Northern Kings. The name implies so much. Mastery, rulership, the essence of being above all others. With
"Rethroned", these 'kings' of metal have easily claimed such haughty ambitions and made them their own. A collaborative project between four of the hottest singers out of Finland, the first album "Reborn" was fantastic in many ways. It featured the talents of Jarkko Ahola from the
Manowar inspired Teräsbetoni, Tony Kakko hailing from the masters of the progressive/power crossed domain in Sonata Arctica, Juha-Pekka Leppäluto the velvet voice of doomsday band Charon and Marco Hietala who reigns over both Tarot and
Nightwish respectively. That's alot of singers for one album, and all unique ones at that.
They all came together for one song on that debut release, the masterful Tina Turner cover of "We Don't Need Another Hero" and then split the rest of the covers between them. 80s pop ditties were transformed into overwhelming metal masterpieces of epic proportions (and then some).
"Rethroned" is even more remarkable and fixes a few of the quibbles that haunted the first disc. Vocal duties are shared more often, with each singer getting their own song, but the rest of the songs allow them all to shine in the spotlight. This makes for an amazing experience. The arrangements are clever, keeping a nod to the source material but taking it beyond its imagined boundaries, or twisting it into something completely different in tone and style. Musicianship is top notch, thundering drums, dazzling guitars and layers upon layers of synth. Epic is not a suggestion, it's a given for nearly every song gracing
"Rethroned". The songs are even more far fetched, spanning niche pieces such as Depeche Mode's
"Strangelove" to 80s classics like
"Wanted Dead or Alive". Even songs you would not imagine would ever fall to the sword of this genre, like Frank Sinatra's
"My Way", are thrown to the howling wolves and given the metal makeover. The results are fantastic, spine melting, heart tingling, nerve blasting, blood thundering - absolutely positively metallic bliss.
There's the angelic Jarkko Ahola, his voice as smooth as glass and possessing a seraphic purity. Quite the change from his usual persona of pulling off "Pleasure Slave" (
Manowar) like antics with Teräsbetoni's "Orjatar".
Tony Kakko flat out amazes here, he hits unbelievable notes and his penchant for passionate lines that take you into another reality makes for a breathtaking performance every time. Marco Hietala attacks his parts with a furious vengeance, mirroring the heavy handed authority that drives Tarot and his vocal bits in
Nightwish. J.P. Leppäluto is magnificent as well, his deep throaty voice like black velvet, providing a darker contrast against the lighter/higher vocals. His appearances are darkness divine.
Opening with the
"Rocky IV Training Montage", a guitar driven instrumental very much in the feel of Top Gun's (the motion picture) theme song. Not surprisingly, since it came from around the same musical era. Flowing guitars and a structure more like an actual song than a technical demo, which is always a plus.
Bon Jovi's
"Wanted Dead or Alive" is lead by the assault attack of Hietala, who turns this tumbleweed blowin' cowboy rock piece into an earthquaking thunderclap. Overplayed on radio and other mediums throughout its twenty year lifetime, this metal makeover seems uninspired and pedestrian compared to the other spruced up covers on the album.
"Kiss From A Rose", the Seal sung ballad banner song for a Batman movie is the first piece on
"Rethroned" that truly comes alive as something... spectacular. All four vocalists are called in to sing and they swap lines with ease and grace. Hietala can be heard mostly as background support, the bleeding edge of his voice easily identifiable through the layers of pomp and power. Tony Kakko garners the most lead airtime, his voice shaping each line in emotion and graceful beauty. Kakko and Ahola swap some of the same lines through the chorus and provide an interesting comparison between their two approaches to the same thing. Kakko pours his heart out in a forceful cry while Ahola is purity angelic sweet in their deliveries of
"Baby you are like a growing addiction that I, I can't deny". Another favorite is the varying inflection for "
Won't you tell me is that healthy babe?". JP gives a throaty seductive warble on the babe that stretches it out while Kakko sounds slyly wistful, letting the word
"babe" just float, a rising question with multi faceted meanings lying underneath. J.P.'s appearances are spine tingling, that deep velvet voice purring alluringly
"There is so much a man can tell you..." Every moment of this song is pure bliss, from the pompous metal arrangements to the building epic choruses and the smoldering moments of passion. A dizzying experience that leaves you breathless before it ends.
Duran Duran's James Bond title track,
"A View To a Kill" keeps its sizzle, pop fire and string laced epic overtures. The opening is pure vocal bliss, voice over the pounding drums, a promise of more dramatic things to come. And then it just rips right open, vocals in every imaginable direction and a hook to die for. It was striking before, now its even more so. JP and Ahola are played off of each other beautifully, demon and angel, beckoning darkness and a pledge of light. The guitar solo here is worth noting too, as it slices into the track and makes itself known in a blistering cascade of electric notes.
"Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinead O'Connor's smash hit ballad always came across as being nasal and whiny. Her voice was more like whine than wine and thus ruined any impact the song could have had. Tony Kakko remedies this problem by laying down vocals that have given me a new respect for his talents. This is absolutely transformed by his emotional, gorgeous voice that gives body and beauty where there previously was none and a desolate, bleak and desperate angle that was clingy and overwrought in the hands of Sinead. All the wonderful things you can do once you are "free" of relationship obligations never has seemed so empty and lonely. A wasteland of a soul craving its soulmate and acknowledging that living together can be a painful experience but one worth enduring if it means being with the one you love. Kakko's inflections are perfect, making this a masterful interpretation.
Frank Sinatra's
"My Way" has been covered a million times, often with camp or torch song feverity. Never in this manner of metal ferocity and open honesty. Jarkko Ahola's lead piece, it's not as touching as his turn on "Hello" from the previous
Northern Kings album, but does allow him to run the gauntlet of emotions. From ripping vibrato shaking notes, shattering highs, deep smooth lows, and that sweet gentle mid range. The heavy breakdown near the end is just plain awesome.
"Strangelove", a new-wave high tech pop Depeche Mode song becomes a fierce, twisting metal epic. The sterilized vocals and aseptic synthesizers are replaced by roaring guitars and impassioned vocals.
"Take On Me" the pop hit from A-Ha is given new life as a crackling synth powered metal track. Everyone shows up for this one and the multitude of vocals add texture and interest to an otherwise predictable track. J.P. Is given some of the more dramatic impact lines, smooth as glass and giving contrast against the higher, bleeding edge of Hietala. The synth sputtering out before the cool down period, the dual cries of
"I'll be gone in a day or two..." that culminate in this overwhelming pinnacle that slaughters the senses in waves of music... there are so many moments here worth noting. Yet another overplayed pop track that has been turned into something truly special.
"I Should Be So Lucky" becomes J.P.'s shadowed creepy track, a drastic deviation from the rainbow hued original. Kylie Minogue's first single, an upbeat, sugar sweet Madonna-like dance pop piece is transformed into a dark, sinister, stalker-like song rife with malice and menace underneath the obsession. The sped-up lightspeed tempo whipped out at the end makes a sly mockery of the original's forced hyper happiness.
Adamski & Seal's
"Killer" is a powerful, thundering track Funky synth breakdown in the middle has been exchanged for blazing guitars and a pompous symphonic power metal instrumental break.
Listed as
"Roisin Dubh" (Black Rose cover)/"Legends of Rock" (Thin Lizzy cover) this is a true departure when stacked against the expectations for the previous workouts on the disc, which favors changing pop songs into huge epic rock triumphs, this one keeps to the source material. Acoustic driven, electric guitar sparse yet poignant, and a duo of lovely vocals from Jarkko and Marco, make this respectful cover a nice piece to end the album on.
"Rethroned" is an album that thrills at nearly every turn.
The first
Northern Kings outing had its share of precious moments, yet this one triples that by far. The song selection is interesting, the multilayers of vocalists give the disc an entertaining angle. Those that complain about it, are obviously missing the point of the
Northern Kings experience by a hefty longshot. If it was simply another "rotating vocalist" cover album, it would lack the majority of its allure. How many covers albums are out there that are given that standardize treatment? Why would you want another one like that? Here you get four of Finland's finest coming together to add layer and audible tactile interest to the majority of tracks, as well as one song a piece to showcase their individual talents. This is what makes the
Northern Kings such a treasured project, one that will melt your spine and then put it back together again, often within the same song. If you are craving an album that features pompous epic symphonic heavy metal tracks, a quadruple helping of glorious vocals, and performances worth remembering, then
Northern Kings'
"Rethroned" deserves a spot on your shelf. Bloody brilliant. Would it be too much to ask for two of these releases a year instead of just one? This stuff is so good it seems almost cruel to make us wait a year between releases (assuming that another one is already in the pipeline - fingers crossed and here's hoping).
Written by
Alanna Friday, December 12, 2008
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