Quick Reviews: Noveria & Marc Hudson

Have I been giving metal the short end of the stick recently? I'm not sure, but let's check out two new metal records today to see what I'm missing out on.

Noveria - The Gates Of The Underworld

Sometimes, I think I give an incomplete thought when it comes to prog metal. I will say that writing prog is often easier than other genres, because you can let the technicality of the music stand in place of songwriting. The flip side to that is to say writing 'good' prog is harder sometimes, because fitting strong melodies into that kind of maelstrom is not an easy task. That's what Noveria is trying to do.

They do it well. Their prog metal is filled with lush melodies and attempts at hooky choruses. Their focus on songwriting is more obvious, and more effective, than many who get lost in their own abilities. Despite their prowess, and a few tangents they go off on, all of these songs are anchored in melody first and foremost. They understand that without a song, you don't really have much worth listening to.

My issue is that despite being prog, there isn't much diversity on the album. It feels like the entire record is densely packed, and utterly unrelenting. It's a full hour of being blasted in your face by their power, which is impressive, but gets old for me long before we reach the finish line. There's a reason why rock and metal bands always go to ballads, even if a lot of listeners think they're weak; albums need room to breath. This one is very good for the style, and I do enjoy it, but I just wish it wasn't so fatiguing to get through the whole thing. A bit more tempo and tonal variation would have made this even better. But maybe that's just me being old and soft.

Marc Hudson - Starbound Stories

The Dragonforce singer steps out with his first solo album, and for as much grief as Dragonforce might get from certain people, I think this solo effort shows they have a very calculated and tempered version of absurdity. I haven't been much of a fan of the band's recent work, but early Dragonforce was some ridiculous power metal fun. This record actually hearkens back to that era before Marc was in the band, but it does it in a way I'm a bit confused by.

The press release says this is inspired as much by anime as by metal, and that's what leaves me scratching my head. The incessant double-bass drumming (Can someone explain to me how that is supposed to be an appealing sound for more than five seconds at a time?) doesn't mesh with the attempts at hyper-melody, and those don't mesh with Marc's voice particularly well. That's the biggest thing for me; this is a singer's solo album, but many of these songs seem to fall in the strangest part of Marc's range.

There are many ways to trade in absurdity, and like a Monty Python sketch, they're not all going to be for you. I still dearly love that ludicrous concept album where Jorn Lande plays the part of Dracula. I was raised on cheese, but this particular variety isn't my thing. Maybe if you know anything about anime beyond that it exists, this will have more appeal for you. For me, it's a bit confounding.