you up, although I've only seen them once in person. Thumbs, and lighters, up.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.blind-guardian.com/

Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra - Legacy of the Dark Lands (2019)

Legacy of the Dark Lands is a vanity project, perhaps misbranded under the Blind Guardian moniker, in which Hansi Kursch gets his fantasy nerdery on in an even more hardcore manner than he ever did with his mainstay. Granted, there's a pretty huge crossover audience for this stuff, with lots of Blind Guardian tunes devoted to various fictional universes, some of which probably brought new fans over to the band and to the power metal genre in general, so it's not all that unusual to tie this in with the band. There's also some orchestration involved with some of their heavier albums, but nowhere near this level of overt, pompous cheese. Hansi drafts up the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, who seem to appear on a lot of metal or metal adjacent works, and a whole slew of guest vocalists to join him in exploring his epic fantasy milieu, his 'Twilight Orchestra'. It even features narration!

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings this is not, but more of a serious if a bit generic fantasy saga like you'd find on a string of Rhapsody of Fire albums. It's certainly not intentionally stupid or silly, and there's a dark tone to the 24 tracks and 75 minutes, which range from intros and interludes, with the narrators telling the tale, to epic symphonic tracks in which Hansi flexes his pipes against the choir. If you enjoy opera or glorious Wagnerian compositions, these will probably have some appeal for you, between the calmer and whimsical flights and the sweltering belligerence. Despite the vocal presence, Kursch really lets the symphony itself shine, and they get in a lot of time and for my dollar many of the better moments on the album like "War Feeds War" and "In the Red Dwarf's Tower", the title of which does make me crack up, as much as I love the vertically stunted fantasy race in a number of IPs. The tunes have wonder, they have magnificence, they have conflict, and if you find some of the narration and chorus parts to be too dweeby or cringeworthy, you can always put on the instrumental side, which would be a far better accompaniment for your night of fiddling with your...Baldur's Gate 3, or as a soundtrack to your D&D session.

You MIGHT even hear a little of the reflection in how Hansi contributes to the Blind Guardian writing process, because there are more than a few points where I'm just imagining one of Olbrich's charging, squealing, processed guitar lines ringing out, and I was a little surprised that the tunes weren't more metalized, or that a version like that wasn't included on an extra disc. Some of the instruments and key tones (like in "Point of No Return") even feel like they might have appeared on A Twist in the Myth or something. There are also versions of this without the interludes, or an 'audio book' approach which I'm assuming must have more of the narration at the forefront with the music taking on a backing role. The production is pretty nice, and it's all pretty pro...the conductor is obviously great, as are most of the guest roles, a few of which are metal guys used to these sorts of massive projects. Does the music stir me as much as proper fantasy soundtrack? No, and it's not something I get absorbed into as much as Blind Guardian proper, but it's clearly a labor of love for Hansi and I don't mind an occasional spin.

Let's put it this way, if your inroads was "Sacred Worlds" and you dug the Sacred tie-in but thought the metal stuff was too heavy, this has your name written all over it. Otherwise, if you're a metalhead, just know what this is, and if you're not into the same sort of epic fantasy fiction and the hilarious pretentiousness of the whole thing, it's probably one to avoid at all cost.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.blind-guardian.com/

Metal Church - Congregation of Annihilation (2023)

Having now weathered the tragic passing of two of their most popular singers, Metal Church pressed on with the increasingly heavy and angry sound they had struck on the later Mike Howe records, once again flirting with a style we'd most associate with USPM, which they were both inspirational towards in their early years, and then ultimately found themselves embracing rather than watering down their sound as they often did throughout the 90s. Marc Lopes is brought on, another beast of a front man, who could embrace the style of David Wayne and Mike Howe quite well, while bringing his own spin on it. He'd already played on a bunch of the Ross the Boss records, which were impressive, and he slides right into the formula here; some have stated that this guy might be a little TOO over the top, and we'll get into that.

Congregation of Annihilation often sounds like Painkiller with David Wayne singing, and that can only be a good thing, brought out by a lot of the riffing patterns in tunes like opener "Another Judgement Day". They also do some heavier, chugging groove riffs to keep it a bit more modern and close to the belt, but for the most part this album has a lot of parallels to Priest of perhaps even some of the Halford solo stuff. Lopes doesn't sound quite the same as Rob, but he loves to inject a lot of one-line screams, so he's always bouncing back and forth between the mid-ranged, angrier pitch and then this shrill pitch which can often come across a little forced and tacky. That's not to say he isn't hitting the notes right, he is, if you've heard him with Ross then you know the guy has pipes, but it seems like he could have been managed better on a few of the tunes here so that that back & forth technique didn't feel so predictable; though to be fair, there are a couple screams he embeds in tunes like "Me the Nothing" which totally smash you. There's a natural feel to his voice that sometimes he's about to lose his breath or choke, but that's not always a bad thing. Otherwise, his middle range timbre is pretty awesome, certainly even trumping Howe in terms of viciousness, even if I don't quite like the voice as much as his predecessor. 

The rest of the band is just handing out a beating throughout so much of this, whether it's on the more obvious power metal thumpers or the most atmospheric pieces like "Me the Nothing" which sound more like an amped up, muscular take on the Tony Martin Sabbath years or maybe some Dio solo stuff. There's a good balance of bluesy, heavy grooves and thick palm muted passages which might not feel like some of their most creative material, but certainly propulsive and powerful, especially with the meaty studio punch giving by the mix. The drums are hammering along, the bass beefy and the leads are also pretty good here, although usually brief and not terribly adventurous. Though it's not perfect, this one definitely continues what for me is the strongest streak of Metal Church since the first two albums, and if they can rein in the vocals just a fraction, maybe get more ambitious with the leads and have a few more of the slower, atmospheric tunes to balance out the raging, we might still hear some magnum opus with this very same lineup.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://metalchurchofficial.com/

Metal Church - From the Vault (2020)

Fortunately for us all, there was a little more in store with Mike Howe at the helm before the tragic event of 2021. From the Vault is not your proper Metal Church record, it's more of a compilation, but unlike so many such releases that prove entirely useless, this one actually features some new material. And what new materia! One of the fresh studio pieces here, the opener "Dead on the Vine", is among my favorite tracks that the band had ever recorded, just scorching and extremely well produced. As potent and angry as anything off of Damned if You Do, but a little more polished in the direction of XI. The others new tunes like "For No Reason" or "Above the Madness" are a little more hard rocking and balanced in pace, but still really good and Mike's voice is just off the chains as it was a couple years before.

If this wasn't enough great unreleased material, you've also got some extra tunes from the Damned if You Do sessions, like the cruising and crunching headbanger "False Flag" or the acoustic instrumental "432hz" which is quite beautiful. You can hear why a few of these were clipped from the full-length, but these two at the very least were worthy, and the mix on these is certainly full studio quality if a bit drier in overall vibe than something like "Dead on the Vine". The cover songs included here are also recorded rather well, and slightly unique choices like Nazareth's "Please Don't Judas Me", which is solid if a little silly when Howe puts some goofy grit into some of the verse lines; the others actually sound a little better, like the more metalized "Green Eyed Lady", but here Mike's vocals also get a little cringe. It's not that he sounds bad, just that the edge and venom to his style is a little overbearing in this context...then again, there are some lines where he harmonizes in the latter that sound pretty awesome, and the leads in that one are also quite nice. There are ADDITIONAL tunes from the XI era like "The Enemy Mind" which is also pretty good, and some new mixes ("Killing Your Time", "Needle & Suture") which also feel pretty lethal, though some of this is only on the digital version or the vinyl box set, not the core CD/vinyl.

Because that's not enough of a fan package for your time and money, there are also a couple of live songs, and they sound pretty clear from Japan, but they don't quite match the energy of the studio material and that's probably just because of the particular tunes selected. Mike sounds alright but some of his higher pitched screams are a little much. Regardless, this is the worst that you're going to find on From the Vault, and it's a great complimentary tribute to the two prior studio full-lengths in terms of going back and celebrating Mike Howe's contributions when he rejoined the band. Had all the studio content here been mixed more fluidly as a third new studio effort with him, that might have been superior, there are a few distractions like covers or B-sides that don't live up to the rest, but overall this has at least an EP's worth of killer material that shouldn't disappoint you if you've enjoyed either of his tenure's with the band.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://metalchurchofficial.com/

Metal Church - Damned If You Do (2018)

XI might have benefited a bit from the 'look who's back' factor, but with Damned If You Do, Metal Church pull up their sleeves and put in the hard work with a record that sounds angrier, more confrontational, and decidedly more USPM than its forebears. In fact, this is one of the band's heaviest efforts to its day, due not only to the riffs and structures, but also Mike Howe had really settled back into his vocal role, and he dishes out one of his most vicious performances. It's this charisma and confidence that seeps through even the simpler of passages on the record, like the verses of "The Black Things" with their clean-tinted guitars, and makes even this track a beast. But he's not alone in this, because the guitars continue to spit out riffs that feel fresh for the band's catalogue, and this is clearly riding the wave of newfound creativity that the band had plunged itself into just a few years before.

That's not to say it's totally out of the ordinary for a veteran band that inhabits the hinges between heavy, power and thrash metal, but if you only had the first few Metal Church albums to go buy, you might not even think this was the same band outside of Howe's resemblance to David Wayne's style. These songs sound like the ravings of much younger men, brisk and savage yet still capable of integrating some more thoughtful uplifting melodies ("Revolution Underway"). The guitars and drums are really busy, and like a lot of their albums they've got a corpulent but cruise-controlled bass presence to support them. Leads aren't overly developed, they just sort of burn out bluesy progressions where appropriate, and in general I felt like this album wasn't as glossed up as XI was in the mix, so there's more of an appreciable level of power at their control. Just a little ugliness to complement the hostility and augment its authenticity. The record sounds great whether it's trotting along at a rapid pace ("Guillotine", "Out of Balance", "Into the Fold"), which it does ably and often, or if they chug along with a moderate headbanging ("Rot Away").

Damned if You Do is bittersweet, of course, because it would be Mike Howe's last record before taking his own life in 2021, which for an underground metal nerd like myself, who had been worshiping his work on Heretic's Breaking Point since that album came out over 30 years prior, was pretty devastating. For my money, though, he left us with one of his most intense records, easily the best I'd heart him sing on in all that time, and arguably his best technical performance, with a lot more catchy harmony hooks and screams than I might have expected from XI before it. This is one pissed off and effective record, and for my money the best Metal Church material outside of the first two discs. It might not achieve masterwork level, and let's face it, the band probably won't ever grace us with an Operation: Mindcrime, Hall of the Mountain King or Master of Puppets, but you can't ever question their persistence and loyalty to the genre that broke them...persistence that would outlive even the aforementioned tragedy.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://metalchurchofficial.com/

Metal Church - XI (2016)

It might not be the prevailing opinion, but Metal Church is a band that never quite amounted to much for me beyond their first two albums, both of which I consider, if not masterpieces, then classic American heavy metal records which have withstood the ravages of time quite fine on their own. Since that point, though I've struggled with so much of their output...it's very often adequate, but just never blowing me away as I would have liked if that initial trajectory held true. The original Mike Howe run, while decent, never impressed me as much as his work with power/thrash outfit Heretic on Breaking Point, but he certainly had that similar attack to David Wayne with the inherent edge and anger to his performance; the songs just were not there for me. So having him return to the lineup some 20+ years later seemed like it couldn't hurt, because they hadn't exactly been knocking it out of the park in the interim, why not give it another go with their second most popular frontman? 

I was pretty satisfied from the first singles, because the reunion definitely works out in their favor. This is not the stuff of the eponymous debut or my favorite, The Dark, but it's hard enough hitting where it needs to be, and the band in general sounds more fired up than on the albums leading to it. The riffs are fairly creative, at least within the band's own canon, and they try to incorporate a bit of a modern groove or edge with some of the palm muting parts that keep it from sounding too forcibly nostalgic. Mike sounds just like he left off, in fact I think his performance here is superior Blessing in Disguise, with that harrowing decay to his sustain that feels angry and unique. Not exactly melodic and never as screamy as he might have been when he was younger, but that character to his style is in full effect, and he still to its day sounded like the most natural successor to Wayne. It just helps a lot that he's supported here by songs from Vanherhoof and company that leave a little visceral impact, that show some effort where a few of the albums between the two Howe eras were slightly lethargic or phoned in. There is an enthusiasm and virility here across all instruments that seems to concur with Mike's return.

The production is super clean here, and though it doesn't necessarily do the material any favors, and if anything creates a drier atmosphere, audio purists will really love the clarity of the bass, the acoustics, the beats and vocals and who can blame them. These tunes don't always end up with the catchiest of chorus parts, but at least they are striving for that, culminating with "Killing Your Time", "Sky Falls In" and the lumbering "It Waits" with the cool effects, shining if minimalistic synth lines, and searing chorus line. But really, there's nothing I feel compelled to skip when I'm revisiting this one, all the material holds at least some modicum of consistency and quality, and I remember at the time being happier with XI than I had been with any of their other albums since 1986. I STILL feel that way, though I've overall cooled on the material slightly since it's release. A good Metal Church record, and a worthy reunion, with some explosive potential for moving forward.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://metalchurchofficial.com/

Annihilator - Waking the Fury (2002)

The best thing I can say about Waking the Fury is that the WORST thing I can say about Waking the Fury is that the cover is kind of lame, a rather ugly photograph of the band just standing there. Not that these gents are ugly, mind you, just the coloring and composure of the photo and the way it works with the logo and title. Otherwise, maybe Joe Comeau's presence rubbed off a lot on this album, because it feels almost more like a power metal album (heavily in his wheelhouse) rather than a thrash album akin to Alice in Hell. There's also a strange level of fuzz to the mix on this one which is a bit unusual for that form, but it adds to the experience a little bit more crush and density, yet still letting all those blazing leads and warlike vocals breathe through the production.

I'm actually reminded a bit of Halford's second solo album, Crucible, which came out this same year of 2002 and had a comparable crunch. Just a bunch of burly power/heavy metal riffs slathered with good vocals and plenty of push and aggression, momentum almost never broken. That's not to say they don't do an occasional swerve like the almost industrial/groove metal vibes in "Prime Time Killing", but Joe's vocals make sure even that track stays above the belt, and it's way more in step with the surrounding material than Remains could ever pull off. A lot of the riffs here do feel rather 'stock' for power metal of the earlier 21st century, but they're at least function and reliable, and you won't be cranking this thing out of your speakers without some appropriate headbanging accompaniment. It's almost like Waters shut himself in a room with some records from Judas Priest and Accept and then put his spin on that formula, and would you know it?

It works rather well, at least better than anything the band had produced in the decade before it. I think the 'highs' from Carnival Diablos are a little better than the material here, but Waking the Fury benefits from the lack of bullshit that its predecessor suffered. There's a goofy riffing break or two here (like in "Cold Blooded"), but this is by far the most aggressive feeling Annihilator had been up to this point, even if it's not even specifically thrash. This would be an easy one to recommend whether you're into Agent Steel, Cage, or Forbidden, or the prior Joe Comeau output, and for once a little twist in the equation that actually succeeds rather than falls on its ass. I don't wanna hype this one up TOO much, for all its energy and passion and punishment, it's not always that catchy and I wouldn't rate it among other top flight albums of its style, but this is certainly in the upper echelon of Jeff Waters' output.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.annihilatormetal.com/

Silver Bullet - Mooncult (2019)

Silver Bullet is another band that could be considered alongside the more pompous, heavily orchestrated Euro heavy/power metal acts, specifically a group like Sabaton or Powerwolf, albeit performing with a lot more speed and finesse in the traditions of the Euro power metal of the 80s and 90s like Gamma Ray, Helloween and Blind Guardian. I'm honestly shocked that they haven't become a bigger name amidst this towering scene, because they're quite good, across all their three LPs to date, with this sophomore Mooncult my personal favorite, the point at which they are best balancing these two halves, never becoming quite so goofy sounding as the former can attain, but definitely going for a more accessible and commercial sound than the latter. As a plus, if their name didn't tip you off, they focus exclusively on horror themes!

Mooncult being a conceptual album about the witch-burnings of the 16th century in Europe, as opposed to the normal Salem, Massachusetts trials. Now, I won't go and tell you that these Finns succeed on many level at making music that sounds actually creepy or frightening...it turns out that the very typical sorts of choirs, orchestration and pirate-shanty style backing vocals don't really breathe horror into the material, especially when affixed to such harmonious, majestic sounding metal. Maybe the intro to "Maiden, Mother and Crone", or the doomy swells and creeping riffs of "Light the Lanterns", but even that isn't exactly the darkest heavy metal you're going to hear. But what it IS, is excellently written, packed with good leads and melodies, and a vocalist in Nils Nordling who really stands out with a style that is somewhere between Dio's more operatic leanings and Ralf Scheepers' screams and sustain, he's a total package power metal frontman that maintains a personality through every track, even as he's backed up by lots of the gang shouts, synth-estrahs and choirs arrangements.

The rest of the band are no slouches, mind you, and this record hits like a truck when it needs to on a thundering mid-pacer like "The Witches Hammer" or a detailed, frenetic piece like "Burn the Witch". No, these guys aren't winning awards for unique song titles, but Mooncult is a well produced exhibition for its style, an album you can have fun with throughout, with plenty of variation as it ventures into its more operatic, narrative, or folksy segments, and while it's not as scary as it might have been were the band to tread some darker, more dissonant waters, the message behind the lyrics is strong enough, an aegis against paranoid persecution, delivered with glittering power and precision. Easily a band that should be considered more than some of their scene's other upstarts like Battle Beast.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://silverbulletofficial.com/

Skymning - Stormchoirs (1999)

Another gem from the Invasion Records roster, Skymning arrived onto the Swedish melodic death metal scene with an even more pronounced reliance on the former half of that genre. Essentially, they were writing power metal tunes and slathering the sorts of growled vocals you'd expect form their peers right on top of them. Certainly, bands like a Dark Tranquillity or In Flames could also be equated to using traditional, melodic metal aesthetics, but this group took it to a whole new level on their debut. You could imagine this entire record with a different vocalist and it might sound like a large number of Euro power metal acts, and I'd also say that in that capacity, it might not wind up with more of an impact that Stormchoirs did. Having the nastier vocals does the music a service, since it wouldn't be considered expert level in that more accessible genre.

It's a rush, a pretty good album for those who were diehards for melodic death metal at the time, but I do have a few surface complaints. The cover artwork and digital logo look pretty bad in retrospect, and I find the production to this one very washed out, and not in a particularly memorable way that just places it in an older studio era. Also, while the riff patterns were quite exciting for their day, nowadays they feel rather predictable since we've heard them all so many times since. There wasn't a novelty to the songwriting here as, say, a Soilwork or Darkane had, and again I think that's because the actual songwriting was being confined more to carrying these glorious power metal anthems forward, hell there are even some harmonies here (as in "The Question") which harken back to Iron Maiden and direct NWOHBM influence. But when the time was right, and this melodic death style was enormous here in the States due to the popularity of At the Gates or In Flames, I think Skymning would have banked a lot more if they only had better exposure. Right time, right place, wrong band?!

I like the music, but a lot of the components do feel dated, from the mix on some of the drum kit to the overall lack of power in the instruments. Not the compositions, mind you, because they blaze forward with abandon, but the heavier, faster passages sound a bit murkier than when they tear out some gleaming harmony. They have some softer parts where the bass becomes prominent, again reminding me of Steve Harris and Iron Maiden, but they don't exactly set up the ensuing elevations into harder riffing very well. It's apparent that Skyming also grew tired of this style, and potentially also thought of it as being more trendy than interesting, and so their later albums showed a lot of progression and growth, but there's no question that Stormchoirs had a potential which would have been realized with greater exposure and top notch production budget, and I think they were initially one of the more hype Invasion bands because their style just hit the mark at that exact point in time.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

Rage - Resurrection Day (2021)

Resurrection Day proves that you don't have to get softer as you get older, because part of the appeal to this album is its reliance on the punchier, low end riffs which have a slightly more meat-headed and thrashing force to them than you might expect. Not that Rage hasn't flirted with this level of aggression many times in the past, and in fact you could argue they've got a lot more intense songs in their backlog, but this one doesn't waste any time in using that to get your attention, which it does...the problem would then be in KEEPING that, which was not always successful on this...twenty-fucking-forth full-length album, if I'm counting correctly? This is not a band with anything left to prove on this Earth, that has given me more great music than I could ever know what to do with, and maybe this isn't their magnum opus, but having said that, it's still well-rounded, professional and hits more often than it misses, and those of you tuned into the modern Rage catalogue will have little cause for complaint.

We're still pretty far removed from the shrieking, innovative speed metal of the band's 80s period, but Resurrection Day incorporates pretty much all of the band's tropes past that date. Arrangements that involve a lot of 'Lingua Mortis' orchestrated intros or backgrounds; the burly, unique, mid-range Peavy Wagner vocals that he's settled so comfortably into since the mid-90s; clean and potent production; and a crack team of musicians that make it all sound so simple. There are a few misfires here like the 'death grunts' which are obviously not confident enough to appear for more than a few intonations, and I do understand that this is all an attempt to feel cool or relevant, but while they don't muck up the works here they really aren't necessary. Jean and Stefan's guitars are mighty whether they're chugging along, or breaking into the sticky, dramatic leads, or even lots of little unexpected chords and/or riffs that they throw in here to counterbalance everything else. The rhythm section is fully on point and everything on the album is clear and distinct, in terms of polish this one is unquestionably one of the most up-front of their works, you won't be straining your ears for anything.

I think what this one comes down to is that it's another of their albums when, 'in the moment' I am almost constantly impressed and engaged, but once I've shut it off for the day I never think about it. Tracks like "The Age of Reason" or "Arrogance and Ignorance" prove that this band has every right in the stakes to be as blown up and popular as a Blind Guardian or Sabaton, other than the aforementioned 'extreme' vocals, but like a lot of the modern output from both those groups, it's just not sticking with me for an amount of time longer than it takes for me to get my fix, and then I find myself wanting that fix from earlier Rage records. Don't get me wrong, this one is a whole step above 2020's Wings of Rage, which to one of my least favorites in their catalogue (if still not 'bad)', and it's about on par with Seasons of the Black, but when I'm interested in listening to their post-1990 material, my modern Rage medicine is still going to be Unity, Soundchaser, or Carved in Stone, which most of the ensuing 21st century albums have more or less been trying to reiterate.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/RageOfficialBand

Powerwolf - Best of the Blessed (2020)

I adore me some Powerwolf, but the last 5-10 years of the band's career have been littered with stuff you might consider cash grabs, from the number of live offerings, limited edition or otherwise, to all the other stuff like deluxe multi-disc versions of all their albums, covers album, orchestral versions, and so forth. Some of these, like The Symphony of Sin, Metallum Nostrum, and The Metal Mass - Live, make for pretty good products, but even then I'd have to say the band is laying it on thick, perhaps victims of their own productivity or maybe they just really need the cash?! Or maybe some of these weren't really the band's ideas. At any rate, Best of the Blessed is the 'greatest hits' package you just knew was coming, and at the very least it offers a pretty good amount of content, depending entirely on the version you buy.

And by that I mean, avoid the standard single disc edition entirely, because it's not a good value at all. 16 tracks, about half of which are re-recordings that do little more than bring some of the tunes off the first three records 'up to code', and I'll tell you, they didn't sound that bad in the first place, at least not to the degree that I'd ever imagine the band wanting to redo them in less than 30-40 years' time. It's not that the new editions of "Saturday Satan", "Resurrection by Erection" and "Kiss of the Cobra King" are bad...as I've said numerous times, Powerwolf is highly professional, but nonetheless, this one feels unnecessary. Maybe that professionalism is a double-edged sword...a great collection would have included a bunch of rarities, things we haven't heard, maybe a couple brand new tunes, but perhaps the band is so consistent they just don't have much left on the cutting room floor to offer. Anyway, if you're a fan of the Germans then you've already got all of this. The cover art is quite good, I like how it uses the various cover wolfs, and it comes with a nice booklet, but the musical content of the core compilation here is nothing to write home about. Not a total ripoff, since they put in a little work doing the new versions, but unneeded by any but their most devout audience.

Where it becomes a more interesting proposition is if you get the 2CD or 3CD earbook or mediabook which includes either one or two live offerings...we've already covered stuff like The Metal Mass - Live, and a lot of this stuff does seem redundant to that and their other, less impressive live albums, but at least there are a few different tracks here, and the sound quality is up to par. Plopping down the cash for all of this at once, rather than just some repressed tunes and re-recordings seems the far superior bargain. That said, this sort of thing really leads to exhaustion with a band, they seem like they're really milking it all dry. I get that they always love offering up these deluxe products, to give the fans something substantial, and you're by no means required to buy it all, but I think it's time they focused in on some killer new Lupus Dei-quality material and less on the assembly line.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10] (for the 3CD version), Fail [3.5/10] for the one CD.

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Powerwolf - The Symphony of Sin (2020)

The Symphony of Sin is such a pompous and over-the-top idea that you wonder why Powerwolf didn't pull it off any sooner. Okay, so it's not their first attempt, they did a couple orchestral versions as bonus tracks for Preachers of the Night, but not this well, and not to this extent. Clearly the sweep and dynamic range of their material has had a heavy imprint from opera and classical influences, ever since the earlier albums, and now the German ghouls and lycanthropes get to live it. And like so much of their output, it's carried out with a professionalism that is far beyond what you'd have expected they could accomplish...an adaptation of The Sacrament of Sin that, for my money, is just about as potent in this medium as it is was with the electrical guitars and thundering drums.

In fact, although it does have the sort of Wagnerian menace that you equate with a lot of metal, if I hadn't already heard the 'heavy' version, I'd have thought much of this was written for this very context. Attila's obviously a natural, and the choir does well to support his voice as well as give a similar impression to when the band is using one of its own gang choruses. You want screams or ethereal female vocals to break out? They do in "Demons are a Girl's Best Friend". The horns are brazen, the keys, organs and pipes all sound truly resilient, as if you're hearing this while traversing some haunted fortress in a modern-day Castlevania sequel. Percussion gives it a theatrical, exotic flare and barbaric seriousness worthy of Basil Poledouris. To its credit, even at its most glorious, it still maintains the superficial sense of darkness which fuels most of their better material, and it's done to such a degree here that you wonder if these fellas had a more promising career in opera?!

Maybe that's too far, but The Symphony of Sin is quite a lot of fun. If you're bored of all this sort of orchestration, it's not about to change your mind. I sometimes get a mixed opinion on it, like the new Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra album, which is nowhere as good at this. But what makes this release valuable is just how you can feel the currents of these particular tunes shift into new dimensions that are equally valuable to the metal versions. I was also a little impressed that they did it for this entire album, and focused in on that rather than assembling a 'greatest hits' through their career, which might not have gelled so well. This is also another release which the band originally included on a multi-CD deluxe set, which I missed out on, but it's since been given its own treatment.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Powerwolf - Metallum Nostrum (2019)

I touched a little on this material when I was reviewing the Powerwolf full-length Blessed & Possessed that it was originally attached to, a whole disc of covers that added most of the value if you were lucky enough to grab the deluxe version of that album, which I thought was otherwise one of their weaker studio efforts which was starting to just sound redundant to what they'd already released. But I wanted to come back around to Metallum Nostrum, especially as its got its own release that can be picked up by anyone who missed out the first time around, and because it's developed into one of my go-to cover albums by a power metal band, standing proudly aside Hammerfall's Masterpieces from 2008.

Powerwolf is a band I really enjoy for both the quality of much of their output, as well as the blend of Gothic horror and sacrilegious snark that stands out as so unique among the rest of the German heavy/power metal field. They're basically the Universal Monsters of the scene, and listening through Metallum Nostrum they pretty much lay bare the sorts of influences you would have expected them to cultivate into what they've become. I've come to believe that just about every choice here was well-considered and makes for something that can naturally help pad out their sets when in need of a cover that will fit snugly with their originals. From the power metal of their countrymen Running Wild's "Consquistadores" and double coverage of Judas Priest's Painkiller with "Night Crawler" and "Touch of Evil", you can tell where a lot of the propulsion of their style originated, and then from others like "The Evil That Men Do", Ozzy's "Shot in the Dark" or Sabbath's "Headless Cross", they're touching on a lot of the classics without just picking the most obvious hits, and its much appreciated.

Something like Amon Amarth is a little more far afield, and yet they once again took this one and turned it into Powerwolf proper with all the pomp and majesty you equate with their own material. Most of this stuff is just glittering with the moonlit pipe organ tones they use fluently, and Attila does a fantastic job at maintaining his own vocal identity rather than just clinging to all the other bands. "Edge of Thorns" is a sore spot for me since I'm just not a fan of those first few Zak-fronted Savatage discs, but I can totally understand how these guys would be a fan of that, and although it's the weakest tune for me, I think I like it with Attila singing a little more these days. The production is just all-out here, there might be some points where it's a little blander than on their own albums, but a lot more went into this than just taking the piss in their garage with some covers and its a fun collection that stacks up well with the rest of their catalog.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Powerwolf - The Sacrament of Sin (2018)

There was nothing inherently 'wrong' with Blessed & Possessed, the band's previous album, but it felt like a clear case of diminishing returns, Powerwolf writing more or less the same types of songs with only an arbitrary amount of variation. Plenty of fodder for the live sets, where most of these fist pumping horror-tinged power metal anthems can tend to run into one another, but just not a lot that was standing out in my mind even a half hours listening to it. Its follow-up, The Sacrament of Sin, doesn't exactly thrust the band back into the thundering graces of their first three albums, which for me remain the pinnacle in terms of songwriting ideas and truly catchy hooks and choruses, but there is something slightly more subdued and mature about this one that just ever slow slightly gets the Transylvanian express back on the tracks.

If you still want your mug-swinging, organ hymnal critiques of the Church of the past, you know the naughty Christians that hunt all those benevolent critters like vampires, werewolves and witches, and catching a lot of innocents in the crossfire, then you've got a tune like "Killers with the Cross" which is basically like Sabaton, the Haunted House edition, and it's not the only case here. "Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend" is probably one of the breakout singles here, a little naughty but busting out a nice chorus flow that surely gets a lot of folks singing along at the shows. There's also the big, sweeping "Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone", which is more of a lighter flicker, operatic escalation wrapped in power ballad aesthetics; it just comes across as the band spreading its (gargoyle) wings to try something marginally different, and that one also hits a satisfying chorus. The title track, "Fist by Fist (Sacralize or Strike)" and "Nightside of Siberia" are also a couple of favorites here which give a steady ass kicking even if they're not quite so memorable as some of the amazing things they've written in the past. The latter has a little melodic chugging pattern similar to Amon Amarth's stuff, ironic since Powerwolf covers one of their tracks on Metallum Nostrum. It works.

Production and performance are at the same high standard the band always sets for itself...even though this is not the 'classical' version of this album, it still gives that impression with a lot of the bombast created through the backing vocals, organs and synthesizers, all accompanied by simpler, driving guitars that make the band sound like its constantly on the march. Attila stretches himself pretty far with a couple of the howls here, and he's not doing anything too unique in terms of advancing or innovating his style, but the guy just sounds good whether the band is hammering away behind him or he's belting out some pompous lines to the accompaniment of only the organs or choir. In the end we're talking about an album which doesn't stand out too far above the rest, but matches up with Preachers of the Night or Blood of the Saints, dependable and slightly more inspired than Blessed & Possessed, but not much. And full disclosure: I actually think The Symphony of Sin is quite a lot better than this, you might be swapping out the metal, but those orchestrated versions are just more interesting, and alternatingly dark and glorious. Compared to that surprise, this sacrament feels a mite insipid.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Powerwolf - Preaching at the Breeze (2017)

Preachers at the Breeze seems like an act of pure redundancy after The Metal Mass - Live from the year before, with the caveat that this one I believe was technically recorded BEFORE the other, at the Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany the same year (2015). I don't know if there's a huge market for Powerwolf live albums with a following similar to Dave Matthews Band, Grateful Dead or Primus where you've got rabid fans that want recordings of every show the band performs, but that's doubtful since these Germans aren't really known to improv or structure their sets drastically different than one another. As such, this feels like a total waste, especially on the heels of that great live package the year before, and several others they had put out through magazines or limited editions or whatnot.

I also think this one sounds a little rougher than The Metal Mass - Live. Perhaps that was due to the festival atmosphere, the far bigger and louder crowd, but while you can pick out the 'highs' on this album like the pipe organs and Attila's voice quite well, the guitars seem a little murkier. Overall, I would be satisfied if there wasn't a better option. The set list is also practically identical for both albums, with only 1-2 exceptions, like this one has a slightly different intro and is lacking two of the tracks from that later set. Makes sense, since the list is from the same stretch of months in the band's history and it wasn't likely to change much, but it just makes you wonder why this needed to really exist in any capacity. If you're actually on the prowl for one of the Germans' live packages, this one certainly isn't bad, but spend the money on The Metal Mass - Live if you're seeking after an audio live album you can play in your car. I think this also might come with a limited edition of Blessed & Possessed, so if you're getting this, that album, AND the covers album, it's more worth your while. There's something to be said for consistency, and at the very least they show it here in terms of production qualities and packaging.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Powerwolf - The Metal Mass - Live (2016)

Powerwolf has so many deluxe double disc releases of their albums that this probably wasn't their first rodeo with a proper 'live' effort; I know they had one that came with a Metal Hammer magazine, but at least for me, this was my first experience hearing these loveable Saarland spook-metallers on a full live recording, and I expected they'd give it as much effort as they seem to do anything else. This was right around the time I had started to lose a little interest in their studio material, not because I thought any of it was bad, just that I thought they were feeling a little redundant with both the writing, the cover art choices, etc. That ghost ship would eventually right itself, as I've enjoyed The Sacrament of Sin more than Blessed & Possessed, but at least hearing it live would possess some novelty.

Spoiler: it does, but at the same time, the band has an insanely professional sound here which is not a far cry from how they sound in the studio. Attila's voice soars here with all its Romanian bombast, the guy is no joke...he's not the highest pitched or most versatile, but he's got a burly tone that just takes command of the audience and he doesn't really fuck up, hardly, at all. Some might consider that a bit of a weakness, since they want to hear the more 'real' attack on stage, but in a European scene whose power and Gothic metal bands are so honed in on polish and presentation, what I'm hearing from these Germans has to place them right at the top of the pile. The guitars and organs sound awesome, the drums have a nice slap to them which sounds especially good when they're doing the marching beats alongside the operatic arrangements, and I've rarely heard such a smooth mix of the audience cheering...it almost sounds too good to be true. Doesn't hurt that it's also being recorded on their home turf, so you can hear Dorn speaking to them in German between tunes and even that sounds just about perfect!

The set list is definitely where it misses out a little, almost entirely ignoring my favorite album Lupus Dei other than the title track...but no "In Blood We Trust", "When the Moon Shines Red", "Mother Mary is a Bird of Prey" or "We Take it from the Living", tunes I'd figure would be staples. I don't think the debut makes it on here at all, but Bible of the Beast through Blessed & Possessed are all covered well enough if you dig those, and they do such a flawless job representing that stuff that it's hard to hold a grudge...they were probably just tired of the earlier material, and much of the band's popularity picked up in the 2010s as they had built a solid live presence for tours and festivals. This is quite a good live effort, and Powerwolf has proven that they do not screw around, whether it be their studio output, cover songs album, live performances, or even the more recent symphonic version of The Sacrament of Sin. They believe in themselves, and spare no expense or effort to succeed, and as silly as they can seem with their ghoulish stage makeup, they demand respect and they've got mine. I still haven't tried out their board game though, Armata Strigoi...that will be the ultimate test...

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Beast in Black - From Hell With Love (2019)

Although its formula isn't a far transition from that of the debut Berserker, From Hell With Love doesn't take more than a track or two to prove that it's already a better album than the debut. It starts off on a very strong footing with a full on arena rager, and then doesn't really let up as it cycles into its hybrid of chorus-grabbing power metal, synthesizer-heavy AOR and just the ever-so-slight breezes of proggier climes. This is all about those dressing up those enormous sing-a-long style choruses with competent riffing, lavish but tightly controlled avenues for shredding, and keyboards all over the place that play second fiddle to nobody, which becomes obvious as soon as the titular second track erupts.

Another curiosity is how they use a lot of the electric drum fills that seem like they're spun off the same 80s pop influences that the synths draw upon, they do such a great job of meshing that all together with the big chords and ever-improving performance of Yannis, who sounds on this album as if he's already cracked the all-time ranks of European power metal royalty. From Hell With Love is a veritable hit machine, and while it's apt to annoy anyone for the same reasons other groups like Sabaton would, it's honestly better crafted. As someone who was reared on a lot of hard rock at the same time I was delving into all the heavier, more evil and obscure metal, I can find an appreciation here because Beast in Black won't let me think any other way. 'This kicks ass...but it's soooo lame...but it's still kicking my ass. What is wrong with me?' I mean I'll be honest in that I don't really care for a lot of Anton's earlier band Battle Beast, I find myself nodding off at a lot of their riffs on the last couple albums...the singer's hot, but so what? 

I've got no such opportunity on this album, because it demands attention at every curve, from the throwback synth tones that should have stopped being cool 35 years ago, to the elevating chorus progressions and the way it just revels in all its cheesiness and does not give a fuck. There are a couple moments where it might go a little too far, like the track "Oceandeep" where it seems to be channeling a bit too much Nightwish, but at least the first five tracks in a row thoroughly rile up the hackles on my ghost-mullet, and it does later recover with scorchers like "Unlimited Sin", or "True Believer" which once again goes for this outrageous 80s synth wave sound and then just layers on the butt rock, or "This is War" which reminds us that metal is still with Beast in Black and we've got nothing much to worry about...they were just kinda sorta testing our limits.

They've also got some cool covers on here, having the audacity to throw some roiling synths into "Killed by Death" by Our Lord Lemmy and friends, while keeping the vocals kind of nasty. "No Easy Way Out" from Rocky IV is probably more obvious, I mean the whole band's sound is meant to sound something like that, so why not pay it back? Add the sexy sword & sorcery cover art, the massive modern production and it's just a fun banger to spin as you cruise the city streets, but maybe keep the windows up since you don't want those friends who think you only listen to Pissgrave and Teitanblood to catch you.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://beastinblack.com/

Beast in Black - Berserker (2017)

While his previous band Battle Beast continues to drift into an almost pure popular arena metal outlet, playing generic, unchallenging riffs with a few more intricate dressings, relying heavily on the charismatic vocalist's stage presence and delivery, it seemed like Anton Kabanen wanted to head back into more ambitious territory. No surprise then that Beast in Black comes out firing with a more decidedly heavier Euro power metal vibe that lines up a little more with where his alma mater was once headed. Don't get me wrong, this is still a band that plays it safe with a sound that primes them for the stage with other popular groups like Sabaton, Epica, Nightwish and Hammerfall, but you cannot really question the drive and effort that's gone into album, no matter the level of cheese it ever strives for. Well crafted, anthemic tunes will catch you every time, and nobody can accuse Berserker of lacking such.

Anton was sharp enough to once again hook up with a monstrous vocalist in Yannis Papadopoulos from Greece, who has that loud, frilly, powerful range but can also dish out a little angst and anger when he's staying in his mids or lower. He seems like someone complete aware of the emotion and spectacle that these 21st century power metal albums require as they attempt to almost out-accessible one another, but thankfully these guys aren't as cringeworthy as something like Gloryhammer. Sure, the cover model for this album looks like the planeswalker Ajani from Magic the Gathering, and some of the lyrics and titles can feel a bit generic, but I don't get the impression from listening through this that the band is trying too intentionally to come off as ironic or silly. They write massive material that draws equally from their Euro power peers and then a whole host of old 80s AOR and dad rock. You can hear the traces of stuff like Survivor, Europe and so forth, with those big old keyboard tones driving or emphasizing a lot of the action, but they get a little more meaty and musical when they go full-bore metal, and they also manage to pull off those softer, more sensitive moments like the verses of "Born Again" without getting too awkward.

The band does its best when firing on as hard as they can, with tracks like "Zodd the Immortal" and "The Fifth Angel", Yannis adding a lot of character there and every beat, riff and even keyboard feeling mighty. I don't imagine the festival crowds overseas finding it hard to fist pump their beers, because everything is well in place. Great leads that are both flashy and catchy, obviously holding just back from the precipice of over-indulgent excess. The only real drawback to this album for me was the fact that I feel like it should be so much more memorable than it is...while I'm actually listening to it I get the impression these are songs I'll have fun with for quite some time, and yet between exposures I seem to forget much about it. But if you pick me up and we're listening to this in the car, I'll let my hair down...the phantom hair...because all of mine is now hanging from the front of my face, and I'll sing along and smile. There are definitely a few things that hit you from out of left field, like how "Crazy, Mad, Insane" has those throbbing synth parts that sound like an 80s synth pop tune by Dead or Alive, and while this is the sort of overtly polished and pop-market-friendly I sometimes wish to scoff at, I think this absolutely crushes the entire Battle Beast catalog and it's a big step up for its architect.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://beastinblack.com/

Pharaoh - The Powers That Be (2021)

Upon first hearing Pharaoh's latest opus this summer, I remember thinking that based on its riffing strength alone, it was one of the strongest releases of the year, and after several more months I hold to that perspective. As with the Pennsylvanians' progressive power masterpiece Be Gone in 2008, arguably one of my favorite melodic metal records to ever hail from the States, this is not and has never been an act that rested on any of its genre's laurels. There is no predicting what riff is going to follow the next, this is one of the few groups of its kind that feels as if its treading new ground rather than attempting to emulate Dream Theater, or the flowery, trite Euro power anthems, or the sort of generic screeching throwbacks you'll hear in KK Downing's new band. The ground level is not nostalgia, but innovation.

Sure, internally there are similarities in production and riff patterns across this band's own discography, it's Matt Johnsen's sandbox after all, but even there you can tell they're pulling out all the stops to create new progressions. This is arguably the band's most technical outing, with a gajillion melodic riffs hitting you in each track, the vast majority of which are well-structured and would be impressive even if you turned the rest of the band off in the mix...only you'll never want to do that, because Chris Black's drumming is just intense across this thing, fills all over yet complementing the rhythm guitars, and Chris Kerns' bass-lines are also formidable, and really lock down that lower end so Johnsen's playing can just shimmer all over the place. The leads are tasteful, occasionally flirting with a shredding velocity but never beyond the point where they complement the rest of the instrumentation. There are some cleaner guitars, as used in the folksy "Waiting to Drown" or the intro to "When the World Was Mine", but these didn't quite excite me as much as the electrics, although they do function alongside the moodier vocal style Aymar uses in the former.

Speaking of which, Tim's voice didn't quite score with me the first few listens through this one, for some reason I thought he'd lost a little steam from Be Gone or Bury the Light, but now going back through it I realize I was just being foolish, he sounds perfectly fine and continues to possess one of the more unique voices in USPM, or really metal at large. He's like a David Wayne, an Udo or a Flemming Rasmussen (on the earlier Artillery records); he's just got this burlier, angry edge to his intonations that in no way diminishes their melodic impact. You can just instantly place the voice once you hear it. All of this is captured in a super clean mix which isn't terribly different than the last two albums, but allows all of the players some distinction from one another without feeling insanely polished and neutered. To some degree this feels like Be Gone: Advanced Class, an album that is nearly as catchy, but even more proficient, and while it might not just have instantly ingrained itself into my ears, it's extremely rewarding, highly re-listenable and propels Pharaoh even further into a class of its own.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10]

https://pharaohmetal.bandcamp.com/