In the ol' grab-bag this week:
Bruce Dickinson - Afterglow Of Ragnarok
It will have been nineteen years by the time Bruce's album gets released in 2024. That is an eternity, and it had me rather worried he and Roy Z would have lost the momentum behind three of my favorite metal albums ever. We now have the first taste of "The Mandrake Project", and I'm feeling better about things. The mix is a little light on guitars, and I'm not sure the pieces quite fit together seamlessly, but it's a good song that is far more effective than "If Eternity Should Fail", which was pilfered from this album years ago. This has echoes of "The Chemical Wedding" to it, and while I know nothing will ever reach those heights again, being able to open a chalet halfway up that mountain will ensure the record will be a tent-pole release for the year. I'm optimistic now.
The Grandmaster - Watching The End
I've come around on this project's first album, which has grown on me once the stink of being another album off the conveyor belt wore off. It was great to hear Edguy's Jens Ludwig playing guitar again, and the songs were melodic gems that did a good enough job of filling that hole. The problem is that like so often, I feel like an idiot for getting my hopes up about anything. These 'bands' are just thrown together with whomever happens to be around at the time, and that means a new singer for album number two. I really liked Nando, and the new guy grates on me after just this one song. A promising group is now reduced to being filler if I don't have much else to talk about that week. I'm not looking forward to an entire album of this voice, and having the label pull the rug out from under me again. Is it any wonder why none of these things ever really takes off? How can they?
Judas Priest - Panic Attack/Trial By Fire
I will say this; at least in the studio, Rob Halford is aging like no one else. His vocals sound stellar on these two songs, and I'm sure all the metal fans are going to love another dose of Priest with blueprint metal production. As I've never really been a Priest fan, I look at these songs with a curiosity. "Panic Attack" is actually quite good, and does the job better than most of the bands that make a living copying Priest (*cough*Primal Fear*cough*). Unfortunately, "Trial By Fire" is cliche 80s metal where not much care was given to having a sturdy and memorable melody. It's one step forward, one step back for me, which means Priest is still one of those bands I'm more interested in hearing other people's take on than actually hearing.
Kobra Page - Love What I Hate/Under One Sun
It seems Kobra is releasing a solo album next year, which I find rather interesting. I thought the band was doing well, and these songs aren't exactly treading much new ground. Oh well. This is another case of one good and one band. "Love What I Hate" finds Kobra being a bit more mainstream than usual, but delivering a great vocal on a solid melodic rock song. I like that one. "Under One Sun" has more emphasis on rhythm, and it's hard for me to find the chorus melody, so it feels like an experiment that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I don't like that one. These don't really tell me what to expect from an album, so I'm going to temper my expectations.
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