This album came out in 2004, but it`s got my vote for one of the BEST Metal albums of `05! "Return Of The Snow Giant" is actually the first full-length release from New Jersey's Overlorde, having put out some legendary demos in the late `eighties. After a 12 year hiatus, the band returned in 2000, to enthusiastic Underground response. With the release of "Return Of The Snow Giant", the band shouts a hearty "Screw You!" to all those deluded souls who think the latest Hot Topic, corporate confections being spewed out by Empty-Vee is "Metal". Flying the Heavy Metal freak flag high, Overlorde is on a take-no-prisoners mission, as one listen the album will prove. The band is Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas on vocals, Mark Edwards on guitar, bassist John "Kong" Bunucci and drummer Dave Wrenn. These guys are highly skilled and highly dedicated to the cause. Want proof? Check out cuts like "Hell Hath No Fury", "Ogre Wizard", "Metallic Madness", "Blackness", "Mark Of The Wolf", Colossus (Island Of The Cyclops)", hell, the whole damned thing rips! Plus the CD has some VERY cool artwork, as well! A classy, Euro-sounding production completes the picture, and really what more could anyone want? 100 Percent Pure Metallic Madness at it`s best, and that`s what Overlorde has given us. All Hail!
I once read an article about Helloween which stated, more or less, that the band seems to have spent their existence stumbling about, occasionally running into success once in a while. Looking over Helloween`s hit and [more often than not] miss career, I woud have to agree. But with the release of "Keeper Of The 7 Keys: The Legacy", the guys have definitely hit the bullseye! This 13 track double CD continues the Keeper saga from parts 1 and 2. Honestly, I still have NO idea WHAT the whole saga is about, but hey, never let the story get in the way of good music, right? And there`s plenty of good music on this album, in spite of it`s length. Disc 1 opens up with the almost 14-minute epic track "King for a 1000 years" and things take right off from there. What impresses me about the whole album is how well structered the tunes are, not just 13 Power Metal blast-throughs`. "Invisible Man", "Born on Judgment Day" and the strange but compelling single "Mrs. God".
Some have complained that Disc 2 is the weaker of the two, but I personally don`t see it. The second CD opens with another lengthy epic, the 11-minute track "Occasion Avenue", which is probably among my favorite cuts. "Light The Universe" features a nice duet between Andi Deris and Candice [AKA Mrs. Ritchie Blackmore] Night, one of the highpoints of Disc 2, as well as "Come Alive". Really, I can`t find a duff track on either disc, so I`d have to brand this one a winner! Of course, there are those who still long for the Kiske/Hansen days, but then no one is forcing them to listen to this latest "Keeper", are they? Highly recommended!!!
Hannover`s very own Galloglass return with the follow-up to their awesome debut, "Legends From Now And Nevermore"! So, did they manage to avoid the dreaded "sophmore jinx"? Definitely! I wouldn`t call "Heavenseeker" an improvement over "Legends..."; it`s more a question of refinement, really. One can still traces of various influences [Blind Guardian, Fates Warning as well as some of their own country`s Power Metalists] but Galloglass has really come into their own since the last album. Highlights; "Perished In Flames", "Kings Who Die", "Banished From Eternity" [featuring Annihilator`s Jeff Waters as guest soloist], "Beyond The Mirror" [which features a solo by Nevermore`s Curran Murphy], and my personal fave, "Dawn Of A New Age". Carsten Frank`s vocals are as soaring as ever, and the rest of the band just tears through the album with a high degree of musical skill that DOESN`T detract from the songs. "Heavenseeker" has also been released as a limited edition digipak with two bonus tracks, a sticker, poster AND a DVD that contains almost 100 minutes of live footage, a "making of" documentary [the photoshoot is lots of fun!] and more. I got mine for $16.00 US Dollars, so it`s most definitely worth the money! "Heavenseeker" should rank among the Top 10 Metal albums of 2005. Great job, boys!!
Sweden`s very own Cryonic Temple return with more face melting Metallc madness! Thought this 6-man strike force couldn`t possibly top 2003`s "Blood, Guts & Glory"? Think again! "In Thy Power" takes everything that made "Blood, Guts & Glory" so great and turns it up to 11! As before, Helloween, Manowar & Judas Priest influences abound, but the band puts their own mark on this album. Glen Metal vocals are as raw and powerful, yet just as melodic as before, making him one of the more unique voices in an overcrowded genre. Riffs? Guitarists Esa Ahonen and Leif Collin pile `em on like there`s no tomorrow! Check out "Beast Slayer", "Rapid Fire" and "Eternal Flames Of Metal", as well as the title track, for proof of this. No slouches in THIS band! Fast, melodic, heavy and memorable, this CDs` got it all! Definitely one of the best releases of `05. A must!!!
"Jeanne D'Arc" is Thy Majestie`s follow-up to "Hastings 1066", one of my all-time favorites albums. One would assume the band would be hard pressed to match the brilliance of that album, but not only have these Italian Prog-Metal masters matched it, they just may have topped it! "Jeanne D'Arc" deals with, of course, Joan Of Arc, The Maid of Orleans who claimed to hear voices from Heaven and subsequently lead her people to liberate France from their-then English rulers. A few years later, in 1431 she was captured and subsequently put on trial for heresy and witchery. On the 30th of May, 1431, she is burned at the stake in Rouen (France) as a witch and many years later declared a Saint. Naturally, this charming segment of Western history was the perfect choice for a band like Thy Majestie to write about! I won`t even bother to mention that these guys are among Metal`s finest musicians, so I`ll get right to the album itself. Most of the songs "Jeanne D'Arc" are rather lengthy, with "The Trial" clocking in at just over nine minutes. But the album is never boring, each track a seperate composition that can be enjoyed on it`s own yet still part of the overall picture. "Jeanne D'Arc" is an ambitious project that may have been a failure in lesser hands, but Thy Majestie have crafted a musical masterpiece that will live on, perhaps as long as the saga of The Maid of Orleans. Highly, highly recommended!
