DRAGONFORCE

WARNING: BIASED BLOGGING AHEAD

I realized the other day I've been forgetting a terribly important album in my reviews, one that's been dear to me for years:

Yeah. DragonForce, beeyotches.

Inhuman Rampage was the album that got me into not just DragonForce, not just power metal, but metal itself. Before I heard Through the Fire and the Flames via a preview of Guitar Hero III that mentioned how impossibly difficult it was, I mostly listened to Christian contemporary music, songs from Guitar Hero (some of which were metal, but I didn't even know that), and the soundtracks of video games that I piped into my computer and recorded. When I heard that song my life was changed.

Compared with the stuff I was used to, DragonForce was larger than life. Blindingly fast bass drumming and virtuosic guitar solos lasting upwards of three minutes (say what you will, but I believe they can play their own instruments when sober), epic multisectioned songs in excess of seven minutes, made-of-awesome lyrics like "So far away, we wait for the day/For the lives all so wasted and gone /We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days /Through the fire and the flames we carry on!"...where had I been to be missing out on such music?

DragonForce is the musical embodiment of the rule of cool. Maybe a 30-second guitar solo would fit into the flow of the song better and make it a more reasonable length, but DragonForce, luckily, is not a reasonable band. Their lyrics are so epic that they don't even make any sense! As I mentioned in a previous post, DragonForce is sometimes described as "video game" metal for their use of 8-bit-esque electronic effects. So if you like '80s music or video games, this is the band for you!

That said, there isn't too much point doing a track-by-track analysis. I have long admitted that DragonForce's songs mostly sound similar. Similarly awesome. Since the shortest song on the album is over 5 minutes, there's a lot to love here. Through the Fire and the Flames is of course, the most memorable track for me due to its general greatness and inclusion in Guitar Hero III and Brütal Legend. If you only listen to one DragonForce song, let it be that one. The album's only weak point is its obligatory ballad (which really does sound forced compared to the insanity of the rest of the songs), Trail of Broken Hearts.

I usually tend to remember my introduction to something favorably; it gets a special place in my heart that later instances can't claim. Maybe that's why DragonForce remains my favorite metal band, or maybe it's because other power metal bands are slow, short-winded, and boring compared to them. If you're one of those types who listens to music to be cool, stay away from this album and go back to your Animal Collective or whatever. But if you listen to music to enjoy music, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable listening experience than Inhuman Rampage.

Warning: May cause uncontrollable head-banging. Reviewer assumes no responsibility for DragonForce-related injuries.

Wintersun

Since this spring I've been developing an ear for death metal. I haven't discussed this fact much with people, knowing the knee-jerk reaction such an "extreme metal" genre usually evokes. It's not music if there's no singing, right? And aren't the lyrics all Satanic and gory, not at all the stuff a Christian should listen to? Let me examine these assumptions with the experience I have with the genre:

The music: In comparison with my beloved power metal, death metal tends to be at least as fast, with heavier-sounding guitars that are more often played in minor keys. It is very riff-focused and often has furious guitar solos. The drumming has lots of bass pedal and "blast beats" (2-time beats involving the bass drum, snare drum, and a cymbal that are usually played extremely quickly). It's a very technically demanding genre. And, of course, the vocals are usually shouted, snarled, screamed, or grunted rather than sung.

There's no questioning that usually these elements are acquired musical tastes (in the same way that people tell me alcohol is an acquired taste). Someone who isn't already into metal is much less likely to love a Dark Tranquillity album for the first time as he is a HammerFall album. Personally, I prefer melodic death metal, which has at least as much in common with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (think Iron Maiden, epic fantasy-themed lyrics, melodic guitar harmonies, and the like) as it does with '80s thrash. At its most melodic, it's basically power metal minus the clean vocals. (Though it can have quite a bit of clean vocals) It's powerful, epic, and even beautiful. At any rate, there's nothing "bad" or "wrong" about the musical style of death metal, as abrasive as it can be. I believe that preferred style of music (without considering lyrics) is simply a matter of taste, not of morality.

But what about the lyrics? It's true that the Satanic and gory themes people usually associate with death metal characterized it in the beginning. But like so many other genres (punk, grunge, even rock itself), the style outgrew the original culture that defined it and was responsible for its early lyrics. Namely, it grew its way to Scandanavia, where bands like At the Gates and In Flames redefined it and created melodic death metal. As I said above, it was considerably more melodic and accessible than the 'brutal' death metal that was on the rise in America. I enjoy it much more. Additionally, the lyrics were much less nasty and more diverse. The only common feature of melodic death metal lyrics I've identified is that they tend to be dark in tone, but this doesn't stop them from being enjoyable, deep, even beautiful. (See Opeth) Case in point: an album I've been getting into recently...

Wintersun is the band of former Ensiferum vocalist Jari Mäenpää (don't you love awesome Finnish names?). The lyrics are quite poetic and, rather predictably, often about winter. (I might be biased toward them because of this) Musically, it is mostly fast and furious, with melodic guitars akin to a fiercer brand of power metal plus plenty of blast beats. The keyboards give it a distinctive expansive, "spacy" sound that evokes the feel of a winter night (again, the perfect album for someone whose favorite season is winter). It's also nearly unique in my iTunes library in that every song on the album is longer than the last. It's a cool effect as you feel like you're going deeper and deeper into the album--and this is a very deep album. Each song (except maybe the two-and-a-half-minute opener) has many sections to it and this album is as deep as many a prog album. A sign of a good album is that I enjoy it more every time I listen to it, which is certainly the case for Wintersun.

Lyrically, the songs appear to follow the last thoughts of a man lost in a winter night struggling against the cold and his own delusions, but they are intentionally open to interpretation. They are poetically penned in the trademark nearly-correct-so-it-sounds-cooler style of many Finnish metal bands. The album has a mix of operatic clean vocals and screams; overall Jari is talented and understandable whatever style he's using.

The album starts off with the one-two punch of Beyond the Dark Sun and Winter Madness which introduce us to the band's frantic tempos, superb guitar and keyboard melodies, and top-notch drumming. This is a band that isn't afraid to sound big, all while keeping up the pace. They slow down to a crawl for the first part of Sleeping Stars while the atmospheric keyboards take over, but after that we have one of the album standouts, Battle Against Time, which has some truly awesome tempo shifts. Keep in mind that the farther into the album we get, the more progressive the songs become.

Death and the Healing is a largely instrumental track devoid of screamed vocals, probably the most beautiful song on the album. Starchild is an epic journey both lyrically and musically. Beautiful Death is a furious 8-minute musical attack that ends with a pretty cool ambient section. Album finisher Sadness and Hate provides a satisfyingly epic conclusion to this majestic album. If you're looking for some metal that defies genre boundaries and provides a satisfying listen for the head and the ears, I highly recommend Wintersun.

define:Epic

I take pride in the fact that I don't just listen to music: I listen to EPIC music. Music that would be appropriate for a lightsaber duel, Tolkienesque battle between good and evil for the fate of the world, or a particularly intense homework session. My definition of epic music was formed years ago by some particularly awesome music I discovered in my younger, more musically impressionable years and reinforced by some more recent gems. I decided to select the CD's worth of songs that best fit this abstract definition--I measure how epic a song is largely by how closely it resembles the following and how well it fits the above situations. If you listen to none of the other posts in my blog, check these songs out. They are made of epic awesomeness.

The Poet and the Pendulum (Instrumental Version) - Nightwish

The first song I hear by an artist makes a strong impression on me and often ends up being one of my favorites in their catalogue. This 14-minute masterpiece was the first I ever heard of Nightwish (aside from that misheard lyrics video which is the most almost anyone hears of them) and it completely blew me away. It, like all the other songs on Nightwish's latest albums, was recorded with a full orchestra. The intrigue steadily builds with the largely ambient orchestral intro for the first minute before the trumpets come in and the band explodes onto the scene. The metal guitar, horns, and choir trade off in a crowning moment of EPIC. This song resembles film music (a favorite of Nightwish's resident keyboardist/composer, Tuomas) in its scale and complexity. There are quite a few quiet parts, a nice contrast that makes the song even more memorable. The version with lyrics is also cool (it's basically Tuomas's life story plus Poe references), but the instrumental version lets you concentrate solely on how INSANELY EPIC the music is.

Reign of Terror - Rhapsody of Fire

This song also starts off quietly and ambiently before a lonely organ comes in above the wind to play a few notes. The band begins repeating the song's all-Latin chorus louder and louder--it means something like "The book is written, the book shall be brought, in which all is contained, by which the world will be judged". Pretty epic. The choir and organ back singer Fabio Lione up for this part for EVEN MORE EPIC. Bonus points for some awesome shred guitar. Check it out.

Fury of the Storm - DragonForce

INTO THE FIRES OF FOREVER/WE WILL FLY THROUGH THE HEAVENS/WITH THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE/WE STAND STRONG TOGETHER/THROUGH THE FORCING OF POWER/IT WILL SOON REACH THE HOUR/FOR VICTORY WE RIDE/FURY OF THE STORM/[2-minute hyperfast guitar solo]

Ghost Love Score - Nightwish

At only ten minutes, Ghost Love Score is a disappointing follow-up to The Poet and the Pendulum. Not. Actually it is not disappointing at all and was released three years earlier. Like its longer nephew (sorry, learned about binary trees today) it resembles film music, with loud parts, quiet parts, and (plenty of) epic parts. Go to 7:10 on that video and you'll see what I mean. Only one thing could make it more epic...

Dawn of Victory - Rhapsody of Fire

I traditionally listen to this song after taking tests. Once again the the shredding guitar, fast drumming, and symphonic/choral elements combine to make one seriously epic song. Particularly the incredibly sing-alongable chorus. "Gloria/Gloria perpetua/In this dawn of victory!"

Painkiller - Judas Priest

I have written a three-page essay on this song and why it is epic. And the metal gods manage it with no keyboards!

Master Passion Greed (Instrumental) - Nightwish

This song is from the same album as The Poet and the Pendulum, but it is considerably more guitar-focused. It has great riffs and an intense, uber-heavy atmosphere. The chorus (or what would be the chorus in the non-instrumental) version currently has no movie that could possibly do it justice as a soundtrack.

Agony Is My Name - Rhapsody of Fire

I don't know of any band that can so seamlessly blend shred guitar and organs/harpsichords and not have it come off as ridiculous like Rhapsody of Fire. Well, maybe it is ridiculous. But that's just part of their charm!

By My Side - Dream Evil

As I've previously written, Dream Evil is known for taking power metal to self-parodic levels, but try not to sing along with the awesome chorus. Just try. One of the more awesome guitar riffs I've ever heard as well. Bonus points for the lyrics actually being about an epic final battle.

7 Days to the Wolves - Nightwish

Yes, a quarter of my definition of epic is from one album. One awesome album. This song starts out slower, with deep, pounding guitar and a choir maintaining an ominous atmosphere. After a few "verses" this gives way to a tribal-sounding drum march, then a violin solo--epic indeed! The last minute and a half are possibly the most intense piece of music I have ever heard--just when you think it's about to end, they turn it up a notch.

Never Forgotten Heroes - Rhapsody of Fire

The first 1.5 minutes of this song are relatively quiet before the Italian bards turn it up to 11. The swirling strings, the choir, the surge of energy in the chorus--words can't describe it. I recommend listening.

Ghost Opera - Kamelot

The last song on my (to be) CD is the only one by an American band. (Don't worry, they have a Norwegian opera singer for a vocalist) No relation to Ghost Love Score aside from their epic blend of metal and orchestra. I'm running out of words to use, but you should probably listen to it.

Addendum: In the updated version of this playlist, I've replaced "Agony Is My Name" with Wurzelbert, but German symphonic metal band Equilibrium. After listening to the first minute or so, it pretty much sounds like the world is ending. Booming guitars combine with symphonic bombast, all turned up to eleven. The all-German vocals sound so evil, but really they're about a funny root-man who thrills people by playing his fiddle ("Wurzelbert,, Wurzelbert, Wurzelbert, spiel die fiedal!"). Wow.

In the Night

The following is a review I posted on iTunes about one of my favorite metal albums.

Meta-Metal

For those who aren't aware, Dream Evil is the band of Mr. Fredrik Nordstrom, Swedish metal producer and one of the main guys behind the famed "Gothenburg sound" of metal. This is a guy that knows his metal, and Dream Evil is some of the finest new metal out there. If you don't read the rest of this review, use the time you saved to buy this album!

In the Night is the band's fifth release, in which they ply their craft of affectionately parodying power metal. DE is fully aware of how formulaic, cheesy, and self-promoting the genre can be, and they aren't afraid to poke some fun at it. This manifests through just-a-little-over-the-top lyrics like "I am immortal/I rule the slaughter" on the first track, "We will unite/Hail metal!/We will fight!/[BOOMING GUITAR RIFFAGE]" on the title track, or pretty much the entirety of "Bang Your Head". "The Ballad" gets bonus points for taking the classic metal song format to side-splittingly hilarious lengths. Make no mistake, Dream Evil isn't just joking around, and the lyrics are much more likely to delight than anger power metal fans. 

Musically, the band sounds top-notch. With the band led by one of the top metal producers in the business, this isn't too surprising. The booming guitars are mixed a little loud, but in power metal is this something to complain about? Every song has ultra-heavy, melodic guitar work, excellent solos, head-banging drumming, and fine vocals by Niklas Isfeldt/Nick Night. Whether you have lengthy debates over which Helloween album is best or you got into power metal via DragonForce and think they're the coolest thing ever, whatever kind of metalhead you are (or even if you aren't), this album is highly recommended.

My Top 10 Eclectic Metal Bands

It's true that lots of the music I listen to, while awesome, and fulfilling, isn't terribly creative. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to epic metal about swords and sorcery, but occasionally I yearn for something a little different. Fortunately, in my musical travels I've found some fascinating metal bands that aren't afraid to do things differently. And now I share them with you: the ten most eclectic metal bands in my library and what they have to bring to the genre.

10. Ayreon - Science fiction rock opera

I've already done a post on these guys. Dutch multi-instrumentalist/composer/genius Arjen Anthony Lucassen could have simply formed an awesome progressive metal band, but he was far too megalomaniacal for that. Instead he started the project Ayreon. Armed with some of the best progressive and metal vocalists and musicians out there, he set out to tell the story of an ancient race of fish-people (the Forevers) that covered their world in machines and lost their emotions in the process. With their own future looking bleak, they seeded a passing comet with engineered DNA and guided it towards the Earth, where it wiped out the dinosaurs and paved the way for human life. The Forevers sought to live vicariously through the humans and, by learning from them, rediscover emotions. Soon human civilization began repeating the Forevers' mistakes and tries to warn past humans about their doom through a process called "time telepathy". Their message is received in a dream by the blind 6th-century minstrel, Ayreon, who is cursed to become unable to communicate his message by a jealous Merlin. The scientists also try to warn an aging hippie via time telepathy, but of course he is declared insane. Ultimately humanity wipes itself out in the year 2084. The last human left alive is a colonist left alone on Mars, who uses a machine called the Dream Sequencer to relive the history of his past lives. He eventually tries to go back to the very first soul created, the Universal Migrator, which travels through the universe spreading life to other planets. The Dream Sequencer eventually runs down and fails, killing the colonist, who becomes the new Migrator. Got all that?

This epic tale is told in full rock opera style, supplemented with 70s-era synthesizers for that "space" feel. Ayreon is truly larger than life in every respect.

9. Canvas Solaris - Ph.D.-level riffs (and song titles)

Canvas Solaris is definitely a band for the brainy. They play technically complex instrumental metal that reminds me of a lengthy process of introspection, decision, and discovery. Musically, it's an odyssey from quiet synthesizers to schizophrenic riffage that can be challenging to keep up with. Their songs definitely don't all sound the same--different parts of the same songs don't even sound similar. And, of course, even brainier than their music is their song titles. Perhaps in absence of lyrics to write, the band comes up with gems like "Reticular Consciousness", "Syzygial Epiphany", "Adaptive Optics", and the classic "Dark Matter, Accretion Disk, And Interacting Binary Neutron Star In A Self-Reproducing Inflationary Universe". One has to wonder how much they care about becoming a hit if their song titles are too long to remember, much less rave about. They're pretty awesome.

8. The Black Mages - Final Fantasy

DragonForce has been called "video game metal" for their awesometastic lyrics and electronic effects, but their have nothing on these guys. The band was started by their keyboardist, Nobuo Uematsu. You know, the guy who composes the music for Final Fantasy. The band is instrumental  and plays metal arrangements of classic tunes from classic video games. Also a truly epic rendition of Sephiroth's theme from Final Fantasy VII, One-Winged Angel, for the Final Fantasy movie. Sadly they disbanded earlier this year, but you should definitely check out their fascinating and nerdy music.




7. Rhapsody of Fire - Dungeons and Dragons, a full orchestra, and Christopher Lee

Wait a second, didn't I originally contrast all this eclectic metal with stuff about swords and sorcery? And isn't that exactly what Rhapsody of Fire sings about? Yes, it's true. But unlike other (perfectly good) power metal bands that just play metal and sing about fantasy, Rhapsody of Fire takes the two to their logical conclusion and fuses them perfectly. Perhaps the only band that would be more at home in the tales it weaves is Blind Guardian. RoF takes power metal's virtuosity and adds full orchestral arrangements, truly operatic singing, and epic choirs singing in Latin. They use this bombastic style to tell Dragonlance-ready stories that span multiple albums in complexity. Oh, and they routinely bring Sir Christopher Lee on board to narrate (and occasionally sing).

6. Cynic - Jazz

Cynic is technical metal like Canvas Solaris, but they have vocals--namely a mix of death growls and auto-tuned robots. They also incorporate elements of jazz into their rambling songs. Probably one of the most brilliant bands I've heard. They have released one album in 1993 and another in 2008, and both have been hailed as some of the best progressive metal has to offer. I don't have much more to say, except check them out.






5. Apocalyptica - Cellos

You may have heard of Apocalyptica as that band that plays Metallica covers on the cello. That was how they got their start, along with covering  some other classic metal songs. Then they got a drummer and became a pretty awesome metal band in their own right. There's just something about a cello run through an amp that no guitar can match. Most of their songs are instrumental, but they regularly bring in guest vocalists to sing with them. Old or new, they're one of the most innovative acts in metal.

4. Pain of Salvation - Everything and the kitchen sink

Swedish prog metal band Pain of Salvation is pretty unique in that they truly have no distinctive "sound". All the other bands on this list have a certain style that their work falls under, but Pain of Salvation truly goes all over the map. Their last three albums have been a largely ambient/electronic concept album on the existence of God with all Latin song titles, a reflection on the human condition in an eccentric style bordering on rap metal, and a jam-filled retro-rock album that wouldn't have been out of place in the 70s. The perfect band for those tired of the ordinary.

3. Attack Attack! - Auto tune and electronica

Okay, maybe Attack Attack! isn't that creative. They are, however, hilarious. Where else will you find head-banging screamo metal and electronic dance pop in the same song? Your reaction to that video should be horror followed by stunned disbelief followed by uproarious laughter. (Especially in the last 50 seconds)



2. Unexpect - Insanity

I consider Unexpect the musical definition of insanity: the aural representation of what losing your mind must be like. Their music shifts between just about every imaginable style, tempo, key, and mood. The band members all go by XBox Live-like pseudonyms like Syriak, ChaotH, and Leïlindel and write lyrics like "Perpendicular euphoria/Burst! Feverish coloured bubbles!!!/Blotch this predictable boring mindscape". That stanza pretty much sums them up. This band is completely bonkers. Listen at your own peril.




1. van Canto - A cappella

What could be more eclectic than a metal band with no guitars, you ask? A metal band with no instruments--an a cappella hero metal band!! To be fair, they do have a real drummer--but only because no one auditioning could imitate double bass drumming without passing out. (I think they should have just gotten two "drummers" to trade off) They have the drummer and five vocalists--two to actually sing the lyrics, and three more to imitate the guitars and bass with gratuitous amounts of "rakkatakka" and "dundundundundun". They pass the voices through amps to better imitate the real instruments; the solos on their newest album sound indistinguishable from a real guitar. It's pretty impressive. Don't just take my word for it; listening is believing.

The Days of Grays

It's quite rare for me to find an album that not only defies description, but just laughs at all attempts to categorize it. The Days of Grays, by Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica, is such an album.

Sonata Arctica has evolved considerably over their career. They started off playing classic-style power metal similar to genre pioneer Stratovarius, albeit with lyrics that dealt with personal emotions and stories as much as  fantasy. Around their 2004 album Reckoning Night they began adopting a more progressive metal style with more complicated, moodier songs and complex lyrical themes. The Days of Grays combines their progressive and power metal styles, along with more orchestral elements than previous albums. The result is pretty much everything I love about European metal on one CD.

This album is one of a few in my library I have listed as "Symphonic/Progressive/Power Metal". A quick listen will reveal that it deserves all of those genres; the songs are diverse, sprawling compositions that combine crunching guitars and a (simulated) orchestra.. If you listen to this album expecting a straight-up metal record, you will be disappointed. In fact, if you're expecting just about anything beforehand, you probably won't enjoy it as much. It's hard to make general statements about such a diverse album, so let's get to the tracks.

After a completely orchestral intro that slowly builds layers upon layers of piano and strings (Everything Fades to Gray), the full band bursts onto the scene with the epic Deathaura, which is basically the whole album in miniature. In eight minutes we get a multi-sectioned odyssey containing some of the band's hardest rocking backed by the orchestra with multiple quiet interludes. The Last Amazing Grays is somewhat more straightforward. The guitar takes more of a textural backseat to the piano and organ, but comes into its own during a low-register solo which is made all the more epic by the symphonic backing.

Did I mention vocalist Tony Kakko is fantastic in all of these songs? He effortlessly switches between the usual operatic vocals and a more emotional style that befits the more symphonic parts of the album. Basically, he's awesome.

Flag In the Ground is one of the more straight-up power metal songs on the album (with the guitar and keyboard roles approximately reversed from the last song) going back to the band's earlier days, and it is quite awesome. It's also one of the very few SA songs with a happy ending. Zeroes has a more plodding pace (slow enough to headbang to)  and rocks even harder.

The Dead Skin is another short epic, this time compressed to just over six minutes. The lyrics are a little on the emo side, but musically it's beautiful, beginning with a beautiful, swirling piano melody that continues through much of the song. Did I mention the solo and post-solo section is some of the best, most metallic metal I have ever heard? Well, it is. Definitely one of the more interesting (and awesome) parts of the album.

And then...then we have Juliet. Possibly one of my five favorite songs ever. SA takes the climax of Shakespeare's most famous work and gives it the epic treatment. The ending is one of the most intense and beautiful things I have ever heard. I can't possibly do it justice with anything I say, so just listen to it.

These songs are just the highlights that I seem to enjoy more every time I listen to them, but the rest of the album isn't bad by any means (just forgettable by comparison, to me). I cannot recommend this album highly enough to anyone curious about what this "European metal" I enjoy is about.

The stuff kids listen to these days...

Last night Middlebrook Hall Council put on a pretty awesome Halloween dance for which I was the DJ. This was probably a good choice, given that the only music I dance to is folky Contra music so I was able to completely concentrate on my job. From my night in UDS I made some observations about the grim state of most peoples' music listening tastes:

• Music from this year or last year is cool. Anything older than this, except for a few "classic" songs that have been vetted by going multi-platinum, is terrible. Also anything that isn't a single. (Except maybe the aforementioned "classics")
• All popular music has the exact same beat. This beat has been decided upon by the Crazy Dance Party Cabal, which determined the optimal speed people like to dance at and the maximal amount of bass they can tolerate and set it as the gold standard of beats.
• Popular songs consist of this beat with singing and some melodic elements thrown on top so they don't all sound the same.
• Rap songs consist of this beat, maybe with a few other beats, along with rhythmically spoken vocals and slight melodic elements/sound effects.
• If the music for a song can't be generated in half an hour by a guy working in Garage Band on a MacBook, forget it. It's too complicated. Heaven forbid that your song incorporates real instruments!
• Most dance pop songs are about dancing to dance pop. If this is too self-referential to you, you have no taste.
• If a pop song isn't about dancing, most likely it's about emotional love/relationships/a past, present, or future significant other. We're not trying to break peoples' brains or anything.
• Teach Me How to Dougie is the most popular song in the world right now, despite not actually teaching the listener how to dougie.

If you desire to break free from the American musical mainstream, this blog is the place for you! (Or a place; i don't claim to know about or enjoy every alternative)