For the uninitiated, Electric Wizard are like Black
Sabbath without the fast tempos and cheerful subject matter. Hey,
everything’s relative. The album starts off in typical Wizard fashion
with the doomy ‘Chosen Few’ before taking a detour into noisy punk
territory with “We, The Undead”. Back to the doom for a couple of
tracks before “Night of the Shape” creeps up on you, evoking feelings of
dread like the soundtrack music from some lost Italian horror film. The
whole thing winds up with a ten minute journey to psychedelic realms
called “Priestess of Mars”. The vocals are a little low in the mix for
my tastes (they’re almost subliminal), but otherwise a good album that
shows the band branching out a bit. (BI)
Manowar – Warriors of the World (Metal Blade)
They may
cross the fine line between clever and stupid so often they’ve obliterated
it, but Manowar do it with such earnestness I can’t resist. An opera
song and Elvis’ “American Trilogy” on the same album, however, is
probably
going too far. Not to mention the overtly patriotic “Fight for Freedom”
which comes off like a bad jingle to me. But when they stick to
formula on classic anthems like “Hand of Doom”, “Call to Arms” or “Warriors
of the World Unite” they deliver the old school metal goods better than just
about anyone. There’s also “Swords in the Wind”, a power ballad that
compares favorably with the group’s Z-Rock[1]
hit “Defender”. Kind of uneven, but the good outweighs the bad. (BI)
Sentenced - The Cold White Light (Century
Media)
Sentenced started out as a death metal band and gradually
shifted their sound in a more progressive rock direction. Unlike other
bands who have followed the same path (Amorphis, Tiamat, etc.), Sentenced
still seem interested in rocking out, albeit in a less thrashy manner than
longtime fans may like. Regardless, these guys write some darn catchy
tunes. Singer (and yes, that is the appropriate term here) Ville
Laihiala largely avoids the clichés of both death/black metal and power
metal/prog rock, delivering the lyrics with melody and feeling. "Neverlasting"
and "Blood and Tears" especially stand out, but this is one of those rare
releases where I like almost every song. (BI)
The Vines – Highly Evolved
(Capitol)
Australia’s The Vines are the latest band
to be hailed as the saviors of rock. England’s New Music Express even went
so far as to describe the band as Nirvana meets the Beatles. Clearly such
hype would be difficult for anyone to live up to, and not surprisingly the
Vines don’t. Still, on its own terms ‘Highly Evolved’ is a pretty good rock
album. The title track gets things started off right, perhaps best
reflecting the band’s mix of grunge, brit pop and garage rock. “Outtathaway”,
“Get Free”, and “Ain’t No Room” rock out in similar fashion, but the rest of
the album seems a bit on the soft side. Not that the mellow songs are bad,
I just would have preferred the balance more in favor of the rockers. (BI)
[1]
For those unfamiliar, Z-Rock was an all heavy metal radio station broadcast
via satellite, and carried in the Cleveland area for about two years during the late
eighties.
For the uninitiated, Electric Wizard are like Black
Sabbath without the fast tempos and cheerful subject matter. Hey,
everything’s relative. The album starts off in typical Wizard fashion
with the doomy ‘Chosen Few’ before taking a detour into noisy punk
territory with “We, The Undead”. Back to the doom for a couple of
tracks before “Night of the Shape” creeps up on you, evoking feelings of
dread like the soundtrack music from some lost Italian horror film. The
whole thing winds up with a ten minute journey to psychedelic realms
called “Priestess of Mars”. The vocals are a little low in the mix for
my tastes (they’re almost subliminal), but otherwise a good album that
shows the band branching out a bit. (BI)
They may
cross the fine line between clever and stupid so often they’ve obliterated
it, but Manowar do it with such earnestness I can’t resist. An opera
song and Elvis’ “American Trilogy” on the same album, however, is
probably
going too far. Not to mention the overtly patriotic “Fight for Freedom”
which comes off like a bad jingle to me. But when they stick to
formula on classic anthems like “Hand of Doom”, “Call to Arms” or “Warriors
of the World Unite” they deliver the old school metal goods better than just
about anyone. There’s also “Swords in the Wind”, a power ballad that
compares favorably with the group’s Z-Rock
Sentenced started out as a death metal band and gradually
shifted their sound in a more progressive rock direction. Unlike other
bands who have followed the same path (Amorphis, Tiamat, etc.), Sentenced
still seem interested in rocking out, albeit in a less thrashy manner than
longtime fans may like. Regardless, these guys write some darn catchy
tunes. Singer (and yes, that is the appropriate term here) Ville
Laihiala largely avoids the clichés of both death/black metal and power
metal/prog rock, delivering the lyrics with melody and feeling. "Neverlasting"
and "Blood and Tears" especially stand out, but this is one of those rare
releases where I like almost every song. (BI)
Australia’s The Vines are the latest band
to be hailed as the saviors of rock. England’s New Music Express even went
so far as to describe the band as Nirvana meets the Beatles. Clearly such
hype would be difficult for anyone to live up to, and not surprisingly the
Vines don’t. Still, on its own terms ‘Highly Evolved’ is a pretty good rock
album. The title track gets things started off right, perhaps best
reflecting the band’s mix of grunge, brit pop and garage rock. “Outtathaway”,
“Get Free”, and “Ain’t No Room” rock out in similar fashion, but the rest of
the album seems a bit on the soft side. Not that the mellow songs are bad,
I just would have preferred the balance more in favor of the rockers. (BI)