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 15: Manowar - Guyana (Cult of the Damned)

The artist: Manowar are a very recognisable heavy metal band. However, recognition doesn't always mean praise. While many metal fans love their music, many others hate it. One of the common complaints about the band is their apperance and accusing them of being homosexuals which is rather absurd. Not only does their album cover Gods of War contains naked women on the album cover, bashing a metal band for being "gay" is downright disrespecting Rob Halford and his sexual preference. Anyone who's this ignorant shouldn't be associated with metal in any way. Whether Manowar are gay or not doesn't determine their musical quality and these guys have written great tracks.

Last week, Scott Columbus passed away for unknown reasons. He's played in all the Manowar records so far except for Battle Hymns and The Triumph of Steel. It's sad to see a metal brother like him going at the age of 54 and my sympathy goes to all his family and friends. For this week we will cover Manowar to pay tribute to the late drummer.

The album: Sign of the Hammer is one album that can slip under the radar. From the early Manowar days, Battle Hymns and Hail to England are more praised while Into Glory Ride has become infamous for the "homoerotic" album cover (Anthology is worse, though). That just leaves us with Sign of the Hammer and there are tracks in the album that prove to be worthy additions for Manowar's library of music.

The song: Guyana (Cult of the Damned) is based on the mass suicide by Jim Jones in 1978 who was full of conspiracies and a lot of bizarre things he did with his cult. The song starts off with Joey DeMaio's crystal clear bass, Ross the Boss on guitar and an orchestral feeling it gives off which shortly moves onto a bass solo. The verse soon begins with Eric Adams singing about Jim Jones who claimed to have been Jesus and the people asking about his individuality. Eric Adams has a great vocal range and with that he sounds high and mighty with the chorus. The song provides a marching riff as well as a rocking solo which are the ingredients Manowar needed to make an epic closure for Sign of the Hammer. This along with Battle Hymn, Bridge of Death and Blood of the Kings are how Manowar should end their albums.

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.

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!

Week 12: Stratovarius - Twilight Symphony

The artist: Stratovarius are another key European power metal band. Their style of music has been templated with many power metal bands in the world, even though not too many of them stick out that well. The band's musical characteristics weren't fully established until Fourth Dimension when Timo Kotipelto joined the band after Timo Tolkki stepped down from singing for the band. With Koltipelto on vocals and Tolkki focusing 100% on guitar, the band seemed unstoppable with releases such as Episode, Visions and Destiny.

However, things didn't go well for the band in the 00s when Tolkki had a mental breakdown and almost causing an end to a band. His recovery only resulted in the awful self-titled album and then left a few years later to focus on his then-new band Revolution Renaissance which splitted up two years later for being a commercial failure. When Tolkki was done with Stratovarius, the rest of the band members insisting on continuing even without Tolkki and found Matias Kupiainen to become Stratovarius' new guitarist. He's proven to be a worthy addition to the band as well as a needed replacement for Tolkki. Stratovarius as whole have gotten back on track with their music after the departure of Timo Tolkki.

The album: As stated already Fourth Dimension is the first Stratovarius album with Timo Koltipelto on vocals released in 1995. This album takes a lighter approach after the very dark atmosphere of Dreamspace. Fourth Dimension contains some of Stratovarius' popular live set tracks (i.e. Against the Wind and Distant Skies) but the rest of the album is easily overlooked, even the neoclassical instrumental named, well, Stratovarius. Other great tracks in the album include the epic We Hold the Key and Twilight Symphony and the speed metal number Lord of the Wasteland. The only song that sticks out like a sore thumb is 030366 which is about computers and viruses. It's out of place both lyrically and musically but the rest of the album is still worth checking out.

The song: Twilight Symphony is the last song in Fourth Dimension besides the instrumental closure. This song is introduced with a symphonic metal intro and then kicks in with Koltipelto on vocals. This 7 minute long masterpiece actually has a few different sections and only repeats the chorus just once. The second half suddenly starts with a kickass violin solo that isn't expected during the first listening but shortly makes its way for some solomania and this right here shows Tolkki at his finest with his guitar solos which will make anyone depressed at how someone who could perform amazing solos on his guitar turning into a lunatic almost a decade later.

The song's lyrics are what should be defined as a twilight setting and the last verse gives it a very depressing feeling. It's not on the depression level as Dreamspace but the sadness is easily justified with the beautiful outro provided with a flute and a slow guitar solo. Orchestral elements weren't typical for Stratovarius then but the direction they took with this song was well worth it. Overall, Twilight Symphony is an epic phenomenon that shouldn't be underestimated for its unique structure for Stratovarius.

Week 11: Blind Guardian - Fast to Madness

The artist: Blind Guardian have a well established heavy metal band. They may not be as famous as Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath but their musical quality has certainly been on par with metal's biggest names. Blind Guardian are the most well known band in the power metal scene even going as far as appealing to those who don't really like power metal to begin with and that is a sign of a really good band! There is more to this band than the power metal classics such as Nightfall in Middle-Earth and Imaginations from the Other Side. In the earlier days of Blind Guardian, they were under the name Lucifer's Heritage and had a strong influence of NWOBHM. They later changed their name to Blind Guardian offering a speed metal onslaught with their first two albums.

The album: Follow the Blind continues the speed metal style heavily influenced by Helloween's Walls of Jericho from Battalions of Fear. These guys weren't power metal quite yet here. Infact, this album sounds more thrash than power. Markus Siepen even admitted to the thrashy feel of the album after listening to a lot of thrash metal bands at the time. Even so, there were still some hints of the Blind Guardian style the fans now know and love with Valhalla. It has become a popular song to play theirs shows as a result as well as the extremely catchy chorus that can go on for minutes after the song even ends. Follow the Blind is an excellent album and is highly recommended for all Blind Guardian fans and even thrash metal fanatics.

The song: Fast to Madness is one of many tracks in Follow the Blind that puts the pedal full speed ahead. With a song title like Fast to Madness, you better expect the album to be a speed metal attack but not before the band warms up in the intro. Fast to Madness is based on the Eternal Champion book series which is very unlikely to be familiar to non-readers such as myself. Still, the lyrics have a strong fantasy feel as well as feeling fast to madness. Infact, this should have been the title track and would easily describe the album in general. Overall, this song provides a structure to maintain the listener's attention with the slow intro turning fast to madness as well as a variety of fast riffs, simple yet effective and catchy chorus from Hansi Kursch and colourful solos provided by the Olbrich and Siepen duo.

Week 10: Gamma Ray - Hand of Fate

The artist: Starting off power metal month for March, we have Gamma Ray. They formed in 1988 when Kai Hansen wasn't happy with his time with Helloween. He may have been one of the founding members of Helloween but he struggled to fit in the band after a while and departed right after the tour for Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2. He started the band with Ralf Scheepers who is known for being heavily influenced by Rob Halford for his singing style as well as forming Primal Fear later on after leaving Gamma Ray. When Ralf was gone, Kai Hansen was going to seek for a new vocalist but was advised to take care of singing himself, despite stepping down from vocals in Helloween to make way for Michael Kiske. Ever since it's been Kai Hansen on vocals.

The album: Power Plant is part of the classic trio for Gamma Ray starting with Land of the Free, followed by Somewhere Out in Space and this album. These three albums are fan favourites for the majority. Power Plant is just as good as Land of the Free and would have been a perfect album had it not been for that out of place cover of It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys. Putting that aside, Power Plant is full of excellent Gamma Ray songs such as Anywhere in the Galaxy, Gardens of the Sinner, Armageddon and Strangers in the Night. It's a highly recommended album for metal fans, unless power metal isn't your cup of coffee.

The song: Hand of Fate starts with a piano intro followed by the band striking at full force after the first lyric section making it a very impressive intro overall for the song. The song is about the dark lord returning from hell to wreck havoc on earth. Many soldiers are fighting this demon and do what they can to send him back to hell. 10,000 men pray for the "hand of fate" to take down the dark lord once and for all. With a song full of great riffs, a marching feel of a chorus and a section launching several solos together, it's easy to call it high class power metal. The only thing that can be brought up for concern is the outro which sounds like we're on another song. Maybe the band originally had it planned to be an interlude track between Hand of Fate and Armageddon but changed it the last minute. Either way, Hand of Fate is still an excellent song provided by Gamma Ray.