Dragonforce -- 'Ultra Beatdown' [review]

DragonForce - Ultra Beatdown
Roadrunner Records (8/26/08)
Metal

If melodic, melodramatic power metal is what you crave, these days it seems no band is quite as over-the-top as DragonForce. Ultra Beatdown is a worthy follow-up to the goliath that was Inhuman Rampage, but while the band continues to put its technical prowess on full display, the songwriting this time around is a little too pedestrian.

Given the title and album art (including a pixelated group shot on the back of the case), one might look for some sort of overriding theme on the album, but apart from the keyboards being much better incorporated on most of the songs, and a slight electronic edge to a couple of moments, this is vintage DragonForce. Every song is completely epic—turgid with riffs and solos and manic drumming and glorious, overblown instrumentation. And every song clocks in around seven or eight minutes in length, apart from the token (albeit fairly forced on this outing) ballad “A Flame for Freedom” (at a little over five-minutes) and the bludgeoning six-minute “Reasons to Live”, which features some fantastically cheesy, inspirational group-sings and a nice keyboard solo.

That aforementioned electronic tinge rears its head on “The Fire Still Burns”, which features plenty of mind-bending guitar solos dancing around some impressive machine-gun drumming that somehow manages to never let up.

There’s no point to go through every track, as the basic DragonForce formula is to put together dramatic, epic power metal tracks with an overabundance of intricate guitar play. Add to that a wealth of drum work and top it all off with soaring, saccharine lyrics. What the band does manage to do better on this album is make total songs. For some reason a fair portion of Inhuman felt like three-minute songs with four-minutes of instrumentation tacked on for good measure. It’s still metal, but not so loud as to alienate fans of good music, either. In fact, if anything, it’s the length of the songs that will push non-metal fans away.

Sure, in the end it’s all cheesy as hell, and you’ll either love it or hate it, but if you like an epic scope to your metal and enjoy listening to musicians show-off their skills, then DragonForce is for you. Ultra Beatdown isn’t the band’s best, but you can’t go wrong with any of the catalogue.

Candlebox -- 'Alive in Seattle' [review]

Candlebox - Alive in Seattle
Image Entertainment (9/2/08)
Hard rock

Recorded in 2006, Alive in Seattle captures a band with something to prove. After more than a few years under the radar, Candlebox regrouped for this tour, and the ensuing energy is through the roof (no doubt aided by the hometown crowd).

The set opens with raucous versions of “Arrow” and “Simple Lessons”, and the electric atmosphere is tangible. Even when the band slows it down a little with “Change”, the crowd overpowers the band during the chorus in which you can’t help but smile for Candlebox, knowing so many fans are still out there.

The band tears through a bunch of hits and lesser-known tracks over the next hour. “A Stone’s Throw Away” and “Understanding” sound great, but the band really shines on the melancholic “Blossom” (the crowd is great on this track, too). And they just destroy “Best Friend”—already one of the group’s fastest, heaviest songs, bludgeoning the crowd with it (in a good way), with so much energy that Kevin Martin almost struggles to keep up with the vocals.

But it’s the hits that shine brightest here. The second the tell-tale opening riff of “You” hits, you can feel the energy shift in the room. The guitar work, which was always good on the studio version, is stellar toward the end of the song as everything starts to derail. Then, closing out the set, an intense rendition of “Far Behind” and a welcome surprise encore of “Cover Me”.

While a fair share of forgettable live albums have been released over the past decade or so, Alive in Seattle impresses in every way. The band sounds great, the set list has a nice mix from the band’s first three albums and the energy is phenomenal throughout. In addition, the release features a DVD of the set, including “Rain”, which doesn't appear on the CD.

First a fantastic new album (Into the Sun) and now a great live album—2008 is shaping up to be a great year for Candlebox.

Metallica -- 'Death Magnetic' [review]

Metallica - Death Magnetic
Warner Brothers (9/12/08)
Rock / Metal

Loved and despised. Overrated and underrated. Over a storied career Metallica has managed to both draw in and alienate fans. Once hailed as the masters of metal and one of the innovators of thrash, over the years the band has changed its sound and experimented with a variety of styles, and yet stills manages to be revered as a legend in the metal scene. However, Metallica's last few efforts have led many to question whether they really had anything left to offer the scene. After the critically panned St. Anger, the band must have surely felt the pressure to send some sort of message, or statement, to critics and fans. Or perhaps, just to prove something to itself. Enter: Death Magnetic.

This album is not vintage Metallica by any means, though the band has managed to re-create its Master of Puppets/...And Justice for All-era sounds very nicely. No, instead this is a completely new monster, and die-hard fans can hear tiny elements from all of the previous efforts. There’s a raw element, especially in the almost-tinny drumming, on “All Nightmare Long”, which is very reminiscent of St. Anger, surely killing some fans. There’s a thrash feel on “My Apocalypse”, a throwback to the closers of old (“Damage Inc.” and “Dyer’s Eve” specifically, though not quite as extreme, for lack of a better term, in nature). Mid-tempo rocker “The Judas Kiss” draws allusions to the Black Album or maybe, in some way, either of the Load discs.

Where the band is able to pull pieces from its entire career into one song, like on “The Day That Never Comes”, is not only a testament to the band and the album, but also producer Rick Rubin, who’s made a name for himself for not only historically bringing the best out of bands, but also for pushing them to explore directions they might not regularly take. It’s become clear that Metallica needs someone to oversee and guide the group. Ultimately, the biggest issue stemming from St. Anger was that Bob Rock, the man who should have been helming the ship, was really playing the role of the fifth bandmate on that record. Rubin, on the other hand, gives Metallica enough leash while still guiding the direction.

There are some really strong elements on Death Magnetic: Kirk Hammett unleashed for the entirety of the album; the crazy groove on the aforementioned “All Nightmare Long”; and check out the spotlight on Robert Trujillo with plenty of bass riffing taking center stage on “Cyanide”. While token instrumental “Suicide & Redemption” may sound a little bloated at times (clocking in around 10 minutes in length), it’s nice to see the band have a little fun and jam out for a while.

The only real weakness with this album would be the lyrical content, but James Hetfield practically wills his voice into another instrument most of the time, so it’s easy to overlook.

This is the “statement” album Metallica needed to make. Regardless of drummer Lars Ulrich's claim that the band is still the forefront of the metal scene, the fact of the matter is that an entire new generation has grown up since the release of ...And Justice for All. There was no reason for the band to sit back and live off those first handful of albums, and while later releases ran the gamut from pretty good to nondescript, there were always glimpses of Metallica’s brilliance. With Death Magnetic they show why so many bands still point to them as a major influence. Perhaps no longer the standard-bearers, Metallica can still crank out a kick-ass metal album when pushed to do so. Sometimes there's nothing quite as good as a legend out to prove something.

Sound and Fury -- 'Sound and Fury' [review]

Sound and Fury - Sound and Fury
Megaforce / Rebel Youth Records (6/24/08)
Hard rock / Punk

If you’re patient and willing to give the latest Sound and Fury album a couple of listens, the set might just grow on you, as the band melds straight-forward hard rock (think AC/DC) with an old-school punk approach (though I hate to say it, think the Misfits circa-1985), creating a bluesy party-rocker with a raw aesthetic.

The problem is, the lead vocals are pretty one-dimensional (a little too whiny) and the lyrics aren’t particularly creative. Instead, the band manages to win you over with its energy and dedication to grinding through each song, looking for anything to stick. And there are a least a handful of good songs on this self-titled effort.

The album kicks off with two very lukewarm tracks: “School’s Out” has enough energy but feels ultimately forgettable (except for the catchy chorus that will definitely get stuck in your head after a few spins), and “Teenage Rampage” suffers from weak lyrics more than anything else.

But then “Can’t Get Enough” comes along and just blows you away. The band seems to be hitting on all cylinders, letting the song unfold as a powerful dirge and throwing in plenty of solos mid-way through the track to change things up. They do a similarly good job with “Night of the Ghouls”, which feels like it could’ve been pulled off AC/DC’s Razor’s Edge. And album-closer “Hellhound” has a great, slow-burn riffing that gives way to a more explosive chorus. It’s too bad the band couldn’t capture this kind of magic three or four more times, as that may have actually saved the album.

Ultimately, Sound and Fury relies too much on its influences for its own good. Sure, a song like “Night of the Ghouls” might sound like an AC/DC castoff, but the band does a good job of making it its own. But the same can’t be said for songs like “Supercharged” or “Runaway Love” or “18” or even “Bad Touch” (except for the fantastic guitar work). If the lyrics were stronger or there were a twist to the music, or anything, that would be one thing. But when those things are lacking, and, to top it off, you essentially sound like nothing more than a bad cover band, well...

Sound and Fury shows a lot of potential, but just falls short on this outing. “Can’t Get Enough” and “Night of the Ghouls” are solid tracks, but the rest ends up being nothing more than filler.

In Flames -- 'A Sense of Purpose' [review]

In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
Koch Records (4/1/08)
Metal

Sure, the die-hard In Flames fans and metal elite will continue to bitch and moan that the band is creating the same album time and again (at least since the release of Reroute to Remain). The fact of the matter is that no band even comes close to In Flames when it comes to powerful, melodic death metal.

On A Sense of Purpose In Flames manages to ratchet up the melodies to amazing degrees, from Anders Friden’s vocal work (much less strained than previous outings) to the striking guitar play from Bjorn Gelotte and Jesper Stromblad.

And unlike, say, Soundtrack to Your Escape, which sounded very repetitive over time, A Sense of Purpose is constantly shifting direction. There’s the electronic bliss of “Sleepless Again” (chock-full of impressive solos), the urgent riffing on “I’m the Highway” (with some frantic drum work from Daniel Svensson and nice, intricate guitar back-and-forths mid-way through the song), and the one-two punch of “Sober and Irrelevant” (showcasing maniacal guitar riffs aplenty) and “Condemned” (featuring some of the best metal drumming of the year).

Even when they really slows things down (on the eight-minute plus “The Chosen Pessimist”), it’s like some sort of controlled explosion that showcases a very different side of the band. And the irresistible catchiness of “Disconnected” immediately gets under your skin and aches for repeated listens.

Working within the confines of melodic metal, the band takes more than enough chances and manages to craft such hook-laden tracks that it's almost impossible to resist. If there’s one thing you can count on with In Flames, it’s consistency. What you don’t expect is an out-of-left-field contender for album of the year. The band finally has a handle on its “new direction” and the results are astonishing.