Anyone who sees this album in ANY store, BUY IT!!! You must be wondering why I said that, well it's cuz this album is the 2nd 10/10 winner in my review section. Guitars which sound like a herd of horses galloping towards the horizon. Double bass pedal like roaring thunder! Mind you, I'm writing this review 1 month after I received the album. And I'm not sick of it and I listen to this CD at least once a day. AT LEAST! I haven't been so excited over an album since Lament's debut album. While many of you may be thinking "Are you sure" I'm telling you..."I'M POSITIVELY SURE!" This is a must get, forget the new Zao, forget the new Extol. Get this album! Alrite, enough of these rants, let's go on with the actual review itself.
"Introduce" - The sound of waves with the occasional drum and guitar makes one conjure up images of a race of people who are by the seaside with grim faces loading up ships, preparing for battle to defend themselves from an invading army. I can also see people who are loading up their ships to move to another area for safety. Keyboards (piano style) make the listener anticipate some wild action coming right up. After the 2 1/2 min long intro, "Southgate" jumps right in with pounding drums (great double bass), wailing guitars playing at the speed of light. This is the advantage of having 2 guitars. The high vocals (high but NOT like Veni Domine's vocals, rather like Rob Rock's kinda vocal type) suit this album to every riff and beat. But mind you, this song is 9:56 mins long, a sample of what I would call quality with quantity. It's hard to look for bands with such material nowadays, but thank God there's still Seventh Avenue. I haven't heard their earlier releases so I can't comment on their change (if any). The drums are loud in this album, meaning that they are not the deep/low kinda drumming, but the drums are tuned to a higher key to match the guitars and vocals. 'A breeze of eternity strokes over my skin' the song starts to rumble. The melodic factor of this band is evident in ALL the songs. Another interesting note is that the lyricist actually places all the songs' titles in the lyrics of this song, examples are 'For big city sharks not as a rule.' 'You say goodbye cause you never see.' 'Your friend - puppet of the mighty.' 'The nameless child in all of us' 'And not always the best one wins'. They have song titles embedded in "Southgate". It's really cool to hear that and they make it sound so good, it's not outta place at all, everything flows together.
"Protection of Fool" - Every song on this album clocks over 5 mins save for this track and the instrumental piece. Heavy riffs open this track, again lightning fast guitars, 1 of my favourite songs off this album. The double bass is just superb on this track. I thought only Jason Sherlock from Paramaecium could drum this well, I finally realised that I'm wrong. Great riffs playing at high speed really set this band apart from other Christian Bands around. Herbie Langhans the band's vocalist can really carry a tune (unlike many other bands whose vocalist..just..ermm...u get the picture). I can't understand how he can reach those high notes. Superb soloing (we need more of these in our music) ends this beautifully crafted track. But the energy doesn't stop here, "Carol" carries on the energy of "Protection". This time round, the guitars just go on and on and on. Until the vocal part where it slows down but only for a few verses. This song I believe is talking about suicide and how a girl called Carol is going through this phase, either that or she's gone already. Listening to this immediately gets your feet moving with the beat of the song. Toggles between slower parts and heavy, hard, fast parts. Once again great rhythm, great melody.
"Father" a slow piece with melodious plucking, but it would be better if the drums were mixed softer on this album. The heavier guitars start simultaneously with the chorus. Right after that it just reverts back to the slow ballad (can I call it ballad?). These are the words that aren't printed in the insert, but this packs the punch:
If you hear this song, remember it could be your last, do you really know that you will live tomorrow,
What..what will be your life after death, are you ready to die?
Are you really really really ready to die? Think about it
Great huh? =)
This song is just fantastic...
"May The Best One Win" A song which made me think that it's another slow piece like "Father" but when it reaches the 23rd second, everything fell into place, great riffs, great melody. The drums...wow...really blew me away especially during the chorus. I don't think anyone can drum THAT fast. This is really an eye-opener or rather an ear-opener. The solo is even faster than the drums. Why don't these guys have a website so more people can get to know them. This is another of the finer tracks of this album. The first listen may not impress you much, but listen to it a few more times and it'll grow on ya...definitely! "Puppet of The Mighty" The bugle sounding at the beginning may bring a few guffaws, isn't this what they play in flag lowering ceremonies? This is another of the slow tracks like "Father" but when it reaches 1:55 or so, the real music kicks in and it's really fast, and I mean REALLY fast. Pounding drums, wild horse galloping guitars, this is another gem in this album, shows the versatility of the band. Being able to change from super fast double bass/guitars to mid-paced/slow parts without missing a beat. "Storm" the instrumental is next. But please don't be mistaken, instrumental doesn't mean that it must be a slow number, on the contrary this is a blistering number. Although there isn't much variance here, it's an interesting piece.
"Heart In Your Hand" The official ballad of this whole album. This is a song about a person being in control of another girl. A cry to release that heart is what this is about. And how the guy is praying for the other dudette (assuming it's a girl). Really emotional track here. A refreshing breather from the heaviness, another of the outstanding tracks on this album. "Nameless Child" midpaced most of the way. And NOT surprisingly it's good =) with quick time changes and I love the singing. Fades out to the next track "Big City Sharks" which talks about the upper level of people who think that they are better than everyone else, but who in reality need Jesus as much as anyone else. Another track which will be a favourite for a lot of people who have this album (even myself). The guitars are varied and the second guitar is so evident here. With 1 playing the rhythm section while the other plays some great riffs on another. A powerful combination! Fans of German power metal will lap this up immediately. Ends with rumbling double bass! "Goodbye" Anyone here familiar with the song "Auld Lang Syne"? You know? The popular goodbye song which people sing in many events like school graduation etc. They are using the same chords/riffs in this song. It really surprised me to hear "Auld Lang Syne" metalized (alright I made this word up). Slow song telling us to keep the same flame burning for Jesus Christ. No need to describe this song as it incorporates "Auld Lang Syne". But of course "Auld Lang Syne" is just a backdrop, the song is written by Seventh Avenue. Brief description can include soft plucking, slow solo, GREAT MELODY!
A great album here, but fans of high vocalists MAY not like it. I'm not sure but there's a possibility. Fans of Blind Guardian/Helloween would love to own this album. Grab this when you see it!
10/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #74Reviewed by Doug Van PeltProgressive metal fans will be happy to see this new album. Sweeping, almost-classical keys create subtle nuances against the precise and loud metal guitars and classic metal vocals. You'll even find melodies like "Taps" and "Auld Lang Syne" alongside Dio and Helloween-like metal. Some of the music sounds a bit funny being performed with big, bombastic major-key power chords, but the soloing…
