And now a word from Mogli
Mogli here to do some brief reviews of some metal that has come to the station.
The Sword – Warp Riders
The Sword have earned the label “retro-metal,” but not in a derogatory way. Their Black Sabbath/DeepPurple/Cream worship combine with a few modern metal sensibilities to create metal that sounds very classic, yet has never really existed before. The band have filled this void very nicely in all their releases,and this album sees them moderately experiment with their sound. Warp Riders is a bit more dynamic and progressive than their previous discs. Spacey grooves, more adventurous singing, and some very aggressive soloing show the band pushing themselves, along with prog-rock keyboards and a slight concept to the record. Riff salads and headbanging are still to be had, and when the band get thrashy or sludgy is when they really shine through. Warp Riders is a solid album overall and great to listen to as a whole. Recommended tracks include “Astraea’s Dream,” a great instrumental track that begins the second half of the disc, “Tres Brujas,” both parts of “The Chronomancer,” and the title track, “Warp Riders.”
Dragonforce – Twilight Dementia
In the liner notes of this double live album, the band proudly details the amount of alcohol imbibed while on tour, among other things. Perhaps some of that budget could have been put to use for other things, like hiring a third guitarist to make their live performance sound anything close to the studio recordings. Alternatively, they could have better spent their imbibing time by practicing more, tightening up guitar and vocal harmonies and making sure that what they recorded can actually be pulled off convincingly live. The rumours are true: this is band is dreadful live, even coming from an appreciator of their power metal on speed. There’s too much jumping around on trampolines and crude, obscene interpretations of lyrics and not enough discipline.
Track recommendations: none, avoid all at any cost.
I’ll be back with more metal soon!
Mogli