Tag Archive for 'blind guardian'

METAL MONDAY: REVIEW OF DARK EMPIRE’S HUMANITY DETHRONED

Published by Munson the Destroyer on October 12, 2009 in Rock. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Dark Empire, a Jersey band signed to Killzone Records, recently won July’s Metal contest here on OurStage. Humanity Dethroned is the follow-up to Dark Empire’s very solid debut release, Distant Tides. For those who have yet to listen to Dark Empire, their sound is right in line with bands like Symphony X and Blind Guardian (Jens Carlsson, the lead vocalist, bears a striking vocal resemblance to Hansi Kürsch). Simply put, the band boasts a heavy, thrashy, power-filled sound that refuses to simply plod along.

Cover for Dark Empire's Humanity Dethoned

Cover for Dark Empire's Humanity Dethoned

When asked to pick my favorite part of the album, it is undeniably Jens Carlsson’s voice. With every line, Jens sends chills down your spine with his sinister vocals. Unlike many heavy/power singers, Jens always keeps the listener’s attention, and never ceases to be interesting. Of course, what helps Jens’ vocals stay interesting is the mixing of the record, and the presence of the rest of the band. Though the vocals are the best part, the album does not ride on them —another folly that many heavy/power metal bands commit.

While the vocals stand out, making them the focus would sell Humanity Dethroned short. The second best part of this album is the songwriting. Unlike many power metal bands, Dark Empire does not write songs that follow a standard song structure (ie. intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-outro). All of the songs on the album have a familiar-feeling structure, but they are not predictable or stale—a difficult feat to achieve. Matt Moliti deserves the credit here, as all of the music and lyrics on the album is attributed to him. And speaking of Moliti, it is also worth mentioning the guitar riffs on the album. Before listening to the entire album, and having only heard  “Possessed (We Are One),” I was curious how the band claimed they were “progressive thrash metal.” Upon hearing the guitar work on Humanity Dethroned, it is safe to say that Dark Empire can be associated with a large variety of metal sub genres—heavy/power/thrash metal being the most obvious. The sixth track on the album, “Salvation Denied,” is almost exclusively a thrash metal song, while others on the album (like the previously mentioned “Possessed (We Are One)”) are clearly heavy power metal songs. This mix of sub sub genres means Matt Moliti varies his styles of guitar playing throughout the album.

With few weak spots to critique, the only noticeable area for improvement lies in the mixing department. There is just too much sound everywhere, and it takes away from each of the individual pieces. A better mix that actually allows the listener to hear each individual piece with enhanced panning would help the album immensely. Aside from this, the album is stellar and worthy of a listen by all heavy music lovers (it really can appeal to just about everyone).

Overall score: 9/10

As an aside, the band recently parted ways with their vocalist and drummer, and are now seeking to replace these members. Are you a metaller in the New Jersey area? If so, give them a shout!

METAL MONDAYS: ICONIC METAL VOCALISTS

Published by Munson the Destroyer on September 14, 2009 in Playlists. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Metal Monday OurStage Blog

“Run to the hills, run for your lives.”

Imagine that lyric sang by say, the singer of Coldplay instead of Bruce Dickinson (of Iron Maiden fame). Not quite the same “oomph” huh? In some styles of metal, it is all about the power and gusto in which a singer delivers their lines. Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, Matt Barlow, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio, Hansi Kürsch, — these are some of the singers who have mastered the art of true heavy metal delivery. Whether it is wailing falsettos or sinister cries, a metal vocalist must keep in mind his voice has to reach to the farthest corners of whatever venue the band is playing at, as well as make a connection to each and every audience member. More so than any metal styles, heavy metal is about emotion. Standing up and fighting for rights, feeling the pain of oppressed people (albeit real or fictional), the woe of a lost lover, epic battles – these are the types of things heavy metal bands sing about, things that cannot be aptly expressed without an apt enforcer on the microphone.

Here at OurStage, we have some talented heavy metal bands, many of which are strongly influenced by greats such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc. (some even were around back then). After scoring through the ranks of metal here at OurStage, I’ve compiled a list of eight powerful songs featuring vocals that best exemplify the spirit and energy captured in true heavy metal.

METAL MONDAY: SUMMER FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

Published by Munson the Destroyer on August 24, 2009 in Festivals. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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Everyone knows that summertime is festival season, and whenever people think of music festivals, they think of events like SXSW and Bonnaroo. Unless they are metalheads. For hardcore rockers, popular summer festivals include Wacken and Hellfest. But, most of the time when music journalists or bloggers write about the summer touring and festival season, metal does not get its due. Sure, metal bands are in on some of these festivals, like Bonnaroo, but they certainly are not the focal point of the events. So, here is a nice summer festival overview for all you metal junkies out there:

Wacken Open Air – Wacken, Germany

Arguably the most famous and premier event in the history of metal festivals, this past Wacken Open Air celebrated its 20th birthday. Mötorhead reportedly put on one of the best shows in recent memory, and all the other old school metal rockers followed suit. Among these great performances were the band formerly known as Black Sabbath (Heaven & Hell) as well as Saxon. Beyond the seasoned veteran bands, word is that doom metal troop Cathedral really won the crowd over (unsurprising, since the band is led by ex-Napalm Death vocalist Lee Dorrian).

Hellfest Open Air – Clisson, France

The second-most famous metal festival on the globe, Hellfest shared only a couple acts with Wacken this year—notably Heaven & Hell who again “wowed” the crowd. The fest’s the buzz bands seemed to be Brutal Truth and “the loudest band on Earth” Manowar, with Manowar having a slight edge (despite reports that Brutal Truth could be heard over Manowar’s set at times). Strangely, little was said about hometown giants Gojira, though there were sparse mentions of a solid set.

Bloodstock Open Air – Catton, UK

Rounding out the big three for metal festivals, this year’s Bloodstock was fodder for great stories. None more awesome than the hilarious/horrible bottling of Cradle of Filth in which the band stopped their set and left the stage without finishing the set. Blind Guardian, Carcass, Amon Amarth and the thrash bands garnered the most props for absolutely bringing it on stage.

MetalCamp – Tolmin, Slovenia

As usual, the bands who headlined this festival are the same bands that headlined the other big festivals. That’s just the way these things work. After scouring the ‘net for any opinions or reports of the festival, I only came to the conclusion that there was no real standout performances, though people were largely unenthusiastic about the lineup as a whole (Mind-boggling, really, since Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon and more were on the bill). The disappointment might have been due to the lack of great underground bands (beyond the huge names), as well as the completely unknown acts from the second stage—except Warbringer, who played before a band with only 1,000 MySpace friends. For shame.

Download Festival – Donington Park, UK

Download Festival, the “least metal” of all the summer metal festivals, was filled with the “nu metal” acts of yesteryear and all the things the kids dig today. So there was a huge variety of musical styles on this bill. No band got as much credit as Faith No More, who put on a performance referred to as “brilliant” by most attendees. Mötley Crüe, Slipknot and Steel Panther also received favorable reviews. On the opposite side of things, a lot of festival goers hated Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, Attack! Attack!, Pendulum and Parkway Drive. Unsurprisingly there was little said about the more “extreme” bands there like Suicide Silence, Meshuggah and God Forbid—the bill did not exactly cater to those fans. What is surprising is that I have found nothing about Opeth and Dream Theater’s sets.

In case you did not make it out to any festivals this summer, or just want to know what is coming up for metal festivals in the near future, here are two of the bigger events on the list:

New England Deathfest – Providence, RI

While not the biggest metal festival, New England Deathfest is having some of the most legendary Death Metal bands headline this year: Neuraxis, Cephalic Carnage and Quo Vadis. Also on the bill is Revocation, touted by many as “the next big thing” in metal and recently signed to Relapse Records. If you’re in the New England area, $50 for this weekend filled with death is well worth it.

Ilha Do Ermal Festival – Viera do Hinho, Portugal

Because I don’t speak Portuguese, it is hard to say much about this festival other than the fact that Blind Guardian is headlining it, which is almost enough reason to go regardless of who else is playing. The fact that Sepultura, Obituary, Firewind, Textures and Hatesphere are also on the bill certainly does not hurt. At 60€ ($85.35), that is a great price for three days of pure metal goodness.

METAL MONDAY: TWENTY YEARS OF METAL

Published by Munson the Destroyer on August 10, 2009 in Editorial and Rock. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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Twenty years is a long time. Two whole decades. Many things can change in that amount of time, but few styles of music went through as many changes as metal.

"The flute is a very heavy, metal instrument." - Ian Anderson

"The flute is a very heavy, metal instrument." - Ian Anderson

1989 was the tipping point that steered metal into the state we know it now. The thankful decline of the hair metal plague was in full-effect, death metal was on the rise and thrash metal was still going strong. This was the year of the infamous Jethro Tull upset over Metallica for the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental” in the first ever Heavy Metal Grammy (much to the dismay of the metal community and rightfully so—Jethro Tull is not even close to metal). Tipper Gore and her PMRC was bringing the hammer down on metal with their censorship threats, and Guns N’ Roses had taken over the mainstream metal territory. Metal was under fire from all angles. For the greater good of metal, however, all of these things were ultimately great. The core die hard metal community decided they had enough, and were going to take a stand by pushing metal styles to the extreme.

Prog-metal greats, Dream Theater

Prog-metal greats, Dream Theater

Dream Theater, Stratovarius and Obituary are the most notable bands who released debut albums in 1989, all of which saw moderate success, and who later came to shape their genres for the next two decades. 1989 also saw the formation of many new bands, such as Dark Tranquillity and Cannibal Corpse, who helped shape the metal world over the last twenty years. Even with the huge successes these bands saw in the 90’s, they were still not able to overcome the hip hop and grunge onslaught throughout the decade and break into the mainstream — unless you were Anthrax and did a collaboration with Public Enemy (which ultimately led to the “rap metal” fiasco of the late 90’s). I’m not talking about the popular bastardized offshoots of metal (e.g. Limp Bizkit, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Disturbed, Deftones, etc.) that developed in the 90’s. I’m talking the “real” metal of the 90’s—Blind Guardian, At The Gates, In Flames, Symphony X, Suffocation—none of these bands got as much mainstream exposure in the 90’s as they deserved. Instead, the less abrasive grunge style took over. The mainstream was tired of the aggression-fueled style that metal brought and grunge stepped up to the plate, switching the anger for angst which hit home for the flannel-clad teenagers of the 90s.

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, of Cannibal Corpse

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, of Cannibal Corpse

Ultimately, metal being a subterranean music style throughout the 90’s was for the betterment of all metal genres. Everyone saw what happened in the 80’s when metal broke into the mainstream (yes, hair metal). The same thing happens to most genres of music—evolution happens when the genre is not in the spotlight (which means grunge is directly responsible for the black sheep that is Nickleback). Without the 90’s era of metal, we could still have things like the horrid pop-punk and boy bands of the early 2000’s (we can actually thank hip hop for helping to rid of that nuisance). Slowly but surely, metal is making its way back into the mainstream. There are 14 metal albums in the Billboard Top 200 as I write this, one of which debuted at #6— Black Clouds & Silver Linings by our progressive pals Dream Theater. Metal is stronger than ever, and looks as though it is still on the rise. Lookout, mainstream media, we are storming your beaches, and about to take over your cities. Yes, those ones that were built on rock and roll.