And so we come to the last week of Metal Month II, and our last chance to check out metal from around the world. As a mark of respect to my home country, I'm delving into the metal which can be found on these emerald shores. So take a deep breath as we head deep into the land of Paddymetal!
As this is my own country which I know reasonably well, I want to try to take, rather than --- or perhaps as well as --- bands from different subgenres, an example from different cities. With this in mind, the first one I'm going to look at comes from County Tipperary, which for those of you who only know the city from the song, is in the south of Ireland, though not as far south as Cork or Limerick. They're described as a traditional metal band, and have only been together since 2007. Still took them three years to get their first demo out, and a further year before this, their debut album, hit. What's it like? Let's find out.
Impending chaos --- Army Rising --- 2011 (Rising Records)
The name of their record label would certainly make you think that it's their own, and that essentially this is released independently. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but the album opens with “Who I am”, a fast, heavy rocker that throws you right in at the deep end. Impending chaos, indeed! At least Noel O'Brien is neither a screamer nor a growler, for which I'm grateful, and in fact when he's joined on vocals by the others they make some very nice harmonies, almost AOR at times. The general delivery though owes a lot to punk and speed metal, and I don't think too much of the guitar techniques; seem a little sloppy. Mind you, the drummer doesn't impress me either but then, when did a drummer ever do that?
The song slows in the middle into a sort of marching beat, then speeds back up and now I can, briefly, appreciate the talents of axemen Tony Myler and Garreth Lawrence, and the solos are okay. The tempo ups considerably for “Destination grave”, hammering along on a hard beat driven by the guitars, O'Brien's vocal much better on this track. There's also much more melody about it, a real hook in the chorus. Some decent riffing here too, with a distinctly celtic flavour as the boys pay homage, either intentionally or subconsciously, to their Irish heritage. “War” puts me in mind of Gary Moore, although it's hardly the most inspired title. Pretty good solo, but really the song's nothing special, like everything I've heard on this album so far. It does have an interesting quote at the end, Oppenheimer on the testing of the first atomic bomb.
A big energetic guitar introduces “Lost generation”, but so much of this sounds like it was recorded in the early eighties it's just not funny. “Tyrant” is more of the same, O'Brien emulating Sean Harris, but other than that there's nothing terribly interesting about it, or anything that stands out really. One of the lines in this is
”Just save your breath” ... advice they should perhaps have taken. Come on, it can't be that bad? No it's not that it's bad, it's just not very good. Or to be fair, very original. In a world where to make it you have to stand out, Army Rising are fading into the background for me, and that's never good. Another big machinegun guitar opening to “I'm dead”, but then it sort of falls a little flat on its face as it drops into the familiar pattern these guys seem to follow for their songs. I'd be hard-pressed to tell one apart from the other.
There aren't even that many decent --- oh there's one now. I was going to say solos, but even at that, it's quite short and not at all engaging. The big punk-style shout at the end doesn't help matters. These guys aren't Tank, after all, and this is not the 1980s! “If you want peace...” has some good melody and an interesting opening, chugs along nicely and seems to throw their personal rulebook out the window. As a result, this may be the first track on the album that actually speaks to me. Very hooky chorus and some great vocal harmonies. Yeah, I like this a lot. Also contains a nice laidback guitar section. I think I might actually remember this after the album has finished.
Speaking of finishing, we're only three tracks away, and “Strength of none” takes us closer, speeding things back up before the song swaggers along on a ragged guitar line, Ted Barret finally distinguishing himself behind the drumkit with some good percussion. The song though basically returns to the playbook and it's pretty generic, with shouted choruses, chugging guitars and quite a lot of riffs robbed from Maiden. That leaves us with “Fallacy” --- nothing terribly special here, though there is a nice vocal harmony in the chorus, and we end on the longest track on the album. Weighing in at just over seven minutes, “Visions” opens on a nice soft bass line from Louis Rice, gentle acoustic guitar and a laidback vocal from Noel O'Brien. Wonder if this is a ballad?
No, it isn't. Here come the fast hard guitars again, though there seems to be something more of a cohesion about them this time. The shape of the song seems more ... developed somehow. Good vocal harmonies again, and the two guys on guitar shine pretty well here. Even given that, it doesn't do a lot to change my opinion of these guys I'm afraid.
TRACKLISTING
1. Who I am
2. Destination grave
3. War
4. Lost generation
5. Tyrant
6. I'm dead
7. If you want peace...
8. Strength of none
9. Fallacy
10. Visions
Unfortunately the impression I get from Army Rising is of a bunch of guys jamming together and hoping to hit the big time, but without the talent or any sort of plan. This album will be forgotten as soon as I press stop, and I feel the same will be true of anyone else who listens to it. There just aren't enough hooks, memorable songs or even standout talent. Which is not to say these fellas are crap, cos they're not. But they're certainly not great, and they don't instil in me any belief that the future of Irish metal is bright.
I'd be more inclined to say Army Falling, personally. Just don't see any future for this band, though in the end they'll probably go on and conquer the world. Yeah, if that happens buy me a hat and I'll eat it. Let's hope our next example is a little better than this.