Last week’s Friday was the release date of a few interesting new albums. Let’s have a look at some of them (and a couple of slightly older ones).
Finnish symphonic metal masters NIGHTWISH released their latest opus ”Yesterwynde”. As expected, it’s an ambitious, cinematic album with lots of textures, levels, nuances… having listened to it maybe twice, I can’t claim that I’ve given it the time it deserves. What can I say at this point is that it appeals more to me than their previous album, but does it appeal to me so much that I’ll play it a lot? I don’t know. There are no easy hits on it, maybe ”The Children of A’ta” being closest to that. Somehow, ”Yesterwynde” is closer to an opera or a symphony than a rock album… interesting, but not necessarily suitable for casual listening. I can’t rate this yet.
ECLIPSE released the sequel to their ”Megalomanium” album, called ”Meglomanium II” (RRRR). One might think that it’s some kind of collection of left-over material but that’s not the case. If anything, this might be the better of the two. It’s quite uptempo, ”in your face” and possibly the most modern out their albums. Still, the Eclipse sound and their melodic sensibility hasn’t been sacrificed. A great example of band evolving but not losing their essence. My favourite tracks at the moment: ”Apocalypse Blues”, ”Falling To My Knees” and ”Until The War Is Over”.
Swiss band FIGHTER V left a good impression with their first album a few years ago. Now with a new singer Emmo Ecar they’ve released their second album ”Heart Of The Young” (RRRR), which is bound to raise their profile even more. Acar has a deep, raspy voice that took a while getting used to, but I really like his delivery, he’s an expressive and passionate singer. His voice reminds me a bit of David Reece (Accept, Bangalore Choir) and also Chris Cade from Melidian (an obscure late eighties band). Musically the band have a sound straight from 1989, with smooth harmonies, cool riffs and great keyboards. If you need a more contemporary reference, think Brother Firetribe, H.E.A.T… My favourite tracks include the title track, ”How Long”, ”Miracle Heart”, ”Run N’ Hide Away” and ”Radio Tokyo”. When the band try to rock harder, as in ”Speed Demon” and ”Power”, they kind of lose their charm, but when they stick to the more melodic format they’re really good.
STEELCITY’S ”Reverence” (RRR) has many ingredients which should make it a safe bet for me, but for some reason it just doesn’t resonate with me. Good vocalist in Roy Cathey, solid guitar work, keys and a hard rock style straight from the ”golden era”, with influences from Dokken, Skid Row… but it’s just okay. I don’t dislike any of the songs, they’re all pretty decent, but nothing really stands out.
I won’t hide the fact that I’m friends with the guys in WAKE THE NATIONS. I’ve heard the songs from their latest album already a few months ago, and my initial reaction was that they’ve moved too far from the AOR style of their previous albums. Now that I’ve listened ”Heartageddon” (RRRr) again, I’ve changed my mind somewhat. I still prefer ”Heartrock”, their 2019 album to this new one, but I kind of understand their need to try new things. If they used to be firmly rooted in the eighties, now they’ve got another foot in the nineties…
My favorite tracks: ”Don’t Call Me Tonight”, ”The Shadows” and ”Bulletproof”. Then there's ”Lifesaver”, which is just way too alternative rock-sounding for me...
The latest STRYPER album ”When We Were Kings” I’ve played quite a few times recently. I wasn’t won over straight away, but some of the subtle hooks found their way and I must say that this it’s a good one. Easily better than ”The Final Battle”, the previous one, but not quite as good as the one before that, ”Even The Devil Believes”. Anyway, if your only knowledge of this band is via their biggest MTV hits ”Honestly”, ”Calling On You” and ”In God We Trust”, you might be surprised that these days they rock a bit harder. Most of these songs have sharp riffs and they can be classified as Heavy Metal, pure and simple. Having said that, my personal favourites are the more melodic, hook-driven songs ”End Of Days”, ”When We Were Kings”, ”Grateful” and ”imperfect World”. RRRr.
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