Manilla Road to the World - Part 15: Grindhouse (Playground of the Damned)

This is where we reach the end for the Manilla Road spinoff for Monday Metal Treasures. Playground of the Damned is Manilla Road's most recent album that came out last Summer (July on vinyl, August for CD). For the latest Manilla Road release, Playground of the Damned feels more laid back after following a couple of concept albums from the band since the reunion. Although there is a lyrical theme throughout the record, this feels like it has more freedom than its predecessors. Fifteen albums on and the 'Road are still as great as ever. When you have some really dark tracks like Into the Maelström, Grindhouse and Abattoir de la Mort and the anthem of Brethren of the Hammer, you can tell the band is still in great shape after all these years.

Grindhouse starts off with some acoustic guitars which is rather ironic to have considering the lyrical theme of the song. The intro is rather lengthy when the light intro is turned heavier and then eventually into the darkness. Not only do the riffs have a whole new flavour of dark, there is a sense of familiarity from Gates of Fire (think The Fall of Illiam). Although the overall sound production from Manilla Road can turn listeners off (hopefully not whoever has followed this to the end), from someone who's adapted to the oddities, the drums do sound rather thin here which is a shame but it doesn't knock the awesomeness of the song. When you have a song with evil lines such as "Welcome to the mind of a madman / Welcome to the house of pain / Inside this nightmare of slaughter / The reaper always knows your name", it's easy to love the brutality of the Grindhouse. The song ends off with a lengthy solo that elaborates a lot and makes a great way to conclude this grim song. Overall, Grindhouse is downright dark but that's the overall atmosphere of Playground of the Damned and it fits perfectly. The inclusion of this secures a top 10 spot for this album for the best of heavy metal in 2011.

Week 47: Melechesh - The Magickan and the Drones

The artist: Melechesh are a blackened death metal band coming from Israel. The extreme sound of their band has caused some issues in their homeland and had to move to the Netherlands where they wouldn't get any hassle over their lyrical themes or musical style. Melechesh prove to be out of the ordinary for both black and death metal where they incorporate middle eastern music with extreme metal. The band even go as far as forgetting their metal roots for the odd songs and make a strong focus on writing middle eastern music. If you want a band that do something a little out of the ordinary, this is one to check out, especially their latest album.

The album: The Epigenesis was released last year and with having 11 tracks totalling up to 71 minutes, you can be sure that the band put a lot of thought into this release. They cover some hypnotic rhythms with Ghouls of Nineveh, blazing fast songs such as Grand Gathas of Baal Sin and Defeating the Giants, two fully middle eastern instrumentals and of course, the grand finale to test the listener's capabilities. The Epigenesis is easily one of the finest metal releases from 2010.

The song: The Magickan and the Drones begins with a middle eastern feel to the song. This isn't like the instrumental tracks, though as the full metal force rises up with a mid-pace riff. However, out goes the intro and in comes intense drumming, crazy riffing and some relentless black metal vocals from Ashmedi. It's chaos all the way through but the band steps back a bit for the last two minutes of the song for some change of pace to keep the listener alert. The lyrics are based on the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu and the fall of his monarchy against the drones of Gutians. Covering this tale with the roller coaster of a ride from Melechesh make this one hell of a black metal song!

Week 46: Falkenbach - In Flames

The artist: Falkenbach is a one-man band from Germany whose real name is
Vratyas Vakyas. As a band formed by one single individual whose musical style consists of black/folk metal with a lot of Norse mythology sung in the songs, you can sure as hell bet Bathory is a major influence on Vakyas' own band. For a folk metal "band", Falkenbach plays some heavily folk songs unlike others who often combine one subgenre of metal with folk music. This side of Falkenbach heavily defines folk metal but on the other hand, there's a fair amount of his songs that have a strong sense of black metal and it's done professionally.

The album: Tiurida is Falkenbach's latest album released this year. It marks as his first album in six years since Heralding - The Fireblade. Surprisingly enough, Tiurida hasn't been a favourable album for some. Some claim the new album doesn't offer anything new to his music but it's hard to see it that way. Many popular metal bands such as Motörhead, Cannibal Corpse and Amon Amarth stick to the same formula and are respected for it but when it came to Falkenbach, some weren't impressed. Despite what they say, this is still a great album with being rich in character. If ...Where His Ravens Fly... and Runes Shall You Know don't click on for you, nothing will.

The song: In Flames (no, not the Swedish melodic death metal band) ironically starts off with sounds of waves. Vakyas makes an impressive kickoff with his clean guitars which is shortly interrupted by the main riff for the song which you will get to hear for the most part. Although the lyrics for this song were missing on the booklet for the album, it's still easy to determine he's a good harsh vocalist. It's not just his extreme vocals that make him good, though. The mid-section of the song has him implementing some choir vocals and these sound really good and add quite an atmosphere to this part. The song does throw you back to the main riff and will strike once more when the song settles down for the second time. Overall, In Flames is one of seven great songs from Tiurida. For songs like these and Runes Shall You Know, this is an easy contender for best of heavy metal in 2011.

Week 45: Argus - Durendal

The artist: Argus are a new metal band from America who fall between the traditional metal sound and epic doom metal (think Candlemass, DoomSword, etc). This month will dedicate to my best discoveries from this year and after picking up Argus' new album from the Slough Feg/Solstice show in London, I'm most grateful for seeing this album sold at the merchandise. For a doom metal band, they're very easy to get into so it's nothing too inaccessible for the most part. From what's been played for their first two albums, this band has a lot of potential and hopefully they serve more killer albums in the near-future.

The album: Boldly Stride the Doomed is Argus' second album only released this year. The album starts and ends with the same acoustic melody but in between has many doom-ish classic-esque metal numbers. With the album taking off with A Curse on the World right after the acoustic intro, the title track making some nods to traditional metal and some section changes with Fading Silver Light and the doom monster Pieces of Your Smile, you can expect Boldly Stride the Doomed to offer a lot to the listen while making it accessible (except for the challenging doom closer). This is one highlight for 2011 and we still have two months left.

The song: Once the war horns are played, the band kicks off with traditional metal-like twin guitars but with a spice of doom. The main riffs sound like something Mike Scalzi would cook up for Slough Feg. The solos are full of musical bliss with Erik Johnson and Jason Mucio passing the baton to each other. Each pass intensifies the duo on their guitar solo performances. Butch Balich on this song sounds like Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian if he was the lead vocalist for Candlemass. He has strong emotional voices like how Johan Langquist and Messiah Marcolin executed on their representing Candlemass albums and the extreme power of his voice is something you'd expect from Hansi Kursch. The lyrics cover Roland, the paladin of Charlemagne and the legendary sword named Durendal. There is a war between the pagans and Roland swears to never back down, especially with the mighty line of "I will never go back, never retreat, rather that I meet death" Now THAT is how emotion in music should be done. Overall, Durendal is a highlight not just on the album but also for heavy metal in 2011. To have such grand guitars and a hugely powerful voice is a song that shouldn't leave your iPod anytime soon.

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.

Week 16: Christopher Lee - Act III: The Bloody Verdict of Verden

The artist: Christopher Lee shouldn't need an introduction, especially when he's a top notch actor. However, what does need to be stated is his contribution to heavy metal in the recent years. As his two favourite bands are Rhapsody and Manowar, he was more than willing to work with Rhapsody for their albums involving The Dark Saga. Following the first two albums he contributed to Rhapsody, Christopher Lee decided to work on a symphonic metal album of his own. He later had a voice role for Manowar's Battle Hymns MMXI where he spoke the narration in Dark Avenger which was originally done by Orson Welles.

The album: Charlemagne: By The Sword and the Cross is Christopher Lee's symphonic metal album project. The album is based on King Charlemagne who Christopher Lee claims is one his ancestors. The album is divided in acts and while it goes through the history of Charlemagne, it's hard to not think that there are probably too many intro tracks in the album. Counting the overture, Charlemagne contains SIX intro tracks. That is rather overkill but one song that sticks out very well is the third act The Bloody Verdict of Verden. Although this album is more neoclassical than metal, it's hard to overlook a big actor like Christopher Lee making his own heavy metal album. You can never be too old to be metal!

The song: The Bloody Verdict of Verden is strongly symphonic just like the rest of the album but it's also the strongest metal sounding. This part of the concept album is based on the massacre of Saxons in 782 A.D. which is easily stated with the awesome chorus. Christopher Lee manages to makes this song very dramatic throughout the song which is what you need when you're singing about many men killed. As stated before, this song has an awesome chorus with Lee shouting out "I SHED THE BLOOD OF THE SAXON MEN!" many times. It may be repetitive but it needs to address the amount of men who were murdered in the massacre of Verden. Fortunately the song provides a majestic riff and solo at the end giving the heavy metal feeling it requires. Overall, this is a great song sung by Christopher Lee. Credit has to be given to both him and the instrumental contributors for this fine work and hopefully he still has plenty of time to make more contributions to the heavy metal universe.

Week 14: Rhapsody (of Fire) - On the Way to Ainor

The artist: Heavy metal with strong orchestral elements with a multi-album concept using fantasy settings? Oh hell yes! Rhapsody (of Fire) are well recognised for their powerful orchestral elements, Luca Turilli's over the top guitar performance and of course making a strong focus on fantasy tales. If you're a sucker for anything medieval-related like me, you'll feel right at home with Rhapsody. For anyone else, your mileage may vary. Some really love the band for who they are, others hate them for who they are. Rhapsody aren't for everyone but they're awesome for those who can appreciate their music. Even if you're not particular fond of these guys, you have to give them credit for getting Christopher Lee to narrate on the albums in The Dark Saga. You'd think each band member would have had to break an arm and a leg just to get him to contribute to their albums.

The album: The Frozen Tears of Angels is Rhapsody's comeback album after being on suspension due to a dispute with Joey DeMaio of Manowar. Not sure what went wrong with him but we should be glad Rhapsody are no longer with DeMaio's record label Magic Circle Music and are now being catered by Nuclear Blast. With the release of The Frozen Tears of Angels, it was clear Rhapsody were back with a vengeance. This album takes a much heavier approach of the band's music by being faster, heavier and harsher than before. It's like the band took all their aggression out on this album after the fall out with Joey DeMaio. You hear Fabio Lione screaming in Reign of Terror? That's how infuriated they were.

The song: On the Way to Ainor starts off right away with some fast riffage rocking alongside with the keyboards. Half a minute later Turilli calms down to make way for the first passage for the vocals with the flute in the background. Fabio Lione knows how to make these songs emotional and executes it very well before kicking it up a bit ready to rock with the whole band. The chorus easily shows the angrier side of Rhapsody's music (again, must have been because of the band suspension) but not on the same magnitude as Reign of Terror.

After the second chorus ends, the song falls into a solomania for two minutes by Luca Turilli and each of his solos during this section have to be some of the finest he's ever played on his guitar. The Frozen Tears of Angels has a lot of killer solos but there's something about the consecutive solos in this song that make them shine even brighter. The song then revisits the chrous one more time before it ends. For the somewhat different structure of song for Rhapsody, this is easily a highlight for not only the album but also the band's music in general.