Week 52 (FINAL): Ensiferum - The Longest Journey (Heathen Throne Part II)

Here we are, the very last post for Monday Metal Treasures. I've taken a lot of time to write up everything for all 52 weeks of the year. This may have not brought tons of traffic to me but I've sure as hell been happy with expressing my thoughts on the 52 different artists that were featured here. Most of them may have been key metal artists but I threw in some surprises and even if you've heard a lot from heavy metal, hopefully you found at least something here. Since Monday Metal Treasures wasn't a huge success and I found my newer gaming rants to be commented on more, I feel it's not really worth the effort to do a second round and be happy enough with what I've done throughout 2011. Expect more full-length reviews whether they be metal classics, new releases or finding something obscure and give that some light whether it be good or bad.

The artist: Finishing off the grand finale month as well as the whole of Monday Metal Treasures, we have the folk metal band Ensiferum from Finland. With a few albums alone, Ensiferum have put themselves at the top of the game for folk metal. Their style of music is typically mixed with melodic death metal and coming from someone who's not all that fussed about that particular subgenre, these guys (and girls) are a prime quality metal band. Whether they had the Wintersun mastermind Jari Mäenpää for the first two releases or ex-Norther guitarist/vocalist Petri Lindroos taking over Jari, Ensiferum's music has been nothing short of great. Once all the legendary metal acts from the 70s/80s have left us, this is one band that undoubtedly deserves to fill up those huge venues all around the world.

The album: From Afar is Ensiferum's most recent album that makes the ultimate step to put all doubts anyone had after Jari left at rest. While Victory Songs was another great album from Ensiferum, From Afar surpasses everything they did and even goes on par with Wintersun's debut album. Ensiferum take a further step by incorporating symphonic metal elements to their music and the orchestral characteristics justify the term epic for this record. Not only that, this band makes the most adventurous journey with two 10+ minute tracks both relating to each other. As a little bonus, Stone Cold Metal goes out of its way to take a Western route that manages to include a banjo solo. This is no joke, there is banjo in our heavy metal here. Still not convinced From Afar is one album to pick? Let's see if the featured song can convince you.

The song: The Longest Journey (Heathen Throne Part II) is the final track to end off From Afar. Ensiferum step up their game here with the slow-ish introduction which allows them to intensify the song halfway through to catch even more attention. Whilst building the way up there, the song takes an outstanding break with the marching drums and flutes/recorders. Turning back to the metal force, the clean vocals from Markus Toivonen and Sami Hinkka and with only one verse of that, the quest only becomes immense from the third verse and this is where the heroic feel comes in and appropriately so. This is the quest where only the strongest and bravest succeed and this song follows the true hero.

After the final verse of the song, the band relaxes and makes way for the orchestra/guitar co-operation for the 4 minute finale. While it could have been a minute shorter, it's hard to deny the great atmosphere this part provides. This feels like the hero's return to his homeland after his toughest quest yet and for these reasons, this is no doubt one of the greatest heavy metal songs that exceed 10 minutes joining the same leagues as Iron Maiden's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Helloween's Halloween and Keeper of the Seven Keys. This song must be considered a classic amongst many metal fans within ten years time.

Week 51: Running Wild - Genesis (The Making and the Fall of Man)

The artist: Running Wild are a power/traditional metal band from Germany who had written many great albums. Although Rock 'n' Rolf, the main man of the band stuck to what he was familiar with, it's hard to not appreciate all the great songs he's written throughout the years. Even during the later days where the band was losing inspiration and hired a drummer under a pseudonym named Angelo Sasso, Rolf still managed to write some excellent songs. Siberian Winter and The Ghost from The Brotherhood and Return of the Dragon and Ballad of William Kidd from The Rivalry should ensure that. Rolf would declare retirement of the band in 2009 but has recently announced a return along with a new album coming out in April named Shadowmaker.

The album: Black Hand Inn is the 1994 album from Running Wild which follows the same similar style to Pile of Skulls. These releases were less raw than their predecessors and had a more polished feel to them. Not that it's a bad thing or anything since it breathed some fresh air in their music. Like Pile of Skulls, there were many fast songs found throughout the album. Black Hand Inn even kicks off the record in a similar way to Pile of Skulls where it build up with an intro track and them BAM, you're launched into a speed metal craze. With essentials like The Privateer and even some gems with Fight the Fire of Hate, The Phantom of Black Hand Hill and Powder & Iron, you can forget the babbling from Allmusic who actually gave this album 1.5 stars and acknowledge great effort from this release.

The song: Genesis (The Making and the Fall of Man) starts off with a spoken verse explaining the events of the 12th planet from over 400,000 years ago, based on Zecharia Sitchin's work on ancient astronauts. Zecharia Sitchin's efforts weren't looked upon well for mistranslations, flawed methodology and a few other things but Rock 'n' Rolf saw something from it and made a 15 minute song dedicating to Sitchin's series. Even if the lyrical theme will irk you, it's hard to deny the greatness of the band's talents. Rock 'n' Rolf assisted with Thilo Hermann on guitars make some really good performance. Rock 'n' Rolf does make a huge domination with the song (well, it is his band) with his vocals and telling the band which direction to take throughout. With the climatic changes around six minutes in and ten minutes in, you can see a lot was done for this song and damn, that very riff at 10:40 is one hell of a headbanger and a good use of the galloping. Several high and mighty solos are found throughout the song and even though the beginning verse adds a few minutes to the song before it even began, Genesis (The Making and the Fall of Man) is one song of great attention that will last through all 15 minutes of its duration.

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 50: Hammers of Misfortune - The Trial and the Grave

The artist: Hammers of Misfortune kick ass! Yes, that's how this post should start off considering the awesomeness of this band that sadly finds itself criminally overlooked. Founded by John Cobbett, former guitarist of Slough Feg and Ludicra, his band provides an excellent mixture of vocals from both genders. The band have also explored in several subgenres of metal. The main focuses have been traditional and progressive metal but there were strong black metal and folk music elements on the debut album named The Bastard. You wouldn't think the same band would also release an album with strong 70s prog rock elements but the signature characters of the band, particularly with the co-operation with male and female vocals (which may I add makes this band quite a gem), define this band in several styles. Out of all the bands featured on Monday Metal Treasures, this is one of the most highly recommended artists.

The album: The August Engine is Hammers of Misfortune's second album and moves away from the black metal elements that were present in The Bastard. This record has a stronger traditional metal feel but the album is still highly progressive and some tracks are even thrashy. The instrumental track The August Engine, Pt. 1 is technical ecstasy by quickly switching back and forth with acoustic guitars and the full driving force of the band and the song makes a sudden end for the following track Rainfall that manages to make an odd transition that actually works. More complex work is shown later on with The August Engine, Pt. 2 where the second half finds itself gradually moving to acoustic movements and back. And to think all of these tracks together make a concept album. I could go on all day about The August Engine but the point is, this album is damn good and should be some of the best 45 minutes you'll hear from heavy metal!

The song: The Trial and the Grave is the final song on The August Engine. Out of all the songs featured on Monday Metal Treasures, the lyrics for this song are quite possibly the ones that stand out the most. Yes, you could say the lyrics actually go above the music here but that's not to say the musicianship is short of excellence. You have some very doomy guitars from Mike Scalzi and John Cobbett who make the best impressions at the start and the finale section. The band tones down to make way for the strong vocals from Janis Tanaka (sorry, no Scalzi here).

The song goes through a long depressive route showing no happiness anywhere in sight. If anything, this shows the visions of a ghost seeing the sad ending of a woman who is sentenced for death and followed by the barristers cutting the body into pieces. It's a horrible thought and if it were sung by a death metal band, they'd take this as a joke and laugh at it but not Hammers of Misfortune who put real emotion to their music. The last verse just shows how sad the ex-life of someone was by explaining how no-one acknowledged the woman and that everyone completely forgot about her. The finale shows some slow movements from the guitarists and while this part may seem to drag, it has a purpose to take its time since if the lyrics were unsettling, why should the music make it easier for you?

Overall, The Trial and the Grave is a very depressive song. You'd have to come up with something a whole lot sadder (and not done in some emo bullshit way) to make this song look like Helloween in comparison. This song is by far one of the saddest songs metal has ever experienced and is a prime example of excellent female vocals in heavy metal and if there's one band that should make their way to the top over the next decade, it's this unique bunch.

Week 49: Sonata Arctica - The Power of One

The artist: For the last month of 2011, we'll be covering the grand finales of metal albums that exceed the 10 minute mark and there is no better way to conclude Monday Metal Treasures than to cover the magnificent album closers. Starting off, we have Sonata Arctica. These guys are one of the most notable power metal bands out there who started in 1996. They quickly rose into popularity amongst the power metal world and the lead singer Tony Kakko has found himself appearing in various other bands including Van Canto, Epica and even Stratovarius! Sonata Arctica have offered several great albums. Even the weakest efforts that are Unia and The Days of Grays still have their moments. However, if they want to climb up the ladder even further, they will need to offer something that's a huge step up from the said albums.

The album: Silence is Sonata Arctica's second album that offers many tracks. There's a total of 15 unique songs including the bonus track. Silence comes with many great songs from them such as Weballergy and The End of This Chapter. San Sebastian (Revisited) and Wolf & Raven are what should be considered essentials from them, despite them not even playing any songs from this album at the show in Manchester back in March. The record isn't perfect, though since there could have been a track or two cut off to give the album an even better flow. There is one too many ballads here but if you can get over that, you've got yourself a great power metal album.

The song: The Power of One starts off with sounds of rain and then the keyboards adding a little extra to the moody weather. Jani Liimatainen plays an acoustic guitar that stands out well but it's not long until the lyrics begin and Tony Kakko makes his introduction. The song goes through a few changes throughout the time. Also from Jani comes some impressive riffs and leads that are heard within only three minutes in. Halfway through is where the song settles down and shows some emotional voices from Tony with some unsettling keyboards. The band picks off again showing some keyboard solos and then even more powerful singing skills from Tony. If you have any doubts about this man, let them rest right here as he puts the verses up a few notches. Even the rest of the band have to keep up with him and they only rest once the song makes the grand finale.

Tony makes one more impressive show with his multilayer of vocals and show what he can do with his one voice. The song's lyrics are about Adam and Eve's songs Cain and Abel and while it's based on a religious story, what was taken from the bible can turn into a mighty story from a mere song. Overall, The Power of One stands as one of the finest Sonata Arctica songs ever made. With many changes throughout 10 minutes of this song and showing some great vocal capabilities of Tony Kakko, this song should be essential for their live shows.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 14: Chromaphobia (After Midnight Live)

For once, a live album is covered on the whole of Monday Metal Treasures with After Midnight Live. The reason this is being covered is because the whole album consists of never before heard on any of Manilla Road's albums. After Midnight Live is a live album recorded from KMUW radio back in 1979. The tapes that recorded the show from Rick Fisher, the drummer of the band at the time, were discovered a few years ago. The tapes were handed to Mark Shelton and he fixed the sound as much as he could to put out an adequate release for it. The sound production is still raw and loses its quality here and there but this is to be expected when taken from cassettes. However, for a 30 year old tape, the results turned out rather well.

Chromaphobia is the first track the band play on the show and is the strongest point of the album. This song contains the rocking feel from Mark of the Beast. The vibe comes from the riffs and Mark Shelton's vocals that make it sound a lost track from the said album... As if it wasn't lost enough already from being buried for 20 years. The song makes an elaborate intro that feels like it stands within Black Sabbath and Motörhead. The verses tone down the guitars and gives off the spacey feel which is what Invasion and Mark of the Beast would corporate after the initial recording. Mark Shelton states the song is about being a metalhead in the future and receiving the grief for being a dedicated metal fan, having long hair, etc. This isn't a favourite song of the Shark's but it's still a damn good way to kick off a live recording from the early days of the band.

Week 48: Solstice - Cromlech

The artist: Solstice from the UK are an epic doom metal band who despite only ever releasing two albums and an EP, have made a recent comeback. Not a whole lot happened with them in the 00s but with the recent tours and writing one new song for their live shows, you can tell they've returned to the metal realm and are ready to kick even more ass sometime in the near future. The third album named Englander is highly anticipated considering it's been 13 years since they released New Dark Age and they're well overdue.

The album: New Dark Age is the superior album out of the two Solstice albums. If you hear this record first, there isn't much to care about Lamentations. New Dark Age has some monstrous doom metal numbers including The Sleeping Tyrant (which had a low budget music video), Cimmerian Codex, Hammer of Damnation, Cromlech and New Dark Age, Pt. 2. These are the main five tracks of the album and could have just left it at that but Solstice added a whole new dimension by adding an individual section with an acoustic interlude, a very folky ballad and a spoken verse with sounds of wind blowing. Afterwards, the album immediately returns to its doom destruction. Another thing to note about New Dark Age is the unusual choice of words. When reading the lyrics, you'll come across many words that you may have not heard of all your life and extra credit should be handed out to them for acknowledging such words. Lastly, by getting the re-release of this album, you will be rewarded with an excellent cover of Iron Maiden's The Prophecy.

The song: Cromlech starts off rather moody with the bass and clean guitars. The bass is certainly one of the finest performances for it from Solstice and this intro is justified. The heavy guitars kick in after a minute but it's not long until the band pick up the pace. The rhythm may be fast for doom metal but the song endures itself long enough, especially when some lines are repeated several lines. This isn't bad, though since it's hard to get enough of "LEND ME YOUR STEEL!" Now that just screams heavy metal. Even if the song is faster than an average doom metal song, Richard M. Walker and Hamish Glencross do not halt with the crushing doom riffs. The song does slow down within 6 minutes and this is where we're given the beautiful solo by them. The main rhythm isn't done yet, though as it returns afterwards to finish off the full lyrics. Some parts may be repeated several times but it still offers a lot within 10 1/2 minutes. Overall, Cromlech just proves what this heavily overlooked band can do with their music and here's hoping Englander will take notes from songs like these.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 13: Blood Eagle (Voyager)

Voyager is where Manilla Road take yet another very interesting turn for their music. Voyager is an entire album dedicated to vikings. This may not be your typical "viking metal" band but Mark Shelton does a fine tribute to the Norse mythology even if hundreds of other metal bands had beaten to him already. Voyager is yet another record that's full of doomy riffs and Mark Shelton even shows his roughest and lowest pitched vocals out of everything he's done, even coming close to the sound of a death metal vocalist. For an album that lasts a little over an hour, you can be sure to be on quite a journey when hearing Manilla Road's Voyager.

Blood Eagle starts with a cathedral organ which drops off the sudden dark riffing. The first section of the track could have been cut from the rest to be on its own but it adds more flavour to this very song. When the main course arrives, there is some headbanging to be done and it only steps down a bit for the chorus. The chorus even has a power metal anthem feel to it which is rather bizarre when you're throwing in fast doomy riffs with a slight hint of death metal grunts. Six minutes seem to go incredibly fast here but then again, it does accompany with the organ intro. The song takes on the vikings heading to Vineland and confronting the bishop in the name of the norse gods. They sacrifice the bishop to avenge Thor and Odin. The song may be religiously controversial but those were very tough times back then and Mark Shelton has reflected that well with this beast.

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!

Manilla Road to the World - Part 12: The Fall of Illiam (Gates of Fire)

Gates of Fire is another concept album from Manilla Road. Instead of one big concept to focus on, Gates of Fire tells three different stories with them being based on The Frost Giant's Daughter, Virgil's Aeneid and the Spartan King Leonidas and the battle of Thermopylae. The album shows a strong variety including the album opener Riddle of Steel that has a vibe from Open the Gates era, Behind the Veil and Epitaph to the King as acoustic ballads and some challenges in terms of length with Betrayal and the whole of tracks 4-6 covering Virgil's Aeneid. There's a whole lot this album offers and you will need to give it time for both the music itself and the conceptual themes.

The Fall of Illiam stands as the longest track Manilla Road have recorded yet. With this song, Mark Shelton makes the way with an acoustic guitar with Cory Christner on the drums. Christner is quite a drummer and you will acknowledge this when the distorted doom metal guitars kicks in. The drums stand out very well and show some technical aspects to them. The first three verses use the same musical structure to them and although the flow of music usually works if it's repeated just once, the triple occurrance makes a better use of endurance as well as giving a really good feel of the sound. The song makes it way to a three minute solo and you'd think by the last minute it would start to get tedious but the solo segment doesn't feel boring nor tedious at all. Mark Shelton creates a sweet melody that would sure require a lot of memorization if this was ever played live.

The second half of the song shows yet more amazing musicianship from the band where Mark Shelton takes on another intense riff. Cory Christner shows a lot more aggression to the drums and a most of his drum kit in full use. Harvey Patrick even has his bass louder and clear in the second half. Like the earlier part of the song, this part of the song structure is repeated a few times and again gives you a lot of time to absorb the fantastic moments from the song. For a 15 minute song, time sure goes quick with this masterpiece. It's an endurance for a Manilla Road song but the band as whole made the lengthy song very effective. This is easily a top 5 contender for the best songs ever recorded by Shelton & co.

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.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 11: Teacher (Mark of the Beast)

Mark of the Beast was originally going to be Manilla Road's second album. It was recorded in 1981 but wasn't met with satisfactory so it was left in the dark to make way for Manilla Road's Metal. It was reflected back 20 years later and picked up by Monster Records to clean up the sound production of the demos and provide an official release for the fans. For what was a bootlegged release back then, the outcome of the sound production has managed well. Mark of the Beast takes a more rock approach as opposed to metal, although there do exist some heavier songs, including a speed metal rocker. For the most part it's not in your face and feels laid back but despite the band scrapping this album in the early 80s, it has become a common favourite.

Teacher ups the tempo of the overall mood of Mark of the Beast and keeps on running throughout. The raw atmosphere of the song fits to make it feel very retro and despite it not seeing the light of day until 2002, this should be an early example of speed metal. Half way through the song takes a different turn but the pace remains. The song talks about a Christian teacher wanting to take advice from the lord about how to explain the prophecies of Eschaton. It feels like there's an attempt to escape from it all but in the end, there is sadly defeat. Overall, Teacher is one that stands out from Mark of the Beast. This doesn't reflect the overall energy of the album but it's songs like this that make you wonder how all 66 minutes of this album even got rejected.

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.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 10: Sands of Time (Spiral Castle)

Spiral Castle was released just a year after Atlantis Rising and this is where Hellroadie became more established with his vocals. Bryan tends to handle the higher pitch vocals whereas Mark Shelton deals with the lower and rougher vocals. This is where Manilla Road truly took a doomier direction with their music and Spiral Castle is where the doom metal elements are as big and loud as they could possibly be. They offer crunching riffs from the title track, enduring doom metal epic with Merchants of Death and... an acoustic instrumental with a middle eastern feel? Let's find out!

Sands of Time is the instrumental finale for Spiral Castle. Starting off with an acoustic guitars that gives off quite an atmosphere for the instrumental piece. There are various unusual instruments used such as the percussions that certainly don't sound like they're from the drum kit and they're very oriental. In addition to that, Manilla Road throw in some violins and these violins are very strong and passionate for this particular track and makes it as part of a character for the track. Mixing this with the other instruments makes it all for one unique piece but at the same time it makes you think of the settings from Aladdin. There's a strange progression but those 7 1/2 minutes will go quick simply because it feels very relaxing and you'd want to sink in this track after 40 minutes of epic doom chaos.

Week 44: Helloween - Giants

The artist: So much can be said about this great band. Helloween are highly considered to be the pioneers for power metal and have influenced many bands from it. They had their golden days in the 80s with Kai Hansen and Michael Weikath on guitars, Michael Kiske on vocals (after Walls of Jericho), Markus Grosskopf on bass and Ingo Schwichtenberg on drums. They were at full force with the Keeper albums but Kai Hansen sadly left due to unhappiness with his position in the band and formed Gamma Ray later on (a great band regardless of this event). Kiske and Schwichtenberg would leave the band as well after Chameleon making Weikath and Grosskopf the only remaining founding members of Helloween. Sadly, Schwichtenberg committed suicide a few years later due to further depression with his mental issues.

Andi Deris replaced Kiske and has remained a loyal member ever since. Some may not like Mr Deris but personally, he's a great vocalist who has a unique character to him. The fact that Helloween have lived on today despite the fallout in 1993 and the unthinkable change of direction for The Dark Ride shows how strong this one particular band are. Maybe they should have gone under a different name due to how different they sound now in comparison to the 80s but that argument is for another day. Today is Halloween and it's only appropriate to talk about Helloween on this day.

The album: Chameleon is Helloween's controversial album. With the poor success they had with Pink Bubbles Go Ape, an experimental album wasn't the best decision to keep the band stable. Michael Weikath even admitted to wanting to make this like a Beatles album and does acknowledge how farfetched his idea was. Even so, this album wasn't all bad. It doesn't deserve to be at the bottom of the barrel along with Metallica's St. Anger and Cryptopsy's The Unspoken King. Although there are songs such as Crazy Cat and I Believe that don't really work well, there are still some great tunes that deserve respect and that is why Chameleon is the featured album out of 14 different albums to choose from (counting the Helloween EP).

The song: Giants is one of the few songs that sounds more along traditional Helloween but still taking some experimental routes. The songs offers the listener some heavy riffage and some solos throughout the song are nicely done when they are launched in the air. Credit has to be given to Weikath and Grapow here. Michael Kiske's voices have an echo to them and gives off quite a mood to the song. The song even incorporates some keyboards, even though there's never been a member in Helloween to play them full-time. These keyboards match the lyrics to the song quite well which is about slavery and the corrupted power of the rulers. It also shows how much they abused their people and makes the slaves hope for a better place to see someday. Overall, Giants is one song that shouldn't be ignored from Chameleon because it's a song that makes corrupted leaders fearsome and it's a damn rocking tune. Happy Halloween!

Manilla Road to the World - Part 9: Megalodon (Atlantis Rising)

Atlantis Rising is Manilla Road's comeback album after the hiatus in the early 90s. Mark Shelton reformed the band with a whole new lineup featuring Bryan "Hellroadie" Patrick on drums as well as vocals and Mark Anderson on bass. This is Bryan Patrick's debut and his contributions to the band as a vocalist only became greater after this release. Amazingly enough, Hellroadie has the exact same vocal characteristics as Mark Shelton meaning he sounds exactly like the Shark so the introduction of a second vocalist could easily slip through the crack if little to no research was done on the band.

After a 10 year break, Mark Shelton struck back the music industry with this monstrous album. The concept of the album alone instantly marks this album as heavy metal. Atlantis Rising tells the tale of the lost Atlantis re-emerging with a war between the Norse Gods and the Great Old Ones over the continent. If this isn't metal, nothing in this world is! This album comes with a few interludes but it's hard to overlook the great work of this record with the harsh opener Megalodon, the fast and aggressive Siege of Atland and rifftastic tracks including March of the Gods, Decimation and Resurrection.

Starting off with a familiar verse (think Open the Gates' opener Metal Storm), Megalodon strikes with some distorted guitars and still maintains the rough sound productions from the earlier releases but at the same time modernizes it. It's not long until Mark Shelton offers a new flavour of vocals to his music with his very harsh voice. With this combined with the introduction of the concept, you can be sure that he makes the big blue sea so brutal that you wouldn't want to touch a drop from the ocean. The solos find themselves to be the screams of the monsters coming to battle. This only marks the beginning of the return of Atlantis and you can bet the war will not get any easier later on and neither will the music.

Week 43: Immortal - Antarctica

The artist: Immortal are one of the most well known black metal bands who contributed to the second wave. The 1990s was a very dark time for black metal where some of the major acts committed church arson and even went as far as murdering individuals (most notoriously Varg Vikernes of Burzum for both cases). Black metal has been heavily linked with Anti-Christianity. However, Immortal are an excellent contrast to all the controversy in black metal. They've stayed away from Anti-Christianity as well as church burnings at all costs and despite these differences, Immortal are still one of the most respected bands by black metal fanatics. Ironically enough, Abbath was the one who got Varg into black metal but Abbath never wanted to follow the bandwagons going on back then.

The album: Sons of Northern Darkness is the last Immortal album before their break up in 2003 due to personal reasons which the band would later unite a few years later after a reunion special. Sons of Northern Darkness follows the musical style from At the Heart of Winter with more complex song structures whilst containing the thrash metal elements Immortal have adapted with since At the Heart of Winter. Some of the highlights in Sons of Northern Darkness include One By One, Tyrants and In My Kingdom Cold. This week's song Antarctica is also another strong track in the album.

The song: Antarctica begins with an arctic ambience (well, what were you expecting). It's not quite as eerie as Unearthly Kingdom but to make that up, Abbath breaks in with his frostbitten guitar and he does go all the way to make this intro well established. Horgh does some damn good drumming. It's not the typical blast beat black metal drumming but it does have some sweet rhythm to the intro sequence. Abbath doesn't kick in with his vocals until around 2 1/2 minutes in where he talks about how cold, vicious and metal Antarctica is. He describes it as a very harsh place. 5 minutes in gives us the dark acoustic guitars where Abbath summarizes Antarctica as dark, cold and massive. Heavier guitars make a comeback as well as the drumming that have a nice pace of hits on the Tom-tom drums. Overall, Antarctica is that ideal frostbitten song that black metal is often associated with, particularly Immortal. Who needs to sing about opposing Christianity and worshipping Satan when you can make something evil-sounding with a very bitter place like Antarctica?

Manilla Road to the World - Part 8: Forbidden Zone (The Circus Maximus)

The Circus Maximus can simply be described as "Manilla Road's Seventh Star". It was the side project Mark Shelton formed after disbanding Manilla Road. This was going to be labeled as a Mark Shelton solo project but after the stronger contributions from the other two bandmates, the Shark insisted this should be a band rather than a solo artist and named themselves The Circus Maximus. However, when it came to release, Black Dragon Records shoved the name Manilla Road on the album just so they'd get more sales on the record. That didn't do well, though since the album shows this was never intended to be a Manilla Road album. However, you will get a track or two where you can relate it to Mark Shelton's main band. The songs with Shelton on vocals are generally the better songs on the album. The rest don't sound that focused and seem to be contributing to something else rather than this album. This is only recommended for the hardcore fans.

Forbidden Zone has Mark Shelton as the only vocalist in this song and the atmosphere of the song is a big surprise. This sounds like it came from an album that had a mixture of The Courts of Chaos and The Deluge which isn't what you'd expect when the band had no intentions to sound like Manilla Road. The song starts off with a clean guitar intro which is something you'd expect to hear from the 'Road. There's plenty of great guitar work to be found here whether it's the leading riffs or the grand solo halfway. The mid section even takes it time to have a highly audible bass and this is a goldmine. The chorus is definitely one to sing to. It'll make you mystified but it does take you to the darkest place that no-one should dare enter. In conclusion, Forbidden Zone is the ultimate saviour for The Circus Maximus. This may have not been a great side project but at least it had a beautiful and epic song like this.

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.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 7: From Beyond (The Courts of Chaos)

The Courts of Chaos is Manilla Road's official last release prior to splitting up in the early 90s. This album continues the thrash metal roots as found on the previous two works but not only that, you'll even hear keyboards from this release which weren't familiar in their territory until this record. The best use of them is for the appropriate named instrumental track Road to Chaos which leads the listener to full of mayhem with Dig Me No Grave, From Beyond and The Books of Skelos). The Courts of Chaos has several bizarre moments to make it stand out very well from Manilla Road's back catalogue.

From Beyond starts off with some very weird acoustic guitars that give off a sci-fi feel and rightfully so. For a song that sings about different dimensions and scientific experiments, there better be a sense of science fiction here or it wouldn't work at all. As a song that has a situation of failed experiments, the song takes the route down to chaos further and further thus Shelton intensifying with the riffs. The first riff has quite a rhythm to it but the second one goes full out thrash as the whole song goes to well, chaos. To finish it off with "No, nothing can save you from beyond" is rather evil but Manilla Road show no mercy! Overall, From Beyond is a fantastic song with some strong riffs and making its way to gradually intensify the music.

Week 41: Death - In Human Form

The artist: Death were no doubt an iconic band in heavy metal. They made way for tons of death metal bands and are highly regarded as one of the death metal pioneers along with Morbid Angel and Possessed. Despite the critical acclaim for being a major influence on death metal, the frontman Chuck Schuldiner was always modest about his band and declared it as a metal band and nothing more. Chuck may have disagreed with the death metal label but the rest of the world sure as hell thinks otherwise but not in a way against him. It's very unfortunate that Chuck passed away almost a decade ago and this week's Metal Monday will pay a tribute to the band who did a lot to death metal despite Chuck's modesty.

The album: Individual Thought Patterns is a highly technical album from Death. Technical death metal is described as having more complexity for riffs, rhythms and song structures and Individual Thought Patterns fits that to a T. The amount of riffs this album alone contains is insane. Within 39 minutes, Death have managed to fit in at least 30 riffs in one single album and the longest track out of them all is Mentally Blind clocking in at 4:45. Considering that thought, you know there has to be many changes in song structures throughout the album and to remember every moment in this album as well all the great riffs heard in one single album has to be the best reason to listen to this album many times throughout your life.

The song: Any song from this album can be used to show the insane constant change of paces over a few minutes of music but one grand example is In Human Form. This song starts off with one riff to attack the listener right away but will be far from done. This riff is only an introduction to the song which is immediately dropped just 15 seconds in and it's a riff that could have been used on any other death metal song and stick to it. You're not even given enough time to hear Chuck's extraordinary vocals for death metal. The solo is very, VERY short but you know what, it happens to be very sweet as well. Chuck returns to vocals once again but it's not long until he takes the band to another vocal break and then back to him again. He does pack the second solo together with a lead to prepare yet more barrel rolls for the song. It should be noted that Steve DiGiorgio on bass is crystal clear at all times and you can be sure that he makes some memorable basslines for this song alone.

The lyrics may tell of extraterrestrial going undercover as a human being to fool humanity but actually that was just a metaphor. What he refers to as aliens here are the corrupted human beings that exist in the world. To Chuck, they are not human beings and rather aliens who must be stopped. Overall, In Human Form is a very intense song. The multiple song sections make it feel like Chuck Schuldiner wrote four songs and merged them into one song lasting only or a mere four minutes. For that, there is no padding in the album at all and the pace is so fast that it makes four minutes seem like fourty seconds. That with sinister sounding lyrics, you can bet this is top notch for death metal and this is only one song from the album analysed!

Week 40: Angra - Unholy Wars

The artist: Angra are one of the key metal bands from Brazil along with Sepultura (although they don't have as much fame as them). They've released some killer releases such as Temple of Shadows and Rebirth, a personal favourite. The band would take a more progressive approach with the later releases. However, the change of direction wasn't done well when they recorded Aqua. It was a poor record and had a huge lack of energy and passion. Angra need to listen to Rebirth and remember what made them great.

The album: Rebirth is Angra's first album with Eduardo Falaschi on vocals who has remained in the band ever since. Angra provides fast numbers with Nova Era and Unholy Wars, slower melodic tracks with the title track and Heroes of Sand and then there's the more epic and complex works including Running Alone and Unholy Wars. These make Rebirth a versatile album and doesn't make themselves repetititve.

The song: Unholy Wars starts off with sounds of a Brazilian dance which is followed by the band themselves and with Edu Falaschi making some chanting voices. The band then picks up the pace with the guitar riffs which is where we learn the young warrior fighting his way through the war. The music takes some progression routes, particular in the centre where you hear a bass lead. The bass makes itself prominent during the break and actually gives the listener time to sink in with this segment. The solo makes its fine way to show itself up but it's not long until we're back to revisiting the horror of the unholy wars one last time. Unholy Wars is a beautifully complex track from Rebirth and offers a lot for the listener. It's a shame they didn't do anything this magnificent on Aqua.

Week 39: Týr - Lord of Lies

NOTE: Due to a holiday that wasn't even foreseeable 12 months ago when I originally started planning Monday Metal Treasures, this is posted early so you still get to see the following week's entry, despite it not being a Monday.



The artist: Týr are a particularly interesting folk metal band hailing from Faroe Islands. Their country of origin will easily strike out as it may be a country you've never even heard of. Infact, Metal-Archives only lists seven metal bands who originated from Faroe Islands. That's right, just a mere seven! There's more metal bands that ever found in Saudi Arabia and Syria than in Faroe Islands. Not only do they have an unusual country origin, they also incorporate progressive metal elements to folk metal whereas many folk metal bands have generally mixed their style with black, melodic death or power metal.

The album: Ragnarok is Týr's concept album released in 2006 and already it's been five years since its release. Ragnarok feels like the ideal Norse mythology lyrical-based album, even if roughly a third of the lyrics are spoken in Farose. This album as well as the rest of their albums in general show the world what Farose language is like. As suggested by the album title, Ragnarok covers the future events in battles resulting in the death of the Norse gods. This feels how Norse mythology themed metal music should be done, although the amount of interlude tracks won't make it a straight forward listen and will require patience in order to get the most from the album.

The song: Following the interlude track named Victory which has the sounds of entering a very lively tavern, Lord of Lies shows up right away with the loud folky guitars that makes you think "Damn, this is really good." and then it's succeeded by riffs with a much lower tone. Even with the darker riffs, the song still insists with the brighter atmosphere to march on in the story. It will go as far as showing off some very highly tuned solos and you can sense some power metal from this track. That and Heri Joensen's vocals make for some unique sound from folk metal. The song's lyrics covers Thor and the serpent Jörmungandr. This is closer to the end of the album and forsees prophecies of the true end of Ragnarok. Overall, you have a song with some extremely catchy melodies with some mixed tones to show the dark side of the prophecy but also the confidence to fight on.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 6: Return of the Old Ones (Out of the Abyss)

Out of the Abyss continues the thrash metal roots that were incorporated in Mystification. Although the thrashy elements from Mystification worked like a charm, this record wasn't as lucky. Manilla Road may have altered the atmosphere and overall sound to make it feel refreshing, most of the songs don't tend to stick. While you have many great songs from Invasion to Mystification, there isn't a whole lot that makes Out of the Abyss memorable. This album does make it the first for where Mark Shelton works on harsher vocals and although he can provide some rough voices that add to the music, here it's not so effective. Maybe this was just working on that style and hoping the Shark could work from it later on. Out of the Abyss may not be a bad album but it certainly pales in comparison to everything else they've done (except for The Circus Maximus but that doesn't really count).

Return of the Old Ones starts with some notable drumming from Randy Foxe to show that he's not just some drummer to assist the band with them. Mark Shelton plays some rougher tones on his guitar as opposed to the previous work but still manages to play some shrieking solos. The riffs are more subtle than its predecessor but some quality guitar performance can still be picked up from here. The lyrics are based on HP Lovecraft and Cthulu but that isn't anything particularly new for the band nor is it their greatest moment of singing about said themes. Still, this is one of the better songs from an album that offers very little for the band and listeners in comparison to everything else they've done.

Week 38: Fates Warning - Pirates of the Underground

The artist: Fates Warning are one of the early examples of progressive metal, even though the early albums were more traditional/power metal than progressive metal which is what they would turn to later on. The first era is much different to the later works of Fates Warning and even the vocalists show how different they are to each other. Unfortunately, Fates Warning have produced a lot of mediocrity during the Ray Alder era but No Exit is still a fine album. As for the albums when they had John Arch, The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian are highly praised and rightfully so. The band as a whole have been quiet for a while now and the guitarist Jim Matheos has recently been workng with John Arch on a new band called Arch / Matheos but honestly, they should just call it Fates Warning.

The album: The Spectre Within is Fates Warning's second album. With only seven tracks, Fates Warning show a lot of potential. From Traveler in Time to the grand finale Epitaph, the songs are nothing short of excellence. To keep it short, John Arch shows a lot of passion with his singing, there are many high quality riffs and solos that show a great variety throughout and there are some magnificent intros, especially The Apparition and today's song feature Pirates of the Underground. Even the simpler intros such as Traveler in Time and Kyrie Eleison have just a clock ticking and bells ringing for the former and a chanting "Kyrie Eleison" for the latter but are still highly effective for the representing songs. From a personal view, this album easily hits the top 20 picks for heavy metal albums and it's a damn shame the John Arch era was a very brief time for Fates Warning.

The song: Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! You were probably expecting Alestorm or Running Wild but it's not just those two bands that have written songs about pirates. Pirates of the Underground starts off with a elaborate intro section. Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini have a lot to offer with their dual guitar display with throwing a few solos around along with some catchy riffs that even have a slight thrash vibe to it. By two minutes in, only then John Arch kicks in with his shrieking vocals. Multilaying for John Arch is used to increase the effectiveness of his vocal performance. After two verse lines, the guitarist duo are back to play yet more solos that show so yet more power and to have roughly five solos in a single track with all of them being highly memorable is quite an achievement. Although the riffs are still something to wow about, the solos are even more impressive and none of the many solos show any signs of weakness. Overall, Pirates of the Underground is a solo-maniac song that only reminds every metal fan why this album gets a lot of praise. Having some speedy riffs as well as a lot of power from John Arch makes this even more of an incredible song!

Week 37: Carcass - Death Certificate

The artist: Carcass are a death metal/grindcore band from Liverpool, the English city that's most well known for The Beatles. Carcass have been praised for being highly influential in grindcore as well as melodic death metal. They implemented melodic death metal to their music with Heartwork around the same time metal bands from Gothenburg such as In Flames and At the Gates were only starting to record albums. Besides The Beatles, this is one band that makes me happy to live very close to Liverpool.

The album: Heartwork is the album where Carass played death metal in a more melodic style. Although some melodic death metal bands may not sound like standard death metal, Heartwork is one where you can relate to the more traditional death metal with killer tracks such as Carnal Forge, Blind Bleeding the Blind and today's metal song Death Certificate. Heartwork is a melodic death metal album that nicely stands out from the subgenre.

The song: Death Certificate starts with some twin guitars where one has a simple two note riff while the other is a melodic tune that eventually clash each other some fast riffing. Now this is a riff that slays and shows some brutality. The lyrical lines are rather minimal and may not have much to them but it's a good sign since Carcass were more focused on writing some shining guitar work. The song enters a melodic solo phase where both Bill Steer and Michael Amott both play side by side. These are solos that stick out from the album so well along with the crazy solo on Carnal Forge. Overall, Death Certificate is song that will offer many death certificates around due to it being such a killer track with riffs and solos.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 5: Children of the Night (Mystification)

Mystification is where Manilla Road take a thrashier route with their music. In 1987, many thrash metal bands were becoming big so it's understandable that you'd hear a stronger sense of thrash metal during that time. Hey, it could have been worse and they could have jumped on the hair metal bandwagon which is what almost every big band was doing at the time. The album takes a lot of inspiration from the legendary writer Edgar Allen Poe. The album went through a different track listing with the same songs on the re-issue in 2000 along with a whole new album cover which looks a lot better than the original one. Mystification is on par with The Deluge and with songs like Up from the Crypt and Valley of Unrest, you can be sure to bang your head when hearing it.

Children of the Night is the song one of the big four wish they wrote. Right away Mark Shelton is showing no messing around with this song by taking it off with some rapid pace riffs and this will make those 7 minutes listening to this song fly by without you even noticing. Of course, with that length you expect the band to take some breaks and not wear them out entirely if they were to play this song live. Roughly 3 minutes in, they introduce some clean guitars but it's not long until you're thrown right back to some heavy thrashing and this second main riff Shelton plays for this song is one hell of a headbanger. Having these two riffs played in the same song shows some interesting movements. Not only that, there are some wailing solos heard halfway through and this puts the song at its very peak. Overall, Children of the Night is one hell of a song from Manilla Road that sure as hell will pump up the live audience for putting those riffs right in their faces.

Week 36: Elvenking - Under the Tree of Us'dum

The artist: Elvenking are a folk/power metal band coming from Italy. They released their debut album Heathenreel in 2001 and have made some changes with their sound throughout the decade. Some have been for the better while others didn't go well with the fans. Heathenreel was straight forward folk/power metal which suited the majority but years later they went a completely direction by adding metalcore influences to their music in The Scythe. Elvenking acknowledged the disappointment from the fans after hearing The Scythe and took a safer path with Two Tragedy Poets by giving it an all-acoustic folk sound.

The album: To Oak Woods Bestowed is Elvenking's demo recordings. Before Heathenreel was released, they had five demo tracks they worked on and three of them made the cut for their debut album. That left with Banquet of Bards and Under the Tree of Us'dum in the dark forever. Well, most likely anyway. These two songs are actually very good and it's a shame they were never included in the release of Heathenreel as both songs would have been great additions to the album. White Willow and Oakenshield demo versions feel less polished than the Heathenreel counterparts while the intro track To Oak Woods Bestowed is an extended version.

The song: Under the Tree of Us'dum is the last track in the demo album. This song shows the most complexity out of the five tracks starting with a majestic intro. There are plenty of tempo changes and some surprising turns. Keep in mind that this is a demo track so the performance is not likely to be top notch and will feel rough. Aydan's vocals still needed some work here and the rhythm isn't timed well for the first half of the song. However, it does feel better later on, particularly with the galloping section. Even if the song feels rough, there are still some fantastic solos found here and the whole song still manages to be catchy. With the tale of a warrior travelling around the land to fight the evil wizard (yeah yeah, clichés). The hero is companioned with the magical tree known as Usdu'm that conquers the evil one once and for all. It's a typical medieval story but it's still a fun one with a fun tune. It's just a shame this never made it to Heathenreel which would have had huge improvements from the demo session.

Manilla Road to the World - Part 4: Shadows in the Black (The Deluge)

The Deluge was released in 1986 and is one of the classic Manilla Road albums that are often highly praised by fans. The album proves to be a fast paced album with only clocking in at 39 minutes and having a strong factor in fast pace songs, especially with some speed/thrash metal elements. The title track is the slowest track on the album but has the strongest epic feeling out of all ten tracks. The only flaw that can be spotted from The Deluge is the interlude known as Morbid Tabernacle that doesn't really contribute anything to The Deluge. At least the other instrumental track Rest in Pieces nicely finishes off the album despite the bizarre noise right at the end. That aside, The Deluge is a brilliant album and with it being recently re-issued by Shadow Kingdom Records, now is a great time to pick it up.

Shadows in the Black starts off with a clean intro which gradually rises in intensity and then launches a heavy metal frenzy. The direction could have been a doomy song which the band experimented with for some of the previous releases but instead they take a thrashy route and this song is easily one of the fastest they've ever played. Although Mark Shelton is the only guitarist for this album, at times the song is multilayered to hear the riff and solo played together. Even so, the solos are damn fast and show how Mark Shelton can fucking shred on his guitar. It isn't just Shelton that makes the song, Scott Park has some sweet basslines and Randy Foxe does what he can to pound those drums fast to keep up with the pacing of the song. From these aspects, you can tell Shadows in the Black is a fantastic and gets you pumped up as fast as this song goes.

Week 35: Equilibrium - Des Sängers Fluch

The artist: Equilibrium are a recent German folk metal band with releasing their debut album Turis Fratyr in 2005. They only have three albums so far and with mixing folk metal elements with black and symphonic metal elemenets, they could do a lot with their style and one thing that would be great to see is more epic instrumentals such as Mana. That's a 16 minute monstrosity and it's a well written instrumental.

The album: Sagas is Equilibrium's second album released in 2008. The band provides a dynamic album with this one with playing fast folk metal numbers such as Blut im Auge and Heimwärts, the more complex structures with Unbesiegt and Des Sängers Fluch and of course Mana, the 16 minute instrumental behemoth. Out of the three Equilibrium albums so far, this one stands as the strongest one.

The song: Des Sängers Fluch (The Bard's Curse) is a song with a few major sections that manages to flow very well to make it sound like one big song rather than feel like you're listening to the next track. The song ranges from acoustic folk to black metal blast beating and screams to orchestral moments. For a first time listen it makes some unpredictable turns that make you wonder what the band will do with this one song next. The song lyrics, although they are in German, the English translations gives you a good idea on what the song is about. Des Sängers Fluch covers a dark time in the medieval world. A boy comes along to become a bard and is taught by an old man. He tries to confront the evil and play but fails and is killed. The elderly individual avenges him with the curse that destroys the evil once and for all. The song has the medieval feel to it so this story telling is highly appropriate. Overall, it's an excellent song with great song structure and comes with some interesting story telling, even if it requires translation.