Trollheart

Theocracy – Theocracy (2003)
Genre: Prog Metal

I loved As the World Bleeds, and quickly set about getting the rest of Theocracy's discography. I haven't however listened to any of it yet. This is their debut. It has two epics on it, each over eleven minutes long and broken into multi-part suites, so this should be indeed right in my wheelhouse. I have to admit, I haven't been concentrating on this as much as I should, but what I hear I do like. “Sinner” in particular is a standout, and I reckon a few more spins and this could definitely be a favourite.

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Key

^that one ive always had trouble listening to since As The World Bleeds and Mirror of Souls are far superior. There aren't many tracks I like on Theocracy, but its still a decent enough album.

Trollheart

The Closed Eyes of Paradise – Draconian – 2000
Genre: Death/Gothic/Black Metal

I believe it was Carpe Mortem who first introduced me to this Swedish gothic/death metal band, and while the album she threw at me was Arcane Rain Fell, and it's a whole lot more laid back and atmospheric than this, let's remember this is actually a demo album, released five years before that one. There are three instrumentals on it, and they're all really good, and eight other tracks, which isn't bad for a demo. The vocals are harsh, definitely more in the Black Metal camp though than the Death Metal one, ie they're screeched but still fairly discernable. The musicianship is top notch, and the addition of a female backing singer on some of the tracks really adds something.

The short (just over a minute) “Unfold Thine Hands” has a beautiful orchestral melody, reminiscent of some of the work on Arcane Rain Fell, and lovely piano. Pity it's not longer. Soon forget about that though, as the next track is ****ing incredible! “The Morningstar” gives way to “The Gothic Embrace” and hell if it isn't just as good. Okay, I love everything about this album.

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Trollheart

Operation: Mindcrime – Queensryche - 1988
Genre: Progressive Metal

I know this album gets huge props from just about everyone, and probably rightly so, but the one and only time I listened to it, though I enjoyed it, I wasn't struck by a classic in the making. Now it's come around again on the randometer, so let's see how it does. The songs are all pretty excellent, true, and the story runs well through them, never seeming forced or stretched to fit. Title track is great, as is “Revolution Calling”, and ... yeah, pretty much everything really. I guess I would need to spend a little more time with this album to totally get its awesomeness, but at least I understand now.

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The Batlord

I'm not over the moon either but "Revolution Calling" is an absolute monster of a song.

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Key

Nice. That's a great album. Haven't listened to it in a while tho.

Plankton

So is Spreading The Disease.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oUAekdWSO4

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Trollheart

Stronger in the End – 7 Mazes – 2017
Genre: Hard Rock

Hard one to track down, this. Wiki shrugs, Discogs says “never heard of it mate” and gives me some compilation by presumably some other band with the same name (fancy) as this is the debut album from the 7 Mazes we're concerned with here. Thought it might have been prog so checked PA but no luck there. Finally got it on a Google search. Interestingly, the page it brought me to rates the album as a ten, but for all I know that could be mates of the band rating it, so I won't take that as anything special before I listen to it. I will say their philosophy is interesting: ”We believe that as an artist, one major task is to connect people. No matter the origin, gender or age; we are all individuals with rough edges and flaws. And thats what defines each one in his unique way. Its about real emotions, true stories and real music.' Indeed. Laudable sentiments. But what's the music like?

Well to be honest, it's shown as hard rock but this kind of sounds almost prog metal to me when it starts. Indeed, RYM (who also have it) call it Alt-Metal. Maybe. Guitar tone is not something you'll find me talking about usually, as I don't know my arse from a hole in the ground on that subject, but here the constant buzzy sound set up by the guitar in the larger percentage of the tracks is very interesting and insistent, sort of aggressive and certainly I would think a signature sound. The vocalist is good, but I'd have to be honest and say he kind of sounds like a million other AOR/Prog Metal/Hard Rock singers – think he reminds me of Daughtry, but I could be wrong there – and I doubt I'd be able to identify him in any other band. He gets the job done though.

Standouts include “Rising Sun”, “Through the Maze”, “Where Are You Now”, “Falling to Pieces”, though to be perfectly frank, it started sounding a little samey about halfway through and while I did enjoy it, I was kind of glad when it got near the end. RYM has a rating of 2.50 on the album, though that is only based on two votes, and I can understand that more than the 10.0 on the other page. I don't see this ever becoming a 10 for me, not even close. I mean, a few more listens and it might go up a point, but I can't see it getting to that level. Recommended, but not that highly.

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Trollheart

I stumbled back across this in a search for material for my Fortress of Prog, but was a little upset to find it's no use for that, as although there are prog albums here the guiding principle I laid down with this thread was that there would be no reviews, and only a few words, a few lines about each album, more comments than anything really, so not much use for the crumbling-and-being-renovated-as-we-speak castle of keyboards then.

However, reading through it (yeah I read my own work; wanna make something of it?) I was reminded how much fun this was, and as this is a time when we could all do with some harmless fun, I'm going to kick some life back into it, two years later.

So stand by. Let's see what's first up.
Oh, and I may bring back those playlists I was doing, though probably not on a daily basis. 2018 Trollheart was right: too much effing hard work!

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Trollheart

Okay then, looks like this is first.
Note: I downloaded the program I used to use, but as it needs a computer reboot I'm holding off on that; I've too much running that I don't want to have to rack up again. So for now I'm using an RLG which rather hilariously gave me as its first pick Z! Oh come on! Who has a ton of albums by artists beginning with Z? Well, probably Frownland. And Hawk. But not me. So after a somewhat futile attempt to work out which of the four albums under Z I might look into, I said **** it and re-rolled. This time I got an A, which eventually led me to these guys.


Moonhorse - Atavarium - 2013
Genre: Doom Metal
RYM rating: 3.59


Gonna do something different this year. I'll check RYM and f I can find any basic comments - not reviews, but just comments - about the album in question I'll post them, and then see if I agree/disagree with the poster. Here's what someone has to say about this one:

Avatarium is a new doom metal band lead by the mighty Leif Edling, current bassist and one of the founding members of doom masters Candlemass. He is joined by musicians that are currently members of such bands as Evergrey, Tiamat and Jupiter Society. Their new EP, Moonhorse, features 2 tracks off their upcoming self titled debut album due to be released November 1. It also contains an accoustic cover of the great song War Pigs.

Moonhorse mixes some very powerful traditional doom metal with some rather melodic doom metal. The songs are powerful and catchy which allows this excellent group of musicians to shine. The interesting thing about Avatarium for me is the band has an exceptional female lead singer. While Jennie-Ann Smith is a great singer, she does not sound at all like what I would have expected her to sound like. Yes, she is powerful at times, bluesy/jazzy at times and even a bit vunerable sounding, too. While her voice works for me, I am not sure how well she will be received by hard core doom metal fans. For somebody like me, a fan of female vocals in metal, I really like Jennie-Ann a lot. She is particularly impressive on the acoustic cover of War Pigs. I thought I would hate this acoustic cover, but it is actually quite lovely.

I am really looking forward to the full length album due out in November. Jennie-Ann puts a smile on my face with her vocals and the band writes some excellent music!

Hah! Great when someone else does the work for you, eh? Nah, seriously, now I have to listen to it and see if I agree. It would hardly be much fun just letting someone else speak for me, now would it?

Hell, let's throw in the rating too, see if I agree or not. RYM ratings are all out of a possible 5.0, it would appear.

As yer man above says, this is an EP not an album (but that's okay; they're welcome too) and has only three tracks, though being in the genre it is perhaps they're over ten minutes long each! Ah, no. Total time nineteen minutes. Fair enough.

Well, before we begin, just what the heck is an Avatarium? Somewhere avatars live? To the dictionary! Okay. Not in the Collins Gem one. How about Oxford? No dice there either. Thesaurus? Nah. To Google then we must fly. And that's about as much use. Guess they made it up then. Fair enough I suppose.

As our helpful friend above notes, this is a band involving the founder of Candlemass, who, while Black Sabbath may very well be the undisputed godfathers of metal and fathers of doom metal, must be at the least its sullen, sulky, morose firstborn. So this should by rights be epic, grinding and, well, doomy. Is it? Let's hit play.

Oh yeah it is. Very Sabs this, and probably very Candlemass too, though I'm not as familiar with them as I maybe should be. That's interesting: sounds like, yep keyboards in there and - what in the name of Ozzy? Now it's gone all acoustic and there's a young lady singing, very beautifully I must say. Then the hard punchy guitars are back. Wow. Different for sure. I can see why Wiki has them down as progressive rather than doom metal – actually they have them as prog rock, which at times I could agree with. Good to see herself – Jennie-Ann Smith – can sing along with the harder rocky guitar passages as well as the acoustic. Impressive stuff.

Hmm. Thought that was the next track starting, but no, it's the same one still. Big doom freak-out now as the guitarist goes wild. Hey, looks like Jennie-Ann is married to him. Lucky him!

Second track, “Boneflower” (great title!) is really less in the doom metal line and much more a goth/prog metal hybrid, but again highlights Jennie-Ann's powerful but not overpowering voice; kind of reminds me of a heavier Lana Lane really. This song brings to mind Tiamat, around the Judas Christ era, and the keys really come into their own here. They end up paying tribute to their dark forefathers (four fathers, huh?) with a very different, acoustic cover of “War Pigs”. Nice. Impressed.

Not so sure dyed-in-the-wool fans of doom metal will be into this though, to echo my man above, but overall I agree with him. Pretty sweet.

Got to be
4 Thumbs Up easy.

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