Week 22: Fear Factory - Leechmaster

The artist: Fear Factory are undoubtedly a major industrial metal band. They've attained mainstream success in metal and although they've had ups and downs, Burton C. Bell does what he can to manage the changes in the line-up of the bands. After the downfall of the band over personal differences, Bell ended the band in 2002 but returned a year later with the bassist Christian Olde Wolbers taking over guitars making way for Byron Stroud on bass. This line-up only had two albums and then went on a hiatus but returned a few years later with the triumphant return of Dino Cazares. However, there was more hardship since Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera were replaced by Dino Cazares and Gene Hoglan respectively. Despite more personal issues, Bell has moved on with the band and put out a great comeback with Mechanize. Here's hoping for the machine to go on to release more great albums.

The album: Soul of a New Machine is Fear Factory's debut album released in 1992. The industrial metal elements were well present here but what made this album stand out to the others was the presence of death metal. Unfortunately, Bell wasn't a great death metal vocalist so the changes in Demanufacture were for the better. However, it isn't all about the vocals for heavy metal so you have to consider how well the instruments are executed here. The riffs from Dino Cazares were very rough and Raymond on drums were aggressive. Of course, they still continued the aggression for the other albums but Soul of a New Machine no doubt has a different feeling to the rest of Fear Factory's music.

The song: Leechmaster starts off with a chugging riff that is heard throughout most of the song. It may be repetitive but if it's such a great riff that's energizing, it's worth hearing it again and again. Credit has to be given to Dino Cazares for doing both the guitar and bass for this album and he deserves a mention for the awesome riff here. The chorus also shows another riff from Cazares as well as some relentless bass drumming from Raymond Herrera. This was one of Raymond's finest moments in the band and it's a shame there's been a hardship with him and Burton C. Bell. Unfortunately, the lyrics aren't so great. They feel very basic and at times it feels like Burton is just shouting out "Pain! Love! Pain!" for the sake of shouting. Overall, death metal vocals may have not been Burton's medium but the rest of the band easily makes up in this song for the great riffing and aggressive drumming.

Week 21: Symphony X - The Communion and the Oracle

The artist: Symphony X are a key band in progressive metal who also mix power, symphonic and even neoclassical metal elements to their music keeping their versatility. The band is well known for having Michael Romeo and Russell Allen in the band who are the two that define the Symphony X style, despite Allen not being in the band until the second album. With Allen on board, Symphony X have released great albums such as The Divine Wings of Tragedy, V: The New Mythology Suite and The Odyssey. In the recent years the band take more time on the albums with Paradise Lost taking 5 years to come out after The Odyssey and the upcoming album Iconoclast coming out four years after Paradise Lost. It's better to take your time than to rush out a release.

The album: V: The New Mythology Suite is the concept album released in 2000 covering several subjects such as Atlantis, Egyptian mythology and astrology. The album contains many great tracks such as Evolution (The Grand Design) to kick off things right after the prelude, the instrumental On the Breath of Poseidon and the fantastic 12 minute closer Rediscovery (Part II): The New Mythology to make a climatic ending for The New Mythology Suite. There's actually a strange coincidence Symphony X had with Spock Beard who too made their fifth album in 2000 named V. Both bands have stated these events as complete coincidences, even though Spock Beard ended up making an eighth album in 2005 with "oct" in the title just like Dream Theater with Octavarium.

The song: Communion and the Oracle starts off with an acoustic intro which is shortly followed by some excellent keyboard performance which stands as a true highlight throughout the song. Russell Allen on vocals doesn't start until a minute in and this song provides some of the lightest and softest vocal performances from him but for a ballad it works like a charm. Communion and the Oracle fits in the astrology side of the album with the topic of unbalance between day and night. The solo part is only the beginning of the end of the song and the orchestral elements become much stronger together with the last verse that put Allen at the very best for his singing talent. Overall, Communion and the Oracle is a brilliant song in V: The New Mythology Suite that shouldn't be underestimated at all. This is where the band shows some great work with acoustic guitars, keyboards and vocal performance.

Week 20: Dio - Egypt (The Chains Are On)

The artist: Ronnie James Dio was an icon in both heavy metal and hard rock. Ronnie was in several bands before forming Elf which is where he put his foot in the world of rock and roll. After Elf disbanded, Ritchie Blackmore approached Dio to be the vocalist for his new band Rainbow. Dio left Rainbow after musical differences with Ritchie Blackmore. Dio disagreed with the wind of changes and found himself replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. His time with Black Sabbath in the 80s was short but sweet with Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules. Dio's next musical direction was to form a band of his own with Vinny Appice and release Holy Diver which the title track, Stand Up and Shout and Rainbow in the Dark have become metal anthems.

Today marks the day Ronnie left us all after a long battle with stomach cancer. 2010 was a bleak year for heavy metal with losses such as Dio and Peter Steele from Type O Negative. To pay a tribute to the holy diver and the man who popularized the devil's horns in rock music, here is metal song of the week for Ronnie James Dio.

The album: The Last in Line is the follow-up to the classic Holy Diver. Although The Last in Line doesn't quite a hold a candle to Holy Diver, it's still a great album with yet more classic Dio songs such as We Rock, The Last in Line, I Speed at Night and the epic album closer Egypt (The Chains Are On) that shouldn't be underestimated.

The song: Egypt (The Chains Are On) addresses the exploitation of the people of ancient Egypt. The song starts off with an oriental intro which perfectly fits with a song about Egypt. The riffs are slow in this epic number but not everything can be rushed with fast riffs. This is one of the slower songs from The Last in Line and it's a song that finds the right tempo. One of the highlights from this song has to be the following lyrical section with "You've seen them walking on the water / You've seen flying through the sky / They were frightening in the darkness / They had rainbows in their eyes" This is where Dio truly shows the beauty of his vocal talent as well as great songwriting. The last line with "They had rainbows in their eyes" is hard to avoid relating it to Rainbow and be seen as a nod to the band. The solo following this section has an Egyptian feel to it which is why the slow tempo of the song is highly appropriate.

Egypt (The Chains Are On) is one of the most epic works by Ronnie James Dio and although he passed away a year ago, this is legacy he left us with and we have to be grateful for what he has done in the realm of heavy metal.

Week 19: Falconer - Substitutional World

The artist: Falconer are a power metal band who started in the 00s. They made their step in the metal realm with their self-titled album and show they can make highly melodic music with a great medieval atmosphere. Anyone who's a sucker for fantasy/medieval themes will feel right at home with their music. To make the band even better, the vocalist Mathias Blad offers excellent singing performance. Those who enjoy clean vocals in heavy metal should see something special in Mathias.

The album: Falconer's self-titled is the beginning of the band and offers ten excellent tracks. While you have heavier riffs in the album with Substitutional World and Lord of the Blacksmiths, there are also songs with a strong folk feel to them such as A Quest for the Crown and The Past Still Lives On. The variety Falconer's self-titled album provides should give the listener plenty to hear and keeping them away from boredom.

The song: Substitutional World has a semi-lengthy intro before Mathias Blad get a chance to sing. The song starts with a very melodic riff and solo and is a great example of what the band can do beyond Mathias. When Mathias kicks in, it's a bliss to hear his voice since it really is one of the finest from heavy metal and one of the best debunkers of "metal is just screaming". Substitutional World is about one's dream world and how it differs from the real world.

The lyrics aren't too kind with daydreamers, though as it denies you as a God or even the all-knowing from your dream world. The lyrics section this is in has Mathias in a huge spotlight with his beautiful singing and piano performance. The solos are all around melodic here and don't need to be the most complex or technical to make it good. These are the solos that are required for this particular song. In conclusion, Substitutional World is one of the best songs in Falconer's self-titled album and the fact that there's still nine other great tracks for you to hear only shows how much of a fantastic album it really is.

Week 18: Heidevolk - Alvermans Wraak

The artist: Heidevolk are a modern heavy metal band forming in 2002 and releasing their debut album in 2005. Heidevolk come from the Netherlands to offer kickass folk metal to the metal world. These guys aren't very big right now but there's confidence that they'll climb their up the ladder over the next few years as they release more great albums and attend bigger shows. They've had a boost of popularity with their appearance at Heidenfest 2010 and here's hoping more will discover them soon enough.

The album: Uit Oude Grond is the third and most recent album by Heidevolk released only last year. Just like the other two albums, all the songs are spoken in Dutch. While having a very folk-ish sound to their band, they also provide some heavy riffs. Although many folk metal bands have succeeded this, one would think Heidevolk would be much lighter with their music but Heidevolk don't hesistate to play loud and certainly not in this album considering the first few tracks.

The song: Alvermans Wraak (Alverman's Revenge in English) is one of the instrumentals in Uit Oude Grond starting off with an acoustic intro. The song is shortly introduced with the drums and a violin to go with the acoustic guitar. The violin even goes as far as having its own solo which is badass! This might not sound metal enough to some listeners so far but Heidevolk insured this song is easily classified as metal with some guitar riffs and solos that add to the great atmosphere Alvermans Wraak. This is an instrumental that makes you feel like you're in a tavern from long ago and enjoying yourself with other customers at the place having a few pints and dancing along to the music in the background. That's the imagery that should be in your mind, especially the minor vocal appearance at the end that reflect on those customers at the tavern. Overall, Alvermans Wraak is a great instrumental from Uit Oude Grond which is definitely worth hearing along with the first two tracks Nehalennia and Ostara.