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Tom Valcanis
Interview: Henry Rollins (The Partae)
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Tom Valcanis
They Call This The Act of Dating
A stoic and smartass' view on modern dating.
They Call This The Act of Dating

The Top 10 Metal of 2010 - #3

Emerging out of frosty isolation we fall through a portal to fight a battle with the ancients in a Sacred World...

#3
 Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time
When I first put on At the Edge of Time, I felt an all-powerful stirring in the room. As military-style drums pounded below bombastic orchestral hits punctuating the air, Hansi Kursch took the reins of the musical juggernaut from the mass of choral voices. By the chorus took hold, I had risen out of my chair, my fist raised to the sky in triumph. Seldom do records compel the body into what the heart desires but this one did many times over.

Though power metal has been in an almost irrevocable decline in recent years, ever since A Night at the Opera in 2002, Blind Guardian has emerged as the Byzantium to a crumbling Rome. Their command of melody and rhythm as metal musicians writing pieces for symphonies and choirs is simply unsurpassed.

In Ride into Obsession, it sounds as if the band sweeps itself up in the music, scarcely keeping pace with the colt-like rhythm. Tanelorn (Into the Void) is a welcome return to their earlier speed metal sound while the epic closer Wheel of Time outclasses their contemporaries with a Middle Eastern inspired marsala, replete with Arabic instrumentation and exotic melody.

Of course, Andre Olbrich's vibrant fret runs in tandem with Mr. Marcus Siepen sound invigorating as ever. Mr. Frederik Ehmke provides the percussion assault with the requisite expertise we've come to expect. They haven't shed the propensity for gravitas they cultivated on Nightfall in Middle-Earth nor have they forsaken the blistering, visceral thrashiness perfected on Imaginations From the Other Side - it's a synthesis of all of their work, impeccably polished with new and intricate touches.


Speaking to Mr. Kursch earlier this year, he believed that music spoke a magical language and they were just one of its many interpreters. If this is the case, Blind Guardian are like the men of letters of old - to be revered with awe.





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The Top 10 Metal of 2010 - #4

From the world of sin we retreat to the Carpathian mountains in quiet meditation...

#4
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Fading in with a solitary violin, we hear the sound of water babbling as trees rustle through the breeze. Thus begins a journey through the pained hearts of men - Agalloch's oblique and antagonistic Marrow of the Spirit.

Written in the isolation of the Romanian mountains and recorded on all analog equipment under the tutelage of Faust (USA) guitarist Steven Wray Lobdell, the effort is certainly opaque, imbued with a quiescent melancholy and in a way, transcendental. Taking even more inspiration from neo-folk and pagan bands such as Sol Invictus they steadfastly return to nature, eschewing their brief flirtation with the more artificial drone and post-rock sounds. At the end of a track we hear the guitars dissolve into insects chirping during night time as a piano solemnly plays - the great strength about this disc is taking ambient and found sounds, pairing them with minimalistic black metal all the while making them feel compelling.
Raw and earnest acoustic guitars dominate in tandem with a stream of consciousness style guitar melody. Trance-like, lumbering rhythms are like the marrow; haunting, aspirated growls and pained shrieks with atmospheric synth textures are the undoubted and ephemeral spirit that seems to speak like ghostly apparitions from the heart of the Earth.

It's a very sensual and natural expression of metal that's difficult to capture. Where others have cautiously ventured and failed, Agalloch have overwhelmingly triumphed.


The Top 10




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The Top 10 Metal of 2010 - #5

Returning from the inky blackness of the void we're thrust into the land of sinners...

#5

Helloween - 7 Sinners
I said in my review earlier this year that Helloween's new record is a result of "the fresh blood injected into the wintry veins of Helloween in the form of guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Dani Loble...[resurrecting] a sleeping metal leviathan from the bed of mediocrity." I stand by my words since 7 Sinners greatness increases more and more with every spin.

If the band went back to the drawing board and came back with this, the time spent polishing their riffs, beefing up their sound and taking a symphonic and detailed approach to their songwriting was exceedingly well spent. The band have never been one for pomp and pageantry - and when they have they've always done it with their tongue firmly in their cheek. There's cheesy and forgettable and then there's fun and Helloween. With flutes and bombast and choirs galore they're not afraid to dig deep into their memories of childhood rock heroes to treat their cherished cliches with love to bring them new life. Yes, it's power metal at its core - but it's also a virulently catchy form of rock n' roll that deserves careful attention.

7 Sinners is a really complete Euro metal record that celebrates our diverse genre from past to present and adds to the future giving it the respect it deserves. From bluesy licks, pounding thrash rhythms, touches of death metal vocals it screams from the high heavens that Helloween aren't just a power metal band, they are band that plays - and loves - heavy metal music.

On this record they ask each and every listener - Are You Metal? If not, that's fine. You're just missing out.

The Top 10
#6: Dark Tranquillity - We Are the Void





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“The universe is change, life is what our thoughts make it.”
— Marcus Aurelius