Stratovarius – Survive (earMusic) [Simon Black]
Survive? Yes they most certainly do.
The challenge this act has is that there have effectively been three different incarnations of it since 1985, and this current third one doesn’t have any original members remaining. I don’t really count the first incarnation, as that was more like a Timo Tolkki solo project and it never worked with him singing instead of just six-stringing, but many feel that the 2.0 line up (which included the only remaining survivors vocalist Timo Kotipelto and keyboard maestro Jens Johannson) was the point of their peak. It wasn’t a sustainable peak sadly, produced too many albums in too short a time, leading to a drop off in song-writing quality and saw Tolkki (whose mental health issues were at that time undiagnosed) burning out and stomping off. Let’s just agree to forget about the ill-judged self-titled 2005 release that closed that period…
The band wrestled control of the name and carried on with the more than capable young guitarist Matias Kupiainen in play, and after a shaky start album wise and the forced retirement of drummer Jörg Michael after illness (although he’s still involved in the band management) the line up finally settled, and indeed soared with 2013’s Nemesis, which oddly was the first thing I ever heard from them. Since that time, I’ve become a definite fan and worked my way through the back catalogue…
Now I’ve been following this band for long enough to tell on first listen that Survive is one of their better efforts since this incarnation of the band materialised (which to be fair has been around for thirteen years and five albums). Although to truly appreciate it, it’s going to take more end-to-end spins than I have with a publishing deadline looming, I can also tell that it’s one of their better efforts period.
It’s also the first on a long time that feels like it is stylistically the same band as their popularity peak second incarnation, despite Kupiainen’s playing style being so distinct and separate from his predecessor. If you think I’m talking rubbish, remember that most Iron Maiden fans can always tell which of the three guitarists is soloing, and this is no different – it’s as distinctive and individual as handwriting when you know what you are listening for. It’s not just about the guitars either, as the song writing is doing the same thing.
Version 1 of the band was firmly power metal, the second symphonic etal and the third so far since Nemesis more power than not, but this is the first time that a release is a fusion of both, and very effectively so. So yes, you have the complex arrangements, brutally fast and technical playing, occasional Neo-classical flourishes from Johannson to cheer the more symphonic fans, but there’s also the strong use of catchy melody and anthemic power tropes that can turn around a lukewarm festival crowd within three songs that first caught my ear in 2013.
They really have got the balance right this time.
Something that I had missed from the earlier years had been the sparring interplay between guitar and keyboards, which to be fair is something Johannson brought with him from his days with Yngwie Malmsteen and which didn’t prevail more recently (although clearly it would happen live when playing the older tracks). We get a few instances of it here, and it’s probably the one element that helps this stylistic fusion of different incarnations gel so successfully here. Nothing captures this more than Broken, which I can tell is a song I’m going to be coming back to a lot.
What we have here folks, is an album that perfectly balances the bouncing anthemic bangers from opener Survive, the singles Firefly and World On Fire to the belting Glory Days (which feels like No Turning Back Part 2 riff wise). When they go thoughtful and moody, they do so with aplomb, with the thoughtful Frozen In Time standing out as a moment of heart-warming anthemic mid-paced power energy, but with an extended instrumental twist and an extra vocal top end scale peak from Kotipelto that is nothing short of fabulous. Closing with the epic length Voice Of Thunder, feel like a nod back to the Elements days, and although perhaps not as memorable as it hangs around a bit too long, it’s still an accomplished piece of music.
But it’s the beautifully layered Breakaway that steals the album for me. Kotipelto is for me one of the must under-recognised singers in all the Metal realms, and when you listen to his performance here you can see why he deserves wider recognition. Now he can sing long, high and loud with the best of them, but his subtle, light and haunting opening verse with acoustic guitar accompaniment, building slowly in power to full anthemic wallop, should be one of those songs that blow this band open to a wider audience. They never went away, but this time they also really feel like they are back. 10/10.
Venom Inc. - There's Only Black (Nuclear Blast) [Simon Black]
The impact that three lads from Newcastle had when they pushed for a the most extreme and most egregiously Metal image they thought they could get away with in 1978 are still felt forty-four years later the world over. Venom became (almost by accident) both a notorious Satanic arch of the NWOBHM movement, and the source of all extreme metal sub-genres ever since. One wonders how much more they would have achieved if those three guys had actually been able to get on a bit better too… which is why we have both Venom and Venom Inc. still with us in 2022...At this point, I should probably pause and explain for the benefit of those not familiar with the history why there are two versions of the band doing the rounds currently.
Survive? Yes they most certainly do.
The challenge this act has is that there have effectively been three different incarnations of it since 1985, and this current third one doesn’t have any original members remaining. I don’t really count the first incarnation, as that was more like a Timo Tolkki solo project and it never worked with him singing instead of just six-stringing, but many feel that the 2.0 line up (which included the only remaining survivors vocalist Timo Kotipelto and keyboard maestro Jens Johannson) was the point of their peak. It wasn’t a sustainable peak sadly, produced too many albums in too short a time, leading to a drop off in song-writing quality and saw Tolkki (whose mental health issues were at that time undiagnosed) burning out and stomping off. Let’s just agree to forget about the ill-judged self-titled 2005 release that closed that period…
The band wrestled control of the name and carried on with the more than capable young guitarist Matias Kupiainen in play, and after a shaky start album wise and the forced retirement of drummer Jörg Michael after illness (although he’s still involved in the band management) the line up finally settled, and indeed soared with 2013’s Nemesis, which oddly was the first thing I ever heard from them. Since that time, I’ve become a definite fan and worked my way through the back catalogue…
Now I’ve been following this band for long enough to tell on first listen that Survive is one of their better efforts since this incarnation of the band materialised (which to be fair has been around for thirteen years and five albums). Although to truly appreciate it, it’s going to take more end-to-end spins than I have with a publishing deadline looming, I can also tell that it’s one of their better efforts period.
It’s also the first on a long time that feels like it is stylistically the same band as their popularity peak second incarnation, despite Kupiainen’s playing style being so distinct and separate from his predecessor. If you think I’m talking rubbish, remember that most Iron Maiden fans can always tell which of the three guitarists is soloing, and this is no different – it’s as distinctive and individual as handwriting when you know what you are listening for. It’s not just about the guitars either, as the song writing is doing the same thing.
Version 1 of the band was firmly power metal, the second symphonic etal and the third so far since Nemesis more power than not, but this is the first time that a release is a fusion of both, and very effectively so. So yes, you have the complex arrangements, brutally fast and technical playing, occasional Neo-classical flourishes from Johannson to cheer the more symphonic fans, but there’s also the strong use of catchy melody and anthemic power tropes that can turn around a lukewarm festival crowd within three songs that first caught my ear in 2013.
They really have got the balance right this time.
Something that I had missed from the earlier years had been the sparring interplay between guitar and keyboards, which to be fair is something Johannson brought with him from his days with Yngwie Malmsteen and which didn’t prevail more recently (although clearly it would happen live when playing the older tracks). We get a few instances of it here, and it’s probably the one element that helps this stylistic fusion of different incarnations gel so successfully here. Nothing captures this more than Broken, which I can tell is a song I’m going to be coming back to a lot.
What we have here folks, is an album that perfectly balances the bouncing anthemic bangers from opener Survive, the singles Firefly and World On Fire to the belting Glory Days (which feels like No Turning Back Part 2 riff wise). When they go thoughtful and moody, they do so with aplomb, with the thoughtful Frozen In Time standing out as a moment of heart-warming anthemic mid-paced power energy, but with an extended instrumental twist and an extra vocal top end scale peak from Kotipelto that is nothing short of fabulous. Closing with the epic length Voice Of Thunder, feel like a nod back to the Elements days, and although perhaps not as memorable as it hangs around a bit too long, it’s still an accomplished piece of music.
But it’s the beautifully layered Breakaway that steals the album for me. Kotipelto is for me one of the must under-recognised singers in all the Metal realms, and when you listen to his performance here you can see why he deserves wider recognition. Now he can sing long, high and loud with the best of them, but his subtle, light and haunting opening verse with acoustic guitar accompaniment, building slowly in power to full anthemic wallop, should be one of those songs that blow this band open to a wider audience. They never went away, but this time they also really feel like they are back. 10/10.
Venom Inc. - There's Only Black (Nuclear Blast) [Simon Black]
The impact that three lads from Newcastle had when they pushed for a the most extreme and most egregiously Metal image they thought they could get away with in 1978 are still felt forty-four years later the world over. Venom became (almost by accident) both a notorious Satanic arch of the NWOBHM movement, and the source of all extreme metal sub-genres ever since. One wonders how much more they would have achieved if those three guys had actually been able to get on a bit better too… which is why we have both Venom and Venom Inc. still with us in 2022...At this point, I should probably pause and explain for the benefit of those not familiar with the history why there are two versions of the band doing the rounds currently.
There’s been a lot of this in recent years, particularly in the USA when the judiciary frequently allows two warring splinters of a successful band brand to complete in the same space until one emerges as the victor on the still twitching commercial corpse of the other, but in this instance it’s once again almost accidental that the name Venom Inc. was selected, or that the band even existed. When the project was started as a brief attempt to reboot the second Prime Evil/Demolition Man/Mantas era of the band it was originally as a one-off festival event. The band didn’t even want to be named in a way that associated them with Venom, but the fans had other ideas and Venom Inc. has stuck. So have Venom Inc and they seem perfectly capable of coexisting alongside the other branch (if not in the same room), with both acts releasing new albums on a regular basis, whilst keeping enough of the material from their respective eras in the live sets for the fans not to feel like they are being done over.
Now I’ve not seen Venom in its current incarnation live, but have had the privilege of watching Venom Inc. twice at Bloodstock in recent years, and feel they have probably gained more ground here in the UK than the Cronos fronted version, even if original member Abaddon has now moved on since I saw them the first time. But this is the first time I have sat down with any original new material, so expectations were high, and a rare glimmer of excitement loomed...I was not disappointed. Black it definitely is, but there’s an awful lot of groove in here too, and my word does this baby chug.
The material on here is consistently stark, brutal and in your face as their live shows, to the point when I can visualise Tony Dolan snarling and gurning every syllable of these lyrics into a mic with the bombastic rage of a Satanic Les Dawson (actually, Tony’s lovely when you meet him in person…). As always, I remain overawed that this much richness of sound can be produced by only three musicians, and I have the evidence of my own ears and eyes to testament to their ability to do this live, but this material works fantastically well in the studio too.
The fact that it delivers consistently is the strongest point to make here. I can’t fault any of the tracks, but special call out needs to go to the epic feeling closer Inferno, the relentless chugger Come To Me, the catchy as fuck riff monster of a title track and the vicious anger of Don’t Feed Me Your Lies win the day for me. Splicing up that classic Venom sound of their era, a dollop of Slayer-esque brutality and the thundering, kidney rattling bass of Motörhead when Lemmy’s got a cob on, this is Venom Inc on top form, and feel like it’s picking up where Prime Evil left off. A palpable hit indeed 9/10
Virgil & Steve Howe - Lunar Mist (InsideOut Records) [Matt Bladen]
Lunar Mist is the second album from Yes/Asia/GTR guitarist Steve Howe and his son Virgil. This second album is another posthumous collection of material as Virgil tragically passed away shortly after the first album Nexus was completed, but on that album one song remained unreleased. This was Lunar Mist, meant for a Japanese release but left on the cutting room floor it inspired Steve to go digging into his sons unfinished works looking to complied another tribute to his musical dexterity.
What he found after writing for Yes' most recent album The Quest was veritable trove of music that was at various stages of completion. The urging and support of his wife Jan, Steve took these tracks and added his skills to them so what we have is 14 experimental compositions that straddle numerous genres, while blurring others.
Take the last two songs here Pagoda, leans heavily on Asian themes (the region not the band) but Martian Mood is much more alien, reminding a bit of Jeff Wayne's War Of The World's. Starting off with the title track, they set the bar high, as it's a real stunner that feels like the early days of prog, the influence of Gabriel-led Genesis and Steve's own band Tomorrow, it's even got that crackling production and unique percussion, following this would be difficult but More Than You Know is a beautiful piece built for Steve's string mastery, his classical skills on show here while Plexus is all about electric.
Mariah's Theme seems to be drawing from Grieg's Piano Concerto In A minor whereas A Month In The Sun has a disco beat. A beguiling glimpse at both men's talent while also being a father's tribute to his son. Lunar Mist is another genre sprawling record from this father and son team. 7/10
Kaledon - Legend of the Forgotten Reign - Chapter VII: Evil Awakens (Beyond The Storm Productions) [Matt Bladen]
Christ that's a mouthful of a title! Fortunately I'm going to try and not type it again as the latest album by Italian power metal band is the next entry into their long running conceptual storyline that runs through their first six albums. After a couple of records about other characters 2017's Carnagus: Emperor Of The Darkness being the first to feature current singer Michele Guaitoli (Temperance, Visions of Atlantis), they have returned to their fantasy universe for yet more tales of might and myth.
Christ that's a mouthful of a title! Fortunately I'm going to try and not type it again as the latest album by Italian power metal band is the next entry into their long running conceptual storyline that runs through their first six albums. After a couple of records about other characters 2017's Carnagus: Emperor Of The Darkness being the first to feature current singer Michele Guaitoli (Temperance, Visions of Atlantis), they have returned to their fantasy universe for yet more tales of might and myth.
What we have here is power metal in the vein of Helloween, Stratovarius and Rhapsody. Though they don't use anywhere near as many orchestral manoeuvres as their Italian cohorts. Helloween would be the one I would pick out mainly as Guaitoli, who also mixed and mastered the release, has a raspy delivery similar to Andi Deris, occasionally he hits higher notes but the heavier riffs style and use of synths makes for less power metal posturing and more modern metal bite.
The darker tone of the record is due to the Dark Lord from the first five albums returning from defeat, ready to re-attack Kaledon, so it reflected in the album. At The Gates Of The Realm, the thrashier riffs and spikier synths are both key elements to achieving what is quite a heavy sound, A Strike From The Unknown features screams from Hostile's James Mills and while The Story Comes To An End? features the ethereal voice from Nicoletta Rosellini (Kalidia) it's far from being just 'symphonic metal'. The interplay between keyboardist Paolo Campitelli with guitarists Alex Mele and Tommy Nemesio is brilliant though on the gothic Emperor Of The Night Manuele Di Ascenzo's restrain behind the kit adds emotion, but he's also great in galloping unison with bassist Enrico Sandri on tracks such as The Dawn Of Dawns.
What was useful for someone like me who isn't as familiar with the band as perhaps I should be, you don't have to listen to the other six chapters to understand what's going on, as they link back to the previous albums in the lyrics. Obviously if you're a fan of the world building then definitely do that but you can enjoy this album without it. Some modern power metal that doesn't overly rely on electronics, Kaledon have returned with this strong conceptual power metal record. 7/10