Album Review: Shiverburn - Road To Somewhere

Let's take a trip in the ol' Wayback Machine about a decade. When we look back at that time, it was the golden age of guitar-based pop/rock. Kelly Clarkson had just set the world on fire with her "Breakaway" album, and that sound was being hardened up by bands like Flyleaf and Paramore, who were just beginning their rise. Strong women backed by rock bands were preparing to dominate the airwaves, and it couldn't have been a better time to be listening if you were a fan of the mixture of pop and rock. Then, over the following years, that sound burned out, to the point where it seems like a genre fossilized in amber, only extracted by anthropologists to be documented in textbooks.

But every once in a while a band will come along to remind us of what is possible in the world of pop, and to light a fire under us. In 2016, that band is Shiverburn.

Kelly Clarkson sold ten million copies of "Breakaway", and it's the best comparison I can come up with for "Road To Somewhere". These dozen tracks fit that mold of sweet pop melody bolstered by slick rock guitars, and they do so with the same candy-coated sheen that topped the charts. Shiverburn has created the most relentlessly catchy pop/rock album I've heard in several years. From top to bottom, this record hits you with one uppercut of addictive pop after another, but always retains enough crunch to appeal to rock fans. The blend is strikingly perfect.

Make sure you give yourself more than the first track, to experience this album properly. The opening number, "Sick Of Waiting", is the worst song on the album, which is saying something, because it's a damn solid modern rock track. The only thing I can say about it is that it doesn't really fit with the rest of the album, which pulls back on the modern rock vibe for more classic guitar pop, which just takes things to another level.

From "Mistake" to "Hear Me out" to "Fighters" to the absolutely incredible "Burned Alive", every single track here is burnished with the kind of big pop hook that the army of songwriters behind today's radio hits wish they could come up with. For forty minutes, we're taken on a ride with some of the most immediately enjoyable music you'll hear this year. The band is tight and polished, but the star of the show is without a doubt Sanne Heuyerjans. Her voice has the right amount of spark to carry her energy, and her melodies are flat-out incredible. Just with this album, she's accomplished more than many of the women in the rock scene who get all of the attention. Yes, what she does here is that impressive.

Really, there aren't enough things I can say to express just how tight the songwriting on this album is, other than to tell you that you need to track this down and give it a listen if you've ever liked what pop music used to be. You won't regret it. "Road To Somewhere" came out of nowhere, but it speaks to the part of me that originally fell in love with music, and it's going to wind up being one of my favorite records of the year. This is that good.

Album Review: Fates Warning - Theories Of Flight

Fates Warning is in an interesting, albeit confusing, place right now. The band still exists, as evidenced by the fact that we are talking about a new album just a few years after their last one, but they are also occasionally hitting the road as their former selves, with their former singer in tow. It's an extremely weird dynamic, to have the band existing in both the present and the past, and it makes me wonder about how much focus gets put into either side of the equation. But I'm not here to talk about the version of the band that only exists on stage. We are here to talk about the living, breathing, recording entity, who are back with an album that is a step in a different direction.

For pretty much the entirety of Ray Alder's tenure in the band, Fates Warning has played a version of progressive metal that is, to put it delicately, deliberate. That's a nicer way of saying that they tend to play slow, subdued music that doesn't make much of a first impression. They position themselves as an intellectual band, but music is an emotion first, which makes many of their records feel dull.

That is not the case here. For whatever reason, a fire has been lit under the band, and "Theories Of Flight" is the heaviest, angriest record they have made in a long, long time. You get lulled into this by the opening "From The Rooftops", which opens with several minutes of typical soft guitars, but when the band kicks in, the metallic rage is there unlike anything the band has done. Jim Matheos' guitar tone is impeccable, Ray Alder sounds better than ever, and the band tears through a song that alternates between chugging metal and big stabs at melody.

That is the biggest surprise here, namely that Fates Warning has a stronger focus on pumping up both the metal and the melody. Listening to these songs, there is a heightened emphasis on hooks and melodies. The choruses in "Seven Stars" and "Like Stars Out Eyes Have Seen" are among the best I've ever heard from the band, showcasing a greater attention to the details of writing songs that work on multiple levels.

Of course, we also get two songs that break the ten minute mark. "The Light And Shade Of Things" and "The Ghosts Of Home" both leave plenty of room for experimentation, but don't stay so long that they become a chore. Particularly, the lullaby melody at the beginning of the latter is beautiful, makes for a rousing reprise with the band behind it near the song's end.

Fates Warning is one of those bands that I've always respected, but never really enjoyed all that much. I've felt for a long time that Ray Alder's other band, Redemption, does this sound much better. This record borrows some of the sound and feeling from Redemption, and that results in a Fates Warning album that feels vibrant and vital at a time in their career where you might not expect it. This record is certainly a surprise, but it's a good surprise. In this most recent round of releases by the big three that put progressive metal on the map, Fates Warning wins.

2016: The Mid Year Conversation

As always, we sit down periodically and discuss where music is, and whatever else comes to mind. This time, we look at the first half of 2016, and use that as a springboard to deeper discussions on the world of music.

Chris C: Time is a fluid construct, and I get reminded of that whenever it comes due for us to have one of these conversations. It doesn't feel at all like we are nearing the halfway point of 2016, but here we are. Like always, this is a good time to take a step back for a moment, and take stock of what the year has given us, before we turn our attention back to what the rest of the year has to offer.

The one thing I have noticed this year, so far, is that it has been primarily centered around the divergent paths of veterans. On the one hand, long-running institutions like Avantasia, Elton John, Zakk Wylde, and Volbeat have come back with a vengeance, putting out some of their best work in many a year. I hadn't given up on Tobias Sammet, but I was concerned that he had burned through so much of his creativity that he may have hit the wall of being able to keep two bands going at such a break-neck pace. But then he unleashes an album like "Ghostlights", which shut me up. I often say that artists become better songwriters as they get older and more experienced, though the lose the initial spark of creativity. So it's refreshing to hear someone who has so many albums under his belt continue to prime the pump.

My comment there applies to Elton John. In his late-career renaissance, he didn't do a single new thing he hadn't done before, but his melodic crafting was so strong that I wouldn't hesitate to say he was a more consistent writer than in his glory days. "Wonderful Crazy Night" is a record that is expertly made, but also safe. It's the problem that veterans have, in that they can't both stay relentlessly creative and deliver what fans expect. You have to choose one or the other, and know you will be disappointing some portion of your fanbase.

The other side of the coin is that we have also had numerous veteran bands who have continued digging their own creative graves. Megadeth is the first to come to mind, for obvious reasons. Dave Mustaine's endless revolving door is like a drill bit, spinning and spinning until it creates a gaping hole. Megadeth hasn't been good for a long time, but it's still a bit surprising each time when you hear just how bad they are. Anthrax was much better than that, but "For All Kings" was a flat, boring record that trades on the good will of "Worship Music". It only took one album for them to revert to writing boring songs that waste the vocal talents they have been lucky enough to have in the band. Oh, and for my own sake, I'll also throw in The Jayhawks here, who made an album that shows the danger in spreading your wings. They tried to reinvent a band that's been around for over twenty years, and failed pretty hard.

And in keeping with the veteran theme, this has also been a terrible year for musician deaths. But I'll let you pick up that theme if you want, because I'm liable to say something I shouldn't.

D.M: Allow me to work backwards, since in between the time you began this conversation and I'm continuing it, Muhammad Ali passed away, thus adding another onto the list of those who went beyond this year.  Now, Ali was not a musician (though he was a self-styled poet, and isn't that the root of lyricism?) but his passing caused me ponder an expansive question - why is it that we treat the passing of musicians different that other famous persons?  Certainly, the reaction to Ali's passing was immense and emotional and reverent, but it felt uniquely different than the passing of Prince or David Bowie or Lemmy, all luminaries roughly equivalent to Ali within their chosen medium (social impact perhaps notwithstanding.) 

The only difference I can come up with after much consideration of the subject relates to a point you perhaps unintentionally made in your first sentence: that time is a fluid construct.  Moreover, time is malleable in relation to the legacy of art, be it paintings or sculpture or music.  Ali's passing humbles us because we know his moments are gone forever - and if we're being honest, had been gone for some time insofar as we cannot relive them - the man himself was the tangible tie between his stature now and his accomplishments then.  Particularly for people of our generation (and in truth, for anyone under the age of perhaps fifty,) we know of Ali only as a historical event, so our personal connection to his career, regardless of how much we admire and respect the man, is tenuous at best.

By contrast, everyone who heard Prince's music or first tracked "Ziggy Stardust" or rocked out to "Ace of Spades" has a personal relationship with it, good or bad, regardless of how old the music is.  It's like how people study and revere The Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David or Starry Night - those pieces of media are still happening now, can still be observed with fresh eyes in a way that re-watching a sporting event, all while knowing the outcome in advance, can't equal.  Those of more advanced age who saw Ali fight, who gained dignity or conviction from his zeal and principle, they likely feel the sting of his passing much more than those who weren't there.  But everyone can remember the vitality of Prince, for example, as a product of having heard his music in our own times.


Confession time - I didn't listen to Anthrax's new record.  I barely listened to Megadeth's.  Mostly for the exact reasons you already pointed out - I didn't feel like it was going to do me any good.  (Though I did enjoy Megadeth's 360 video - 360 video may just be a hot new fad, but it's an AWESOME hot new fad, so as a production junkie, I'm very much on board.)  I don't mean to be especially cynical or jaded, but both of those books are pretty much closed for me - cherished, and taken off the shelf to re-read and enjoy frequently, but nevertheless closed.  Tangentially, I'm also still a little bitter at Anthrax that they refuse to play any of their John Bush material while on tour, which is a real damn shame, as "Sound of White Noise" remains, to me, their greatest record.

You and I are going to disagree about Volbeat's record as we've already discussed in pieces offline.  While the album does make significant headway in the variety and scope of the band's songwriting, it just wasn't the Volbeat sound I wanted to hear.  And I recognize that you can immediately come back and bludgeon me over the head with your astute argument that bands of a certain age and legacy tend to disappoint one or the other of their fan bases and here I am giving with one hand and taking with the other.  Fair.  I also recognize the latent hypocrisy that I'm criticizing one band for doing something new while lambasting two others of even greater historical importance to the genre for not doing anything new, but whatever.  My counter to that counter is that Megadeth and Anthrax aren't presently doing their old gimmick well, thus not making good music, and isn't that really what it's all about in the grand scheme anyway?

The one nagging truth that seems to be troubling me most thus far into 2016 is the idea that I have yet to really be taken with any single album.  There have been a bevy of very good records, and a couple that I would truly be willing to go to the mat for, but I haven't had a 'wow' moment this year, especially not from a new band.  The discovery of a personally unknown artists is often the greatest reward of what you and I put ourselves through (to be dramatic about it,) and the absence of that moment in 2016 is a point of concern.  I find myself hoping that for all the albums I have enjoyed this year (which we'll probably get into later,) I hope I have not yet heard the one that will be #1 at the end of the year.

 Chris C: You make a good point there. We feel more of an impact at the death of a sports figure or politician, because we know those days are forever gone. Artists, though, never really die away. Each successive generation has their own experiences with art, they get to experience it for the first time the way that we did, and the people before us did. In a way, because the art never dies, it makes the person behind it less important. That's a way of thinking about it that I've never quite put into words before, but it does explain the controversial thing I was fearful of saying; namely that I don't usually care about celebrity deaths. They're sad, yes, but I personally find it hard to get attached to the people behind the moments. That is especially true of people who are artists, because even when they are gone, the art is still there for me to enjoy, so in a way it's as if there wasn't actually a loss suffered.

Your comment about Anthrax brings up an issue that doesn't always get talked about; what bands do when they get new singers. You're absolutely right that it's a shame Anthrax is now pretending that a decade of their existence no longer happened. Van Halen did the same thing when Roth came back. Black Sabbath does it every time they've trotted Ozzy out for a money run. Part of me wants to say that bands are free to do whatever they want, since it's their careers we're talking about, but there's another part of me that finds it incredibly insulting to the fans of their entire careers that they're willing to almost act as if you're stupid for being a fan of the singer no longer there. They were more than happy to take our money for the records, but now that someone else is holding the mic, they act as if those are dreams we concocted after taking too much cold medicine. I suppose it shows that it is truly impossible to please everyone. Half the people are offended when you ignore part of your legacy, and the other half when you play songs from the 'lesser' period. Bands can't win. Not that any of that makes the new Anthrax album any better. It's not, and you shouldn't feel bad for skipping it. At a certain point, bringing back the nostalgic singer winds up turning into pure nostalgia.

Speaking of nostalgia, let me say right now that I am absolutely terrified of the upcoming Meat Loaf album. While the fan in me is thrilled that it will be a Meat/Steinman album, the critic in me also knows that almost all of Steinman's best material has already been recorded. The nostalgia of the pairing will help, but it can't overcome the long odds of the record actually being very good. My curiosity is as morbid as it is excited.

I'm not going to hit you over Volbeat's record, because you're absolutely correct. It doesn't have the sound or the *essence* of what you and I both originally liked Volbeat for. The only difference between us is that where Volbeat has ended up, with their newer, more pop-oriented sound, is right in the heart of the music I first fell in love with. If it didn't happen to scratch that particular itch for me, I would be right there with you. Volbeat was such a unique band that losing that original sound has left a hole in the metal scene that no one else can fill. Even though I am loving the new record, I miss that too.

If history is a trend, I think the roles will flip as the year continues on. You haven't found much that has spoken to you, while I have. I've had a great run through this first half of the year. I have a solid group of records to fill at least half of my top ten list come December, and two records that absolutely blew me away. I'm happy, even if the rest of the year is a bit disappointing. I also agree with you that finding new, exciting artists is the best part of what we do. When I come across someone I've never heard of, particularly one who is a small artist working on the outskirts of the industry, being able to use our little platform to help them, and seeing the appreciation that flows in both directions, it does make it worthwhile to suffer through Megadeth. Sorry, needed to throw a cheap shot in there. That's the one disappointment I have right now, that I haven't found one of those yet this year either, although I'm optimistic I may have just done so.

D.M: The other fun (used jokingly) trend that we sometimes encounter in music is the Guy Who Breaks Away From A Band And Won't Play That Material Anymore On Principle.  Years ago, I saw Michale Graves on tour with Mina Caputo (she was still Keith at the time,) and while Graves was happily content to play acoustic covers of his Misfits material, which a) what else did he have? and b) wasn't anything to write home about, Caputo immediately informed the crowd that there would be no recitation of "River Runs Red."  You could almost feel the air go out of the room.  As a kid, I remember reading a story about how John Fogerty swore he wouldn't play CCR tunes anymore.  Not too long after, he realized people were willing to pay money to see that and wouldn't pay to just see him, and suddenly, "Bad Moon Rising" was rising again.  John Bush (since we cited him earlier, I'll use him as an example,) doesn't seem to do many solo tours, but if he did, I'd be curious to see what he would play.  This of course twists back into the whole 'value of nostalgia' thing, but you know.

So, not to flagellate the Volbeat argument unnecessarily, but this brings up an interesting point - given that the 'metal' sound of Volbeat seems to have been tempered (intentional pun!) does this mean that Volbeat is potentially, should this path continue, a disappointing band?  Are they merely scaling two mountains?  Can you be a hero to most (like Elvis!) but invoke the frowns of others (also like Elvis, if you listen to Public Enemy,) not because of simple dislike but because you changed styles?  Volbeat has a personal history with Metallica, are they simply following the same blueprint to some degree?  More questions than answers!  (I know it's waaay too early to determine a lot of this stuff now, but I'll bring it up to make conversation, and because, as a mutual friend of ours says, 'it would be irresponsible not to speculate.')

Anyway, keep this thing going - who do you love and like and hate so far in 2016?  Who do you look forward to?  To lead off, I have my concert tickets for Prophets of Rage in hand, and if there should be a resulting album, I will be among the first in line.  I have more thoughts, but I'll let you pick up there while I try to think of a cheap shot I can take at Bruce Springsteen before we close this down.

 Chris C: Artists are always in a no-win situation. If they don't play the material fans want, they get looked at as a disappointment. If they play nothing but the material people want, they become a nostalgia act. If they continue playing new material after their best days, everyone complains that they're ignoring what the fans want. Let's boil it down to the basic truth of all of this; fans are impossible to please. We will never be happy, no matter what our favorite artists do.

Which leads back to Volbeat. Are they a disappointing band? Well, I can make the case both ways. It entirely depends on what we want to say a band's job is supposed to be. If we think a band is supposed to appeal to their fans and provide a steady stream of entertainment, then yes, I think Volbeat is a disappointment. They have clearly abandoned the identity that originally made them popular, in much the same way that Metallica did. I don't say it was for impure reasons, but they have absolutely made themselves more palatable for a wider audience. But if we want to say that a band's job is to reach and please as many people as possible, then no, I wouldn't say Volbeat is a disappointment. They might have fewer hardcore fans than they once did, but they have a bigger footprint in the rock world than they ever have before. In terms of turning their love of music into a lucrative career, Volbeat is absolutely successful. We once again reach that dichotomy; music as both art and business. The more I think about it, the harder I think it is to ever achieve both at the same time.

As for the rest of the year, I have to say either I'm falling behind in keeping up with the news, or there isn't much that has been announced I'm looking forward to. The one I know for sure is the sophomore Blues Pills album. An effort as good as the first one will vault them onto the same tier (though still below) of modern day awesomeness as Graveyard. Other than that, the only other thing is the Meat Loaf album I already mentioned, which I'm looking forward to in the same way that your cat looks forward to a vet appointment. You know it's going to be for your benefit, but it's going to hurt.

As for what I loved and hated, the love list is easy. Zakk Wylde, Avantasia, and Nordic Union are all albums that are special, and I'll throw Volbeat in there too. The hate list is pretty much the entirety of the metal world. Whether I liked it or not, there hasn't really been a metal album that has stood up and made everyone take notice. It feels like metal is rather aimless right now, and I'm not sure what is going to rectify that.

So now I'll turn it back to you. What albums have been naughty, and what albums have been nice? And do you know of anything on the horizon that is going to make our mouths water?

D.M: So far, the best part of musical year has been occupied by bands I'm already familiar with, which as we discussed, is a slight disappointment (although I may have discovered something this week that I am very excited about.  I don't want to give it away because, for one, what kind of tease would that be? and two, I need to really digest it further before I go out on a limb for it.)  I will say though, a couple of the bands in questions saw fit to make adjustments and as such reinvent their sound, which is almost like hearing something new.  In particular, The Texas Hippie Coalition and Lacuna Coil both hyped up their new records by calling them 'darker' and 'heavier' which as you and I and everyone reading this knows, are the most overused terms in the history of heavy music.  But!  In this case the labels apply, and damn it, that's worth something.  These are veterans artists who are clearly still willing to challenge themselves and make tweaks, which is a fresh change to the bevy of artists who choose not to challenge themselves and make the same record over and over.....like Bruce Springsteen.  (BOOM!  There it is.  Happy with that.)

I've enjoyed Red Eleven and Prong and Blood Ceremony a great deal, plus a smattering of others, but at the risk of sounding pompous, I sort of expected to enjoy those, so that was more a question of living up to expectation rather than exceeding it.  I will say I was pleasantly surprised by large sections of Surgical Meth Machine.  Not that I'm putting that on my shield or anything, but it was much better than I originally anticipated.

It's hard to say what's disappointed me specifically, although it does merit mention that when I read up on Droids Attack before listening to their record, I had hoped for much more than what I got. Maybe Volbeat?  A laudable effort in many ways, but not what I wanted from them.  With that said, this may be too general, but it is fair to say I'm disappointed in metal as a whole?  Of all the records I'm spinning right now from 2016, with the exception of Lacuna Coil, all of them have at least some straight up-and-down rock blood, and Lacuna Coil is famously poppy, so even that doesn't necessarily carry the banner for the genre.  In particular, the heavier forms of the genre haven't come up with anything in particular worth talking about.  Groove metal, death metal (melodic or otherwise), thrash - all disappointments so far this year, either unable or unwilling to contend in the face of the rock-styled revival and industrial resurrection of the past couple years.

I sometimes wonder if some of it is me - as much as we try to stay neutral and block out external factors, 2016 has been, in short, a ridiculous whirlwind of a year for me personally, and I'm perturbed by the notion that it's affecting how I'm absorbing the music, whether my exhaustion is adding to my musical cynicism.  I tell myself it isn't, but it seems impossible that my environment would have no impact on me whatsoever, no matter how resolved I may be to ignore it.  It's possible I've really dismissed some bands that I otherwise would have either taken more time with or given benefit of the doubt in order to unearth a gem.  So my opinions this year may be unavoidably muddied no matter what.

Not too far on the horizon there's some releases I either haven't listened to yet or haven't had a chance to review - Death Angel and Scorpion Child are both pretty good (Death Angel is very good,) though for different reasons, and I'm looking forward to Deadlock and Whitechapel, both of which we recently received.  My allegiance to Whitechapel is a strange thing - I don't know that I've ever really loved any of their records, but their live show is super energetic and very good, so I think I always listen to them in the hopes that 'this'll be the one!'  As for Deadlock, I'm basically expecting more of the same, but I like their same, and that seems to be par for the course this year anyway.  Those things really only get us through July, but hey, one month at a time.  Naturally, because I mention it every six months, it feels normal to bring it up again - I anxiously wait Blackguard's "Storm," which Paul Zinay promised would happen this year.  I will continue to mention it until it happens.

Final thoughts?

 Chris C: As much as we might want to think it is, music is not completely divorced from the circumstances in which we listen to it. What's going on in our lives makes an impact in how we hear music, as does such simple things as the weather. I commented a couple of times when writing about records that the season in which they are released has quite a bit to do with how I take them in. Frankly, I don't understand why a band that plays any sort of dark, depressing music would ever release a record in the Spring or Summer. When they do, and I go to listen to them, I can't find a way of getting myself invested in the music when I look out the window and see bright sunshine. The issue of neutrality comes up in the sense that when that happens to me, I try to make a note of it, so anyone reading can see that I might be particularly biased for or against something.

As for a final thought, I'm going to agree with you that metal has had a tough first half of the year. I'm hoping that there will be a few things popping up on the radar to change that, because I'd rather not have to say that this is the worst year for metal that I can remember. I'm not counting on that rumored Metallica album to reverse the tides though.

Otherwise, it's been a good year so far, and if the second half matches the quality we've already seen, I'm going to be quite happy.

Album Review: The Browning - "Isolation"

Yes.  Yes.  Yesyesyes.  This is the kind of album that I, not to make it about me, but I have been hoping for in the last couple years.  The virile surge in popularity of electronic dance music meant that a combination of that music and metal seemed an almost inevitable experiment – too much influence, too many musicians willing to take a chance, too many groups not of my generation coming of age in an electronic era for this not to happen eventually.

There are those who would suggest that industrial already had this anticipated concoction covered and while that particular subgenre admittedly utilizes many electronic elements, it is distinctly different from EDM in color and tone.  The closest attempt in recent memory to create a true synthesis of the styles came from Exotype’s record a couple years back, which proved to be an important proof-of-concept, but lacked the consistency and discipline to really establish a beachhead.

From the American Midwest, perhaps the least likely of all origin points, comes The Browning with another record.  The band originally formed as a one-man army in 2005, became a ‘band’ in 2009 and since then has released three records, including this new effort, “Isolation,” the first under the Spinefarm Records label.  In the intervening years, the band has seemingly changed a hundred members a hundred times, but through it all they continue to produce new music.

What pops first about “Isolation” is that there’s real harmony here between the metal(core) and the edm, which likely comes to most listeners as a surprise.  One aspect does not work in support of another, they blend and entwine in musically appropriate ways that give the record a full sound.  “Dragon” is the best early example of what we’re talking about; an arcing electronic line played in companion step with a deep, thunderous metal chug.

The Browning makes their album work but not trying to do too much – they keep their rhythms simple and let the novel juxtaposition of sounds speak for itself, which is a workable formula.  The blending of styles within the simple melodies is practically seamless, “Pure Evil” just one example of the nearly flawless synthesis that The Browning is capable of.  There’s no ‘metal side’ or ‘edm side’ to the best moments of “Isolation,” the music simply is and asks you only to take it on face.

Now, before we get carried away, “Isolation” is not a perfect record, far from it.  It has real, tangible problems with pacing, and the vocal performance is dry in that it is one growled scream all day, all the time.  Also, the simplification  that occurs in order to make the synthesis of elements work means that by the end of the record, there’s a feeling of hearing the same thing over and over again, which loops back into the pacing problem – a lot of these songs slow down for long stretches and wallow rather than engage.  “Fallout” and “Vortex” and “Spineless” are all listenable as individual pieces, but taken together the distinction of each piece fades away dramatically.

Nevetheless, one hopes that “Isolation” is the prototype from which more of this kind of experimentation can occur.  The Browning is showing that the concept has life and can be eminently well crafted and enjoyable, even with the record’s unabashed flaws in tow.  In the metallosphere there’s often an outcry for something innovative and different – “Isolation” is both of these.

Album Review: Anderson/Stolt - Invention Of Knowledge

Roine Stolt can be one of the most prolific artists out there, regularly putting out an album of complex progressive rock every year, when he's interested. And between Transatlantic and The Flower Kings, he was on a roll just a couple of years ago. So where has he been the last three years? The answer to that is this album, a collaboration between Roine and legendary Yes singer Jon Anderson. This is the sort of project that, in prog circles, more than justifies putting his own bands on the sideline. It's one of those ideas that you would think required a time machine, to go back and see how two bands of different generations could combine. But this is real, and with Yes sputtering to its inevitable end, it's also something that fans of classic progressive rock need.

Divided into just four tracks that run over an hour, "Invention Of Knowledge" is progressive excess to its core. Opening with the twenty minute epic title track, we get thrown back into a sound that is ripped from the mid 70s. Chiming bells open a track that winds itself up into a whir of synths and deliberately placed guitar parts, while Anderson dominates the mix. His voice is pushed to the fore, which is good in that his melodies are the driving force that you will remember from the songs, but not so good in that his voice is also one that can easily drift into being intolerable. He is singing so high, and in stilted rhythms, that he at times gives the impression he is singing a children's album.

The other issue with the album is that while Anderson is doing that, Stolt doesn't give him a musical backdrop to counteract the sugar overdose. The music on the album is frustratingly soft, without any of the crunch I would expect from Stolt. His lead lines that drift in and out are classically his, but he never lets the guitar build up and give the music any power. It's an entire album, a lengthy album, of stubbornly subdued music. Perhaps Anderson's voice can't sing over anything heavier at this point, but it's hard to build up and drama, let alone a crescendo, when the music is flat in volume and energy.

Anderson is clearly the star of the proceedings, and he does spin out some good melodies. His presence is more engaging, and frankly more immediately melodic than I was expecting. Progressive singers are often the most boring of all, since they can explain away a lack of interesting lines by pointing to the involved music. But some of the melodies he sings in "Knowing" are beautifully medieval. Yes, it does draw close to sounding like something that should be playing at a Renaissance Fair, but when hasn't progressive rock had a degree of that?

So there are good aspects to this album, but they get bogged down in the long, slow morass that is the whole of it. Simply put, an hour of this soft, slow brand of prog grows too tiresome to take. There isn't enough energy in the music to drive the songs for as long as they require, and Anderson's voice is best in small doses. Legendary though he may be, he is absolutely an acquired taste. While I would say that hardcore fans of classic prog will find a lot to enjoy in here, I am not one of them. This is exactly the kind of album that commits the ultimate crime of overstaying its welcome. I found myself constantly checking to see when it was over, and if I'm doing that, I can't be enjoying myself.

I understand that the collaboration is something dear to these two, but the results prove a point; not every good idea works out.

Early (Sad) Impression: Meat Loaf - Braver Than We Are

My musical history begins with Meat Loaf. The first single I ever bought was "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)", and the first album I ever bought was "Bat Out Of Hell II". Suffice it to say, I have been in many ways shaped by the songs of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. They are a part of who I am, for better or worse, and while it isn't fair to judge a complete album off of 90 second samples of each track, I heard enough in the first tastes of the upcoming "Braver Than We Are" to speak up.

I'm afraid that this album is going to be a sad, sorry ending to a truly legendary collaboration.

That thought was running through my mind before any information about the album had been made public. Meat Loaf had already recorded nearly every Steinman song of note, which didn't leave me with optimism that an entire album of material could be found that lived up to expectations. And since Steinman has not been actively writing for years, we were bound to do one of Steinman's favorite tricks; cannibalizing his own catalog.

The ten tracks on the album are mostly songs pulled from musicals Steinman has written, and a rehashing of "Loving You Is A Dirty Job". That is a frightening thought. Musicals are an entirely different world than Wagnerian rock and roll, and as expected, the two do not mesh here at all. Despite having heard these songs before, performed in different guises by different singers, these are uniformly slower, flatter versions that suck the life and energy out of them. "More" wasn't the greatest song when it was written and demoed for a Batman musical, but in this form it's even less engaging, for a reason I'll get to soon.

We also get a song written for the defunct project The Dream Engine, "Speaking In Tongues", which is utterly embarrassing for everyone involved. The entire song is built around images of trees, just so we can get the pun, "you've got a spark, I've got wood." Yes, because we need to men in their mid sixties making jokes about erections. I thought it was the lowest moment of Meat's career when he sang the line "I can barely fit my dick in my pants", but at least that was in the guise of an overblown, bragging song. This pun comes in a tender, reflective ballad. It's too juvenile even for Steinman's love of teenage angst.

And I'm not sure how I can ever listen to "Skull Of Your Country" without being reminded that it was turned into something so much better in "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". I understand Steinman recycles, but leaving in the "turn around bright eyes" motif, when it's already world famous in another song, is a decision that begs me to compare this album to ones that are worlds better.

But the worst part of all is the sad fact that Meat Loaf can no longer do this music justice. His voice has been declining in recent years, and from what I have heard here, he is beyond repair. His voice is not just rough, but it's small. The larger than life character of Meat Loaf has been reduced to a singer who can't keep up with any of the women guesting on these tracks. He is flat out out-sung not only by them, but in places by his own backup singers. It's shocking how old he sounds, missing notes and lacking any of the power or passion we've come to know from him. The time for retirement sounds like it's already passed.

If Meat Loaf wanted to finish his career with one more tribute to Steinman, I can think of a better way to do it. My advice would have been to take every great Steinman track he never recorded, and the ones he recorded without the man's input, and redo them one more time under his care. Not only would it have capped off a fitting relationship, it would have removed the need to have a string of albums that neither man wants to remember. I can imagine an album with Steinman-helmed versions of "Bad For Good", "Original Sin", "Left In The Dark", "Nowhere Fast", "It's All Coming Back To Me Now", "Surf's Up" and "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young".

That would be something truly special. What we're getting instead is a reheated plate of leftovers that we didn't want the first time.

I will give the full album a chance when it comes out, but I think this will be my lone statement about it. I'm too depressed right now to consider writing a more formal review.

Album Review: Be'lakor - Vessels

I readily admit that I am not a fan of death metal. What I listen to music for has little to do with the realities of extreme metal, in any form, but that doesn't mean that there aren't occasions where a band manages to do something I enjoy. I recall a few years back coming across an odd name, and listening to the first record by a band named Be'lakor. That record was something unique, a melodic death metal record that was actually melodic, and one I found myself becoming a fan of. That didn't carry through to their next albums, but there was for a brief moment a time when I was quite enamored with Be'lakor's brand of death metal.

That brings us to "Vessels", the newest offering from the progressive, melodic death metal purveyors. The formula is now established in what they will deliver; an album of lengthy songs that follow a pattern of chunky vocals and guitar harmonies. The accusation that they are a bit monotonous would not be out of place at all.

"An Ember's Arc" shows the band's best and worst qualities, with a soft acoustic introduction that leads into some of the most composed death metal out there, but also a song that taken three minutes to really get to the point, and then stretches it out for another five. Editing has never been the band's strong suit, and it is the key factor in making their records less enjoyable than they should be. Sitting through a lengthy death metal album is tough enough, but when the breaks only coming in eight minute intervals, the writing has to be patently exceptional to not become tedious.

And while Be'lakor are good writers, they also operate in a safe zone. You can take any song from any album, and you wouldn't know from whence it came. They have a very particular sound, and they don't deviate from it. From the way the guitars swell, to the vocal patterns, to even the pace they move along at, every song is rather similar to the one that came before, and the one that comes after. It's not exactly a recipe for excitement.

The other thing is that their style is not predicated on riffs, so there isn't much in the songs to grab onto. The vocals are like most death metal, lacking interesting rhythms that you could 'sing' along with, so the lack of riffs as well means that the songs float by on perceived melody. That's fine for a track, but an entire album of that material is not engaging enough to make any sort of impact.

That said, Be'lakor's sound is still one that I enjoy, and "Vessels" is as high-quality as any of their other albums. They are, objectively, one of the best death metal bands going today. Subjectively, however, they're in that phase where they are comfort food. You know what you're getting, and it will satisfy you, but it's more of a routine than anything you really want. "Vessels" is a perfectly beautiful example of melodic death metal. It's just that after "A Frail Tide", every other record has practically been a clone.

Album Review: Death Angel - "The Evil Divide"

On this site we speak fairly frequently about the concept of nostalgia; what it is, what it means and whether it’s good or bad for music and culture as a whole.  This decade in metal has seen a surge in nostalgia like we’ve never seen before – a genre that was always so proud to break ground and embrace the punk ideal of leaving the past behind is suddenly turning back on itself as the first generations of fans come into their mid-life and want to embrace their youth again.  Whether or not this has been a good turn (and there are arguments to be made on both sides,) it is irrefutable that no band has benefitted more from the desire for yesteryear than Death Angel, who are more popular now than they’ve ever been.

The typical arc for a band resurrected by wistful memories of days gone by is that they can only continue for so long until people realize that there was a reason that band has been lost in the sands of time and they sink back into relative obscurity (AnvilAnvilAnvilAnvil.)  Death Angel is the rare exception that bucks the trend, reunited and releasing powerful new material that’s making the adoring masses regret ever forgetting the band’s impact in the first place.  With that as the backdrop, the band has released a new record, “The Evil Divide.”

Where many bands try to recreate their past magic through a modern lens, reinventing themselves for a new generation, Death Angel for this record has instead doubled down on what got them here.  The entire record is almost like a time capsule of the late eighties in thrash, when the genre ruled through a distinct combination of creativity and common sense.  “The Evil Divide” trades in chug riffs and highly artistic solos, using the junction of those roads to create the multiple phases of “Father of Lies,” one of the album’s no-nonsense thrash pounders.

For all of that though, the album’s best and most memorable track is “Lost,” an old-school thrash lighter-raiser that surges with power but is tempered by something resembling introspection.  What makes the cut work so well is the memorable riff – it’s the kind of thing that you may not actively notice at the time, but upon reflecting on the record later, it’s the first sound you can remember, and that usually coupled with a subconscious nod of approval.

As has long been the case with Death Angel, their music functions as an examination of the interplay between Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar on guitar.  The duo shines in this outing, able to craft variances in pace from mid-tempo to up-tempo without losing any sense of direction or purpose.  “It Can’t Be This” and “Hell to Pay” stand as opposite hallmarks of Death Angel’s deep understanding of the music they’re trying to make.

Mark Osegueda’s vocal performance, in the midst of all these other marvelous exhibitions, is going to be largely overlooked, which is a real shame, as he drives whole sections of this record in the same way that Tom Araya did for the best days of Slayer.  Osegueda is measured but sharp, crafting his voice in such a way to carry the narrative and tempo of the album with some menace, but not overpowering or distracting.  It’s true that he utilizes a very limited range, but Death Angel doesn’t require more than he can offer, nor does he attempt to step outside his capable role.

There’s really nothing bad to say about “The Evil Divide,” except perhaps that it doesn’t evolve the genre.  In some cases that’s a real detriment, but when a record is this well-crafted, and stands as perhaps the best pure thrash record in the last five or six years, it doesn’t need to be more than it is.  If you’re a thrash guy or girl and have been wandering through the quagmire wondering when your rescue ship will come, “The Evil Divide” is that record.  Worth an immediate acquisition….and then get your friends in on it, too.

DVD Review: Dilana - Live In Africa

I already told the horror story of getting this DVD, but let's turn now to the more important part, the DVD itself. This is going to be a review in two parts. Let's start with the good news.

Dilana's performance on this show is extraordinary. The acoustic setting strips the songs back so much that there is little to get in the way of her vocals, which are even more raw and searing than on record. "Beautiful Monster" sits at #4 on my most recent list of favorite albums, and the versions of the songs that she performs here use the energy from the audience to pry that little bit of extra emotion from her already flawless voice. Dilana has always been one of the most expressive vocalists I've ever encountered, and listening to her blaze her way through these songs makes that fact all the more obvious. From the hushed tones that usher in "Falling Apart", to the immense power she throws behind the ending of "Ice", Dilana is a tour-de-force who can convey emotion through her voice like few others. Not all songs are about something meaningful, and not all meaningful songs sound like it in the hands of lesser singers, but Dilana makes every word cut with the power of a freshly sharpened blade.

When she sings "Dirty Little Secret", even though it isn't about my own family, the music is so powerful it feels as though it is. There's nothing like the simplicity of acoustic music to reveal a song's heart, and the bare-bones arrangements here only work to shine a spotlight on the emotional core of the songs, producing a concert that uses emotion for its heaviness, and couldn't possibly work on the same level with a full band. While a rock show would be more energetic, and more of a celebration of music as a religion, this approach is better for this particular project, because it is so much more consequential. It's an experience.

But now for the bad news. As I feared from the circuitous route the DVD took in coming to fruition, the end product is not produced up to the standards of Dilana's performance. The picture is slightly pixilated throughout, which isn't a problem, but is disappointing. Throughout the songs, the producers use editing tricks out of 70s music videos, with soft cuts and super-imposed images on top of one another. The music and the performance are raw and visceral, and then the editing takes me right out of it with a needless trick. I don't know why editors can't let the performance speak for itself. All they need to do is pick the most important angle at each moment, and show me that.

And just for a bit of insult on top, each song is accompanied by a title graphic, of which "Velvet Covered Stone" is spelled wrong. Delivered eight months late, and they didn't spend time proofreading the few words that appear on screen. Sigh.

Those issues are irksome, but they don't affect the outcome. "Live In Africa" is a gift for all of us who love Dilana, but will likely never be close enough to attend a show in person. She is a special artist, and I for one am glad to be able to have this to document her in her natural element. I heartily give my highest recommendation to her and her performance, but maybe not the product itself.

Bundurock & Dilana's DVD: A Horror Story

*Note: A review of this DVD should be forthcoming. Before I can get to that, this needed to be said.

The first rule of business is "the customer is always right". That isn't meant to be taken literally, but rather as an instruction that customers should be shown respect, because their money is what makes any business work. Without customers, there is no business. So even when they are wrong, or crazy, or demanding beyond reason, they must be humored enough to feel like staying with your business. Unfortunately, Bundurock either never got that memo, or they completely ignored it.

Pissing off your customers does not just reflect poorly on the business, it reflects poorly on the people running it.

When it was announced that Dilana was going to be filming a DVD, I was ecstatic. Since the likelihood of me ever being able to attend a show was remote, this would be my chance to be able to experience a concert. When it was announced it would be a crowd-funded effort, I was slightly less enthused. For every success story that has come from that avenue, there are also horror stories. I decided to hedge my bets and wait.

As the announced release date was approaching, I jumped in and made my purchase. The DVDs, we were told, would be shipped out at the beginning on November 2015. November arrived, and there was no word on shipments. Communication was sparse, and only when the month was nearly over was it announced that an 'unforeseen' delay in finalizing the product meant that shipping would commence in early December 2015. They would arrive in time for the holiday season.

Christmas came and went without a word. Over the course of the following five plus months, Bundurock has been an abject failure in every respect. First, they missed the deadline in getting the DVDs edited and produced. They appear to have lacked any experience in that area, so they did not actually know how long it would take to make the DVDs. The right thing to do would have been to announce from the start that they were new, and they could not make any guarantees, rather than promise us something they had to know they couldn't deliver.

Second, they are one of the most unresponsive businesses I have ever had to communicate with. Over the course of months, I have lost count of how many emails and messages I sent them, the vast majority of which were never replied to. I am a customer, whose money they had for more than six months by this point, and they didn't believe I deserved a response when I politely asked when I could expect my DVD to be shipped.

They made numerous promises that the DVDs were going to ship 'next week', and that we would be getting updates 'at the end of the week'. All of those were lies designed to placate us into throwing in the towel, as we did not receive any information until a large enough number of us badgered them into doing their jobs. Lie after lie piled up, as their reputation disintegrated.

Worst of all is the attitude taken. The implication was that they were so busy getting the DVDs done, printed, and ready for shipping that they didn't have the time to give us updates. Aside from the fact that posting an update on a Facebook page takes all of five minutes, they gave us the finger each and every day, when their page was filled with stories they had been reading and decided to share. They had time to make sure I saw they liked a story about some petty garbage, but they didn't have time to talk to someone who had given them money. They were bordering on being intentionally disgraceful.

Even as the DVDs began shipping, they could not resist insulting us. Pictures were posted of the lucky packages on their way to the post office. But they either didn't have the resources or the good sense to send them all out at once. Instead, we had to sit and wait, watching as a slow trickle of DVDs made their way to other, luckier people, while the photographic evidence was posted, just to rub it in our faces even more. If it had been anyone other than Dilana I was waiting for, I would have demanded my money back.

I don't want to blame Dilana, because I understand the avenues for independent artists are difficult. However, the decision to utilize Bundurock to make and distribute her product has left a pronounced stain on her good name. Now, I will have to question the decision to buy any of her future albums, on the chance that these people could have a hand in the process. It only seems right to me that they never receive another dollar for their miserable service and pathological incompetence.

It didn't have to be like this. Problems happen, and I can understand that. But when someone actively ignores their customers, and refuses to take any responsibility for the equivalent of pissing on them, they don't deserve the respect that not publishing this piece would be. Simple communication could have tempered these ill-feelings, but they refused to do the right thing. They clearly had no idea how to do the job, and when that became clear to those of us unfortunate enough to have done business with them, there was no apology, there was no effort to make good on their failure. They continued to obfuscate, delay, and show the business ethics of a snake-oil salesman. They even went so far as to tell me my frustration and anger isn't warranted, and is a minor price to pay, because I'll have the DVD to enjoy for years to come. That is utter bullshit. They have stolen half a year of my life by making me chase them down and badger them into doing the job they promised. My anger is more than warranted.

I may finally have my DVD, but I can never truly enjoy it. Every time I put it on, I will remember the cesspool I had to crawl through to pry it out of their hands. They have ruined something that was supposed to bring me joy, and they have for the first time made me think less of Dilana.

That might be their greatest sin of all.

And of course, it arrived with the case shattered in three places. Because of course it did.