Majesty are one..sorry, I mean,
Metalforce are one of those bands that it's always very difficult to get truly worked up over. They play straight up, no frills power metal, which while clearly influenced by the top tier of melodic metal monsters, always seems forever destined to remain scrapping it out in the lower leagues.
In case you were unaware, the German bands name change from
Majesty to their new moniker happened back in the summer of 2008 before they were due to play that years Magic Circle Festival (what is it with bands signed to Magic Circle Music and name changes?). I was present at the festival and no reason at all was given for the change and at the time the line-up was the exact same as before.
By the time the newly christened
Metalforce released this, their first, self titled offering, only singer Tarek Maghary and drummer Jan Raddatz remain. In have come guitarists Tristan Visser and Josef Echter and also bass player Freddy Scharltl. Although on the album itself the guitars were handled by Visser alone.
The question was, could this new injection of blood better what
Majesty had done previously?
The outlook is initially very pleasing as the album pounces upon the listener with the highly melodic, ultra catchy (and rather wonderfully titled)
Faster, Louder METALFORCE. It begins with Tarek singing the songs title backed by only keyboards before a full on speed metal assault begins. It's impossible not to enjoy the extremely silly chorus and the new guitarist lays down his marker quickly with some excellent soloing.
Freedom Warriors keeps things going with Majes...damn I keep doing that don't I? Anyway it keeps things going with the bands take on the old school Heaven and Hell, Stranger In a Strange Land and (probably most pertinently) Warriors of The World style bass line. It's another enjoyable song with a fun sing-along chorus but it's the first of many occasions where the main problem that plagued
Majesty rears its head, originality.
There are still too many moments on this album that call to mind other bands styles. Whether it be
Manowar style lyrics like
"We are fighting for glory and steel",
Hammerfall esque riffs and shouty-gang choruses or
Manowar (again) patented
"Slow keyboard bit in the middle where the singer emotes before the song kicks in again" sections (Trademarked by Joey DeMaio I believe) the songs do often struggle for a voice of their own. There are even moments like on verses of
Thunderchild where the band previous incarnations work is recalled.
Now power metal is rarely (some critics would argue never) the most original of metal genres but it's the one that I first fell in love with so it's difficult to totally slate the band for sticking to a style that they clearly adore. It's not even as if there are any particularly bad songs on the album although at just over 50 minutes it does feel just a little too long (the slightly ponderous ballad
When Valkries Fly doesn't help matters)
I think that the problem of originality is compounded by the lack of a unique identity. For example Tarak's mid-range vocal style is completely acceptable and I could pick him out of the pack, but only just.
There is nothing about his voice or the rest of the bands sound that screams
"Look at us! We will rock your world!" and the production of the album does nothing to separate it from any other release of its sort that is competing for your attention. It's the usual reverb-heavy double bass drumming and standard clean/crunchy guitar tones.
Again in saying all this, there are some great songs on this release,
We Are The Fire goes all Painkiller era
Judas Priest on us with yet again a spot on chorus, although Tarak shows us he is no Rob
Halford on the high notes.
Melt Thy Steel contains some of the best soloing on the album and both
Let The Battle Begin and
Son Of The North are stirring anthems with some nice vocal melodies.
If you are a fan of
Majesty then you are going to enjoy the hell out of this release, likewise if you crave all the power metal that you can handle then there will be a place in your CD collection for it. However it's not going to send shockwaves round the metal community or change the opinions of anyone who previously hated
Majesty.
It does make you wonder though, that after five albums as
Majesty and now this as
Metalforce, do the band really have what it takes to release an album that could turn round the criticisms levelled at them?
Written by
Stuart Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Show all reviews by StuartRatingsStuart: 5.5/10Members: 6/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
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