Well I used to laugh and roll my eyes over bands like
Wizard and
Sacred Steel, delivering the typical cliché sort of "True Metal" lyrics, a bit recycled music and just being a little over the top. Nevertheless both these bands made a fool out of me by releasing great albums later in their career, and made me realize the greatness and charm of using old elements, if you do it with style and mix it in new ways, adding own ideas to create something fresh.
So, my problem with
Majesty is not the clichéd type of style, the lyrics about warriors, battles, and living a Heavy Metal lifestyle, or even that the music borrows a riff or two from the old heroes in
Manowar,
Iron Maiden or
Helloween.
The real problem here is, that none of this is done with style, talent for songwriting or the smallest amount of own ideas.
Heavy Metal Battlecry introduce the album with a high pitch scream, fast drums and blistering guitars. After the short verse, the rather happy sounding chorus "Heavy Metal Battlecry/bla bla/Hail, Hail, Hail" is repeated endlessly, making sure this song gets stuck in your head, whether you want it or not. In fact, it seems like
Majesty realized, that if they repeat a chorus enough times, it will get stuck in your head, no matter if it's good or not. The three first songs are examples of this.
Into The Stadiums is probably the record's best track, which says more about the record than the song. Actually it has a pretty nice melody and some balance between the good verse and the catchy chorus, which lifts this song to a level just a bit over the rest of the album. And I don't get this annoying feeling from humming along to this one!
The titletrack also shows a very repeated chorus, a simple melodyline without any surprises or captivating moments whatsoever, and once again leaves me wishing these guys would try to blend in just a minimum of own ideas. The temposhifts are okay, though, and that's the only thing that gives just a little variation on the album in general.
Defender Of The Brave starts out with a rather nice melodyline, then blast into some sort of Power Metal structure, with very fast drums and somehow happy sounding guitarwork and melodies. The melody and temposhifts are on the better side, though still far from great. The song seems at a standstill, never developing into more than a mediocre Metal hymn, where every element seems like heard before, either better, or put together in a more original way.
The record continues in the same manner, giving an impression that most songs are written using some sort of "How to make a True Metal song" formula, and with a singer who sounds rather hoarse and like he's trying to reach some notes he's not quite capable of.
The good side of Reign In Glory is, that there is a few more shifts in tempo than usually in this style, and that there is some catchy parts after all. There's nothing wrong with the technical abilities of the bands members either. Songs like Into The Stadiums and Defender Of The Brave could have developed into something cool, but the band never really reach the level where everything falls into place.
I feel like this record is selling an image (being "True Metal"), where form seems more important than the actual music, and stating the obvious is good enough. and that's just way to easy!
Instead of daring a little, thinking a little, bringing in just a bit of own thoughts and ideas,
Majesty have chosen -not the way of the warrior- but the secure path of repeating old days glory. And no, they don't do it with style, charm, or any great talent!
Written by
Nina Monday, April 12, 2004
Show all reviews by NinaRatingsNina: 3/10Members: 3/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Steen (Staff)
Rating: 3/10
I agree with Nina, this is unfortunately a really bad album. Majesty are very inspired by ... · Read more · |
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