Week 42: Savage Circus - Waltz of the Demon

The artist: Savage Circus was founded by former Blind Guardian drummer Thomas Stauch after his disatisfaction with the new musical direction with Blind Guardian. He formed the band with Iron Savior and Persuader members including Iron Savior guitarist Piet Sielck (who traits all the way back to Kai Hansen with Gentry in 1978) and Persuader vocalist Jens Carlsson. From this band, Thomas Stauch wanted the band to sound like Blind Guardian during the Imaginations From the Other Side days. Sadly, after one album Thomas fell to long term sickness and eventually leave Savage Circus, thus defeating the main reason to even form this band in the first place.

The album: Dreamland Manor is Savage Circus' first album containing many great power metal tracks such as the speed metal opener Evil Eyes, the album's ballad Beyond Reality and slightly more complex tracks with Ghost Story and Waltz of the Demon. With Jens' voice sounding very much like Hansi Kursch and Persuader's musical style being similar to Blind Guardian, this is the ideal album for Thomas Stauch and how he wanted to sound mid era Blind Guardian. This may be a Blnd Guardian rip off but this was formed by a former member of the band so there's every right to immitate their style with this album.

The song: Waltz of the Demon starts off with a dark acoustic intro speaking about solitude and illusions. The song strikes with a heavy riff that can rival with the heaviness Blind Guardian provided in Follow the Blind. The prebridge, bridge and chorus sections shows some multi-layering that Blind Guardian (again) have done with the later albums but it all works here. The true highlight of the song is the section after the second time the prebridge-bridge-chorus part is played. Emil Norberg (of Persuader) and Piet Sielck play along together on their guitars for some impressive solos but it isn't too long when the song gets even heavier at 5 minutes in with a crushing riff and yet more solos. The song required to repeat the prebridge-bridge-chorus one more time to finish things off. Overall, Waltz of the Demon offers different sections of the song that make it worth listening to over and over again and if you're one of those who aren't fond of Blind Guardian's music post-Nightfall, hopefully this makes up for the wind of change in Hansi Kursch's band.

Week 34: In Flames - Dreamscape

The artist: In Flames are one of the key melodic death metal bands (or rather used to be) who have received mainstream success over the last decade. Whether it turned for the better or worse is up to you. Personally they were better when they were playing melodic death metal and not going mainstream and that's something many metal fans will agree with whether they like them or not. The first few albums can at least be seen as decent releases, although your mileage may vary for the debut album Lunar Strain. Infact, that term applies to In Flames as a whole since some of the later works have been fairly praised.

The album: Lunar Strain is In Flames' debut album. This was a time in In Flames before Anders Fridén was even in the band and now he's the longest running member in the band. Lunar Strain was very underdeveloped for In Flames but the album opener Behind Space has become a popular song for them. This album had folk music elements to it which can easily be seen with the instrumental Hårgalåten and the second part of Everlost. The folk elements were hit and miss for In Flames but they got better with it on the following album The Jester Race. The only other major flaw with this album is how short Starforsaken feels. After the solo ends, it feels there was meant to be more for the song than we've heard. Even with these flaws, it's still an album to pick up if you really enjoy the older In Flames or even appreciate their music both old and new.

The song: Dreamscape is one of the two instrumental tracks on Lunar Strain. The instrumental remains consistent with its melodic riffs that make it sound like In Flames' counterpart to Iron Maiden's Transylvania. The sound production is nicely mixed for this track since the bass is easy to hear and for their debut album that had some rough edges, it's a godsend the production value is in good shape. With a short length of 3:45, Dreamscape has the right length of time and gives those beautiful riffs enough time to get stuck in your head.

Week 31: Candlemass - Spellbreaker

The artist: Candlemass are a leading band in doom metal. Although they're not the pioneers of doom metal considering Black Sabbath had strong doom metal influences for their music, there's no doubt that Candlemass have made an impact on doom metal and should be noted as one of the key bands of the genre, even if there's several different subgenres of doom metal such as sludge metal, funeral doom, drone and even a crossover with death metal. Candlemass fall under epic doom metal and that shouldn't be doubted at all considering the name of their debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Candlemass have gone through some changes with their line-ups but the most recognisable ones are the original band members for the debut album, Messiah Marcolin era and the current Robert Lowe era. Those two along with Johan Längqvist are great vocalists and provide the right voices for their respective albums. Along with great vocalists, there's also fantastic riffs throughout their career and that's what makes doom metal great, especially Black Sabbath with Tony Iommi on guitar.

The album: The self-titled album is Candlemass' comeback album after reforming the band with Messiah on vocals. The reunion was definitely worth doing for this album, even though Messiah would leave the band a year after. Even so, he provided one more great album with Candlemass and this is easily the most consistent Messiah Candlemass album to date. Nightfall and Tales of Creation may not have an easy sitting with the interludes thrown in but the most self-titled album has is The Man Who Fell from the Sky which is a great instrumental and doesn't feel like it was randomly thrown in. This album provides nine doom crushing tunes and all of them reminded the listeners what made Candlemass a great addition in doom metal.

The song: Spellbreaker breaks out with a crunching riff just like any other Candlemass song but there's always some character between all the riffs they play and this song is no exception. The song may start off rather slow but it soon speeds up, even though doom metal is typically slow. During the second section of the song, what needs to be noted is Messiah's excellent singing. He may have some pointless wailing in these parts of the song but it shows us all his singing capabilities and why he was the best vocalist for Candlemass. The solo in the middle section is one of the finest Candlemass have provided to the vocalists. It starts off slow but speeds up while the rest of the band keep its pace as it is.

The lyrical content is based on Jesus Christ and God and while Christianity may not be a topic to talk about in heavy metal, Candlemass put stories based on the bible in a darker tone to give them a whole new meaning. This doesn't necessarily mean they're christian metal and if you can talk about a religious story in a different spin, the results can turn out nicely as shown here. In conclusion, Spellbreaker shows great capabilities of the band for its drumming, doomy riffs, dark stories, tempo changes and of course, Messiah's excellent vocal range.

Week 26: Opeth - Nectar

The artist: Opeth have become a big name in heavy metal over the last decade. Not only are they well established for the mixture of death metal, progressive rock and acoustic elements all in one, they made a breakthrough with Blackwater Park in 2001 which in ten years can already be seen as a classic metal record standing next to Rust in Peace, Paranoid, etc. Mikael Åkerfeldt has also become a big name for heavy metal musicians and with his death metal vocals passing back and fourth with clean singing, Even with a formula they've used since day one, Opeth have managed to make some twists and turns with the raw feel of the first two albums Orchid and Morningrise and the all-acoustic and no-metal Damnation (as well as possibly the upcoming album Heritage). Opeth's success has gone as far as putting them in a high class venue like the Royal Albert Hall which they had to make a live CD+DVD for and I feel proud to have seen that special show for them.

The album: Morningrise is the second Opeth album and still contains the raw sound production which Orchid had. Morningrise is very notable for having every song lasting at least ten minutes long minus the bonus demo track. Some may think these songs are long for the sake of long but this album is rich in quality, although Black Rose Immortal (the longest Opeth song to date) isn't a song for beginners. Songs such as Advent and To Bid You Farewell have become Opeth classics and one has to wonder why Mikael Åkerfeldt opposed this album at a later point. Morningrise may not be the most accessible Opeth album but it's still damn good.

The song: Nectar starts off with an interesting intro. Starting with drums then introducing the bass (which is crystal clear here) and then the guitars. The bass proves to be very useful here and is a prime example of how sound productions should be executed to make the bass audible. The song goes through changes throughout with an acoustic piece around 1:33 in which quickly goes back to the metal. There's another acoustic section six minutes in which contains a strong classical feel. It's an unpredictable move if you've not heard the song before and the acoustic section is a personal favourite for Opeth's acoustic elements. It's a very moving part that is favoured very well with the drums and the bass once again which is a huge plus.

There's so much to say about the musical structure in Nectar and the lyrics are just the icing on the cake. The song is a bout a huge negligence of love that is never spoken out to the significant other. Overall, Nectar is an excellent song from Opeth with great appreciation for the bass as well as showing some of the best acoustic pieces from the band. This song is one of many reasons why it's a close second to Blackwater Park.

Week 23: Bathory - Baptised in Fire and Ice

The artist: Bathory was a one man band held by Quorthon. Although the history of Bathory had other band members as well, it was mostly just Quorthon who played all the music. Bathory is highly praised for being a pioneer band for not only black metal but also viking metal. To be credited for being a huge influence in two genres is quite an achievement. Quorthon recorded many great releases with Bathory such as Blood Fire Death, Hammerheart, Twilight of the Gods and Blood on Ice. His later works were a planned Nordland quadrilogy. However, Quorthon only lived long enough to finish two of those albums. He died of a heart failure on 3rd June 2004 and it only makes sense for me to pay a tribute to Quorthon this week to remember him and his contribution to heavy metal.

The album: Hammerheart was released in 1990 and is one of the groundbreaking metal releases in 1990 along with Rust in Peace and Painkiller for its major contribution to viking metal. Hammerheart continues the path to move away the black/thrash metal sound the first few Bathory albums had and also maintains the more complex structures of songs Blood Fire Death boasts. Although Hammerheart is the most recognisable Bathory album, especially with One Rode to Asa Bay having a music video on MTV, it's hard to help but think one song doesn't get as much appreciation as the other songs. After all, it's one song the all-star tribute band Twilight of the Gods didn't play for the live shows or played the least.

The song: Baptised in Fire and Ice starts off with a catchy beat which is shortly followed by Quorthon's chants with "Fire and Ice". The chants in the song give off a great atmosphere and although it's not the only song that uses choirs and chants in Hammerheart, there's something about this song that has a stronger choir feel to it that's almost as good as what you hear in One Rode to Asa Bay. This song reflects rebirth and the early life of a viking who travels across the seas far away from home, traveling across snow and crossing through fire. The said viking also remembers these days later on in his life when he was baptised.

Baptised in Fire and Ice has mid-pace riffs that are heard throughout the album but from the guitar performance, the highlight has to be the solo halfway through the song. It lasts for a minute and even goes side by side with the choir which again, gives off a great atmosphere to the song and has to be one of the best moments in Hammerheart. Overall, Baptised in Fire and Ice is rather under appreciated and deserves more credit for the chilling choirs which even goes along with the solo for the song. It's not a song to skip when listening to this album.

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 13: HammerFall - Secrets

The artist: We are finishing off power metal month with HammerFall. HammerFall haven't been a strong influence in power metal as much as Helloween and Stratovarius have but they're still a big name in the genre nonetheless. The band have stayed strong with Oscar Dronjak on guitars since the beginning and Joacim Cans on vocals. Cans is a highlight in HammerFall's music with his strong voice you won't hear from anyone else. HammerFall recently finished working on their eighth album called Infected but from the sounds of it, it'll be a zombie apocalyptic themed album. Doesn't sound like HammerFall at all but we'll see how the album turns out when it's released.

The album: Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken is a rather silly title but putting that aside, what the album offers the listener is several rocking tunes, an outstanding track opener, the chilling medieval instrumental Imperial and the epic closer Knights of the 21st Century despite the silly voices heard in the track. Many claim Chapter V isn't a great album but I really enjoyed this album. Maybe it's because it was the first HammerFall album I heard but it still deserves more respect than it gets. This isn't Virtual XI or anything on that level of failure.

The song: Secrets starts off with an intro which feels somewhat haunted. Not sure if that was intentional but the choir still provides a nice contribution to the intro either way. The song then suddenly strikes with its main riff which is rather simple but works very well. The direction HammerFall take with this one is rather unusual for them. Halfway through the song they offer a keyboard break before kicking with some excellent solos. Some of the solos even go alongside with the keyboards making it some awesome rocking moments. Keyboards aren't typical for HammerFall but they made the right move with putting them on Secrets.

The lyrics to Secrets easily explain the meaning of secrets we have and how we should keep some secrets until the day we day no matter what. It's a very encouraging song for someone who may feel very down in his/her life and this song should shed a light on their beliefs and their own personal thoughts. Overall, Secrets is one of the finest songs HammerFall have ever wrote and easily stands out from all the other songs they've sung. With memorable riffs, highly melodic solos going alongside with keyboards and a song with a strong meaning, this should be considered a power metal anthem!