If you feel like you've read this review before, it's probably because I feel like I've heard this album before. No news under the sun, with this piece of oldschool 80's Metal with a bit of modern Power Metal thrown in the mix. So, is it a good album? Well, yeah, decent to say the least, but not outstanding in any way.
The melodies don't flow easily for
StormHammer, which gives the album an uncatchy touch and makes the songs feel longer than they are.
On the other hand, they don't get boring as quickly as some super catchy ones can do.
What is good about this album is the ripping feeling to the guitars and some of the melodies. I can find many parts I like but the songs, as a whole tend to suffer from a loss of good structure. The good pieces are there; it's just putting them together, that seems to be the problem.
The singer sounds good when he really tries, too bad that his voice suffers from a loss of range and tends to get a bit monotonous over time. When he really screams from the top of his longs, it sounds cool and gives the album some of the wildness that is otherwise missed. Too bad he doesn't do it more often!
After a brief intro, the album kicks off with
Ace In The Hole, and right away the band's love for oldfashioned Metal stands clear; the twin guitars are galloping away, with the hoarse vocals on top. The pre chorus is kind of epic, and the chorus is catchy but a bit overused. An okay tune, but then again nothing really standout.
Time Out Of Mind starts out with some very cool, promising, Power Metal like guitarwork, then slows down, and I get a feeling like "huh? What happened?". Though there's plenty of cool guitar licks and rhythm changes, the song appears as some kind of strange blur of good parts, not being put together the right way. The keyboard part and the guitar part later on are great, and make me wonder why the general outcome seems so monotonous.
Onto the titletrack, and one of the better songs. A much better way of putting things together this time creates a solid, memorable, traditional Metal song. Good work!
Wise Man is the ballad of the album, and once again I must say to those who don't know how to write a truly bewitching ballad.keep trying, but please don't record it and put it on your albums!
Metal Heart, though a criminally uninventive rip-off title, is the best song on here. A very simple riff gives the song a rocking profile and creates a catchy, traditional Metal feeling. Great!
StormHammer seem best at creating simple rocking tunes like this one, and it remains the highlight of the album.
Being produced by the band themselves in their homestudio, the production leaves a bit to wish for. Though all instruments are visible in the soundpicture, the disc doesn't have the transparent feeling that has become standard today.
Summing up, this release belongs somewhere in the middle, together with the hundreds of other albums that are neither fantastic nor horrible.
Written by
Nina Thursday, August 19, 2004
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